Keizo Kawashima

Keizo Kawashima (川島 慶三)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 154 lb.

• School Kyushu Kokusai University
• High School Sasebo Jitsugyo High School

• Born October 5, 1983 in Sasebo, Nagasaki Japan

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Biographical Information

Keizo Kawashima played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Kawashima won batting titles in the Kyushu Big Six University League as a junior in both the spring and fall seasons, then won the home run crown as a senior to earn MVP honors. He hit .408 overall in college. Pitching rarely, his fastball was timed at 88 mph. The Nippon Ham Fighters chose him in the 3rd round in the 2005 NPB draft.

In 2006, Kawashima battled injuries, only playing 24 games for Nippon Ham and batting .182/.250/.273. He backed up Kensuke Tanaka in second base and played some outfield. His first hit came on April 16 off Toshiya Sugiuchi. He was 4 for 18 with a double and a steal in 10 games in 2007. He went 0 for 1 in the 2007 Japan Series. He was then dealt with Yoshitaka Hashimoto and Takehiko Oshimoto to the Yakult Swallows for Shugo Fujii, Hajime Miki and Yataro Sakamoto.

In 2008, Kawashima won the third base job that had belonged to Yasushi Iihara (who moved to the outfield) and he batted .255/.329/.357 with 20 steals in 21 tries. He finished 7th in the Central League in average. The next year, be became Yakult's main shortstop.