Hiromitsu Ochiai

Hiromitsu Ochiai (落合 博満 Ochiai Hiromitsu, born December 9, 1953) is a Japanese professional baseball manager and former player. He is former manager of the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He is considered to be one of the most important players in the history of Japanese baseball, winning numerous batting awards and being the only player to receive the prestigious triple crown batting award three times. With 510 career home runs, Ochiai is sixth on the all-time NPB list.

Hiromitsu Ochiai
落合 博満
Ochiai in 2007
Born: (1953-12-09) December 9, 1953
Wakami, Akita, Japan
Batted: Right Threw: Right
NPB debut
May 29, 1979, for the Lotte Orions
Last appearance
October 7, 1998, for the Nippon Ham Fighters
NPB statistics
Batting average.311
Hits2371
HRs510
RBIs1564
Teams
As player

As manager

As general manager

Career highlights and awards
Member of the Japanese
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction2011

Biography

Ochiai was born in the town of Wakami in Akita, Japan, a rice-farming area of northern Honshū. Ochiai was the youngest of seven children and grew up enjoying spending time in the cinema rather than on the baseball field. At Toyo University, he quit after one year as he did not approve of the traditional way freshman players had to cater to the senior players on the team. He joined Toshiba Fuchu, a team in the Japanese industrial league, after leaving Toyo University and went back to his home town and spent some years as a professional bowler.

In 1978, at 25 years old, the third baseman joined Lotte Orions after being selected in the third round of the draft. The Lotte manager did not care for his unorthodox right-handed batting style and Masaichi Kaneda criticized Ochiai, but Isao Harimoto supported Ochiai and Ochiai did not quit.[1] From 1981, Ochiai played a regular role for his team, and in 1982 he won his first triple crown batting title. He also won the Triple crown in 1985 and 1986, and continued winning titles through 1991.

In 1987, Ochiai was traded to the Chunichi Dragons by the Lotte Orions. During the 1994 season, the Yomiuri Giants picked up Ochiai as a free agent. After the Giants signed Kazuhiro Kiyohara in 1997, Ochiai joined the Nippon-Ham Fighters at the age of 43. At the conclusion of the 1998 season, Ochiai retired.

Ochiai's style is called Oreryu(オレ流). Oreryu means "to do with only my style." The word described how he acted according to his personal philosophies.

Hiromitsu Ochiai has been the manager of the Chunichi Dragons since 2004. He led the Dragons to the Japan Series during his inaugural year as manager in 2004, again in 2006, and led them to victory on the third try in 2007. His contract was not renewed after leading the Dragons to within a game of winning the 2011 Japan Series.[2] He was often criticized for his decision-making, such as removing starting pitcher Daisuke Yamai to start the ninth inning of game five of the 2007 Japan Series. Yamai had been pitching a perfect game. Closer Hitoki Iwase finished off the ninth for a rare combined perfect game to clinch the championship for the Dragons.[3]

Ochiai was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011. The Hiromitsu Ochiai Baseball Hall opened in Taiji, Wakayama in 1993 starting a trend of museums dedicated to famous ballplayers.[4]

On October 9, 2013, Ochiai was appointed general manager of the Chunichi Dragons.[5] On December 20, 2016 it was announced that Ochiai would step down from his role as general manager at the end of his contract in January 2017.[6]

Awards and accomplishments

  • MVP (1982, 1985)
  • Triple Crown (1982, 1985, 1986)
  • Batting Title (1981~1983, 1985, 1986)
  • Home run Title (1982, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1991)
  • Run batted in Title (1982, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990)
  • On-base percentage Title (1982, 1985~1988, 1990, 1991)
  • Best Nine Award (1981~1986, 1988~1991)
  • Matsutaro Shoriki Award (2007)

Career batting statistics

YEARTeamNumberGPAABRH2B3BHRTBRBISBCSSBSFBBHBPKDPERRAVGOBPSLGOPS
1979Lotte
Orions
63669647153122671000411221.234.290.406.696
19805718816628477015993210221712355.283.349.596.946
1981127502423691381933326290631468655179.326.423.6191.043
1982128552462861503213228099820481558117.325.428.6061.034
1983119497428791422212524175650364252147.332.419.563.982
19841295624568914317333265948104984331416.314.436.5811.017
19851305684601181692115235114651041013401619.367.481.7631.244
1986123522417981501105031111651011013591510.360.487.7461.232
1987Chunichi
Dragons
125519432831433302826085140481251109.331.435.6021.037
19881305574508213231132261953406983701110.293.418.580.998
19891305594767815323140298116431675169116.321.410.6261.036
19901315704589313319134256102330810048777.290.416.559.975
199111247837480127170372559142059545595.340.473.6821.155
1992116481384581122212220271230688374123.292.425.526.948
1993119504396641131901718365120896469134.285.423.462.885
1994Yomiuri
Giants
60129540447531251901518968000681656138.280.393.423.815
19956117483399641241511719265100873387175.311.414.481.895
1996106448376601131802119486300267353116.301.408.516.924
1997Nippon Ham
Fighters
311346639735104140312743300561360163.262.361.320.680
19985919216211386025018010226222120.235.344.309.652
Total 22369257762713352371371155104302156465354881475631135236140.311.422.564.987

References

  1. donga.com ["Korean Hitter with Odd Stance Meets Manager Who Had One Too." 02 Mar 2007, Dong-a Ilbo, The.]
  2. Coskey, Jason."Ochiai bows out after eight years in charge of Dragons." 25 Nov 2011: Japan Times, The.
  3. Coskey, Jason. "Dragons clinch Japan Series: Yamai, Iwase combine for perfect game." 02 Nov 2007: Japan Times, The.
  4. Normile, Dennis. "Museum Showcases Ichiro's Baseball Career." 27 Aug 2012: New York Times, The.
  5. Graczyk, Wayne. "Tanishige to become rare player-manager for Dragons." 19 October 2013: The Japan Times.
  6. "Dragons GM Ochiai leaving team". Japan Times. KYODO. 20 December 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
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