Yoshiaki Ito

Yoshiaki Ito (伊藤 芳明)

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

• School Chuo University
• High School Kosei Shogyo High School

• Born December 30, 1933 in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yoshiaki Ito won a Sawamura Award in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Ito was signed by the Yomiuri Giants in 1959. He replaced injured Motoshi Fujita to become the opening day starter for the Giants as a rookie, and ended up 7-9 with a 2.98 ERA in his rookie year. He allowed 3 runs in 1 1/3 IP in the 1959 Japan Series as Yomiuri was swept by the Nankai Hawks. Ito collected 10 wins with a 3.21 ERA in 1960, and improved to 13-6 with a 2.11 ERA in 1961. He led the league in winning percentage, ranked 4th in ERA (.41 behind Hiroshi Gondo), 7th in Ks (144 behind Gondo) and 9th in wins (22 behind Gondo). He also attended the 1961 NPB All-Star Game, pitched 1 1/3 innings, allowed 2 runs and had a no-decision. He was 1-0 with a 2.89 ERA in the 1961 Japan Series, beating Joe Stanka in Game 3; he was also 2-for-2 at the plate as Yomiuri topped Nankai in seven. Ito slumped to 4-5 with a 2.71 ERA in 1962, and even sometimes was used as a reliever.

The Hamamatsu native came back to the rotation in 1963, and had a career year. He was selected into the 1963 NPB All-Star Game, and recorded 1 2/3 shutout innings in Game 1. Ito ended up 19-8 with a 1.90 ERA, and won his first Sawamura Award. Although Best Nine winner Masaichi Kaneda had a lower ERA and more wins, Ito still beat him with his league-leading 10 shutouts to win the Sawamura Award. He lost Game 1 of the 1963 Japan Series to Kazuhisa Inao and the Nishitetsu Lions, beat them in Game 3 and lost to Inao again in Game 6; it is unclear how many times two starters have had three decisions against each other in the same Series. Yomiuri won in 7 when they beat Inao again on zero days' rest; Ito was not called out again to face him, though. He had a 6.14 ERA for the Series.

The ace of the Giants suffered a left foot strain in 1964, so he only had 11-12 record with a 3.43 ERA. What's worst, Ito injured his left shoulder, and his ERA rose to 4.16 in 1965. The Giants then traded him to the Toei Flyers for Yoshiyuki Ikezawa, Osamu Kubota and Yuji Shimada. He bounced back with a 2.77 ERA in 37 appearances, then recorded a 3.00 ERA in 38 games in 1967. He was mainly used as a reliever by the Flyers, only starting 32 games among his 126 appearances in his four seasons with them. Ito only pitched 17 games in 1969, then announced his retirement after the 1969 season. After retiring, he became a scout for the Giants from 1970 to 1979 and from 1981 to 2000. He was the pitching coach for the Giants' minor league team in 1980.

Overall, Ito was 71-63 with a 2.87 ERA and pitched 1,443 1/3 innings in 11 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan
• Defunct Japanbaseballdaily site