Taisei Nakamura

Taisei Nakamura (中村 大成)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 165 lb.

• High School Senyo High School

• Born July 18, 1935 in Osaka Prefecture Japan
• Died May 11, 2013

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Biographical Information

Taisei Nakamura pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Nakamura was signed by the Nankai Hawks in 1953. He was 4-2 with a 3.12 ERA in his rookie year. Nakamura started in Game 2 of the 1953 Nippon Series, becoming the first rookie drafted from high school to start in a Nippon Series. He pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowed 5 runs and 3 homers, then got the loss; the 3 homers were a back-to-back-to-back by Wally Yonamine, Shigeru Chiba and Yuko Minamimura in the 7th inning. He also relieved Susumu Yuki in the 9th inning of Game 5, and allowed a solo shot to Takashi Iwamoto. The Osaka native was 6-5 with a 3.38 ERA in 1954.

1955 was Nakamura's career year. He had 23 wins with a 2.13 ERA, and won the Best Nine award. He led the league in winning percentage, ranked 2nd in wins (1 behind Motoji Takuwa), 3rd in ERA (.06 behind Takashi Nakagawa) and 8th in strikeouts. Nakamura pitched all games expect Game 3 in the 1955 Nippon Series, and had an elite 0.72 ERA in 27 1/3 innings but the Hawks fell to the Yomiuri Giants in seven games He declined to 5-5 with a 2.97 ERA in 1956, then recorded a 4.11 ERA in 1957. He only pitched one more game in his career, then announced his retirement after the 1960 season.

Overall, Nakamura was 39-18 with a 2.77 ERA and pitched 594 2/3 innings in six seasons in NPB.