Susumu Oba

Susumu Oba (大羽 進)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 8", Weight 150 lbs.

• High School Nihon University Daiichi High School

• Born September 19, 1940 in Sumida, Tokyo, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Susumu Oba pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 14 years.

Oba was signed by the Hiroshima Carp in 1959, and he spent his first season primarily in the NPB Farm Leagues, only playing 5 games with the big club. He joined the bullpen in 1960, and he had a 2.40 ERA in 28 games. Oba then pitched 52 games with a 3.21 ERA in 1961, and he was 6th in the Central League in appearances (tied with Takao Osaki). His ERA rose to 4.23 in 49 games in 1962, and he struggled in 1963 as he had a 6.23 ERA in 20 games. Oba bounced back in 1964, and he was 4-6 with a 2.65 ERA. He then recorded a 2.51 ERA in 40 games in 1965.

The Tokyo native entered the rotation in 1966, and he was 13-18 with a 3.18 ERA. He led the league in losses and runs, ranking 9th in wins (tied with Hidetake Watanabe and Tatsumi Yamanaka) and 2nd in strikeouts (47 behind Minoru Murayama). He was also selected into the 1966 NPB All-Star Game, and he started in Game 3. Oba pitched 3 shutout innings, only giving up a single to Masahiro Doi and he got the win over Fumio Narita and the Pacific League. He slumped to 5-14 with a 4.43 ERA in 1967, and he ranked 3rd in losses (tied with Chikara Morinaka, Yataro Oishi and Susumu Sato). Oba was 6-7 with a 3.08 ERA in 1968, and he had the same ERA while pitching 32 games in 1969. His ERA was 4.73 in 15 games in 1970, then the Carp traded him to the Toei Flyers after he recorded a 5.19 ERA in 23 games in 1971. Oba only pitched 14 games with a 5.87 ERA in 1972 for the Flyers, then he announced his retirement.

Overall, Oba was 48-79 with a 3.50 ERA, struck out 634 and pitched 1,206 2/3 innings in 14 years in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• Bio
• 1966 NPB All-Star Game