Norihiro Nakamura
| Norihiro Nakamura | |||
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Nakamura while playing with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.
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| Free Agent | |||
| Third baseman | |||
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Born: July 24, 1973 Osaka, Japan |
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| Professional debut | |||
| NPB: June 12, 1992, for the Kintetsu Buffaloes | |||
| MLB: April 10, 2005, for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| October, 2014, for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars | |||
| NPB statistics (through 2014 season) |
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| Batting average | .266 | ||
| Home runs | 404 | ||
| Runs batted in | 1338 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Olympic medal record | ||
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| Men's Baseball | ||
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Athens 2004 | Team Competition |
Norihiro Nakamura (中村 紀洋 Nakamura Norihiko?, born July 24, 1973 in Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese former professional baseball third baseman. Nakamura spent almost all of his professional career in Japan with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes. Nakamura had a .266 career batting average, 404 home runs and 1338 RBI, and was an eight-time All-Star and four-time Golden Glove winner. Nakamura is one of only 16 players to have hit 400 or more home runs in NPB.
Drafted in 1992, Nakamura began to emerge as one of the leading power hitters in Nippon Professional Baseball in 1995. From 1998 to 2002, he had six consecutive 40-home run, 100-RBI seasons, setting career highs in batting average (.320) homers (46) and RBI (132) in 2001.
In 2002, he agreed to a two-year, $7 million contract with the New York Mets, but, after word leaked out before he could formally notify the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes management, Nakamura rejected the deal, saying that "I cannot trust such a team which leaked this information at its own Web site" (not knowing that each team's site is managed by Major League Baseball), and re-signed with Kintetsu over considerable controversy.
In 2003, he suffered a torn knee cartilage, and his offensive numbers began to decline. However, he hit well while participating in a spring training exchange program with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2004.
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