Kimiyasu Murakami

Kimiyasu Murakami (村上 公康)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 165 lb.

• School Rikkyo University
• High School Saijo High School

• Born February 24, 1945 in Saijo, Ehime Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kimiyasu Murakami has caught in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Murakami was drafted by the Nishitetsu Lions in the first round of the 1966 NPB draft He debuted on May 14, 1967, and collected his first NPB career hit from Hiroyuki Osada that day. Kato mainly played backup to Katsutoshi Miyadera in in the first two years of his career, playing 43 and 72 games respectively in those seasons. He replaced Miyadera in 1969, and batted .239/.272/.391 with a career-high 14 homers. He was selected into the 1969 NPB All-Star Game, but recorded a 0-for-1 in that event. The Lions also sent him to the US and he joined the AIL Giants. He was 1-for-6 with the Giants. However, Murakami was involved in the Black Mist Scandal, and was banned by the Lions in May in 1970. Although Murakami was proven innocent in the scandal, the Lions still traded him to the Lotte Orions for Kihachi Enomoto in 1972.

Murakami hit .268/.314/.376 with 4 homers after being traded. The Ehime native replaced Takeo Daigo to become the starting catcher for the Orions in 1973, and recorded a .278/.322/.378 batting line. 1974 was Murakami's career year. He batted .246/.314/.428 with 9 homers, and also won both the Best Nine and NPB Gold Glove awards as a catcher. In 1974 NPB All-Star Game, Murakami started all three games and collected a hit from Keishi Asano in the 5th inning of Game 3. He shined in 1974 Nippon Series, played all 6 games and recorded a 4-for-15. He won his only Nippon Series title with the Orions. Murakami was still productive and batted .240/.271/.364 and .237/.281/.355 respectively as the main staring catcher for the Orions in the next two years. However, his knee injury continuously annoyed him, and Murakami decided to retired after the 1977 season. In the last season of his career, Murakami played 102 games with a .241/.275/.330 batting line.

Overall, Murakami had hit .239/.279/.360 in 11 seasons in NPB.