Former Hiroshima Carp slugger Koji Yamamoto and Tsuneo Horiuchi, a key starting pitcher during the Yomiuri Giants' record Japan Series title streak, have been inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame along with legendary amateur player Seiichi Shima, the selection panel announced Friday.
Yamamoto, 61, helped the Carp win their first-ever Central League championship in 1975 with a league-high .319 average and led the team to back-to-back Japan Series titles in 1979-80 as their cleanup hitter. He coached third base for Team Japan at the Olympic qualifying tournament in December.
In his 18-year playing career that began in 1969, all with the Carp, Yamamoto hit 2,339 hits and 536 homers while driving in 1,475 runs and leading the league in batting average once, home runs four times and RBIs three times. The Hiroshima native later served as Carp manger in 1989-93 and in 2001-05.