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Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called Puro Yakyū (プロ野球), meaning simply Professional Baseball; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball."
Shigeo Nagashima nicknamed "Mr. Giants" is a Japanese former professional baseball player and manager.
Kazuo Matsui is a Japanese former professional baseball player who played as a shortstop and is the current manager of the Saitama Seibu Lions. He is a switch-hitter.
Roberto Antonio Petagine Hernandez is a Venezuelan former professional baseball player of Italian descent. His Major League Baseball career includes brief stints with the Houston Astros (1994), San Diego Padres (1995), New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds (1998), Boston Red Sox (2005), and Seattle Mariners (2006); but he is best known for his success in the Japanese Central League between 1999 and 2004 where, as a member of the Yakult Swallows (1999–2002) and Yomiuri Giants (2003–2004), he was among Nippon Professional Baseball's premier offensive players.
Norihiro Nakamura is a Japanese former professional baseball third baseman. Nakamura spent almost all of his professional career in Japan with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes. Nakamura had a .266 career batting average, 404 home runs and 1348 RBI, and was an eight-time All-Star and four-time Golden Glove winner. Nakamura is one of only 16 players to have hit 400 or more home runs in NPB.
Kazuhiro Yamauchi was a Japanese baseball player and manager. He played for the Mainichi Orions, the Hanshin Tigers and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp over the span of an 18 season-long career (1952–1970).
Robert Richard Rose is an American former professional baseball infielder and coach. He played for the California Angels in Major League Baseball (MLB), and for the Yokohama BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). During his playing career, he batted and threw right-handed and was listed at 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) and 170 pounds (77 kg). He later served as a hitting coach in Minor League Baseball.
Hiromitsu Ochiai is a Japanese former professional baseball manager and player. He is former manager of the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He is considered to be one of the most important players in the history of Japanese baseball, winning numerous batting awards and being the only player to receive the prestigious triple crown batting award three times. With 510 career home runs, Ochiai is sixth on the all-time NPB list. Ochiai's style is called Oreryu(オレ流). Oreryu means "to do with only my style." The word described how he acted according to his personal philosophies.
Fumio Fujimura was a Japanese baseball infielder and pitcher who played 22 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) from 1936 to 1958. He began his career as a stellar right-handed pitcher for the Osaka Tigers, but achieved his greatest fame as a hitter.
Isao Harimoto is a Korean former Nippon Professional Baseball player and holder of the record for most hits in the Japanese professional leagues. An ethnic Korean, his birth name is Jang Hun. Harimoto has spent his life as a resident of Japan and adopted a Japanese name, but remains a Korean citizen, thus making him a Zainichi Korean. He was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990 and now works as a television baseball analyst.
Tomohiro Nioka is a Japanese former professional baseball player. He previously played for the Yomiuri Giants and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. Nioka batted and threw right-handed.
Noriyoshi Omichi is a Japanese former professional baseball Infielder, and current the third squad hitting coach for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
Yasunori Oshima was a Japanese professional baseball outfielder, first baseman and third baseman, and coach in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He played for the Chunichi Dragons and Nippon Ham Fighters from 1971 to 1994. He went on to manage the Fighters from 2000 to 2002, and served as the hitting coach for the Japan national baseball team during the 2006 World Baseball Classic.
American expatriate baseball players in Japan have been a feature of the Japanese professional leagues since 1934. American expatriate players began to steadily find spots on Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) rosters in the 1960s. More than 600 Americans have played NPB, although very few last more than a single season in Japan.
Takuya Kai is a Japanese professional baseball catcher for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
Kōsuke Noda is a former professional Japanese baseball catcher and current coach for the Saitama Seibu Lions in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.
Richard Makoto Sunagawa O'Brien is a Japanese professional baseball Infielder for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
Tomoya Masaki is a Japanese professional baseball Outfielder for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).