Eiji Bando

Eiji Bando (板東 英二)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 154 lb.

• High School Tokushima Commercial High School

• Born April 15, 1940 in Manchuria

BR register page

Biographical Information

Eiji Bando pitched for the Chunichi Dragons in 11 years.

In the 1958 summer Koshien, Bando pitched 18 innings one game. For the event, he struck out 83, a Koshien record. He debuted with Chunichi in 1959, going 4-4 with a 3.15 ERA as a swingman. He split his 1960 season almost entirely between the rotation (20 starts) and the bullpen (24 appearances), going 10-11 with a 2.63 ERA and .222 opponent average. He had a 1.03 WHIP and just missed the top 10 in the Central League in ERA (#10 Masaichi Kaneda was at 2.58). Bando made his first CL All-Star team, and he allowed a 2-run shot to the Pacific League's Carlton Hanta in the 1960 NPB All-Star Game 2. That was the first inside the park home run in an NPB All-Star Game.

Bando went 12-10 in 1961, his only year in which he was primarily a starter. He threw four shutouts and walked 48 in 193 1/3 innings, posting a 2.61 ERA, just missing the top 10 (.08 behind Yasuhiko Kawamura). In 1962, Bando fell to 2-9, 4.26. He was 3-1 with a 3.05 ERA in 1963, by now only making a handful of starts each season. The right-hander pitched 53 games in 1964, going 6-7 with a 3.08 ERA. He was 5th in appearances. Bando hurled 156 1/3 IP in 55 games in 1965, with a 12-7, 2.25 record. He held opponents to a .217 opponent average. He finished sixth in the CL in ERA (between Minoru Nakamura and Gene Bacque) and 6th in games pitched (tied with Kentaro Ogawa and Makoto Inagawa).

During 1966, Eiji was 13-5 with a 2.57 ERA and .221 opponent average in 60 games, with a WHIP of 1.00. He only used one pitch to retire Akira Shiobara on August 26, and he was the first CL pitcher to get a win with only one pitch. Bando made his second All-Star team, and he went 2/3 of an inning with a solo shot allowed to Isao Harimoto in the 1966 NPB All-Star Game. He was 10th in the league in ERA (between Tatsumi Yamanaka and Susumu Sato), 9th in wins (tied with Hidetake Watanabe and Susumu Oba) and 2nd in appearances (2 behind Kiyotake Suzuki).

The Manchuria native pitched 51 games, 50 in relief, in 1967, and won his most (14). He lost six and had a 2.56 ERA, walking only 28 in 119 2/3 IP. He completed 2 shutout innings in the 1967 NPB All-Star Game 2, and he added 1/3 of a shutout inning in Game 3. Had he qualified, he would have finished 8th in ERA. He ranked 6th in wins and 7th in appearances (tied with Shiroku Ishido). Bando only pitched 18 games in 1968 (1-4, 6.65, .315 opponent average) and 16 in 1969 (0-1, 3.63) before retiring. He was a commentator for CBC following his playing days.

Overall, Bando was 77-65 with a 2.89 ERA and 1.17 WHIP iIn 435 career games in NPB.

Sources

• Japanbaseballdaily.com
• Wiki Japan