Definitely one of the more powerful groups of players pulled so far!
Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi - owns the dubious distinction of having massive retro sideburns in 1999 and being super-agent Scott Boras first Japanese client. However, despite being a pitcher, he managed to break Ichiro's record for most consecutive at-bats without a strike-out!
Kenjiro Nomura - solid man on the hot corner for Hiroshima, hit over .300 3x during his 17 year career, with a respectable lifetime BA of .285
Koji Akiyama - from 1985-1993, Akiyama was the primary power plant for Seibu, hitting 30+ home runs EVERY YEAR during that run.
Hiromi Makihara - 1983 ROY and star pitcher of the Yomiuri Giants for nearly 2 decades.
puzzle piece of the 1999 NPB Champs, the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
Michihiro Ogasawara - currently slugging it out for the Giants after spending 10 years depositing the ball over the fence for Nippon Ham. Has hit 30+ HR per year since 2000 (with the exception of an injury plagued 2004 when he hit 18 HR in 108 games). Packs quite the punch in the middle of Yomiuri's lineup with Alex Ramirez (who hit 31HR in 2009) and Shinnosuke Abe (who hit 32HR in 2009) and Yoshitomo Tani (who hit .331 in 101 games in 2009).
doubles: Ken Suzuki, Mitsuru Manaka, Tetsuya Iida, Koichi Hori
Michihiro Ogasawara, one of the biggest stars in NPB to not chase the MLB dream, led the Pacific League in 2000 with an impressive 182 hits. In fact, he had an impressive year all around, batting .329, scoring 126 runs, hitting 32 home runs, driving in 102 and even stealing 24 bases which was three time his next highest single season total!
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