Yukio Osada

Yukio Osada (長田 幸雄)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 10", Weight 189 lb.

• High School Yoshida High School

• Born February 24, 1939 in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yukio Osada played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 16 years.

Osada signed with the Taiyo Whales in 1961, and he hit .228/.291/.341 in his first season. He crushed 5 homers with a .252/.290/.371 batting line in 1962, and he improved to .277/.351/.449 with 8 homers in 1963. Osada then recorded a .297/.356/.412 batting line with 8 homers in 1964, and he tied Toshio Naka for 10th in doubles in the Central League. He crushed 9 homers with a .288/.346/.401 batting line in 1965, and he was 6th in batting (between Shigeo Nagashima and Akihito Kondo). Osada recorded a .245/.289/.349 batting line in 1966, and the Whales offered him to the Hiroshima Carp in order to get Kiyoshi Oishi. The Carp refused and sent Oishi to the Hankyu Braves for Yataro Oishi.

The Yamanashi native blasted 16 homers with a .269/.315/.478 batting line in 1967, and he hit .252/.311/.477 with 14 homers in 1968. He set the CL record by hitting a homer in five consecutive games, the fifth coming on June 13, 1968 (broken by Sadaharu Oh in 1972). Osada suffered from injuries in 1969, and he was mainly used as pinch-hitter. He was 20-for-86 that season, and he hit .282/.341/.390 in 1970. Osada had a .263/.344/.343 batting line in 1971, and he batted .276/.343/.316 in 1972. He went 10-for-42 in 1973, and he only had a 9-for-43 record in 1974. Osada hit .262/.295/.369 in 70 games in 1975, but he went 1-for-15 in 1976 and he announced his retirement. His 122 hits as a pinch-hitter is the most for a Taiyo/Yokohama BayStars player, and he was 7th in NPB as of June 2025 (behind Takao Miyakawa, Shinjiro Hiyama, Itsuki Asai, Kenji Awaguchi, Yonetoshi Kawamata and Yukio Fujinami).

Overall, Osada hit .266/.323/.400 with 802 hits and 78 homers in 16 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan