Katsunori Nomura

Katsunori Nomura
野村 克則
Tokyo Yakult Swallows – No. 78
Catcher/Catching coach
Born: (1973-07-23) July 23, 1973
Toyonaka, Osaka
Batted: Right Threw: Right
NPB debut
1997, for the Yakult Swallows
Last appearance
October 1, 2006, for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
NPB statistics
Batting average .185
On-base percentage .237
Slugging percentage .261
Teams

As player

As coach

  • Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (2007–2009)
  • Yomiuri Giants (2010–2013)
  • Tokyo Yakult Swallows (2014–present)
Last updated on: 6 April 2009

Katsunori Nomura (野村 克則, Nomura Katsunori, born July 23, 1973) was a NPB catcher from 1996 to 2006. He is currently a catching coach for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. He is the son of NPB catching-great and long-time manager Katsuya Nomura, who also managed him for five seasons—two with the Yakult Swallows, two with the Hanshin Tigers and one with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.

Career

Katsunori Nomura was drafted by the Yakult Swallows in the third round of the 1995 Nippon Professional Baseball draft.[1] He played two seasons with the Yakult Swallows under his father, manager Katsuya Nomura. After the 1998 season, his father left the Swallows and Katsunori was sent to the club's farm team for the entirety of the 1999 season. He was then traded to the Hanshin Tigers, where he was again managed by his father for two more seasons. In 2003, he spent the entire season playing on the Tigers' farm team.

On January 25, 2004, his contract was purchased by the Yomiuri Giants and he was traded from the Tigers. While it was a relatively minor trade, it made headlines because of Katsunori's father's longtime resentment toward the Giants. Some also saw the trade as an opportunity for Katsunori "to step out of his famous father's shadow."[2] However, Katsunori only played in three games with the Giants and was released following the end of the 2003 season. He played his final two seasons with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in 2005 and 2006 and announced his retirement on September 30, 2006.[3] Throughout his career, Katsunori was utilized as a second or third-string catcher.[2] He has been a catching coach for the Golden Eagles since 2007.[4]

Some have suggested that the only reason Katsunori Nomura was given the opportunity to play in the NPB was because of his father's connections in the league. The Japan Times columnist Marty Kuehnert believes that he "hitched a ride" on his father's name, but his "statistics don't add up to a good month, or even week, of [Katsuya Nomura's] production".[5] Of the four NPB teams Katsunori played for in his playing career, three of them were managed by his father: the Swallows, the Tigers and the Golden Eagles.[3]

Career statistics

Year Uniform # Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB AVG OBP SLG
1996 33 Yakult Swallows Spent season in minor leagues
1997 263118101120.258.303.387
1998252304000110.174.208.174
1999 Spent season in minor leagues
2000 50 Hanshin Tigers 4349613112350.265.327.449
20015295320301640.211.257.274
2002111603200000.188.188.313
2003 Spent season in minor leagues
200463Yomiuri Giants3301000110.333.400.333
2005 52 Golden Eagles 61001000000.100.100.100
200656129816410571.124.186.171
Totals 2223561866112417201.185.237.261

Personal life

Katsunori Nomura is the son of NPB catching-great and long-time manager Katsuya Nomura. His stepbrother is infamous baseball agent Don Nomura. After a 2001 tax evasion scandal involving Katsunori's mother Sachiyo Nomura, Katsunori was supportive during months preceding Sachiyo's arrest. This is in contrast to Kenneth Engel and Don Nomura, Sachiyo's children from a previous marriage, who publicly disown her.[6] He has two children with his wife Yukiko.

References

  1. ↑ "52 捕手 カツノリ" (in Japanese). Yahoo! Japan. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
  2. 1 2 Graczyk, Wayne (February 4, 2004). "It's now or never for new Giants catcher". The Japan Times. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
  3. 1 2 "Dragons top Tigers". The Japan Times. October 1, 2006. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
  4. ↑ 野村 克則 (in Japanese). Rakuten Eagles. Archived from the original on November 25, 2009. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
  5. ↑ Kuehnert, Marty (June 4, 2003). "Why so few second-generation stars in Japan?". The Japan Times. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
  6. ↑ Kuehnert, Marty (December 12, 2001). "The woman who toppled the toughest catcher of all time". The Japan Times. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
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