Seiji Shibutani

Seiji Shibutani (渋谷 誠司)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lbs.

• High School Hirosaki Vocational High School

• Born April 24, 1939 in Hirosaki, Aomori, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Seiji Shibutani pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 8 years.

Shibutani was signed by the Kokutetsu Swallows in 1962, and he joined their rotation as a rookie. He was 6-8 with a 3.05 ERA in his rookie year, then he improved to 14-17 with a 3.13 ERA in 1963. He led the Central League in starts and walks, ranking 9th in wins (tied with Masaaki Koyama and Akira Takahashi), 2nd in losses (tied with Masaichi Kaneda, Makoto Inagawa and Takashi Suzuki) and 3rd in strikeouts (between Inagawa and Yoshiaki Ito). He slumped to 6-13 with a 5.05 ERA in 1964, ranking 6th in appearances (tied with Kunio Jonouchi), 7th in losses (tied with Susumu Sato and Inagawa) and 10th in strikeouts (between Jonouchi and Shiro Hanzawa).

The Aomori native bounced back in 1965, and he was selected into the 1965 NPB All-Star Game; he pitched a shutout inning in both Games 1 and 2. Shibutani ended up 8-22 with a 3.51 ERA in 1965, and he led the league in losses, walks, runs and hits allowed. He was 4th in appearances (tied with Shiroku Ishido), 3rd in innings (between Shigeyuki Takahashi and Jonouchi) and 5th in strikeouts (between Hidetoshi Ikeda and Sohachi Aniya). He was 4-17 with a 3.24 ERA in 1966, and he was 3rd in losses (2 behind Susumu Oba and Sato). However, Shibutani's ERA rose to 11.25 in 1967, so he only pitched 15 games. He came back with a 3.33 ERA in 26 appearances in 1968, but his ERA rose to 5.14 in 1969. Shibutani announced his retirement after the 1969 season.

Overall, Shibutani was 40-85 with a 3.71 ERA, struck out 634 and pitched 1,049 innings in 8 years in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• Bio
• 1965 NPB All-Star Game