Shintaro Yamasaki

Shintaro Yamasaki (山崎 慎太郎)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 165 lbs.

• High School Shingu High School

• Born May 19, 1966 in Shingu, Wakayama, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Shintaro Yamasaki pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 16 years.

Yamasaki was selected by the Kintetsu Buffaloes in the third round of the 1984 NPB draft, but he spent his first three seasons mainly in the NPB Farm Leagues, only pitching 12 games with the big club, all in 1987. He was also sent to the Salt Lake City Trappers in 1986, going 3-5 with a 5.20 ERA. Yamasaki became a reliable starter in 1988, having a 13-7 record with a 3.10 ERA. He ranked 9th in the Pacific League in ERA (.72 behind Hirofumi Kono) and tied for 5th in wins (2 behind Yukihiro Nishizaki, Hiroaki Matsuura and Hisanobu Watanabe). Yamasaki was 9-10 with a 3.76 ERA in 1989, and the Buffaloes won the PL pennant. He outdueled Masumi Kuwata of the Yomiuri Giants in Game 2 of the 1989 Japan Series, as he pitched 5 2/3 innings with 2 runs allowed. Kuwata took revenge soon in Game 6 as Yamasaki allowed 2 runs in 4 2/3 innings, and the Giants beat the Buffaloes in 7 games. He earned a vote in 1989 PL MVP voting and tied for 12th with other 7 players. However, he slumped to 8-10 with a 5.26 ERA in 1990.

The Wakayama native was a swingman in 1991 due to his disappointing performance the prior year, and he recorded a 4.59 ERA in 28 games. Yamasaki was a full-time reliever in 1992, and he had a 3.50 ERA in 29 relief outings. When Keishi Suzuki replaced Akira Ohgi to become his new manager, he moved Yamasaki back to the rotation. He pitched well in 1993, having a 9-5 record with a 3.76 ERA.

Yamasaki attended 1994 NPB All-Star Game 2, and replaced Kento Sugiyama in the 6th inning when the bases were loaded. He allowed a 3-run triple to Glenn Braggs, walked Tsuyoshi Shinjo and retired Tomonori Maeda. However, he then allowed back-to-back singles to Kazuyoshi Tatsunami and Toshikatsu Hikono, and the CL added two more runs. Yamasaki finally forced Kenjiro Nomura to ground into a double play to end this inning. He gave up two singles to Hitoshi Hatayama and Tsutomu Kameyama the next inning, but still managed to prevent any more runs; Motoyuki Akahori relieved him. He ended up 12-10 with a 3.41 ERA in 1994, tied for the league lead in shutouts (3, even with Shigetoshi Hasegawa), ranked 3rd in wins (3 behind Hideki Irabu) and 4th in ERA (0.5 behind Hiroshi Shintani).

After the fine 1994 season, Yamasaki was still a reliable starter in 1995, and he was named the opening day starter. He was 10-12 with a 3.77 ERA, ranked 10th in wins (6 behind Kip Gross) and 7th in strikeouts (119 behind Irabu). However, his pitching declined to 8-13 with a 4.15 ERA in 1996, and he only pitched 8 games with a 7.81 ERA in 1997 due to a left foot injury. He then announced that he would become a free agent after this season, and the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks signed him.

Yamasaki struggled with the Hawks, only pitched 6 games combiningd in 2 seasons with them; he was released after the 1999 season. The Hiroshima Carp picked him up and used him as a reliever. He notched 6 saves with a 5.11 ERA in 25 games in 2000, and that was obviously not good enough to help Yamasaki stay there. The Orix BlueWave then signed him, but Yamasaki recorded a 5.44 ERA in 47 games in 2001. He only pitched 7 games in 2002, and he announced his retirement after reaching 1,500 career innings.

Overall, Yamasaki was 87-92 with a 4.19 ERA, collected 9 saves, struck out 852 and pitched 1,500 innings in 16 years in NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio
• 1994 NPB All-Star Game