Sho Horiuchi

Sho Horiuchi (堀内 庄)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 165 lbs.

• High School Matsusho Gakuen High School

• Born October 5, 1935 in Matsumoto, Nagano Japan
• Died October 27, 2010 in Tokyo Prefecture Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Sho Horiuchi pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 9 years.

Nakatani was signed by the Yomiuri Giants in 1954, and he was 2-2 with a 2.23 ERA in his rookie year. He improved to 14-4 with a 1.76 ERA in 1956, and he led the Central League with his .778 winning percentage. Horiuchi also ranked 2nd in ERA (0.01 behind Shozo Watanabe) and 9th in strikeouts (143, between Mitsuo Osaki and Hiroomi Oyane). In the 1956 Nippon Series, he pitched a shutout inning in Game 2, then he allowed a run in 5 2/3 innings as the starter of Game 3. Horiuchi started in Game 5. and he 2 runs in 4 innings and ended up with a no-decision. He relieved Takehiko Bessho in the first inning of Game 6 and pitched 5 2/3 innings with only a run allowed, but the Nishitetsu Lions still beat the Giants.

The Nagano native went 12-10 with a 1.71 ERA in 1957, and he was 2nd in ERA again (0.08 behind Masaichi Kaneda). He also ranked 7th with 165 strikeouts, between Ryohei Hasegawa and Zenjiro Tadokoro. Horiuchi started in 1957 Nippon Series Game 1, and he pitched 8 shutout innings with 3 strikeouts. He then allowed a run in an inning in Game 3, and he completed 5 shutout innings with 3 strikeouts in Game 4. The Lions beat the Giants again in 5 Games. Horiuchi was still a reliable starter in 1958, and he was 14-13 with a 2.78 ERA. He was 9th in ERA (between Takashi Suzuki and Watanabe), 4th in strikeouts (between Noboru Akiyama and Motoshi Fujita) and 8th in losses (tied with Tatsuyoshi Yasuhara). He fanned 11 while only allowing 3 runs in the 1958 Nippon Series Game 2 to outduel Yukio Shimabara, and he allowed 3 runs in 8 innings in Game 5. Horiuchi was the starter of Game 7, but he surrendered a 3-run home run to Futoshi Nakanishi and got the loss.

Due to injuries, Horiuchi only pitched 16 games with a 1.96 ERA in 1959, and he was 0-2 with a 3.44 ERA in 1960. He bounced back in 1961, and he was 5-2 with a 3.07 ERA in 29 appearances. Horiuchi relieved Minoru Nakamura in the 6th inning of the 1961 Nippon Series Game 1, and he allowed 2 runs in 2 innings. The Giants beat the Nankai Hawks in 6 games, and he finally won his first Nippon Series title. Horiuchi was 6-8 with a 1.68 ERA in 1962, and his ERA was 4.56 in 13 appearances in 1963. He announced his retirement after the 1963 season, and he became a coach. Horiuchi coached the Giants from 1964 to 1965 and for the Yakult Swallows from 1977 to 1982.

Overall, Horiuchi was 62-44 with a 2.17 ERA, struck out 756 and pitched 1,017 2/3 innings in 9 years in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio