Before playing professional baseball, Yamazaki grew up in Ageo and attended high school there.
[1] Out of high school, he drew comparisons to Shigeo Nagashima due to his home run-hitting ability.
[2] Unrelated to his baseball ability, Yamazaki was a participant in the 1964 Summer Olympics torch relay.
[4] Yamazaki made his debut on April 10 against the Toei Flyers and had his first hit in the NPB the next day.
[5] His second season was cut short due to a broken jaw,[6] leaving him with eight hits and a .123 average.
[5] He was a regular at shortstop and set the record for most putouts in a game for the position on September 1 against the Nankai Hawks.
[5][8] On August 14, Yamazaki hit for the cycle against the Toei Flyers, the second Orions player to accomplish the feat.
[5] On the defensive side, he set a new Pacific League record, with 272 consecutive putout attempts without an error.
[5] On September 1, he hit two home runs in one inning yet again, this time against the Nippon-Ham Fighters.
17 days later, against his former team, he recorded his 2,000th hit, becoming the 18th player to achieve the feat in Japanese baseball history.