Akira Kuramochi

Akira Kuramochi (倉持 明)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 158 lbs.

• High School Yokohama Shodai High School

• Born July 20, 1952 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Akira Kuramochi pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 12 years and once led the league in saves.

Kuramochi was drafted by the Lotte Orions in the fourth round of the 1971 NPB draft, but he spent most of the first four years in the NPB Farm Leagues, only pitched 14 games combined with the big club. He joined Lotte's bullpen in 1976, and had a solid 2.63 ERA in 31 relief outings. The Orions then traded him with Kazuo Hasegawa to the Crown Lighter Lions for Shoji Yasuki and In-chun Baek.

The Yokohama native didn't pitch well in the first year with the Lions and he only pitched 8 games, but he bounced back as a starter in 1978. He was 5-4 with a 2.65 ERA in 15 appearances. The Lions then traded him back to the Orions with Masaaki Koga for Hiroyuki Yamazaki and Haruo Narishige. Kuramochi was only 3-6 with a 4.32 ERA in 1979, but he had his career year in 1980. He notched a Pacific League-leading 18 saves with a solid 2.15 ERA, and also attended the 1980 NPB All-Star Game. He pitched 1 2/3 shutout innings in Game 1, then recorded a shutout inning and got the save in Game 2. However, he lost the Fireman of the Year award to Motoyasu Kaneshiro, who had one more save point then him. Kuramochi still collected 11 saves in 1981, but his ERA rose to 4.11. After only pitching 9 games in 1982, Lotte traded him to the Yakult Swallows for Tetsuo Nishii. Kuramochi only pitched 17 games with a 4.73 ERA for the Swallows, and announced his retirement after the 1983 season.

Kuramochi was seen as a pioneer for full-time closers in early NPB, and he was famous for his palmball.

Overall, Kuramochi was 17-21, collected 40 saves with a 3.40 ERA, struck out 251 and pitched 431 innings in 12 years in the NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio