Hideo Shimizu

Hideo Shimizu (清水 秀雄)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 8", Weight 158 lb.

• School Meiji University
• High School Yonago Higashi High School

• Born July 18, 1918 in Matsue, Shimane Japan
• Died March 23, 1964

BR register page

Biographical Information

Hideo Shimizu was a pitcher, first baseman and outfielder in Nippon Pro Baseball in the 1940s and 1950s.

Shimizu debuted with Nankai in 1940, hitting .227/.301/.338 with 10 triples. On the mound, he was 11-23 with a 1.75 ERA and .182 opponent average. He fanned 270 in 308 innings but walked 217. He was 27 strikeouts behind Japanese Professional Baseball League leader Tadashi Kameda and 3 triples shy of pacesetter Kazuo Kito. He missed the top 10 in ERA by .03 in a pitcher-friendly circuit. His 15 strikeouts in a game were a Hawks record until 2008.

He served in the Japanese military during 1941, returning to play briefly in 1942 (4-3, 0.99, .152 opponent average, 40 BB in 63 1/3 IP). He was 2-3 with a 1.97 ERA in 1943; at the plate, he was 9 for 27 with 10 walks. He hit .194/.253/.239 in 1944 and was 8-12 with a 1.90 ERA, .211 opponent average and 97 walks in 189 innings. He tied Shigeru Mori for the JPBL lead in losses but also was 4th in ERA, trailing only Tadashi Wakabayashi, Hideo Fujimoto and Minoru Kasamatsu.

The 1945 season was canceled due to World War II. When the JPBL reopened in 1946, Hideo turned in a 10-3, 3.54 season and hit .272/.347/.364. With the Chunichi Dragons in 1947, the Meiji alumnus won his most games at 23-12, 1.93, working 330 2/3 innings. He batted .236/.333/.285. He was 7th in the league in ERA, between Tadayoshi Kajioka and Takao Misono. He fell to 12-17, 3.20 in 1948 while hitting .219/.250/.311.

The left-hander went 12-9 with a 3.16 ERA in 1949; his batting line was .241/.268/.329. He was 9-5 with a 4.20 ERA in 1950 then sat out the 1951 season. Moving to the Taiyo Whales in 1952, Shimizu struggled at 7-10, 4.86. He finished his career with a 5-3, 3.25 season in 1953, going 8 for 27 with a walk, double and triple. On April 19, he won his 100th career game, the 15th NPB hurler to do so.

Shimizu was 103-100 with a 2.68 ERA in 260 NPB games (226 starts). He allowed a .236 average and had a 1.25 WHIP. As a batter, he hit .230/.292/.311 in 1,268 plate appearances over 433 games.

Source: Japan Baseball Daily