Toshikatsu Hikono

Toshikatsu Hikono (彦野 利勝)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 167 lb.
• High School Aichi High School

• Born October 12, 1964 in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Toshikatsu Hikono played in Nippon Pro Baseball from 1985 to 1998, his entire career being with the Chunichi Dragons of the Central League. He was a regular for a good part of that time and played in 965 games over the 14 seasons, hitting .264 with 65 homers.

Hikono was a pitcher in high school, taking part in the 1981 Summer Koshien and the 1982 Spring Koshien for Aichi High School. He moved to the outfield after being drafted by Chunichi in the 5th round of the 1982 NPB draft. Hikono stayed in the [NPB Farm League]]s in his first two seasons, and he was 3-for-6 in 1985. He went 5-for-21 in 1986, and he became one of Chunichi's starting outfielders in 1987, and he crushed 11 homers with a .254/.297/.434 batting line. Hikono extended his solid performance in 1988, and he blasted 15 homers with a .273/.344/.471 batting line. He was 6th in doubles in the Central League (25, tied with Carlos Ponce and Gary Rajsich), and he won his first NPB Gold Glove. He took part in the 1988 Nippon Series, which Chunichi lost to the Seibu Lions; he hit a home run to lead off Game 3 on October 25th, which was the first such homer in the series in 14 years, only to see his team lose the game, 4-3.

In 1989, Hikono hit a career-high 26 long balls and led the league with 83 runs scored. He was named MVP of the second All-Star Game on July 26th when he homered and scored twice in a 4-1 win by the Central League. Hikono also ranked 5th in homers, and he was named to the Best Nine for the only time of his career that season. He was voted a starter in the 1990 All-Star Game, largely thanks to his previous year's heroics, as he declined to .249 with 12 homers. On June 18, 1991, he hit a game-winning homer in the 10th inning against the Yokohama BayStars, but collapsed while rounding first base and had to be replaced by pinch-runner Koji Yamaguchi, who completed his trot around the bases. It was the first time in NPB history that a batter had to be replaced in the middle of circling the bases on a home run, and his injury turned out to be serious - a torn ligament in his right knee - costing him the remainder of that campaign and most of 1992.

Hikono returned in 1993, and he played 95 games with a .260/.351/.398 batting line. His last great season came in 1994, when he appeared in 118 games and batted .284, although by then his power was largely gone as he hit just 6 homers. He returned to the All-Star Game that year, and he was 2-for-4 with a homer against Yoshinori Sato in Game 2. Hikono was named the NPB Comeback Player of the Year. He started to lose playing time when he batted just .215 in 1995 and was a substitute for his final three seasons, although he did well with a .306 average mainly as a pinch-hitter in 1997, driving in 18 runs in the role. He played his last game on October 3, 1988, starting in center field one last time against the Hanshin Tigers in a game designated as his going-away party. He became a broadcaster after retiring, before returning to his old team as a hitting coach in 2012 and 2013. He later returned to broadcasting and started a youth baseball school

Overall, Hikono hit .264/.351/.423 with 669 hits and 85 homers in 14 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan