Weight 77 kg Height 1.75 m | Role Baseball Player Name Kazuhiro Yamauchi Inducted 2002 | |
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Died February 2, 2009, Tokyo, Japan | ||
Election Method Competitors Award | ||
Kazuhiro Yamauchi (山内 一弘, Yamauchi Kazuhiro, May 1, 1932 – February 2, 2009) was a Japanese baseball player and manager. He played for the Mainichi Orions, the Hanshin Tigers and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp over the span of an 18 season-long career (1952–1970).
Yamauchi was the first Japanese professional baseball player to hit 300 home runs, achieving that feat in 1963. Some of his career stats include 7,702 at bats, 1,218 runs, 2,271 hits, 396 home runs, 1,286 runs batted in, 118 stolen bases, 1,061 walks, and a batting average of .292.
After retiring as a player in 1970, he went on to become an NPB manager and coach for nearly 30 years.
He was a founding member of the Meikyukai ("The Golden Players Club") in 1978, and was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002.
Yamauchi died of liver failure in a Tokyo hospital on February 2, 2009. He was 76.