Tsuyoshi Nishioka

Tsuyoshi Nishioka deserves to be remembered for his Japanese career rather than his American one. Out of Osaka Toin High School he became a first-round pick for the Chiba Lotte Marines, and by his mid-twenties he had a Japan Series title, a World Baseball Classic championship, and a 2010 season in which he led the Pacific League in both batting average and hits. Then he crossed to the Minnesota Twins, broke his leg in a collision at second base, and American fans mostly remember the injury rather than the ballplayer. What I like is that he never sanded down his personality to survive. He was a showman in a league that quietly prefers modesty, and he stayed one through the disappointment and through his later years with the Hanshin Tigers. He coaches now, and the thing he really has to teach is nerve.

Name (English)

Tsuyoshi Nishioka

Name (Japanese)

西岡剛

Born

July 27, 1984 (age 42)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Leo / Rat

Origin

Daitō-shi, Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Height

182 cm

Occupation

professional baseball player / baseball coach

Motto

Private

• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/tsuyoshinishioka_official/
• Xhttps://x.com/tsuyoshi_ni
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A5%BF%E5%B2%A1%E5%89%9B%20(%E5%86%85%E9%87%8E%E6%89%8B)

Tags

• Osaka Prefecture
• professional baseball player
• baseball coach

Last updated

2026-07-26

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.