Kazuyoshi Takemura

Kazuyoshi Takemura (竹村 一義)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 162 lbs.

• High School Aki High School

• Born December 19, 1949 in Aki-gun, Kochi, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kazuyoshi Takemura pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 9 years.

Takemura was drafted by the Taiyo Whales in the 7th round of the 1967 NPB draft, and he spent his first two seasons primarily in the NPB Farm Leagues, only playing two games with the big club. He joined the rotation in 1971, and he was 2-5 with a 2.86 ERA. However, Takemura struggled in 1972 as his ERA rose to 7.67 in 15 games, then the Whales traded him to the Hankyu Braves for Fujio Yamaguchi in the middle of the 1973 season. He was 8-3 with a 2.83 ERA after being traded.

The Kochi native was 9-3 with a 4.04 ERA in 1974, and he led the Pacific League in winning percentage. He then improved to 11-6 with a 3.48 ERA in 1975, and he tied Takenori Emoto, Mitsuhiro Adachi, Hiroaki Fukushi, Osamu Nomura and Yoshinori Toda for 8th in wins. Takemura slumped to 0-4 with a 4.50 ERA in 1976, then the Braves traded him with Yoshio Arai to the Hanshin Tigers for Shinji Sasamoto. He only pitched 13 games with a 5.82 ERA for the Tigers in 1977, then he announced his retirement. He started to coach Tokyo Polytechnic University in 2009.

Takemura's repertoire included a fastball (peak 90.9 mph), curveball, slider, shuuto and changeup.

Overall, Takemura was 30-23 with a 3.77 ERA, struck out 290 and pitched 609 innings in 9 years in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio