Yoshiyuki Iwamoto

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Yoshiyuki Iwamoto (岩本義行, Iwamoto Yoshiyuki^?, born March 11, 1912 in Hiroshima Prefecture) is a former Japanese baseball player and manager.

[edit] Biography

He took part in the National High School Baseball Championship in 1931, but his team was defeated by a team of Masao Yoshida, who was also inducted to Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. He joined Nankai in 1938, but he was forced to take part in the war, so his debut was in 1940. The quality of balls was low due to the war so it was difficult for hitters to hit home runs, but he hit three home runs in one game on July 11, 1942. It was the Japanese record at that time. He retired once in 1942 and went to the war again.

He returned to baseball in 1949, joining Taiyo Robins. On March 11, 1950, he hit the first home run in the history of Central League. The home run was a grand slam homer. On August 1, 1951, he hit four home runs. In Japan, he became the first hitter to hit four home runs in one game.^[1] He retired again in 1953. He signed with Toei Flyers and returned to the field again as a playing manager in 1956. On August 18, 1957, he hit the last home run at the age of 45, which is the Japanese age record still now. He was inducted to Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.