Kazutomo Miyamoto

Kazutomo Miyamoto (宮本 和知)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 10", Weight 170 lb.

• High School Shimonoseki Kogyo High School

• Born February 13, 1964 in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kazutomo Miyamoto spent 13 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants in Nippon Pro Baseball.

He was a soccer player until his high school eliminated that program, which made him decide to try baseball. He played for Kawasaki Seitetsu Mizushima in the industrial leagues after graduating. Miyamoto played for Japan in the 1984 Olympics then was a third-round draft pick of Yomiuri in the 1984 NPB draft. He didn't attend the following press conference as he sustained an ankle injury playing soccer the day before.

Miyamoto had a good debut for the Giants, going 2-2 with 50 strikeouts in 46 innings and a 2.74 ERA in 38 relief outings in 1985. The rookie held opponents to a .209 batting average. Kazutomo fell to 1-3, 4.87 with a .301 opponent average in 1986 and 0-1, 5.65 in just 7 games in 1987. He was on the losing end of the year's lone no-hitter, thrown by Shinichi Kondo.

The southpaw struggled more in 1988 with 5 hits and 4 runs in 2 2/3 innings. He rebounded to go 5-7 with a 2.73 ERA in 1989, whiffing 97 in 102 1/3 innings. He started and lost game three of the 1989 Japan Series but saved game seven in relief of Isao Koda. He had a 5.00 ERA in four appearances in the Series.

Miyamoto went 14-6 with a save and a 3.69 ERA, striking out 166 in 190 1/3 innings in 1990. He did lead the Central League with 8 wild pitches. He was 16 strikeouts behind CL leader Masao Kida. He struggled in the 1990 Japan Series with a 8.44 ERA and a game four loss as Yomiuri was swept by the Seibu Lions. In 1991, the Yamaguchi native went 10-11 with two saves and a 3.37 ERA. He was 10th in the CL in ERA.

The left-hander had a 9-9, 3.21 record with one save and 146 strikeouts in 157 innings in 1992. He moved up one spot to 9th in the circuit in ERA. Miyamoto faded slightly to 5-8, 3.40 in 1993. He led the CL with 7 hit batsmen. Had he qualified, he would have been 7th in ERA.

Kazutomo ran into trouble in 1994, going just 4-7 with a 5.88 ERA and .328 opponent average. He did have a highlight on August 17 when he struck out the side on nine pitches in a game with the Chunichi Dragons; he was the 7th CL hurler ever to turn the feat. Yomiuri took the 1994 Japan Series in seven games over Seibu; Miyamoto made only one appearance, allowing a hit, a walk and two runs in game one without retiring a soul.

Miyamoto's performance returned in 1995 as he was 7-1 with a 3.65 ERA in 18 starts. He had a 5-3, 3.05 record in 1996 while facing problems on the personal front, getting divorced due to different views on child-rearing. He started game four of the 1996 Japan Series and allowed one run in three innings before being relieved by Masao Kida; Yomiuri would get the win, their only one of that series.

Miyamoto's 1997 started off rocky when his vehicle was hit from behind on April 5, causing him to have whiplash. He returned to the diamond to go 4-4 with a 3.92 ERA and his only career shutout.

Miyamoto retired at the end of 1997 with a career record of 66-62 with four saves and a 3.60 ERA in 287 NPB games, striking out 987 in 1,198 innings. He later was a TV baseball commentator.

Source: Japanbaseballdaily.com