Tsuyoshi Shinjo

Tsuyoshi Shinjo
Tsuyoshi Shinjo (2002)
Outfielder
Born: January 28, 1972 Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
Batted: Right Threw: Right
Professional debut
NPB: September 10, 1991, for the Hanshin Tigers
MLB: April 3, 2001, for the New York Mets
Last appearance
October 26, 2006, for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
Career statistics
Batting average (NPB)	.254
Home runs (NPB)	205
Runs batted in (NPB)	716
Batting average (MLB)	.245
Home runs (MLB)	20
Runs batted in (MLB)	100
Teams
Hanshin Tigers (1991–2000) New York Mets (2001) San Francisco Giants (2002) New York Mets (2003) Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters (2004–2006)
Career highlights and awards
NPB 7× All-Star (1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2004–2006) 3× Best Nine Award (1993, 2000, 2004) 10× Golden Glove Award (1993, 1994, 1996–2000, 2004–2006) MLB Topps All-Star Rookie Outfielder (2001) Baseball Digest All-Star Rookie Outfielder (2001)[1] First Japanese-born player to appear in the World Series (2002)

Tsuyoshi Shinjo (新庄 剛志 Shinjō Tsuyoshi, born January 28, 1972) is a former Japanese professional baseball outfielder. Shinjo is the second Japanese-born position player to play a Major League Baseball game and was the first Japanese-born player to appear in the World Series.

Career

Born in Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan and raised in Minami-ku, Fukuoka, he played for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan from 1990 until 2000, then for Major League Baseball's New York Mets and San Francisco Giants. In 2002, he became the first Japan-born player to play in the World Series, where he went 1 for 6 with three strikeouts. He ended his three-year stint in American baseball by being demoted to AAA after hitting .193 for the first half of the 2003 season. He returned to Japan and played for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters from 2004 until 2006. He is known for his flamboyance, colorful wristbands, dyed hair, and a unique hop as he catches the ball. His uniqueness has endeared him to baseball fans and has made him one of the most popular players in the Japanese leagues despite not being in the echelon of elite active players. In fact, his popularity was what kept him off the bench during his stint with the Tigers when manager Katsuya Nomura tried to turn him into a pitcher on the rotation rather than risk his team with his mediocre play.^[2]

Shinjo ended his career in storybook fashion. Playing for years on losing teams in Hanshin and despite playing in the 2002 World Series, Shinjo showed emotion and shed tears as his final game crowned him a champion as he was a member of the Fighters squad that won their first Japan Series title since 1962 with a 4 games to 1 series win over the Chunichi Dragons. As Shinjo took the field for the top of the ninth inning in the final game, he was given a standing ovation from the home crowd. Before the inning began, he was visibly emotional. Although the final play was only close to him (left fielder Hichori Morimoto caught the final ball) the cameras all showed only Shinjo's dramatic reaction. Traditionally, the players toss the manager in the air for series wins first, but the players tossed Shinjo in the air first instead of manager Trey Hillman.

Shinjo is now a television celebrity in Japan as well as a model for his own line of clothing. He has also won the maximum 10,000,000 JPY prize in a celebrity edition of the Japanese version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?".

MLB Stats

SEASON	TEAM	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2001	NYM	123	400	46	107	23	1	10	56	25	70	4	5	.268	.320	.405	.725
2002	SF	118	362	42	86	15	3	9	37	24	46	5	0	.238	.294	.370	.664
2003	NYM	62	114	10	22	3	0	1	7	6	12	0	1	.193	.238	.246	.484
Total	---	303	876	98	215	41	4	20	100	55	128	9	6	.245	.299	.370	.669

Japanese Baseball Stats

SEASON	TEAM	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	SLG	OBP	OPS
1991	HT	13	17	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	.118	.118	.118	.236
1992	HT	95	353	39	98	16	3	11	46	18	73	5	2	.278	.433	.320	.753
1993	HT	102	408	50	105	13	1	23	62	20	91	13	2	.257	.463	.305	.768
1994	HT	122	466	54	117	23	7	17	68	30	93	7	5	.251	.440	.304	.744
1995	HT	87	311	34	70	15	3	7	37	26	76	6	4	.225	.360	.294	.654
1996	HT	113	408	55	97	16	4	19	66	55	106	2	2	.238	.436	.335	.771
1997	HT	136	482	62	112	17	3	20	68	44	120	8	4	.232	.405	.306	.711
1998	HT	132	414	39	92	21	3	6	27	25	65	1	2	.222	.331	.275	.606
1999	HT	123	471	53	120	21	7	14	58	23	72	8	2	.255	.418	.303	.721
2000	HT	131	511	71	142	23	1	28	85	32	93	15	6	.278	.491	.321	.812
2004	HNHF	123	504	88	150	28	3	24	79	15	58	1	3	.298	.508	.327	.835
2005	HNHF	108	380	54	91	20	1	20	57	14	64	5	1	.239	.455	.274	.729
2006	HNHF	126	477	47	113	21	0	16	62	24	76	2	6	.258	.416	.298	.714
Total	---	1411	5163	647	1309	234	36	205	716	326	990	73	39	.254	.432	.304	.736

References

1. Baseball Digest Rookie All-Star Teams BR Bullpen
2. Metropolis – Sports – Tsuyoshi Shinjo and Kazuhiro Kiyohara

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

• Nippon Professional Baseball career statistics from Japanesebaseball.com