Hideki Kuriyama

Hideki Kuriyama (栗山 英樹, Kuriyama Hideki, born April 26, 1961) is a Japanese former Nippon Professional Baseball manager, former player, and former journalist. He was the manager for the Japan national baseball team and the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, leading the Fighters to a Japan Series title in 2016. He also planned to be a teacher at Tokyo Gakugei University, but pursued a career in baseball instead, signing with the Yakult Swallows. His career came to a short end after an injury in 1990, and like other short careered baseball players, he pursued a career within sports media. He is also well known as the mentor of the two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, who was drafted by the Fighters despite him wanting to pursue an MLB career instead.[1]

Hideki Kuriyama
Kuriyama in 2023
Outfielder / Manager
Born: (1961-04-26) April 26, 1961
Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan
Batted: Both
Threw: Right
debut
October 8, 1984, for the Yakult Swallows
Last appearance
October 9, 1990, for the Yakult Swallows
Career statistics
Batting average.279
Home runs7
Hits336
RBIs67
Stolen bases23
Teams
As Player
As Manager
Career highlights and awards
As Player
As Manager

He retired from management following the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

References
  1. "Ohtani's mentor is perhaps the most interesting manager in the world". MLB.com. Retrieved 2023-08-13.
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