Monday, April 25, 2022
2022年4月25日 星期一
RIP Toshizo Sakamoto
Toshizo Sakamoto, infielder for four different Pacific League teams between
1967 and 1980, passed away about a month ago from Parkinson's disease but it
didn't make the news until today. Sakamoto is primarily remembered for two
things - misplaying a ground ball in the 1971 Nippon Series and being the
first designated hitter in Pacific League history in 1975 - although
surprisingly only one of these events is mentioned in his obituary in Nikkan
Sports.
阪本敏三是在1967年至1980年间效力四支洋联球队的内野手，在一个月前（3月22日）因
帕金森症候群过世，但直到今天(4月25日)才释出新闻。阪本主要事迹为两件：1971年日
本大赛漏扑一个滚地球使其形成安打，以及1975年成为洋联史上第一位指定打击，但在日
刊体育的讣告只提到其中一件事。
He had been playing for Kawai Instruments in the corporate leagues when he
was drafted in the fifth round of the 1966 draft by the Hankyu Braves. He
quickly became the Braves' starting shortstop and won the PL Best 9 award at
shortstop every year between 1968 and 1971. He also led the PL in steals in
1969 and made the All Star team each year from 1968 to 1971.
阪本在1966年选秀会被阪急勇士队第五指名，被指名前效力业余球队河合乐器。阪本进入
阪急勇士队，立即成为先发游击手，并在1968年至1971年获得洋联最佳九人，1969年洋联
盗垒王、1968年至1971年日本职棒明星赛。
I don't know this for sure, but I think the misplay in the 1971 Series cost
him his future with the Braves. Hankyu and the Giants had split the first
two games when Braves ace Hisashi Yamada took the mound for Game Three.
Yamada pitched a great game, holding the Giants to only two hits and no runs
over the first eight innings. Giants pitcher Shitoshi Sekimoto also pitched
well, giving up only five hits and one run to the Braves. With one out in
the bottom of the ninth, Yamada walked Isao Shibata, his first free pass of
the day. After Toshiro Yanagida flew out for the second out, Shigeo
Nagashima stepped to the plate. Nagashima hit a slow ground ball a little to
the left of up the middle that Sakamoto could not quite get to - it rolled
into the outfield with Shibata going all the way to third. Sakamoto
apparently had taken a step in the opposite direction when the ball was hit
which prevented him from reaching the ball. Sadaharu Oh was the next batter
and he drove the ball into the right field stands at Korakuen Stadium for a
sayonara three run home run. Oh's shot is considered the turning point for
the Giants who went on to win the next two games 7-4 and 6-1 and win the
Series 4 games to 1.
我不确定我这个观点，但我认为1971年日本大赛中的失误让他失去了在阪急勇士队的未来
。在1971年日本大赛中，前两场阪急队与巨人队各赢一场1：1平手，而在G3中阪急勇士队
的王牌投手山田久志投出一场精采的表现，让读卖巨人队前8局只击出两支安打且没有得
分。读卖巨人队的关本四十四也表现极为出色，只被击出5支安打失1分。山田在9局下1出
局保送了柴田勋，这是山田在当天的第一个保送。接着让柳田俊郎击出飞球形成两出局，
接着轮到长嶋茂雄站上打击区。长嶋面对山田击出了游击与二垒垒包间的缓慢滚地球，但
游击手阪本完全无法接住，球最后滚到外野，柴田站上了三垒。当球被击出时，阪本很明
显地慢了一步以致于扑不到球。王贞治是下一个打者，他最后击出了再见三分全垒打。王
贞治的全垒打被认为是读卖巨人队的转折，读卖巨人队在接下来的G4、G5赢得比赛，并获
得日本一。
You can see the play (along with a bunch of Calbee Braves cards) in the
middle of the following video:
你可以在下面的Youtube影片看到1971年日本大赛G3的片段。
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f7UWXRZOfU
Regardless of whether or not Hankyu blamed Sakamoto for the Series loss, he
wasn't a Brave anymore after that season. He was traded with Koji Okamoto
and Seigo Sasaki to the Toei Flyers for Masayuki Tanemo and Yutaka Ohashi.
He made the All Star team in 1972. The next year the team (now called the
Nittaku Home Flyers) moved him to third base and he shifted to second base
two years later (when the team was now the Nippon-Ham Fighters). While he
was the first player to bat as a designated hitter in 1975 he spent most of
his time that season in the field - according to his stats at Baseball
Reference he played at second base in 94 of the 96 games he appeared in that
year.
不管阪急勇士队有没有把日本大赛失败的责任都推给阪本，他在季末就与冈村浩二、佐佐
木诚吾被交易到东映飞人队，阪急勇士队则换得大桥穰与种茂雅之。1972年也入选日本职
棒明星赛，在东映队→日拓队→火腿队这三年间守备位置变更为游击手→三垒手→二垒手
。虽然他是1975年洋联第一位担任指定打击的球员，但他在1975年出赛96场，有94场担任
二垒手。
He was dealt a second time after the 1975 season - the Fighters sent him
along with Kenichi Yaezawa to the Kintetsu Buffaloes for Toshikazu Hattori
and Yozo Nagabuchi. After three years with the Buffaloes he again switched
teams - this time going to the Nankai Hawks (not sure if there was a trade, a
sale or if he was released by Kintetsu). He spent two years with the Hawks -
the last one as player-coach - and retired following the 1980 season. He
spent a couple years as a commentator before coaching for Kintetsu from 1984
to 1996.
1975年季末与八重沢宪一被交易到近铁猛牛队，日本火腿斗士队换得永渊洋三、服部敏和
与市桥秀彦。在近铁猛牛队三年后，1979年到了南海鹰队，在南海鹰队则是球员兼教练，
最后在1980年退休，退休后担任球评跟近铁猛牛队教练。
Somehow there are almost no baseball cards of Sakamoto that were issued
during his career. I only know of four and three of those (the Broder "JY4"
and "JY6" sets from 1975 and 1976 respectively and the 1979 TCMA set) were
American issues. His only card actually issued in Japan was a game set
issued with the July 1976 issue of the "Elementary School 3rd Year" magazine
that used a caricature of him rather than an actual photo. He does not have
any Calbee, Takara or Yamakatsu cards that I'm aware of. He has appeared in
a number of BBM OB sets - the 2009 Hankyu Braves Memorial set, the 2011
Legend of Bs set, the 2013 The Trade Stories set and the 2021 Orix Buffaloes
History set - as well as the 2017 Epoch Hankyu Braves Greats set. Here's
all the cards I have for him - I've arranged them in chronological order of
the teams he played on:
(介绍球员卡)
阪本敏三
1943年7月13日至2022年3月22日
阪急→(东映→日拓→火腿)→近铁→南海
G1447 H1303 HR97 RBI449 SB243 .272/.331/.385/.716
以上来源：
https://japanesebaseballcards.blogspot.com/2022/04/rip-toshizo-sakamoto.html