Masaichi Kaneda

Masaichi Kaneda
金田 正一
Kaneda in 1956
Pitcher
Born: Kim Kyung-Hong
(1933-08-01)1 August 1933
Heiwa, Nakashima, Aichi, Empire of Japan
Died: 6 October 2019(2019-10-06) (aged 86)
Tokyo, Japan
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
NPB debut
23 August, 1950, for the Kokutetsu Swallows
Last appearance
18 October, 1969, for the Yomiuri Giants
NPB statistics
Win–loss400–298
Earned run average2.34
Shutouts82
Innings pitched5,526.2
Strikeouts4,490
Career statistics
Batting average.198
Hits406
Home runs38
Run batted in177
Teams
As player

As manager

Career highlights and awards
Member of the Japanese
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction1988

Masaichi Kaneda (金田 正一, Kaneda Masaichi, 1 August 1933 – 6 October 2019)[1] was a Japanese professional baseball pitcher of Zainichi Korean origin,[2] one of the best-known pitchers in Japanese baseball history, and is the only Japanese pitcher to have won 400 games. He was inducted in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.[3]

Nicknamed "The Emperor" because he was the most dominant pitcher in Japan during his prime, Kaneda holds numerous Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) career records. He won 400 games despite being on an extremely weak team, the Kokutetsu Swallows, for most of his career. About 90% of his 400 career wins came with the Swallows. Kaneda batted and threw left-handed.

  1. ^ 元巨人の金田正一さんが死去 前人未到400勝投手 (in Japanese)
  2. ^ Griggs, Lee (19 August 1963). "The Winningest Japanese". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  3. ^ Whiting, Robert, "Kawakami's philosophy as manager never wavered", Japan Times, 28 November 2013, p. 16, retrieved 28 November 2013