Masahiro Araki
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is a retired 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 ...
player. He played predominantly at second base for the Chunichi Dragons. He was noted for his speed and defense.


Early career

Araki was a first-round draft pick by Chunichi in 1995, out of high school. In
1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
, he made his
NPB 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 ...
debut and hit .179/.203/.209 in 74 plate appearances; he did steal 12 bases in 16 tries to lead his team. Araki was used as a defensive substitute in the outfield and at shortstop. In
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
, the 20-year-old played 7 games for Chunichi but had just one at-bat, appearing as a pinch-runner and defensive sub. The next year, he went 1 for 4 in 16 games in a similar role; in four steal attempts, he was only successful once. In
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
, Araki remained a substitute, playing 40 games but only getting 12 plate appearances (2 for 10, 2 sacrifice flies, 3 SB in 3 tries). He spent 34 games in the outfield.


Increased role

Araki became a semi-regular in
2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
and produced at a .338/.384/.438 clip with 13 steals and 9 times caught stealing. He backed up veteran Kazuyoshi Tatsunami at second base. In
2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
, Tatsunami moved to third so Araki could take over at second. He batted .259/.279/.296 and stole 16 bases in 20 attempts. He fielded .986 and led Chunichi in steals. In
2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
, the speedster hit .237/.283/.314 with 15 steals in 24 attempts. He fielded .990 and again led the Dragons in swipes.


Star

Araki improved significantly in
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
, batting .292/.322/.349, stealing 39 bases in 48 tries and scored 93 runs. He replaced
Hirokazu Ibata Hirokazu Ibata (Japanese:井端 弘和, born May 12, 1975) is a Japanese former professional baseball player in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Baseball career Ibata played second base for the Yomiuri Giants and short stop for the C ...
at the top of the Dragons batting order, Ibata dropping to second to form a swift 1-2 punch. He fielded .992 and won his first Gold Glove. He was second in 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 steals behind
Norihiro Akahoshi is a retired Nippon Professional Baseball player from Kariya, Aichi, Japan. He played as an outfielder for the Hanshin Tigers. Akahoshi announced his retirement on December 9, 2009. During the 2009 season, he was first deactivated in early Jul ...
and tied Toshihisa Nishi for third in hits (176). He made his first All-Star team. That year, Araki and
Greg LaRocca Gregory Mark LaRocca (born November 10, 1972) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) second baseman who played for the San Diego Padres and Cleveland Indians between 2000 and 2003. He also played in the Nippon Professional Baseball le ...
tied for the CL Best Nine Award at second base; it was the first tie ever in voting for a Best Nine in NPB history. He hit .267/.333/.433 in the
2004 Japan Series The Japan Series, the 55th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's championship series, began on October 16 and ended on October 25, and matched the Pacific League playoffs winner Seibu Lions against the Central League Champion, Chunichi Drago ...
as Chunichi fell in 7 games. In
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
, Araki's batting line was .291/.332/.345; he scored 88 runs and stole 42 bases in 53 tries. He set a CL record with 623 AB, tied Ibata for 5th in the league in hits (181), was 9th in runs (88) and second to Akahoshi in stolen bases. He made his second All-Star team and was named to the Best Nine. He also set NPB records for total chances (913) and assists (496) by a second sacker. He won his second Gold Glove. Araki hit .300/.338/.358 in
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
and stole 30 bases in 37 tries. He was 10th in the league in average and third in steals, behind
Norichika Aoki is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He previously played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Toro ...
and Akahoshi. He was again an All-Star and Best Nine. His 12 errors were a new career high but he won his third Gold Glove. In the
2006 Japan Series The Japan Series, the 57th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's championship series, began on October 21 and ended on October 26, and matched the Central League champion Chunichi Dragons against the Pacific League champion, Hokkaido Nippon ...
, he was just 2 for 18 with two walks and a steal. In
2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
, Masahiro batted .263/.296/.302 with 31 steals in 37 tries. He was dropped to second in the lineup, flipped with double-play partner Ibata in the lineup. He led the CL in steals and was second with 30 sacrifice hits. In the
2007 Japan Series The Japan Series, the 58th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's championship series, began Saturday, October 27, 2007, pitting the Pacific League Regular League and Climax Series' Champion, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, and the Chunichi ...
, Araki hit .350/.350/.381 with 4 steals and 5 runs in 5 games to help Chunichi to its 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 ...
title in 53 years. Araki joined the Japanese national team for the 2007 Asian Championship; appearing as a pinch-runner, he scored twice in three games and never batted, played the field or attempted to steal. In the second 2008 NPB All-Star Game, Araki won MVP honors, going 3 for 4 with 3 RBI in leading the CL to victory. In the
2008 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 Nati ...
, Araki hit .263/.364/.421 with 2 steals and 5 runs in 8 games, being used as Japan's main second baseman, playing flawless defense. Araki laid down 5 sacrifice bunts for traditionalist manager Senichi Hoshino's squad. In the Bronze Medal Game, Araki hit a first-inning solo homer off of
Brett Anderson Brett Lewis Anderson (born 29 September 1967) is an English singer best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the band Suede. After Suede disbanded in 2003, he fronted The Tears with former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler in 2004-2 ...
to put Japan ahead but the USA came back for an 8-4 win as Japan failed to get a Medal. Araki tied for the most steals in the preliminary rounds, as his 2 tied Giorvis Duvergel,
Hyun-soo Kim Hyun-soo Kim (; ; born January 12, 1988) is a South Korean professional baseball outfielder for the LG Twins of the KBO League. He previously played for the Doosan Bears, and has also played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore O ...
, Tsuyoshi Nishioka,
Eduardo Paret Eduardo Paret Pérez (born October 23, 1972 in Santa Clara) is a Cuban baseball player. He is a shortstop for Villa Clara of the Cuban National Series, and for the Cuban national baseball team. Paret was the starting shortstop on the Cuban te ...
,
Lee Jong-wook Lee Jong-wook (12 April 1945 – 22 May 2006) was a South Korean physician. He was the director-general of the World Health Organization for three years. Lee joined the WHO in 1983, working on a variety of projects including the ''Global Prog ...
and
Sun Lingfeng Sun Lingfeng (; born 14 August 1978 in Beijing, China) is a Chinese baseball player who was a member of Team China at the 2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beij ...
.


Sources


Japanesebaseball.com by Michael WestbayJapan Baseball Daily by Gary Garland2008 Olympics


External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Araki, Masahiro Living people 1977 births Baseball people from Kumamoto Prefecture Nippon Professional Baseball infielders Chunichi Dragons players Olympic baseball players of Japan Japanese baseball coaches Nippon Professional Baseball coaches