Koji Yamamoto (baseball) - Career

Career

After graduating from high school in Hiroshima, Yamamoto was admitted to Hosei University 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 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 as of 2010. He was the home run leader of 1978, 1980, 1981 and 1983 seasons, and the RBI winner between 1979 and 1981. He was also awarded the Mitsui Golden Glove Award 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.

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