Most of us are aware of the fact that Takashi Toritani reached the 2000 career hit mark last September. He became just the second homegrown talent in club history (after Taira Fujita) to reach the mark while still a member of the club. Other guys have done it in a Tigers uniform, but they started their careers elsewhere. Toritani became the 50th man in the history of professional Japanese baseball to reach the mark.
He also reached another major plateau at the end of the 2017 season: 1000 career walks – just the 15th man in NPB history to reach 4 digits in free passes.
If you look at the club’s all-time leaders in the major hitting categories, you will see that Toritani is near the top in many. He will be at the top in a few of those (games played, hits) before the all-star break this year. And he could conceivably enter the top 3 in RBIs (he needs 29 to leapfrog Fujita, his manager Tomoaki Kanemoto and his ex-managers Akinobu Okada and Akinobu Mayumi) before the 2018 season comes to a close. A little power surge (9 home runs – a mark that has eluded him since 2013) would put him in 10th on the club’s all-time list. Eleven steals – roughly his average over the past decade – would put him in 6th in team history. That’s a pretty solid combination of durability, longevity and production!
And we haven’t even mentioned his ironman streak (second longest in league history at 1895 games and counting). *IF* he plays out the remainder of his current contract (2 more seasons) without missing a single game, and then plays the first 35 games of the 2020 season, he would take over the record from Sachio Kinugasa of the Hiroshima Carp, who played in 2215 straight games. He will be 38 years and 10 months old around then. Not out of the question, for sure. Especially with how much the Tigers like to put individual accomplishments ahead of the team’s health. (Remember Kanemoto’s ironman streak that went on entirely too long???)
For most of his career so far, Toritani has also played the most physically demanding position in the infield (other than catcher). He was an excellent shortstop in his prime, winning 4 Golden Gloves there earlier this decade.
You’d be hard-pressed to find another player on this roster with this impressive a resume. The two position players who come closest (Kosuke Fukudome and Yoshio Itoi) both spent the bulk of their careers on other teams, and play less physically demanding positions. Granted, Fukudome started out as a shortstop, but he wasn’t very good at it!
So two questions naturally come to mind when we think about the career that Toritani has had thus far. Is he worthy of election into the Hall of Fame? And will his number be retired?
Hall of Fame
My simplistic view of this topic is that one of the following two questions must yield a positive response, and even then, conditions apply.
- Could he be considered one of the all-time greatest at his position?
This is a hard one, because I personally hate intergenerational comparisons. They are impossibly difficult to make sense of. Besides that, my knowledge of Japanese baseball is not nearly extensive enough to weigh Toritani against legendary shortstops of the past. By the way, those names include: Yoshio Yoshida (Hanshin), Makoto Kosaka (Chiba Lotte), Shinya Miyamoto (Yakult), Hirokazu Ibata (Chunichi), Takuro Ishii (BayStars), Kenjiro Nomura (Hiroshima), Yukio Tanaka (Nippon Ham), and of course, Kazuo Matsui (Seibu). And by the time Tori is eligible for enshrinement, we might have to add Hayato Sakamoto (Yomiuri) to that list.
In any case, there is no reason to believe that he is not one of the top, say, 25 shortstops ever to play the game here in Japan. But then, I could very easily be wrong about that.
- Could he be considered one of the best players of his generation, regardless of position?
In terms of season-by-season statistics, this is an easy answer: NO. There are lots of guys with higher career batting averages, home runs, runs scored, stolen bases, and so on. But we need to look at other things, and can start with the three listed below.
All-Star Game appearances. This is the most feeble argument, whether Tori has been chosen once or fourteen times. It’s a popularity contest to an extent, and there’s going to be a Tokyo and/or managerial bias as to who gets on the team. But as far as pure numbers go, Toritani has made the team seven times. Just a quick look into the numbers shows me 10 guys with more appearances this century. I’m sure there are more, especially when you consider I didn’t even look at the Pacific League’s totals.
Golden Gloves: Believe it or not, he only has 4 of these to his name, one of which came this past year at third base, where he kind of won it by default. But there are a ton of other players (at other positions, mind you) who have won more than he has this century, and even at shortstop, Hirokazu Ibata has won 7 since the start of Toritani’s career.
Best Nine Awards. Toritani has six, all at shortstop. In the PL, Takeya Nakamura and Kensuke Tanaka have also matched that number. But only Norichika Aoki (7) and Shinnosuke Abe (9) have beaten Tori’s total in Best Nine Awards this century. Then again, we also have to think about the degree of difficulty that Tori faced in getting the nod. He was somewhat lucky, in that Ibata’s career was slowly declining, and Hayato Sakamoto had not yet reached his prime.
World Baseball Classic appearances. Toritani has just one of these, and there are probably a dozen or so position players who have two or more. Not to mention, he didn’t even get to play his natural position (SS) during that 2013 tournament. He made the move to second base.
