Tatsumi Yamanaka

Tatsumi Yamanaka (山中 巽)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 176 lbs.

• High School Chukyo University Senior High School

• Born January 4, 1944 in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Tatsumi Yamanaka pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 8 years.

Yamanaka was signed by the Chunichi Dragons in 1962, and he spent his first season primarily in the NPB Farm Leagues, only playing 14 games with the big club. He entered the rotation in 1963, and he was 15-6 with a 2.82 ERA. He led the Central League in winning percentage and ranked 8th in wins (15 behind Masaichi Kaneda). Yamanaka was 7-7 with a 3.69 ERA in 1964, and he improved to 12-2 with a 1.97 ERA in 1965. He led the league in winning percentage again, and he was 3rd in ERA (between Minoru Murayama and Yukinori Miyata).

The Nagoya native was then selected into the 1966 NPB All-Star Game, and he relieved Murayama in the 4th inning of Game 2. However, he gave up a home run to Kihachi Enomoto after Jack Bloomfield drew a leadoff walk, then Isao Harimoto added a double. Minoru Nakamura then replaced him, and Yamanaka got the loss. He then succeeded Susumu Oba in the 4th inning of Game 3, and he pitched 2 shutout innings with 2 strikeouts - against Bloomfield and Yasuhiro Kunisada. Yamanaka ended up 14-12 with a 2.44 ERA in 1966, ranking 7th in wins (tied with Gene Bacque), 10th in ERA (between Hidetake Watanabe and Susumu Sato) and 10th in strikeouts (between Makoto Inagawa and Kiyotake Suzuki). He was 5-6 with a 3.76 ERA in 1967, and he had a 8-8 record with a 2.88 ERA in 1968. However, he suffered from diseases, so he only played 14 games in 1969. He announced his retirement after missing the 1970 season.

Overall, Yamanaka was 61-49 with a 2.97 ERA, struck out 542 and pitched 1,038 2/3 innings in 8 years in NPB.

Sources

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