Katsuyuki Furumizo

Katsuyuki Furumizo (古溝 克之)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 193 lbs.

• High School Fukushima Shogyo High School

• Born November 14, 1963 in Fukushima, Fukushima, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Katsuyuki Furumizo pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 15 years.

Furumizo was drafted by the Hankyu Braves in the second round of the 1984 NPB draft. He spent most of his rookie year in the NPB Farm Leagues, only pitching 9 games with the big club. Furumizo struggled in 1986, as he recorded a 6.47 ERA in 23 games. He joined the rotation in 1987 and had a 5-6 record with a 5.05 ERA. The young southpaw improved in 1988, collecting 10 wins with a 4.52 ERA, and he qualified for the ERA title for the only time in his career. However, he suffered from injuries in the next few years, only having 34 appearances combined in the next five seasons and spending them mainly in the ni-gun. The Braves then traded him to the Hanshin Tigers for Nobuhiko Watanabe after the 1993 season.

The Tigers decided to use him as a reliever, and it saved Furumizo's career. He pitched a Central League-leading 61 games with a solid 2.20 ERA in 1994, and also collected 18 saves. He ranked 3rd in the Central League in saves, 1 behind Shingo Takatsu and Hiroshi Ishige. Furumizo was then selected for the 1995 NPB All-Star Games, and relieved Keiichi Yabu in Game 1. He gave up a leadoff single to Satoshi Nakajima, then retired Norihiro Nakamura, struck out Tetsuya Kakiuchi and forced Ichiro Suzuki to fly out. He then succeeded Masato Yoshii in the 9th inning of Game 2 with a 2-run lead against the Pacific League. Furumizo gave up a solo shot to Hiroki Kokubo, but he soon struck out Kiyoshi Hatsushiba and Makoto Sasaki. Tsutomu Itoh drew a walk, and he retired Ichiro again to get the save. The Fukushima native ended up notching 19 saves with a 3.29 ERA in 1995; he ranked 5th in appearances (11 behind Koki Morita) and 3rd in saves (13 behind Kazuhiro Sasaki).

Furumizo lost the closer spot in 1996 and Tateo Kakuri replaced him. He was still a reliable reliever as his ERA was 3.77 in 37 games, but he slumped to a 4.84 ERA in 35 games in 1997. The Tigers added him to the rotation in the middle of this season, but it couldn't help him find his prior level of performance. Furumizo only pitched 14 games with a 2.76 ERA in 1998, and the Tigers released him. The Nippon-Ham Fighters picked him up, but he only pitched 12 games for them and announced his retirement. He then coached for Hakodate University from 2017 to 2018.

Overall, Furumizo was 33-51 with a 4.49 ERA, collected 42 saves, struck out 510 and pitched 766 innings in 15 years in the NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio
• 1983 NPB All-Star Game