Fumio Narita

Fumio Narita (成田 文男)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 167 lb.

• High School Shutoku High School

• Born October 2, 1946 in Akita Prefecture Japan
• Died April 21, 2011 in Gifu, Gifu Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Fumio Narita was a four-time 20-game winner in Nippon Pro Baseball.

1965-1970: A great start

Narita debuted with the Tokyo Orions in 1965 and allowed 4 hits and 2 runs in 2 innings. At age 20 the next year, he had a 8-7, 3.17 record and made the first of eight consecutive Pacific League All-Star teams. He was the starter of the 1966 NPB All-Star Game 3, but he gave up a game-winning RBI double to the Central League's Shigeo Nagashima ad got the loss. In 1967, Narita went 14-16 with a 2.11 ERA and 208 hits allowed in 272 2/3 innings. He finished third in the Pacific League in ERA (between Shoji Miyazaki and Tsutomu Tanaka), 5th in strikeouts (179, between Tetsuya Yoneda and Katsuji Sakai) and 10th in wins (tied with Koichiro Sasaki). He was the starter for the PL in the 1967 NPB All-Star Game 2, and he completed 3 shutout innings to get the win.

In 1968, the young right-hander had a 20-11, 2.90 line and threw 306 2/3 innings. He was 10th in the PL in ERA in that low-scoring era (between Akio Masuda and Shigeo Ishii), 5th in wins and 5th in strikeouts (187, between Mutsuo Minagawa and Takao Kajimoto). He attended the 1968 NPB All-Star Game, and he pitched 3 shutout innings with a run allowed in Game 1. Narita was 22-13 with a 2.73 ERA in 1969, and he allowed the most hits (276 in 317 innings) and runs (115) in the league. He also threw the most shutouts (9), and there have not been any pitchers with more shutouts than him since (as of 2025). On August 16, he threw a no-hitter, the only one of his career. Narita also ranked 2nd in wins (2 behind Keishi Suzuki), 9th in ERA (between Minagawa and Mitsugu Tanaka), 8th in losses and 2nd in strikeouts (185, 101 behind Suzuki). He started in the 1969 NPB All-Star Game 1, and he fanned 4 in 3 shutout innings.

At age 23, the Orions hurler was 25-8 with a 3.21 ERA and a career-high 195 strikeouts (in 277 2/3 IP) in 1970. He led the circuit in wins, and he was 9th in the league in ERA (between Hisashi Yamada and Kiyohiro Miura) and 3rd in strikeouts (between Tomehiro Kaneda and Akira Kawahara. In the 1970 Japan Series, he was 0-1 with a 11.81 ERA and the Yomiuri Giants beat the Orions in 5 games.

1971-1972: Scandal and struggles

In 1971 in Japanese Baseball, he was suspended for a month due to his dealing with bookies in the Black Mist Scandal and went 11-9 with a 4.29 ERA in a bad year. Narita continued to struggle in 1972 (11-14, 4.42, a league-high 37 home runs allowed), and he was 6th in Ks (122, between Yamada and Takenori Emoto). He did make history that year by becoming the first NPB pitcher to hit two grand slams in his career, having hit one on May 30, 1971 and adding the second on June 9 of this year against Yamada. Narita was still voted into the 1972 NPB All-Star Games, and he surrendered one run in 2 innings as the PL's starter in Game 1.

1973-1976: A return to efficacy

In 1973, Narita bounced back with a 21-10, 2.63 season in which he threw 273 2/3 innings in 52 games. He led the PL in innings pitched, wins, complete games (16), shutouts (7) and strikeouts (178). He won his only Diamond Glove Award and made his only Best Nine. He ranked 3rd in ERA, between Akira Tanaka and Takashi Mizutani. He made his 8th and last All-Star team, and he completed 3 shutout innings in the 1973 NPB All-Star Game 1. Narita would never lead the league in anything again. Narita still had three more good years after that. He went 9-10 with three saves and a 3.29 ERA in 1974. In the 1974 Japan Series, he was 0-1 with a 5.19 ERA but the Orions still won in six. In 1975, Fumio had a 15-9, 3.33 record, and he was 4th in wins and tied Suzuki for 8th in strikeouts.

Narita went 10-10 with a 3.42 ERA and one save in 1976, and that was his last season as a regular starter.

1977-2011: End of the line and post-baseball career

Rarely used as a starter after that, Narita faded to 1-2, 1 Sv, 5.44 in 1977 and then 2-2, 4.11 in '78. After a year with no appearances in NPB, he moved to the Nippon Ham Fighters in 1980 and was 2-4 with three saves and a 2.48 ERA. In 1981, Narita had a 4-4 record and 2.47 ERA. In the 1981 Japan Series, he retired only two of four batters, allowing a game-winning home run to Kazumasa Kono in Game 4 and picking up the loss as Nippon Ham dropped the Series. Narita's last year saw him allow 8 runs and 10 hits in 2 1/3 innings at age 35. After retiring, Narita worked for a construction company, in the advertising department, then became an assistant pro at a golf plaza.

Career stats

Overall, Narita was 175-129 with a 3.20 ERA, struck out 1,657 and pitched 2,781 innings in 17 seasons in NPB. As of 2025, he was 77th in appearances (534, tied with Hisashi Takeda), 35th in complete games (135, tied with Manabu Kitabeppu), 26th in shutouts (32), 37th in wins (between Nobuyuki Hoshino and Atsushi Aramaki), 57th in losses, 36th in innings (between Sakai and Kazumi Takahashi), 46th in strikeouts (between Yoshiro Sotokoba and Kazuhiko Endo) and 51st in ERA (between Takashi Nishimoto and Tetsuya Utsumi). A fair hitter, Fumio played 37 games in the field or as a pinch-hitter during his career, batting .196/.234/.303 with 15 HR but 208 K in 700 AB. As the DH was introduced in the PL in 1975, he never got a chance to bat in his last seven seasons. From 1966-1974, he had homered at least once every year except 1967 and he slugged .500 in 1971.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• Japanbaseballdaily.com by Gary Garland