Akihito Kaneishi

Akihito Kaneishi (金石 昭人)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 6", Weight 190 lbs.

• High School PL Gakuen High School

• Born December 26, 1960 in Kamo-gun, Gifu, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Akihito Kaneishi pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 16 years. His uncles were NPB pitchers Tomehiro Kaneda and Masaichi Kaneda.

Kaneishi was signed by the Hiroshima Carp in 1978 after going undrafted, and he spent his first five seasons mainly in the NPB Farm Leagues, only pitching 12 games combined with the big club. He joined the rotation in 1985, and he was 6-9 with a 5.04 ERA. Kaneishi broke out in 1986, and he was was selected into the 1986 NPB All-Star Games. He relieved Daisuke Araki in the 4th inning in Game 1, but he gave up a pair of singles to Kazunori Yamamoto and Hiromitsu Ochiai. Kaneishi then retired Greg Wells and struck out Koji Akiyama, but Hiromi Matsunaga tied the game with a 2-run single; he fanned Hiromichi Ishige to end this inning. He then gave up a leadoff single to Fujio Tamura, Yoshiaki Ishimoto bunted then Yamamoto hit a RBI double and the Pacific League got the lead. Ochiai added an insurance run to help the PL get the win, and Kaneishi was the losing pitcher. He then relieved Takashi Nishimoto in the 6th inning of Game 3 and pitched a shutout inning, with a strikeout against Kazuhiro Kiyohara.

The Gifu native ended up 12-6 with a 2.68 ERA in 1986; he ranked 5th in the Central League in wins (6 behind Manabu Kitabeppu) and 2nd in ERA (0.25 behind Kitabeppu). In Game 4 of the 1986 Nippon Series, he pitched 7 1/3 innings with only a run allowed against the Seibu Lions, but he still ended up with a no-decision because Hirohisa Matsunuma also allowed one run, in 6 innings. Kaneishi then blasted a 2-run homer against Osamu Higashio in Game 8 and only allowing a 2-run homer to Koji Akiyama in the first seven innings. However, George Vukovich hit a clutch game-winning RBI double in the 8th inning off him, and the Lions won the Series.

Kaneishi was 5-5 with a 2.54 ERA in 1987, but he suffered from injuries so he only pitched 6 games in 1988. He came back in 1989 with a 7-1 record and a 2.40 ERA, but he then slumped to 4-8 with a 4.93 ERA in 1990. Kaneishi was a swingman in 1991, and he collected 4 wins and 2 saves with a 3.29 ERA in 31 appearances (10 starts). He completed a shutout inning in Game 1 of the 1991 Nippon Series, then pitched 2/3 of an inning in Game 3. Kaneishi then relieved Hiroomi Ishinuki in Game 6, but he gave up hits to Hiromichi Ishige and Tsutomu Itoh then plunked Hiroyuki Mori to load the bases. Kazuhisa Kawaguchi allowed a run-scoring grounder then Makoto Kito gave up a 3-run homer to Akiyama; Kaneishi was the losing pitcher. The Lions beat the Carp in 7 games. Kaneishi was then traded to the Nippon Ham Fighters for Hiroshi Tsuno.

After changing teams, Kaneishi bounced back; he was named the PL starter in 1992 NPB All-Star Game 3. He pitched 3 shutout innings with 2 strikeouts (against Takahiro Ikeyama and Tatsunori Hara) and ended up with a no-decision. He was 14-12 with a 3.77 ERA in 1992, and he ranked 3rd in wins in the PL (4 behind Hideo Nomo). Because Kazutoshi Yamahara was injured, Kaneishi was named the closer in 1993, and he collected 9 wins and 13 saves with a 2.09 ERA in 32 appearances. He ranked 5th in saves (13 behind Motoyuki Akahori) and won the Most Valuable Battery Award with Tamura.

Kaneishi notched 18 saves with a 2.51 ERA in 1994, and ranked 3rd in saves (6 behind Akahori). He improved to 2.02 with 25 saves in 1995, and ranked 2nd in saves (2 behind Masafumi Hirai). When Takeshi Shimazaki shined in 1996, Kaneishi shared the closer spot with him, but he still notched 20 saves with a 2.10 ERA and ranked 3rd in saves (3 behind Toshihide Narimoto). However, he only pitched 6 games in 1997, and the Fighters released him. The Yomiuri Giants picked him up, and Kaneishi had a 5.68 ERA in 13 appearances in 1998, then he announced his retirement.

Overall, Kaneishi was 72-61 with a 3.38 ERA, collected 80 saves, struck out 610 and pitched 1,091 innings in 16 years in NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio
• 1992 NPB All-Star Game