Hisashi Ogura

Hisashi Ogura (小倉 恒)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 163 lbs.

• High School Kanuma Shoko High School

• Born August 10, 1970 in Kanuma, Tochigi, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Hisashi Ogura pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 16 years.

Ogura was drafted by the Yakult Swallows in the seventh round of the 1992 NPB draft. He spent most of his first 4 seasons in the NPB Farm Leagues, only pitching 23 games with the big club. The Swallows then traded him with Yasutaka Hironaga to the Orix BlueWave for Hisanori Iwasaki and Toshifumi Baba in the middle of the 1997 season. Ogura still didn't have many chances in the first two seasons with Orix, as he only pitched 34 games combined.

The Kanuma native was named the closer of the BlueWave in 1999, and he did well ain the new role. Ogura notched 11 saves with a solid 2.17 ERA, and ranked 5th in saves in the Pacific League (19 behind Brian Warren). He was selected into the 2000 NPB All-Star Games, and relieved Hiroki Yamamura in 4th inning in Game 3. Ogura gave up 3 singles - to Tomohiro Nioka, Atsuya Furuta and Bobby Rose - and allowed a run. Shuji Yoshida succeeded him and he retired the next two batters to end this inning. Ogura ended up collecting 10 saves with a 2.98 ERA in 2000, and ranked 7th in saves (25 behind Rod Pedraza).

Orix decided to moved their closer to the rotation in 2001, and Ogura had his career year. He was selected into the 2001 NPB All-Star Game, and he relieved Soichi Fujita in the 4th inning in Game 3. Ogura allowed a RBI triple to Takuya Kimura, but still completed 1 2/3 innings with 2 strikeouts (against Hideki Matsui and Takeshi Nakamura). In his first season as a full-time starter, he was 10-7 with a 3.62 ERA; he ranked 4th in ERA (.36 behind Nate Minchey), 10th in wins (5 behind Daisuke Matsuzaka) and 2nd in shutouts (3, 1 behind Hayato Nakamura). He also led the league in WHIP and home runs allowed. Ogura was the last 10-win pitcher for the Orix Bluewave before they merged with the Kintetsu Buffaloes following the 2004 season. He suffered from injuries in 2002, so he was only 7-4 with a 3.50 ERA in 17 games.

Ogura was used as a swingman in 2003, and he collected 7 saves and 4 wins with a 2.52 ERA. He struggled in 2004 as his ERA was 5.83 in 34 games, then he was assigned to the newly-founded Rakuten Golden Eagles. Ogura still struggled in 2005, but he bounced back and became a solid reliever again in 2006. The veteran recorded a 2.18 ERA in 58 games, and notched 15 holds. He ranked 7th in appearances, 17 behind Hisashi Takeda. However, the 2006 season was his last productive season, and Ogura had a 5.76 ERA in 39 games in 2007. He only played 8 games in 2008, then announced his retirement.

Overall, Ogura was 50-48 with a 3.93 ERA, collected 32 saves and 29 holds, struck out 656 and pitched 881 1/3 innings in 15 years in the NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio
• 2000 NPB All-Star Game

[[Category:Nippon Pro Baseball Players]