Noriaki Okabe

Noriaki Okabe (岡部 憲章)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lbs.

• High School Tokai University Sagami High School

• Born April 11, 1958 in Musashimurayama, Tokyo, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Noriaki Okabe pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 12 years and won an ERA title.

Okabe was signed by the Nippon-Ham Fighters in 1976, but he only pitched 15 games combined with the big club in his first three seasons. He joined the bullpen of the Fighters in 1980, but his ERA was terrible at 5.52 in 25 appearances. The young righty broke out in 1981, as he had a 13-2 record and won his only Pacific League ERA title with a 2.70 ERA (.23 ahead of runner-up Mitsuo Inaba). In the 1981 Nippon Series, Okabe started in Game 3 but he only pitched 3 innings with 2 runs allowed; Mikio Kudo got the win. He then relieved Kubo in Game 6 and pitched 4 innings with only one run allowed, but the Yomiuri Giants still won the title with Suguru Egawa's shutout. Okabe had 19 MVP vote points to finish 9th in the PL MVP Voting.

The Tokyo native never had another successful season like 1981 in the rest of his career. His ERA rose to 4.46 in 1982, and he only had a OK 3.75 ERA in 18 starts in 1983. Okabe slumped to 1-4 with a 6.11 ERA in 1984, so he was removed from the rotation in the middle of this season. He had a 4.87 ERA in 25 appearances in 1985, and he bounced back a little as his ERA was 2.94 in 34 relief outings in 1986. However, he struggled again in 1987 as his ERA rose to 4.65, and the Fighters traded him to the Hanshin Tigers for Masashi Fujiwara after this season. Okabe recorded a 4.08 ERA in 44 games in 1988, but he only pitched 6 games in 1989 and he announced his retirement after this season. After retiring, Okabe became a coach for the Nihon Wellness Sports University.

Overall, Okabe was 32-29 with a 4.25 ERA, struck out 453 and pitched 713 2/3 innings in 12 years in the NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio