Yoshio Fukazawa

Yoshio Fukazawa (深沢 恵雄)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 158 lbs.

• High School Kyonan High School

• Born May 30, 1955 in Minamikoma-gun, Yamanashi, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yoshio Fukazawa pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 12 years.

Fukazawa was selected by the Hanshin Tigers in the fifth round of the 1975 NPB draft, but he spent his first three seasons primarily in the NPB Farm Leagues, and only pitched 22 games combined with the big club. He had a 3.72 ERA in 24 appearances in 1979, then his ERA was 4.11 in 23 games in 1980. The Tigers then traded him to the Lotte Orions for Osamu Fukuma. Fukuzawa had a 4.87 ERA in 12 games in 1981, and the Orions turned him into a starter in 1982. He was 9-11 with a 4.86 ERA, and he ranked 7th in the Pacific League in losses (tied with Norihiro Mizutani, Osamu Higashio, Tatsumi Murata, Yutaro Imai and Sogen Miyake).

The Yamanashi native was a regular starter in 1983, and he had a 12-8 record with a 4.86 ERA. He led the PL in walks and ranked 9th in wins (tied with Hirohisa Matsunuma and Tadashi Sugimoto) He was then selected into the 1984 NPB All-Star Games, and he surrendered an unearned run in 3 innings in Game 1. On August 6, he no-hit the Hankyu Braves for 7 innings, but pinch-hitter Shinichi Murakami then crushed a homer in his second career at-bat. He ended up 15-8 with a 3.74 ERA, ranking 5th in wins (tied with Masaru Ishikawa) and 10th in complete games (between Kazuhiro Yamauchi and Yutaka Yanagida). He won a vote in the PL MVP Voting and ranked 15th. However, Fukuzawa struggled in 1985, and his ERA rose to 6.08. He bounced back in 1986 as he was 10-3 with a 4.93 ERA, but he then slumped to 2-6 with a 6.22 ERA in 1987. He only pitched 2 more games for the Orions in 1988, then he announced his retirement.

Overall, Fukazawa was 51-83 with a 4.77 ERA, struck out 494 and pitched 892 innings in 12 years in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio
• 1984 NPB All-Star Game