- Hiroki Kokubo
Hiroki Kokubo (小久保 裕紀, born
October 8 ,1971 ) is a professional baseball player fromWakayama ,Japan . He currently plays for theFukuoka Softbank Hawks in the JapanesePacific League .Kokubo was one of Japan's leading power hitters during the 1990s and early 2000s. He hit over 40 home runs in 2001 and 2004, but has only led the league in the category once (1995), with only 28 home runs. He also led the league in RBIs in 1997.
He was suddenly given away to the
Yomiuri Giants in 2003, despite being the team's cleanup hitter. Kokubo was seemingly given away for free, since the Giants did not give a player to the Hawks in exchange. The motives behind this transaction remain a mystery.He played with the Yomiuri Giants for three years before signing with his former team (now the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks) during the 2006 off-season as a free agent.
He won a bronze medal in the
1992 Summer Olympics before entering the Japanese professional leagues.External links
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