Yukihiro Kubo

Yukihiro Kubo (久保 征弘)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 165 lbs.

• High School Minato High School

• Born April 2, 1940 in Osaka, Osaka, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yukihiro Kubo pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 9 years and once led the league in wins and another time in ERA.

Kubo was signed by the Kintetsu Pearls in 1959, but he spent most of his rookie year in the NPB Farm Leagues, and only pitched 4 games with the big club. He became the main middle-inning reliever for the Pearls in 1961, and recorded a 4.00 ERA in 41 relief outings. Kubo had a career year in 1962. Although he was used as a swingman, he still collected a Pacific League-leading 28 wins with a 3.02 ERA. He led the league with 66 appearances, ranked 5th in complete games (13 behind Kazuhisa Inao), 11th in ERA (.90 behind Osamu Kubota) and 6th in strikeouts (63 behind Tetsuya Yoneda). He also pitched 2 innings and allowed 2 runs in 1962 NPB All-Star Game 2.

The Osaka native was still productive in 1963 and attended the 1963 NPB All-Star Game. He started in Game 1, pitched 1 2/3 innings with 3 runs allowed and ended up with a no-decision; he then relieved Masayuki Dobashi and allowed 3 runs in 1 1/3 inning to get the loss in Game 3. Kubo had a 19-12 record with a 2.36 ERA, and became the first player in Kintetsu's history to win an ERA title. He ranked 4th in wins (9 behind Inao), 9th in complete games (15 behind Inao) and 4th in appearances (12 behind Inao). Kubo was 10-18 with a 3.76 ERA in 1964, then slumped to 3-16 with a 4.03 ERA in 1965. He struggled again in 1966, when he went 1-5 with a 3.93 ERA in 19 games. The Kintetsu then released him after the 1966 season, and he transferred to the Chunichi Dragons.

Kubo became an important part of the Chunichi's bullpen in 1967, as he had a 3.00 ERA in 54 appearances and ranked 4th in game pitched (3 behind Ichiro Hiraoka) in the Central League. However, he allowed 10 runs in 15 innings in 1968, then transferred to the Hanshin Tigers after the 1968 season. Kubo was unable to pitch any games for Hanshin in the next two seasons, then announced his retirement after the 1970 season. After retiring, he served as pitching coach for the minor league team of the Hanshin in 1972 and again from 1976 to 1977 and in 1992. He was also a coach for their big club in 1975, and worked as their scout from 1978 to 1983 and from 1985 to 1991.

Overall, Kubo was 61-86 with a 3.34 ERA, struck out 489 and pitched 1,208 1/3 innings in 9 years in the NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio