Hisayoshi Chono

Hisayoshi Chono (長野 久義)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.
• School Nihon University
• High School Chikuyo Gakuen High School
• Born December 6, 1984 in Kiyama, Saga Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Hisayoshi Chono played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 16 years.

Amateur stardom

Chono represented Japan in the 2006 World University Baseball Championship. After college, he began playing for Honda in the industrial leagues. Chono was 3 for 15 with a double and a triple as Japan's left fielder in the 2006 Intercontinental Cup. He hit a 3-run sayonara homer off Seung-hwan Oh in a win over South Korea in the 2006 Asian Games. The Nippon Ham Fighters took him in the 4th round of the 2006 NPB draft but he refused to sign, saying he wanted to play only for the Yomiuri Giants. In the 2007 Baseball World Cup, Chono batted .457/.486/.657 with 8 runs in 9 games as Japan's main center fielder but was left off the tourney All-Star team as Frederich Cepeda, Trent Oeltjen and Colby Rasmus got the nod. The Chiba Lotte Marines took Chono in the 2nd round of the 2008 NPB draft after he said he would consider signing with a team other than Yomiuri. Chiba Lotte reportedly offered him a 100 million yen and performance bonuses totaling 50 million yen with a salary of 15 million yen. He turned down the deal, deciding to play another year in the industrial leagues to keep open his chances of being picked by Yomiuri. Chono helped Japan win Gold at the 2009 Asian Championship, being named MVP of Round One.

Early success

The Giants finally took him in the first round of the 2009 NPB draft. He debuted on Opening Day 2010, March 26, as a defensive sub in left field for Alex Ramirez. He did not get an at-bat. For the season, he hit .288/.330/.491 with 19 home runs to win the 2010 Central League Rookie of the Year Award. Chono was selected into the 2011 NPB All-Star Game, and he was 2-for-4 with a solo shot against Masaru Takeda in Game 1; he was 1-for-5 combined in the next two games. Chono ended up hitting .316/.379/.468 with 17 homers, and he won a NPB Gold Glove and Best Nine award. He won the Central League batting title, and he was 3rd in hits (164, between Nori Aoki and Keiichi Hirano), 7th in homers (tied with Kenta Kurihara and Takahiro Arai), 7th in RBI (69, tied with Craig Brazell) and 2nd in steals (19, tied with Masato Akamatsu).

Chono was selected into the 2012 NPB All-Star Games, and he had a 2-for-10 record. He ended up hitting .301/.382/.432 with 14 homers for the summer, and he won the Gold Glove and Best Nine again. He led the league in hits (173), and he was 4th in batting (between Yohei Ohshima and Lastings Milledge), 3rd in doubles (29, between Kazuhiro Wada and Shuichi Murata), 6th in homers (tied with Hayato Sakamoto and Shota Dohbayashi), 9th in RBI (60, between Norihiro Nakamura and Takashi Toritani) and 3rd in steals (20, between Sho Aranami and Kensuke Uchimura). He hit .375/.444/.625 in the 2012 Nippon Series with 2 homers against Takeda, one apiece in Game 2 (the only run of the game) and Game 6, and the Giants beat the Nippon Ham Fighters in 6 games. He won an outstanding player award, a step behind the MVP, which went to Tetsuya Utsumi.

After the gorgeous 2012 season, Chono made it onto Japan's roster for the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He hit .222/.444/.278 with 6 RBI, and Japan won Bronze in the event. He then attended the 2013 NPB All-Star Game, and he was 2-for-7 in 3 games. He threw out three runners at first base from right field that season, and he was the first Giants to accomplish it after World War II. Chono ended up hitting .281/.336/.424, and he won both the Gold Glove and Best Nine for the third straight year. He was 10th in the 2013 CL in batting (between Toritani and Nakamura), 2nd in hits (166, 12 behind Matt Murton), 7th in triples (3), 7th in homers (19, tied with Murton), 9th in RBI (65, tied with Toritani) and 9th in steals (14, tied with Wataru Hiyane). He again fared well in the 2013 Nippon Series, and he hit .269/.367/.308 while leading the team in hits and RBI. The Giants lost to the Rakuten Golden Eagles in 7 games, and he won the fighting spirit award as the top player on the losing team.

Tailing off

Chono hit .297/.356/.445 with 29 doubles in 2014, and he was 8th in doubles (tied with Aarom Baldiris and Sakamoto). He then suffered from a right knee injury in 2015, and he slumped to .251/.310/.415 with 15 homers. Chono returned in 2016, and he played all 143 games with a .283/.326/.403 batting line. He was 4th in hits (163, between Sakamoto and Yoshihiro Maru), 3rd in doubles (28, tied with Sakamoto and Yoshi Tsutsugo) and 6th in triples (4, tied with Takayuki Kajitani, Tomohiro Abe and Tsutsugo). He recorded a .261/.334/.421 batting line with 16 homers in 2017, and his batting line was .290/.359/.433 in 116 games in 2018.

After the 2018 season, Giants signed superstar Maru so the Carp could choose one player as compensation. Since the Giants thought that the Carp were rebuilding, they didn't protect veteran players. Against expectations, the Carp picked Chono, and he hit .250/.310/.383 in 2019. He crushed 10 homers with a .285/.355/.468 batting line in 2020, but he slumped to .216/.300/.288 in 2021. He struggled again as his batting line was .211/.269/.325 in 2022, and he was sent back to the Giants. Chono played 75 games with a .259/.330/.430 batting line in 2023, then his batting line was .258/.327/.315 in 2024. He went 3-for-22 in 2025, and he announced his retirement.

Overall, Chono hit .280/.342/.426 with 1,512 hits and 163 homers in 16 seasons in NPB.

Sources include

• IBAF
• Japanese Wikipedia entry