Tetsuya Katahira

Tetsuya Katahira (片平 哲也)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 182 lb.

• High School Choshi Commercial High School

• Born October 3, 1967 in Aizu Wakamatsu, Fukushima Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Tetsuya Katahira was a second-round draft pick of the Chunichi Dragons in the 1985 NPB draft. He debuted in Nippon Pro Baseball in 1987, hitting an impressive .393/.419/.571 with 10 RBI in 28 at-bats. That didn't convince them to give him more of a role in 1988, when he was 1 for 3. The Dragons then traded him with Shingo Motomura to the Hiroshima Carp for Hiroyuki Saito and Mitsuhiro Kataoka In 1989, Katahira was farmed out to the USA's Peninsula Pilots, batting .216/.250/.267 in 70 games; his numbers actually compare fairly well to some of his outfield mates on a weak squad. He wasn't the only Japanese player on the team as Koichi Ogata and Wataru Adachi were present. Katahira returned to Japan in 1990, going 3 for 13 in 11 games. He retired the next year.

Overall, Tetsuya had hit .341/.362/.455 in his 48 plate appearances in NPB, but his US numbers indicate this might have been a fluke, explaining his limited opportunities.

Sources

• 1990 Baseball Almanac
• Japan Baseball Daily by Gary Garland