Baseball: Inaba among record 7 Golden Glove winners from Fighters.

TOKYO, Nov. 10 Kyodo

Right fielder Atsunori Inaba featured among a club record seven players from the Pacific League champion Nippon Ham Fighters to win Golden Glove awards for their stellar defensive performances on Tuesday.

It was the most Golden Gloves won by a team since the 1978 Hanshin Tigers and 1992 Seibu Lions, both of whom matched a Japanese baseball record with eight players winning the award.

The Japan Series-winning Yomiuri Giants had three Golden Glove recipients, including right-hander Dicky Gonzalez who was the first foreign player to receive the honor since Taiwanese pitcher Kaku Taigen (Seibu Lions) in 1992.

Center fielder Tetsuya Matsumoto, who joined the team in 2007 in the draft for prospects, was honored for the first time along with right fielder Yoshiyuki Kamei.

The Chunichi Dragons also had three players claim the award, with catcher Motonobu Tanishige winning his fourth and second baseman Masahiro Araki and shortstop Hirokazu Ibata getting top votes for the sixth consecutive year.

Yakult Swallows third baseman Shinya Miyamoto was selected for the sixth time for his defense as a shortstop and his seventh time overall -- the most among all of the recipients.

Hiroshima Carp first baseman Kenta Kurihara won for the second time, while Yakult center fielder Norichika Aoki picked up his fourth award.

Fighters catcher Shinya Tsuruoka, second baseman Shinji Takahashi, third baseman Eiichi Koyano and center fielder Yoshio Itoi were each first-time recipients for Nippon Ham.

Fighters shortstop Makoto Kaneko, meanwhile, was awarded for the third time overall while Inaba and second baseman Kensuke Tanaka won for the fourth time.

Seibu Lions right-hander Hideaki Wakui was named for the first time while Orix Buffaloes center fielder Tomotaka Sakaguchi claimed his second Golden Glove honor.