Hiroki Kondo (outfielder)
Japanese baseball player (born 1993)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hiroki Kondō (近藤 弘基, Kondō Hiroki; born February 2, 1993) is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder. He played for the Chunichi Dragons of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
| Hiroki Kondō | |
|---|---|
| |
| Outfielder | |
| Born: February 12, 1993 Nagoya, Aichi, Japan | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| NPB debut | |
| 2 August, 2016, for the Chunichi Dragons | |
| NPB statistics (through 2018) | |
| Batting average | .184 |
| RBIs | 5 |
| Home runs | 3 |
| Teams | |
His father is former Dragons pitching coach, Shinichi Kondō the only NPB pitcher to throw a no-hitter on debut.[1]
Early career
Under his father's influence, former Chunichi Dragons pitcher Shinichi, Kondō started playing baseball in the 3rd grade of elementary school.[2] In junior high school he joined a rubber ball baseball team but hated practice.[2][3] In his 3rd year of junior high, young Kondō was concerned over which high school he should go to and after being shown a video of his father pitching at the 68th Koshien with Kyoei High School, it was decided that he would join his father's alma mater.[3] He was a bench player in his second year, but rose to be vice-captain. However, he was unable to make appearances with his team in either the summer or spring koshien tournaments.[3] In 2011, Kondō started university at Meijo University with the law department.
In his sophomore year of university, Kondō was mostly deployed as a third baseman or outfielder but in his junior year he became a regular in the outfield[4] where he took out best nine honours in both the Spring and Fall Aichi University Leagues.[4] In 2014, his senior year, Kondō would captain his side and receive the fighting-spirit award for the Spring league.[5] He was also selected 2 years in a row (2013 and 2014) for the Baseball Association in Aichi representative team.[6][7]
While he had the desire to continue his baseball pathway in the industrial leagues, GM Hiromitsu Ochiai ensured that Kondō would be a Dragons player by selecting him as their 4th pick in the 2014 development draft.[8][9]
Professional career
Chunichi Dragons
2015
In 2015, Kondō played 22 games for the Dragons farm team in the Western League getting only 4 hits in 34 at-bats for an average of .125.[10]
2016
On 14 July, he was moved off a development player contract and added to the overall roster. His number was changed from 213 to 67.[1][11]
On 2 August, Kondō made his first team debut for the Dragons against the Yomiuri Giants starting in left-field and batting number 2 in the line-up.[12] He shined on his debut proving to be the most effective hitter for the Dragons on the day getting 3 hits and 2 RBIs in 5 at-bats.[13][14]
On 14 August, he hit his first pro home run in an 8–1 loss to the Hanshin Tigers at Kyocera Dome off Suguru Iwazaki.[15][16]
Kondō finished his first season in pro baseball playing in 21 games, hitting .186 with 2 homeruns.
On November 27, 2019, Kondō announced his retirement.[17]