Quick Facts
Biography
Katsunori Nomura (野村 克則, Nomura Katsunori, born July 23, 1973) was a NPB catcher from 1996 to 2006. He is currently a catching coach for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. He is the son of NPB catching-great and long-time manager Katsuya Nomura, who also managed him for five seasons—two with the Yakult Swallows, two with the Hanshin Tigers and one with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
Career
Katsunori Nomura was drafted by the Yakult Swallows in the third round of the 1995 Nippon Professional Baseball draft. He played two seasons with the Yakult Swallows under his father, manager Katsuya Nomura. After the 1998 season, his father left the Swallows and Katsunori was sent to the club's farm team for the entirety of the 1999 season. He was then traded to the Hanshin Tigers, where he was again managed by his father for two more seasons. In 2003, he spent the entire season playing on the Tigers' farm team.
On January 25, 2004, his contract was purchased by the Yomiuri Giants and he was traded from the Tigers. While it was a relatively minor trade, it made headlines because of Katsunori's father's longtime resentment toward the Giants. Some also saw the trade as an opportunity for Katsunori "to step out of his famous father's shadow." However, Katsunori only played in three games with the Giants and was released following the end of the 2003 season. He played his final two seasons with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in 2005 and 2006 and announced his retirement on September 30, 2006. Throughout his career, Katsunori was utilized as a second or third-string catcher. He has been a catching coach for the Golden Eagles since 2007.
Some have suggested that the only reason Katsunori Nomura was given the opportunity to play in the NPB was because of his father's connections in the league. The Japan Times columnist Marty Kuehnert believes that he "hitched a ride" on his father's name, but his "statistics don't add up to a good month, or even week, of [Katsuya Nomura's] production". Of the four NPB teams Katsunori played for in his playing career, three of them were managed by his father: the Swallows, the Tigers and the Golden Eagles.
Career statistics
| Year | Uniform # | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 33 | Yakult Swallows | Spent season in minor leagues | ||||||||||||
| 1997 | 26 | 31 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .258 | .303 | .387 | ||
| 1998 | 25 | 23 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .174 | .208 | .174 | ||
| 1999 | Spent season in minor leagues | ||||||||||||||
| 2000 | 50 | Hanshin Tigers | 43 | 49 | 6 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | .265 | .327 | .449 |
| 2001 | 52 | 95 | 3 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 0 | .211 | .257 | .274 | ||
| 2002 | 11 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .188 | .188 | .313 | ||
| 2003 | Spent season in minor leagues | ||||||||||||||
| 2004 | 63 | Yomiuri Giants | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .333 | .400 | .333 |
| 2005 | 52 | Golden Eagles | 6 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .100 | .100 | .100 |
| 2006 | 56 | 129 | 8 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 1 | .124 | .186 | .171 | ||
| Totals | 222 | 356 | 18 | 66 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 20 | 1 | .185 | .237 | .261 | ||
Personal life
Katsunori Nomura is the son of NPB catching-great and long-time manager Katsuya Nomura. His stepbrother is infamous baseball agent Don Nomura. After a 2001 tax evasion scandal involving Katsunori's mother Sachiyo Nomura, Katsunori was supportive during months preceding Sachiyo's arrest. This is in contrast to Kenneth Engel and Don Nomura, Sachiyo's children from a previous marriage, who publicly disown her. He has two children with his wife Yukiko.