Takuya Kimura (baseball)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Yomiuri Giants — No. 0 | |
| Outfielder | |
| Bats: Switch | Throws: Right |
| Nippon Professional Baseball debut | |
|---|---|
| [[{{{debutdate}}}]], 1992 for the Nippon Ham Fighters | |
| Selected NPB statistics (through 2006) |
|
| Batting average | .260 |
| Home runs | 42 |
| RBI | 204 |
| Teams | |
|
|
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's Baseball | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 2004 Athens | Team Competition | |
Takuya Kimura (木村 拓也, born April 15, 1972 in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan) is a professional baseball player for the Yomiuri Giants. He previously played for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp before being traded to the Giants in 2006.
Kimura joined the Nippon Ham Fighters from outside the amateur draft in 1990 after graduating from high school, and has become the leading utility player in Japanese baseball. His solid hitting, speed and strong arm have made him a valuable offensive and defensive player. He has played games at every single position except pitcher, catching four games in the 1999 season. He played first base for one game in 1998. He is currently registered as an outfielder, but has played more games in the infield in recent years. Kimura is the only active Japanese baseball player to have played in all field positions (excluding pitcher). In 2004, he was recruited for the Athens Olympics for his skills as a utility player.
He bears the same name as Takuya Kimura of the popular Japanese pop group, SMAP. He has made an appearance on the television show SMAPxSMAP, hosted by the singer Takuya Kimura.
[edit] External links
Japanesebaseball.com - Nippon Professional Baseball career statistics
|
|||||
