Kiyoshi Matsuda

Kiyoshi Matsuda (松田 清)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 7", Weight 145 lbs.

• High School Nakano High School

• Born December 11, 1930 in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
• Died February 18, 2007 in Habikino, Osaka, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kiyoshi Matsuda played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 12 years and won an ERA title.

Matsuda was signed by the Yomiuri Giants in 1949, but he only pitched 3 games combined with the big club in his first two seasons due to shoulder injury. The talented southpaw stunned the whole league in 1951 and he went 23-3 with a 2.01 ERA and won the Central League ERA title. He also won the CL Rookie of the Year, led the league in winning percentage, ranked 2nd in wins (5 behind Shigeru Sugishita) and 7th in strikeouts (140 behind Masaichi Kaneda). Matsuda set the NPB record with a 20-game winning streak, and he would hold it until Masahiro Tanaka broke it in 2013, but it's still the CL record as of 2023. In the 1951 Nippon Series, Matsuda started in Game 3 and he pitched 7 innings with only one run allowed to win over Hiroshi Nakahara and the Nankai Hawks. The Giants beat the Hawks in 5 games, and Matsuda won his only Nippon Series title.

The Tokyo native pitched a shutout inning in 1952 NPB All-Star Game 1, but he slumped to 13-7 with a 3.17 ERA in 1952. The overuse ruined his shoulder, so he only pitched 19 games combined in the next three seasons. The Giants released him in 1955, and the Kokutetsu Swallows picked him up. Matsuda was 2-2 with a 3.75 ERA in 1956, and the Swallows turned him into an outfielder. Matsuda hit .248/.330/.354 in 120 games to secure a starting outfielder spot. His performance was stable in the next three seasons, and he recorded .239/.348/.332, .259/.340/.363 and .264/.311/.341 batting lines respectively. Matsuda only hit .221/.280/.285 in 1961 and he announced his retirement after this season. After retiring, he became the pitching coach for the minor league team of the Nankai Hawks from 1973 to 1975 and for their big club from 1976 to 1977.

Overall, Matsuda was 39-14 with a 2.62 ERA, struck out 198 and pitched 452 1/3 innings, hit .240/.312/.333 with 356 hits in 12 years in the NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio