Shigeyuki Takahashi

Shigeyuki Takahashi (高橋 重行)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 191 lb.

• High School Chiba Shogyo High School

• Born May 16, 1945 in Asahi, Chiba Japan
• Died March 1, 2010 in Asahi, Chiba Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Shigeyuki Takahashi was a three-time All-Star in Japan and one of the first Japanese to coach in the US.

Takahashi dropped out of high school; he was signed by the Taiyo Whales after a try-out. He was excellent as a rookie in 1964, going 17-11 with a 2.76 ERA. He did struggle as the starter in 1964 NPB All-Star Game 3 for the Central League. He walked the Pacific League's Sukehiro Moroki then Jack Bloomfield singled. Makoto Inagawa relieved and both runners would score; Takahashi took the loss. He was 5th in the CL in ERA (between Noboru Akiyama and Masaichi Kaneda), tied Kiyoshi Oishi for 7th in wins, was 8th in complete games (12), tied for 4th in shutouts (4), was 10th in IP (214 2/3, between Hidetoshi Ikeda and Yoshiaki Ito), led with 12 hit batsmen (2 ahead of Minoru Kakimoto) and was 5th in K (154, between Minoru Murayama and Oishi) despite throwing "slow, slower and slowest". He was named the CL Rookie of the Year; it would be 47 years before Hirokazu Sawamura was the next CL Rookie of the Year to pitch 200+ innings.

Shigeyuki not only didn't have a sophomore slump - he was even better in 1965. He finished the season at 21-17, 2.40 in 59 games (30 starts). He fanned 173 in 277 1/3 innings, completed 11 games (5 shutouts) and finished another 23 in relief. He was all over the CL leaderboards: tied Kunio Jonouchi for 2nd in wins (four behind Murayama), tied Susumu Sato and Ikeda for 3rd in losses, 9th in ERA (between Kenichi Ryu and Kentaro Ogawa), 3rd in games pitched (behind Yukinori Miyata and Ryu), tied Sato and Gene Bacque for 6th in starts (30), 5th in complete games, 4th in games finished in relief, 4th in shutouts, 2nd in IP (30 1/3 behind Murayama), 3rd in hits allowed (219, after Seiji Shibutani and Murayama), tied Jonouchi for first in hit batsmen (12), 4th in walks (69, between Bacque and Sohachi Aniya) and 2nd in whiffs (32 behind Murayama). Despite only being 20 years old, he would not be as dominant again. He pitched in the 1965 NPB All-Star Games but was far better than in the '64 All-Star Game. In Game 1, he relieved Jonouchi in the 6th with a 4-1 deficit and allowed one hit (a Shoichi Busujima homer) in three innings, fanning two. He was yanked for pinch-hitter Kazuyoshi Yamamoto and Shibutani closed it out). He relieved Murayama with a 1-0 deficit in the 6th inning of Game 3. He retired Yoshinori Hirose, Teruyuki Takakura, Daryl Spencer, Takeo Daigo, Masuho Maeda and Motoaki Horigome in order, then Jim Marshall pinch-hit for him and Miyata took over on the hill.

Takahashi backslid in 1966 to 4-11, 4.39. Despite his innings total dropping from 277 1/3 to 120, his homers allowed went up (from 14 to 17). He rebounded in 1967 (12-9, 2.74). He just missed the top 10 in ERA (#10 Yutaka Enatsu was also at 2.74), tied for 9th in wins, was second in games pitched (56, one behind Ichiro Hiraoka) and was 10th with 117 K (between Yataro Oishi and Kiyotake Suzuki). He had his last season with double-digit wins in 1968, going 12-15 with a 3.70 ERA in 49 games (30 starts). He was 9th in the CL in wins, 2nd in losses (five behind Ogawa), tied Enatsu for 5th in appearances, was 7th in starts (between Bacque and Tsuneo Horiuchi), tied Tsutomu Tanaka for 10th in complete games (8), tied for 5th in shutouts (3), was 6th in IP (226 1/3, between Bacque and Kozo Ishioka), was 2nd in runs allowed (98, one behind Ogawa), led in earned runs allowed (93, 4 more than Shiroku Ishido) and tied Ogawa for 7th in strikeouts (143).

He had a 5-7, 4.33 record in 1969. He did lead the CL with three walk-free outings. He was one of four Whales to play for the San Francisco Giants' Arizona Instructional League team (0-1, 8 R, 6 ER in 8 IP). He was almost entirely a reliever for Taiyo in 1970 (0-1, 2.27 in 21 G) and 1971 (0-1, 3.47).

Takahashi spent all of 1972 in the US, with the Giants' Phoenix Giants affiliate. He was okay in AAA at 1-3, 4.80 with two saves in 37 games. He tied Gary Lavelle for second on the team in games pitched, trailing Elias Sosa. Returning to Taiyo in 1973, he saw his most action in five years, going 9-11 with a 2.70 ERA in 44 games (25 starts). He made the CL's leaderboards for ties (3, 1st), games pitched (tied for 10th with Senichi Hoshino and Yoshiro Sotokoba), starts (25, tied for 9th with Hiromu Matsuoka and Katsuji Sakai), complete games (10, tied for 9th with Sotokoba), shutouts (4, tied for 5th with Takeshi Yasuda and Yukitsura Matsumoto) and strikeouts (129, 9th, between Keishi Asano and Horiuchi).

The veteran slipped to 7-9, 4.97 in 1974. His ERA improved to 3.19 in 1975 but his record fell to 5-12. He tied for 5th in losses but became the 51st NPB player to fan 1,000 batters when he got Hiroyuki Michihara. In 1976, he had a 5-11, 3.82 mark, tying Hisao Niura for 9th in defeats. He was 6-6 with a 4.14 ERA and four saves in 1977. He was 3rd in the CL in games pitched with 56, two behind Kazuyuki Yamamoto and one shy of Takamasa Suzuki. He was the 71st NPB hurler to 100 wins.

He made his first All-Star team in 13 years. In 1978 NPB All-Star Game 1, he replaced Enatsu in the 9th with a 7-3 lead and gave up two runs on three hits, including a Bobby Mitchell homer, to close it out. He was the 37th NPB pitcher to make 500 career appearances. He finished the season 8-5, 3.39 with one save in 35 games for 1978. He went 7-4 with a 4.09 ERA in 1979 and 3-5, 4.47 in 1980 to end his playing career.

On a Taiyo team that never made the Japan Series, he was 121-135 with a 3.41 ERA in 581 games (299 starts, 64 of them complete, with 21 shutouts). Saves only were counted late in his NPB career; he had eight of them during that period. In 2,295 innings, he allowed 2,115 hits and 727 walks and fanned 1,363. He hit .112/.139/.147, going deep twice.

Through 2011, he was among the career NPB leaders in games pitched (43rd), extra-inning starts (8, tied for 98th), shutouts (tied for 65th with Tadayoshi Kajioka, Tadashi Kameda, Daisuke Miura, Masumi Kuwata and Yukio Ozaki), no-walk games (11, tied for 87th), wins (tied for 79th with Osamu Nomura and Tomoo Wako), losses (tied for 49th with Masayuki Dobashi, Takao Obana and Kazuhisa Kawaguchi), ties (15, tied for 47th), balks (10, tied for 16th), innings pitched (56th, between Shinji Sasaoka and Satoru Komiyama), homers allowed (222, 62nd, between Komiyama and Minagawa), hit batsmen (98, 19th), strikeouts (64th, between Suguru Egawa and Daisuke Matsuzaka), hits allowed (58th, between Takanori Yamauchi and Kiyohiro Miura), runs allowed (983, 52nd, between Enatsu and Masatoshi Gondo) and earned runs allowed (870, 44th, between Hajime Kato and Takashi Eda).

He later coached for the Hanshin Tigers and their minor league team, from 1981 to 2001, except for a break to serve as pitching coach of the 1992 Niagara Falls Rapids and 1993-1994 Bristol Tigers, when they had a couple Hanshin players in their system.