Takao Fujimura

Takao Fujimura (藤村 隆男)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 140 lbs.

• High School Goko High School

• Born October 5, 1920 in Kure, Hiroshima Japan
• Died December 25, 1993

BR register page

Biographical Information

Takao Fujimura pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 14 years. His brother was legendary NPB outfielder Fumio Fujimura.

Fujimura was signed by the Hanshin Tigers in 1940, and he was 7-3 with a 1.10 ERA in his rookie year. He improved to 12-10 with a 1.65 ERA in 1941, then he had a 2.03 ERA with a 3-5 record in 1942. Fujimura was enlisted to the military in 1942, and he missed three seasons. He returned to the league in 1946, and he joined the Taiyo Robins. However, he suffered from a shoulder injury, so he only pitched 8 games for Taiyo then he left the team in 1947.

After pitching with amateur teams in 1948, Fujimura joined the Tigers again in 1949. He was 16-13 with a 4.05 ERA in 1949, leading the Japanese Professional Baseball League in earned runs, ranking 8th in wins (tied with Hiroshi Katayama and Giichiro Shiraki) and 6th in strikeouts (120, between Hiroshi Nakahara and Hiroshi Nakao). He then went 11-8 with a 3.94 ERA in 1950, and he broke out in 1951. Fujimura was 16-16 with a 2.63 ERA, ranking 4th in the Central League (the JPBL had split into two leagues in 1950) in ERA (between Takehiko Bessho and Nobuo Oshima), 2nd in losses (5 behind Masaichi Kaneda), 7th in wins (tied with Naoaki Hayashi), 3rd in complete games (18, 7 behind Kaneda and Bessho) and 4th in appearances (between Tsuneo Kobayashi and Bessho). He was also selected into the 1951 NPB All-Star Games. and he allowed a solo home run to Tokuji Iida in 3 innings as the starter of Game 3.

Fujimura had his career year in 1952, and he was selected into the 1952 NPB All-Star Games. He pitched three shutout innings in Game 1, and he also fanned two batters (Kazuo Kageyama and Hiroshi Ohshita). Fujimura ended up 25-6 with a 2.63 ERA, and he led the league in winning percentage. He was 3rd in wins (between Shigeru Sugishita and Kaneda), 7th in ERA (between Fujimoto and Oshima) and 7th in strikeouts (between Takumi Otomo and Hiroyoshi Takano). He then attended the 1953 NPB All-Star Games, and he pitched 3 shutout innings as the starter of Game 2. Fujimura then relieved Fujimoto in the 9th inning of Game 3, and he struck out Kageyama to end that inning. He was 21-11 with a 2.74 ERA in 1953, ranking 4th in wins (between Ryohei Hasegawa and Sugishita) and 7th in strikeouts (between Katsuhiko Ishikawa and Yoshio Bizen.

The Kure native was 11-12 with a 2.06 ERA in 1954, and he would ranked 5th in ERA had he qualified (between Hasegawa and Ishikawa). Fujimura then had a 8-3 record with a 1.99 ERA in 1955, and he was 3-7 with a 1.93 ERA in 1956. He jumped to the Hiroshima Carp in 1957, but he only pitched 15 games for them with a 2.83 ERA, then he announced his retirement. He then coached the Carp from 1958 to 1966 and the Kintetsu Buffaloes from 1967 to 1968. Fujimura returned to the Tigers in 1969 as the manager of their minor league team, and he managed them in 1975 and from 1979 to 1980. He also scouted for them from 1971 to 1972 and coached them from 1972 to 1974 and from 1976 to 1978.

Overall, Fujimura was 135-97 with a 2.65 ERA, struck out 748 and pitched 2,104 innings in 14 years in NPB. As of 2023, he was 56th in complete games (109, tied with Kazuhiko Endo and Rentaro Imanishi), 44th in shutouts (26, tied with Yoshio Tenbo, Katsuji Sakai and Kazumi Takahashi), 62th in wins (tied with Suguru Egawa and Tetsuya Utsumi) and 78th in innings (between Bizen and Toshiya Sugiuchi).

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio
• 1953 NPB All-Star Game