Yasuo Kusunoki

Yasuo Kusunoki (楠 安夫)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 154 lb.

• High School Takamatsu Commercial High School

• Born June 21, 1920 in Kagawa Prefecture Japan
• Died October 9, 2000

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yasuo Kusunoki played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 14 years.

Kusunoki was signed by the Tokyo Kyojin in 1938 as a pitcher, and he had a 1.93 ERA in 4 appearances. He then went 6-2 with a 0.89 ERA in 1939, and he had a 2.45 ERA in 5 games in 1940. The Kyojin then turned him into a catcher in 1941, and Kusunoki hit .194/.400/.284 in 38 games. He improved to .227/.397/.318 in 90 games in 1942, then he was enlisted into the military and missed four seasons. Kusunoki returned to the league in 1947, and he joined the Hankyu Braves. He hit .133/.200/.145 in 1947, then his batting line was .277/.344/.394 in 1948 and .288/.360/.375 in 1949.

When the JPBL split into two leagues in 1950, Kusunoki joined the Nishitetsu Clippers and he hit .256/.318/.401 in 73 games. The Clippers then merged with the Nishi-Nippon Pirates and became the Nishitetsu Lions, and Kusunoki went back to the Yomiuri Giants (the former Kyojin club) because the Lions already had star catcher Takeshi Hibino from the Pirates. Kusunoki hit .292/.386/.444 with a career-high 19 doubles in 1951, and he started all the games in the 1951 Nippon Series. He was 2-for-15 with 2 RBI, and he won his first Nippon Series title as the Giants beat the Nankai Hawks in 5 games

Kusunoki was selected into the 1952 NPB All-Star Games, and he was 0-for-2. He ended up hitting .292/.396/.432 in 1952, and he was 0-for-1 in the 1952 Nippon Series. The Giants beat the Hawks again in 6 games. As Jun Hirota shined, Kusunoki lost his spot and he only had 55 at-bats combined in the next two seasons. He was sent to the Taiyo Whales in 1955, and he hit .190/.271/.214 in 50 games. Kusunoki announced his retirement after the 1955 season. He then coached the Sankei Atoms from 1968 to 1969.

Overall, Kusunoki hit .242/.349/.345 with 398 hits and 22 homers in 14 seasons in the NPB. He was 7-3 with a 2.19 ERA as a pitcher.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan
• 1952 NPB All Star Game