Nori Aoki
Norichika "Nori" Aoki (青木 宣親, Aoki Norichika, born January 5, 1982) is a Japanese professional baseball right fielder for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants of MLB and for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
Aoki is one of only four players to amass 200 or more hits in a single season in Japanese professional baseball. He played in the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classics as well as the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Early life and amateur career
Aoki was born in Hyūga, Miyazaki, and attended Hyuga Municipal Hichiya Elementary School and Tomishima Junior High School before going on to Miyazaki Prefectural Hyuga High School. Surprisingly, he was a pitcher throughout junior high and high school, converting to the outfield only upon entering Waseda University, where he majored in human sciences.
Aoki was surrounded by a remarkable concentration of talent at Waseda: his year included shortstop Takashi Toritani (currently with the Hanshin Tigers), third baseman Toshimitsu Higa (Hiroshima Toyo Carp) and center fielder Shintaro Yoshida (Orix Buffaloes), all three of whom would later go on to the pros.Left-handed pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada (Baltimore Orioles) was one year his senior, and second baseman Hiroyasu Tanaka and first baseman Shinichi Takeuchi, both of whom would later rejoin Aoki with the Swallows, were one and two years his junior, respectively.