Now, the easy answer here is to say that Toritani is *NOT* one of the best players of his generation. But if you look at longevity (no one in 50 years has a streak like Tori’s), difficulty of defensive position, and other intangibles (leadership, commitment to excellence, charitable work), he has somewhat of a case. I say, if he plays long enough to break the ironman record and reach 2500 career hits, he’s a lock.
Retired Number
There are no set rules about how a team decides whether or not to retire a player’s number. However, there should always be enough numbers left for the entire 70-man roster, as well as coaches, to wear numbered uniforms. Hanshin currently has 68 players and 11 coaches. Of course, there is always a possibility of midseason acquisitions, so at least 81 numbers have to remain “unretired.” Since 00 and 0 are options in NPB, this means there are 101 numbers that can be used. A team can have no more than 20 retired numbers, but probably keeping 10 numbers open is a wise choice.
As of now, the Hanshin Tigers have 3 retired numbers:
Fumio Fujimura #10
“Mr. Tigers” – The Cornerstone of the Fierce Tigers. Fumio Fujimura threw a complete game shutout on April 29, 1936 (the Tigers’ first official regular season game as a professional team), giving the brand new franchise a memorable debut. But Fujimura’s true calling was at the plate, where he used a whopping 37″ bat to deliver massive hits. He became a legend by setting many hitting records during the pre- and post-war periods. In 1949, despite the team finishing 6th out of 8 teams, Fujimura led pro baseball in hits (187), RBIs (142) and home runs (46). He was recognized as the outstanding player in baseball that year, ahead of the Kawakami and Chiba of the championship-winning Yomiuri Giants. He was able to play any position other than catcher, and was even a playing manager – a true superstar. No one in team history before or after Fujimura ever wore #10 for the Tigers.
He won the MVP once, and held the Japanese professional baseball records for most hits (1949-1995) and home runs (1949-1964). He won championships (1937, 38, 44, 47), managed the team, and had a personality that enamored him to the fans. He was also the childhood idol of Shigeo Nagashima, perhaps Japan’s most popular player ever.
Minoru Murayama #11
The “Fiery Ace” with the rebellious challenging spirit. Murayama won 18 games in his rookie season, and won the Sawamura Award with a 1.19 ERA. His throwing style showed so much exertion that it was named “Zatopek Style” after a legendary Olympic marathon runner. Despite receiving an enticing offer from the Giants, he refused it and signed unhesitatingly with the Tigers, earning him many points with the fans. He also played during the same era as the legendary Shigeo Nagashima, and the two of them had countless famous showdowns. His fearlessness in pitching aggressively against the team’s fiercest rivals endeared him to many Hanshin fans. From 1970 he assumed the role of player-manager. Upon announcing his retirement at the end of the 1972 season, the club retired his number 11 after he picked up 222 wins in 14 seasons.
Perhaps not so relevant to our talk about a Hanshin hitter, but Murayama holds the NPB record for lowest single-season ERA (0.98 in 1970), won three Sawamura Awards (1959, 65, 66), managed the club, has the second most wins and most strikeouts in team history, and won two pennants (1962 and 64). As far as lifelong Tigers go, he is the most successful pitcher the team has ever had.
Yoshio Yoshida #23
The “Modern Day Yoshitsune” who floated beautifully on the diamond. Yoshio Yoshida stormed the baseball world at the age of 19, immediately becoming the team’s permanent shortstop. His glovework was artistic, he earned the interesting nickname “Ushiwakamaru” (after a Japanese military commander) and took home the Central League’s “top shortstop” nomination 9 times. He also accumulated 350 stolen bases during his career. Upon retiring, Yoshida became a sports commentator and eventually the team’s manager. During his second stint as manager, he led the team to its first pennant in 21 years, and the team defeated the Seibu Lions to win the Nippon Series in 1985 – a first for the club in the two-league era. Earning the title “Once in a Generation Shortstop” as a player, and then bringing the team its first Nippon Ichi as a manager, his #23 was soon thereafter retired, though his accomplishments will never fade, and be talked about for years to come.
Much like Toritani, Yoshida played shortstop, and was really good at it. Probably better than Tori, in fact. Though not as accomplished a hitter as Toritani, he retired as all-time leader in career hits with the team (he has since been passed by Fujita and Toritani). It’s possible that without his managerial resume, that he would not have become immortalized, though.
So where does that leave Toritani? Well, he fulfills a lot of the requirements for having his number enshrined. He’s a lifelong Tiger, he will hold some club records (hits, ironman), he may end up as the greatest ironman this country has seen, and he is well respected by teammates and fans. He also wears a number that really has not been worn by any superstars in the past. (Case in point – Fujita’s #6 was worn by Masaru Kageyama and Masaaki Koyama before him, and has since been on the backs of such stars as Yutaka Wada and current manager Tomoaki Kanemoto.)
It’s also worth noting that all retired numbers are of guys with duplicate initials: FF #10, MM #11, YY #23 – there would be nothing awkward about the next one being TT #1, and it wouldn’t surprise me if that day comes. But he might need to be a successful manager first. That, and get into the Hall of Fame.
What are your thoughts? Is Toritani worthy of the Hall of Fame? Of having his number retired? Your comments are always appreciated!