Kazunori Nishimura

Kazunori Nishimura (西村 一孔)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 171 lbs.

• High School Tsuru High School

• Born October 11, 1935 in Kitatsuru-gun, Yamanashi, Japan
• Died March 1, 1999

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kazunori Nishimura played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 4 years and once collected more than 300 strikeouts in a season. His brother is NPB infielder Koichi Nishimura.

Nishimura was signed by the Osaka Tigers in 1955, and he soon became one of the most dominant pitchers in the Central League. He and Masaichi Kaneda became the first pitchers to strike out more than 300 in a season, and Nishimura did it as a rookie! Only Hiroshi Gondo also had more than 300 Ks as a rookie in NPB history. Nishimura ended up 22-17 with a 2.01 ERA, ranking 6th in wins (8 behind Ryohei Hasegawa and Takumi Otomo), 2nd in strikeouts (48 behind Kaneda), 2nd in appearances (2 behind Kaneda) and 10th in ERA (.38 behind Takehiko Bessho). He started in both of the 1955 NPB All-Star Games, pitched 3 inning with a run allowed and got the loss to Yasuo Yonekawa and the Pacific League in Game 1, then he only pitched 1/3 of a inning with 3 runs allowed in Game 2. He also won the CL Rookie of the Year Award.

However, just like Gondo, Nishimura's career was shortened due to overuse. He went 7-3 with a 1.38 ERA in 1956, then injured his shoulder in 1957. Nishimura only pitched 17 more games in the next two seasons, then announced his retirement after the 1960 season. He was the pitching coach for the Tigers' minor league team in 1961.

Overall, Nishimura was 31-20 with a 1.95 ERA, struck out 419 and pitched 443 1/3 innings in 4 years in the NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio