Yoshiaki Nishikawa

Yoshiaki Nishikawa (西川 佳明)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 10", Weight 182 lb.

• School Hosei University
• High School PL Gakuen High School

• Born July 14, 1963 in Minamikawachi-gun, Osaka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yoshiaki Nishikawa was an Olympic pitcher and an All-Star in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Nishikawa helped PL Gakuen win the 1981 spring Koshien. In college, he had a 30-5, 1.60 record overall and set a Tokyo Big Six University League record by rolling off 16 consecutive wins. He pitched for Japan when they won the 1984 Olympics (baseball was not a medal sport yet). The Nankai Hawks drafted him in the first round of the 1986 NPB draft. He was 10-10 with a save and a 3.89 ERA as a rookie in 1986; he made his only Pacific League All-Star team that year. He finished 10th in the PL in ERA.

The lefty fell to 7-10 with a 5.59 ERA and .306 opponent average in 1987 while battling injuries. He was Nankai's Opening Day starter in 1988 and no-hit the Seibu Lions for 7 innings before Masakazu Seike doubled; he wound up losing the game. He had a 6-10, 4.52 record for that season. Nishikawa was 1-6 with a 6.86 ERA and 1.90 WHIP in 1989 and 1-3 with a 7.53 ERA in 1990. He was traded to the Hanshin Tigers and allowed 7 runs (5 earned) in 10 innings in 1991 then retired the next year.

Overall, Nishikawa had gone 25-39 with a save, 4.95 ERA and .288 opponent average in 110 NPB games.

Sources include japanbaseballdaily.com