Takanori Yamauchi

Takanori Yamauchi (山内 孝徳)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 173 lb.

• High School Chinzei High School

• Born August 5, 1956 in Kami-Amakusa, Kumamoto Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Takanori Yamauchi was a three-time All-Star in Japan. He was unrelated to staffmates Shinichi Yamauchi and Kazuhiro Yamauchi; they wore consecutive numbers 18, 19 and 20 on the uniforms to highlight the Yamauchi trio.

He played for Den Den Kyushu in the industrial leagues after high school, then was taken by the Nankai Hawks in the 3rd round of the 1979 NPB draft. He entered the rotation in 1981, going 7-13 with a 3.49 ERA and only 24 walks in 162 2/3 IP. He tied for second in the Pacific League in losses (two behind Yutaro Imai) but just missed the top 10 in ERA by .03 and tied for 9th with 10 complete games. He set a PL rookie record with five walk-free complete games. He made his first PL All-Star team the next year. In 1982 NPB All-Star Game 1, he relieved Tatsumi Murata in the 8th and closed it out with two hitless, walkless, scoreless innings (he hit one so wasn't perfect) in a 7-2 win over the Central League. In Game 3, he started and allowed four hits and two runs in three innings, trailing Kazuhiko Kudoh 2-1 when Murata relieved but got a no-decision. For the 1982 season, he was 13-12 with a 3.04 ERA and only 25 walks in 216 innings. He led the PL with five walk-free complete games and was also 6th in ERA (between Norihiro Mizutani and Hisashi Yamada), 5th in wins (between Mizutani and Yasuo Kubo), tied Hiroaki Tani for 5th in complete games (14) and 4th in IP (between Yamada and Shinichi Yamauchi).

In 1983 NPB All-Star Game 1, he relieved Shigekazu Mori in the 7th with a 5-1 lead over the CL and allowed two runs in two innings before Yutaka Enatsu came in. He slipped to 10-14, 4.09 in 1983. He was one of the league's busiest hurlers, finishing among the leaders in losses (tied Yutaka Yanagida and Mizutani for the most), complete games (16, tied Kazuhiro Yamauchi and Yukihiko Yamaoki for 3rd), shutouts (2, tied for 4th), innings (242, 2nd, 7 2/3 behind Kazuhiro Yamauchi), hits allowed (264, 1st, 22 ahead of K. Yamauchi), runs allowed (120, tied Mizutani for the most), earned runs allowed (110, the most, one ahead of K. Yamauchi) and homers allowed (30, 3rd, one behind Mizutani and Keishi Suzuki).

The right-hander went 16-11 with a 4.88 ERA in 1984. He tied Suzuki for 3rd in wins, tied Tokunari Nishina for 7th in complete games (13), was 8th in IP (204 1/3), again allowed the most hits (248, 18 more than K. Yamauchi) and was second in homers allowed (32, 2 behind Isamu Kida), runs allowed and earned runs allowed (behind K. Yamauchi). His last All-Star appearance was in 1985 NPB All-Star Game 3. Relieving Choji Murata in the third, he pitched two scoreless innings, working around two walks and a hit while striking out one; Tatsumi Murata took his place in the 5th. In 1985, he was 10-12 with a 4.76 ERA. He led the PL with four walk-free complete games, was 8th in losses, tied Imai for third in complete games (14), was 4th in IP (202 1/3, between Imai and Nishina), gave up the 3rd-most hits (228), was 4th in runs allowed (123), tied Yamada for 4th in earned runs (107) and was 6th in homers allowed (31).

The Kumamoto native had a 11-18, 4.77 record in 1986. He tied Katsuo So and Kimiyasu Kudoh for 8th in the wins, led in losses (three more ahead of K. Yamauchi), tied for 2nd with 13 complete games (2 behind Yamada), was second in IP (211 1/3, 8 1/3 behind Hisanobu Watanabe), allowed the most hits (251, 43 ahead of Yamada), was second with 112 runs allowed (four behind Kazuyoshi Ono), also trailed only Ono in earned runs allowed (109 to 105), gave up the second-most dingers (39, two fewer than Ono) and was 7th in K (117, between Tsugio Kanazawa and Choji Murata).

He went 10-14 with a 4.19 ERA during 1987. He led in losses (two ahead of Nobuyuki Hoshino and Hideyuki Awano), was 9th in IP (195 2/3, between K. Yamauchi and Ono) and allowed the most hits (240, ten ahead of Yamaoki). His record in 1988 was 11-11 with a 4.20 ERA. He was 10th in wins, tied Yukihiro Nishizaki for 8th in losses and tied for 10th with 10 complete games. There was offseason trade talk of him being dealt for Osamu Higashio and then Kiyoshi Nakahata but neither deal went through. In 1989, he was only 3-13 with a 6.71 ERA for the team, now the Daiei Hawks. He tied Yoshinori Sato for second in losses, two behind So.

Moving to the bullpen primarily in 1990, he was 7-7 with 5 saves despite a 6.11 ERA in 39 games. He was 7th in the PL in appearances and tied Tsutomu Sakai for 8th in saves. He allowed 8 runs in 9 2/3 IP in 1991 and was 2-0 with a 6.39 ERA in 1992 to end his career. He was the 104th NPB hurler to 100 career wins.

He had gone 100-125 with five saves and a 4.43 ERA in 319 NPB games (254 starts). In 1,842 1/3 IP, he served up 258 homers but walked only 316. Through 2023, he was 61st in league history in complete games (106), walk-free complete games (28, tied for 18th with Kunio Jonouchi and Tadashi Sugiura), losses (tied for 34th with Kimiyasu Kudoh and Shinichi Yamauchi) and earned runs allowed (40th, between Shinji Sasaoka and Kazuhisa Kawaguchi).

Yamauchi later was an announcer for RKB Mainichi Broadcasting.