Toshio Kawanishi

Toshio Kawanishi (河西 俊雄)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 4", Weight 123 lbs.

• School Meiji University
• High School Akashi High School

• Born April 25, 1920 in Himeji, Hyogo Japan
• Born June 25, 2007

BR register page

Biographical Information

Toshio Kawanishi played in the Nippon Pro Baseball for 9 years and led the league in steals for three consecutive years.

Kawanishi was signed by Kinki Great Ring in 1946, and he soon became a starting outfielder. He hit .285/.382/.352 and led the Japanese Professional Baseball League in steals with 39. He also became the first NPB player to collected 6 hits in a game on July 15. The speedy outfielder didn't lose a step, as he stole 53 bags with a .203/.270/.243 batting line in 1947. He broke Den Yamada's NPB record when he collected 66 steals in 1948 (Tadasuke Kiduka broke the mark two years later but Kawanishi is the single-season JPBL record holder for swipes), and also hit .260/.313/.298. Kawanishi still recorded a .254/.321/.354 batting line with 23 steals in 1949.

When two leagues split in 1950, the Himeji native jumped to the Osaka Tigers of the Central League. Since they already had Hiroyuki Watanabe, Kawanishi was moved to second base and he hit .276/.332/.342 with 23 steals. His last productive season was 1951 as he recorded a .268/.329/.319 batting line with a league-leading 30 sacrifice bunts. He batted .275/.331/.323 in 1952 and announced his retirement after he only played 15 games combined in the next two seasons. He was also a coach for the Tigers from 1953 to 1955 and managed their minor league team from 1956 to 1957. Kawanishi became a scout after retiring as a manager.

Overall, Kawanishi had hit .258/.323/.314 with 233 steals and 652 hits in 9 seasons in NPB.

Related Sites

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan