is a former Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 player and manager of the Hiroshima Carp of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

's Central League

Central League

The or is one the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consists of six teams from around the country,The Central League...

. A four-time home run king having played for Hiroshima Carp throughout his career, Yamamoto contributed to the team winning five league championships including its first-ever in 1975, and three titles of Japan Series

Japan Series

, or is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a seven-game series between the winning clubs of the league's two circuits, the Central League and the Pacific League....

 in 1979, 1980 and 1984. He recorded over 40 home run

Home run

In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

s for five years in a row from 1977. He is known as the , nicknamed after Hiroshima Carp's symbolic red colored helmet.

Yamamoto managed Hiroshima Carp twice, between 1989 and 1993, and later between 2001 and 2005. He led the team to win Central League championship in 1991. He was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame

Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame

The Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a Museum which includes a library, reference rooms and Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame ....

 in 2008, and is a member of the Meikyukai

Meikyukai

is one of the two Japanese baseball halls of fame . The Meikyukai is a company ltd. for public benefit.It was founded on July 24, 1978, to honor players born during the Shōwa period...

, or the "Golden Players Club."

Career

After graduating from high school in Hiroshima, Yamamoto was admitted to Hosei University

Hosei University

is a private university based in Tokyo, Japan.The university originated in a school of law, Tōkyō Hōgakusha , established in 1880, and the following year renamed Tōkyō Hōgakkō . This was from 1883 headed by Dr. Gustave Emile Boissonade, and was heavily influenced by the French legal tradition...

 in 1965. Although he originally joined its baseball club as a pitcher, he was later converted to outfielder by the team manager who saw higher potential in Yamamoto at bat. Thus he came to be known as the "Hosei Trio", together with Kōichi Tabuchi

Koichi Tabuchi

is a Japanese former professional baseball player, manager, and commentator.Tabuchi played for the Hanshin Tigers as catcher between 1969 and 1978, where his combination with pitcher Yutaka Enatsu was called the "Golden Battery"...

 and Masaru Tomita. Yamamoto was drafted first round by Hiroshima Carp in 1968. He began to exhibit his talent as an average and long range hitter in 1975, with which he contributed to the Carp mark its first league championship in its history, ending the season at .319 (leading hitter of the year) with 30 home runs. Starting 1977, he logged over 40 home runs for five consecutive years, which is in Japan a record paralleled only by Sadaharu Oh

Sadaharu Oh

Sadaharu Oh, or Wang Chenchih , is a retired Japanese-Taiwanese baseball player and manager. He batted and threw left-handed and primarily played first base. Oh, who was born in Sumida, Tokyo the son of a Taiwanese father and a Japanese mother, had originally signed with the powerhouse Yomiuri...

 as of 2010. He was the home run leader of 1978, 1980, 1981 and 1983 seasons, and the RBI

Run batted in

Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...

 winner between 1979 and 1981. He was also awarded the Mitsui Golden Glove Award

Mitsui Golden Glove Award

The Mitsui Golden Glove Award, sponsored by Japan's Mitsui Group, is annually awarded to nine fielders in Japan's professional baseball leagues by the Nippon Professional Baseball Association. The players are selected based on votes by TV, radio, and newspaper journalists with over 5 years...

 for ten consecutive years from 1972. Together with his number 8, Yamamoto retired from playing for the Carp in 1986, when the team won the league championship but lost Japan Series for the Seibu Lions

Seibu Lions

The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based west of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Prince Hotels, which in turn is owned by the Seibu Group...

.

Manegerial career

Spending several years as a baseball analyst for NHK

NHK

NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....

, Yamamoto returned to Hiroshima Carp as its manager in 1989. He finished the first two years in second place, then took the team to win the Central League pennant in 1991. In 1993, however, he resigned from his post after delivering the team the last place in the league which it had not seen since 1974. He was asked to direct the Carp once again in 2001, although he never finished better than fourth place in the first year, then in fifth for the following three years, and finally in last place in 2005 when he left the squadron once again.

Other records and data

• 1st play on April 12, 1969.
• 1st hit on April 13, 1969
• 1st home run on May 14, 1969.
• Hitting for the cycle
  Hitting for the cycle
  In baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter hitting a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are uncommon in Major League Baseball , occurring 293 times since the first by Curry...
  
   (April 30, 1983).
• MVP
  Most Valuable Player
  In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...
  
   in the Japanese Central League (1975 and 1980).
• Best nine of the year (1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1986).
• Japan All-star game
  All-star game
  An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league, except in the circumstances of professional sports systems in which a democratic voting system is used...
  
   (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986)
• Hiroshima
  Hiroshima Prefecture
  is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshu island. The capital is the city of Hiroshima.- History :The area around Hiroshima was formerly divided into Bingo Province and Aki Province. This location has been a center of trade and culture since the beginning of Japan's recorded...
  
   Prefectural Prize of Honour (1987).
• 536 HR, 1475 RBI
  Run batted in
  Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...
  
  , 2339 H
  Hit (baseball)
  In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....
  
   and 231 SB
  Stolen base
  In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate...
  
  

Statistics as a player

Year	Team	No. Squad number In team sports, the squad number, shirt number, jersey number, sweater number, uniform number or simply a number is the number worn on a player's uniform, to identify and distinguish each player from others wearing the same or similar uniforms...	GP Games played Games played is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated ; the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested.-Baseball:In baseball, the statistic applies also to players who, prior to a game,...	AB At bat In baseball, an at bat or time at bat is used to calculate certain statistics, including batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. It is a more restricted definition of a plate appearance...	R Run (baseball) In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...	H Single (baseball) In baseball, a single is the most common type of base hit, accomplished through the act of a batter safely reaching first base by hitting a fair ball and getting to first base before a fielder puts him out...	2H Double (baseball) In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....	3H Triple (baseball) In baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base after hitting the ball, with neither the benefit of a fielder's misplay nor another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....	HR Home run In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...	RBI Run batted in Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...	TB Total bases In baseball statistics, total bases refers to the number of bases a player has gained with hits, i.e., the sum of his hits weighted by 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run.Only bases attained from hits count toward this total....	BB Base on balls A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...	SB Stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate...	CS Caught stealing In baseball, a runner is charged, and the fielders involved are credited, with a time caught stealing when the runner attempts to advance or lead off from one base to another without the ball being batted and then is tagged out by a fielder while making the attempt...	SH Sacrifice hit In baseball, a sacrifice bunt is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball in a manner that allows a runner on base to advance to another base. The batter is almost always sacrificed but sometimes reaches base due to an error or fielder's choice...	BA Batting average Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...	Titles
	Hiroshima	27	120	366	38	88	20	1	12	40	146	23	9	5	8	.240
	Hiroshima	27	128	461	67	112	8	4	22	56	194	41	21	12	4	.243
	Hiroshima	8	123	431	42	108	19	0	10	52	157	39	25	10	4	.251
	Hiroshima	8	130	485	73	125	27	0	25	66	227	52	18	11	10	.258	Gold Glove Award Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in both the National League and the American League , as voted by the...
	Hiroshima	8	126	449	68	121	24	1	19	46	204	59	10	12	12	.269	Gold Glove Award
	Hiroshima	8	127	476	74	131	23	2	28	74	242	41	18	6	8	.275	Gold Glove Award
	Hiroshima	8	130	451	86	144	21	0	30	84	255	67	24	1	9	.319	MVP Most Valuable Player In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests... , Best 9, Gold Glove Award, League Champion
	Hiroshima	8	129	464	79	136	26	3	23	62	237	62	14	3	7	.293	Gold Glove Award
	Hiroshima	8	130	448	102	138	24	4	44	113	302	94	22	0	4	.308	Best 9, Gold Glove Award
	Hiroshima	8	130	473	114	153	28	0	44	112	313	84	12	0	4	.323	HR Home run In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...  Leader, Best 9, Gold Glove Award
	Hiroshima	8	130	467	90	137	20	0	42	113	283	81	15	0	5	.293	RBI winner, Best 9, Gold Glove Award, League Champion, Japan Series Champion
	Hiroshima	8	130	440	91	148	28	3	44	112	314	87	14	0	12	.336	RBI winner, MVP, HR Leader, Best 9, Gold Glove Award, League Champion, Japan Series Champion
	Hiroshima	8	130	473	102	156	21	0	43	103	306	73	5	0	3	.330	RBI winner, HR Leader, Best 9, Gold Glove Award
	Hiroshima	8	130	448	84	137	21	0	30	90	248	87	8	0	3	.306	Best 9
	Hiroshima	8	129	462	86	146	19	2	36	101	277	85	5	0	6	.316	HR Leader, Best 9
	Hiroshima	8	123	437	64	128	15	0	33	94	242	64	5	0	4	.293	Best 9, League Champion, Japan Series Champion
	Hiroshima	8	113	387	57	110	15	1	24	79	199	71	2	0	2	.288
	Hiroshima	8	126	439	48	121	13	0	27	78	215	58	4	0	2	.276	Best 9, League Champion
TOTALS		-	2284	8052	1365	2339	372	21	536	1475	4361	1168	231	48	119	.290	-

Statistics as a manager

Year	Team	Ranking Ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either 'ranked higher than', 'ranked lower than' or 'ranked equal to' the second....	G	W Win (baseball) In professional baseball, there are two types of decisions: a win and a loss . In each game, one pitcher on the winning team is awarded a win and one pitcher on the losing team is given a loss in their respective statistics. These pitchers are collectively known as the pitchers of record. Only...	L	D Tie (draw) To tie or draw is to finish a competition with identical or inconclusive results. The word "tie" is usually used in North America for sports such as American football. "Draw" is usually used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations and it is usually used for sports such as...	AVG	HR Home run In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...	BA Batting average Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...	ERA Earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...	Titles
	Hiroshima	2nd	130	73	51	6	.589	101	.271	3.01
	Hiroshima	2nd	132	66	64	2	.508	140	.267	3.57
	Hiroshima	1st	132	74	56	2	.569	88	.254	3.23	League Champion
	Hiroshima	4th	130	66	64	0	.508	122	.260	3.60
	Hiroshima	6th	131	53	77	1	.408	155	.253	4.29
	Hiroshima	4th	140	68	65	7	.511	155	.269	3.82
	Hiroshima	5th	140	64	72	4	.471	154	.259	4.35
	Hiroshima	5th	140	67	71	2	.486	153	.259	4.23
	Hiroshima	5th	138	60	77	1	.438	187	.276	4.75
	Hiroshima	6th	146	58	84	4	.408	184	.275	4.80

External links

• THE GOLDEN PLAYERS CLUB (Japanese)
• NPB History (Japanese)