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30-30 Vision

Discussion in the Records and Milestones forum
30-30 Vision
rithifruss-san writes:

(Once again, me and my Pacific League....)

Both Iguchi Tadahito (Hawks) and Matsui Kazuo (Lions) are showing both speed and power this year, and both could be on a pace to join the 30-30 club. (For those who don't know, 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases). Who was the last person to do that in the Pacific League? Or in the Central League? My guess would be Akiyama when he was with the Lions. Or maybe one of the Hiroshima boys like Kanemoto or Ogata or Nomura who showed a little speed and (with a little help from the little stadium) power.

[Format edited by: westbaystars on Sep 16, 2002 8:33 PM JST]
Comments
The last time was last year
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: May 26, 2001 4:17 AM | YBS Fan ]

As a matter of fact, you hit the nail on the head with your Hiroshima guess. Nomura not only hit 30-30 last year, but he also bettered .300 for his batting average. That's quite a feat anywhere!

As for any others, well, I'm afraid that I don't have access to such data. Does anybody else know?

[Format edited by: westbaystars on Sep 16, 2002 8:34 PM JST.
Expired link also removed.]
Re:The last time was last year
[ Author: Guest | Posted: May 26, 2001 5:45 AM ]

I think you will find that it was Kanemoto who did it last year and that Nomura had previously done it (possibly 1994)
Akiyama
[ Author: Guest | Posted: May 26, 2001 1:15 PM ]

While poking around

http://www.inter.co.jp/Baseball/index.html

for a few minutes, it is clear that Akiyama Koji was the power-speed king of his day (if not all-time; I don't have any access to earlier stats). Check him out:
year   hr  sb
1987 43 38
1989 31 31
1990 31 51
That's 3 times in 4 years (plus some other good seasons that fall short), and in addition he's got 400 hr and 300 sb lifetime, which is very impressive. Too bad he didn't get a shot to compete in mlb during his prime -- probably comparable to Canseco, maybe faster with a little less power.

Cheers, sr

[Format edited by: westbaystars on Sep 16, 2002 8:36 PM JST. Link also updated to new site: www.npb-bis.com]
3-3-3 Fever
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: May 26, 2001 2:25 PM | YBS Fan ]

On the Pro Yakyu mailing list, Aladdinsane-san came through again with a great resource (in Japanese). It's a list of players who hit over .300, hit 30 home runs, and had at least 30 stolen bases.

Here's the translation:

Year, Player, Team, Avg, HRs, SBs
1950, Bessho, Mainichi, .335, 43, 34
1950, Iwamoto, Shochiku, .319, 39, 34
1953, Nakanishi, Nishitetsu, .314, 36, 36
1983, Minota (?), Hankyu, .312, 32, 35
1989, Akiyama, Seibu, .301, 31, 31
1995, Nomura, Hiroshima, .315, 32, 30
2000, Kanemoto, Hiroshima, .315, 30, 30

Also, Aladdinsane-san gave me credit for mentioning Nomura, but the credit should go to Rithifruss-san.

[Format edited by: westbaystars on Sep 16, 2002 8:43 PM JST.]
Re:Akiyama
[ Author: moto-Pazu | Posted: May 26, 2001 9:10 PM ]

Shinjo was hit by the Marlins today because he swung at a 0-3 pitch the day before when the Mets had a huge lead. I can't help but feel sorry for Shinjo because it's really a stupid unwritten rule that only exists in MLB.

If I recall correctly from my JPB watching days back in the early 90s. Akiyama somersaulted his way home after hitting a homerun in the Japan series vs. Hiroshima(?), I think he did it again a couple years later.

Imagine if someone did THAT in MLB.

Akiyama certainly has my vote for the greatest 5 tool player of all-time, certainly the best I've ever seen. Why Kiyohara was the poster boy for Seibu is beyond me. (Similar to Oh-Nagashima?)
Re:Akiyama
[ Author: Guest: Gary Garland | Posted: Sep 18, 2002 5:32 PM ]

I think that there are a couple of reasons why Kiyohara was more of a fan favorite than Akiyama. First, Kiyohara had a lot of hype coming out of PL Gakuen, playing on the same team as Masumi Kuwata whereas Akiyama was from a no name school in a small town in Kumamoto Prefecture who was undrafted. Moreover, just Kiyohara's sheer size got him a lot of attention. He was kind of Japan's equivalent of Jose Canseco (sans the speed Jose had earlier in his career) in that they were both big guys with relatively compact swings who produced from the get go. As good as McGwire was his rookie season, he was still in Canseco's shadow. That's what happened to Akiyama, as great a player as he unquestionably was.
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