Kaoru Hirata

Kaoru Hirata (平田 薫)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 160 lb.

• School Komazawa University
• High School Sakaide Technical High School

• Born February 9, 1954 in Sakaide, Kagawa Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kaoru Hirata played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 10 years.

Hirata hit .342 with three Best Nine awards and a MVP in the Tohto University Baseball League, and the Yomiuri Giants signed him in 1975. He spent his first three seasons primarily in the NPB Farm Leagues, and he hit .341/.378/.537 in 61 games in 1979. He hit .219/.230/.315 in 1980, and he went 9-for-38 in 1981. Hirata collected 2 doubles in the 1981 Nippon Series Game 1, and he went 1-for-3 in the next two games. He crushed a solo home run against Isamu Kida in Game 4, and he added a solo home run against Kazumi Takahashi in Game 5. He was 8-for-12 with 4 RBI in the entire series, and the Giants beat the Nippon Ham Fighters in 6 games. He won the outstanding player award, a step below the MVP, which went to Takashi Nishimoto.

The Kagawa native slumped to .132/.195/.132 in 1982, and he was 5-for-28 in 1983. Hirata went 0-for-2 with a walk in the 1983 Nippon Series, and the Giants lost to the Seibu Lions in 7 games. He was released after that season, and the Taiyo Whales picked him up. He crushed 6 homers with a .267/.301/.438 batting line in 1985, and he hit .252/.294/.396 in a career-high 214 plate appearances in 1986, backing up Masahiro Takahashi at 2B and Carlos Ponce at 1B. However, Hirata slumped to .160/.173/.240 in 1987, and the Whales traded him to the Yakult Swallows for Masaaki Iwashita. He went 4-for-29 in 1988, and he announced his retirement.

Overall, Hirata hit .239/.281/.376 with 164 hits and 22 homers in 10 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan