Hiromitsu Ochiai

Japanese baseball player

Baseball player

Hiromitsu Ochiai
落合 博満

Ochiai in 2007

Born: (1953-12-09) December 9, 1953 (age 69)
Wakami, Akita, Japan

Batted: Right

Threw: Right

NPB debut
May 29, 1979, for the Lotte Orions
Last appearance
October 7, 1998, for the Nippon Ham Fighters
NPB statistics
Batting average| .311
Hits| 2371
HRs| 510
RBIs| 1564
Teams
As player

* Lotte Orions (1979–1986)
* Chunichi Dragons (1987–1993)
* Yomiuri Giants (1994–1996)
* Nippon-Ham Fighters (1997–1998)

As manager

* Chunichi Dragons (2004–2011)

As general manager

* Chunichi Dragons (2013–2017)

Career highlights and awards

* 2× Pacific League MVP (1982, 1985)
* 3x Japanese Triple Crown (1982, 1985, 1986)

Member of the Japanese
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction| 2011

Hiromitsu Ochiai (落合 博満 Ochiai Hiromitsu, born December 9, 1953) is a Japanese professional baseball manager and former player. He is former manager of the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He is considered to be one of the most important players in the history of Japanese baseball, winning numerous batting awards and being the only player to receive the prestigious triple crown batting award three times. With 510 career home runs, Ochiai is sixth on the all-time NPB list. Ochiai's style is called Oreryu(オレ流). Oreryu means "to do with only my style." The word described how he acted according to his personal philosophies.

## Biography[edit]

Ochiai was born in the town of Wakami in Akita, Japan, a rice-farming area of northern Honshū. Ochiai was the youngest of seven children and grew up enjoying spending time in the cinema rather than on the baseball field. At Toyo University, he quit after one year as he did not approve of the traditional way freshman players had to cater to the senior players on the team. He joined Toshiba Fuchu, a team in the Japanese industrial league, after leaving Toyo University and went back to his home town and spent some years as a professional bowler.

In 1978, at 25 years old, the third baseman joined Lotte Orions after being selected in the third round of the draft. The Lotte manager did not care for his unorthodox right-handed batting style and Masaichi Kaneda criticized Ochiai, but Isao Harimoto supported Ochiai and Ochiai did not quit.[1] From 1981, Ochiai played a regular role for his team, and in 1982 he won his first triple crown batting title. He also won the Triple crown in 1985 and 1986, and continued winning titles through 1991.

In 1987, Ochiai was traded to the Chunichi Dragons by the Lotte Orions. During the 1994 season, the Yomiuri Giants picked up Ochiai as a free agent. After the Giants signed Kazuhiro Kiyohara in 1997, Ochiai joined the Nippon-Ham Fighters at the age of 43. At the conclusion of the 1998 season, Ochiai retired.

Hiromitsu Ochiai was the manager of the Chunichi Dragons from 2004 to 2011. He led the Dragons to the Japan Series during his inaugural year as manager in 2004, again in 2006, and led them to victory on the third try in 2007. His contract was not renewed after leading the Dragons to within a game of winning the 2011 Japan Series.[2] He was often criticized for his decision-making, such as removing starting pitcher Daisuke Yamai to start the ninth inning of game five of the 2007 Japan Series. Yamai had been pitching a perfect game. Closer Hitoki Iwase finished off the ninth for a rare combined perfect game to clinch the championship for the Dragons.[3]

Ochiai was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011. The Hiromitsu Ochiai Baseball Hall opened in Taiji, Wakayama in 1993 starting a trend of museums dedicated to famous ballplayers.[4]

On October 9, 2013, Ochiai was appointed general manager of the Chunichi Dragons.[5] On December 20, 2016 it was announced that Ochiai would step down from his role as general manager at the end of his contract in January 2017.[6]

## Awards and accomplishments[edit]

* MVP (1982, 1985)
* Triple Crown (1982, 1985, 1986)
* Batting Title (1981~1983, 1985, 1986)
* Home run Title (1982, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1991)
* Run batted in Title (1982, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990)
* On-base percentage Title (1982, 1985~1988, 1990, 1991)
* Best Nine Award (1981~1986, 1988~1991)
* Matsutaro Shoriki Award (2007)

## Career batting statistics[edit]

YEAR | Team | Number | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | TB | RBI | SB | CS | SB | SF | BB | HBP | K | DP | ERR | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS

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1979 | Lotte Orions | 6 | 36 | 69 | 64 | 7 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 26 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 1 | .234 | .290 | .406 | .696
1980 | 57 | 188 | 166 | 28 | 47 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 99 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 1 | 23 | 5 | 5 | .283 | .349 | .596 | .946
1981 | 127 | 502 | 423 | 69 | 138 | 19 | 3 | 33 | 262 | 90 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 68 | 6 | 55 | 17 | 9 | .326 | .423 | .619 | 1.043
1982 | 128 | 552 | 462 | 86 | 150 | 32 | 1 | 32 | 280 | 99 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 81 | 5 | 58 | 11 | 7 | .325 | .428 | .606 | 1.034
1983 | 119 | 497 | 428 | 79 | 142 | 22 | 1 | 25 | 241 | 75 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 64 | 2 | 52 | 14 | 7 | .332 | .419 | .563 | .982
1984 | 129 | 562 | 456 | 89 | 143 | 17 | 3 | 33 | 265 | 94 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 98 | 4 | 33 | 14 | 16 | .314 | .436 | .581 | 1.017
1985 | 130 | 568 | 460 | 118 | 169 | 21 | 1 | 52 | 351 | 146 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 101 | 3 | 40 | 16 | 19 | .367 | .481 | .763 | 1.244
1986 | 123 | 522 | 417 | 98 | 150 | 11 | 0 | 50 | 311 | 116 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 101 | 3 | 59 | 15 | 10 | .360 | .487 | .746 | 1.232
1987 | Chunichi Dragons | 125 | 519 | 432 | 83 | 143 | 33 | 0 | 28 | 260 | 85 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 81 | 2 | 51 | 10 | 9 | .331 | .435 | .602 | 1.037
1988 | 130 | 557 | 450 | 82 | 132 | 31 | 1 | 32 | 261 | 95 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 98 | 3 | 70 | 11 | 10 | .293 | .418 | .580 | .998
1989 | 130 | 559 | 476 | 78 | 153 | 23 | 1 | 40 | 298 | 116 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 75 | 1 | 69 | 11 | 6 | .321 | .410 | .626 | 1.036
1990 | 131 | 570 | 458 | 93 | 133 | 19 | 1 | 34 | 256 | 102 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 100 | 4 | 87 | 7 | 7 | .290 | .416 | .559 | .975
1991 | 112 | 478 | 374 | 80 | 127 | 17 | 0 | 37 | 255 | 91 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 95 | 4 | 55 | 9 | 5 | .340 | .473 | .682 | 1.155
1992 | 116 | 481 | 384 | 58 | 112 | 22 | 1 | 22 | 202 | 71 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 88 | 3 | 74 | 12 | 3 | .292 | .425 | .526 | .948
1993 | 119 | 504 | 396 | 64 | 113 | 19 | 0 | 17 | 183 | 65 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 96 | 4 | 69 | 13 | 4 | .285 | .423 | .462 | .885
1994 | Yomiuri Giants | 60 | 129 | 540 | 447 | 53 | 125 | 19 | 0 | 15 | 189 | 68 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 81 | 6 | 56 | 13 | 8 | .280 | .393 | .423 | .815
1995 | 6 | 117 | 483 | 399 | 64 | 124 | 15 | 1 | 17 | 192 | 65 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 73 | 3 | 87 | 17 | 5 | .311 | .414 | .481 | .895
1996 | 106 | 448 | 376 | 60 | 113 | 18 | 0 | 21 | 194 | 86 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 67 | 3 | 53 | 11 | 6 | .301 | .408 | .516 | .924
1997 | Nippon Ham Fighters | 3 | 113 | 466 | 397 | 35 | 104 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 127 | 43 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 61 | 3 | 60 | 16 | 3 | .262 | .361 | .320 | .680
1998 | 59 | 192 | 162 | 11 | 38 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 50 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 2 | 22 | 12 | 0 | .235 | .344 | .309 | .652
Total  | 2236 | 9257 | 7627 | 1335 | 2371 | 371 | 15 | 510 | 4302 | 1564 | 65 | 35 | 4 | 88 | 1475 | 63 | 1135 | 236 | 140 | .311 | .422 | .564 | .987

## References[edit]

1. ^ donga.com ["Korean Hitter with Odd Stance Meets Manager Who Had One Too." 02 Mar 2007, Dong-a Ilbo, The.]
2. ^ Coskey, Jason."Ochiai bows out after eight years in charge of Dragons." 25 Nov 2011: Japan Times, The.[1]
3. ^ Coskey, Jason. "Dragons clinch Japan Series: Yamai, Iwase combine for perfect game." 02 Nov 2007: Japan Times, The. [2]
4. ^ Normile, Dennis. "Museum Showcases Ichiro's Baseball Career." 27 Aug 2012: New York Times, The.[3]
5. ^ Graczyk, Wayne. "Tanishige to become rare player-manager for Dragons." 19 October 2013: The Japan Times.
6. ^ "Dragons GM Ochiai leaving team". Japan Times. KYODO. 20 December 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.

## External links[edit]

* Nippon Professional Baseball career statistics from JapaneseBaseball.com

* v
* t
* e

Pacific League MVP Award

* 1950: Betto
* 1951: K. Yamamoto
* 1952: Yuki
* 1953: Okamoto
* 1954: Oshita
* 1955: Iida
* 1956: Nakanishi
* 1957: Inao
* 1958: Inao
* 1959: Sugiura
* 1960: Yamauchi
* 1961: Nomura
* 1962: Harimoto
* 1963: Nomura
* 1964: Stanka
* 1965: Nomura
* 1966: Nomura
* 1967: Adachi
* 1968: Yoneda
* 1969: Nagaike
* 1970: Kitaru
* 1971: Nagaike
* 1972: Fukumoto
* 1973: Nomura
* 1974: Kaneda
* 1975: Katō
* 1976: Yamada
* 1977: Yamada
* 1978: Yamada
* 1979: Manuel
* 1980: Kida
* 1981: Enatsu
* 1982: Ochiai
* 1983: Higashio
* 1984: G. Wells
* 1985: Ochiai
* 1986: Ishige
* 1987: Higashio
* 1988: Kadota
* 1989: Bryant
* 1990: Nomo
* 1991: T. Kaku
* 1992: Ishii
* 1993: Kudō
* 1994: Suzuki
* 1995: Suzuki
* 1996: Suzuki
* 1997: Nishiguchi
* 1998: K. Matsui
* 1999: Kudō
* 2000: Matsunaka
* 2001: Rhodes
* 2002: Cabrera
* 2003: Johjima
* 2004: Matsunaka
* 2005: Sugiuchi
* 2006: Ogasawara
* 2007: Darvish
* 2008: Iwakuma
* 2009: Darvish
* 2010: Wada
* 2011: Uchikawa
* 2012: Yoshikawa
* 2013: Tanaka
* 2014: Kaneko
* 2015: Yanagita
* 2016: Ohtani
* 2017: Sarfate
* 2018: Yamakawa
* 2019: Mori
* 2020: Yanagita
* 2021: Y. Yamamoto
* 2022: Y. Yamamoto

* v
* t
* e

Matsutaro Shoriki Award

* 1977: Oh
* 1978: Hirooka
* 1979: Nishimoto
* 1980: Koba
* 1981: Fujita
* 1982: Hirooka
* 1983: Tabuchi
* 1984: Kinugasa
* 1985: Yoshida
* 1986: Mori
* 1987: Kudo
* 1988: Kadota
* 1989: Fujita
* 1990: Mori
* 1991: Akiyama
* 1992: Ishii
* 1993: Nomura
* 1994: Nagashima, Suzuki
* 1995: Suzuki
* 1996: Ohgi
* 1997: Furuta
* 1998: Sasaki
* 1999: Oh
* 2000: Matsui
* 2001: Wakamatsu
* 2002: Hara
* 2003: Hoshino, Oh
* 2004: Itō, Suzuki
* 2005: Valentine
* 2006: Oh
* 2007: Ochiai
* 2008: Watanabe
* 2009: Hara
* 2010: Nishimura
* 2011: Akiyama
* 2012: Abe, Hara
* 2013: Hoshino
* 2014: Akiyama
* 2015: Kudō
* 2016: Kuriyama
* 2017: Sarfate
* 2018: Kudō
* 2019: Kudō
* 2020: Kudō
* 2021: Takatsu
* 2022: Nakajima

* v
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* e

Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize

* 1968: Shozo Saijo
* 1969: Yomiuri Giants
* 1970: Taihō Kōki
* 1971: Shigeo Nagashima
* 1972: Katsuaki Matsumoto
* 1973: Tadashi Sawamura
* 1974: Sadaharu Oh
* 1975: Hiroshima Toyo Carp
* 1976: Sadaharu Oh
* 1977: Sadaharu Oh
* 1978: Yakult Swallows
* 1979: Yoko Gushiken
* 1980: Yoko Gushiken
* 1981: Koichi Nakano
* 1982: Hiromitsu Ochiai
* 1983: Tatsuro Hirooka
* 1984: Sachio Kinugasa
* 1985: Randy Bass
* 1986: Hiromitsu Ochiai
* 1987: Ayako Okamoto
* 1988: Chiyonofuji Mitsugu
* 1989: Chiyonofuji Mitsugu
* 1990: Hideo Nomo
* 1991: Joichiro Tatsuyoshi
* 1992: Takanohana Kōji
* 1993: Kazuyoshi Miura
* 1994: Ichiro Suzuki
* 1995: Ichiro Suzuki
* 1996: Masashi Ozaki
* 1997: Hidetoshi Nakata
* 1998: Kazuhiro Sasaki
* 1999: Daisuke Matsuzaka
* 2000: Hideki Matsui
* 2001: Ichiro Suzuki
* 2002: Japan men's football team
* 2003: Hideki Matsui
* 2004: Asashōryū Akinori
* 2005: Asashōryū Akinori
* 2006: Japan national baseball team
* 2007: Urawa Red Diamonds
* 2008: Ryo Ishikawa
* 2009: Ryo Ishikawa
* 2010: Hakuhō Shō
* 2011: Japan women's football team
* 2012: Shinnosuke Abe
* 2013: Masahiro Tanaka
* 2014: Kei Nishikori
* 2015: Japan national rugby union team
* 2016: Shohei Ohtani
* 2017: Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
* 2018: Shohei Ohtani
* 2022: Naoya Inoue

* v
* t
* e

Chunichi Dragons managers

* 1936 Yutaka Ikeda
* 1937 Kaishi Masu
* 1938-1939 Kaishi Masu
* 1939-1941 Tokuro Konishi
* 1941-1942 Chikayoshi Honda
* 1943 Kaishi Masu
* 1944 Daisuke Miyake
* 1946 Yoshikazu Takeuchi
* 1946-1948 Kiyoshi Sugiura
* 1949-1951 Shunichi Amachi
* 1952-1953 Michinoru Tsubouchi
* 1954 Shunichi Amachi
* 1955-1956 Akira Noguchi
* 1957-1958 Shunichi Amachi
* 1960-1962 Wataru Nōnin
* 1963-1964 Kiyoshi Sugiura
* 1963-1967 Michio Nishizawa
* 1968 Shigeru Sugishita
* 1968 Itsurō Honda
* 1969-1971 Shigeru Mizuhara
* 1972-1977 Wally Yonamine
* 1978-1980 Toshio Naka
* 1981-1983 Sadao Kondō
* 1984-1986 Kazuhiro Yamauchi
* 1986 Morimichi Takagi
* 1987-1991 Senichi Hoshino
* 1992-1995 Morimichi Takagi
* 1995 Sadayuki Tokutake
* 1995 Ikuo Shimano
* 1996-2001 Senichi Hoshino
* 2002-2003 Hisashi Yamada
* 2003 Kyosuke Sasaki
* 2004-2011 Hiromitsu Ochiai
* 2012-2013 Morimichi Takagi
* 2014-2016 Motonobu Tanishige
* 2016-2018 Shigekazu Mori
* 2019-2021 Tsuyoshi Yoda
* 2022-Present Kazuyoshi Tatsunami

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