Katsuhiko Yamada

Katsuhiko Yamada (山田 勝彦)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 182 lb.

• High School Toho High School

• Born July 2, 1969 in Nagoya, Aichi Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Katsuhiko Yamada played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 16 years.

Yamada was drafted by the Hanshin Tigers in the 3rd round of the 1987 NPB draft, and he spent his first three seasons primarily in the NPB Farm Leagues; he only got a at-bat for the big club. He hit .128/.181/.195 in 66 games in 1991, and he became Hanshin's starting catcher in 1992. Yamada recorded a .204/.239/.281 batting line with 4 homers that season, but Koichi Sekikawa then took his starting spot. Yamada batted .176/.198/.204 in 1993, and he had a .204/.245/.311 batting line in 1994. He then went 1-for-12 in 1995, and he took back the starting spot in 1996. Yamada hit .190/.237/.245 that season.

The Nagoya native improved to .262/.319/.393 in 1997, but the Tigers then traded Sekikawa to the Chunichi Dragons for Akihiro Yano. Yamada became the backup behind Yano in 1998, and he hit .203/.240/.217 in 1998. His batting line fell to .143/.167/.171 in 1999, and he soon bounced back with a .319/.337/.447 batting line in 2000. Yamada then played 54 games with a .276/.315/.373 batting line in 2001, then he slumped to .155/.204/.216 in 2002. The Tigers traded him with Masashi Date to the Nippon Ham Fighters for Yutaka Nakamura and Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi, and he went 13-for-77 in 2003. Yamada only played 4 more games before he announced his retirement in 2005, and he was the battery coach for the Rakuten Golden Eagles from 2006 to 2010 and for the Orix Buffaloes from 2011 to 2012. He returned to the Tigers as a battery coach in their system from 2013 to 2021, and he went to the Fighters in 2022.

Overall, Yamada hit .205/.247/.279 with 360 hits and 21 homers in 16 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan