Masahiko Morino

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Masahiko Morino (森野 将彦) (Mr. 3-Run)

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Biographical Information[edit]

Masahiko Morino is an infielder-outfielder for the Chunichi Dragons who is on Japan's team for the 2008 Olympics. He is nicknamed "Mister 3-Run" for his tendency to hit 3-run shots.

Morino was a second-round draft pick by Chunichi in the 1996 NPB draft. He hit .136/.136/.318 in 13 games in 1997 and spent the next two years at ni-gun. He returned to Chunichi for 28 contests in 2000, hitting .156/.152/.333 and 40 in 2001 (.190/.203/.241). Morino began seeing some regular time in 2002 as a utility infielder; his main role was filling in at second base when Masahiro Araki played the outfield. He hit .225/.285/.366 in 84 games. In 2003, he batted .271/.308/.400, playing at least 10 games at each infield spot. He appeared mostly at shortstop, backing up Hirokazu Ibata.

The Yokohama native hit .272/.326/.407 in 80 games in 2004, playing first base and left field primarily and seeing a fair amount of action as a pinch-hitter. In 2005, he split time between third base and left field, alternating with Kazuyoshi Tatsunami at third and Tatsunami and Kazuki Inoue in left. He hit .268/.318/.422 that season. Morino rotated between third and second in 2006, playing more games at the hot corner than any other Dragons player. Tatsunami played third when Morino was at second in place of Araki. He cost Masahiro Yamamoto a perfect game on September 16 when he had an error in a walk-free, hit-free game by Yamamoto. He hit .280/.321/.395 in the regular season and .294/.333/.353 in the 2006 Japan Series.

Morino hit 5th for the 2007 Dragons, playing left field, third base and second base. He had his best year to that point, hitting .294/.366/.458 with 75 runs, 97 RBI, 29 doubles, 18 home runs and 59 walks. He was 8th in the Central League in hits (156), tied Yoshinobu Takahashi and Seung-yeop Lee for 7th in doubles, was 6th in RBI and 10th in OBP. He hit .308/.476/.615 with 6 walks, a homer, 2 sacrifice flies and 4 RBI in the 2007 Japan Series to help Chunichi to its first Japan Series title in 53 years. Only Norihiro Nakamura had a higher OPS for the Dragons in the Series. Morino went 0 for 3 with a walk and a run in the 2007 Asian Championship as Japan won a spot in the 2008 Olympics; he remained on the Japanese national team roster for the Beijing Games. Morino struggled in Beijing, going just 2 for 18 with a run and a RBI in the 8 games, being used as Japan's primary left fielder. In Japan's 5-3 loss to South Korea, Morino pinch-hit for Tomoya Satozaki with 2 outs in the 9th and two men in scoring position but grounded out against Tae-hyon Chong. He ended up hitting .321/.394/.556 in 2008, and he was 5th in batting (between Shuichi Murata and Kazuki Fukuchi).

In 2009, Morino extended his solid performance, and he crushed 23 homers with a .289/.377/.504 batting line. He led the league with 42 doubles, and he was 10th in homers (tied with Kenta Kurihara), 8th in hits (158, between Michihiro Ogasawara and Masahiro Araki), 2nd in RBI (109, 1 behind his teammate Tony Blanco) and 5th in runs (83, between Takashi Toritani and Araki). Morino was selected into the 2010 NPB All-Star Game, and he went 4-for-5 with a double in Game 1 and 1-for-2 in Game 2. He played all 144 games with a solid .327/.399/.537 batting line in 2010, and he won his only Best Nine award as a third baseman. Morino led the league in doubles again (45), and he was 4th in hits (179, between Seiichi Uchikawa and Takahiro Arai) and 5th in batting (between Kazuhiro Wada and Uchikawa).

Morino slumped to .232/.321/.329 in 2011, and he struggled again in 2012 as he only hit .249/.327/.348 with 6 homers. Morino crushed 16 homers with a .286/.369/.461 batting line in 2013, and he recorded a .288/.370/.432 batting line in 2014. He was 5th in RBI (84, between Tetsuto Yamada and Matt Murton), and he won his only NPB Gold Glove as a first baseman. Morino hit .262/.378/.301 in 2015, and he only played 68 games with a .268/.388/.331 batting line in 2016. He was 10-for-41 in 2017, and he announced his retirement. Morino later became the minor league batting coach for the Dragons in 2018, and he was their top team batting coach from 2022 to 2023. He was demoted to the minors in 2024, and he returned to the big club in 2025.

Overall, Morino hit .277/.351/.427 with 1,581 hits and 165 homers in 19 seasons in NPB. As of 2024, he was tied with Nobuhiro Matsuda for 60th in doubles in NPB history.

Sources[edit]

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