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Old 11-29-2019, 10:00 PM
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Default Michihiro Ogasawara

Michihiro Ogasawara was a corner infielder (mostly first base) who, at his peak, was a phenomenal batter. He played 1997 to 2015; until 2006 he was with Nippon Ham, then the Giants, and he finished his career with Chunichi. That timeline is a little bit misleading, however, as he broke into the league slowly (he was a catcher initially), and played part-time for quite a while at the end of his career. His full-time seasons (>100 games) were those from 1999 to 2010. During that stretch, he was a beast of a hitter, clobbering 30-35 home runs annually and regularly posting batting averages well over 300. Indeed, in that 12 year stretch there were only two seasons in which he hit fewer than 30 home runs (1999 and 2004) and only two in which he posted a batting average below 300 (1999 and 2005). Ogasawara’s best season looks to have been 2003, when he posted a 360/473/649 line. It’s true that it was a relatively high-scoring league, but that’s ridiculous. Let’s adjust it for context and see what it would look like in the 2019 American League.

*does math*

That’s 330/442/640. Except for the batting average, that’s a dead ringer for Mike Trout’s MVP winning 2019 season. (Trout gets the same OBP through more walks and fewer hits.) That wasn’t the year that he won the MVP award, however, as he took that trophy home in 2006 with a 313/397/573 line (it was a good year, the Fighters also won the Japan Series), and again in 2007 while hitting 313/368/539. It was almost a threepeat, as he finished second in the voting in 2008.

Because seven of Ogasawara’s 19 seasons were part-time efforts, his career counting stats are not that impressive. He qualified for the Meikyukai in 2011, but still managed only 2120 hits, of which 378 were home runs. As might be expected for someone who played seldomly apart from his peak, however, he’s got a nice slash line of 310/389/540.

Several sources report that Chunichi mainly used him as pinch hitter. No word on why he wasn’t playing full-time for the Giants before that. I guess injuries are the most likely explanation.

If you’re looking for a comparable American player, a two-time MVP who didn’t do much outside of his peak seasons calls to mind Dale Murphy. Ogasawara was the better player though. Maybe he’s a rich man’s Dale Murphy. If he had gotten an earlier start, and could have stayed on the field longer, he would have put up the bulk that you expect from the inner-circle types. But he didn’t. If he makes the hall of fame it will be on the basis of his peak performance, not his career accomplishments. In other ways he reminds me of Vlad Guerrero. Both were sluggers with high batting averages, although Vlad was faster. No surprise, since Ogasawara began life as a catcher.

He is, apparently, the “goodwill ambassador” for Ogasawara village (which, I gather, he’s not actually from or anything). In celebration of his 2000th hit they gave him a mini barrel of local rum, and he donated a jersey to the local youth baseball team.

At least one website reports that his nickname is ‘Guts’.

After retirement, Ogasawara coached in the Dragon’s minor league team. Two months ago the Dragons elected not to bring him back. It all worked out in the end, however, as it was announced on 10/10/19 that he’ll be the Fighters’ manager next season.

Here’s Ogasawara hitting a bunch of home runs.

Meikyukai – Yes : Hall of Fame – No (probably not eligible yet)

2000 Upper Deck.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Ogasawara.jpg (56.0 KB, 292 views)
File Type: jpg Ogasawara back.jpg (51.3 KB, 289 views)
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