was a left-handed

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 ...

baseball pitcher for the

Hankyu Braves 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 ...

from 1954 to 1973. He won 254 games and was a 12-time All-Star during his career. He is a member of 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 ...

and

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 begi ...

Career

Kajimoto was signed by the Hankyu Braves in 1954 and surprised people in

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

with his

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. "Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thro ...

, which reached 150 km/h (93 mph). He was so impressive, he was named the

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

starter and won. That year he was 20-12 with a 2.73 ERA as a rookie. Kajimoto 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 ...

with 118 walks, but made the All-Star team. Hankyu was only 46-58 when other pitchers got the decision. In 1956, Kajimoto was 28-17 with a 2.24 ERA. He struck out 327 and walked 118 in 364 innings. He led the league in complete games (20), batters faced (1,478), hits allowed (284), hit batters (12), walks, strikeouts and shutouts (5, tied with Katsumi Nakanishi). He made his second All-Star team and was ninth in the Pacific League in ERA. 1957 presented Kajimoto with a 24-16, 1.92 ERA year in which he whiffed 301 in 337 IP. An All-Star, he reached 1,000 strikeouts in just his fourth season. On July 23, he became the first pitcher in Japanese professional baseball history to strike out nine consecutive batters. He led in complete games (26) and strikeouts. His seven shutouts tied Shoichi Ono for the most, while he finished fourth in ERA. On September 14, 1958 Kajimoto threw a one-hitter against the

Toei Flyers 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 1963, he fell to 9-17 with a 4.33 ERA, making his 8th All-Star team but posting the worst ERA of his career. That season, the Hankyu offense was so weak (they barely averaged 3 runs a game) that manager

Yukio Nishimoto was a Japanese baseball player and manager. He played for the Mainichi Orions from 1950 to 1955. As a manager he won eight Pacific League pennants. However his clubs would never go on to win the Japan Series, earning him the nickname "Great Tr ...

once batted Kajimoto third. Overall, Kajimoto hit .204 in his career, with 13 homers and two intentional walks. Kajimoto rebounded to 9-13 and a 3.34 ERA in 1964, and became the third NPB pitcher ever to reach 2,000 career strikeouts. In '65, Kajimoto went 5-11 with a 3.61 ERA and made his ninth All-Star squad. He began 1966 2-0 – and went downhill from there, losing a

Nippon Pro 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 ...

record 15 consecutive decisions to finish the year at 2-15 with a 3.68 ERA. Hankyu was 55-58 when other pitchers got the decision. In '67, Kajimoto dropped his 16th in a row but went 15-8 afterwards and had a 2.44 ERA in a fine resurgent year. He was an All-Star for the 10th time and reached 200 career victories. At age 32, he was 7th in the league in ERA. Making it to 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 ...

for the first time, he was toasted, going 0-2 with a 6.43 ERA and losing games three and six when Hankyu split the other four. Kajimoto had a 12-8, 2.97 ERA year for the 1968 Braves as they won another pennant. He had a 6.35 ERA in the 1968 Japan Series as Hankyu again fell to the

Sadaharu Oh Sadaharu Oh (Japanese: , ''Ō Sadaharu''; born May 20, 1940), also known as Wang Chen-chih (), is a Japanese-born former baseball player and manager Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Ō Sadaharu"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 758. who ...

Shigeo Nagashima is a Japanese former professional baseball player and manager. Biography Nagashima played baseball at his local high school, and on the Rikkyo University baseball team from 1954–1957. He joined the Yomiuri Giants in 1958. His jersey number ( ...

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 ...

dynasty, but Kajimoto did win his only decision in that Series. He also was an All-Star pick that year. The 34-year-old left-hander won his most games since age 25 in 1969 when he had an 18-10, 2.97 record. Kajimoto led the league with five wild pitches but made his 12th and last All-Star team. He was 0-1 with a 10.12 ERA in the 1969 Japan Series as Hankyu again fell to Yomiuri. The '71 season saw Kajimoto post a 6-8 record and a 3.44 ERA. He pitched one scoreless inning in another loss to the Oh-Nagashima attack in the

1971 Japan Series The 1971 Japan Series was the 22nd edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's postseason championship series. It matched the Central League champion Yomiuri Giants against the Pacific League champion Hankyu Braves. This was the fourth time in fiv ...

. For 1972, the veteran was 2-5 with a 3.65 ERA. In a game against Toei, he was called for a ball on the 20 second rule, the only known instance both before and after that anyone has ever been penalized with it. Kajimoto went 3-0 and a 6.30 ERA the next year to finish his pitching career at 254-255 and a 2.98 ERA, with 2,945 K in 4,208 IP. Through 2005, Kajimoto was 9th all-time in NPB in wins, 3rd in losses, 14th in complete games (202), tied at 14th with

Kazuhisa Inao was a Japanese professional baseball pitcher. In 1957, he won 20 consecutive games. In 1958 Japan Series, he pitched six games and won 4 consecutive games after his team lost 3 games. He even hit a home run in fifth game of Japan Series. He was t ...

in shutouts (43), tied for 22nd in walk-less complete games (25), third in games pitched (867), 6th in innings (4,208), 6th in strikeouts, 6th in hits allowed (3,849) and 13th in homers allowed (321).

After retirement

Kajimoto worked as a coach for Hankyu in 1974 and 1978, when he is credited with helping Yutaro Imai develop by having him drink before pitching. (Kajimoto also had been known as a drinker.) He became the Braves manager in '79 and they went 75-44-11, posting the best record. That year, the Pacific League experimented with playoffs and Hankyu lost to the second-half champion

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 ...

. In 1980, the Braves fell to 5th (58-67-5) and Kajimoto was replaced at the helm by his predecessor,

Toshiharu Ueda was a professional Japanese baseball player, coach, and manager. He was elected to 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 ...

. Kajimoto became a coach again and worked as such from 1981 to 86. When the Hankyu team became 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 ...

in 1989, Kajimoto returned and coached for seven more years. At age 60, he could still throw 140 km/h (87 mph). In 1998, Kajimoto became a coach with the

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011) ...

minor league system for two years. He then worked as a commentator for ''Daily Sports''.

Death

Kajimoto died in 2006 of respiratory arrest.

References

Sources

*This is a shortened version of the articl
Takao Kajimoto
at Baseball-Reference.com's Bullpen. The Bullpen is a wiki and its content is available under the

GNU Free Documentation License The GNU Free Documentation License (GNU FDL or simply GFDL) is a copyleft license for free documentation, designed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for the GNU Project. It is similar to the GNU General Public License, giving readers the r ...

Japanbaseballdaily.com by Gary Garland
*Robert K. Fitts, ''Remembering Japanese Baseball: An Oral History of the Game'', Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press, 2005,

External links