1997 Yomiuri Giants Roster
Team Record: 63-72
Finished 4th in the JPCL
Manager: Shigeo Nagashima (63-72)
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Ballpark: Tokyo Dome
The Yomiuri Giants of the Japan Central League ended the 1997 season with a record of 63 wins and 72 losses, finishing fourth in the JPCL.
The Giants scored 550 runs and yielded 536 runs. Hideki Matsui walloped 37 home runs for Yomiuri, while Kazuhiro Kiyohara and Katsumi Hirosawa added 15 or more as well. Hideki Matsui drove in 103 runs. Takayuki Shimizu paced all regular batters by hitting .304. Balvino Gálvez and Hiromi Makihara topped the squad with 12 wins each, and Balvino Gálvez registered a 3.32 earned run average, best among qualifying pitchers.
Eric Hillman, Hideki Matsui, Masao Kida, Balvino Gálvez, Masumi Kuwata, Dave Pavlas, Pedro Castellano, Hideki Okajima and Luis de los Santos were all players from the 1997 Yomiuri Giants who played in the Major Leagues during their careers.
Shigeo Nagashima served as manager.Click on column headings to sort.
| Player | Bats | Throws | Birth Date | Height | Weight | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hideyuki Awano | L | L | July 28, 1964 | 5'10" | 165 | Ota Ward, Tokyo JP |
| Pedro Castellano | R | R | March 11, 1970 | 5'7" | 165 | Barquisimeto, Lara VE |
| Seong-Min Cho | R | R | April 5, 1973 | 6'4" | 211 | |
| Luis de los Santos | R | R | December 29, 1966 | 6'5" | 205 | San Cristobal, San Cristobal DO |
| Yudai Deguchi | R | R | September 23, 1971 | 5'9" | 173 | Amagasaki, Hyogo JP |
| Akihito Fukuo | L | R | January 10, 1964 | 5'8" | 165 | Machida, Tokyo JP |
| Balvino Gálvez | R | R | March 31, 1964 | 6'0" | 170 | San Pedro de Macoris, San Pedro de Macoris DO |
| Koji Goto | L | R | May 14, 1969 | 6'1" | 187 | Ichninomya, Aichi JP |
| Kiyoshi Hashimoto | R | R | May 22, 1969 | 6'2" | 198 | Settsu, Osaka JP |
| Eric Hillman | L | L | April 27, 1966 | 6'10" | 235 | Gary, IN US |
| Katsumi Hirosawa | R | R | April 10, 1962 | 6'1" | 217 | Shimozuma, Ibaraki JP |
| Ichiro Horita | R | R | April 18, 1974 | 5'11" | 178 | Hiroo-cho, Hokkaido JP |
| Shinji Inoue | R | R | July 12, 1966 | 5'11" | 178 | Tamana-gun, Kumamoto JP |
| Yusaku Iriki | R | R | August 13, 1972 | 5'10" | 180 | Miyakonojo, Miyazaki JP |
| Hiro Ishii | R | R | June 21, 1964 | 6'0" | 185 | Minami Akita-gun, Akita JP |
| Kazuhisa Kawaguchi | S | L | July 8, 1959 | 6'0" | 165 | Tottori, Tottori JP |
| Junichi Kawahara | R | R | January 22, 1973 | 6'0" | 163 | Ota Ward, Tokyo JP |
| Masahiro Kawai | R | R | September 27, 1964 | 5'9" | 162 | , Okayama JP |
| Masao Kida | R | R | September 12, 1968 | 6'3" | 210 | Kokubunji, Tokyo JP |
| Kazuhiro Kiyohara | R | R | August 18, 1967 | 6'2" | 228 | Kishiawa, Osaka JP |
| Satoshi Kobayashi | R | R | August 21, 1977 | 6'3" | 165 | Mito, Ibaraki JP |
| Shigeyori Koharazawa | R | R | August 9, 1969 | 6'0" | 176 | , Saitama JP |
| Hirofumi Kono | L | L | April 28, 1962 | 5'8" | 180 | Hata-gun, Kochi JP |
| Masumi Kuwata | R | R | April 1, 1968 | 5'10" | 185 | Yao, Osaka JP |
| Hiromi Makihara | R | R | August 11, 1963 | 6'2" | 206 | Handa, Aichi JP |
| Hideki Matsui | L | R | June 12, 1974 | 6'2" | 210 | Neagari-cho, Ishikawa JP |
| Katsuhiro Mino | R | R | July 6, 1971 | 6'1" | 180 | Sakade, Kagawa JP |
| Koishi Misawa | R | R | June 8, 1974 | 5'10" | 170 | Iruma-gun, Saitama JP |
| Kazutomo Miyamoto | L | L | February 13, 1964 | 5'10" | 170 | Shimonseki, Yamaguchi JP |
| Daisuke Motoki | R | R | December 30, 1971 | 5'11" | 182 | Toyonaka, Osaka JP |
| Shinichi Murata | R | R | December 5, 1963 | 6'0" | 180 | Kobe, Hyogo JP |
| Yoshinori Murata | R | R | April 24, 1974 | 5'9" | 175 | Sasebo, Nagasaki JP |
| Toshihisa Nishi | R | R | October 4, 1971 | 5'7" | 176 | Koga, Ibaraki JP |
| Kazutaka Nishiyama | R | R | August 28, 1970 | 6'0" | 193 | Kochi, Kochi JP |
| Koichi Ogata | S | R | September 2, 1968 | 5'9" | 140 | Kumamoto, Kumamoto JP |
| Hirokazu Okada | R | R | January 21, 1968 | 5'10" | 180 | Mihara, Hiroshima JP |
| Hideki Okajima | L | L | December 25, 1975 | 6'1" | 195 | Kyoto, Kyoto JP |
| Takeshi Omori | L | R | August 4, 1967 | 6'2" | 202 | Nara, Nara JP |
| Hitoshi Ono | R | L | August 23, 1976 | 6'2" | 182 | Akita, Akita JP |
| Kazuya Ono | R | R | September 16, 1971 | 5'11" | 170 | Higashi Kurashiki-gun, Chiba JP |
| Rin Ono | R | R | April 3, 1973 | 6'0" | 180 | Gushikawa, Okinawa JP |
| Dave Pavlas | R | R | August 12, 1962 | 6'7" | 180 | Frankfurt, DE |
| Masaki Saito | R | R | February 18, 1965 | 5'11" | 198 | Adachi Ward, Tokyo JP |
| Takayuki Saito | L | R | June 10, 1976 | 6'1" | 187 | Yokohama, Kanagawa JP |
| Akiyoshi Sasaki | R | R | July 20, 1971 | 5'9" | 162 | Misawa, Aomori JP |
| Makoto Sato | R | R | June 12, 1975 | 6'0" | 198 | Tendo, Yamagata JP |
| Takayuki Shimizu | L | R | October 23, 1973 | 6'0" | 183 | Tokyo, Tokyo JP |
| Naoki Sugiyama | R | R | September 3, 1969 | 5'11" | 187 | Numazu, Shizuoka JP |
| Masahito Watanabe | L | L | July 14, 1967 | 6'1" | 185 | Toyonaka, Osaka JP |
| Yuichi Yanagisawa | R | R | August 2, 1971 | 5'11" | 162 | Matsumoto, Nagano JP |
| Kosuke Yoshihara | R | R | March 29, 1969 | 5'9" | 169 | Nishinomiya, Hyogo JP |
| Sadaaki Yoshimura | L | L | April 27, 1963 | 5'11" | 182 | Gose, Nara JP |
