Masaru Ishikawa

Masaru Ishikawa (石川 賢)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 165 lbs.

• School Nihon University
• High School Hikawa High School

• Born May 21, 1960 in Yamanashi, Yamanashi, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Masaru Ishikawa pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 10 years.

Ishikawa was selected by the Lotte Orions in the first round of the 1982 NPB draft, and he entered the rotation as a rookie. He was 2-6 with a 4.50 ERA in his rookie year, and he had his career year the next season. Ishikawa was 15-4 with a 3.79 ERA in 1984, leading the Pacific League in winning percentage, and he was 5th in wins (6 behind Yutaro Imai). Ishikawa relieved Yasujiro Suzuki in the 7th inning of 1984 NPB All-Star Game 3, and he retired Tsutomu Wakamatsu, Sachio Kinugasa and Yasushi Tao while only using 9 pitches; Shoji Kawahara succeeded him. He won two votes in the 1984 PL MVP Voting, and he ranked 13th.

However, Ishikawa suffered from a right shoulder injury, so he was 2-7 with a 7.45 ERA in 1985, and he only pitched 15 games combined in the next two seasons. The Orions then traded him to the Taiyo Whales for Tsuneo Horii and Akiharu Koyama after the 1987 season. Ishikawa bounced back as a reliever, having a 2.74 ERA in 44 games in 1988. He tied Tadashi Kashima and Noriaki Okabe for 8th in the Central League in games pitched.

Due to a right elbow injury, Ishikawa's ERA rose to 5.52 in 1989, and he only pitched 8 games in 1990 before missing the 1991 season. The Whales then traded him to the Nippon Ham Fighters for Naoya Shimada. Ishikawa pitched 23 more games for the Fighters, then he announced his retirement after the 1993 season.

Overall, Ishikawa was 22-25 with a 4.91 ERA, struck out 190 and pitched 466 innings in 10 years in NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio
• 1984 NPB All-Star Game