Yasushi Kodama

Yasushi Kodama (児玉 泰)
formerly known as Yasushi Soratani

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 156 lbs.

• High School Matsuyama Commercial High School

• Born July 19, 1935 in Higashiuwa-gun, Ehime, Japan
• Died February 7, 2024 in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yasushi Kodama pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 8 years.

Kodama was the ace of the Matsuyama Commercial High School, and he led them to the 1953 Summer Koshien title. Since the NPB draft didn't exist in that year, 11 teams offered contracts after Kodama graduated, and the Chunichi Dragons signed him with a 2.1 million yen signing bonus. He was 7-4 with a 2.51 ERA in his rookie year, and he pitched a shutout inning with 2 strikeouts in the 1954 Nippon Series Game 6. The Dragons beat the Nishitetsu Lions in 7 games, and Kodama won his only Nippon Series title. He was 3-6 with a 3.12 ERA in 1955, then he improved to 11-5 with a 1.75 ERA in 1956. Had he qualified, he would have been 5th in the Central League in ERA (between Sadao Nishimura and Masayoshi Miura).

The Ehime native was 10-12 with a 2.84 ERA in 1957, and he was 9-9 with a 2.81 ERA in 1958. Kodama no-hit the Hiroshima Carp for 10 innings on October 9, but Norio Haido got a hit in the 11th inning and ended his no-no. He then had his career year in 1959. Kodama had a 20-11 record with a 2.07 ERA, and he led the CL with 8 shutouts (tied with Masaaki Koyama) and 106 walks. He also ranked 4th in ERA (between Koyama and Yoshio Bizen), 5th in strikeouts (between Noboru Akiyama and Kiyoshi Oishi) and 3rd in wins (tied with Koyama). However, Kodama slumped to 3-9 with a 4.56 ERA in 1960, and he only pitched one game in 1961 due to injuries. He jumped to the Kintetsu Buffaloes in 1962, but he didn't pitch any games for their big club and he announced his retirement.

Overall, Kodama was 63-57 with a 2.53 ERA, struck out 741 and pitched 1,051 2/3 innings in 8 years in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio