Yoshizo Tanabe

Yoshizo Tanabe (田辺 義三)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 154 lb.

• High School Kiryu High School

• Born April 12, 1937 in Gunma Prefecture Japan
• Died September 12, 2018

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yoshizo Tanabe played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 8 years.

Tanabe signed with the Nishitetsu Lions in 1956, and he hit .128/.163/.160 in 73 games in his first season. He appeared in the 1964 Nippon Series Game 5, and it would be 56 years later before another rookie catcher straight from high school played in the Nippon Series (Kensuke Kondo in 2012). Tanabe went 1-for-11 in 1957, and he had a .221/.254/.353 batting line in 1958. He was then moved to the outfield (just as Kondo would be decades later), and he recorded a .292/.299/.406 batting line in 62 games in 1959. Tanabe played 84 games with a .244/.276/.353 batting line in 1960, and he slumped to .150/.190/.225 in 1961. He bounced back soon in 1962, and his batting line was .223/.265/.318 in 94 games. However, he was struck in the head by a ball hit by Koshiro Ito during batting practice on October 6, resulting in a traumatic brain injury. Tanabe missed the entire 1963 season, and he announced his retirement in 1964. The Lions paid him 2 million yen as the compensation of the accident.

Overall, Tanabe hit .219/.251/.312 with 151 hits and 10 homers in 8 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan