Takuro Ishii is a Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 professional baseball player. He currently plays for Hiroshima Toyo Carp

Hiroshima Toyo Carp

The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Central League. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda. Mazda is the largest single shareholder , which is less than the portion owned by the Matsuda family . Because of that,...

. He bats left-handed and throws right-handed.

Ishii was regarded as one of the best Japanese shortstops of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Though his stats have lately declined due to age, he still contributes with his precise fielding and solid batting abilities, as well as his leadership as a veteran player.

Ishii entered the professional leagues with the Yokohama Taiyo Whales, and has been with the team for his entire career (The team changed their name to the Yokohama BayStars

Yokohama BayStars

The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Home field is the Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The clubhouse is located near the stadium....

 in 1993).

His wife is FujiTV announcer Shiori Arase. He has two children, born in 2002 and 2005. His former wife is Azusa Senou

Azusa Senou

Azusa Senou is a J-pop singer, and a member of the group Coco.- Biography :Azusa was born in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, and made her solo debut on 4 September 1991. She was a founding member of Coco, though she left in 1992. She has since retired from the entertainment business...

, who was a member of Coco (group)

Coco (group)

CoCo was a Japanese pop group which consist of Mikiyo Ohno, Azusa Senou, Rieko Miura, Erika Haneda, and Maki Miyamae.CoCo released their first single on September 6, 1989. They debuted with "Equal Romance" and found themselves on the charts almost regularly...

. They were married from 1996 to 2000, but she left him because he frequently cheated on her with other women. Correspondingly, one famous incident occurred in 2000 when well-known NHK announcer Yumiko Udo was photographed coming out of Takuro's apartment in the early hours or the morning disguised wearing a wig.

Biography

• Ishii joined the Yokohama Taiyo Whales from outside the draft in 1988. His uniform number was 66.
• He played as a pitcher during his early career, and marked his first professional victory in 1989. He also got a hit in his first victory.
• Ishii compiled a record of 1-4, with a 5.69 ERA in his three years as a pitcher.
• Ishii converted to the infield in 1992. He became the team's regular third baseman in the same year.
• His team changed its name to the Yokohama BayStars
  Yokohama BayStars
  The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Home field is the Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The clubhouse is located near the stadium....
  
  , and he changed his uniform number to 0 in 1993. He played a full season at third base, batting second. He won the Central League
  Central League
  The or is one the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consists of six teams from around the country,The Central League...
  
   Golden Glove
  Golden Glove
  Golden Glove may refer to:*Golden Gloves, an amateur boxing competition*Rawlings Gold Glove Award, given to Major League Baseball players for outstanding defensive performance*Barclays Golden Glove, an award for goalkeepers in the Premier League...
  
   award and led the league in steals.
• He changed his number to 5 in 1994.
• He played in the all-star game for the first time in 1995. He would become an all-star in 1997 to 2001 for five consecutive seasons (a total six times).
• He switched from third base to shortstop in 1996.
• Ishii began to bat first in 1997. He received a Best Nine award as the best shortstop in the Central League in 1997. He would receive this award for five consecutive years, until 2001.
• The Yokohama Baystars won the Central League pennant, as well as the Japanese Championship Series in 1998 (38 years after their last championship in 1960). Ishii led the league in steals and hits, and received his fourth Golden Glove award at shortstop.
• Marked 1000 career hits, 1000 games played, and 200 career steals in 1999.
• He led the league in steals for three consecutive seasons (1998~2000).
• Led the league in hits for the second time in his career in 2001.
• Ishii went into a huge slump in 2003, getting less than 100 hits in a season for the first time since 1992.
• Ishii reversed his slump in 2004, matching his career high in home runs.
• He started every single game in 2005 batting first, and playing shortstop. He also played in every inning.
• In 2006, he played in every inning of all 146 season games for the second year in a row. He also tied his career high for single season hits.
• Ishii got his 2000th career hit on May 11, 2006 in his first at-bat against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
  Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
  The is a baseball team founded in 2004; it played its first season in the Japanese Pacific League in 2005. It is simply called Rakuten . The team was created to fill the void left by the merger of the Orix Blue Wave and the Kintetsu Buffaloes, after the 2004 season due to financial difficulties,...
  
  . He was the 34th player in Japanese baseball, and the 2nd player who has a win as a pitcher to reach the milestone.
• Ishii had knee surgery during the 2006 off-season, and was removed from a game on April 1, ending his full-inning play record at 339 games (second most among active players).

Awards

• Best Nine Award: 1997~2001 (shortstop)
• Golden Glove Award: 1993~1995 (third base), 1998 (shortstop)
• All-Star: 1995, 1997–2001
• 2000th hit: May 11, 2006

External links