Hiroki Komatsubara

Hiroki Komatsubara (小松原 博喜)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 143 lbs.

• High School Yokohama Shogyo High School

• Born May 24, 1924 in Yokohama, Kanagawa Japan
• Died April 23, 1965

BR register page

Biographical Information

Hiroki Komatsubara played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 13 years.

Komatsubara was signed by the Yamato club in 1943, and he set the NPB record by giving up 14 walks in a game in his debut. He held that record until Hideo Nomo broke it in 1996. Komatsubara was a two-way player in his early career, and he was 0-3 with a 8.36 ERA while hitting .201/.293/.258 in his rookie year. His ERA lowered to 2.00 in 8 2/3 innings in 1944, and he hit .188/.296/.224 in 82 games at the plate. Komatsubara returned to the league after World War II, and he joined the Yomiuri Giants. He was 6-5 with a 2.85 ERA as a pitcher in 1947, and he also batted .261/.333/.386 with 7 triples. He was 9th in RBI in the JPBL, 15 behind Fumio Fujimura.

The Yokohama native was 4-6 with a 2.27 ERA in 34 appearances in 1948, and he also hit .245/.279/.340 with 3 triples. The 1949 season was his last season as a two-way player, and his ERA rose to 5.50 in 14 relief outings. Komatsubara hit .277/.346/.404 in 1949, and he improved to .256/.333/.348 with 34 steals in 1950. He tied Yoshiyuki Iwamoto, Tetsuharu Kawakami and Yuko Minamimura for 6th in steals. Komatsubara then recorded a .276/.367/.370 batting line in 1951, and he hit .264/.385/.287 in 1952. His batting line fell to .133/.235/.167 in 1953, so he only played 20 games in that season. After hitting .270/.343/.326 in 1954, Komatsubara jumped to the Kokutetsu Swallows. He recorded a .253/.313/.374 batting line in 1955, and he led the Central League with 29 doubles (3 ahead of Yukihiko Machida and Tokuzo Harada). He hit .237/.279/.314 in 1956, but he was 1-for-18 in 1957. Komatsubara announced his retirement after the 1957 season, and he became a coach for the Swallows from 1958 to 1961.

Overall, Komatsubara hit .243/.320/.330 with 631 hits and 30 homers in 13 years in NPB. He was 11-18 with a 3.19 ERA, struck out 94 and pitched 270 2/3 innings as a pitcher.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio