Keiichi Shibui

Keiichi Shibui (渋井 敬一)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 176 lb.

• High School Toin Gakuen High School

• Born August 29, 1959 in Yokohama, Kanagawa Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Keiichi Shibui played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 14 years.

Shibui was drafted by the Yakult Swallows in the 2nd round of the 1977 NPB draft, but he spent his first season primarily in the NPB Farm Leagues; he only got 7 appearances with the big club. He then played 32 games with a .219/.306/.281 batting line in 1979, and he hit .279/.324/.382 in 1980. Shibui slumped to .196/.238/.259 in 1981, then he had a .203/.220/.258 batting line in 1982. He only got 28 at-bats in 1983, and he batted .234/.320/.346 in 1984. Shibui then recorded a .239/.311/.313 in 1985.

The Yokohama native became Yakult's main backup shortstop in 1986, and he played 103 games with a .244/.291/.355 batting line as Takahiro Ikeyama and Shintaro Mizutani's defensive replacement. With his solid defense, Shibui was named Yakult's starting second baseman in 1987. He had a .198/.251/.275 batting line in 118 games, and he broke the Central League record with 35 sacrifice bunts in a season. He struggled again at the plate as his batting line was .206/.266/.280 in 1988, and he went 20-for-65 in 1989. Shibui only had 30 more at-bats before he announced his retirement in 1992, and he coached the Swallows from 1993 to 1994.

Overall, Shibui hit .220/.274/.301 with 318 hits and 21 homers in 14 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan