Michihiro Ogasawara

Michihiro Ogasawara
Yomiuri Giants — No. 2
Infielder
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
Professional debut
1997 for the Nippon Ham Fighters
statistics (through 2010)
Batting average	.316
Home runs	371
RBI	1111
Teams
Nippon-Ham Fighters/Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (1997–2006) Yomiuri Giants (2007–present)
Career highlights and awards
2006 Pacific League MVP 2007 Central League MVP 1× Japan Series champion (2009)

Medal record
Ogasawara played for Japan in the 2006 World Baseball Classic.
Men's Baseball
Bronze	Athens 2004	Team Competition
World Baseball Classic
Gold	2006 San Diego	Team Competition
Gold	2009 Los Angeles	Team Competition

Michihiro Ogasawara (小笠原 道大, born October 25, 1973 in Mihama-ku, Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese professional baseball player. He currently plays first base for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan's Central League . He played with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters from 1997 to 2006.

Career

Ogasawara is one of the most consistent hitters in Japanese baseball. He won two consecutive batting titles from 2002-2003, and led the league in home runs and RBIs in 2006 to win the Pacific League MVP award. He led the league in hits from 2000-2001, and has won 6 Japanese Golden Glove awards at first base and third base. He participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece, winning a bronze medal. He also played for the Japanese national team in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, where he hit a home run off Esteban Loaiza at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. In 2006, he helped the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters win their first Pacific League pennant since 1981, sweeping the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the playoffs to reach the Japanese championship series against the Chunichi Dragons. The Fighters beat the Dragons in 5 games to win the Japanese championship series.

He became a free agent in 2006, and signed a four-year contract with the Yomiuri Giants during the off-season.

Career statistics

Nippon Professional Baseball
Year	Age	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	TB	RBI	SB	AVG
1997	24	Nippon-Ham	44	94	7	21	10	2	0	35	7	1	.223
1998	25	Nippon-Ham	71	86	7	26	5	0	1	34	9	1	.302
1999	26	Nippon-Ham	135	547	90	156	34	4	25	273	83	3	.285
2000	27	Nippon-Ham	135	554	126	182	23	4	31	306	102	24	.329
2001	28	Nippon-Ham	140	576	108	195	40	2	32	335	86	1	.339
2002	29	Nippon-Ham	135	486	77	165	27	2	32	292	81	8	.340
2003	30	Nippon-Ham	128	445	83	160	34	1	31	289	100	8	.360
2004	31	Nippon-Ham	101	377	78	130	19	2	18	207	70	3	.345
2005	32	Nippon-Ham	133	514	91	145	27	2	37	287	92	2	.282
2006	33	Nippon-Ham	135	496	77	155	31	1	32	284	100	4	.313
2007	34	Yomiuri	142	566	95	177	33	1	31	305	88	4	.313
2008	35	Yomiuri	144	520	93	161	27	1	36	298	96	0	.310
2009	36	Yomiuri	139	514	78	159	25	1	31	279	107	2	.309
2010	37	Yomiuri	137	510	83	157	24	1	34	285	90	1	.308
2011	38	Yomiuri	55	191	9	42	7	0	1	52	10	0	.220

Statistics current as of July 22, 2011

External links

• Nippon Professional Baseball career statistics from Japanesebaseball.com

Awards
Preceded by Toshiya Sugiuchi	Pacific League MVP 2006	Succeeded by Yu Darvish
Preceded by Kosuke Fukudome	Central League MVP 2007	Succeeded by Alex Ramírez

Persondata
Name	Ogasawara, Michihiro
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 25, 1973
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death