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Nobuhiko Matsunaka
Nobuhiko Matsunaka (松中 信彦, Matsunaka Nobuhiko; born December 26, 1973 in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto, Japan) is a former left fielder and designated hitter for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. He is currently the hitting coach for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league.
He played in the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Olympics as well as the 2006 World Baseball Classic, hitting cleanup in 1996 and 2006.
Matsunaka was born in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto, and attended the local Yatsushiro First High School (currently Shugakukan High School). He joined Nippon Steel Corporation Kimitsu Works, a team in the Japanese industrial leagues, upon graduating high school in 1991.
In 1996, 22-year-old Matsunaka, then still a first baseman for Nippon Steel-Kimitsu, gathered national attention when he hit a game-tying grand slam in the finals of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics against Cuba as a member of the Japanese national team. He was picked in the second round of the 1996 amateur draft by the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks.
Matsunaka made his debut at the ichigun (Japanese equivalent of "major league") level in 1997, his rookie season, as the starting first baseman and No. 7 hitter in a regular season game against the Seibu Lions on May 31. His first home run came more than a year later against Lions right-hander Fumiya Nishiguchi on September 5 1998.
Matsunaka became the Hawks' starting first baseman in 1999 with the departure of Luis Lopez, hitting .268 with 23 home runs and 71 RBI and leading them to their first championship in 35 years as they won the league title as well as that year's Japan Series in five games over the Chunichi Dragons. His 23 homers were second to only Hiroki Kokubo on the Hawks.
Matsunaka had a breakout year in 2000, hitting .312 with 33 homers and 106 RBI and winning the Pacific League Most Valuable Player award for the first time in his career. However, while the Hawks won the league title and reached the Japan Series for the second straight year, they blew a commanding 2-0 lead to the Yomiuri Giants and lost in six games. Matsunaka was a factor in this loss, going just 1-for-20 with one home run in the series.
Matsunaka put up his second consecutive .300-30-100 season the following season 2001, hitting .334 with 36 home runs and 122 RBI. The Hawks had a particularly potent lineup that year, with Matsunaka, Kokubo (44), catcher Kenji Johjima (31), and second baseman Tadahito Iguchi (30) all hitting 30 or more home runs. It marked the first time four players on the same team had ever hit 30 or more homers in the Pacific League, and the four were dubbed the "30-Homer Quartet". However, while the Hawks broke a franchise record by hitting 203 home runs as a team, they finished second to the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes in the pennant race, missing their third straight league title.
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Nobuhiko Matsunaka
Nobuhiko Matsunaka (松中 信彦, Matsunaka Nobuhiko; born December 26, 1973 in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto, Japan) is a former left fielder and designated hitter for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. He is currently the hitting coach for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league.
He played in the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Olympics as well as the 2006 World Baseball Classic, hitting cleanup in 1996 and 2006.
Matsunaka was born in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto, and attended the local Yatsushiro First High School (currently Shugakukan High School). He joined Nippon Steel Corporation Kimitsu Works, a team in the Japanese industrial leagues, upon graduating high school in 1991.
In 1996, 22-year-old Matsunaka, then still a first baseman for Nippon Steel-Kimitsu, gathered national attention when he hit a game-tying grand slam in the finals of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics against Cuba as a member of the Japanese national team. He was picked in the second round of the 1996 amateur draft by the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks.
Matsunaka made his debut at the ichigun (Japanese equivalent of "major league") level in 1997, his rookie season, as the starting first baseman and No. 7 hitter in a regular season game against the Seibu Lions on May 31. His first home run came more than a year later against Lions right-hander Fumiya Nishiguchi on September 5 1998.
Matsunaka became the Hawks' starting first baseman in 1999 with the departure of Luis Lopez, hitting .268 with 23 home runs and 71 RBI and leading them to their first championship in 35 years as they won the league title as well as that year's Japan Series in five games over the Chunichi Dragons. His 23 homers were second to only Hiroki Kokubo on the Hawks.
Matsunaka had a breakout year in 2000, hitting .312 with 33 homers and 106 RBI and winning the Pacific League Most Valuable Player award for the first time in his career. However, while the Hawks won the league title and reached the Japan Series for the second straight year, they blew a commanding 2-0 lead to the Yomiuri Giants and lost in six games. Matsunaka was a factor in this loss, going just 1-for-20 with one home run in the series.
Matsunaka put up his second consecutive .300-30-100 season the following season 2001, hitting .334 with 36 home runs and 122 RBI. The Hawks had a particularly potent lineup that year, with Matsunaka, Kokubo (44), catcher Kenji Johjima (31), and second baseman Tadahito Iguchi (30) all hitting 30 or more home runs. It marked the first time four players on the same team had ever hit 30 or more homers in the Pacific League, and the four were dubbed the "30-Homer Quartet". However, while the Hawks broke a franchise record by hitting 203 home runs as a team, they finished second to the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes in the pennant race, missing their third straight league title.