Kenji Johjima

through 2005, Johjima hit .299 with 211 home runs and 699 RBI in 1,117 games. His most productive season came in by|2003, when he hit .330 with 119 RBI and finished third with 34 home runs behind Tuffy Rhodes (51) and Alex Cabrera (50).

As a catcher, Johjima had 6,321 outs with 572 assists and 48 errors in 6,941 chances for a .993 fielding average. He posted a .376 caught stealing% (222-for-591).

A winner of seven straight Gold Gloves in Japan, Johjima became the first Japanese player to catch full-time in the major leagues. Infielder Lenn Sakata, a Japanese-American born in Honolulu, caught one game for the Baltimore Orioles, winning a World Series ring in by|1983.

Johjima is making rapid progress in his efforts to learn English and Spanish, in order to communicate with the Seattle Mariners' pitchers. He has often used the phrase, "Call me Jo."

Johjima hit a home run in each of his first two Major League games against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on April 3 and April 4, by|2006 in Seattle.

On October 1, 2006 against the Texas Rangers, he set the record for most hits by a rookie catcher with 147. The previous record was 146.

Japan Baseball League Awards

*Pacific League MVP (2003)
*Seven-time Gold Glove winner (1999–2005)
*Six-time selection to the "Best Nine" team, chosen by Japanese sportswriters (1999–2001; 2003–2005)
*Five-time Best Battery Award winner (1999–2001, 2003, 2004)
*Monthly MVP (June 1999, April 2003, June 2004)
*Japan Series Valuable Player prize (1999, 2003)
*Japan Series Fighting Spirit prize (2000)
*Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Game (1997–2001, 2003-2005)
*Most votes for the Japanese All-Star Game (2005)

Career statistics

Japan Pacific League

*Games: 1,117
*Batting Average: .299
*Hits: 1,206
*Home runs: 211
*RBIs: 699
*Stolen Bases: 63

Trivia

*On April 3, 2006, Johjima and Ichiro Suzuki became the first pair of Japanese position players to take the field in an MLB starting lineup.
*Johjima once joked that he would register as "Georgie McKensey" ('JOH-JI MA-ken-ji') should he make it to the Majors.
*Johjima's favorite hobby is ocean fishing. It is rumored that one of the reasons he chose to sign with the Seattle Mariners was Seattle's proximity to bodies of water, Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean.
*Johjima also cites his children's fondness of Uwajimaya, a Japanese grocery store in Seattle, as a reason for signing with Mariners.
*Some team-mates use the nickname, "Jo-mama", when calling out to him.

ources

*ja icon [http://www.joh-kinenkan.co.jp/ Johjima Kenji Baseball Memorial Hall Official Site]
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Kenji_Johjima Baseball Reference Bullpen]
* [http://japanesebaseball.com/players/player.jsp?PlayerID=102 Japanese Baseball Page]
* [http://japaneseballplayers.com/en/player.php?id=johjima Japanese league stats and info of Kenji Johjima]
* [http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/team/player.jsp?player_id=492706 MLB]