Mitsuo Sugano

Mitsuo Sugano (菅野 光夫)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 158 lb.

• High School Buso High School

• Born August 28, 1952 in Naka, Ibaraki Japan
• Died March 22, 2007

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Mitsuo Sugano played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 11 years.

Sugano played for Mitsubishi Kawasaki after high school. He was drafted by the Nippon Ham Fighters in the first round of the 1974 NPB draft, and he hit .163/.193/.163 in 75 games in 1975. He played 59 games with a .245/.308/.316 batting line in 1976, then he slumped to .185/.227/.220 in 1977. Sugano then recorded a .255/.327/.356 batting line in 1978, and he was voted into the 1978 NPB All-Star Game. However, he rejected the invitation under the advice of Nippon Ham president Osamu Mihara, and he never returned to the All-Star Game in his career. Sugano collected 18 steals with a .266/.329/.348 batting line as the starting second baseman for the Fighters in 1979. He was 8th in steals in the Pacific League that season, tied with Junichi Kashiwabara and Jack Maloof.

The Ibaraki native crushed a career-high 12 homers with a .228/.301/.374 batting line in 1980, but he slumped to .192/.259/.254 in 1981. Sugano still played in all 6 games of the 1981 Nippon Series, and he went 5-for-12 with 2 RBI. The Yomiuri Giants still beat the Fighters in 6 games. He hit .231/.309/.313 in 104 games in 1982, then he recorded a .238/.296/.310 batting line in 1983. However, Sugano struggled in 1984 as his batting line fell to .162/.205/.189, and he announced his retirement after he went 2-for-18 in 1985. He was the fielding coach for the Fighters from 1986 to 1999 and for their minor league team from 2000 to 2004.

Overall, Sugano hit .222/.285/.301 with 389 hits and 21 homers in 11 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan