Akinori Iwamura
| Akinori Iwamura | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Tampa Bay Rays — No. 1 | |
| Second/Third baseman | |
| Born: February 9, 1979 Uwajima, Ehime, Japan |
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| Batted: Left | Threw: Right |
| Organizational debut | |
| April 2, 2007 for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays | |
| Last organizational appearance | |
| October 3, 2009 for the Tampa Bay Rays | |
| Teams | |
Akinori Iwamura (岩村 明憲) (born February 9, 1979, in Uwajima, Ehime, Japan) was a third baseman and second baseman for Tampa Bay. He was signed by the Devil Rays from NPB's Tokyo Yakult Swallows on December 15, 2006 after the Rays won the rights to negotiate with him via the posting system.
Iwamura was the second player to be acquired by Tampa Bay via the posting system from NPB. The first was reliever Shinji Mori from the Seibu Lions.[1]
Contents |
Pro Career
Earning the nickname of Gan-chan ("Top Gun") for his play in NPB's Central League, Iwamura had been drafted by the Tokyo Yakult Swallows out of high school in 1997. He helped his team to the Japan Series title in 2001[2] and also picked up several Gold Glove and All-Star honors along the way,[3] including the Central League's monthly MVP award for August, 2004, in which he hit 11 homers with 27 RBI and a .292 average.[4]
Aki had his first taste of Major League competition when he participated in a postseason series against a squad of MLB All-Stars (including Tampa Bay's leftfielder, Carl Crawford[5]) in November, 2004. He was named NPB's MVP for the series after batting .440.[6]
Iwamura came to general attention of American baseball fans during the 2006 World Baseball Classic. As the starting third baseman for Team Japan, he hit .389 in six games en route to Japan's first championship in that tournament.[7]
With the Devil Rays
In November 2006, Tampa Bay submitted a sealed bid, later revealed to be worth $4.55MM, to acquire the rights to negotiate with Iwamura. As the high bidder, the Devil Rays gained a 30-day window with which to negotiate with the player. The negotiations were hampered, according to Alan Nero (Iwamura's American agent), by differences in terms of overall dollars and the potential for Iwamura to become a free agent earlier than the standard 6 years.[8] The Devil Rays and Iwamura eventually settled on a contract worth a guaranteed 3 years and $7.45MM (2007-09)—including benefits such as a full-time translator, English lessons, and trips for his family between the United States and Japan—plus a team option for 2010 worth $4.25MM (or as much as $5.25MM with incentives) or a buyout of $250,000 to $750,000.[3]
Despite speculation that Iwamura would be moved to second base for his inaugural MLB season,[9] Aki went on to be the Devil Rays' primary third baseman in 2007, eventually starting 120 games at the position along with solid defense (he finished first in the AL for fielding percentage at third base that season with .975).[10] He suffered a few injuries during the course of the season, some worse than others. Less than a month in (and hitting to an OPS of .961 at the time) he strained an oblique muscle, injured as he hit an RBI double on April 23 against the Yankees.[11] Later, he was hit in the left eye (which caused bruising) by a ball bouncing up on him during the game on June 3 against Kansas City and kept him out of the lineup for 4 days.[12]
With the seemingly inevitable arrival of Tampa Bay's top prospect, Evan Longoria, to the Rays' third base position for the 2008 season, Iwamura was shifted to second base.[13] He played at second exclusively that season (152 games), and remained healthy throughout, becaming a linchpin of the Rays' surprising American League Championship team. He recorded the final putout in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series[14], sending the Rays to their first ever World Series appearance.
References
- ↑ Gaddis, Carter (November 15, 2006). "Rays Bid On Rights To Japanese Star 3B". Tampa Tribune: p. Sports 2.
- ↑ Picker, David (October 26, 2001). "Swallows claim fifth Japan Series". Japan Times (Tokyo, Japan).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Topkin, Marc (December 16, 2006). "Newest Ray packs punch, glove". St. Petersburg Times: p. 1C.
- ↑ "Iwamura, Iguchi win monthly MVP awards". Kyodo News International (Tokyo, Japan). September 7, 2004.
- ↑ "Rays' Crawford bedevils Japan". Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo, Japan). November 7, 2004.
- ↑ "MLB wraps up series in style". Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo, Japan). November 15, 2004.
- ↑ Gaddis, Carter (December 16, 2006). "Newest Ray Likes Challenge". Tampa Tribune: p. 1.
- ↑ Topkin, Marc (December 11, 2006). "Iwamura's agent is still playing hardball". St. Petersburg Times: p. 3C.
- ↑ Topkin, Marc (February 8, 2007). "Rays seem ready to dump Devil". St. Petersburg Times: p. 1C.
- ↑ "Akinori Iwamura Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/i/iwamuak01.shtml. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
- ↑ Auman, Greg (April 25, 2007). "Side Strain to Sideline Iwamura 4-6 Weeks". St. Petersburg Times: p. 6C.
- ↑ Encina, Eduardo (June 4, 2007). "Bruised Eye to Keep Iwamura Out for 4-5 days". St. Petersburg Times: p. 3C.
- ↑ Topkin, Marc (November 8, 2007). "Shortstop Crop is Thinning Out". St. Petersburg Times: p. 10C.
- ↑ "Retrosheet Boxscore: Tampa Bay Rays 3, Boston Red Sox 1". retrosheet.org. Retrosheet. http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2008/B10190TBA2008.htm. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball America, or Wikipedia, or SABR Encyclopedia, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
