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is a third baseman for the Yomiuri Giants. Murata led the Central League in home runs in both and and is one of the few pure home run hitters in Japanese professional baseball today. He played in the 2008 Beijing Olympics〔() "Hoshino places faith in Olympic qualifiers" - The Japan Times.〕 as well as the 2009 World Baseball Classic〔() "The All-World Baseball Classic Team" - Bleacher Report.〕 as a member of the Japanese national team and hit cleanup for much of the latter tournament. ==Early life and high school career== Murata was born in Sasaguri, Fukuoka, a member of the age group often referred to as the Matsuzaka Generation. He played for the Seto Bears, a local Little League team, in elementary school and for the Kasuya Phoenix in nearby Kasuya in junior high. Murata went on to Higashi Fukuoka High School,〔() "Murata, Yoshimura Each Drive in Three to Whip Hanshin 7-1" - Japan Baseball Daily.〕 leading the school to consecutive berths in national tournaments in his senior year () as the team's ace pitcher. Armed with a fastball, Murata carried his team to a 5-0 victory over Izumo Hokuryo Senior High School in their first game in the 70th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament (Higashi Fukuoka High's first-ever appearance in the spring tournament), but succumbed to Yokohama Senior High School in the next round, suffering a two-hit shutout at the hands of current Boston Red Sox right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka and giving up a home run to current Seibu Lions outfielder Taketoshi Gotoh. Though Murata's team secured a berth in the 80th National High School Baseball Championship held that very summer, they lost to a current Orix Buffaloes outfielder Katsuaki Furuki-led Toyota Otani High School in the first round. Murata hit a total of 30 home runs during his high school career. Realizing that he "would never defeat Matsuzaka as long as () remained a pitcher", decided he would become a position player upon enrolling in college. Among Murata's teammates at the time were then-junior Kensuke Tanaka, who currently plays second base for the Fighters, and catcher Ryuji Ohno, who played for the Fukuoka Daiei and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks from to . 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Shuichi Murata」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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