Giichi Hayashi

Giichi Hayashi (林 義一)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 156 lb.

• School Meiji University
• High School Tokushima Commercial High School

• Born February 1, 1920 in Tokushima, Tokushima Japan
• Died January 17, 2008 in Kita, Tokyo Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Giichi Hayashi pitched for a decade in Nippon Pro Baseball. He led his league in both positive and negative categories during his career. Hayashi was noted for his submarine delivery and wide assortment of breaking balls.

Hayashi played in the Koshien Tournament three times in high school. After college, he played for Zen-Tokushima in the industrial leagues. He got his start in NPB late, being 29 when he debuted for the Daiei Stars in 1949, going 1-1 with a 3.24 ERA in four games. In 1950, he threw 254 2/3 innings, going 18-11 with a 2.40 ERA. He led the new Pacific League with five shutouts, and he was second in ERA (.34 behind Atsushi Aramaki), 4th in wins (tied with Takeshi Nomura, Mitsuro Sawafuji and Yoshio Tenbo) and 3rd in strikeouts (158, between Sawafuji and Hachiro Abe).

In 1951, the submariner fell to 12-11 despite a 2.54 ERA. He was 9th in ERA (between Nomura and Toshiaki Ogata), 6th in strikeouts (95, between Junzo Sekine and Ogata) and 7th in wins (tied with Abe, Masaaki Noguchi and Tokuji Kawasaki). He made the All-Star team that year, and he completed a shutout inning in the 1951 NPB All-Star Game 1. He then pitched 2 1/3 shutout innings to get the win over Hideo Fujimoto in Game 3, and he won the MVP. The next year, the right-hander had a 15-15, 2.97 record. He led the Pacific League with 269 2/3 innings pitched, 20 complete games (in 40 appearances), 1,097 batters faced and 249 hits allowed. Hayashi threw a no-hitter on April 27 against Hankyu for the first no-hitter in Pacific League history. He was 7th in the league in ERA that year (between Nomura and Toshihide Yamane), 9th in strikeouts (72, between Hiroshi Nakahara and Sekine) and 6th in wins.

Hayashi was 17-11 with a 2.66 ERA in 1953 with only 42 walks in 283 2/3 IP. He led the league in complete games (26), hits allowed (260), home runs allowed (13) and earned runs allowed (97). He made his third straight All-Star squad, and he pitched 3 shutout innings in the 1953 NPB All-Star Game and got the win. He finished 9th in ERA (between Sawafuji and Victor Starffin), 3rd in wins (tied with Aramaki and Eiji Shibata) and 9th in losses (tied with Shigeaki Kuroo and Mamoru Otsu). In 1954, Hayashi's record was 8-20 with a 2.90 ERA. He was 3rd in losses, between Yoshiharu Ogawa and Yoshihiko Taki.

The Tokushima native went 19-15 in 1955 with a 2.36 ERA in 278 innings of work. He tied Mamoru Otsu and Takao Kajimoto for the shutout lead (6) and was 9th in the league in ERA (between Aramaki and Kawasaki) and 6th in wins (tied with Sadao Nishimura). In his final season with Daiei in 1956, the veteran submariner was 4-12 with a 2.86 ERA and 17 walks in 109 1/3 innings. He joined the Hankyu Braves for the 1957 season and was 4-2 with a 2.70 ERA in a reduced role (59 2/3 innings, 21 games). He only pitched two innings in 1958 to wrap up his playing career.

After retiring as a player, Hayashi became the pitching coach for Hankyu. He took over the managerial reigns on June 20, 1959 and guided them to a 27-52-3 record the rest of the way. He managed the Kokutetsu Swallows for all of 1964, with a 61-74-5 record for a 5th-place finish. After a 2-10-1 start in 1965, he resigned. He later coached for the Hanshin Tigers and Seibu Lions. Hayashi died of cardiac arrest in 2008.

Overall, Hayashi was 98-98 with a 2.66 ERA, struck out 667 and pitched 1,785 innings in 10 seasons in NPB. As of 2025, he was 33rd in completed games in NPB history with 139, between Yasuo Yonekawa and Kuroo.

Source

• Japan Baseball Daily by Gary Garland
• Wiki Japan