Ichiro Hiraoka

Ichiro Hiraoka (平岡 一郎)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 8", Weight 165 lb.

• High School Yokohama High School

• Born August 14, 1945 in Odawara, Kanagawa Japan
• Died November 17, 1995

BR register page

Biographical Information

Ichiro Hiraoka pitched for 11 years in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Hiraoka debuted with the Taiyo Whales in 1965, going 3-3 with a 1.96 ERA out of the bullpen. He fell to 1-5, 3.94 in 1966. In 1967, Hiraoka had a 4-5, 3.69 record in 57 games. He led the Central League in appearances. Ichiro went 2-6 with a 3.19 ERA and .220 average in 66 contests in 1968, and he again led the league in games pitched. Usually a reliever, Hiraoka was Taiyo's Opening Day starter in 1969; he finished the year 4-6 with a 3.80 ERA and .223 average allowed.

The Whales then traded him to the Lotte Orions for Katsuji Sakai, and Hiraoka bombed in his lone Pacific League season with a .312 opponent average, 2.01 WHIP and had a 1-1, 7.33 record in 1970. He did much better in his lone Japan Series - in four games in the 1970 Japan Series, he retired six of seven batters faced and walked one. Lotte lost the series to the Yomiuri Giants, though. The Orions traded him back to Taiyo with Yoshihiro Iizuka for Shigeki Ikeda and Sumio Fuchigami in 1971, and Hiraoka was again a solid reliever (3-1, 1.84). He went 3-1 with a 2.26 ERA in 1972. He was 1-2 with a 4.85 ERA in 1973 but allowed ten runs in six innings in 1974. He did not pitch the next year and allowed three runs in two innings in a comeback bid with the Hiroshima Carp in 1976.

Overall, Hiraoka was 22-30 with a 3.50 ERA in 349 games in Nippon Pro Baseball. He was most notable as a Sadaharu Oh specialist, holding Oh homerless in 50 at-bats.

Sourcea

• Japan Baseball Daily by Gary Garland
• Wiki Japan