Toru Hosokawa

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Toru Hosokawa (細川 亨)
(Kiyoshi)

BR register page

Biographical Information[edit]

Toru Hosokawa caught in Nippon Pro Baseball for 19 years.

Hosokawa got his nickname, Kiyoshi, due to his resemblance to a singer named Kiyoshi Hikawa. Hosokawa uses one of Hikawa's songs as his intro when he comes to the plate. He was a second-round draft pick in 2002 NPB draft, taken by the Seibu Lions, and he was 0 for 4 as a rookie. In 2003, Toru split catching duties with long-time starter Tsutomu Ito; he hit .200/.243/.349 with 64 strikeouts in 195 AB. His first hit was on April 2 against Masato Yoshii and his first homer was 19 days later against Dae-sung Koo.

Despite his struggles as a rookie, Hosokawa was Seibu's best option for 2004 as Ito had retired. Toru hit .217/.281/.396 with promising power (21 2B, 11 HR in 313 AB) but continued to strike out way too often (104 times). He was 6th in the Pacific League in strikeouts despite his relatively low number of at-bats. He laid down 23 sacrifice hits, second in the PL to Eiji Mizuguchi. On April 4, he hit for the cycle; he had his only triple of the year on that date. He was 1 for 12 with 6 strikeouts in the 2004 Japan Series, and the Lions beat the Chunichi Dragons in 7 games.

Hosokawa batted .194/.271/.325 in 113 games in 2005, striking out in 86 of 289 AB and leading the league with 7 passed balls. On the other hand, he also led with 27 sacrifices. In 2006, Toru remained under the Mendoza line with a .199/.252/.335 batting clip and 68 Ks in 266 AB. On the other hand, he improved significantly defensively, throwing out a league-best 46.9% of attempted base-stealers after only 25% in '05. In 2007, Hosokawa improved to .239/.288/.366 and threw out 40.5% of attempted base-stealers, again leading the PL.

The Aomori native showed improved power in 2008, hitting .238/.263/.411 with 16 homers. He struck out 129 times (4th in the PL) and led the league with 8 passed balls. He made his only PL All-Star team, and he was 0-for-2 in the 2008 NPB All-Star Game 2. Hosokawa also won his first Gold Glove and made the Best Nine at catcher. In the 2008 Japan Series, Hosokawa was 2-for-13 and the Lions beat the Yomiuri Giants in 7 games. Seibu went on to win the 2008 Asia Series. Hosokawa suffered from right shoulder injury in 2009, so he only played 46 games with a .176/.222/.343 batting line. He returned in 2010, and he hit .191/.255/.321 in 112 games. Hosokawa threw out a league-best 46.9% of attempted base-stealers, and he announced that he would become a free agent after that season.

The Softbank Hawks signed him with a 4-year contract, and he played 97 games with a .201/.230/.256 batting line. Hosokawa again won the Best Nine and Gold Glove, and he never won these two awards again before he retired. He was 0-for-3 in the first two games of the 2012 Nippon Series, and he crushed a solo shot against Yoshihiro Suzuki with a 3-for-4 record in Game 3. He was 1-for-11 in the rest of the series, and the Hawks beat the Dragons in 7 games. Hosokawa struggled at the plate again as his batting line was .194/.265/.313, and he crushed 5 homers with a .190/.234/.287 batting line in 2014. He was 2-for-16 in the 2014 Nippon Series, and the Hawks beat the Hanshin Tigers in 5 games.

Hosokawa suffered from right hand injury in 2015, so he only played 59 games with a .116/.190/.168 batting line. He hit .226/.280/.280 in 49 games in 2016, and the Hawks released him. Hosokawa then signed with the Rakuten Golden Eagles, and he was 2-for-20 in 2017. He only got 2 at-bats in 2018, and he was released again. The Chiba Lotte Marines signed him, but Hosokawa only had 7 more at-bats before he announced his retirement in 2020. The Hawks named him their minor league battery coach in 2025.

Overall, Hosokawa hit .203/.254/.328 with 680 hits and 84 homers in 19 seasons in NPB. As of 2024, he was 9th in sacrifice bunts with 296, between Hiromasa Arai and Makoto Kaneko.

Sources[edit]

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