Sachio Kinugasa

Sachio Kinugasa

Hiroshima Carp - No.3

Bats: Right

Throws: Right

Career

1965-1987

Nickname

Tetsu-jin (Iron Man)

Sachio Kinugasa (衣笠祥雄, Kinugasa Sachio^?), (born January 18, 1947) is a former Japanese baseball player of the Hiroshima Carp of Japan's Central League.

He is known as the "Iron Man" of Japanese baseball.

Kinugasa played primarily third base for the Hiroshima Carp and from October 18, 1970 to October 22, 1987, he did not miss a game, totalling 2,215 consecutive games played. He held the world record (over the more-commonly recognized American Major League record of 2,130 consecutive games set by Lou Gehrig) until Cal Ripken, Jr. broke the record on June 14, 1996.

Aside from the consecutive games record, Kinugasa had 504 home runs and 1,448 RBIs earning him a place in the Japanese Hall of Fame in 1996.

He led his team into five Japan Series and winning three titles (1979, 1980 and 1984).

[edit] Career

1st play in May 16th 1965.
1st hit in July 25th 1965.
1st home run in August 22nd 1965.
Hitting for the cycle (July 7th 1976).
MVP in the Japanese Central League (1984).
RBI winner (1984).
SB Award winner (1976).
Best nine of the year (1975, 1980 and 1984).
Gold Glove Award winner (1980, 1984 and 1986).
MVP for the Month (June,1975, September,1979, June,1982 and July,1983).
Japan All-star game (1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987)
Matsutaro Shoriki Prize winner (1984).
National Prize of Honour (1987).
Hiroshima Prefectural Prize of Honour (1987).
Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (1996).
504 HR, 1448 RBI, 2543 H, 266 SB and 2215 consecutive games

Year	Team	No.	GP	AB	R	H	2H	3H	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SB	K	BA	Titles
1965	Hiroshima	28	28	44	3	7	1	0	1	2	11	0	0	4	.159
1966	Hiroshima	28	32	34	3	5	3	1	0	2	10	6	1	9	.147
1967	Hiroshima	28	28	48	6	12	2	0	2	5	20	4	1	13	.250
1968	Hiroshima	28	127	395	52	109	19	2	21	58	195	65	11	76	.276
1969	Hiroshima	28	126	428	43	107	12	0	15	46	164	51	32	73	.250
1970	Hiroshima	28	126	406	44	102	10	3	19	57	175	50	13	81	.251
1971	Hiroshima	28	130	460	72	131	18	2	27	82	234	79	12	71	.285
1972	Hiroshima	28	130	498	67	147	18	1	29	99	254	61	12	77	.295
1973	Hiroshima	28	130	454	52	94	12	1	19	53	165	68	6	73	.207
1974	Hiroshima	28	130	471	72	119	10	1	32	86	227	54	7	78	.253
1975	Hiroshima	3	130	479	66	132	22	1	21	71	219	49	18	61	.276	Best 9, League Champion
1976	Hiroshima	3	130	522	82	158	26	2	26	69	264	41	31	84	.299	SB
1977	Hiroshima	3	130	514	88	136	22	2	25	67	237	59	28	81	.265
1978	Hiroshima	3	130	461	81	123	18	1	30	87	233	80	9	83	.267
1979	Hiroshima	3	130	410	82	114	21	2	20	57	199	64	15	72	.278	League Champion, Japan Series Champion
1980	Hiroshima	3	130	489	79	144	20	0	31	85	257	52	16	89	.294	Gold Glove Award, Best 9, League Champion, Japan Series Champion
1981	Hiroshima	3	130	495	82	134	23	2	30	72	251	48	7	83	.271
1982	Hiroshima	3	130	483	74	135	22	0	29	74	244	12	89	.280
1983	Hiroshima	3	130	496	86	145	25	1	27	84	253	54	8	53	89	.292
1984	Hiroshima	3	130	490	79	161	25	1	31	102	281	39	11	83	.329	MVP, RBI, Gold Glove Award, Best 9, Matsutaro-Shoriki Award, League Champion, Japan Series Champion
1985	Hiroshima	3	130	480	77	140	16	0	28	83	240	49	10	77	.292
1986	Hiroshima	3	130	477	42	98	11	0	24	59	181	39	4	80	.205	Gold Glove Award, League Champion
1987	Hiroshima	3	130	370	40	92	17	0	17	48	160	26	2	61	.249	National Prize of Honour
TOTALS		-	2677	9404	1371	2543	373	23	504	1448	4474	1092	266	1587	.270	-