, 22 January 1947, is a former
JapaneseThe are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
professional baseball player and current manager.
In 2003, he led the Tigers to their first
Central LeagueThe or is one the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consists of six teams from around the country,The Central League...
pennant in 18 years before retiring for health reasons. Since 2007, He had managed the
Japanese national teamThe Japan national baseball team is the national baseball team representing Japan in international competitions. They are one of the more successful baseball teams in the world, having won the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009...
for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
In October, 2010 Hoshino was hired as a manager by the
Tohoku Rakuten Golden EaglesThe is a baseball team founded in 2004; it played its first season in the Japanese Pacific League in 2005. It is simply called Rakuten . The team was created to fill the void left by the merger of the Orix Blue Wave and the Kintetsu Buffaloes, after the 2004 season due to financial difficulties,...
. The team had earlier dismissed former manager Marty Brown after a last place finish in their league.
Childhood
Hoshino was born as the third of three children in Kurashiki, Japan. His father died three months after he was born, and his mother raised him and his two sisters single handedly. He played baseball throughout his high school years, but was unable to advance to the Koshien baseball tournament. He entered
Meiji Universityis a private university in Tokyo and Kawasaki, founded in 1881 by three lawyers of the Meiji era, Kishimoto Tatsuo, Miyagi Kōzō, and Yashiro Misao. It is one of the largest and most prestigious Japanese universities in Tokyo, Japan....
, and became a starter from his first year. He marked 23 total wins in the
Tokyo Big6 Baseball LeagueTokyo Big6 Baseball League is an intercollegiate baseball league that features six prominent universities in the Tokyo area...
, including one no-hitter, but his team never won the league championship. Hoshino's reputation as a hot-headed leader began in his years at
Meiji Universityis a private university in Tokyo and Kawasaki, founded in 1881 by three lawyers of the Meiji era, Kishimoto Tatsuo, Miyagi Kōzō, and Yashiro Misao. It is one of the largest and most prestigious Japanese universities in Tokyo, Japan....
, when he and other members of the baseball team banded together to break down a barricade set up around the school by a student protest group.
Professional career
Hoshino was drafted in the first round by the
Chunichi DragonsThe are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chubu region of Japan. The team is in the Central League. They won the 2007 Japan Series and 2007 Asia Series.-History:...
in 1968, led by manager Shigeru Mizuhara. The
Yomiuri GiantsThe are a professional baseball team based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. The team competes in the Central League in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top level of professional play in Japan. They play their home games in the Tokyo Dome, opened in 1988. The English-language press occasionally calls the...
had promised Hoshino that he would be their first round draft pick, but the Giants broke their promise, drafting another player instead. This betrayal made Hoshino develop a profound hatred towards the Giants, and he has battled the Giants ever since, both as a pitcher and as a manager. Hoshino signed with the Dragons in 1969, and pitched both as a starter and reliever, quickly becoming the ace of the Dragons pitching staff. He led the league in saves in 1974, and won the Eiji Sawamura Award. More importantly however, his team won the league championship, stopping the
Yomiuri GiantsThe are a professional baseball team based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. The team competes in the Central League in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top level of professional play in Japan. They play their home games in the Tokyo Dome, opened in 1988. The English-language press occasionally calls the...
record of consecutive league championships at 9. He was known as the "Kyojin Killer" (Giants Killer) because he seemed to pitch unusually well against the Giants. His team won another league championship in 1982, and Hoshino retired after that year. His career record was 146-121, with 34 saves.
Hoshino was an extremely popular figure during his career, not because of his skill as a pitcher, but because of his persona. Baseball fans were sick of seeing the
Yomiuri GiantsThe are a professional baseball team based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. The team competes in the Central League in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top level of professional play in Japan. They play their home games in the Tokyo Dome, opened in 1988. The English-language press occasionally calls the...
win the championship year after year, and Hoshino's outspoken hatred of the Giants finally gave fans a player to root for that wasn't named
Shigeo Nagashimais a Japanese former professional baseball player and manager.Nagashima was by far the most popular figure in Japanese baseball during his career. His contributions to the development of the sport in Japan are immeasurable.-Biography:...
or
Sadaharu OhSadaharu Oh, or Wang Chenchih , is a retired Japanese-Taiwanese baseball player and manager. He batted and threw left-handed and primarily played first base. Oh, who was born in Sumida, Tokyo the son of a Taiwanese father and a Japanese mother, had originally signed with the powerhouse Yomiuri...
. Hoshino stayed with the Dragons for his entire career, and was very well respected by his teammates.
Managerial career
Hoshino worked as a commentator for
NHKNHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
after retiring, and his popularity with both fans and players called him back to the
Chunichi DragonsThe are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chubu region of Japan. The team is in the Central League. They won the 2007 Japan Series and 2007 Asia Series.-History:...
as a manager in 1987. Hoshino made a number of big trades, and led the Dragons to a league championship in 1988. He stepped down in 1991, and returned to his job as a commentator and sports writer.
The Dragons did poorly after Hoshino's departure, and he was once again called back to lead the team in 1996. Hoshino won his second league championship in 1999, but stepped down again after his team placed 5th in 2001.
In 2002, Hoshino was called to take over as manager of the miserable
Hanshin TigersThe are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hanshin Tigers directly...
, who had been in last place for the last four years under
Katsuya Nomurawas one of Nippon Professional Baseball's greatest players as a catcher and was also a long-time manager for the Yakult Swallows, the Hanshin Tigers, and the Rakuten Golden Eagles of NPB's Pacific League.-Career:...
. He raised the team to fourth place in his first year, and made huge cuts during the off-season while recruiting
free agentIn professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
s like
Tomoaki Kanemotois a Japanese professional baseball outfielder with the Hanshin Tigers in Nippon Professional Baseball.The Tigers' current cleanup hitter, Kanemoto is regarded as one of the most accomplished hitters in Japanese professional baseball history and has hit more home runs in his career than any other...
and
Hideki Irabuwas a professional baseball player of Okinawan and American mixed ancestry. He played professionally in both Japan and the United States.-Early life:...
. The Tigers won the league championship in 2003; Hoshino's third championship as manager. However, he frequently fell ill during games in 2003, often leaving the head coach to manage the team while he sat quietly on the bench. He stepped down after the 2003 Japanese championship series due to health reasons (allegedly due to high blood pressure and heart arrhythmia), but was the assistant senior director of the
Hanshin TigersThe are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hanshin Tigers directly...
until 2010. In 2007, he became the manager of the
Japan national baseball teamThe Japan national baseball team is the national baseball team representing Japan in international competitions. They are one of the more successful baseball teams in the world, having won the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009...
, which won the Asian Baseball Championship (the qualifier for the Beijing Olympics) defeating the Philippines, Korea, and Taiwan. However, the "Hoshino Japan" finished with a 4-5 record in the 2008 Beijing Olympics with no medals.
Hoshino returned to baseball in a managing capacity in 2011, this time with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. A formal announcement of the hiring was made in October 2010.
Statistics
Pitching
- 500 Games
- 146 Wins
- 121 Losses
- 34 Saves
- 3.60 ERA
Managerial Career
- 1744 Games
- 920 Wins
- 791 Losses
- 33 Ties
- 3 League Championships
External links