Kazuto Tsuruoka

Kazuto Tsuruoka 鶴岡 一人
Infielder / Manager
Born: (1916-07-27)July 27, 1916 Kure, Hiroshima, Japan
Died: March 7, 2000(2000-03-07) (aged 83) Japan
Batted: Right Threw: Right
JBL debut
March 28, 1939, for the Nankai Club
Last NPB appearance
October 12, 1952, for the Nankai Hawks
JBL/NPB statistics
Batting average	.295
Home runs	61
Hits	790
RBIs	467
Stolen bases	143
Teams
As player Nankai Club/Kinki Great Ring/Nankai Hawks (1939, 1946–1952) As manager Great Ring/Nankai Hawks (1949–1968)
Career highlights and awards
3× Nippon Professional Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (1946, 1948, 1951) Home Run leader (1939) RBI leader (1946)
Member of the Japanese
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	1965
Election method	Selection Committee for the Players

Kazuto Tsuruoka (鶴岡 一人, Tsuruoka Kazuto, July 27, 1916 – March 7, 2000), also known as Kazuto Yamamoto, was a Japanese former professional baseball infielder and manager in the Japan Baseball League (JBL) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

Tsuruoka played for the same franchise in 1939, and from 1946 to 1952, which during his career changed names from the Nankai Club to Kinki Great Ring, and ultimately to the Nankai Hawks. (Tsuruoka did not play professional baseball from 1940 to 1945.) In 1939 he won the JBL home run title with 10. Returning to the JBL after World War II, in 1946 he won the JBL Most Valuable Player Award, repeating the feat in 1948. His team won the JBL championship both those years.

In 1949, he was named player-manager of the Hawks. His playing career ended after the 1952 season, but he stayed on as the team's manager through the 1968 season, guiding the team to Japan Series championships in 1959 and 1964. His managerial record overall was 1773–1140, for a winning percentage of .609.

Tsuruoka was elected by the Selection Committee for the Players to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1965.^[1]

• Career statistics from Baseball Reference (Minors)