Hiromi Matsunaga

From BR Bullpen

Hiromi Matsunaga (松永 浩美)

  • Bats Both, Throws Right
  • Height 5' 11", Weight 171 lb.

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Biographical Information[edit]

Hiromi Matsunaga was a 11-time All-Star in Nippon Pro Baseball. He was widely considered the best switch-hitter in NPB history.

Matsunaga dropped out of high school then worked out with the Hankyu Braves until he turned 18 and could sign with them; the scout was Koshi Yamamoto. In the minors for two years, he worked on becoming a switch-hitter. He made his debut with the Braves in 1981, hitting .326/.404/.424 in a bench role. On May 10, he got his first hit, off Hiroaki Tani. Two days later, he got his first homer, against Tokinari Nishina. Hiromi hit .236/.307/.379 in 1982 while becoming a starter; he stole 21 bases in 27 tries and ranked 7th in the Pacific League. On October 8, he hit for the cycle versus the Nankai Hawks.

Matsunaga improved his batting line to .281/.361/.515 in 1983 with 21 home runs, 74 RBI and 20 steals in 33 tries. He made his first Pacific League All-Star team, and he went 1-for-3 in the 1983 NPB All-Star Game. On August 31, he hit a sayonara grand slam to overcome a 3-0 deficit against Kinzo Nakai. He tied Hiromichi Ishige and Yutaka Fukumoto for the PL lead with 7 triples, and he tied Bump Wills for 7th in steals.

The high school dropout hit .310/.388/.513 with 84 runs, 19 home runs and 21 stolen bases in 26 attempts in 1984. He was 6th in the PL in average (between Hiromitsu Ochiai and Leron Lee), 9th in hits (142), 10th in doubles (24, tied with Hideo Furuya) and 6th in steals (between Norifumi Nishimura and Tsutomu Ito). On September 16, he became the 4th NPB player ever to hit an inside-the-park sayonara home run, to top the Lotte Orions. Matsunaga was also selected into the 1984 NPB All-Star Game, and he was 1-for-4. He led the PL with six triples. He won the Diamond Glove Award at third base. He lost out Best Nine honors at the hot corner to Hiromitsu Ochiai. In the 1984 Japan Series, his lone Japan Series appearance, he hit .423/.483/.577 but Hankyu fell to the Hiroshima Carp in 7 games. He lost the Fighting Spirit Award to Yukihiko Yamaoki.

The Fukuoka native batted .320/.422/.541 with 26 home runs, 81 walks, 38 steals in 50 tries, 94 runs and 87 RBI in 1985. He made his third straight All-Star team, and he was 2-for-5 in the 1985 NPB All-Star Game 3 with 2 RBI to win the MVP. Matsunaga led the PL in both steals and doubles (26, tied with Boomer Wells and Ishige), and he was 6th in average (between Tommy Cruz and Steve Ontiveros), 5th in hits (154, between Nishimura and Lee) and 7th in RBI (between Koji Akiyama and Koji Minoda). Ochiai again took Best Nine honors at third after claiming the Triple Crown. In 1986, Matsunaga's batting line was .301/.390/.492 with 80 runs, 31 doubles, 19 homers, 75 RBI, 70 walks and 20 steals in 29 tries. He made his 4th All-Star squad, and he was 2-for-12 in the 1986 NPB All-Star Games. He tied Hiromasa Arai for the PL lead in two-baggers (31), and he was 8 swipes behind leader Norifumi Nishimura. Matsunaga also finished 10th in batting average (between Masashi Yokota and Kazuhiko Ishimine), 8th in hits (148, tied with Arai) and 7th in swipes (tied with Makoto Shimada).

Hiromi hit .290/.367/.440 with 11 homers and 9 steals in an off-year in 1987 and missed out on All-Star honors. He still finished 8th in average (between Hideaki Takazawa and Makoto Sasaki) and 9th in doubles (22, tied with Arai and Sasaki). He rebounded in 1988 with a .326/.412/.497 line, 78 runs, 72 walks, 77 RBI and 16 homers. He was named to the Best Nine at third base, as Ochiai had switched leagues and positions. Matsunaga also tied Ken Hirano for 2nd in hits (154), and he tied Kazuhiro Kiyohara for 4th in RBI. On October 22 and October 23, he was the victim of one of the most classless acts in NPB history. Trailing Hideaki Takazawa by .001 in the batting race, he was walked in his last 11 plate appearances of the season to deny him a shot at the title. He also set the NPB record as he drew a walk in 11 consecutive plate appearances, doing so on October 23.

