is a former 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

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 outfielder

Outfielder

Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...

.

Career

Born in Tsushima

Tsushima, Nagasaki

is a city governed by Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is the only city of Tsushima Subprefecture and it encompasses all of Tsushima Island Archipelago, which lies in the Tsushima Strait north of Nagasaki on the western side of Kyūshū, the southernmost mainland island of Japan. the city has an...

, Nagasaki Prefecture

Nagasaki Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. The capital is the city of Nagasaki.- History :Nagasaki Prefecture was created by merging of the western half of the former province of Hizen with the island provinces of Tsushima and Iki...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and raised in Minami-ku

Minami-ku, Fukuoka

is one of the seven wards of Fukuoka City, Japan. As of 2004, it had a population of 247,913 people and an area of 30.98 km2. Its name literally means "south ward." It is bordered by the central, Hakata, Jonan, and Sawara wards of Fukuoka city, and also by the cities of Nakagawa and Kasuga....

, Fukuoka

Fukuoka, Fukuoka

is the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan.Voted number 14 in a 2010 poll of the World's Most Livable Cities, Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting. It is the most populous city in Kyushu, followed by...

, he played for the Hanshin Tigers

Hanshin Tigers

The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hanshin Tigers directly...

 in Japan from until , then for Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

's New York Mets

New York Mets

The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...

 and San Francisco Giants

San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

. In , he became the first Japan-born player to play in the World Series

World Series

The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...

, where he went 1 for 6 with three strikeouts. He ended his three-year stint in American baseball by being demoted to AAA after hitting .193 for the first half of the 2003 season. He returned to Japan and played for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters

The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Sapporo, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at the Sapporo Dome. The Fighters also host a select number of regional home games in cities across Hokkaidō,...

 from until . He is known for his flamboyance, colorful wristbands, dyed hair, and a unique hop as he catches the ball. His uniqueness has endeared him to baseball fans and has made him one of the most popular players in the Japanese leagues despite not being in the echelon of elite active players. In fact, his popularity was what kept him off the bench during his stint with the Tigers when manager Katsuya Nomura

Katsuya Nomura

was one of Nippon Professional Baseball's greatest players as a catcher and was also a long-time manager for the Yakult Swallows, the Hanshin Tigers, and the Rakuten Golden Eagles of NPB's Pacific League.-Career:...

 tried to turn him into a pitcher on the rotation rather than risk his team with his mediocre play.

Shinjo ended his career in storybook fashion. Playing for years on losing teams in Hanshin and despite playing in the 2002 World Series, Shinjo showed emotion and shed tears as his final game crowned him a champion as he was a member of the Fighters squad that won their first Japan Series

Japan Series

, or is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a seven-game series between the winning clubs of the league's two circuits, the Central League and the Pacific League....

 title since 1962 with a 4 games to 1 series win over the Chunichi Dragons

Chunichi Dragons

The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chubu region of Japan. The team is in the Central League. They won the 2007 Japan Series and 2007 Asia Series.-History:...

. As Shinjo took the field for the top of the ninth inning in the final game, he was given a standing ovation from the home crowd. Before the inning began, he was visibly emotional. Although the final play was only close to him (left fielder Hichori Morimoto caught the final ball) the cameras all showed only Shinjo's dramatic reaction. Traditionally, the players toss the manager in the air for series wins first, but the players tossed Shinjo in the air first instead of manager Trey Hillman

Trey Hillman

Thomas Brad "Trey" Hillman is the current bench coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has previously been the manager of both the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan's Pacific League and the Kansas City Royals in the American League.-Playing career:Hillman signed with the Cleveland Indians in...

.

Shinjo is now a television celebrity

Tarento

is a Japanese rendering of the English word "talent" and is used as a catch-all term for mass media personalities who regularly appear on television. Detractors of the phenomenon have referred to it in an English sense as "famous just for being famous" because many that fall into this career line...

 in Japan as well as a model for his own line of clothing. He has also won the maximum 10,000,000 JPY prize in a celebrity edition of the Japanese version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a television game show which offers large cash prizes for correctly answering a series of multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. The format is owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television International. The maximum cash prize is one million pounds...

".

MLB Stats

SEASON	TEAM	G Games played Games played is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated ; the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested.-Baseball:In baseball, the statistic applies also to players who, prior to a game,...	AB	R Run (baseball) In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...	H Hit (baseball) In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....	2B Double (baseball) In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....	3B Triple (baseball) In baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base after hitting the ball, with neither the benefit of a fielder's misplay nor another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....	HR Home run In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...	RBI Run batted in Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...	BB Base on balls A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...	SO	SB Stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate...	CS Caught stealing In baseball, a runner is charged, and the fielders involved are credited, with a time caught stealing when the runner attempts to advance or lead off from one base to another without the ball being batted and then is tagged out by a fielder while making the attempt...	AVG Batting average Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...	OBP	SLG	OPS
2001	NYM New York Mets The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...	123	400	46	107	23	1	10	56	25	70	4	5	.268	.320	.405	.725
2002	SF San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....	118	362	42	86	15	3	9	37	24	46	5	0	.238	.294	.370	.664
2003	NYM New York Mets The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...	62	114	10	22	3	0	1	7	6	12	0	1	.193	.238	.246	.484
Total	---	303	876	98	215	41	4	20	100	55	128	9	6	.245	.299	.370	.669

Japanese Baseball Stats

SEASON	TEAM	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	SLG	OBP	OPS
1991	HT Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hanshin Tigers directly...	13	17	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	.118	.118	.118	.236
1992	HT Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hanshin Tigers directly...	95	353	39	98	16	3	11	46	18	73	5	2	.278	.433	.320	.753
1993	HT Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hanshin Tigers directly...	102	408	50	105	13	1	23	62	20	91	13	2	.257	.463	.305	.768
1994	HT Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hanshin Tigers directly...	122	466	54	117	23	7	17	68	30	93	7	5	.251	.440	.304	.744
1995	HT Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hanshin Tigers directly...	87	311	34	70	15	3	7	37	26	76	6	4	.225	.360	.294	.654
1996	HT Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hanshin Tigers directly...	113	408	55	97	16	4	19	66	55	106	2	2	.238	.436	.335	.771
1997	HT Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hanshin Tigers directly...	136	482	62	112	17	3	20	68	44	120	8	4	.232	.405	.306	.711
1998	HT Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hanshin Tigers directly...	132	414	39	92	21	3	6	27	25	65	1	2	.222	.331	.275	.606
1999	HT Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hanshin Tigers directly...	123	471	53	120	21	7	14	58	23	72	8	2	.255	.418	.303	.721
2000	HT Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hanshin Tigers directly...	131	511	71	142	23	1	28	85	32	93	15	6	.278	.491	.321	.812
2004	HNHF Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Sapporo, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at the Sapporo Dome. The Fighters also host a select number of regional home games in cities across Hokkaidō,...	123	504	88	150	28	3	24	79	15	58	1	3	.298	.508	.327	.835
2005	HNHF Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Sapporo, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at the Sapporo Dome. The Fighters also host a select number of regional home games in cities across Hokkaidō,...	108	380	54	91	20	1	20	57	14	64	5	0	.239	.455	.274	.729
2006	HNHF Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Sapporo, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at the Sapporo Dome. The Fighters also host a select number of regional home games in cities across Hokkaidō,...	126	477	47	113	21	0	16	62	24	64	5	0	.257	.416	.298	.714
Total	---	1411	5163	647	1309	234	36	205	716	326	990	73	40	.253	.432	.304	.736

External links