Chikara Morinaka

Chikara Morinaka (森中 千香良)

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 162 lb.

• High School Nara High School of Business and Technology

• Born October 20, 1939 in Nara, Nara Japan
• Died April 14, 2008 in Yamatokoriyama, Nara Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Chikara Morinaka was a two-time Pacific League All-Star.

Morinaka was originally signed by the Nankai Hawks as a batting practice pitcher. His .90 ERA led the minor Western League in 1959, earning him a look. He became a regularly-used hurler for them in 1960, going 5-5 with a 2.36 ERA in 30 games (10 starts). Had he qualified, he would have been 6th in the PL in ERA, between Glenn Mickens and Joe Stanka. He was 11-9 with a 3.02 ERA in 56 games (25 starts) in 1961. He would have been 7th in ERA had he qualified (between Takayuki Hata and Shoichi Ono). He tied Tetsuya Yoneda for 5th in games pitched. He made three appearances in the 1961 Japan Series against the Yomiuri Giants, losing Game 4 to Ritsuo Horimoto; he had a 3.60 ERA and walked five in five innings for the Series.

In 1962, he again pitched 56 games, this time with only 11 starts, and fell to 10-8, 3.73. He tied Tadao Wako for 7th in appearances in the PL. He made his first All-Star squad for the 1963 NPB All-Star Games. He relieved Takao Kajimoto in the 7th inning of Game 2 against the Central League and allowed one run in three innings (2 H, 4 K) as one of their better hurlers that day. He was 17-8 with a 2.61 ERA in 1963 and made PL leaderboards in ERA (5th, between Yozo Ishikawa and Katsuji Sakai) , wins (tied for 5th with Shigeo Ishii and Tsutomu Tanaka), starts (29, tied Stanka and Tanaka for 7th), complete games (13, 3rd, behind Kazuhisa Inao and Masayuki Dobashi), winning percentage (1st) and shutouts (3, tied for 4th with Kiyohiro Miura and Yukio Ozaki).

The right-hander fell to 8-9, 4.00 in 51 games in 1964, though he hit his first career homer. He allowed one run in four innings over three outings in the 1964 Japan Series as the Hawks downed the Hanshin Tigers. He was 6-6 with a 4.15 ERA in 38 games in 1965. He allowed two unearned runs in 3 2/3 IP in the 1965 Japan Series, which Nankai lost to the Giants. He was 5-10 with a 3.63 ERA in 1966. He struggled in Nankai's loss to Yomiuri in the 1966 Japan Series, giving up three hits, a walk and four runs (three earned) in 1/3 of an inning. It was his final Japan Series.

He asked to be released to try his chances with another team and Nankai let him go. Signed by the Taiyo Whales, he bounced back. He became a Giants killer, defeating them seven times to make up for his 1966 Series struggles. In 1967 NPB All-Star Game 3, he relieved Eiji Bando in the 6th with a 4-0 deficit against his old PL mates. He allowed three runs in two innings before Gene Bacque took over. He was 18-14 with a 2.96 ERA in 47 games for the 1967 Whales. He tied Bacque for second in the CL in wins (11 behind Kentaro Ogawa), tied for third in losses, tied Ogawa for 7th in starts (27), was 4th in complete games (14), was 3rd in IP (255, after Ogawa and Bacque) and was second with 182 whiffs (43 shy of Yutaka Enatsu).

At age 28, he slipped to 8-11, 3.40 in 1968 and pretty much duplicated his stats (9-9, 3.40, 2 more strikeouts, 2 fewer walks) in 1969. He struggled (7 R in 11 1/3 IP) in limited action in 1970 and 1971 (1-2, 4.66 in 13 G). Moving to the Toei Flyers in 1972, he again bounced back after switching clubs, going 11-6 with a 3.45 ERA. His nine complete games tied Yoshimasa Takahashi for 9th in the PL and his two shutouts tied him for 6th. He fell to 4-6, 5.60 for the 1973 Flyers and 0-4 with a 8.31 ERA in 1974, when they were the Nippon Ham Fighters. Returning to Taiyo in 1975, he was 1-1 with a save and a 5.61 ERA in 17 games.

His career record was 114-108 with a 3.49 ERA in 517 games (255 starts), striking out 1,292 and walking 560 in 1,947 IP. He hit .131/.154/.162. Through 2023, he was among NPB's top 100 all-time in losses (tied for 88th with Tokinari Nishina), innings (99th, between Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi and Norihiro Mizutani), homers allowed (205, tied for 83rd with Kiyohiro Miura and Hidetake Watanabe), hits allowed (1,843, 91st, between Yukitsura Matsumoto and Tatsuo Komatsu), strikeouts (87th, between Tomehiro Kaneda and Hideki Irabu) and unearned runs allowed (755, 81st, between Yoshio Tenbo and Jiro Noguchi).

After his playing career ended, he was a broadcaster and a coach.