is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player. He plays

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

for the

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping c ...

Professional career

On November 18, 2005, Kawashima was drafted by the

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Fighters also host a ...

in the 2005 Nippon Professional Baseball draft.

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters

On April 2, 2006, Kawashima debuted in 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 ...

against the

Orix Buffaloes The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefectur ...

. And He recorded his first RBI on April 15 and his first

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization in ...

on April 16. In 2006 season, Kawashima played 24 games in the Pacific League. In 2007 season, Kawashima has been registered as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

. he played in only 10 games in the Pacific League. But he was selected as the

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...

roster in the

2007 Japan Series The Japan Series, the 58th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's championship series, began Saturday, October 27, 2007, pitting the Pacific League Regular League and Climax Series' Champion, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, and the Chunichi ...

. On January 11, 2008, Kawashima was

traded Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

to the

Tokyo Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Yom ...

Tokyo Yakult Swallows

In 2008 season, Kawashima has been registered as an

. On April 27, he recorded his first

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

. In 2008 season, he finished the regular season in 121 games with a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .255, a 4 home runs, RBI of 35, and a 20

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

. In 2009 season, Kawashima finished the regular season in 118 games with a batting average of .255, a 12 home runs, and a RBI of 43, and a 8 stolen bases. However, on September 19, he left the team due to pain in his right elbow. He chose conservative therapy without surgery, but his recovery was poor. On March 4, 2010, Kawashima had surgery on his right elbow. And he spent the 2010 season rehabilitating his right elbow. In 2011 season, Kawashima recovered from the injury to the team, but broke his middle finger on April 12, the first game he returned to, on a

hit by pitch In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided ...

. He recovered from his fracture on July 30, but was only able to play 40 games, partly because of that. Kawashima had a recurrence of pain in his right elbow and underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

on October 20. In 2012 season, Kawashima spent the season in rehabilitation. In 2013 season, Kawashima finished the regular season in 101 games with a batting average of .213, a 4 home runs, and a RBI of 14. On July 11, 2014, Kawashima was traded to the

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. The team was formerly known as the Nankai Hawks and was based in Osaka. ...

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

On July 25, Kawashima entered the game for the first time at the Hawks. In 2014 season, Kawashima finished the regular season in 29 games with a batting average of .233, and a RBI of 2. In 2015 season, Kawashima finished the regular season in 77 games with a batting average of .274, a 2 home runs, and a RBI of 20. In the

2015 Japan Series The 2015 Japan Series was the 66th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's postseason championship series. The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, champions of the Pacific League, played the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, champions of the Central League. The Hawks ...

against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, he recorded his first RBI hit in the Japan Series and contributed to the team's second consecutive victory. In the match against Nippon-Ham Fighters on April 3, 2016, Kawashima crossed with runner

Kensuke Tanaka Kensuke Tanaka (田中賢介, born May 20, 1981) is a Japanese former professional baseball player. He has played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball and the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. Career ...

on the second base and injured his right lower leg. As a result, he played only 20 games in the 2016 season. In 2017 season, Kawashima finished the regular season in 81 games with a batting average of .264, a 5 home runs, and a RBI of 13. In particular, he had a batting average of .313 against the left pitcher as of September 3. In the

2017 Japan Series The 2017 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2017'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's postseason. The 68th edition of the Japan Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the F ...

against the

Yokohama DeNA BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japan, Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its c ...

, Kawashima hit the game-winning

run batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in Game 6, deciding the team's Japan Series champion. In 2018 season, Kawashima finished the regular season in 91 games with a batting average of .268, a 3 home runs, and a RBI of 16. And in the

2018 Japan Series The 2018 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2018'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) 2018 season. The 69th edition of the Japan Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff betwee ...

against the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda ...

, Kawashima hit Game 1 and contributed to the team's second consecutive Japan Series champion. In 2019 season, Kawashima played only 47 games due to left shoulder pain, but recorded a batting average of .364. He recorded a high average batting average of .396 (48-19) against the left-handed pitcher. In the

2019 Japan Series The 2019 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2019'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) 2019 season. The 70th edition of the Japan Series, it was played from 19-23 October. Th ...

, against the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

, he recorded stolen bases and contributed to the team's third consecutive Japan Series champion. In 2020 season, Kawashima finished the regular season in 59 games with a batting average of .263, a 4 home runs, and a RBI of 9. In the

2020 Japan Series The 2020 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2020'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) 2020 season. The 71st edition of the Japan Series, it was played from November 21 to 25. ...

against the Yomiuri Giants, he contributed to the team's fourth consecutive Japan Series champions.

References

External links

NPB.jp

- Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Kawashima, Keizo 1983 births Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks players Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters players Japanese baseball players Living people Nippon Professional Baseball infielders Baseball people from Nagasaki Prefecture People from Sasebo category:Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles players Tokyo Yakult Swallows players Japanese baseball coaches category:Nippon Professional Baseball coaches