Hidemitsu Saito

Hidemitsu Saito (斉藤 秀光)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 172 lb.

• High School Yokohama Shodai High School

• Born April 18, 1975 in Yokohama, Kanagawa Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Hidemitsu Saito played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 11 years.

Saito was drafted by the Orix BlueWave in the 3rd round of the 1993 NPB draft, and he stayed in the minors in his first season. He was 2-for-11 in 28 games in 1996, but he only played 6 games combined in the next two seasons. Saito went 1-for-12 in 41 games in 1999, and he played 58 games with a 2-for-22 record in 2000. He stayed in the minors in 2001, and he was traded to the Hanshin Tigers for Kazuhiko Shiotani. Saito was 8-for-41 in 2002, and he won the batting title of the Western League with a .341 mark in 2003. However, he only got one at-bat for the big club, and the Tigers traded him with Shinji Taninaka to the Orix BlueWave for Rui Makino and Ikuro Katsuragi

The Yokohama native finally got some chances in 2004, and he played 104 games with a .253/.359/.391 batting line as one of Orix's three players who split significant time at shortstop. The BlueWave then merged with the Kintetsu Buffaloes, and Saito was assigned to the newly-founded Rakuten Golden Eagles. He had a .233/.250/.344 batting line in 55 games in 2005, then he was traded to the Softbank Hawks for Akira Matsumoto. Saitow was 1-for-8 in 2006, and he was released after he went 0-for-13 in 2007. The Yokohama BayStars picked him up, but he was hitless in 6 at-bats in 2008 and he announced his retirement in 2009. The Oisix Niigata Albirex Baseball Club named him their new coach in 2025.

Overall, Saito hit .214/.293/.317 with 94 hits and 6 homers in 11 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan