Osamu Higashio

Osamu Higashio
Pitcher
Born: May 18, 1950 Wakayama Prefecture, Japan
Batted: Right Threw: Right
NPB debut
1969, for the Nishitetsu Lions
Last appearance
1988, for the Seibu Lions
NPB statistics
Win-Loss	251-247
ERA	3.50
Strikeouts	1684
Teams
As player Nishitetsu Lions/Taiheiyo Club Lions/Crown Lighter Lions/Seibu Lions (1969–1988) As manager Seibu Lions (1995–2001)
Career highlights and awards
2× Pacific League MVP (1983, 1987)
Member of the Japanese
Baseball Hall of Fame
Inducted	2010

Osamu Higashio (東尾 修 Higashio Osamu, born May 18, 1950 in Kibi, Wakayama, Japan) is a former Japanese baseball player who played in the Japanese professional leagues from 1969–1988. He also was manager of the Seibu Lions from 1995–2001.

Professional career

Higashio was a star in the Koshien high school baseball tournament, advancing to the semi-finals in the spring of 1968. He was drafted in the first round by the Nishitetsu Lions (the current Saitama Seibu Lions) later that year. He lost confidence in his pitching ability after seeing the high level of pitching in the Pacific League, and requested the team to convert him to a position player. The team accepted his request, but quickly withdrew it when the Black Mist Scandal erupted in the 1969 off-season. The ace of the Lions pitching staff, Masaaki Ikenaga, was banished from the professional leagues because of the scandal, and Higashio was forced into pitching a full year in the Lions starting rotation. His inexperience left him with a torrid 5.15 ERA in 40 games that year. Higashio made improvements in the following years, but still led the league in losses from 1971–1972. He pitched over 300 innings in 1972, but led the league in losses, hits given up, home runs given up, and runs given up. He also allowed over 100 walks in each of his seasons from 1971–1973.

The Lions team was sold by the Nishi-Nippon Railroad in 1973, becoming the Taiheiyo Club Lions, and was sold again to become the Crown Lighter Lions in 1978. It was during this turbulent period that Higashio emerged as the ace of the Lions pitching staff. He marked a 2.38 ERA in 1975, and led the league with 23 wins (but also in losses). He won 23 games again in 1978, pitching over 300 innings for the third time in his career. The Lions finally obtained financial stability in 1979, becoming the Seibu Lions, and won the Japanese championship series in 1982 and 1983. Higashio marked the lowest ERA in the league (2.92), and led the league in wins to receive the MVP award in 1983. The Lions won the league championship four years in a row from 1985–1988 (including three more Japanese championship series wins), and Higashio won his second MVP award in 1987. He announced his retirement in 1988, and is remembered as one of the leading Japanese pitchers in the 1980s.

Career statistics

• Bolded figures are league-leading ones

Year	Team	G	CG	SHO	W	L	SV	IP	H	HR	BB+HBP	SO	ER	ERA(Place)
1969	Nishitetsu Lions	8	0	0	0	2	0	15.0	16	2	15	11	14	8.40
1970		40	3	0	11	18	0	173.1	183	22	97	94	99	5.15(21)
1971		51	3	0	8	16	0	221.1	198	20	133	109	92	3.75(17)
1972		55	13	2	18	25	0	309.2	313	37	122	171	126	3.66(15)
1973	Taiheiyo Club Lions	48	14	5	15	14	0	257.2	250	22	114	104	94	3.29(14)
1974		27	7	1	6	9	0	123.0	116	12	53	58	47	3.44
1975		54	25	4	23	15	7	317.2	287	14	70	154	84	2.38(3)
1976		43	15	2	13	11	5	243.1	256	14	59	93	86	3.19(14)
1977	Crown Lighter Lions	42	17	1	11	20	4	241.2	259	30	70	108	104	3.87(20)
1978		45	28	1	23	14	1	303.1	299	25	69	126	99	2.94(8)
1979	Seibu Lions	23	10	1	6	13	0	155.0	181	19	39	61	78	4.53(21)
1980		33	18	1	17	13	0	235.1	258	28	53	84	99	3.79(7)
1981		27	11	1	8	11	0	181.0	192	24	58	55	77	3.83(16)
1982		28	11	2	10	11	1	183.2	179	20	52	59	67	3.28(9)
1983		32	11	3	18	9	2	213.0	198	14	57	72	69	2.92(1)
1984		32	20	3	14	14	0	241.1	227	24	61	84	89	3.32(3)
1985		31	11	3	17	3	1	174.1	164	19	53	74	64	3.30(4)
1986		31	8	0	12	11	2	168.1	183	29	34	52	79	4.22(13)
1987		28	17	3	15	9	0	222.2	215	16	35	85	64	2.59(2)
1988		19	5	1	6	9	0	105.2	121	21	33	30	57	4.85
Career Total		697	247	34	251	247	23	4086	4095	412	1267	1684	1588	3.50

Managerial career

Higashio worked as a sports commentator for various television networks before returning to the Lions in 1995 as manager. Higashio drafted several top players, and recruited Darrin Jackson and Orestes Destrade from the major leagues, but ended up in 3rd place in his first two seasons as manager. The emergence of several young players, including Kazuo Matsui, put the Lions over the top in Higashio's third year, and the team won consecutive league championships in 1997 and 1998 (the Lions lost the Japanese championship series both years). Pitchers Shinji Mori, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Fumiya Nishiguchi and Denney Tomori also emerged during Higashio's tenure as manager. The Lions placed in 2nd in 1999 and 2000, and fell to 3rd place in 2001, and Higashio resigned from his post at the end of 2001.

He has currently returned to his role as a sports commentator. In September, 2006, he became the head of the Tokyo Apache Japanese professional basketball team.

Beanballs

Higashio often pitched towards the inside of the plate to intimidate opposing batters during his professional career, and he holds the Japanese career record for hit batsmen (165). He was not afraid to throw pitches close to the batter, and showed little remorse after hitting batters. In 1986, he received a beating on the mound by Kintetsu Buffaloes player Richard Davis, after hitting Davis with a pitch (Higashio continued pitching after the incident, marking the win). Many fans sympathized with Davis, and demanded that Higashio be penalized as well for hitting so many batters. Managers of rival teams accused Higashio of purposely hitting batters, since Higashio possessed excellent control, and there was no way he could accidentally hit batters so often. Higashio has maintained that he never threw a pitch with the intention of hitting the batter.

External links

• Player profile