Masanori Sugiura (杉浦 正則, born May 23, 1968) is a retired Japanese Olympic baseball player from Kudoyama, Wakayama, Japan.

Masanori Sugiura
Medal record
Representing  Japan
Men's Baseball
Summer Olympics
Bronze medal – third place Barcelona 1992 Team
Silver medal – second place Atlanta 1996 Team
Asian Baseball Championship
Gold medal – first place Beijing 1991 Team
Gold medal – first place Kurashiki 1995 Team
Baseball World Cup
Bronze medal – third place Managua 1994 Team
Intercontinental Cup
Bronze medal – third place Italy 1993 Team
Silver medal – second place Havana 1995 Team
Gold medal – first place Barcelona 1997 Team
Bronze medal – third place Sydney 1999 Team

Sugiura was the ace pitcher of the Nippon Life Insurance Company baseball team, and was chosen to join the Japanese national team in the 1992 Summer Olympics, where he won a bronze medal. He returned to the olympics four years later, winning a silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics.[1] Professional players were allowed to participate in the 2000 Summer Olympics, but Sugiura was still chosen as the captain of the Japanese national team, and the captain of the entire Japanese olympic team in 2000 Summer Olympics. The Japanese team did not win a medal that year.

Sugiura refused numerous offers to join the Japanese professional leagues and retired in 2000. The Nippon Life Insurance Company baseball team won the Intercity Baseball Tournament twice during the 10 years Sugiura played with the team. He also marked a record five career wins in the olympic tournaments.[citation needed]

He served as a pitching coach for his team from 2001 to 2004 and became the manager in 2006.[citation needed]

References

edit