Masaaki Koyama
Masaaki Koyama | |
---|---|
Koyama in 1959 | |
Pitcher | |
Born: (1934-07-28) July 28, 1934 (age 89) Akashi, Hyōgo, Japan | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
debut | |
1953, for the Osaka Tigers | |
Last appearance | |
1973, for the Taiyo Whales | |
Career statistics | |
Win–loss record | 320–232 |
Earned run average | 2.45 |
Strikeouts | 3,159 |
Teams | |
As player
As coach
| |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Member of the Japanese | |
Baseball Hall of Fame | |
Induction | 2001 |
Masaaki Koyama (小山 正明, Koyama Masaaki, born July 28, 1934 in Akashi, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He played for the Osaka / Hanshin Tigers from 1953 to 1963, the Tokyo / Lotte Orions from 1964 to 1972, and the Taiyo Whales in 1973.[citation needed] He is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
A right-handed pitcher, Koyama threw hard and was known for his effective slider and pinpoint control.[1] He ranks third all-time in the NPB in wins (320), strikeouts (3,159), innings pitched (4,899), and shutouts (74). He won 20 or more games 7 separate times, was selected to eleven All-Star teams, and won the 1962 Eiji Sawamura Award.
Biography
Koyama attended Takasago High School, and entered NPB at age 18, drafted by the Osaka Tigers.[citation needed]
Koyama won 20 or more games three straight years from 1958 to 1960; in 1959 he led the Central League in innings pitched, with 344. He had at least 200 strikeouts for 7 straight seasons from 1956 to 1962.
In 1961 Koyama suffered his first losing season, going 11–22, leading the Central League in losses despite a stellar 2.41 earned run average.
In 1962, Koyama had 13 shutouts, including five in a row, on his way to a 27–11 record with a 1.66 ERA and the Sawamura Award. He also led all of NPB in strikeouts, with 270. Unfortunately, he lost two games in that year's Japan Series, as the Tigers fell to the champion Toei Flyers. (Koyama ended up on the losing end of three Japan Series, never winning a championship.)
In 1964, Koyama switched teams (and leagues) and went 30-12 for the Tokyo Orions, leading all of NPB in victories, with a 2.41. ERA. That year he had 25 complete games and led all of NPB in innings pitched, with 361+1⁄3. He won at least 20 games three straight years from 1964 to 1966 (although in 1965 he also lost 20 games).
With 200+ wins, Koyama was a founding member of Meikyukai in 1978. He was elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001.[2]
On May 2, 1992, Tsutomu Seki discovered the minor planet 1992 JE, naming it "13553 Masaakikoyama" in honor of Koyama.
See also
References
- v
- t
- e
- Matsutarō Shōriki (1959)
- Hiroshi Hiraoka (1959)
- Yukio Aoi (1959)
- Shin Hashido (1959)
- Kiyoshi Oshikawa (1959)
- Jiro Kuji (1959)
- Eiji Sawamura (1959)
- Iso Abe (1959)
- Victor Starffin (1960)
- Yutaka Ikeda (1962)
- Haruyasu Nakajima (1963)
- Tadashi Wakabayashi (1964)
- Masaru Kageura (1965)
- Tetsuharu Kawakami (1965)
- Tsunetaro Moriyama (1966)
- Kazuto Tsuruoka (1969)
- Shunichi Amachi (1970)
- Nobuaki Nidegawa (1970)
- Shuichi Ishimoto (1972)
- Sadayoshi Fujimoto (1974)
- Fumio Fujimura (1974)
- Hideo Fujimoto (1976)
- Shigeru Mizuhara (1977)
- Michio Nishizawa (1977)
- Kenjiro Matsuki (1978)
- Shinji Hamazaki (1978)
- Takehiko Bessho (1979)
- Hiroshi Ohshita (1980)
- Makoto Kozuru (1980)
- Shigeru Chiba (1980)
- Tokuji Iida (1981)
- Yoshiyuki Iwamoto (1981)
- Osamu Mihara (1983)
- Shinji Kirihara (1984)
- Shigeru Sugishita (1985)
- Katsumi Shiraishi (1985)
- Atsushi Aramaki (1985)
- Shigeo Nagashima (1988)
- Kaoru Bettou (1988)
- Masaichi Nagata (1988)
- Saburo Yokozawa (1988)
- Yukio Nishimoto (1988)
- Masaichi Kaneda (1988)
- Hidenosuke Shima (1989)
- Katsuya Nomura (1989)
- Jiro Noguchi (1989)
- Juzo Sanada (1990)
- Isao Harimoto (1990)
- Shigeru Makino (1991)
- Osamu Tsutsui (1991)
- Kichiro Shimaoka (1991)
- Tatsuro Hirooka (1992)
- Michinori Tsubouchi (1992)
- Masao Yoshida (1992)
- Yoshio Yoshida (1992)
- Kazuhisa Inao (1993)
- Minoru Murayama (1993)
- Sadaharu Oh (1994)
- Wally Yonamine (1994)
- Shosei Go (1995)
- Tadashi Sugiura (1995)
- Tokichiro Ishii (1995)
- Motoshi Fujita (1996)
- Sachio Kinugasa (1996)
- Katsuo Osugi (1997)
- Futoshi Nakanishi (1999)
- Yoshinori Hirose (1999)
- Takeshi Koba (1999)
- Sadao Kondo (1999)
- Tetsuya Yoneda (2000)
- Rikuo Nemoto (2001)
- Masaaki Koyama (2001)
- Kazuhiro Yamauchi (2002)
- Keishi Suzuki (2002)
- Yutaka Fukumoto (2002)
- Kenjiro Tamiya (2002)
- Lefty O'Doul (2002)
- Masaoka Shiki (2002)
- Toshiharu Ueda (2003)
- Junzo Sekine (2003)
- Horace Wilson (2003)
- Sakae Suzuka (2003)
- Akira Ogi (2004)
- Noboru Akiyama (2004)
- Choji Murata (2005)
- Masaaki Mori (2005)
- Masayori Shimura (2005)
- Hiromitsu Kadota (2006)
- Morimichi Takagi (2006)
- Hisashi Yamada (2006)
- Yasumitsu Toyoda (2006)
- Hiromori Kawashima (2006)
- Takao Kajimoto (2007)
- Reiichi Matsunaga (2007)
- Koji Yamamoto (2008)
- Tsuneo Horiuchi (2008)
- Tsutomu Wakamatsu (2009)
- Seiichi Shima (2008)
- Osamu Higashio (2010)
- Hiromitsu Ochiai (2011)
- Mutsuo Minagawa (2011)
- Manabu Kitabeppu (2012)
- Tsunemi Tsuda (2012)
- Yutaka Ohno (2013)
- Hideo Nomo (2014)
- Koji Akiyama (2014)
- Kazuhiro Sasaki (2014)
- Atsuya Furuta (2015)
- Kihachi Enomoto (2016)
- Kimiyasu Kudoh (2016)
- Masaki Saito (2016)
- Tsutomu Ito (2017)
- Masaji Hiramatsu (2017)
- Senichi Hoshino (2017)
- Hideki Matsui (2018)
- Tomoaki Kanemoto (2018)
- Kazuyoshi Tatsunami (2019)
- Hiroshi Gondoh (2019)
- Koichi Tabuchi (2020)
- Kazuo Sayama (2021)
- Katsuji Kawashima (2021)
- Shigeyoshi Matsumae (2022)
- Shingo Takatsu (2022)
- Masa Yamamoto (2022)
- Alex Ramírez (2023)
- Randy Bass (2023)
- Yūji Koseki (2023)