Katsuya Nomura

Katsuya Nomura
野村 克也
Nomura in 1959
Catcher / Manager
Born: (1935-06-29)June 29, 1935
Kyōtango, Kyoto, Japan
Died: February 11, 2020(2020-02-11) (aged 84)
Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
NPB debut
June 17, 1954, for the Nankai Hawks
Last NPB appearance
October 3, 1980, for the Seibu Lions
NPB statistics
Batting average.277
Hits2,901
HRs657
RBIs1,988
Managerial record1,565–1,563–76
Winning %.500
Teams
As player

As manager

Career highlights and awards
Member of the Japanese
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction1989

Katsuya Nomura (野村 克也, Nomura Katsuya, June 29, 1935 – February 11, 2020) was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) catcher and manager. During his over 26-season playing career mostly spent with the Nankai Hawks (now the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks), he became one of NPB's greatest offensive catchers. He was awarded the Pacific League MVP Award five times, became the first NPB batter to win the Triple Crown in 1965, and holds the record for second-most home runs and RBIs in NPB history.

Nomura was a player-manager for the last eight years he was with the Hawks, leading them to the Pacific League title in 1973. After playing, he became a full-time manager and served led the Yakult Swallows to four league titles and three Japan Series championships from 1990 to 1998. Later, he managed the Hanshin Tigers for three seasons and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles for four seasons until his retirement in 2009. As a manager, Nomura recorded 1,565 wins, the fifth-most wins of any manager in NPB history. He was elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989.