Hiroshi Takamura

Hiroshi Takamura (髙村 祐)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 176 lbs.

• School Hosei University
• High School Utsunomiya Minami High School

• Born September 2, 1969 in Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Hiroshi Takamura played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 14 years.

Takamura was drafted by the Kintetsu Buffaloes in the first round of the 1991 NPB draft, and he soon joined their rotation. He was 13-9 with a 3.15 ERA in his rookie year, and beat Kenichi Wakatabe to win the Pacific League Rookie of the Year Award. He was 5th in ERA, between Hideo Nomo and Yasumitsu Shibata. He couldn't repeat his solid performance in 1993 as his ERA rose to 4.96, and he bounced back a little in 1994 as he had a 9-10 record with a 4.66 ERA.

The Utsunomiya native had an elite 1.91 ERA in first 10 starts in 1995, but he was then injured and his season ended. Takamura came back and had a 7-8 record with a 3.94 ERA in 1996. He pitched two innings in 1996 NPB All-Star Game 1, allowed a run and struck out 5 to save Kip Gross's win over the Central League. However, his performance declined again as he only had a 8-9 record with a 4.76 ERA in 1997. Takamura collected a league-leading 14 losses with a 4.87 ERA in 1998. He still managed to start in 1998 NPB All-Star Game 1, but he allowed 3 runs and Kenshin Kawakami and the Central League beat him; Hideki Matsui blasted a solo shot in the first inning, then Atsuya Furuta and Yoshinobu Takahashi both collected a RBI single in the second inning.

Takamura had a silly error on July 2, 1999. When Tetsuya Matoyama had a passed ball and allowed a run, Takamura was frustrated and he threw his glove away. The first-base runner Koichi Hori then scored because he couldn't catch the ball. He was 3-6 with a 4.24 ERA in 1999, then had a 3-5 record with a 4.87 ERA in 2000. He still struggled as he was 5-9 with a 4.92 ERA in 2001 and 9-10 with a 4.14 ERA in 2002, and the Kintetsu removed him from the rotation. He was named the closer temporarily when Akinori Otsuka left the team, and he collected 9 saves with a 4.15 ERA. He was 2-2 with a 4.75 ERA in 2004, then Rakuten Golden Eagles picked him in the expansion draft. Takamura allowed 9 runs in 2 innings in expansion in 2005, then he announced his retirement. He was the minor league pitching coach for the Golden Eagles from 2006 to 2014, and he coached their big club in 2015. He then became the pitching coach for the Softbank Hawks since 2016.

Overall, Takamura was 83-102 with a 4.31 ERA, struck out 1,094 and pitched 1,476 2/3 innings in 14 years in the NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio