Takashi Suzuki (02)

Takashi Suzuki (鈴木 隆)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 9", Weight 140 lb.

• School Chuo University
• High School Tamura High School

• Born September 22, 1933 in Miharu, Fukushima Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Takashi Suzuki was a three-time All-Star pitcher in Nippon Pro Baseball.

His team finished second in the 1953 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series. He then pitched for Kawasaki Tokico in the Japanese industrial leagues. He was MVP of the 1957 Global World Series as Japan won the title.

While he drew lots of interest from NPB clubs upon his return to Japan, he opted to sign with the last-place Taiyo Whales, figuring he had a chance to help them improve. He was a workhorse right away, going 15-18 with a 2.73 ERA in 58 games (29 starts, 12 complete games) in 1958. He tied Genichi Murata for 6th in the Central League in wins, was 8th in ERA (between Masahiko Oishi and Sho Horiuchi) , was 4th in losses, tied Motoshi Fujita for 3rd in games pitched, ranked 9th in starts, was 8th in complete games, tied for 6th in shutouts (3), was 8th in IP (260 1/3, between Toshitake Nakayama and Oishi), was 4th in walks (81, between Noboru Akiyama and Nakayama) and was 6th in K (197, between Fujita and Nakayama). The rookie made the CL team for the 1958 NPB All-Star Games. In Game 2, he took over for Hiromi Oyane in the 4th inning of a 8-3 loss. He was the top CL hurler of the day, allowing no hits in 2 1/3 innings and striking out one; Murata took over.

Suzuki closed out the CL's loss in 1959 NPB All-Star Game 1, allowing a hit, two walks and one run in the final frame of the 9-0 defeat, after taking over for Masaaki Koyama. For the 1959 campaign, he was 12-16 with a 3.22 ERA in 49 games (31 starts). He tied Ryohei Hasegawa and Tatsuyoshi Yasuhara for 10th in wins, tied Oishi and Koyama for 6th in losses, was 9th in appearances (between Koyama and Nakayama), tied Murata for 7th in starts, was 10th with 10 complete games, tied for 9th in shutouts (3), was 9th in IP (again 260 1/3, between Tsutomu Ina and Yasushi Kodama) and was 9th in strikeouts (157, between Ina and Yoshio Kitagawa.

A CL All-Star again, for the final time, he appeared in 1960 NPB All-Star Game 2, relieving Eiji Bando in the 7th inning of a 5-4 win. He got one hit and allowed one hit then was replaced by Masaichi Kaneda. He was 5-11 with a 2.92 ERA in 1960; he also hit his first career homer. The Whales won their first CL pennant. He started Game 1 of the 1960 Japan Series for them against the Daimai Orions; Akiyama took over and got the decision (a win). He also started Game 3 with Akiyama taking over. He had a 3.38 ERA for the Series and the Whales won their only Japan Series title.

In 1961, he was 8-13 with a 3.36 ERA in 51 games (35 starts). He made CL leaderboards in losses (tied for 8th), appearances (tied for 8th), starts (4th) and walks (73, tied Harimoto for 7th). He was 14-8 with a 2.54 ERA in 1962 and was 10th in wins (between Hidetoshi Ikeda and Fujita), tied Kunio Jonouchi for 9th in games pitched (56), tied Jonouchi for 6th in starts (31), tied for 5th in shutouts (5) and tied Minoru Kakimoto for 9th in strikeouts (157). He slipped to 8-17, 3.38 in 1963. That year, he tied for second in the CL in losses, was 3rd in games pitched (59, 2 behind leader Kenichi Ryu), was 5th in walks (80) and 8th with 116 whiffs.

The Fukushima native pitched 70 times in 1964 (15 starts), going 9-8 with a 3.22 ERA as Taiyo just missed out on their second title. He led the CL in games pitched, 7 ahead of Akiyama. He was 4-2 with a 2.44 ERA in 38 games (only one start) in 1965 and 2-6 with a 4.52 ERA in 1966. He was 4-2 with a 4.78 ERA in 41 games in 1967 and 0-1 with a 7.98 ERA in 16 outings in 1968 to end his career.

He had gone 81-102 with a 3.21 ERA in 519 NPB games (208 starts). He was still 85th in career appearances entering 2024. He coached for Taiyo from 1969-1970 then was banned from NPB's top level due to his role in the Black Mist Scandal. He later returned to Taiyo as a minor league manager, coach and as a scout then was a long-time baseball commentator (1977-1984, 1994-2005).