Zenjiro Tadokoro

Zenjiro Tadokoro (田所 善治郎)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 145 lb.

• High School Shizuoka Commercial High School

• Born July 17, 1934 in Yaizu, Shizuoka Japan
• Died January 6, 2021 in Yaizu, Shizuoka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Zenjiro Tadokoro played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 12 years.

Tadokoro helped his high school win the 1952 Spring Koshien, and he completed a shutout in every game. He was the first pitcher to accomplish it after World War II. The Kokutetsu Swallows signed him in 1953, and he went 2-6 with a 3.88 ERA in his first season. He was 4-8 with a 3.68 ERA in 1954, and he had a 5-9 record with a 3.58 ERA in 1955. Tadokoro improved to 7-7 with a 2.11 ERA in 1956, and he had his career year in 1957. He went 15-21 with a 2.41 ERA, and he ranked 9th in ERA in the Central League (between Masaaki Koyama and Motoshi Fujita), 10th in wins (tied with Koyama), 5th in innings (between Toshitake Nakayama and Mitsuo Osaki), 5th in complete games (between Nakayama and Osaki), 8th in strikeouts (between Sho Horiuchi and Fujita) and 3rd in losses (between Ryohei Hasegawa and Koyama).

The Shizuoka native slumped to 6-11 with a 4.14 ERA in 1958, and he set the CL record as he allowed 7 homers in a game on June 1. He went 11-6 with a 3.51 ERA in 1959, and he had a 3-4 record with a 3.44 ERA in 1960. Tadokoro's ERA was 2.76 in 25 appearances in 1961, and he pitched 34 games with a 0-5 record and a 2.67 ERA in 1962. He went 3-2 with a 3.50 ERA in 1963, and he announced his retirement in 1964 after he pitched 11 games with a 4.50 ERA. He later coached the Swallows from 1965 to 1967.

Overall, Tadokoro was 56-83 with a 3.20 ERA, struck out 647 and pitched 1,361 2/3 innings in 12 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan