Shun Takayama

Shun Takayama
Takayama with the Hanshin Tigers
Hanshin Tigers – No. 9
Outfielder
Born: (1993-04-18) April 18, 1993
Bats: Left Throws: Right
NPB debut
March 25, 2016, for the Hanshin Tigers
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Shun Takayama (髙山 俊, Takayama Shun, born April 18, 1993 in Funabashi, Chiba) is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.[1]

Early Baseball Career

Born in Nagano prefecture, Shun's family used to move from one prefecture to another, along with the transfer of his father who works for a major securities company.[2] When he was about to enter grade school, his family decided to move from Wakayama and settle down in his father's hometown in Funabashi City.[3]。

During his first grade, he was scouted by a little league coach when he was seen playing catch-ball with his father in a neighboring playground.[2] He became a full-fledged player in 6th grade, where he played the positions of outfielder, pitcher and catcher, and even appeared in national tournaments. Later, he doubled as an outfielder and pitcher for the Nanabayashi Junior High, where he also placed 4th in the 200-meter run during a prefectural athletics tournament.[4]

As a freshman in Tokyo’s Nichidai Daisan High, he batted lead-off in the Tokyo City tournament and averaged at 0.435. In the same tournament on his 2nd year, he batted at 0.432, drove in 13 RBIs including 4 home runs, and helped his team win the championship.[5] He played the clean-up role in the 2011 Summer Koshien final where he homered and drove in five runs against Kōsei Gakuin, earning his team the title (11-0).[6] He recorded 32 home runs in his entire high school career.

He secured the permanent post as outfielder and clean-up hitter upon entering Meiji University, where he recorded 20 hits (.417 BA) in his 1st year at the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League. He was awarded Best Nine for 2 years in a row, and in his 3rd year, he broke the league's all-time total hits record of 127 hits (Shigeru Takada of Meiji U, 1967) when he finished with 131 hits.[7] In all of his 102 league games, he averaged at .324, batted in 45 runs, 8 of which were over the fence, and grabbed the Best Nine award 6 times.

He also participated for the baseball event in the 2015 Summer Universiade, where Japan won the gold medal.[8][9]

Hanshin Tigers

He was the Tiger's and Swallow's 1st pick at the 2015 NPB Draft, where Manager Kanemoto drew the winning ballot. He signed with the Tigers for a contract of 100 million yen, a signing bonus of 50 million, and an annual salary of 15 million. He was given Matt Murton's former jersey number, 9.[10]。

2016

Takayama had 53 plate appearances during the pre-season spring training and hit .327 with a .744 on-base plus slugging percentage.[11]

Due to his consistent performance at the plate, Manager Kanemoto allowed him to debut as a starter on the March 25th opening day match against the Dragons, making him the first Tiger rookie to bat lead-off since Katsuhiko Nakamura in 1972.[12] He did not disappoint when he delivered a left outfield hit from Yudai Ono's 142 km/h fastball, making him the first ever rookie in team history to notch a hit on his first at-bat in an opening day match.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "高山 早くも鉄人宣言! 金本監督と握手". Daily Sports. 2015-10-23. Retrieved 2015-10-23.
  2. 1 2 "父は転勤族…虎ドラ1高山を育てたのは"鬼軍曹"の母だった". Nikkan Gendai. 2016-02-05.
  3. ↑ "【六大学】明大・高山、128安打!48年ぶりリーグ新記録\". Sports Hochi. 2016-02-05. Archived from the original on 2016-02-05.
  4. ↑ "父は転勤族…虎ドラ1高山を育てたのは"鬼軍曹"の母だった". Nikkan Gendai. 2016-02-05.
  5. ↑ "阪神ドラ１高山が仮契約　来年新人王でアワードだ]". Nikkan Sports. 2015-09-28.
  6. ↑ "Nichidai Daisan wins summer Koshien title". The Japan Times. 2011-08-21.
  7. ↑ "明大・高山、48年ぶり127安打！大先輩の高田繁に並んだ". Sports Hochi. 2015-09-28. Archived from the original on 2016-04-09.
  8. ↑ "第28回 ユニバーシアード競技大会".
  9. ↑ "髙山 俊".
  10. ↑ "阪神のドラ１・高山は背番号「９」". Daily Sports. 2015-12-07.
  11. ↑ "Tigers rookie Takayama having early success in NPB". The Japan Times. 2016-04-08.
  12. ↑ "阪神・高山、開幕1番なら中村氏以来44年ぶり". Sankei Sports. 2016-03-26.
  13. ↑ "阪神ドラ1・高山　開幕初安打もプロ初失策に猛省". Tokyo Sports. 2016-03-26.
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