Catcher

Atsuya Furuta. Although Motonobu Tanishige caught more games than anyone else (2,964), and has the highest career win share total from his catching, and a certain Hall of Famer, he is in the words of John E. Gibson, a compiler, a quality player with an extraordinarily long career.

The three best NPB seasons for throwing out base-stealers belong to Furuta. He set the record in 1993, when opponents tried to steal just 45 times against him 45 times in 130 games, and 29 of those paid the price for a caught-stealing percentage of .644. Here’s a list with career total fielding win shares, fielding win shares per 27 outs made and number of years he was probably the best fielder in his league:

1. Atsuya Furuta, Swallows, 1990-2007: 130-.648, 8
2. Mitsuo Tatsukawa, Carp, 1978-2002: 72-.639, 3
3. Tsutomu Ito, Lions, 1982-2003: 126-.575, 8
4. Fujio Tamura, Fighters, 1981-1998: 74-.545, 4
5. Akihiko Oya, Swallows, 1970-1985: 75-.526, 4
6. Motonobu Tanishige, BayStars-Dragons: 1989-2015: 138-.513, 5
7. Akihiro Yano, Tigers, 1991-2010: 70-.487, 2
8. Shinnosuke Abe, Giants, 2001-present: 85-5.7-.479, 5
9. Takeshi Nakamura, Dragons, 1987-2005: 80-.464, 4
10. Tatsuhiko Kimata, Dragons, 1964-1982: 84-.435, 2

Since we lack counts of defensive innings played in NPB, win shares per 27 batting outs are substituted as a measure of playing time. Because of this, and because Furuta was a tremendous offensive player who made relatively few outs, he gets more mileage in WS per 27 outs. On the other hand, Tatsukawa was an offensive zero for the powerhouse Carp teams of the 1980s.

First base

While the catchers’ list is dominated by recent players, good-fielding first baseman have become something of an endangered species. Out of respect for limitations, I’ll skip trying to pretend I could select a golden glove first baseman…

1. Kiyoshi Nakahata, Giants, 1977-1989: 28-.221
2. Tokuji Iida, Hawks-Swallows, 1947-1963: 42-.213
3. Makoto Matsubara, Whales, 1962-1981: 44-.201
4. Junichi Kashiwabara, Hawks-Fighters, 1973-1988, 29-.191
5. Toru Ogawa, Buffaloes, 1968-1984: 30-.170
6. Tetsuharu Kawakami, Giants, 1938-1958: 27-.165
7. Kozo Kawai, Braves: 1948-1959: 19-.165
8. Sadaharu Oh, Giants, 1959-1980: 42-.163
9. Kihachi Enomoto, Orions, 1955-1972: 34-.157
10. Kazuhiro Kiyohara, Lions-Giants, 1986-2008: 33-.150