Seiichi Shima

Seiichi Shima (嶋 清一)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height Unknown, Weight Unknown
• School Meiji University
• High School Koyo High School
• Born December 15, 1920 in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan
• Died March 29, 1945 off the coast of Indochina

Biographical Information

Seiichi Shima was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008. His legend was cemented in the 1939 National High School Baseball Championship. Pitching for Kaisou High School, Shima shut out all five of the opposing teams for 45 innings. During the tournament, he allowed just eight hits and got 57 strikeouts. He was also his team's clean-up hitter and helped his own cause by going 11 for 20. His most amazing accomplishment was pitching back-to-back no-hitters in the semi-final and final games of the tournament - a feat that would not be duplicated until it would be accomplished by Daisuke Matsuzaka in 1998.

Starting in 1940, Shima pitched for Meiji University. He was drafted into the army during the final year of World War II and never got to play professionally.

Shima died in battle off the coast of Indochina on March 29, 1945.