Kiyooki Nakanishi

Kiyooki Nakanishi (中西 清起‎)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 191 lb.

• High School Kochi Shogyo High School

• Born April 26, 1962 in Sukumo, Kochi Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Kiyooki Nakanishi pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball and for the Japanese national team.

Nakanishi represented Japan in the 1981 Intercontinental Cup. The Hanshin Tigers drafted him in the first round of the 1983 NPB draft. Nakanishi pitched 33 games with the big club in his rookie year, but his ERA was terrible at 5.35. He broke out and went 11-3 with 19 saves and a 2.67 ERA in 1985. He led the league in saves and appearances with 63, and also won the Fireman of the Year award. In the 1985 Nippon Series, Nakanishi pitched a shutout inning and notched a save in Game 2. He relieved Osamu Fukuma in Game 5 and collected another shutout inning with 2 strikeouts. The Tigers beat the Seibu Lions in 6 games, and Nakanishi won his only Nippon Series title. He extended his stable performance, notched 5 saves with a 2.94 ERA in 1986, and led the league in appearances for the second consecutive year with 61. The Kochi native was 6-8 with 14 saves in 1987, but his ERA slightly rose to 3.91. He allowed 4 runs in just one inning in 1987 NPB All-Star Game 3 - Dick Davis, Takayuki Murakami and Kazuhiko Ishimine all crushed homers off him. He slumped to 8-9 with a 4.45 ERA and 15 saves in 1988, but still attended the All-Star Game; he pitched a shutout inning in Game 1.

The Tigers decided to turned Nakanishi into a starter in 1989. He was 10-10 with a 4.00 ERA in that year. He was 5-6 with a 4.92 ERA in 1990, but he underwent Tommy John surgery and missed half of the 1990 season. Nakanishi came back in late 1991, but he allowed 47 runs in just 50 innings pitched. He was used as a swingman after the injury, and went 2-5 with a 4.76 ERA in 1992. The veteran started 10 games, collecting 11 saves and 3 wins with a 3.62 ERA in 1993. He was still solid in 1994, had a 3.30 ERA in 46 appearances. However, he struggled in 1995 as his ERA rose to 6.63 in 33 games, and he only pitched 3 games in 1996. Nakanishi announced his retirement after the 1996 season. He was the pitching coach for the Tigers from 2004 to 2009, worked for their ni-gun team from 2010 to 2012 and came back to the big club from 2013 to 2014.

Overall, Nakanishi was 81-90 with 75 saves and a 3.87 ERA and pitched 1,369 2/3 innings in 12 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• 1985 Nippon Series
• Wiki Japan