Kiyohiro Miura

Kiyohiro Miura (三浦 清弘)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.

• High School Beppu Tsurumioka High School

• Born September 2, 1938 in Beppu, Oita Japan
• Died March 27, 2016 in Osaka, Osaka Japan

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Biographical Information

Kiyohiro Miura pitched in 19 seasons in Nippon Pro Baseball. After very limited work in 1957 for the Nankai Hawks, he went 0-1 with a 3.53 ERA in 51 innings in 1958. In '59, Miura was 2-3 with a 2.63 ERA and only 7 walks in 40 2/3 IP. In the 1959 Japan Series, he threw three scoreless innings of relief to help Nankai to its first Series win. His next two years were 0-1, 3.30 and 0-1, 4.62. In 1962, he entered the rotation and went 17-8 with a 2.62 ERA, 8th in the Pacific League. In '63, the 24-year-old right-hander had a 13-12, 2.54 year; his record was surprisingly poor since he was second in the league in ERA behind Yukihiro Kubo and his team finished in second place. In 1964, Miura struggled, going 6-6 with a 4.24 ERA and he allowed four runs in four innings in the 1964 Japan Series.

1965 was Miura's best season. He made his first All-Star team and went 11-3 with a 1.57 ERA. He won the PL ERA title by .31 ahead of Yukio Ozaki. He lost his only decision in the 1965 Japan Series, though, and had a 5.68 ERA in the loss to the Oh-Nagashima Yomiuri Giants dynasty. In '66, Miura went 15-8 with a 2.70 ERA and made his second and last All-Star team. He was 10th in the Pacific League in ERA. His work in the 1966 Japan Series was very good, as he was unscored upon in 5 1/3 IP.

Miura went 6-6, 2.85 in '67 and 7-5 with a 2.79 ERA in 1968. In '69, Kiyohiro had a 12-14, 3.27 line and he followed that with an 8-7, 3.21 campaign. In 1971, the 32-year-old went 13-10 with a 4.21 ERA in his 15th season. That year was marked by a smear to his name, though. Kimihiro Satō had encouraged him to throw games as part of the Black Mist Scandal and Miura was issued a serious warning for not reporting this to NPB officials.

In '72, he completed his Nankai time with a 9-7, 3.15 year. The next season, he moved to the Taiheiyo Club Lions and was 8-5 with a 3.44 ERA. In 1974, the Lions pitcher went 5-6, 3.15. His last year, at age 36, he went 0-1 with a 5.11 ERA.

Miura's career pitching statistics in NPB were 132-104 with a 3.09 ERA in 2,280 innings over 553 games. He struck out 1,052 and walked 697 and had 10 walk-free complete games and 15 shutouts.

After retiring, Kiyohiro worked as a scout and coach and later ran a fugu restaurant.

Source: Japanbaseballdaily.com by Gary Garland