Takuya Kimura (baseball)
Encyclopedia
was a Japanese
baseball
player for the Yomiuri Giants
. He previously played for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp
before being traded to the Giants in 2006. He played for the Giants through the 2009 season before retiring as a player, returning to the Giants for 2010 in a coaching capacity.
Kimura was born in Miyazaki, Miyazaki
, Japan
. He joined the Nippon Ham Fighters from outside the amateur draft in 1990 after graduating from high school, and went on to become the leading utility player in Japanese baseball. His solid hitting, speed, and strong arm made him a valuable offensive and defensive player. He played games at every single position except pitcher, catching four games in the 1999 season. He played first base for one game in 1998. He was registered as an outfielder, but played more games in the infield in recent years. In 2004, he was recruited for the Athens Olympics
for his skills as a utility player.
He had the same name as Takuya Kimura
of the popular Japanese pop group, SMAP
. He once made an appearance on the television show SMAP×SMAP
, hosted by his namesake.
On April 2, 2010 at Hiroshima's Mazda Stadium preceding a game against the Hiroshima Toyo Carp
, Kimura was hitting practice knocks to infielders when he suddenly collapsed and was rushed to hospital in a coma
. He was diagnosed with subarachnoid hemorrhage
and died in Hiroshima
, Japan
on April 7, 2010. He died just eight days before his 38th birthday.
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 for the Yomiuri Giants
Yomiuri Giants
The are a professional baseball team based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. The team competes in the Central League in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top level of professional play in Japan. They play their home games in the Tokyo Dome, opened in 1988. The English-language press occasionally calls the...
. He previously played for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp
Hiroshima Toyo Carp
The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Central League. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda. Mazda is the largest single shareholder , which is less than the portion owned by the Matsuda family . Because of that,...
before being traded to the Giants in 2006. He played for the Giants through the 2009 season before retiring as a player, returning to the Giants for 2010 in a coaching capacity.
Kimura was born in Miyazaki, Miyazaki
Miyazaki, Miyazaki
is the capital city of Miyazaki Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū in Japan. Located on the coast and perforated by several rivers, Miyazaki City enjoys scenic views of both ocean and nearby, verdant mountains...
, 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...
. He joined the Nippon Ham Fighters from outside the amateur draft in 1990 after graduating from high school, and went on to become the leading utility player in Japanese baseball. His solid hitting, speed, and strong arm made him a valuable offensive and defensive player. He played games at every single position except pitcher, catching four games in the 1999 season. He played first base for one game in 1998. He was registered as an outfielder, but played more games in the infield in recent years. In 2004, he was recruited for the Athens Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
for his skills as a utility player.
He had the same name as Takuya Kimura
Takuya Kimura
, nicknamed , is a Japanese singer and actor. He is also a member of the Japanese idol group SMAP. Most of the TV dramas he starred in produced high ratings in Japan...
of the popular Japanese pop group, SMAP
SMAP
SMAP is a Japanese boy band formed by Johnny & Associates. While originally consisting of six members, the current group members are Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori...
. He once made an appearance on the television show SMAP×SMAP
SMAP×SMAP
SMAP×SMAP is an ongoing weekly Japanese variety show on Kansai TV and Fuji TV starring the members of SMAP. The show began on April 15, 1996 and it airs from 22:00 to 22:54 every Monday...
, hosted by his namesake.
On April 2, 2010 at Hiroshima's Mazda Stadium preceding a game against the Hiroshima Toyo Carp
Hiroshima Toyo Carp
The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Central League. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda. Mazda is the largest single shareholder , which is less than the portion owned by the Matsuda family . Because of that,...
, Kimura was hitting practice knocks to infielders when he suddenly collapsed and was rushed to hospital in a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
. He was diagnosed with subarachnoid hemorrhage
Subarachnoid hemorrhage
A subarachnoid hemorrhage , or subarachnoid haemorrhage in British English, is bleeding into the subarachnoid space—the area between the arachnoid membrane and the pia mater surrounding the brain...
and died in Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
, 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...
on April 7, 2010. He died just eight days before his 38th birthday.