is a Japanese former 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 ...

player who spent his entire 19-year career with

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 ...

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 ...

, serving as the team's captain from 2007 to 2014. He has twice been named the MVP of the

Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Series The Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Game is an annual baseball series of All-Star Games (in most years, two games are played, but three such games can and have been played as well) between players from the Central League and the Pacific Leag ...

, in 2007 (Game 1) and 2010 (Game 1).

Career

In the 2009 Japan Series, won by Abe's Giants 4 games to 2 over the

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Fighters also host a ...

, he was named the

Most Valuable Player 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 ...

. In 2012, after hitting .340 with 27 home runs and 104 RBIs, Abe was named the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...

. In addition, Abe was the co-recipient (along with teammate

Tatsunori Hara is a Japanese former professional baseball player, and the current manager of the Yomiuri Giants baseball team in Nippon Professional Baseball. Career Hara played for the Giants during his professional baseball career from to . He won the Cen ...

) of the 2012

Matsutaro Shoriki Award Matsutaro Shoriki Award is named in honor of Matsutarō Shōriki, the owner of the Yomiuri Shimbun, whose achievements earned him the label of the real parent of present day Japanese professional baseball. The prize was founded in 1977. It is pres ...

. He was the captain of Japanese national team in

2013 WBC The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike ...

, and hit 2 home runs in the same inning against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, becoming the first and only player to achieve such a feat in the history of the WBC. With 406 career home runs, Abe ranks 18th on the NPB career list. On September 24, 2019, Abe announced he would retire after the 2019 season, his 19th in NPB. Abe was named the manager of the Giants' second squad for the 2020 season.

International career

He was selected

Japan national baseball team The is the national team representing Japan in international baseball competitions. It won the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009, as well as WBSC Premier12 in 2019. The team is currently ranked 1st in the world by the World Baseball Softb ...

at the 1997 Intercontinental Cup, 1999 Asian Baseball Championship,

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

2007 Asian Baseball Championship The 24th Asian Baseball Championship was contested in Taichung, Taiwan in November and December 2007. The tournament is sanctioned by the Asian Baseball Federation. The winner of the tournament will gain automatic entry into the 2008 Olympic Games ...

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international baseball competition. It began on 5 9 and finished 5 26. Unlike in 2006, when the round-robin format of the first two rounds led to some eliminations being decided by run-difference ti ...

, 2012 exhibition games against

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike ...

. Also, he was selected Nippon Professional Baseball All-Stars at the 2004 MLB Japan All-Star Series and the 2006 MLB Japan All-Star Series. On November 16, 2018, he was selected Yomiuri Giants roster at the 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series exhibition game against MLB All-Stars.

References

External links

Career statistics - NPB.jp

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abe, Shinnosuke 1979 births Asian Games medalists in baseball Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Baseball players at the 1998 Asian Games Baseball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Baseball people from Chiba Prefecture Chuo University alumni Living people Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Nippon Professional Baseball catchers Nippon Professional Baseball first basemen Nippon Professional Baseball MVP Award winners Olympic baseball players of Japan People from Urayasu, Chiba Yomiuri Giants players 2009 World Baseball Classic players 2013 World Baseball Classic players