Jun Kawabata

Jun Kawabata (川端 順)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 171 lbs.

• School Hosei University
• High School Naruto High School

• Born March 19, 1960 in Itano-gun, Tokushima, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Jun Kawabata played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 9 years.

Kawabata was drafted by the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in the first round of the 1983 NPB draft, but he spent most of the first year in the NPB Farm Leagues, only pitching 15 games with the big club in 1984. Kawabata broke out in 1985; although he was used as a swingman, he still collected 11 wins and 7 saves with a 2.72 ERA. He was 7th in the Central League in wins (6 behind Tatsuo Komatsu), 2nd in ERA (.07 behind Komatsu) and won the CL Rookie of the Year Award. He pitched 1 1/3 innings in 1985 NPB All-Star Game 2, but Hiromitsu Ochiai blasted a solo shot off him in the 8th inning.

The Tokushima native was still a reliable reliever in 1986, when he recorded a 2.41 ERA in 32 appearances. He pitched 2 shutout innings in 1986 Nippon Series Game 1, but allowed 3 runs in 2 innings in Game 3 due to Hiromichi Ishige's home run. He bounced back and pitched 1 1/3 shutout innings in Game 6, but he allowed 2 runs in 1/3 of a inning in Game 7 and the Seibu Lions beat them to rob the Carp of the title. Kawabata was 10-2 with a 2.42 ERA in 57 appearances in 1987, led the league in winning percentage and ranked 2nd in ERA (25 behind Masumi Kuwata).

Kawabata remained solid in the next four seasons, having a 3.46 ERA in 41 games, 2.75 ERA in 30 games, 2.95 ERA in 36 games and 2.36 ERA in 28 games relatively. He pitched a shutout inning in 1991 Nippon Series Game 1, then surprisingly started in Game 6 although he didn't start any games in the regular season. He pitched 3 innings with one run allowed, then allowed an earned run in 1 inning in Game 7. The Lions beat the Carp in that game to again win the Series. Kawabata was still productive as he had a 4.84 ERA in 26 games in 1992, but he decided to retire after this season and became a coach. He was the pitching coach for the minor league team of the Carp from 1993 to 1994 and for their big club from 1995 to 1998. He was also their bullpen coach from 1999 to 2005.

Overall, Kawabata was 46-26, collected 19 saves with a 3.00 ERA, struck out 436 and pitched 692 1/3 innings in 9 years in the NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio