Tsugio Kanazawa

Tsugio Kanazawa (金沢 次男)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 198 lbs.

• High School Satake High School

• Born December 18, 1958 in Hitachiota, Ibaraki, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Tsugio Kanazawa pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 14 years.

Kanazawa was drafted by the Taiyo Whales in the fifth round of the 1981 NPB draft, and he joined their bullpen as a rookie. He had a 3.95 ERA in 24 appearances in his rookie year, then he joined the rotation in 1983. Kanazawa was 10-12 with a 4.94 ERA in 1983, and he led the Central League with 33 homers allowed. He also ranked 9th in losses (tied with Kenichi Kajima) and 9th in strikeouts (between Takashi Nishimoto and Shigeru Kobayashi). Kanazawa then improved to 10-11 with a 3.84 ERA in 1984, ranking 5th in strikeouts (between Hikaru Takano and Hiromi Makihara) and 3rd in losses (tied with Genji Kaku, Nishimoto, Kajima, Fumitaka Ito and Hirofumi Sekine).

The Ibaraki native slumped to 3-7 with a 7.51 ERA in 1985, then he was traded with Toru Ohata to the Nippon Ham Fighters for Masami Takahashi and Isamu Kida. He was 10-9 with a 3.96 ERA in 1986, then he went 6-6 with a 4.96 ERA in 1987. Kanazawa had a 4-7 record with a 3.75 ERA in 1988, then he recorded a 3.32 ERA in 28 appearances as a reliever in 1989. The Fighters traded him to the Yakult Swallows for nothing after the 1989 season. He notched 5 saves with a 3.65 ERA and a 6-7 record in 1990, but he only pitched 4 games with the big club in 1991.

Kanazawa became a sidearm pitcher in 1992, and he had a 3.42 ERA in 40 appearances while leading the league with 9 hit-by-pitches. In the 1992 Nippon Series, he pitched a shutout inning in Game 2, then he allowed 2 runs in 4 1/3 innings after relieving Kazuhisa Ishii in the 4th inning of Game 3. He surrendered 2 runs in 1/3 of a inning in Game 5, and he gave up a 3-run home run to Ken Suzuki in Game 6. The Seibu Lions beat the Swallows in 7 games.

The sidearm pitcher recorded a 2.79 ERA in 31 games in 1993, and he pitched 5 innings with only a run allowed in 1993 Nippon Series Game 3. He then pitched a shutout inning in Game 5, and he replaced Tatsuji Nishimura in the 5th inning of Game 6. Kanazawa pitched 3 1/3 shutout innings with 6 strikeouts, and he won his first Nippon Series title as the Swallows beat the Lions in 7 games. His .96 ERA was one of the staff's best; Shingo Takatsu was at 0.00 in 5 IP. He had a 4.20 ERA in 23 games in 1994, and he jumped to the Chiba Lotte Marines in 1995. Kanazawa pitched 19 games with a 3.75 ERA in 1975, and he announced his retirement.

Overall, Kanazawa was 60-70 with a 4.21 ERA, struck out 906 and pitched 1,239 innings in 14 years in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio
• Defunct Japan Baseball Daily site