1996 Orix BlueWave Roster
Team Record: 74-50
Finished 1st in the JPPL
Manager: Akira Ogi (74-50)
Location: Kobe, Japan
Ballpark: Kobe Sports Park Baseball Stadium
Japan Series - Orix BlueWave 4 games, Yomiuri Giants 1
The Orix BlueWave of the Japan Pacific League ended the 1996 season with a record of 74 wins and 50 losses, finishing first in the JPPL.
The BlueWave plated 607 runs, tops in the circuit. Orix gave up 529 runs. Troy Neel walloped 32 home runs for the team, while Ichiro Suzuki, Yasuo Fujii and Doug Jennings each swatted 15 or more also. Troy Neel recorded 111 runs batted in. Ichiro Suzuki led hitters with significant playing time with a .356 average. Nobuyuki Hoshino topped the squad with 13 wins and a team-best 3.06 earned run average, leading hurlers with significant time on the mound.
Takahito Nomura, Ichiro Suzuki, So Taguchi, Willie Fraser, Doug Jennings, Troy Neel and Shigetoshi Hasegawa were all players from the 1996 Orix BlueWave who played in the Majors during their careers.
Akira Ogi served as manager.Click on column headings to sort.
| Player | Bats | Throws | Birth Date | Height | Weight | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toshifumi Baba | R | R | February 10, 1965 | 5'8" | 170 | Mizuma-gun, Fukuoka JP |
| Willie Fraser | R | R | May 26, 1964 | 6'1" | 200 | New York, NY US |
| Yasuo Fujii | L | R | July 7, 1962 | 5'11" | 178 | Fukuyama, Hiroshima JP |
| Junichi Fukura | R | R | May 28, 1960 | 5'9" | 160 | Kitaura-cho, Miyazaki JP |
| Jun Hagiwara | R | R | August 20, 1973 | 6'0" | 194 | Hoya, Tokyo JP |
| Shigetoshi Hasegawa | R | R | August 1, 1968 | 5'11" | 160 | Kobe, JP |
| Masafumi Hirai | R | R | April 21, 1975 | 6'1" | 214 | Uwajima, Ehime JP |
| Nobuyuki Hoshino | L | L | January 31, 1966 | 6'0" | 162 | Asahikawa, Hokkaido JP |
| Takahide Ito | R | R | October 21, 1963 | 6'0" | 171 | Kita Shitara-gun, Aichi JP |
| Hisanori Iwasaki | R | R | April 4, 1968 | 5'10" | 165 | Oita, Oita JP |
| Doug Jennings | L | L | September 30, 1964 | 5'10" | 175 | Atlanta, GA US |
| Masahiko Kaneda | L | L | April 30, 1969 | 5'10" | 136 | Bungotakada, Oita JP |
| Toshihiro Kase | L | L | October 6, 1976 | 5'10" | 176 | Amagasaki, Hyogo JP |
| Naoyuki Kazaoka | R | R | January 24, 1968 | 5'9" | 158 | Kasugai, Aichi JP |
| Yuichi Kiyohara | L | L | May 23, 1969 | 5'10" | 190 | Higashikuni, Oita JP |
| Hiroshi Kobayashi | R | R | November 30, 1970 | 6'0" | 180 | Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima JP |
| Rui Makino | R | R | July 17, 1974 | 6'0" | 190 | Yokohama, Kanagawa JP |
| Hideaki Matsuyama | R | R | April 18, 1967 | 5'9" | 165 | Ito-gun, Wakayama JP |
| Takashi Miwa | R | R | December 1, 1969 | 5'10" | 178 | Kashiwa, Chiba JP |
| Yoshitaka Mizuo | L | L | May 2, 1968 | 5'11" | 180 | Sakade, Kagawa JP |
| Atsuhiro Motonishi | R | R | May 15, 1962 | 5'9" | 165 | Nagasaki, Nagasaki JP |
| Satoshi Nakajima | R | R | March 27, 1969 | 6'0" | 181 | Kita Akita-gun, Akita JP |
| Troy Neel | L | R | September 14, 1965 | 6'4" | 210 | Freeport, TX US |
| Koji Noda | R | R | February 9, 1968 | 6'1" | 180 | Kuma-gun, Kumamoto JP |
| Takahito Nomura | L | L | January 10, 1969 | 5'7" | 175 | Kouchi, Kochi JP |
| Hirofumi Ogawa | R | R | March 6, 1967 | 5'8" | 171 | Tateyama, Chiba JP |
| Koichi Oshima | S | R | June 17, 1967 | 5'6" | 147 | Itabashi Ward, Tokyo JP |
| Hidemitsu Saito | R | R | April 18, 1975 | 6'0" | 172 | Yokohama, Kanagawa JP |
| Yoshinori Sato | R | R | September 11, 1954 | 5'11" | 190 | Okushiri-gun, Hokkaido JP |
| Minoru Shibahara | L | L | August 6, 1960 | 5'9" | 176 | Bizen, Okayama JP |
| Kazuyuki Shirai | S | R | June 7, 1961 | 5'10" | 167 | Okawa-gun, Kagawa JP |
| Hironori Suguro | R | R | September 23, 1963 | 5'11" | 167 | Funabashi, Chiba JP |
| Ichiro Suzuki | L | R | October 22, 1973 | 5'11" | 175 | Nichi Kasugai-gun, Aichi JP |
| Taira Suzuki | R | R | March 10, 1970 | 6'2" | 171 | Iwata, Fukuoka JP |
| So Taguchi | R | R | July 2, 1969 | 5'10" | 170 | Fukuoka, Fukuoka JP |
| Makoto Takada | L | R | June 9, 1964 | 5'11" | 176 | Koto Ward, Tokyo JP |
| Koichi Takahashi | R | R | July 2, 1971 | 6'0" | 178 | Noshiro, Akita JP |
| Satoshi Takahashi | R | R | January 26, 1967 | 6'4" | 215 | Yokohama, Kanagawa JP |
| Jiro Toyoda | R | R | June 2, 1967 | 5'10" | 165 | Himeji, Hyogo JP |
| Takashi Watabe | L | L | August 27, 1972 | 5'10" | 143 | Sapporo, Hokkaido JP |
| Nobuhiko Watanabe | R | R | March 22, 1966 | 5'9" | 140 | Ochi-gun, Shimane JP |
| Minoru Yojo | L | L | September 27, 1966 | 5'11" | 180 | Naka Koma-gun, Yamanashi JP |
