Kazuhiro Kiyohara

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Kazuhiro Kiyohara (清原和博 Kiyohara Kazuhiro?, born August 18, 1967 in Osaka) is a first baseman for the Orix Buffaloes in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. Originally he played for the Seibu Lions before being drafted to the Yomiuri Giants, and then the Buffaloes. He is a friend of Masumi Kuwata. He has the nickname "Banchō" (番長).[1]

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[edit] Biography

The name of Kazuhiro Kiyohara springed into fame as a young cleanup-slugger of High school baseball. With Masumi Kuwata, a pitcher of his age, he won the championship twice, took 2nd place twice, and 4th place once in the Koshien Baseball tournaments. The PL Gakuen High school they belonged was recognized as an invincibly strong team during their belonging. Kiyohara and Kuwata was well-known as "K-K Combi" (K-K combination, or duo), which is one of the legend of High school baseball history, and was feared and respected by the other players all over the country.

He was taken by the Seibu Lions with the first pick of the 1985 draft. Firstly, Yomiuri Giants, one of the most popular team then with honorable history, promised to pick him up by 1st place at the draft. But they suddenly changed their mind to picking Kuwata up instead of him. He was so disappointed at their betrayal that he shed a tear before the press, and he joined to Lions after his graduation.

His career in professional league started with the memorable record of .304 average, 31 Home Runs, and 78 RBIs. 31 HR is the rookie record of Japanese professional baseball (tied), and three all are the new record for high school graduated rookie. He become the cleanup hitter of Seibu Lions in their "Golden Age", and he finally defeated the Giants in 1987 Japan Series. He then shed a tear again when 9th inning come and the team come closely to the championship. He and his fellow Kouji Akiyama, a talented slugger with home run, fielding and stealing base skills, formed the feared "A-K cannon", and followingly "A-K-D cannon" after join of Orestes Destrade.

When he got the right of Free Agent after 1996 season, he transferred to Yomiuri Giants, which had been his favorite team in his childhood. After 2005 season, he transferred again to Orix Buffaloes. He had wasted half of 2006 and whole 2007 seasons because of his injured knee.

In 21st, May, 2008, when Terry Collins resigned as manager of Orix Buffaloes, Kiyohara was expected to be one of the favourites to fill the void place by many media and fans. News reported that Buffaloes invited him as the manager, or playing manager(if he will be active player in 2009), starting from 2009 season and Kiyohara had accepted the post in 23rd, May, 2008.[2]. But the team has denied such news, and said Kiyohara will return as a player soon.[3]

[edit] The Uncrowned King

Kiyohara is often called "The Uncrowned King", because he has never won major titles of batters- Batting Champion, RBI Champion, and Home Run Champion so far, and it is considered as one of the mystery of Japanese baseball. He is obviously one of the greatest sluggers in history- he has batted over 2,000 hits, 500 home runs, 1,500 RBIs in his career, which has been accomplished by only five other legendary players (Sadaharu Oh, Katsuya Nomura, Hiromitsu Kadota, Isao Harimoto and Hiromitsu Ochiai), Batting 1,500RBIs and 500 home runs are 5th or 6th record of each statistic. Nevertheless, he could never won these titles in spite of coming to 2nd place for several times for each. Actually, he has been awarded Rookie of the year in 1986 and won some minor title such as On base percentage champion, Decisive RBI champion (both titles are abolished until now), so he is not "uncrowned" to be exact.

[edit] Career Record (Until 2007 season)

  • .272 Batting Average
  • 2,118 Hits (22nd)
  • 525 Home runs (5th)
  • 1,527 RBIs (6th)
  • 1,280 Runs (9th)
  • 1,343 Ball on bases(3rd)
  • 1,944 Strikeouts (1st)
  • 196 Hit by pitch (1st)

[edit] Trivia

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Final Chapter Memorial Discussion: Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi." Battle Royale. Volume 15. Tokyopop
  2. ^ 来季監督に清原！オリックスが就任要請へ…選手兼任もＯＫ Sanspo.Com
  3. ^ オーナー“ 清原よ、選手として復活を”

[edit] External links

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