Kazuhiro Yamauchi (02)

Kazuhiro Yamauchi (山内 和宏)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 167 lbs.

• High School Hamana High School

• Born September 1, 1957 in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kazuhiro Yamauchi pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 12 years and once led the league in wins.

Yamauchi was drafted by the Nankai Hawks in the first round of the 1980 NPB draft, and he soon joined the rotation in 1981. He struggled in his rookie year as his ERA was a terrible 6.47, but Yamauchi bounced back soon and had a 11-13 record in 1982. He started 1983 NPB All-Star Game 2, pitched 3 innings with only one run allowed and went home with a no-decision. The talented righty ended up 18-10 with a 3.93 ERA, led the Pacific League in wins, starts and innings, and ranked 4th in strikeouts (33 behind Yukihiko Yamaoki) and 3rd in complete games (7 behind Keishi Suzuki).

The Hamamatsu native started 1984 NPB All-Star Game 3 the next summer, and he pitched 3 shutout innings, with a strikeout of Takehiko Kobayakawa. He ended up 12-11 with a 4.62 ERA in 1984 and he ranked 2nd in strikeouts, 12 behind Yoshinori Sato). He was still a stable starter in the next two seasons, having a 11-11 record with a 4.86 ERA and a 8-15 record with a 4.73 ERA respectively. Yamauchi improved to 10-11 with a 3.22 ERA in 1987, and attended the All-Star Game for the third time and the last time in his career; he pitched one inning and allowed 4 runs in Game 3.

Yamauchi led the league with 15 losses in 1988, and he only went 9-9 with a 4.01 ERA in 1989 due to a blood circulation issue. He only pitched 17 games with a terrible 6.75 ERA in 1990, and the Hawks traded him to the Chunichi Dragons for Tadashi Sugimoto and Satoru Takashima. Yamauchi only played 36 more games for the Dragons in 3 seasons, and he announced his retirement after the 1992 season.

Overall, Yamauchi was 97-111 with a 4.30 ERA, struck out 956 and pitched 1,723 1/3 innings in 12 years in the NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio