Akihisa Makida

Akihisa Makida (牧田 明久)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 171 lb.

• High School Sabae High School

• Born June 3, 1982 in Echizen, Fukui Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Akihisa Makida had been an outfielder in Nippon Pro Baseball for 11 years.

Makida was drafted by the Kintetsu Buffaloes in the 5th round of the 2000 NPB draft. He struggled in ni-gun for them, never making the top club. When Kintetsu dissolved, he was assigned to the Rakuten Golden Eagles. In 2005, he made his NPB debut for Rakuten. He was hit by a Brad Thomas pitch in his first plate appearance, then stole a base. He got his first hit off Koji Onuma. He finished the year 2 for 10. In 2006, he hit .224/.312/.232 in 144 plate appearances over 62 games. He batted .265/.312/.321 in 177 plate appearances and 97 games in 2007, hitting his first homer off Hironori Matsunaga.

Akihisa did not play for Rakuten in 2008 after surgery. He was only 3 for 24 with a double, 7 runs and two RBI in 2009. He hit .291/.312/.505 in 190 plate appearances in 2010. He was Teppei Tsuchiya's backup in right field in 2011, hitting .268/.308/.376 in 215 plate appearances. He played error-free ball in the outfield. When Luis Terrero was a bust in 2012, Makida became the starter in RF, Tsuchiya moving to LF. He hit just .225/.283/.331 with 9 homers and 53 RBI. He did lead Pacific League outfielders in fielding percentage (218 PO, 9 A, 0 E) and set a Rakuten franchise record with 7 RBI in a game (September 19 against the Chiba Lotte Marines).

Makida was back on the bench in 2013 with the emergence of Takero Okajima in RF and only played 27 games (.222/.292/.358). Rakuten made its first Japan Series. In game 3 of the 2013 Japan Series, he got the first hit in a big second-inning rally against Toshiya Sugiuchi but was thrown out by Yoshiyuki Kamei in trying for third on a hit by Kazuo Matsui. His game 7 homer off Hirokazu Sawamura capped the scoring in a 3-0 win as Rakuten won it all. He recorded a .234/.291/.304 batting line in 2014, and he played 82 games with a solid .311/.376/.377 batting line in 2015. Makida only played 16 games with a .355/.394/.419 batting line in 2016, and he announced his retirement. The Golden Eagles named him their minor league fielding coach in 2020.

Overall, Makida hit .253/.306/.350 with 385 hits and 23 homers in 11 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Japan Baseball Daily by Gary Garland
• Japanball.com
• Japanese Wikipedia