Toshiaki Moriyasu

Toshiaki Moriyasu (森安 敏明)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 191 lbs.

• High School Kanzei High School

• Born December 18, 1947 in Tamano, Okayama, Japan
• Died July 29, 1998

BR register page

Biographical Information

Toshiaki Moriyasu pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 5 years.

Moriyasu was drafted by the Toei Flyers in the first round of the 1965 NPB draft, and he joined the rotation as a rookie. He started the team's fourth game, a rookie record until Shintaro Fujinami broke it 57 years later. He was selected into the 1966 NPB All-Star Games, and he fanned four (Shinichi Eto, Kazuhiro Yamauchi, Kunimitsu Yanoura and Tsuneo Horiuchi) in 2 shutout innings in Game 2. He then relieved Mutsuo Minagawa in the 8th inning of Game 3, but he allowed a 2-run shot to Goro Toi in 2 innings. He ended up 11-11 with a 3.03 ERA in 1966, and he was 4th in strikeouts in the Pacific League, tying Keishi Suzuki with 160. He then had a 15-17 record with a 3.45 ERA in 1967. He led the league in appearances, walks, wild pitches and runs. He was also 7th in wins (tied with Takao Kajimoto, Yoshimasa Takahashi and Taisuke Watanabe), 3rd in losses (1 behind Katsuji Sakai and Watanabe) and 2nd in strikeouts (8 behind Suzuki). Moriyasu was selected into the 1967 NPB All-Star Games, and he pitched 2 shutout innings in Game 2.

The Okayama native still had control problem in 1968, and he set the NPB record with 22 hit-by-pitches in a year while leading the league in appearances, losses, hits, walks and runs. He was 16-23 with a 3.37 ERA in this season, ranking 7th in wins (tied with Sakai), 4th in innings (between Tetsuya Yoneda and Fumio Narita) and 2nd in strikeouts (55 behind Suzuki). In 1968 NPB All-Star Game 1, he struck out two (Shozo Doi and Shigeo Nagashima) in three shutout innings, then he got the win with a shutout inning in Game 3. Moriyasu then had a 11-15 record with a 3.97 ERA in 1967, and he led the league in home runs allowed, hit-by-pitches and runs allowed. He was 3rd in losses (tied with Akio Masuda) and 4th in strikeouts (156, between Tomehiro Kaneda and Toshihiko Sei). He was 5-3 with a 3.77 ERA in 1970 before he was involved in the Black Mist Scandal, and he was banned for life.

Overall, Moriyasu was 58-69 with a 3.48 ERA, struck out 814 and pitched 1,154 innings in 5 years in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio
• 1968 NPB All-Star Game