Masaaki Koyama

Masaaki Koyama (小山 正明)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 160 lb.
• High School Takasago High School

• Born July 28, 1934 in Akashi, Hyogo, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Masaaki Koyama pitched 21 years and won more than 300 wins in Nippon Pro Baseball. He is the son-in-law of Saburo Miyatake.

Koyama was signed by the Osaka Tigers as batting-practice pitcher in 1952, but the Tigers soon found that he had an elite command, and changed his status to player. He debuted in 1953 as a reliever, and had a 3.41 ERA in 60 2/3 innings. Koyama joined the rotation and went 11-7 with a 3.04 ERA in 1954. He then served as a swingman in 1954, and had a 2.27 ERA in 27 appearances. Koyama went 17-13 with a 1.67 ERA in 59 appearances in 1955, led the Central League in WHIP with 0.75 and ranked 6th in ERA (.22 behind Shozo Watanabe).

The Hyogo native was still productive in 1957, as he went 15-17 with a 2.38 ERA. He was selected into the 1957 NPB All-Star Game, started in Game 2 but allowed 2 runs in 2 innings. Koyama broke out in 1958, and he collected 24 wins with a 1.69 ERA in 53 starts. He led the league in complete games, ranked 3rd in wins (7 behind Masaichi Kaneda), 4th in ERA (.39 behind Kaneda) and 2nd in strikeouts (59 behind Kaneda). He also pitched in 1958 NPB All-Star Game 1, allowed 2 runs in 3 innings and got the win.

Koyama had another outstanding season in 1959, went 20-16 with a 1.86 ERA. He led the league in starts, innings and shutouts, ranked 3rd in wins (6 behind Motoshi Fujita), 3rd in ERA (.67 behind Minoru Murayama) and 2nd in Ks (17 behind Kaneda). The ace of the Tigers was 25-19 with a 2.36 ERA in the next season, and he led the league with 42 starts again. He was 3rd in wins (4 behind Ritsuo Horimoto), 8th in ERA (.94 behind Masatoshi Gondo) and 2nd in strikeouts (11 behind Kaneda). Although his ERA was still a solid 2.41 in 1961, the batting of the Tigers declined so he collected a league-leading 22 losses.

The star pitcher finally won his first pitching award in 1962 - the Sawamura Award. He was 27-11 with 26 complete games and 13 shutouts, and there's no other Sawamura award winner who has had more shutouts than him. Koyama also surpassed Kaneda and Murayama to win his only strikeout king title with 270, ranked 2nd in wins (3 behind Gondo) and 2nd in ERA (.46 behind Murayama). He and Murayama combined to start 78 of their 130 games, and their manager Sadayoshi Fujimoto even told the reporter that his arrangement for the rotation was "Koyama, Murayama, and pray for rain" (a play off Spain and Sain and pray for rain as well as Gondo, Gondo, rain, Gondo). He also tied the NPB record by pitching a shutout in 5 straight games, and set the team record for 47 consecutive innings without allowing any runs (broken by Kyuji Fujikawa in 2006). However, he lost the CL MVP to ERA title winner Murayama. His 13 shutouts in a season are still the Central League record as of 2023.

The Tigers won the pennant in this year, and Koyama was their starter in the opening game of the 1962 Nippon Series. He allowed 5 runs in 9 2/3 innings and ended up with a no-decision; Murayama relieved him and got the win. His next start was in Game 4, but he allowed 3 runs in 5 innings and lost to Motohiro Ando and the Toei Flyers. He appeared in Game 5, and relieved Midori Ishikawa in 7th inning. Although he was very tired, Koyama still carried the team until Koichi Iwashita blasted a two-run walk-off home run in the 11th inning. In Game 7, the Tigers of course sent their ace Koyama to the mound against the Flyers' Osamu Kubota. He shut out the Flyers for 9 innings, but Kubota did it, too. In the 10th inning, Masayuki Tanemo's sacrifice fly gave the Flyers the lead, and Koyama thought that his work was ended and went to the bathroom. The Tigers unexpectedly tied the game with Eiji Fuji's clutch single, but Fujimoto couldn't find his ace in the next half-inning! Murayama was sent to the mound without warming up, and Akio Saionji blasted a solo shot off him and the Tigers lost the series.

Koyama slumped to 14-14 with a 3.59 ERA in 1963, and the Tigers thought that they need to improve their batting. Thus, Koyama was sent to the Tokyo Orions for another future Hall-of-Famer Kazuhiro Yamauchi after the 1963 season. He was still dominant with the Orions, as he went 30-12 with a 2.47 ERA and led the Pacific League in wins. He ranked 3rd in ERA (.33 behind Yoshiro Tsumashima) and 2nd in Ks (4 behind Yukio Ozaki). Koyama was also selected into the 1964 NPB All-Star Game, but he pitched 2 innings and allowed 3 runs to got the loss. He collected his 200th career win on August 13, and became the 10th player in NPB history to reach this milestone.

The Hyogo native was still productive in 1965, as he went 20-20 with a 2.35 ERA and led the league in starts. He was 3rd in wins (7 behind Ozaki), 3rd in Ks (88 behind Ozaki) and 6th in ERA (.77 behind Kiyohiro Miura). Koyama recorded his 7th 20-win season in 1966, and also led the league in complete games with 23. He was 4th in wins (4 behind Tetsuya Yoneda), 2nd in ERA (.28 behind Kazuhisa Inao) and 2nd in strikeouts (30 behind Tsutomu Tanaka). He slumped to 13-11 with a 3.24 ERA in 1967, and only went 4-4 with a 3.31 ERA in 1968.

Koyama bounced back in 1969, and he collected 11 wins with a 2.96 ERA. He improved to 16-11 with a 2.30 ERA in 1970, and became the only player to win more than 100 games in both leagues in NPB history. In the 1970 Nippon Series, Koyama pitched 3 2/3 innings with one run allowed in Game 2, then allowed 2 runs in 3 innings and lost to Shinichi Yamauchi and the Yomiuri Giants in Game 3. He pitched 6 innings in Game 5 with only two earned runs, but Masaaki Kitaru allowed two runs in the 7th inning and the Giants beat the Orions.

The veteran still had a solid season in 1971, as he collected 17 wins with a 3.24 ERA. He got his 300th career win on July 3, becoming the 4th and the last pitcher in NPB history to win 300 games. He only posted a 9-6 record and his ERA rose to 4.08 in 1972, then the Orions traded him to the Taiyo Whales for Hiroshi Kito and Taiichi Yasuda. Koyama was traded as a pitching coach, but he still managed to pitch 15 games with a solid 2.54 ERA. He announced his retirement as a player after the 1972 season, and returned to the Tigers. He was their pitching coach from 1974 to 1975, from 1982 to 1983 and in 1998. He also worked for the Seibu Lions as the same position from 1990 to 1991, and for the Daiei Hawks from 1993 to 1994. Koyama was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001.

Overall, Koyama was 320-232 with a 2.45 ERA, struck out 3,159 and pitched 4,899 innings in 21 years in NPB. Through 2023, he ranks 3rd in wins (80 behind Kaneda), 5th in complete games (75 behind Kaneda), 3rd in shutouts (9 behind Victor Starffin), 5th in games pitched (146 behind Iwase Hitoki), 3rd in innings pitched (627 2/3 behind Kaneda), 3rd in strikeouts (1,331 behind Kaneda), 4th in hits allowed (493 behind Tetsuya Yoneda) and 14th in ERA (.55 behind Hideo Fujimoto).

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB bio