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Date: October 13, 2013
Shinjiro Hiyama had a long, productive career with the Tigers. He played 22 seasons, all with Hanshin, and finished 4th all-time in games played (1959), 9th in home runs (159) and 9th in runs batted in (707). This in spite of being used primarily as a pinch hitter for his final 8 years. “Hi-yan” was extremely popular with all fans: older, younger, men and women.
And so we come to the end of his career. The Tigers finished the 2013 season in second place, and hosted the Hiroshima Carp in the first round of the playoffs. The visitors blasted our guys in the first game, riding Kenta Maeda’s arm and some strong hitting to an 8-1 victory. Hiyama got to pinch hit, but this would not suffice as a career finale.
The Tigers’ backs were against the wall. In Game 2, Tsuyoshi Nishioka helped the team to an early lead with a leadoff solo home run, but the Carp scored runs in each of the game’s final four innings, and the Tigers found themselves down 7-2. Down to the season’s final out, Matt Murton got on board with a single to right, allowing Hiyama to come to the plate one last time. And the video tells you all you need to know.
Hiyama became the oldest player in NPB history to hit a pinch-hit playoff home run.
The playoff elimination blended perfectly with this triumphant send off for a local hero to create a bittersweet ending to the 2013 season and one of the longest careers in club history.