Tomotaka Sugiyama

Tomotaka Sugiyama (杉山 知隆)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lbs.

• School Senshu University
• High School Shimizu Shogyo High School

• Born August 22, 1947 in Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Tomotaka Sugiyama pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 8 years.

Sugiyama was selected by the Taiyo Whales in the second round of the 1972 NPB draft, but he spent his first two seasons primarily in the NPB Farm Leagues, and he only played 2 games combined with the big club. He had a 4.16 ERA in 28 appearances in 1975, then he pitched 40 games with a 5.43 ERA as a reliever in 1976. He was selected into the 1977 NPB All-Star Games, and he relieved Kenji Furusawa in the 4th inning of Game 2. Sugiyama pitched 2 innings, and he only surrendered a solo shot to Leron Lee. he ended up 9-10 with a 4.78 ERA in 1977, and he tied Hiromu Matsuoka for the 7th in losses in the Central League.

The Whales then traded him with Shigekuni Mashiba to the Nippon Ham Fighters for Osamu Nomura. Sugiyama was 9-6 with a 4.03 ERA in 1978, then he had a 11-17 record with a 4.72 ERA in 1979. That was his only 10-win season, but he also led the Pacific League in losses. He was 8th in wins (tied with Yutaro Imai, Mitsuo Inaba, Kazushi Saeki and Yutaka Yanagida), 4th in strikeouts (120, between Shigekazu Mori and Naoki Takahashi) and 2nd in home runs allowed (2 behind Yanagida). Sugiyama had a 4.21 ERA in 18 games in 1980, then he announced his retirement after the 1981 season due to shoulder injury.

Overall, Sugiyama was 40-48 with a 4.65 ERA, struck out 529 and pitched 740 1/3 innings in 8 years in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio
• 1979 NPB All-Star Game