is a Japanese former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB). He played for the

Kintetsu Buffaloes The were a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team based in Osaka, Japan, which was in the Pacific League. In 2005 the team was merged with the Orix BlueWave to become the team now known as the Orix Buffaloes. The team played in Fujiidera Stad ...

from 1966 to 1985."Keishi Suzuki,"
Baseball-Reference.com. Accessed April 5, 2015. A member of both

Meikyukai The is one of the two baseball halls of fame in Japan, the other being the . The Meikyukai is a limited company for public benefit. Founded by Hall of Fame pitcher Masaichi Kaneda in 1978, the Meikyukai honors players born after 1926 (the begin ...

and the

Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame The is a museum which includes a library, reference rooms and . It first opened in 1959 next door to Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. In 1988, the museum moved to a new site within the Tokyo Dome. The Hall of Fame and Museum was created as a ...

, his 317 career victories ranks him fourth on the all-time NPB list.

Biography

Suzuki attended Ikuei High School, and was drafted by the Buffaloes at age 18. In 1967, Suzuki led the

Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consis ...

(PL) in strikeouts with 222. In 1968, he led the PL again, this time with 305 strikeouts. (He led the NPB in innings pitched that season as well, with 359.) 1969 was a banner year for Suzuki, as he led NPB in victories, strikeouts, and innings pitched. In 1970 he again led the PL in strikeouts, with 247. He was the Pacific League ERA champion in 1978, with a mark of 2.02. Altogether, he led NPB in strikeouts in eight separate seasons.Wilbert, Warren N. ''The Shutout in Major League Baseball: A History'' (McFarland, 2013), p. 108. With 71 career

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

, he ranks fifth all-time in Japanese professional baseball. Suzuki was also a fairly good hitter for a pitcher, with a lifetime .209 batting average and 13 home runs in the nine seasons he batted before the Pacific League implemented the

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

in 1975. After his playing career, he was the manager of the Kintetsu Buffaloes from 1993 to 1995, where he managed

Hideo Nomo is a Japanese former baseball pitcher who played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He achieved early success in his native country, where he played with the Kintetsu Buffaloes from to . He then exploited a l ...

(although the two men did not get along)."Foreign Intrigue: Nomo Baffles Hitters As He Awaits First Win,"
Philly.com (May 26, 1995). He was elected to the

in 2002. With 200+ victories, he is also a member of

. His number 1 jersey was retired by the Buffaloes before their merger with the

Orix BlueWave , styled as ORIX, is a Japanese diversified financial services group headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, and Osaka, Japan. ORIX offers leasing, lending, rentals, life insurance, real estate financing and development, venture capital, investment an ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suzuki, Keishi 1947 births Living people Baseball people from Hyōgo Prefecture Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Japanese baseball players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Kintetsu Buffaloes players Managers of baseball teams in Japan Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes managers

Biography

See also

References