Kazuhiro Kiyohara

Kazuhiro Kiyohara (清原 和博) is a Japanese television personality, YouTuber and former professional baseball player.

He played in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league for 23 seasons.

Born in Kishiwada, Osaka in 1967, his family were baseball fans.

Kazuhiro Kiyohara was born on August 18, 1967, in Kishiwada, Osaka.

His family owned an electronics store called Toshiba Store.

His father was a Hanshin Tigers fan while the rest of his family were fans of the Yomiuri Giants.

Influenced by this, Kiyohara was a Yomiuri Giants fan growing up.

In 1974, he entered Yagi Minami Elementary School and began playing baseball joining the Kishiwada Little League.

In third grade of elementary, he already stood at 155 cm (5 ft 1 in), and recorded 70 km/h (43 mph) in long throw during his entrance test to the league.

In 1977, the fourth grader Kiyohara joined a team of sixth graders and became the only regular of his age.

He also displayed his talent as a pitcher.

He began his career when he joined his high school baseball team in the 1980s that subsequently won two Japanese High School Baseball Championships.

Kazuhiro Kiyohara became a household name in Japan as a home run hitter for the Osaka PL Gakuen high school baseball team in the mid-1980s.

His team won two Japanese High School Baseball Championships, finished second twice, and was fourth on one occasion.

(There are spring and summer national high school baseball tournaments annually in Japan, held at the famous Koshien Stadium.)

Kiyohara was one part of a dominant duo on his high school team with his teammate, pitcher Masumi Kuwata.

They became known in the popular vernacular of the time as the "K-K Combi", which stood for the Kiyohara and Kuwata combination.

They were widely respected as high school players, and their individual and team accomplishments became memorable parts of the history of schoolboy baseball in Japan.

He became a widely respected high school player and was selected by Seibu Lions in 1985.

During his time in Lions, the team won six Japan Series titles and he tied the rookie HR record for Japanese professional baseball.

Kiyohara was selected by the Seibu Lions with their first pick of the 1985 draft.

This was reportedly a huge disappointment for him because the Yomiuri Giants, the most popular NPB team of the day, had promised to choose him in the draft.

However, the Giants decided to take Masumi Kuwata with their initial pick in '85, instead of Kiyohara, which made for great theater in the Japanese mass media at the time.

His rookie season with the Seibu Lions produced a .304 average with 31 home runs and 78 RBIs.

He tied the rookie HR record for Japanese professional baseball, and all three previously mentioned statistics were the best totals for a rookie in his first professional season out of high school.

He became a top cleanup hitter for the Lions in his eleven seasons with the club, accumulating 332 HRs and 915 RBIs.

During his time in a Lions uniform, the team won six Japan Series titles.

In 1996, he joined the Yomiuri Giants, and was an integral part of their 2000 and 2002 Japan Series championship squads.

Kiyohara qualified for free agency after the 1996 season and signed with the Yomiuri Giants, fulfilling a childhood dream.

With the Giants, Kiyohara had some outstanding seasons playing alongside many star players, including future major leaguer Hideki Matsui.

In 1997, Kiyohara ranked 5th in the annual competition television program Pro Sportsman No.1 aired on TBS.

Kiyohara suited up for the Giants through the 2005 season (one in which he collected his 500th home run and 2,000th hit), and was an integral part of their 2000 and 2002 Japan Series championship squads.

He retired following the 2008 season.

He later joined the Orix Buffaloes, before retiring in 2008.

He has been dubbed "The Uncrowned King" as he never won a major batting title, despite being widely regarded as one of NPB's greatest hitters.

An aging Kiyohara moved from the Giants to the Orix Buffaloes for the final three seasons of his career, calling it quits at the end of the 2008 campaign.

In 2014, Kiyohara was hospitalized after an alleged illegal drug abuse.

At first he denied the allegation, after which he was divorced by his wife Aki Kimura due to domestic violence.

After a lengthy investigation, in 2016, Kiyohara tested positive for stimulants and was subsequently arrested and given a suspended prison sentence.

After being cast out from television for his conviction, he became a YouTuber posting videos about baseball and weight loss.