(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
 Manager Hideki Kuriyami elected into Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame
Nederlands
  BUNKYŌ / TŌKYŌ (Japan) -
The Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame introduced one new member on Thursday (January 15).
The announcement was made in the Yakyū Dendō (Hall of Fame) of the Yakyū Taiiku Hakubutsukan (Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum), which is located in the Tōkyō Dōmu in Bunkyō, which is a special ward in the Tōkyō Metropolis.
The Tokyo Dome is the home-site of wellknown Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB)-club Yomiuri Giants.
...Hideki Kuriyami...
...Baseball Card 2023... |
The newest Hall of Famer is Manager Hideki Kuriyami.
No players received the required 75 percent of the votes in what was a very close election.
There also was no election on the 'Special Category' ballot.
In the 'Players Category', Masahiro Kawai fell short of election by only two votes!
This year, 23 players were on the ballot-list.
Players needed 256 votes to be elected into the Hall of Fame.
Kawai received 254 votes.
Kawai was a short stop, third baseman and second baseman for 23 years (1984-2006) in Nippon Pro Baseball, the first 20 with Yomiuri Giants, the final three with Chunichi Dragons.
Infielder Shinya Miyamoto, who played 19 seasons (1995-2013), all with Yakult Swallows, finished second with 232 votes.
Hideki Kuriyami was elected into the 'Expert Category'.
This category had 20 candidates, who needed 113 votes to be elected.
Kuriyami received 114.
There were ten candidates in 'Special Category', who needed eleven votes.
Two candidates received eight.
With the addition of Kuriyami, a total of 223 persons have now been elected into the Hall of Fame, which opened in 1959.
Players are eligible for the Japanese Hall of Fame five years after retirement.
It marked the first time since 1984 that only one person was elected.
Last year, three players and one umpire were elected into the Japanese Hall of Fame.
Ichiro Suzuki and Hitoki Iwase were elected in the 'Players Category', Masayuki Kakefu (also a player) in the 'Expert Category' and umpire Hiroya Tomizawa in the 'Special Category'.
Hideki Kuriyami played seven seasons (1984-1990) as outfielder for Yakult Swallows (494 games), but is more known as Manager.
He led Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in ten seasons (2012-2021), winning the Japan Series in 2016.
In 2023, Kuriyami was the Manager of the National (Professional) Team of Japan that won the World Baseball Classic.
In the Final in Miami, Florida (USA), Samurai Japan won 3-2 against the USA.
Kuriyami retired after the Classic and he currently is Chief Baseball Officer of Hokkaido.
Kuriyami was the mentor of two-way star-player Shohei Ohtani and was his only Manager in Nippon Professional Baseball.
Ohtani played in 2013-2017 for Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, with whom he won the Japan Series.
He then moved to the Major League, where he played for Los Angeles Angels in 2018-2023.
Since 2024, Ohtani plays for Los Angeles Dodgers.
In the 2023 Classic, he was the Most Valuable Player.
Kuriyama is the fourth of the five Managers who led Japan during a Classic, who now is a member of the Hall of Fame.
In 2006, Japan was led by Sadaharu Oh, in 2009 by Tatsunori Hara, in 2013 by Koji Yamamoto and in 2017 by Hiroki Kokubo.
In the upcoming Classic in March, Samurai Japan will be led by Hirokazu Ibata.
The legendary Oh already was elected in 1994.
Yamamoto, another legend, also already was a Hall of Famer before he led the Samurai Japan-team.
Yamamoto was elected in 2008.
Hara became a Hall of Famer in 2018.
(January 15)
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