Masaji Hiramatsu

From BR Bullpen

MasajiHiramatsu.jpeg

Masaji Hiramatsu (平松 政次)

BR register page

Biographical Information[edit]

Masaji Hiramatsu won over 200 games for the Taiyo Whales. He was an 8-time All-Star and a two-time Best Nine pick. He is considered the top shuuto pitcher in Nippon Pro Baseball history; his throw was nicknamed the "razor shuuto" as it seemed to "cut the air".

Hiramatsu starred in the 1965 spring Koshien, throwing four shutouts in a row then going 13 innings in the finale to give his school the title. He was taken in the second round of the secondary phase of the 1966 NPB draft by Taiyo. Masaji was 3-4 with a 3.58 ERA as a rookie in 1967. He fell to 5-12, 4.26 in 1968 at age 20, and he was 6th in losses in the Central League (tied with Yutaka Enatsu and Tsutomu Tanaka).

In 1969, Hiramatsu improved to 14-12, 2.56 in 245 2/3 innings over 57 games. He led the Central League in appearances, and he finished 7th in the league in ERA (between [Ritsuo Yamashita]] and Keishi Asano), 6th in strikeouts (157, between Tsuneo Horiuchi and Yamashita) and 6th in wins (tied with Horiuchi). He made his first All-Star team as well, and he allowed one run in one inning in 1979 NPB All-Star Game 2. He then relieved Yoshiro Sotokoba in the 12th inning of Game 3, and he fanned 4 in 2 shutout innings.

The Okayama native had a busy year in 1970 with 332 2/3 innings over 51 games, going 25-19 with a 1.95 ERA. He held opponents to a .193 batting average and struck out 182 while walking 68 for a 0.88 WHIP in his career year. He was second to Minoru Murayama in ERA and led the CL in both wins and losses, amazingly enough. He made his second All-Star team, and he completed 3 shutout innings in the 1970 NPB All-Star Game 2. Hiramatsu was chosen to the Best Nine as his league's top hurler and took the Sawamura Award as the top pitcher in the Central League.

Hiramatsu went 17-13 with a 2.23 ERA and .211 average allowed in 279 innings in 1971. He was 7th in the league in ERA (between Tomoo Wako and Enatsu), 5th in losses, 3rd in shutouts and 3rd in strikeouts (153, between Horiuchi and Kazumi Takahashi). Hiramatsu was voted into the 1971 NPB All-Star Game, but he allowed 3 runs including a solo shot to Isao Harimoto and got the loss in Game 3. He also led in wins, the lowest total to lead the CL to that point and the lowest to pace any NPB circuit since Victor Starffin won 14 in the two-season-per-year format of 1938. Suguru Egawa was the first CL pitcher to lead the loop with a lower total, 16, in 1980. Hiramatsu again made the Best Nine.

The Taiyo hurler was 13-15 with a 3.44 ERA in 1972 and led the CL with four wild pitches. He was 6th in wins (tied with Yukitsura Matsumoto and Katsuya Sugawara), 7th in strikeouts (118, between Hiromu Matsuoka and Hidetake Watanabe) and 2nd in losses (tied with Yataro Oishi and Sotokoba). He made the All-Star team again, and he pitched 2 shutout innings in the 1972 NPB All-Star Game. He went 17-11 with a 3.03 ERA in 1973 and he ranked 7th in wins (between Makoto Kurata and Senichi Hoshino). Hiramatsu was picked as an All-Star for the fifth straight campaign, and he pitched 2 shutout innings in the 1973 NPB All-Star Game 1.

Hiramatsu's All-Star run reached six in 1974, and he completed 3 shutout innings with 3 Ks in the 1974 NPB All-Star Game 1. He was 15-16 with two saves and a 3.66 ERA, and he was 3rd in strikeouts (175, between Sotokoba and Matsuoka) and 6th in wins (tied with Hoshino and Kenji Furusawa). He tied Sotokoba for the league lead in losses, led in homers surrendered (37) and led in runs allowed (112). Hiramatsu failed to make the All-Star cut in 1975 when he finished 12-10 with two saves and a 3.24 ERA, allowing a .228 average. He was 3rd in K s (134), only behind Matsuoka and Sotokoba.

The veteran was an All-Star for the 7th time when he was chosen in 1976, and he surrendered 3 runs in 2 innings in the 1976 NPB All-Star Game 2. That year, Hiramatsu went 13-17 with two saves and a 3.80 ERA. He led the CL in homers allowed (40), walks (95), runs allowed (121) and earned runs allowed (110), as well as losses (tying teammate Hideyuki Okue on a last-place squad). He just missed the top 10 in ERA. The tireless Taiyo pitcher had a 10-9, 3.96 record with one save in 1977 and was 10-5 with 7 saves and a 3.93 ERA in the next year. He was 13-7 with a save and a 2.39 ERA in 1979. He led the league in ERA for the only time, beating out Takashi Nishimoto by a solid .37. It was his last time leading in any category, whether positive or negative.

Hiramatsu made his 8th and last All-Star team at age 32 in 1980, but he allowed a game-winning 2-run shot to Mitsuyasu Hirano in the 1980 NPB All-Star Game 2 and he got the loss. For the year, his record read 10-11, 4.29 with a .294 opponent average. It was his 12th straight season with double-digit wins. In 1981, he was 6-7 with a save and a 3.50 ERA. In his 17th season, 1982, the right-hander had a 9-10, 3.98 record followed by 8-8, 3.92 in 1983 and 1-10, 5.68 in 1984, to end things up. He joined the meikyukai with his 200th win, his last one of '83. Hiramatsu later was a broadcaster for Fuji Television. He was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame by the Expert Division in 2017, just making the cut; he was named on 84 of 112 ballots, the minimum needed.

Overall, he was 201-196 with 16 saves and a 3.31 ERA in 635 career games in NPB, posting a winning record despite never playing for a pennant-winner. Through 2025, he ranked 23rd in NPB annals in wins (between Tsuneo Horiuchi and Hideo Fujimoto), 8th in losses (between Ryohei Hasegawa and Masanori Ishikawa), 25th in complete games (214 in 421 starts), 30th in games pitched (tied with Kimiyasu Kudoh), 14th in innings (3,360 2/3, between Hasegawa and Masahiro Yamamoto), 22nd in strikeouts (2,045, between Hisashi Yamada and Nobuyuki Hoshino), 21st in walks (990), 10th in hit batsmen (120, retiring as the CL leader), 16th in hits allowed (3,037, between Kudoh and Choji Murata), 7th in homers allowed (374, between Ishikawa and Tetsuya Yoneda), 13th in earned runs allowed (1,236) and 60th in ERA (between Kozo Naito and Naoki Takahashi). He also hit 25 home runs, 4th all-time among pitchers through 2025.

Sources[edit]

Retrieved from "https://www.baseball-reference.com/bpv/index.php?title=Masaji_Hiramatsu&oldid=1492348"