Kiyoshi Watanabe

Kiyoshi Watanabe (渡辺 清)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 158 lb.

• School Senshu University
• High School Tobata High School

• Born November 30, 1932 in Fukuoka Prefecture Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kiyoshi Watanabe played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 7 years.

Watanabe signed with the Hankyu Braves in 1955, and he hit .303/.359/.424 with 33 steals in his first season. He was 5th in batting in the Pacific League (between Tokuji Iida and Hiroshi Oshita), 3rd in triples (between Shoichi Busujima and Bunjiro Sakamoto) and 7th in steals (tied with Teruyuki Takakura). Watanabe then hit .248/.308/.344 with 7 triples in 1956, and he tied Yoji Tamatsukuri and Tadashi Hyodo for 10th in triples. Watanabe crushed the 10,000th home run in NPB history on July 19, 1957 against the Kintetsu Buffaloes, and he hit for a cycle in the same game. He ended up hitting .248/.329/.366 that season, and he was 2nd in steals (14 behind Akiteru Kono). Watanabe recorded a .251/.329/.305 batting line in 1958, and he slumped to .156/.254/.221 in 1959. He jumped to the Taiyo Whales after that season, but he struggled again in 1960 as his batting line was .212/.296/.288. He went 4-for-14 in the 1960 Nippon Series, and the Whales swept the Daimai Orions. Watanabe was 4-for-29 in 1961, and he announced his retirement.

Overall, Watanabe hit .248 .319/.343 with 476 hits, 142 steals and 19 homers in 7 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan