Hiroshi Watanabe

Hiroshi Watanabe (渡辺 浩司)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 165 lb.

• High School Niigata Commercial High School

• Born August 9, 1963 in Niigata, Niigata Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Hiroshi Watanabe played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 9 years.

Watanabe signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters after he went undrafted in the 1981 NPB draft, and he spent his first thirteen seasons in the NPB Farm Leagues. He only got 76 at-bats combined in that period, and he never played more than 20 games. Watanabe finally got some chances when he was 31 years old in 1995, and he played 116 games with a .246/.277/.307 batting line as Nippon Ham's starting second baseman. He hit .222/.282/.304 in 1996, but his batting line fell to .143/.182/.143 in 1997 and he announced his retirement. Watanabe later scouted and coached in the Fighters system from 1998 to 2023, and he was their top team batting coach for six years. The Rakuten Golden Eagles named him their new batting coach in 2025.

Overall, Watanabe hit .231/.273/.299 with 156 hits and 6 homers in 9 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan