Shinichi Yamauchi

Shinichi Yamauchi (山内 新一)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.

• High School Nima High School

• Born December 3, 1947 in Oda, Shimane Japan

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Biographical Information

Shinichi Yamauchi was a six-time All-Star in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Yamauchi lost his father when he was just three months old. After high school, Shinichi played for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Mihara in the industrial leagues. The Yomiuri Giants took him in the second round of the 1967 NPB draft. As a rookie in 1969, he gave up 28 hits in 17 1/3 innings and was 1-1 with a 6.23 ERA. He won 14 games in the minor Eastern League that year, a record (since broken).

The right-hander picked up a notch in 1970 and was 8-4 with a 1.78 ERA and 0.97 WHIP as part of the Giants' bullpen. He helped Yomiuri win the fifth of its record nine straight Japan Series titles, tossing four shutout innings in the 1970 Japan Series (1 H, 2 BB, 5 K) and winning game three against the Lotte Orions. Shinichi fell to 5-5, 3.01 in 1971. In the 1971 Japan Series, he only made one appearance against the Hankyu Braves, giving up a run in his only inning. He ended his Yomiuri career with a deplorable 1972 (0-1, .388 opponent average, 9.17 ERA, 10 BB in 17 2/3 IP) while battling an elbow injury.

Moving to the Nankai Hawks (in a deal with Akio Matsubara for Masaru Tomita), Yamauchi became a starting pitcher in 1973 and was 20-8 with a 3.30 ERA. He allowed three runs in ten innings in the 1973 Japan Series and got no decisions as Nankai fell to his old Yomiuri mates. Yamauchi made the Pacific League All-Star team and was one win behind leader Fumio Narita.

Shinichi was 10-6 with a 3.67 ERA in 1974 and was again an All-Star. He made his third straight PL All-Star team in 1975 and finished the year 10-12 with a 2.54 ERA. He was 5th in the league in ERA, behind Choji Murata, Keishi Suzuki, Osamu Higashio and Michio Sato. Yamauchi tied Higashio, Hiroaki Fukushi and Takashi Yamaguchi for the PL lead with four shutouts. He completed 16 of 29 starts.

The Hawks hurler had a 20-13, 2.27 record in 1976, probably his best season. He made his fourth All-Star team and finished fourth in ERA behind Murata, Manabu Fujita and Sato. He began to decline after that, going 11-12 with a 3.20 ERA in 1977 and 3-16 with a 4.91 ERA and .311 opponent average in 1978, leading the PL in losses.

He was an All-Star for the fifth time in 1979, which he concluded with a 12-7, 4.14 record. He made his last All-Star team during 1980 and went 9-16 with a 3.79 ERA. He led the PL in losses but still was 6th in ERA, between Kazumi Takahashi and Higashio. Yamauchi had a winning record (14-10) in 1981 but his ERA rose to 4.45 and opponents hit .302 against him. He led the PL in both hits allowed (260) and earned runs allowed (108). He had a 10-12, 4.49 record in 1982 while leading his circuit in hits allowed (229), runs allowed (116) and earned runs (104). He bombed at 2-9, 8.55 with a .374 opponent average in 1983.

Moving to the Hanshin Tigers, the old-timer was 7-9 with a 4.74 ERA and .315 opponent average in 1984. From 1973-1984, he started a NPB-record 311 straight games without pitching in relief. In 1985, he gave up 9 runs in 9 2/3 IP and was 1-1 to end his career. He later ran a golf plaza.

Yamauchi was 143-142 with a 3.74 ERA in 431 games in NPB. Through 2010, he was 24th in NPB history in runs allowed (1,188, between Masumi Kuwata and Katsuji Sakai) and 25th in earned runs allowed (1,021, between Sakai and Mitsuhiro Adachi).

Source: Japanbaseballdaily