Kimiyasu Kudoh

Kudoh with the Yokohama BayStars

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – No. 81

Manager

Born: May 5, 1963 (age 53)
Aichi, Japan

Batted: Left

Threw: Left

NPB Pacific League debut

1983, for the Seibu Lions

Last NPB Pacific League appearance

2010, for the Saitama Seibu Lions

NPB statistics
(through 2010)

Win–loss record

224-140

Earned run average

3.44

Strikeouts

2,852

Teams

As player

As manager

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (2015–)

Career highlights and awards

2-Time Matsutaro Shoriki Award (1987, 2015)
2-Time MVP (1993, 1999)
2-Time Japan Series MVP (1986, 1987)
2-Time NPB Wins Leader (1996, 1999)
3-Time Pacific League Wins Leader (1987, 1991, 1993)
3-Time Best Nine (1987, 1993, 2000)
3-Time Gold Glove Winner (1994, 1995, 1999)
4-Time ERA Champion (1985, 1987, 1993, 1999)
8-Time All-Star
11-Time Japan Series Champion (1982, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2002)

Member of the Japanese

Baseball Hall of Fame

Inducted

2016

As player

As manager

Kimiyasu Kudoh (工藤公康, Kudō Kimiyasu^?, born May 5, 1963 in Aichi Prefecture, Japan) is a left-handed former pitcher for the Pacific League's Saitama Seibu Lions of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). During his career, he recorded 224 career wins. Among other records, he was the oldest pitcher in NPB history to strike out 10 batters in a game, doing so at the age of 41 years and 11 months.

However, despite all his accolades, he never won the Sawamura Award, given to Japan's top pitcher.

A 6th-round pick in the 1981 draft, Kudoh signed a contract with the Lions when his father was given a job by team owner Yoshiaki Tsutsumi. Kudoh's breakout season was in 1985, when he went 8-3 with a 2.76 ERA, striking out 104 in 137 innings pitched. That year, he won his first ERA title. The very next season saw Kudoh make his first All-Star team. He improved his wins total to 10 and while his ERA increased to 3.22, he won the first of back-to-back Japan Series MVP awards.

In 1987, Kudoh notched his first of three seasons with 15 or more wins (15-4, 2.41, 175 strikeouts). He also was a dependable innings-eater for the Lions, as he tossed a career-high 223 and 2/3 innings. The only other time he crossed the 200-inning plateau was in 1996 with the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks. Again he won the ERA title, an All-Star selection, and even led the league in wins, but would ultimately lose the coveted Sawamura Award to young Yomiuri Giants ace Masumi Kuwata (15-6, 2.17). However, in another matchup between the Giants and the Lions in the Japan Series (one of many between the two in the 1980s), Kudoh and his Lions would come out on top, and Kudoh won the Series MVP.

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Wikipedia