Shinnosuke Kataoka

Shinnosuke Kataoka (片岡 新之介)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 180 lb.

• School Shibaura Institute of Technology
• High School Kurashiki Technical High School

• Born November 5, 1947 in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Shinnosuke Kataoka played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 14 years.

Kataoka was called one of "the big four in Okayama" in high school along with Masaji Hiramatsu, Hiromu Matsuoka and Toshiaki Moriyasu. He was drafted by the Nishitetsu Lions in the 5th round of the 1969 NPB draft, and he hit .258/.300/.439 in 29 games in his first season. Kataoka played 111 games with a .232/.262/.364 batting line as Nishitetsu's starting catcher after Kimiyasu Murakami left in 1972, but he then slumped to .163/.204/.207 in 1973. Kataoka had a .193/.263/.290 batting line in 86 games in 1974, then he went 12-for-34 in 1975. The Lions then traded him with Hirokazu Kato to the Hanshin Tigers for Teruo Suzuki and Yutaka Saotome.

The Hiroshima native hit .286/.297/.444 in 63 games in 1976, and he had a .270/.341/.454 batting line in 70 games as the starting catcher after Koichi Tabuchi was injured in 1977. Kataoka batted .231/.302/.282 in 66 contests in 1978, and he collected 18 hits in 78 at-bats in 1979. He only played 19 games in 1980, and the Tigers traded him to the Hankyu Braves for Yuji Kasama. Kataoka improved to .302/.330/.375 in 1981 as a backup for Shinji Nakazawa, and he recorded a .320/.370/.340 batting line in 1982. He slumped to .239/.280/.423 in 1983, and he only got 7 more appearances before he announced his retirement in 1986. He was later the battery coach for the Hiroshima Carp from 1992 to 1993 and from 1999 to 2000, and he coached their minors team from 1987 to 1991, from 1994 to 1998 and from 2001 to 2003. Goko High School named him their coach in 2019.

Overall, Kataoka hit .239/.287/.350 with 344 hits and 36 homers in 14 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan