Keishi Asano
From BR Bullpen
Keishi Asano
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 9", Weight 165 lb.
- High School Fukuyama Denpa Kogyo High School
- Born February 22, 1949 in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Japan
Keichi Asano pitched for 18 years in Nippon Pro Baseball. The Sankei Atoms took him in the 9th round in 1966 out of high school. As a rookie in 1967, he was 8-10 with a 2.77 ERA in 50 games, just missing the top 10 in ERA in the Central League. He fell to 4-6, 4.29 in 1968. In 1969, Asano went 9-6 with a 2.64 ERA and .229 opponent average in 54 games. He tied Shoichi Ono for 8th in the league in ERA.
Asano had a 6-12, 3.88 record in 1970. He was 7-14 with a 3.20 ERA in 1971 while moving more into the rotation. His ledger in 1972 read 6-14, 3.96. In 1973, he was 14-12 with a 2.37 ERA and .216 opponent average. He tied for sixth in the league in ERA.
Keishi was 12-15 with five saves and a 2.39 ERA in 1974, allowing only 202 hits in 256 innings. He made his first and only CL All-Star squad. He finished second in the circuit in ERA behind only Shitoshi Sekimoto. He faded badly in 1975 with a 1-4, 6.63 record and .335 opponent average. He was 3-6 with a save and a 3.51 ERA in 1976.
Moving to the Yomiuri Giants in 1977, Asano won Comeback Player of the Year honors, going 9-4 with a save and a 2.51 ERA. He won game 3 of the 1977 Japan Series for Yomiuri's lone win of the Series but dropped game four; overall, he gave up 6 runs in 4 1/3 IP in the '77 Series, his only time pitching in a Japan Series.
Asano was 2-3 with a 5.72 ERA in 1978, walking 29 in 45 2/3 IP. He went 2-3 again in 1979, allowing a .306 average. He gave up 3 runs in 7 innings in 1980.
Keishi had a 1-2, 3.95 record in 1981. In 1982, he went 2-4 with 3 saves and a 2.53 ERA. He was 0-1 in 1983, allowing 19 runs and 26 hits in only 18 innings. He pitched 18 games in 1984 with a 4.13 ERA and no decisions.
Overall, Asano threw 542 games in Nippon Pro Baseball with a 86-116 record and 10 saves. He had a 3.39 ERA and struck out 1,043 batters in 1,715 2/3 innings, allowing 1,558 hits and 563 walks.
After retiring as a player, he was a commentator for Radio Japan. He then was a pitching coach for the Yakult Swallows (1990-1997) and Nippon Ham Fighters (1998-1999). He coached for Nippon Ham's minor league club from 2000-2002.
From 2003-2005, he coached for Taiwan's China Trust Whales. He became head coach at a college in Japan in 2007.