Matsunaga remained strong in 1989, hitting .309/.431/.494 with 30 doubles, 17 homers, 96 walks and 106 runs. He finished third in average behind Wells and Norio Tanabe, and he was 2nd in doubles (4 behind Takeshi Aiko) and 5th in hits (145, between Tony Brewer and Akiyama). He led the loop in runs scored and was just two walks behind leader Ishige. He led in OBP, .014 ahead of Hiromitsu Kadota. Hiromi made his 6th All-Star team, but he was hitless in 6 at-bats in the 1989 NPB All-Star Games. Matsunaga also won his second Gold Glove and made his second straight Best Nine at third. In 1990, Matsunaga batted .284/.379/.471 for the Braves with 21 homers, 26 steals in 34 tries, 78 walks and 103 runs. It was his third and final 20-20 season; he would only top 20 steals once more and never again go yard 20 times. He made his 7th All-Star team, and he was 2-for-4 in the 1990 NPB All-Star Game. Matsunaga also led the league in runs, won the Gold Glove and made the Best Nine.

The 30-year-old hit .314/.404/.481 in 1991 with 75 walks, 10 triples and 20 steals in 24 tries. He was just .0004 behind Mitsuchika Hirai in average, led the PL in triples and ranked 2nd in hits (6 behind Sasaki). He hit for the cycle on May 24 and made the Best Nine for the fifth time. He became the only NPB player ever to lose two batting titles by under a point. Matsunaga attended the 1991 NPB All-Star Game, and he was hitless in 6 at-bats again. In his 12th and last Braves season, 1992, the veteran fell to .298/.379/.406 with 34 doubles, 15 steals in 21 tries and 72 runs. He only went yard three times all year. He made his 9th All-Star team. He led the circuit in doubles and finished 4th in average behind Sasaki, Kelvin Torve and Tanabe.

The Braves then dealt Matsunaga to the Hanshin Tigers for Koji Noda. He switched from number 8 to 02 since it could be pronounced "o-ni", meaning demon. He went five-for-five on April 10 but suffered a leg injury two days later and was limited to 80 games in 1993, hitting .294/.357/.426. Back by late August, he hit leadoff homers three games in a row, a NPB record. On November 29, he declared himself as free agent. He became the first player to switch clubs under NPB's new free agency rules, inking a deal with the Daiei Hawks. He hit .314/.390/.423 for the 1994 Hawks in his last big year. He tied Sasaki for third in the PL with 150 hits. He won his last Gold Glove and made his last Best Nine at third. He was chosen for his 10th All-Star team, and he went 3-for-5 in the 1994 NPB All-Star Game 1. He finished 4th in the PL in average behind Ichiro Suzuki, Kazunori Yamamoto and Hiroo Ishii.

With old rival Ishige as his backup in 1995, Matsunaga faded to .238/.319/.319. He made his last All-Star team, and he went 1-for-2 in the 1995 NPB All-Star Game. Matsunaga fell further, to .217/.290/.329 in 66 games in 1996, though he still remained Daiei's main third sacker. He was 3 for 24 with a double, homer, steal and 8 walks in 1997 to conclude his career. He was rumored to be the target of enmity by Daiei skipper Sadaharu Oh. The Oakland Athletics invited the faded star to spring training but he did not make the team and retired. Matsunaga was known as a womanizer.

Overall, Matsunaga hit .293/.380/.457 in 1,816 games in NPB. He had 1,059 runs, 341 doubles, 203 homers, 886 walks and 239 steals in 333 tries. He finished as the all-time NPB leader in homers by a switch-hitter. Through 2025, he was 31st in NPB history in triples (55, tied with Seizo Furukawa, Kenjiro Tamiya and Morimichi Takagi), 31st in runs (between Kazuo Matsui and Takahiro Arai), 65th in hits (between Hirokazu Ibata and Akinobu Mayumi), 53th in doubles (between Kiyohara and Tokuji Iida), 33th in walks (between Isao Shibata and Shinnosuke Abe), 55th in steals (between Makoto Kozuru and Tetsuya Iida) and 40th in batting (between Atsuya Furuta and Hiroyuki Nakajima).

Source[edit]

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