Michihiro Ogasawara
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's Baseball | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | Athens 2004 | Team Competition | |
Michihiro Ogasawara (小笠原 道大?) (born October 25, 1973 in Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan) is a professional baseball player for the Yomiuri Giants and formerly of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters from 1997 to 2006.
[edit] Career
The first baseman has driven in 100 RBIs 3 times in his career, including leading the Pacific League in 2006 with 100. He won the Pacific League Batting title in 2003 with a .360 Average. He helped the Fighters make the playoffs in 2004, but fell to the Seibu Lions in round 1 in 3 games, though Ogasawara had 2 home runs in the series. He also participated in the 2004 Olympic Summer Games in Athens, Greece. Ogasawara participated in the World Baseball Classic in 2006 for Japan, helping them win the tournament. He even homered from Esteban Loaiza against Mexico at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Ogasawara helped the Fighters win their first Pacific League Pennant since 1981, sweeping the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks to reach the Japan Series against the Chunichi Dragons. Ogasawara won the MVP of the Pacific League in 2006.
Ogasawara finally shed the label of best player on a bad team when he helped the FIghters win their first title since 1962 over Chunichi in 5 Games to finally win his first Japan Series title.
He agreed to a 4 year, 380 million yen deal with the Yomiuri Giants in the offseason of 2006.
[edit] Trivia
In the off-season, Ogasawara runs sightseeing business for a village in Ogasawara Islands.
