is a Japanese former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

, who currently is a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

for 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 h ...

. He played for 23 years in

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB), primarily with the Yomiuri Giants. Known for his defense and bunting, he won several Gold Gloves, made two All-Star teams and set several sacrifice hit records. Kawai was a pitcher in high school. In

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

, the Giants took him in the first round of the draft. He was moved to the infield and debuted for the Giants in 1984, mostly as a defensive substitute and pinch-hitter, getting only 126 plate appearances over 159 games in his first four years. He got 81 plate appearances at age 23 in

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, hitting .268/.307/.423. Masahiro became a regular for the

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

Giants, batting .254/.312/.361 and won his first Gold Glove as the top defensive shortstop in the

Central League The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, 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 i ...

. He hit .190/.261/.238 for Yomiuri as they won the

1989 Japan Series The 1989 Japan Series was the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) championship series for the 1989 season. It was the 40th Japan Series and featured the Pacific League champion Kintetsu Buffaloes against the Central League champion Yomiuri Giants ...

. The next season, he set a new Nippon Professional Baseball record with 58 sacrifice hits and put up a good .288/.356/.450 line with career highs in slugging, home runs (9) and steals (9). He made the first of his two All-Star appearances and won another Gold Glove. In the

1990 Japan Series The 1990 Japan Series was the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) championship series for the 1990 season. It was the 41st Japan Series and featured the Pacific League champion Seibu Lions against the Central League champion Yomiuri Giants. Seibu w ...

, he went 2 for 10 with a walk and a game four home run, a rare bright spot as the Giants were swept. In

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, the Yomiuri shortstop took home his third Gold Glove while hitting .251/.330/.312 with a career-best 36 RBI. He laid down 66 successful sacrifice hits, breaking his own record; his mark would later be topped by

Shinya Miyamoto is a former professional baseball player from Suita, Osaka, Japan. He played shortstop. He was chosen as the captain of the Japanese olympic baseball team for the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially t ...

. The next year, Masahiro had a .258/.312/.345 and led the Central League with 42 sacrifice hits.

Takahiro Ikeyama Takahiro Ikeyama (池山隆寛, born December 17, 1965, in Amagasaki, Hyōgo, Japan) is a former Nippon Professional Baseball infielder. A slugging shortstop, Ikeyama played for the Yakult Swallows his entire career, from 1984 to 2002. Ikeya ...

broke his Gold Glove run at short. Kawai hit .290/.350/.381 in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

and made his second All-Star appearance while winning his fourth Gold Glove. His 176 total bases and 23 doubles were career highs and his 45 sacrifice hits gave him the Central League lead for a fourth consecutive year. Masahiro scored a career-high 69 runs in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and hit .302/.376/.357, setting highs in average and OBP as well. He finished 9th in the

in average and won his fifth Gold Glove. He only batted .091/.160/.136 in the

1994 Japan Series The 1994 Japan Series was the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) championship series for the 1994 season. It was the 45th Japan Series and featured the Pacific League champion Seibu Lions against the Central League champion Yomiuri Giants. The s ...

but Yomiuri still won. In

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, the 30-year-old veteran produced at a .261/.348/.313 rate and lost the Gold Glove to Kenjiro Nomura. His 47 sacrifice hits led the league. The next season, Kawai batted just .232/.310/.277 and won his sixth and final Gold Glove; he also led in sacrifice hits for the sixth time (56). He was 4 for 13 with 4 walks in the 1996 Japan Series. He capped his 7th sacrifice hit title in 8 years and the last of his career by laying down 45 in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, when he hit .288/.355/.392. Masahiro batted .256/.301/.327 during the

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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

season and he failed to reach 100 games played for the first time in six years as

Daisuke Motoki is a Japanese former Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referre ...

was used regularly at short; Kawai remained the starter. He became the chairman of the board of the

Japan Professional Baseball Players Association The is the players' union that represents Japanese baseball players and their interests in Nippon Professional Baseball. The organization was incorporated in 1980 and was approved as a labor union in 1985. The current union chairman is Ginjiro ...

that winter; he would hold the job for three years before

Kazuyoshi Tatsunami is a former Japanese professional baseball infielder and manager. He played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Chunichi Dragons from to 2009. He was drafted in the first round in the NPB Draft. Career Playing career Tatsunami hold ...

took his place. By

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, though, he was on the bench usually, hitting .295/.371/.302 in 149 AB and 82 games, in a backup role again after a decade as the starter.

Tomohiro Nioka Tomohiro Nioka (二岡智宏, born April 29, 1976, in Miyoshi, Hiroshima, Japan) is a Japanese former professional baseball player. He previously played for the Yomiuri Giants and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. Nioka batted and threw right-hande ...

was now the starting shortstop and would hold the role for years. Kawai had only 58 AB in 54 games in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, batting .190/.294/.207 (he was 0 for 1 with a sacrifice in the 2000 Japan Series) and 52 AB in 73 games the next season, hitting .288/.315/.462. His career had come full-circle from defensive sub in the 1980s to starter in the 1990s to defensive sub in the 2000s. In

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, the 37-year-old produced at a .219/.246/.289 rate in 132 AB over 88 games, backing up Nioka at short, Motoki at third and

Toshihisa Nishi is a Japanese former professional baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. Th ...

at second base. In the 2002 Japan Series, he played one game at third as a defensive sub. His brightest moment may have been in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

; though he hit only .238/.247/.300 in 80 AB over 72 games and was rarely playing short (primarily subbing for Akira Eto and Motoki at third), he won national acclaim when he laid down his 512th career sacrifice hit. This broke

Eddie Collins Edward Trowbridge Collins Sr. (May 2, 1887 – March 25, 1951), nicknamed "Cocky", was an American professional baseball player, manager and executive. He played as a second baseman in Major League Baseball from to for the Philadelphia Athle ...

' world record and got significant media attention in Japan.

Robert Whiting Robert Whiting (born October 24, 1942) is a best-selling author and journalist who has written several books on contemporary Japanese culture—which include topics such as baseball and American gangsters operating in Japan. He was born in New J ...

, perhaps using a fair bit of hyperbole, says that it "was greeted with as much fanfare as if he had surpassed the home run record. There were fireworks on the Tokyo Dome electronic scoreboard and a flowery ceremony involving Kawai's wife and children, accompanied by tears of joy all around." Yomiuri then tried to pressure him to retire but he refused and the club released him after 20 years with them. Kawai caught on with the

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011 ...

for

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 60 ...

and hit .261/.393/.391 in 23 AB, playing 80 games, almost exclusively as Tatsunami's backup at third base. In the 2004 Japan Series, he played three games at third and did not bat. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, the 40-year-old again was the defensive substitute at third. He hit .294/.294/.412 in 17 AB over 69 games. For his final season, he batted .273/.304/.273 in 22 AB in 51 games. He played one game 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 Nipp ...

and, very fittingly, laid down a successful sacrifice bunt in his final plate appearance after 23 years in Nippon Professional Baseball. His career offensive line read .266/.333/.345 with 533 sacrifice hits in 1,909 games. Ken Hirano (451) was second all-time in Nippon Professional Baseball in sacrifice hits at the time of Kawai's retirement with no other player within 200. Kawai retired after the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

season and was hired by Chunichi as a coach.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kawai, Masahiro Living people 1964 births Sportspeople from Okayama Japanese baseball players Nippon Professional Baseball infielders Yomiuri Giants players Chunichi Dragons players Japanese baseball coaches Nippon Professional Baseball coaches

See also

External links