was a Japanese baseball player and manager. He is a member of 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 ...

Biography

Iwamuto was born in Miyoshi, Hiroshima Prefecture. He took part in the

National High School Baseball Championship The of Japan, commonly known as , is an annual nationwide high school baseball tournament. It is the largest scale amateur sport event in Japan. The tournament, organized by the Japan High School Baseball Federation and ''Asahi Shimbun'', t ...

in 1931, but his team was defeated by a team of Masao Yoshida (who was also later inducted to

). He joined the Nankai Baseball Club in 1938, but he was forced to take part in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, so his professional debut didn't occur until 1940. The quality of baseballs was low due to the war, so it was difficult for hitters to hit home runs, but Iwamuto hit three home runs in one game on July 11, 1942, the Japanese record at that time. He retired once in 1942 and went to war again. Iwamoto returned to baseball in 1949, joining the

Taiyo Robins The Shochiku Robins were a Japanese baseball team that played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). The franchise originated in the Japanese Baseball League (NPB's predecessor) and existed from 1936–1953, when it merged with the Taiyo Whales. ...

. On March 11, 1950, he hit the first home run in the history of 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 consi ...

, a grand slam home run. That same year, he hit three home runs in the first

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 ...

, which his team lost to the

Mainichi Orions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. History The Marines franchise began in 1950 as the Mainichi Orions, an inaugural ...

, 4 games to 2. On August 1, 1951, he hit four home runs in one game, becoming the first professional hitter in Japan to achieve that feat. He retired again in 1953. He signed with

Toei Flyers 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 ...

and returned to the field again as a playing manager in 1956. On August 18, 1957, he hit his final home run, at the age of 45, which is the Japanese age record. As manager of the

from 1956 to 1960, Iwamoto compiled a record of 290–376, with 17 ties, for a winning percentage of .435. Iwamoto was inducted into the

in 1981.

References

External links

Yoshiyuki Iwamoto (Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame)
1912 births 2008 deaths Sportspeople from Hiroshima Prefecture Player-coaches Japanese baseball players Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders Shochiku Robins players Taiyō Whales players Toei Flyers players Managers of baseball teams in Japan Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters managers Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes managers Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame inductees {{japan-baseball-bio-stub