Etsuro Tsukamoto

Etsuro Tsukamoto (塚本 悦郎)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 215 lb.

• High School Seinan Gakuin High School

• Born November 30, 1924 in Fukuoka Prefecture Japan
• Died August 16, 2014 in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Etsuro Tsukamoto played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 11 years.

Tsukamoto signed with the Nishitetsu Lions when they were founded in 1950, and he hit .285/.308/.404 in 44 games in his first season. He had a .236/.276/.382 batting line in 76 games in 1951, and he improved to .308/.341/.425 in 1952. Tsukamoto crushed 5 homers with a .273/.302/.384 batting line in 1953, and he was 5th in doubles in the Pacific League (10 behind Tokuji Iida). He then hit .274/.314/.411 with 6 homers in 1954, and he went 2-for-14 in the 1954 Nippon Series; the Lions lost to the Chunichi Dragons in 7 games.

The Fukuoka native collected 14 steals with a .224/.291/.287 batting line in 1955, and he slumped to .182/.222/.245 in 1956. The Lions then released him, and he signed with the Toei Flyers. Tsukamoto played 107 games with a .246/.293/.292 batting line in 1957, and he lost his spot in 1958 after the Flyers signed Jack Ladra. He only had 47 appearances with a .246/.288/.304 batting line that season, and he went 3-for-33 in 1959. He was 13-for-61 in 1960, and he announced his retirement. Tsukamoto later became a scout, signing Yoshimasa Takahashi, Tsuyoshi Oshita and Tsutomu Wakamatsu.

Overall, Tsukamoto hit .253/.294/.348 with 522 hits and 29 homers in 11 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan