Shinya Miyamoto
From BR Bullpen
Shinya Miyamoto
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 9", Weight 154 lb.
- School Doshisha University
- High School PL Gakuen High School
- Born November 5, 1970 in Suita, Osaka Japan
In elementary school, Shinya Miyamoto was coached by Yoshio Yoshida. In high school, he was on the winning club in the 1987 summer Koshien. After college, he played in the industrial leagues for Prince Hotels. In 1994, he was picked in the second round of the NPB draft by the Yakult Swallows. Joining Yakult in '95, he hit .220/.304/.260, used primarily as a defensive sub for 2B Katsuyuki Dobashi. In the 1995 Japan Series, he played in all five games for the winning Swallows team, only batting twice. In 1996, Miyamoto hit .273/.336/.336, replacing Takahiro Ikeyama as the regular shortstop. As the main starter in '97, he batted .282/.340/.344 and stole 16 bases in 21 tries and won his first Gold Glove at short. He hit .313/.353/.438 in Yakult's win in the 1997 Japan Series. He slipped to .258/.308/.299 in '98.
In 1999, the 28-year-old shortstop batted only .248/.285/.285 but led the Central League with 45 sacrifice bunts and won his second Gold Glove. He picked up a third Gold Glove in 2000 and produced at a .300/.346/.387 clip, stealing 13 in 18 tries. Surprisingly, he led the league with 10 intentional walks that year.
Shinya set a record in 2001 by laying down 67 sacrifice bunts successfully, a new NPB mark, breaking Masahiro Kawai's 10-year-old record by one. He hit .270/.317/.308 and won his fourth Gold Glove. In the 2001 Japan Series, he dazzled at .474/.474/.526 with 5 RBI in 5 games to win his third title in NPB. Miyamoto made his first CL All-Star team in '02; that year, he batted .291/.309/.373 with only 9 walks in 519 plate appearances. He earned his fifth Gold Glove and led the league with 40 sacrifice bunts. 2003 was more of the same - the most sacrifice bunts (50), a Gold Glove (#6), his second All-Star selection, 11 for 14 in steals, a .284/.336/.363 line, but with 29 more walks than the prior year. He led the CL with 643 plate appearances.
Miyamoto was the captain of Japan's team in the 2004 Olympics, guiding them to a bronze medal and hitting .500. He batted .301/.349/.436 with a career-high 11 homers despite missing time due to a calf injury and due to the Olympics. Hirokazu Ibata broke his hold on the Gold Glove at short in the Central League. In '05, Shinya put up a .265/.312/.346 line at age 34. With teammate Atsuya Furuta becoming the club's manager, Furuta stepped down as the head of the Japan Professional Baseball Players Association and Miyamoto replaced him as players' chief of the union.
Picked to represent Japan in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, he went 2 for 3 with a double, run and two RBI in three games as the backup to Munenori Kawasaki, having the top average on the champion Japanese team. He reinjured his calf on June 7 after being hit by a pitch and was out for two months. In the 2006 season, he hit .304/.337/.374 despite his injury troubles and age. Miyamoto batted .300/.338/.384 in 2007 to remain stable and finish 10th in the CL in average.
Miyamoto was 0 for 2 with a run in the 2007 Asian Championship. In the 2008 Olympics, he was 1 for 4 as a backup 3B to Shuichi Murata.
Sources include Japanbaseballdaily.com by Gary Garland, Worldbaseballclassic.com, Sergei Borisov's website, IBAF site, 2008 Olympics
