Hirokazu Ibata

Hirokazu Ibata (Japanese:井端 弘和, born May 12, 1975) is a Japanese professional baseball coach and former player in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He is currently the manager of the Japanese national baseball team.

Hirokazu Ibata
Ibata with the Yomiuri Giants in 2014
Japan national baseball team – No. 89
Infielder / Manager
Born: (1979-05-12) May 12, 1979 (age 46) Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
Batted: Right Threw: Right
NPB debut
September 8, 1998, for the Chunichi Dragons
Last NPB appearance
October 29, 2015, for the Yomiuri Giants
NPB statistics
Games	1896
Batting average	.281
Hits	1,912
Home runs	56
Runs batted in	510
Teams
As player Chunichi Dragons (1998–2013) Yomiuri Giants (2014–2015) As manager Japan national baseball team As coach Yomiuri Giants (2016–2018)
Career highlights and awards
NPB 8× All-Star (2001, 2002, 2005, 2007–2010, 2011) 7× Golden Glove Award (2004–2009, 2012) 5× Best Nine Award (2002, 2004–2007) Asia Series MVP (2007) Japan Series champion (2007) International All-World Baseball Classic Team (2013)

Baseball career

Ibata played second base for the Yomiuri Giants and short stop for the Chunichi Dragons but is able to play at other positions.

After retiring at the end of the 2015 season, Ibata took up new Giants' manager, Yoshinobu Takahashi's invitation to join his coaching staff.^[1]