Noboru Aota

Outfielder

Born: November 22, 1924
Miki, Hyogo, Japan

Died: November 4, 1997 (aged 72)

Batted: Right

Threw: Right

debut

1942, for the Tokyo Kyojin

Last appearance

1959, for the Hankyu Braves

Career statistics

Batting average

.278

Home runs

265

Hits

1,035

Teams

Tokyo Kyojin (1942–1943)
Hankyu Braves (1946–1947)
Yomiuri Giants (1948–1952)
Taiyo-Shochiku Robins (1953–1958)
Hankyu Braves (1959)

Career highlights and awards

5-time home run champion
Best Nine Award, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1955, 1956
All-Star, 1951–1953, 1955–1957

Noboru Aota (青田昇^?, Aota Noboru, 1924 – November 24, 1997) was a Japanese professional baseball player. An outfielder, he played with the Tokyo Kyojin/Yomiuri Giants, Hankyu Braves, and Taiyo-Shochiku Robins from 1942–1959, playing in both the Japanese Baseball League and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). A five-time league home run champion, he was one of the first true sluggers of Japanese professional baseball — despite being only 5'7" and 171 lbs. Aota was selected as a Best Nine Award-winner five times and a NPB All-Star six separate times.

Aota made his professional debut at age 17 in 1942 with the Tokyo Kyojin of the Japanese Baseball League (JBL). After the 1942 season (also with Tokyo), Aota left professional baseball to serve in the Japanese military through 1945. He returned to the JBL in 1946 with the Hankyu Braves, for whom he played through the 1947 season.

Upon joining the Yomiuri Giants (the renamed Tokyo Kyojin) in 1948, Aota became one of the league's top home run hitters. He was a Best Nine Award winner in 1948, winning the batting crown and the home run championship. He was again a Best Nine Award-winner in 1950, and in 1951 he led the Central League in home runs (32), RBI (105), and runs (101). He hit a home run in the 1951 Japan Series, when the Giants defeated the Nankai Hawks, 4 games to 2 for their first NPB championship.

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