Kojiro Ikegaya

Kojiro Ikegaya (池谷 公二郎)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 171 lb.

• High School Shizuoka Shogyo High School

• Born June 28, 1952 in Shizuoka, Shizuoka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kojiro Ikegaya pitched for twelve seasons for the Hiroshima Carp and won one Sawamura Award.

Ikegaya starred for the Japanese national team when they won the first Intercontinental Cup in 1973; his 0.00 ERA led the event. He had also been on the team in the 1972 Amateur World Series and when they won the 1973 Asian Championship. The Carp took Kojiro in the first round of the 1972 NPB draft. He was 2-4 with a 5.09 ERA as a rookie in 1974. He improved to 18-11 with a save and a 3.32 ERA in 1975 and made the Central League All-Star team. He led the CL with 242 hits allowed. He was 0-1 with a 7.50 ERA in the 1975 Japan Series, relieving twice and starting and losing game six (the finale) to the Hankyu Braves.

The right-hander made his second and last All-Star team in a very busy 1976, going 20-15 with 3 saves and a 3.25 ERA in 51 appearances (36 starts). He led the CL in innings (290 1/3), wins, batters faced (1,202), complete games (18), shutouts (3, tied with Hiromu Matsuoka, Hisao Niura (who went to the same high school as Ikegaya) and Senichi Hoshino), hits allowed (271) and strikeouts (207). He was also 4th in ERA, trailing Takamasa Suzuki, Shigeru Kobayashi and Niura. He was named to the Best Nine as the CL's top pitcher and won the Sawamura Award as the top pitcher in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Ikegaya fell fast, to 11-16 with five saves and a 5.22 ERA in 1977. He set the NPB record with 48 home runs allowed and also led in runs allowed (140), earned runs allowed (131) and strikeouts (176). He was better (13-7, Sv, 4.23) in 1978 then had a 12-8, 4.88 record in 1979, leading the league in homers allowed (38) and earned runs allowed (93). He started games three and six of the 1979 Japan Series against the Kintetsu Buffaloes, winning the first and losing the second and posting a 4.00 ERA overall; Hiroshima took the title in seven, their first Japan Series title in 40 years of play.

He improved to 8-6, 3.30 in 1980. He gave up 11 runs in 6 2/3 innings in the 1980 Japan Series, losing both game 2 and game 5, but Hiroshima again beat Kintetsu in seven. He had a 10-7, 4.61 record in 1981 and became the 63rd NPB hurler to 1,000 strikeouts on October 12.

Ikegaya slumped back to 1-6, 5.04 in 1982 and was 6-2 with a 4.18 ERA in 1983, when he became the 84th NPB hurler to win 100 games. He was 1-2 with 5 runs in 5 2/3 IP in 1984 and gave up 8 runs in 13 innings in 1985, his last season.

Kojira was 103-84 with 10 saves and a 4.13 ERA overall in 325 NPB games. He later coached for Hiroshima and the Yomiuri Giants and was a commentator for Hiroshima TV.

Source: Japanbaseballdaily