Koichi Morita

Koichi Morita (森田 幸一)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 150 lbs.

• School Kinki University
• High School Hokuyo High School

• Born September 21, 1965 in Osaka, Osaka, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Koichi Morita played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 4 years.

Morita was drafted by the Chunichi Dragons in the fifth round of the 1990 NPB draft, and he soon became their closer as a rookie. He notched 17 saves and 10 wins with a 3.03 ERA, and won the CL Rookie of the Year Award. Morita also blasted his first career homer off Norihiro Akimura in his first pro at-bat. He also pitched 2 1/3 innings with 2 strikeouts (against Takahisa Suzuki and Kazuyuki Shirai) in 1991 NPB All-Star Game 2. The Osaka native was still reliable in 1992 as he went 6-5 with 4 saves in 41 appearances with a 4.05 ERA. However, he suffered a severe right elbow injury, and he only pitched 22 games with a 4.76 ERA in 1993. Morita was unable to recover from that injury, and he announced his retirement after spending the entire 1995 season in the NPB Farm Leagues.

Overall, Morita was 18-13, collected 24 saves with a 3.87 ERA, struck out 157 and pitched 216 1/3 innings in 4 years in the NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio