is a

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 ...

player. He is currently with the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda ...

. In August 2010, Masato made sports headlines by denying batter

Shuichi Murata is a third baseman for the Tochigi Golden Braves of Baseball Challenge League. Murata led the Central League in home runs in both and and is one of the few pure home run hitters in Japanese professional baseball today. He played in the 200 ...

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

with what sportswriters dubbed the "Spider-Man Catch," rapidly scaling the outfield fence before snaring the ball in midleap. He won the Gold Glove that same year.

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* Living people 1982 births Hanshin Tigers players Hiroshima Toyo Carp players Japanese baseball players Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders Baseball people from Kyoto Japanese baseball coaches Nippon Professional Baseball coaches {{japan-baseball-outfielder-stub