Akira Kawahara

Akira Kawahara (河原 明)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 175 lbs.

• High School Oita Shogyo High School

• Born June 10, 1949 in Oita, Oita Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Akira Kawahara pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 8 years.

Kawahara was drafted by the Nishitetsu Lions in the first round of the 1967 NPB draft, and he had a 4.89 ERA in 23 games in his rookie year. He then entered the rotation in 1969, and he was 12-13 with a 3.71 ERA. He ranked 4th in appearances in the Pacific League (between Masaaki Kitaru and Mitsugu Tanaka) and 7th in losses (tied with Keishi Suzuki, Fumio Narita, Naoki Takahashi and Tomehiro Kaneda). The Lions lost many players in the Black Mist Scandal in 1970, so Kawahara needed to eat more innings. He was 13-19 with a 4.17 ERA, and he led the league in losses, walks, hit-by-pitches and runs. Kawahara also ranked 4th in strikeouts (between Narita and Hisashi Yamada), 6th in innings (between Masaaki Koyama and Tetsuya Yoneda) and 4th in appearances (between Yamada and Shoji Miyazaki).

The Oita native slumped to 4-16 with a 5.45 ERA in 1971, and he led the league in losses again (tied with Osamu Higashio). He was 5-12 with a 4.31 ERA in 1972, then he was sent to the Lodi Lions in 1973. Kawahara was 4-4 with a 3.08 ERA for them. He went 5-10 with a 3.61 ERA in 1974 after returning Japan, and the Lions traded him to the Taiyo Whales for Shinichi Eto. Kawahara had a 3.51 ERA in 27 appearances in 1975, but he suffered from injuries and he decided to retire.

Overall, Kawahara was 41-76 with a 4.25 ERA, struck out 597 and pitched 974 1/3 innings in 8 years in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio