Susumu Aoyagi

Susumu Aoyagi (青柳 進)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 167 lbs.

• High School Nishi Nippon Junior College High School

• Born July 9, 1968 in Kurume, Fukuoka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Susumu Aoyagi played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 13 years.

Aoyagi was drafted by the Lotte Orions in the 3rd round of the 1986 NPB draft, but he only played 9 games combined in his first three seasons because the Orions already had Hidetoshi Hakamada. The next season, he set a record with a 1.000 fielding percentage at catcher, hitting .227/.327/.387 and shared the starting catcher spot with Yoichi Fukuzawa. He was at .222/.289/.292 offensively in 1991 then .245/.307/.385 in 1992, when he set career highs in games (107), at-bats (322), home runs (9), runs (38) and RBI (41). In 1993, he fell to .223/.270/.341. He was 19 for 76 with 3 doubles, 2 homers and 3 walks in a reduced role in 1994.

Aoyagi was then traded to the Yakult Swallows for Naoyuki Naito and spent his final seven seasons backing up superstar Atsuya Furuta. As such, he almost never played. He was 1 for 5 in 1995 and pinch-ran once in the 1995 Japan Series (in which Yakult beat the Orix BlueWave. In 1996, he was 6 for 32 with 4 walks and a double. He was 8 for 27 with 3 doubles and a walk in 1997. He did not play in the 1997 Japan Series as the Swallows topped the Seibu Lions. The veteran was 2 for 23 in 1998. He hit .309/.324/.559 in 71 plate appearances in 1999, driving in 21 in 68 at-bats. In 2000, he was 8 for 44 with 3 doubles and 6 walks. He was 0 for 1 to end his career in 2002.

Overall, Aoyagi hit .232/.294/.358 with 278 hits and 26 homers in 13 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan