Ko Saito

Ko Saito (斉藤 巧)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 176 lb.

• High School Sumoto Industrial High School

• Born November 25, 1957 in Minamiawaji, Hyogo Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Ko Saito played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 14 years.

Saito was drafted by the Taiyo Whales in the 4th round of the 1975 NPB draft, and he spent his first four seasons primarily in the NPB Farm Leagues; he only got 8 at-bats combined for the big club. He was a backup third baseman behind Tomio Tashiro in 1980, and he hit .273/.317/.377 in 52 games. Saito then played 98 games with a .233/.279/.305 batting line in 1981, but he went 1-for-19 in 1982. The Whales then traded him to the Lotte Orions for Leon Lee, and he went 0-for-9 in 1983. Saito struggled again in 1984 as his batting line was .197/.237/.394, and he was turned into a catcher.

The Awaji native hit .245/.255/.283 in 44 games as backup catcher behind Hidetoshi Hakamada in 1985, and he crushed a career-high 6 homers with a .288/.337/.420 batting line in 1986. Saito recorded a .277/.322/.411 batting line in 82 games in 1987, and he batted .263/.306/.333 in 1988. However, he slumped to .218/.247/.282 in 1989, and he was released after he went 8-for-40 in 1990. Saito signed with the Orix BlueWave, and he announced his retirement after he went 1-for-11 in 1991. He was the battery coach for the BlueWave from 1993 to 1994 and for their minors team from 1995 to 1998.

Overall, Saito hit .246/.289/.346 with 268 hits and 19 homers in 14 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan