Yasuhiko Kawamura

Yasuhiko Kawamura (河村 保彦)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 151 lb.

• High School Tajimi Kogyo High School

• Born July 15, 1940 in Tajimi, Gifu Japan
• Died February 21, 2012 in Aichi Prefecture Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yasuhiko Kawamura was a one-time All-Star in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Kawamura debuted for the Chunichi Dragons in 1959, going 4-7 with a 3.57 ERA. In 40 games in 1960, he was 1-2 with a 4.30 ERA with 31 walks in 67 innings, worse control than his rookie year. He pitched 51 games (21 starts) in 1961, going 13-13 with a 2.54 ERA and .228 opponent average. He was 10th in the Central League in ERA. The young right-hander fell to 4-5, 3.02 in 1962.

In 1963, the Gifu native made his only CL All-Star team. He finished the season 19-14 with a 2.68 ERA and .218 opponent average. He was 6th in the league in ERA, between Hidetoshi Ikeda and Kunio Jonouchi. Kawamura faded to 7-10, 3.82 in 1964. The thin hurler was 4-8 with a 3.42 ERA in 1965. In 1966, he improved to 10-7, 3.19. In his last season for the Dragons, he was 0-1 with a 4.40 ERA in six outings in 1967.

Moving to the Sankei Atoms, Kawamura had a fine rebound year in 1968, winning 9, losing 7 and posting a 2.41 ERA while opponents hit only .207. He had a 1.05 WHIP. He finished 5th in the CL in ERA, trailing Yoshiro Sotokoba, Sohachi Aniya, Yutaka Enatsu and Gene Bacque. It would be his last good campaign as he struggled in 1969 (1-9, 5.07), 1970 (2-5, 4.52) and 1971 (2 hits in two batters faced).

Overall, Kawamura was 74-88 with a 3.25 ERA, .236 opponent average and 1.21 WHIP in 444 NPB games (152 starts). He hit .206/.229/.235. He later was a baseball commentator for Fuji-TV and Tokai Radio.

Sources

• Japanbaseballdaily.com
• YakyuBaka