Shigemasa Yamamoto

Shigemasa Yamamoto (山本 重政)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 165 lbs.

• School Ritsumeikan University
• High School Yashiro High School

• Born March 1, 1944 in Kato-gun, Hyogo, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Shigemasa Yamamoto pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 15 years.

Yamamoto was signed by the Kintetsu Buffaloes in 1962, and he was 2-5 with a 2.77 ERA in his rookie year. He led the Pacific League with 35 starts in 1963, but he also had a 9-17 record and a 3.63 ERA. He was 6th in appearances (tied with Kiyohiro Miura) and 4th in losses (tied with Shigeo Ishii, Shoichi Ono and Takao Kajimoto). Yamamoto then went 12-13 with a 3.45 ERA in 1964, and he was 3rd in appearances (63, between Toshiaki Tokuhisa and Ishii). He only pitched 24 games in 1965, and he was 4-5 with a 4.26 ERA.

The Hyogo native was turned into a reliever in 1966, and he had a solid 2.72 ERA in 57 appearances. However, the Buffaloes were a weak team in that year, so he led the league with 19 losses. He also ranked 2nd in appearances, 8 behind Yukio Ozaki. Yamamoto had a 4.57 ERA in 28 games in 1967, and he only pitched 14 games combined in the next two seasons. The Buffaloes then released him after the 1969 season, and the Hanshin Tigers picked him up. He pitched 17 games with a 2.13 ERA in 1970, and he had a solid 2.16 ERA in 39 appearances in 1971.

Yamamoto was a reliable reliever in 1972, and he had a 3.83 ERA in 25 appearances. His ERA was 2.43 in 24 games in 1973, and he pitched 29 games with a 2.25 ERA in 1974. However, his ERA rose to 5.46 in 20 games in 1975, and he announced his retirement in 1976. He was the minor league pitching coach of the Tigers in 1978.

Overall, Yamamoto was 40-67 with a 3.38 ERA, struck out 782 and pitched 1,117 2/3 innings in 15 years in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio