Masakatsu Kusaka

Masakatsu Kusaka (日下 正勝)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 176 lb.

• High School Tohoku High School

• Born October 17, 1944 in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Masakatsu Kusaka played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 12 years.

Kusaka signed with the Taiyo Whales in 1962, and he only played 3 games combined in his first three seasons. He led the Eastern League in homers and RBI in 1964, and he led the minors in homers again in 1965. Kusaka was 3-for-11 that season, and he hit .186/.238/.305 in 38 games in 1966. He played 78 games with a .184/.231/.224 batting line in 1967, and he was mainly used as pinch-hitter against southpaws as he only had 49 at-bats. Kusaka then went 7-for-37 in 1968, and he had a .158/.220/.158 batting line in 1969. He had a solid .405/.436/.432 batting line in 37 at-bats in 1970, then his batting line fell to .194/.206/.254 in 1971. Kusaka was 9-for-44 in 1972, and he hit .239/.311/.299 in 1973. He had a 5-for-26 record in 1974, then he announced his retirement in 1975.

Overall, Kusaka hit .216/.262/.271 with 94 hits in 12 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan