Akira Nakamura (中村 晃, born November 5, 1989) is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.
Early baseball career
Nakamura participated with Kenshi Sugiya and Shohei Takashima in the 2rd grade summer the 88th Japanese High School Baseball Championship, 3rd grade spring the 79th Japanese High School Baseball Invitational Tournament and 3rd grade summer the 89th Japanese High School Baseball Championship at the Teikyo High School.
The match against Chiben Wakayama High School in the quarterfinals of the 88th Japanese High School Baseball Championship became a game that remains in the history of Japanese High School Baseball Championship.
Professional career
On October 3, 2007, Nakamura was drafted by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the 2007 Nippon Professional Baseball draft.
2008–2010 season
In 2008–2010 season, Nakamura played in the Western League of NPB's minor leagues.
2011–2015 season
On May 3, 2011, Nakamura debuted in the Pacific League against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. And he recorded his first hit in the Pacific League on May 10. In 2011 season, Nakamura played 32 games in the Pacific League. And he was selected as the Japan Series roster in the 2011 Japan Series.
In 2012 season, Nakamura played 39 games in the Pacific League. On November 21, he was honored for the Western League Batting Leader Award and the Western League On-base percentage Leader Award at the 2012 Professional Baseball Convention.
On June 23, 2013, Nakamura recorded his first home run in the Pacific League against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. In 2013 season, he finished the regular season in 109 games with a batting average of .307, a 5 home runs, and a RBI of 44.
In 2014 season, Nakamura finished the regular season in 143 games with a batting average of .308, a 4 home runs, and a RBI of 61. As a result, he won the Pacific League Hits Leader Award with 176 hits. And he contributed to the team's victory by hitting a three-run Walk-off home run from Seung-hwan Oh in Game 4 of the 2014 Japan Series.
In 2015 season, Nakamura changed his uniform number from 60 to 7. He finished the regular season in 135 games with a batting average of .300, a one home runs, and a RBI of 39. And on October 25, he contributed to the team's victory by hitting a home run in the Japan Series for the second consecutive year in the 2015 Japan Series Game 2.
2016–2020 season
In 2016 season, Nakamura played in all 143 games and recorded a batting average of .287, a 7 home runs, and a RBI of 50.
In 2017 season, Nakamura played in all 143 games and recorded a batting average of .270, a 6 home runs, and a RBI of 42. In the 2017 Pacific League Climax Series, where he played against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, he recorded a reversal two-run home run in Game 3 on October 20, and a home run in Game 4 on October 21. In the 2017 Japan Series, which played against the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, he contributed to the team's victory by recording a reversal clutch hit in Game 2 on October 29 and a two-run home run in Game 5 on November 2.
In 2018 season, Nakamura finished the regular season in 136 games with a batting average of .292, a 14 home runs, and a RBI of 57. And he selected Mynavi All-Star Game 2018. In the 2018 Japan Series, which played against Hiroshima Toyo Carp, he contributed to the team's victory by hitting a reversal RBI hit in Game 5 on November 1.
On March 23, 2019, Nakamura was diagnosed with Dysautonomia and left the team for medical treatment. He returned to the team on May 31, but only played 44 games in the regular season. However, he contributed to the team's third consecutive Japan Series victory by recording two days consecutive RBI hits in Game 2 Game 3 of the 2019 Pacific League Climax Series in the postseason.