Yoshiaki Ishimoto

Yoshiaki Ishimoto (石本 貴昭)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 187 lbs.

• High School Takikawa High School

• Born December 24, 1962 in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yoshiaki Ishimoto pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 10 years and won two Fireman of the Year awards.

Ishimoto was drafted by the Kintetsu Buffaloes in the first round of the 1980 NPB draft, but he spent the first 4 years of his career in the NPB Farm Leagues, and only pitched 13 games combined with the big club. The Kobe native broke out in 1985, when he had a 19-3 record with 9 saves as a full-time reliever and his ERA was solid 3.56. He led the Pacific League in appearances and winning percentage, ranked 2nd in wins (2 behind Yoshinori Sato) and 5th in ERA (.80 behind Kimiyasu Kudo). Although he didn't have many saves, Ishimoto still won the Fireman of the Year award with his 28 save points. He also gained two 3rd-place votes in the PL MVP voting.

The Buffaloes named him as their new closer in the [[1986 in Japanese Baseball|next season], and he notched 32 saves with a 3.38 ERA. He was selected into the 1986 NPB All-Star Game, and pitched 3 innings with 2 runs allowed and got the win in Game 1; he collected 2 shutout innings in Game 3. Ishimoto led the league in saves (13 ahead of Brad Lesley) and won another Fireman of the Year award. He was still a reliable reliever in 1987, and led the league in appearances for the third consecutive year with 50. He notched 7 saves with a 3.24 ERA.

Ishimoto was 3-3 with a 3.79 ERA in 32 relief outings in 1988, but slumped to 1-3 with a 6.75 ERA in 1989 due to overuse. He only pitched 1/3 of an inning in Game 5 in the 1989 Nippon Series, and Kintetsu was beaten by the Yomiuri Giants in 7 games. His ERA was still terrible at 5.92 in 20 appearances in 1990, then the Buffaloes traded him to the Chunichi Dragons for cash. Ishimoto only pitched 4 games for Chunichi's big club, and announced his retirement after the 1991 season.

Overall, Ishimoto was 35-19, collected 48 saves with a 4.04 ERA, struck out 313 and pitched 487 2/3 innings in 10 years in the NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio