Yoshiyuki Iwamoto (岩本 義行, Iwamoto Yoshiyuki, March 11, 1912 – September 26, 2008) was a Japanese baseball player and manager. He is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
He joined the Nankai Baseball Club in 1938, but he was forced to take part in World War II, so his professional debut didn't occur until 1940. The quality of baseballs was low due to the war,[citation needed] so it was difficult for hitters to hit home runs, but Iwamuto hit three home runs in one game on July 11, 1942, the Japanese record at that time. He retired once in 1942 and went to war again.
Iwamoto returned to baseball in 1949, joining the Taiyo Robins. On March 11, 1950, he hit the first home run in the history of the Central League, a grand slam home run. That same year, he hit three home runs in the first Japan Series, which his team lost to the Mainichi Orions, 4 games to 2. On August 1, 1951, he hit four home runs in one game, becoming the first professional hitter in Japan to achieve that feat.[1] He retired again in 1953.
He signed with Toei Flyers and returned to the field again as a playing manager in 1956. On August 18, 1957, he hit his final home run, at the age of 45, which is the Japanese age record.
As manager of the Toei Flyers from 1956 to 1960, Iwamoto compiled a record of 290–376, with 17 ties, for a winning percentage of .435.
yoshiyuki, iwamoto, 岩本, 義行, iwamoto, yoshiyuki, march, 1912, september, 2008, japanese, baseball, player, manager, member, japanese, baseball, hall, fame, outfielder, managerborn, 1912, march, 1912miyoshi, hiroshima, prefecture, japandied, september, 2008, 200. Yoshiyuki Iwamoto 岩本 義行 Iwamoto Yoshiyuki March 11 1912 September 26 2008 was a Japanese baseball player and manager He is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame Yoshiyuki IwamotoOutfielder ManagerBorn 1912 03 11 11 March 1912Miyoshi Hiroshima Prefecture JapanDied 26 September 2008 2008 09 26 aged 96 Batted RightThrew RightJBL debut1940 for the Nankai Baseball ClubLast NPB appearance1957 for the Toei FlyersJBL NPB statisticsBatting average 275Home runs123Runs batted in487TeamsAs player Nankai Baseball Club 1940 1942 Taiyo Shochiku Robins 1949 1953 Toei Flyers 1956 1957 As manager Nankai Baseball Club 1942 Toei Flyers 1956 1960 Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes 1965 1966 Career highlights and awards2x Best Nine Award 1950 1951 Three home runs in one game 1942 First home run in history of Central League 1950 Four home runs in one game 1951 At age 45 oldest player in NPB to hit home run 1957 Member of the JapaneseBaseball Hall of FameInduction1981Biography editIwamuto was born in Miyoshi Hiroshima Prefecture He took part in the National High School Baseball Championship in 1931 but his team was defeated by a team of Masao Yoshida who was also later inducted to Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame He joined the Nankai Baseball Club in 1938 but he was forced to take part in World War II so his professional debut didn t occur until 1940 The quality of baseballs was low due to the war citation needed so it was difficult for hitters to hit home runs but Iwamuto hit three home runs in one game on July 11 1942 the Japanese record at that time He retired once in 1942 and went to war again Iwamoto returned to baseball in 1949 joining the Taiyo Robins On March 11 1950 he hit the first home run in the history of the Central League a grand slam home run That same year he hit three home runs in the first Japan Series which his team lost to the Mainichi Orions 4 games to 2 On August 1 1951 he hit four home runs in one game becoming the first professional hitter in Japan to achieve that feat 1 He retired again in 1953 He signed with Toei Flyers and returned to the field again as a playing manager in 1956 On August 18 1957 he hit his final home run at the age of 45 which is the Japanese age record As manager of the Toei Flyers from 1956 to 1960 Iwamoto compiled a record of 290 376 with 17 ties for a winning percentage of 435 Iwamoto was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981 References edit Furuta rips four home runs The Japan Times 2003 06 29 Retrieved 2007 12 16 External links editCareer statistics and player information from Baseball Reference Minors Yoshiyuki Iwamoto Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame nbsp nbsp This biographical article relating to a Japanese baseball figure is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Yoshiyuki Iwamoto amp oldid 1212730436, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
