Nobuji Oikawa

Nobuji Oikawa (及川 宣士) also listed as Senji Oikawa or Nobushi Oikawa

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 167 lb.

• High School Tohoku High School

• Born June 8, 1944 in Kamaishi, Iwate Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Nobuji Oikawa pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball and the minor leagues.

Oikawa was signed by the Taiyo Whales prior to the 1963 season. After time in the Japanese minors, he debuted with the big team in 1965 and went 9-10 with a 3.16 ERA and .228 opponent average. He was 8th in the Central League in runs allowed (74, between Gene Bacque and Sohachi Aniya) and set a NPB record with 14 wild pitches; the mark stood for 25 years before Choji Murata tossed 17. He had a 3-7, 3.99 record in 1966 and again led the CL in wild pitches (7, two ahead of Eiji Bando and Tsuneo Horiuchi) despite his moderate workload (94 2/3 IP). He was 3-10 with a 4.61 ERA in 1967, tying Keishi Asano for 11th in losses and tying Horiuchi for the wild pitch lead (6).

The right-hander went 2-5 with a 4.20 ERA in 1968 and 2-4 with a 4.36 ERA in 1969. He was 2-2 with a 4.02 ERA in 1970. He then spent 1971 in the US, pitching for the Amarillo Giants (1-0, 4.95 in 9 G) and the Phoenix Giants (13 H, 11 BB, 12 R in 8 IP). He returned to Taiyo in 1972 but saw almost no action that year (2 R, 3 BB, 4 H in 3 IP, 0-1) or 1973 (3 R in 5 IP). He finished his NPB career 21-39 with a 3.95 ERA. In 554 IP, he allowed 533 hits and 230 walks while striking out 345. He pitched 172 games (90 starts) in NPB and threw 33 wild pitches.