Hisatoshi Ito

Hisatoshi Ito (伊藤 久敏)

• Bats Right, Throws Left
• Height 5' 9", Weight 151 lbs.

• School Komazawa University
• High School Kurume Commercial High School

• Born June 19, 1944 in Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Hisatoshi Ito pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 9 years.

Ito competed for Japan in the 1964 Olympics baseball exhibition. He was drafted by the Chunichi Dragons in the second round of the 1966 NPB draft, and he joined their bullpen as a rookie. He had a 3.60 ERA in 28 games in 1967, but his ERA rose to 4.76 in 22 appearances in 1968. Ito entered the rotation in 1969, and he was 3-9 with a 2.25 ERA. He ranked 5th in ERA in the Central League, between Kazumi Takahashi and Ritsuo Yamashita.

He was 4-8 with a 3.85 ERA in 1970, then he had his career year in 1971. Ito had a 12-8 record with a 2.41 ERA, ranking 9th in ERA (between Yutaka Enatsu and Hiromu Matsuoka), 8th in strikeouts (between Hidetake Watanabe and Yoshiro Sotokoba), 7th in innings (between Yataro Oishi and Watanabe) and 7th in wins (tied with Kenji Furusawa). He was also selected into the 1971 NPB All-Star Game, and he pitched 2 1/3 shutout innings in Game 2. Ito was 5-4 with a 4.63 ERA in 1972, then he had a 3.43 ERA in 29 games in 1973. However, he only pitched 9 games in 1974 due to injuries, and the Dragons released him. The Taiheiyo Club Lions picked him up, but Ito only pitched 8 games with a 7.36 ERA for them in 1975, and he announced his retirement.

Overall, Ito was 26-31 with a 3.32 ERA, struck out 407 and pitched 732 innings in 9 years in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio
• 1971 NPB All-Star Game
• Article on the 1964 Japanese Olympic team at the Japanese Baseball Card Blog