Masakazu Kito

Masakazu Kito (鬼頭 政一)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 136 lb.

• High School The Third High School of Nihon University

• Born February 9, 1920 in Nagoya, Aichi Japan
• Died November 4, 2008

BR register page

Biographical Information

Masakazu Kito played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 12 years. His brothers Kazuo Kito and Katsuji Kito also played in NPB.

Kito signed with the Nagoya club in 1940, but he only played one game for them and he jumped to the Asahi club. He hit .172/.281/.193 in the rest of the season, and he hit .204/.325/.244 in 81 games in 1941. Kito recorded a .207/.317/.253 batting line in 76 games in 1942, and he enlisted into the military. He returned in 1950 with the Nishitetsu Lions, and he hit .238/.286/.346 in 93 games. He slumped to .149/.178/.211 in 1951, and the Lions released him. The Kintetsu Buffaloes picked him up, and Kito improved to .320/.353/.474 in 1952. He ranked 4th in batting in the Pacific League, between Tokuji Iida and John Britton.

The Nagoya native slumped to .209/.284/.288 in 1953, and he soon bounced back with a .292/.370/.375 batting line in 1954. Kito was 9th in batting, between Charlie Luis and Kazuo Kasahara. He only played 19 games with a .317/.462/.390 batting line in 1955, and he never had more than 60 at-bats in a season before he announced his retirement in 1958. Kito then coached Nichinan High School and Yanagawa Commercial High School, and he was named the batting coach for the Lions from 1968 to 1969.

When Futoshi Nakanishi resigned due to the Black Mist Scandal in 1970, Kito was named the interim manager for 21 games, and he led them to a 14-7 record. He then managed their minor league team from 1970 to 1971, and he was their bench coach from 1972 to 1974. He then served as a scout in 1975, and he was named the new manager of the Lions in 1976. Kito led the Lions to last-place finishes in two consecutive seasons, and he was fired in 1977, replaced by Rikuo Nemoto.

Overall, Kito hit .239/.319/.318 with 511 hits and 19 homers in 12 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan