1997 Orix BlueWave Roster
Team Record: 71-61
Finished 2nd in the JPPL
Manager: Akira Ogi (71-61)
Location: Kobe, Japan
Ballpark: Kobe Sports Park Baseball Stadium, Kyocera Dome Osaka
The Orix BlueWave of the Japan Pacific League ended the 1997 season with a record of 71 wins and 61 losses, finishing second in the JPPL.
The BlueWave led the league with just 544 runs allowed. Orix scored 582 runs. Troy Neel paced the squad with 25 home runs, while Ichiro Suzuki, Yasuo Fujii and Chris Donnels each walloped 15 or more also. Troy Neel recorded 98 runs batted in. Ichiro Suzuki topped all qualifying hitters on the roster with a .345 average. Nobuyuki Hoshino paced the team with 14 wins and a team-best 3.25 earned run average, best among qualifying pitchers.
Doug Jennings, Troy Neel, Willie Fraser, Chris Donnels, So Taguchi, Takahito Nomura and Ichiro Suzuki were all players from the 1997 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 |
| Jim Bonnici | R | R | January 21, 1972 | 6'4" | 230 | Omaha, NE US |
| Chris Donnels | L | R | April 21, 1966 | 6'0" | 185 | Los Angeles, CA US |
| Nobuyuki Ebisu | R | R | April 24, 1972 | 6'0" | 205 | Kobe, Hyogo 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 |
| Hiroki Fukutome | R | R | May 21, 1975 | 5'10" | 173 | Nagoya, Aichi JP |
| Jun Hagiwara | R | R | August 20, 1973 | 6'0" | 194 | Hoya, Tokyo JP |
| Masafumi Hirai | R | R | April 21, 1975 | 6'1" | 214 | Uwajima, Ehime JP |
| Yasutaka Hironaga | L | R | March 5, 1968 | 5'8" | 185 | Tokushima, Tokushima 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 |
| 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 |
| Eiji Maruo | R | R | April 26, 1972 | 5'8" | 150 | Himeji, Hyogo 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 |
| Hisashi Ogura | R | R | August 10, 1970 | 5'10" | 163 | Kanuma, Tochigi JP |
| Koichi Oshima | S | R | June 17, 1967 | 5'6" | 147 | Itabashi Ward, Tokyo JP |
| Manabu Satake | R | R | October 27, 1974 | 5'10" | 170 | Sapporo, Hokkaido JP |
| Yoshinori Sato | R | R | September 11, 1954 | 5'11" | 190 | Okushiri-gun, Hokkaido JP |
| Makoto Shiozaki | R | R | June 29, 1973 | 5'10" | 159 | Yashiro, Kumamoto JP |
| Yu Sugimoto | R | R | June 19, 1973 | 6'1" | 191 | Tokorozawa, Saitama 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 |
| Yoshitomo Tani | R | R | February 9, 1973 | 5'8" | 170 | Higashi Osaka, Osaka 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 |
