Kimiya Fujisawa

Kimiya Fujisawa (藤沢 公也)

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

• High School Yawatahama High School

• Born October 29, 1951 in Ikata, Ehime Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kimiya Fujisawa was a Rookie of the Year who imploded thereafter.

Fujisawa played for Nikko Sagazeki in the Japanese industrial leagues after high school. He pitched for the Japanese national team in the 1976 Amateur World Series (Bronze Medal) and the 1977 Intercontinental Cup, when they won the Bronze Medal. He was drafted five times before signing (the Lotte Orions in 1969, the Yakult Atoms in 1971, the Kintetsu Buffaloes in 1973 and Nippon Ham Fighters in 1976), which he did when the Chunichi Dragons took him in the first round of 1978. No other NPB player has been drafted that many times. He was superb in 1979 (13-5, 2.82). He was 4th in the Central League in ERA (after Masaji Hiramatsu, Takashi Nishimoto and Suguru Egawa), tied for 4th in wins (with Hiramatsu and Jun Misawa), was 9th in IP (185 1/3, between Yasujiro Suzuki and Hiromu Matsuoka), was third in walks (69, behind Yoshio Tanaka and Shigeru Kobayashi) and was 10th with 129 strikeouts. He was named the CL's Rookie of the Year and made the All-Star team.

Fujisawa collapsed in 1980 (1-15, 5.25, .294 opponent average), tying Takenori Emoto for second in losses (two behind Akio Saito) and tying for second in wild pitches (5, one behind Kazuyuki Yamamoto). He was somewhat better in 1981 (4-4, 4.95). In 1982, he had a 4-5, 3.49 record for the Dragons. Relieving Yujiro Miyako early in game 2 of the 1982 Japan Series, he was pounded for five hits, three walks and five runs in one inning; Terashi Donoue replaced him. He was 3-4 with a 6.64 ERA in 1983 and 2-2 with a 4.58 ERA in 1984.

Fujisawa finished his career 27-35 with a 4.23 ERA in 163 NPB games (74 starts). He allowed 536 hits and 197 walks in 532 IP, striking out 316.

He later was a golf club executive.

Sources

• Michael Eng's database
• Japan Baseball Daily by Gary Garland