Shunichi Amachi

Shunichi Amachi (天知 俊一)

• School Meiji University
• High School Koyo Gakuin High School, Sakushin Gakuin High School

• Born December 20, 1903 in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Japan
• Died March 12, 1976

BR register page

Biographical Information

Shunichi Amachi managed in Nippon Pro Baseball for 6 years and won a Nippon Series title.

Amachi was an umpire in the Koshien Tournaments and the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League after he graduated from Meiji University. When Seiichi Shima pitched 2 consecutive no-hitters in the 1939 Summer Koshien, Amachi was the umpire for one of the games. The Chunichi Dragons hired him in 1949, but he only led them to a .493 winning percentage. The Dragons bounced back soon and won 2nd place in the Central League in 1950 and won 62 games in 1951 under Amachi's management. He left that position after 3 years and returned in 1954. The Dragons won 86 games this season, and beat the Nishitetsu Lions to win the 1954 Japan Series, the first Nippon Series title in their team history. They would win not another for more than 50 years. Amachi was the first manager to win the Nippon Series title without playing any games as a player, but he still chose to left the team after winning the championship. He became the manager of Chunichi again in 1957, and managed them for two seasons. Shigeru Sugishita then succeeded him. Amachi was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970.

Overall, Amachi was 439-316 with a pennant as a manager in 6 seasons in NPB.

Related Sites

• Stats at japanesebaseball.com
• Wiki Japan