Shigeru Mizuhara

Shigeru Mizuhara (水原 茂)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 140 lbs.
• School Keio University
• High School Takamatsu Shogyo High School

• Born January 19, 1909 in Takamatsu, Kagawa Japan
• Died March 26, 1982 in Shinjuku, Tokyo Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Shigeru Mizuhara played and coached in the Nippon Pro Baseball.

Mizuhara was a superstar when he played for Keio University in the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League, and won five pennants for Keio. However, he was involved in a Mahjong gambling scandal and Keio kicked him out. The Tokyo Giants signed him when they were founded in 1936, and he soon became their starting third baseman. He hit .226/.262/.258 in the fall 1936 season, and recorded .252/.361/.335 and .290/.419/.443 batting lines respectively in the spring and fall of 1937. He slumped to .200/.347/.233 in the spring 1938 season, and played as a two-way player in the fall because Eiji Sawamura was enlisted into the military. Mizuhara was 8-2 with a 1.76 ERA on the mound, and hit .242/.367/.363 at the plate.

The Kagawa native extended his solid performance in 1939, hitting .240/.380/.310 and led the Japanese Professional Baseball League in games played with 96. He hit .238/.329/.292 and .253/.386/.318 respectively in the next two seasons, and won his only Best Nine award as a third baseman in 1940. Mizuhara led the Giants to the pennant in 1942 with a .225/.324/.279 batting line (the league was pitcher-dominant at that time, teams hitting a composite .197/.285/.244 that year), and won his only JPBL MVP. However, he was conscripted into the Army in the middle of this season, and spent 8 years in China and Siberia. After he finally returned to Japan, Mizuhara was already a 40-year-old, and he announced his retirement after he went 1-for-5 in 1950.

Mizuhara then managed the Giants for 11 years. He won the Central League pennant and the Nippon Series title from 1951 to 1953, but Shigeru Sugishita and his Chunichi Dragons beat them in 1954. The Giants bounced back soon, and won their fourth CL pennant and Nippon Series title in 1955. However, although he still led the Giants to 4 straight CL pennants, the Giants couldn't add another Nippon Series title under his management. Osamu Mihara and his Nishitetsu Lions beat them in the first three years. The Giants nearly beat the Lions in 1957 as they had a 3-0 lead, but Kazuhisa Inao's incredible performance dashed their hopes; he pitched 26 consecutive shutout innings the rest of the series, and also blasted a walk-off home run in Game 5. In 1959, they encountered another legend in Tadashi Sugiura, who won four straight games in the series. The Giants slipped to a .519 winning percentage in 1960, and Mizuhara left the team.

The Toei Flyers hired Mizuhara as their new manager in 1961, and he soon led them to win 83 games, just 2 1/2 wins shy of the Pacific League pennant. After Yukio Ozaki joined them in 1962, the Flyers finally won their first PL pennant, and also beat the Hanshin Tigers to win their first Nippon Series title. Mizuhara was the second manager to lead a team to win the Nippon Series title in both leagues, followed Mihara. The Flyers still remained in the A-Class in the next five years, but couldn't get another pennant. The Flyers fired Mizuhara in 1967, and the Dragons hired him in 1969. Mizuhara managed them for 3 years, and announced his retirement after the Dragons had a 65-60 record in 1971.

Overall, Mizuhara hit .243/.361/.315 with 476 hits in 8 years in NPB. He was 1,586-1,123-73 with 9 pennants and 5 Nippon Series titles as a manager.

Related Sites

• Stats at japanesebaseball.com
• Wiki Japan