is a Japanese professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for the

Hanshin Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railway ...

in Japan's

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

Early baseball career

Keisuke was born in

Shibukawa, Gunma is a city in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 76,098 in 32,439 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Shibukawa is the location of Ikaho Onsen, a popular hot spring resort. ...

, Japan, and originally played as pitcher in junior high, but upon his election as team captain, he also became the team's catcher.「現役の皆さんに聞きましたキャッチャーの魅力を教えてください」『週刊ベースボール』2009年6月1日号、ベースボール・マガジン社、2009年、雑誌 20441-6/1、20-21頁。 During his 3rd year in Maebashi Kogyo High School, his team competed with Kiryuu Daiichi High in the Gunma prefectural tournament, wherein despite cracking a 4-run homer from Yasuhiro Ichiba (now with the

Swallows The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...

), they were defeated. Despite this, he was the Hanshin Tiger's 3rd pick in the 2000 draft. Due to his mature appearance in high school, he was dubbed as "Kakefu of Joshu" (''Joshu no Kakefu'' or 上州の掛布), in reference to former Tigers player

Masayuki Kakefu (born May 9, 1955) is a Japanese former professional baseball third baseman in Nippon Professional Baseball. He played his entire career for the Hanshin Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Ni ...

References

External links

NPB stats
1982 births Living people Baseball people from Gunma Prefecture Japanese baseball players Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders Hanshin Tigers players People from Shibukawa, Gunma {{Japan-baseball-outfielder-stub