Osamu Hirose

Osamu Hirose (広瀬 宰)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 154 lb.

• School Tokyo University of Agriculture
• High School Saiki Honan High School

• Born February 20, 1947 in Saiki, Oita Japan
• Died September 9, 1999

BR register page

Biographical Information

Osamu Hirose played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 13 years.

Hirose was drafted by the Lotte Orions in the 2nd round of the 1968 NPB draft, and he was named Lotte's starting shortstop as a rookie. He hit .177/.197/.226 in 113 games in 1969, and he struggled again in 1970 so Keisuke Senda took his spot. Hirose only played 58 games with a .192/.234/.274 batting line that season, and he crushed 5 homers with a .246/.297/.349 batting line in 114 games in 1971. Hirose batted .235/.286/.389 in 1972, and the Orions traded him to the Chunichi Dragons for Takumi Ejima. He then recorded a .194/.236/.250 batting line in 87 games in 1973, and he played 125 games with a .229/.258/.308 batting line in 1974. Hirose went 5-for-14 in the 1974 Nippon Series with a homer against Masaaki Kitaru in Game 2, and the Dragons lost to the Orions in 6 games.

The Oita native hit .241/.274/.354 with 5 homers in 1975, and the Dragons traded him with Shinsaburo Tsuboi to the Taiheiyo Club Lions for Kunizo Umeda. Hirose recorded a .212/.247/.271 batting line in 1976, and he improved to .273/.334/.351 with 4 homers in 1977. However, his batting line fell to .196/.232/.203 in 1978, and he batted .233/.267/.313 in 1979. Hirose had a .208/.269/.292 batting line in 1980, and he announced his retirement after he went 4-for-23 in 1981. He was a minor league fielding coach for the Lions from 1982 to 1992, and he scouted for them in 1993. He also coached for the 1987 San Jose Bees and 1988 San Jose Giants, when the Lions sent some players to the US.

Overall, Hirose hit .224/.265/.304 with 564 hits and 35 homers in 13 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan