Kihachi Enomoto (榎本喜八 ''Enomoto Kihachi'', December 5, 1936 – March 14, 2012) was a Japanese former

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 ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. He batted and threw left-handed. In an illustrious career, Enomoto was a 12-time All-Star, a 9-time

Best Nine Award The Best Nine Award is awarded annually to the best player at each position in both the Central League and Pacific League of Japanese professional baseball as determined by a pool of journalists. History While the Best Nine Award was first presen ...

winner, and a Rookie of the Year winner, all achieved with the Mainichi/Daimai/Tokyo/Lotte Orions. He was inducted into the

Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame The is a museum which includes a library, reference rooms and . It first opened in 1959 next door to Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. In 1988, the museum moved to a new site within the Tokyo Dome. The Hall of Fame and Museum was created as a ...

in 2016.

Early life

Born in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Enomoto attended Waseda Vocational High School. Other alumnus of the school include

Hiroshi Arakawa was a Japanese professional baseball player. From 1953 to 1961, he played in the Pacific League as an outfielder for the Mainichi Orions (later renamed the Daimai Orions), batting .251 with 503 hits, 16 home runs and 172 RBIs. After retiring as ...

Akihiko Ohya Akihiko Ohya (大矢明彦 ''Ōya Akihiko'', born December 20, 1947) is a former Japanese baseball player and manager. He was the manager of the Yokohama BayStars baseball team in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest l ...

, Daisuke Araki and Japanese baseball legend

Sadaharu Oh Sadaharu Oh (Japanese: , ''Ō Sadaharu''; born May 20, 1940), also known as Wang Chen-chih (), is a Japanese-born former baseball player and manager Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Ō Sadaharu"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 758. who ...

, who would pitch against Enomoto in the 1971

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...

Career

Mainichi/Daimai/Tokyo/Lotte Orions

Straight out of high school, Enomoto started his career by winning the 1955 Pacific League Rookie of the Year Award. He was also an All-Star and led the league in

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ov ...

s. He came 10th in batting average, at .298. He set records for batters coming directly out of high school in

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

s, walks and

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

. The next year, Enomoto yet again led the league in walks and was also an All-Star. He also received his first Best Nine Award. Despite a slight decrease in stats, Enomoto still made the All-Star team in 1957. His stats decreased yet further in 1958, but he still made the All-Star team. 1958 marked the first time that he finished with more

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s than walks. His stats rose in 1959, playing in his fifth-straight all-star game and receiving his second Best Nine Award after hitting .276. In 1960, he played in an All-Star game and took home a Best Nine Award, but he also was a serious contender for the

MVP Award In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

after leading the league in batting average (.344), runs (94), hits (170), and doubles (37). His teammate,

Kazuhiro Yamauchi was a Japanese baseball player and manager. He played for the Mainichi Orions, the Hanshin Tigers and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp over the span of an 18 season-long career (1952–1970). Yamauchi was the first Japanese professional baseball playe ...

, would win the title. Enomoto also went 3-for-15 in the 1960 Japan Series, as the Orions were swept by the

Taiyo Whales The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its current ...

. He would continue his form in 1961, hitting .331 (2nd in the league, behind

Isao Harimoto is a Korean former Nippon Professional Baseball player and holder of the record for most hits in the Japanese professional leagues. An ethnic Korean, his birth name is Jang Hun (Hangul: 장훈, Hanja: 張勳). Harimoto has spent his life as a resi ...

) where he would make his 7th straight All-Star game and win his 3rd straight Best Nine Award. He hit 17 home runs in 1962, setting a personal record at that point. He led the league in hits with 160 as he was once again an All-Star and Best Nine Award selection. He would continue his All-Star and Best Nine streak through 1963 and 1964, leading the league in walks and

hit by pitch In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided ...

es in the latter year, before ending both of them in 1965, when he hit only .268, his lowest since 1958. He followed his subpar 1965 season with what could arguably be his best season, leading the league in hits (167), doubles (31), total bases (272), OBP (.434), slugging (.571), and average (.351). He took home the Best Nine and was an All-Star for the 11th time, but the MVP award went to

Katsuya Nomura was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) catcher and manager. During his over 26-season playing career mostly spent with the Nankai Hawks (now the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks), he became one of NPB's greatest offensive catchers. He was award ...

. 1967 marked the last time he would lead in any major category, with 83 walks. 1968 would be the last time he would be an All-Star (his 12th time) or a Best Nine selection (his 9th, a record). On July 21, 1968, Enomoto would get his 2,000th hit, doubling off of Hall of Famer

Keishi Suzuki is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He played for the Kintetsu Buffaloes from 1966 to 1985.

. Aged 31 years and 7 months, he was the youngest player ever to reach the mark and the 3rd all-time. He set more records, including setting a streak of 1,516 error-free chances from 1967 to 1968, and a .999 fielding percentage at first in 1968. In 1969, he hit .273, which would increase to .284 in 1970. His last year as an Orion, 1971, saw him bat .244 in just 45 games. The Orions lost the Japan Series to the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

, leaving Enomoto without a Japan Series title.

Nishitestu Lions

Enomoto played his last professional season in 1972, with the

Nishitetsu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Railway, wh ...

, where he would hit .233 in 61 games. He finished his career with a .298 average, 2,222 games played, 1,169 runs, 2,314 hits, 409 doubles, 246 home runs, 979 RBI, 153 steals in 237 tries and 1,062 walks to 645 strikeouts in 7,763 AB and 9,002 plate appearances.

Post-baseball

Despite qualifying for the

Meikyukai The is one of the two baseball halls of fame in Japan, the other being the . The Meikyukai is a limited company for public benefit. Founded by Hall of Fame pitcher Masaichi Kaneda in 1978, the Meikyukai honors players born after 1926 (the begin ...

, Enomoto never participated in their activities and is not deemed a member.

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 b ...

is the only other player to turn down membership. Following his retirement, he worked for a

parking garage A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...

management company, where he wrote about baseball. He died of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

in 2012 and was posthumously inducted into the

in 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enomoto, Kihachi 1936 births 2012 deaths Baseball people from Tokyo Japanese baseball players Nippon Professional Baseball infielders Mainichi Orions players Daimai Orions players Tokyo Orions players Lotte Orions players Nishitetsu Lions players Nippon Professional Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame inductees