Norichika Aoki
From BR Bullpen
Norichika Aoki
- Bats Left, Throws Right
- Height 5' 9", Weight 170 lb.
- High School Hinata High School
- School Waseda University
- Born January 5, 1982 in Hinata, Miyazaki Japan
Norichika Aoki is a two-time Central League batting titlist.
He won the Tokyo Big Six University League batting title in the spring of 2002 and was a fourth-round pick of the Yakult Swallows the next year. In 2004 he led the minor Eastern League in batting average and OBP and saw limited time with Yakult, going 3 for 15 at the plate.
Aoki became a regular with the Swallows in 2005 and had an amazing rookie campaign. He batted .344/.387/.417, became the second rookie to win a batting title, was third in the Central League with 29 steals, fourth with 100 runs and 7th in OBP. Aoki was a fairly two-dimensional player of speed and contact as he did not walk much or show real power. Additionally, he struck out 113 times, ruining the impression of a contact specialist. On the other hand, he broke the Central League record for hits (202, breaking Bobby Rose's record by 10) and became the second player in Nippon Pro Baseball history to have 200 hits in a season (Ichiro Suzuki had been the first). He shattered Ichiro's singles record of 151 with 166 such hits (Norihiro Akahoshi broke Ichiro's record earlier in the year but Aoki surpassed him by the end). He set a new NPB record with 61 multi-hit games, breaking the mark set by Shigenobu Shima with 60 a year earlier. For his work that year Norichika won the Rookie of the Year award in the Central League and the center fielder made the Best Nine as well. While it may be questionable if such a free-swinger can maintain high averages for a long time, Aoki's collegiate and minor league careers seem to indicate that it is certainly feasible in his case.
In his sophomore season, Aoki tied a CL record with 62 multi-hit games. He cut his strikeout total to 78 while drawing 68 walks in a vastly improved season on that front. He hit .321/.396/.439, showing a better offensive skill set and hit 13 home runs. He stole 41 bases in 53 tries and scored 112 runs. He was third in the CL in average behind Kosuke Fukudome and Seung-Yeop Lee, second to Fukudome in runs, first with 192 hits (12 ahead of Andy Sheets, tied for fifth with 3 triples, tied for 5th in times hit by pitch (8), sixth in walks, led in stolen bases (6 ahead of Norihiro Akahoshi) and was third in OBP (behind Fukudome and Tyrone Woods). He got a huge raise after the year, almost doubling his salary from 72 million yen to 140 million yen, a team record for a fourth-year player.
Aoki reached 500 hits in his 373rd game in NPB, fastest in league history to that point by 13 games. He reached 500 hits in 30 fewer games than Ichiro Suzuki.
Aoki won his second batting title in 2007, edging out teammate Alex Ramirez, who broke Aoki's CL hit record. He was the first batting champ from a last-place team since Kenichi Yazawa in 1980. Aoki hit .346/.434/.508 and also was among the leaders in runs (114, first, 19 ahead of Michihiro Ogasawara), hits (193, 2nd), 4th in walks (80), OBP (first, 16 points ahead of Woods), steals (17, 7th) and 8th in slugging. Aoki's improving walk rate, improving power and decreased strikeout rate showed that his game was continuing to develop. He joined Ramirez and Yoshinobu Takahashi as the Best Nine outfield picks in the CL.
Aoki was 3 for 13 with a walk and a double in the 2007 Asian Championship as Japan won and clinched a spot in the 2008 Olympics. In the Olympics, Norichika hit .294/.359/.412 with 7 RBI in 9 games as Japan's starting center fielder. His 3-run homer off of Brett Anderson in the Bronze Medal game gave Japan a 4-1 lead but their staff failed to hold on to it and Japan went home without a Medal.
Sources include: japanbaseballdaily.com by Gary Garland, 2008 Olympics, IBAF
