Takeshi Nakamura Explained

Takeshi Nakamura
中村 武志
Position:Catcher/Battery coach
Birth Place:Ukyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan
Birth Date:17 March 1967
Bats:Right
Throws:Right
Debutleague:NPB
Debutdate:April 14
Debutyear:1987
Debutteam:Chunichi Dragons
Finalleague:NPB
Finaldate:27 September
Finalyear:2005
Finalteam:Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
Statyear:2005
Statleague:NPB
Stat1label:Games Played
Stat1value:1,955
Stat2label:Batting average
Stat2value:.242
Stat3label:Home runs
Stat3value:137
Stat4label:RBI
Stat4value:604
Teams:As player

As Coach

Awards:

is a Japanese former professional baseball catcher. He played for the Chunichi Dragons, Yokohama Baystars and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.

He was most recently the first team battery coach for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.

Career

Nakamura was a 1st round draft pick in 1984 for the Chunichi Dragons and manager Senichi Hoshino where he played for 16 years. He took the mantle of regular catcher from 1981 MVP Takayoshi Nakao in 1987 and passed it to 1998 Central League winning Motonobu Tanishige in 2002. Nakamura was traded to the Yokohama Baystars for cash considerations after Tanishige was brought in during free agency by then manager Hisashi Yamada. Following the establishment of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in 2004, Nakamura was sent to the Eagles in a zero-fee trade from the Baystars where he ended his career in 2005.

Since retiring, Nakamura has coached with 3 NPB clubs, and one KBO club.

Nakamura is one of only 11 catchers in NPB history to have a .500+ success rate for throwing out runners in a single season and is one of only 4 to do it twice in 1989 and 1995.