Shigeru Sakamoto

Shigeru Sakamoto (坂本 茂)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 6", Weight 127 lb.

• High School The Third High School of Nihon University

• Born April 19, 1921 in Kita, Tokyo Japan
• Died February 8, 1989

BR register page

Biographical Information

Shigeru Sakamoto played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 7 years.

Sakamoto signed with the Tokyo Giants in 1941, and he hit .231/.333/.231 in his first season. He then recorded a .210/.300/.256 batting line with 4 triples in 1942, and he was 8th in runs in the Japanese Professional Baseball League (45, between Matsuichi Kunihisa and Seizo Furukawa). Sakamoto struggled again in 1943 as his batting line was .205/.291/.208 with 30 steals, and he was 4th in steals (between Michinori Tsubouchi and Fujio Ueda). He was 14-for-68 in 1946, and he played for the Otsuka Athletics of the Kyomin Baseball League in 1947. Sakamoto returned to NPB when the JPBL split into two leagues in 1950, and he went 7-for-22 for the Kintetsu Buffaloes. He crushed the first sayonara grand slam of the Pacific League on November 20 against Tokuji Kawasaki. He collected 38 steals with a .260/.347/.302 batting line in 1951, but he also led the league with 21 caught stealing. Sakamoto was 6th in runs (between Shoshichi Ito and Shosei Go) and 4th in steals (between Kazuo Kageyama and Furukawa. He played 64 games with a .252/.324/.276 batting line in 1952, and he announced his retirement. Ito then became an umpire for the Pacific League from 1961 to 1976, and he worked the 1969 NPB All-Star Game.

Overall, Sakamoto hit .231/.320/.265 with 272 hits, 96 steals and 2 homers in 7 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan