NOTE:  Anyone looking at the "all player decade teams" should be aware clicking on the player name takes you to the index, and clicking on the "Leagues" link takes you to the comment(s) on the player that decade. I apologize for this somewhat clunky arrangement, but I don't want to use space on repeats and any other scheme I came up had drawbacks as well.

One League Era (before 1950)

Decade	League	League	All Players
One League Era (pre-1950)			All Players
1950 through 1959	Central	Pacific	All Players
1960 through 1969	Central	Pacific	All Players
1970 through 1979	Central	Pacific	All Players
1980 through 1989	Central	Pacific	All Players
1990 through 1999	Central	Pacific	All Players

I chose to make the whole period before 1950 a "decade" for several reasons:
   1)  NPB didn't exist until 1936;
   2)  The 1936 "season" was simply a series of tournaments and therefore doesn't fit well with my analytical system. Accordingly, I disregard it unless the player's career absolutely requires I consider it;
   3)  Disruptions in player careers because of World War II;
   4)  The very short (35 game) 1944 season and the cancelled 1945 season;
   5)  The generally shorter schedules before 1950; and
   6)  It would have been a mess to try and do a 1930's team for a mere three or four years.

Takeshi Doigaki     c   264 points
His best looking seasons are quite good years, but not as good as they look because they came in years when things strongly favored hitters. As a result, he never had a "Hall of Famer" type season of 24 points or more.

Masaki Yoshihara     c   150 points
Led the league in walks once, and his .237 career average is more impressive than it looks before you take into account the deadball nature of the game in which he played. He was only 22 in his last season of 1941, and had risen to sixth in the batting race. Clearly, he had the potential for a fine NPB career if WW II hadn't intervened.

Tetsuharu Kawakami    1b   388 points
The best position player of this era. He had five of his seven Hall of Famer type seasons of 24 or more EWS in this era. He doesn't get a great deal of boost from the system for the three years he missed to the war, only 36 points. He probably should get more than that, but any rating system has problems like that.

Akira Noguchi     1b-p   272 points
His monster season came as a pitcher in 1937. In the whole year (both the spring and fall halves), he was 34-22 in 492.1 innings (almost 2/3 of his career total) with a 2.21 ERA. Unfortunately, the heavy usage seems to have ruined his arm, so he became a first baseman. In 1949, he went to the Dragons and became a full-time catcher at age 31. He led the league in triples and RBI in 1942.

Shigeru Chiba     2b   369 points
William McNeil's Baseball's Other Stars said Chiba was "a defensive standout for 15 years." He lost 4 years to the war, from ages 23 to 27. My approach gives him 60 points for those years, but I suspect that's conservative. He never had a "Hall of Famer-type season" of 24 or more points, but he had some near misses of that standard. Thus, a better analysis of his defense might get him one or two such years.

Yasuji Hondo     2b   234 points
He had some speed, with four seasons of 15 or more steals. He also had decent averages, finishing in the top eight in the batting race three times.

Kazuto Yamamoto     3b   402 points
He lost six seasons to the war in what should have been the prime years of his career. My method gives him 118 points for those missing years because of the length of the lost time; his "Hall of Famer" type season in 1939, his last before military service; his good return year; and his high average score for the seasons he did play. All in all, I think that 118 point adjustment is realistic, if not even conservative.

Fumio Fujimura     3b   391 points
He lost five years to the war, but because of his awful 1943 season, he only gets 65 points for them. That number is quite conservative in my view, and I subjectively think he should rate ahead of Yamamoto. He had two of his three Hall of Famer type years in this period.

Toshio Shiraishi     ss   322 points
He had three seasons which just missed the 24 point "Hall of Famer" standard, but a better analysis of defense might get him a couple of those seasons. He missed 1944 and 1945 because of the war, and missed 1947 for reasons I am unaware of.

Fujio Ueda     2b-ss   227 points
The only year he lost to the war was the one everybody in Japan lost, 1945 (because they suspended play that year). He would have been 33 that year, so it wasn't likely to be one of his best. He came to NPB at age 25, so he might have lost a few of his early years before NPB came about. Even if you give him every reasonable break for those missing seasons, he's still not particularly close to the standard for the Japanese Hall of Fame.

Shosei Go     of   404 points
He didn't make any franchise all-star team because he split this era between the Giants and the Tigers, and then spent his declining years with the Orions. In short, he didn't stay with any one team long enough to get on its franchise all-star squad. He was close with the Giants, but the standard to make their squad is quite high.

Michinori Tsubouchi    of   291 points
The only year he missed to the war was the suspended season of 1945. He was 22 when he came to NPB in 1936, so he probably didn't miss too much time because of when NPB began. My opinion is that his career falls short of being JHOF caliber, but that's not what the Japanese Hall decided.

Den Yamada     of   290 points
The suspended year of 1945 may have been more costly to him than it was for most players. In the three years before that season, he was fourth, second and seventh in the batting race and added the league leadership in walks in 1944. In 1946, he fell to 25th, and he was ineffective in his last two years. He was 31 in 1945, and it may be that without consistent practice and/or top-level competition that age took a particularly heavy toll on his talents.

Masaru Kageura     of   262 points
He was only 24 when he went into the military, and only two years removed from a marvelous pair of 1937 campaigns that together score 39 EWS, a very high figure.

Haruyasu Nakajima    of   258 points
He was 27 when NPB began, and his best years in NPB were in his first few NPB seasons. He had a big dropoff in 1943 at age 33 and never recovered. He may well be a legitimate Japanese Hall of Fame caliber player, but not based solely upon his work in NPB. He won batting titles in both halves of the 1938 season. From 1937 to 1942, he was always in the top nine in the batting race.

Makoto Kozuru     of   247 points
He's another player who moved around too much to make any franchise all-star teams. He won two Best Nines and a MVP, one of the Best Nines and the MVP coming in 1950. His first monster season was 1949 when he won his only batting title with a .361 average. He added 15 steals, 24 homers and 75 walks to that .361 average, yet the 1949 season is only his second best. The 1950 season was even better, but we'll cover that one in the next decade.

Victor Starffin     p   646 points
Starffin is the most valuable player of this era. As I noted elsewhere, the best season I've seen in NPB under the EWS system is Starffin's 1940 campaign. He scored 53 points then. That year, he went 38-12 in 436 innings with a 0.97 ERA. He had monster years each year from 1937 to 1940, then again in 1942, and one last time in 1949.

Jiro Noguchi     p   627 points
His best season as seen by the EWS rating system was also in 1940, when he scored 51 points. He was 33-11 that year with a league leading 0.93 ERA in 387 innings. All of his first five years were monsters, the lowest rated among them scoring a hefty 35 points. He was 33-19 in that year in 459 innings, but was "only" sixth in the ERA race.

Tadashi Wakabyashi    p   553 points
He had five Hall of Famer type seasons (24 or more points) and three more near misses (22 or more points). The rating system picks as his best the 1943 season when he went 24-15 in 415.2 innings with a 1.05 ERA, good for third in the league. That one scores at 43 points. The system thinks that his 1939 season is almost as good at 41 points. That year, he went 28-7 in 330 innings with a league leading 1.09 ERA.

Hideo Fujimoto     p   419 points
He had a season that scored 52 EWS points in 1943 when he led the league in wins (34), winning percentage(.756), strikeouts (253), innings pitched (432.2), and ERA (0.73). He had two other seasons of over 30 points, one in 1949 and the other in 1950.

Akira Bessho     p   347 points
He had three Hall of Famer type seasons in this era, the best being a 33 point effort in 1947, when he was 30-19 with a 1.86 ERA in 448.1 innings. He led the league that season in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts, and was fourth in ERA. He had the bulk of his best years in the 1950's though.

Takao Misonoo     p   339 points
He never had a Hall of Famer type season. His two best seasons were almost equal parts hitting/position play on one hand and pitching on the other. If he didn't combine the two parts, he'd have only been an above average player. It's a unique combination, but it helped his teams and should be counted that way.

Kotaro Mori     p   321 points
His three big seasons are from 1940 to 1942 and are the sole reason he rates this highly. For more details on those years, please see the comment on him in the Blue Wave's franchise all-stars article.

Teruzo Nakao     p   312 points
He had three "Hall of Famer type seasons" of 24 EWS or more in 1940. 1941, and 1948. The 1948 system is the highest rated basically because he led the league in ERA that time and he didn't in the others. Probably the main reason he reached that pinnacle in 1948 was his control was the best of those three years, at 3.04 walks/9 innings. His next best in those three years was 5.45 walks/9 innings. On the other hand, his hits/9 innings was the highest of the three in 1948 at 6.43, the next worst being at 5.78.

Juzo Sanada     p   286 points
He had the first of his two Hall of Famer type seasons in 1948, when he scored 32 points. His other such season was 1950 and was even better, but we'll discuss it next decade. The 1948 marks were 25-19 in 392.2 innings with a 2.22 ERA, which was good for sixth in the ERA race. His 1950 ERA was higher, but runs were much more plentiful that year. Also, in 1950 Sanada was much more effective at the plate.

Sadayoshi Fujimoto    mgr   30.50 points
He won 4 pennants and two split seasons in this era without playoffs. His record in this era was 547-306-26 for a .641 winning percentage as calculated by the Japanese, who ignore ties. One of the key aspects of his building the Giants into a powerhouse was a harsh training camp in September 1936 to toughen them up. It was called "vomit practice" because players were forced to exert themselves to the point of vomiting in 90 plus degree (Fahrenheit) heat.

Decade	League	League	All Players
One League Era (pre-1950)			All Players
1950 through 1959	Central	Pacific	All Players
1960 through 1969	Central	Pacific	All Players
1970 through 1979	Central	Pacific	All Players
1980 through 1989	Central	Pacific	All Players
1990 through 1999	Central	Pacific	All Players

1950's

From this point on, we will do a team for each league, and then a team for "all players", without regard for the NPB league(s) they played in. The reason for the "all players" league is to see that players traded between leagues are treated fairly. However, I will only provide additional commentary for a player on the "all players" team when circumstances warrant.

Shigeru Fujio     c   185 points
He won 4 Best Nines at catcher. He twice finished fifth in average and had 11-15 homers four times. He had 12-14 steals three times, and his career average was .253.

Akira Noguchi     c   143 points
He was 32 by the time the decade started, so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise he only had 2 AB after 1954. He hit almost exactly half of his homers in this decade in 1950 when he hit 18 of the 37 he would get in this decade. His hitting was definitely on a downward slope this decade, which isn't surprising given his age. Even so, he was good enough to win two Best Nines at catcher in this decade. Also of note is this is the second decade all-star team he made, the first being as a reserve at first base in the one league era.

Tetsuaharu Kawakami     1b   325 points
This is his second all-decade team. He starts for the Central League, but is on the bench for the overall 1950's team. His averages are higher in this decade, but his seasons in the 1950's aren't as impressive because 1) his power is down, and 2) runs were more plentiful in this decade.

Michio Nishizawa     1b   298 points
He's far more valuable in this decade than he was in the one league era. Both of his Hall of Famer type seasons came this decade and he came close another time.

Shigeru Chiba     2b   251 points
By the middle of the 1950 season, he was 31. He played regularly through 1955 and lost his job with a poor season that year. In this decade, he had three of his league leaderships in walks and was twice in the top six in average. I'd say he managed to age rather gracefully. This is his second all-decade team, and he even makes the 1950 overall team as a reserve.

Noburu Inoue     2b   235 points
He was in the top seven in average four times, though one of them came in 1961. He had 14-18 homers four years in his career, but two of them were in the 1960's. His two seasons of twenty or more steals came in the fifties as did three of his other six seasons with double digit steal totals. The method selects 1958 as his best year, when he hit .280 to finish sixth in the league in average and added his career highs in homers (18) and steals (26). He was only 24 at that time. However, when Morimichi Takagi came up, the Dragons traded him to the Hawks, who promptly put him in the outfield. His career withered after that.

Fumio Fujimura     3b-1b   324 points
He also achieved the high honor of making his second all-decade team, as a starter for the Central League and as Nakanishi's backup in the overall 1950's squad.

Hiroji Okajima     3b   231 points
He had a Hall of Famer type year in 1958 when he lead the league in steals and walks to go with a .269 average and a career high 16 homers. He led the league in steals and walks again in 1959, but his average dipped to .243, and was only over .247 once more. He led the league in walks in 1957 as well.

Yoshio Yoshida     ss   285 points
He had an excellent year in 1964 to lead the Tigers to the pennant, but my rating method says his Hall of Famer type year came in 1956, when he hit .290 and stole 50 bases.

Tatsuro Hirooka     ss   229 points
He had a super rookie season at age 22, but he went backward as a player in his sophomore season and never moved forward from that point. He remained a solid player through his sixth season and then declined seriously after that. Those first six seasons all came in the 1950's and are responsible for this rating.

Wally Yonamine     of   383 points
He came to Japan in 1951 as a 26 year old. His career was essentially over as the decade ended. In 1959, he finished third in the batting race with a .287 average, which was his lowest average to that point. After that, he played in three seasons but never got his average over .228 for a year. He was also gracious in giving up his planned move to first base so that Sadaharu Oh could play, though one wonders if he wouldn't have been pushed aside had he not been gracious about it, because of his poor play and Oh's potential. He played well enough this decade to be a starter on the overall 1950's decade team.

Makoto Kozuru     of   321 points
He had his career year in 1950 when he hit .355 to finish second in the batting race, and led the league in homers, RBI and slugging percentage. He also walked 89 times and stole 28 bases. Obviously, he was a key to the Robins' success that season. He's a starter on the 1950's CL team and a reserve on the overall 1950's team, the second decade in which he made a decade all-star team.

Kenjiro Tamiya     of   317 points
He went to the Orions in 1959, and his season there moves him ahead of Kozuru in the overall all-decade team, though not into a starting role on that squad. He only had 467 AB before 1954, because he began his NPB as a pitcher and turned out to not be very good at it (12-12 with a 4.65 ERA). Once he got into the outfield, he turned in four Hall of Famer type seasons of 24 or more EWS.

Noburu Aota     of   303 points
There are two major reasons he didn't make any team's franchise all-star squad. The first is that he played for four teams, which hurt his chances of making any one of them. The second is that the team he played best for was the Giants, and they're so stocked with talent that their standards are higher than almost everyone else's. He had two Hall of Famer type seasons in 1948 and 1950. He won one batting title and finished third another time. He had a .290 or better average five times, excluding seasons of 125 or less AB. He led the league in homers five times, RBI twice and slugging percentage once. He hit 20 or more homers in seven seasons. I think he has a legitimate Japanese HOF resume, and wonder why he still hasn't gotten that honor.

Masayasu Kaneda     of   270 points
He had one Hall of Famer type year, in 1953 at age 32. That year, he hit .324 to finish second in the batting race and led the league in walks with 87. He also led the league with 11 triples and stole 27 bases in 36 attempts and added his second best ever season in slugging percentage at .473.

Satoshi Sugiyama     of   263 points
He never had a Hall of Famer type season. He led the league in slugging percentage and homers in 1952 and in RBI in 1954. He slugged .500 or better four times.

Masaichi Kaneda     p   534 points
He's the best player of the decade, the last time a pitcher has held that distinction. He had at least 20 wins every year in this decade except for his rookie year of 1950, twice leading the league in that category this decade. He was 234-183 in that time, and if he hadn't worked for the generally poor Swallows teams, he almost certainly would have done better. He led the league seven times in strikeouts during the decade, twice won the ERA title, and except for his rookie year, was always in the top 10 in ERA. From 1955 to 1958, his highest ERA was 1.78, and he pitched at least 332 innings in each of those years. I'd love to know how he performed in the 332 games he finished in relief, just as I'd like to know that data for other top Japanese pitchers before 1974. For one thing, that data could shake up the rankings among the top pitchers.

Akira Bessho     p   523 points
He had six Hall of Famer type seasons in this decade, the best being his 1952 campaign, when he was 33-13 with an ERA of 1.94 (second best in the league) in a league leading 371.1 innings. His run in the fifties is quite impressive, and was a major factor in the success of the Giants in this decade. This is his second all-decade team, but this time he's the second best pitcher overall instead of the fifth best.

Shigeru Sugishita     p   517 points
Only two seasons in his career fall outside this decade. His best year was 1954, which the system scores at 46 points. It is only one of the five years he had a Hall of Famer type year. That year, he led in appearances, games finished in relief, shutouts, wins, winning percentage, innings pitched, strikeouts, and ERA. He was 32-12 with a 1.39 ERA with 273 K's in 395.1 IP.

Ryohei Hasegawa     p   413 points
He makes the overall all-decade team, but not its starting rotation. He had two Hall of Famer type seasons according to the rating system in 1954 and 1955. He finished fourth in ERA both years and led the league with 30 wins in 1955. The main reason the system prefers 1955 is that he pitched 387.1 innings that year versus 310.2 in 1954. In those two seasons, he went 48-34 for teams which won a total of 114 games in those two years. The teams in those two years were so bad he had to record a 1.75 ERA over those two years to win as many as he did.

Takumi Otomo     p   359 points
He had three consecutive Hall of Fame type seasons from 1953 to 1955. In those three years, he was 78-27 in 863.2 IP with an ERA of 1.76. Unfortunately, he burned out soon after that. Still, he's good enough to make the overall all-decade team.

Masaaki Koyama     p   275 points
He came up as an 18 year old in 1953 and was lightly used by Japanese standards in his first three years (only one season over 131 IP, and only 166 at that). Thereafter, he was used in a more typical fashion for Japan, 1139.2 innings over the next four years. He had a total of four Hall of Famer type seasons, two of which came in this decade. He performed well enough this decade to make the overall all decade squad.

Hideo Fujimoto     p   263 points
He pitched until 1955, but only 24.2 innings in his last two seasons. It's enough to get him on to his second all-decade team, though not the overall 1950's squad.

Takao Fujimura     p   254 points
He came up as an 18 year old in 1940, but from 1942 to 1948 he pitched just 115.1 innings in NPB. The only season that jumps out at you in his record is 1952, when he went 25-6 in 260 innings with a 2.63 ERA, which was seventh best in the league that year.

Juzo Sanada     p   248 points
This is the second decade in which he makes an all-decade team, but not the overall decade team this time. His 1950 season is scored at 40 points, and it was a monster. He was 39-12 in 395.2 innings and while his ERA was 3.05, runs were so plentiful that year he finished eighth. He led in wins and innings pitched and added an excellent year at the plate as well. He didn't play in the field that year, but he still had 172 AB, a .314 average, 22 walks and a .448 slugging percentage. His on-base percentage was a marvelous .392 that year. That would be a nice contribution from a part-time position player, but such a contribution from a pitcher like him is spectacular.

Shigeru Mizuhara    mgr    45.23 points
The Central League and overall decade team manager of the 1950's is the man who led the Giants throughout the decade. He won 4 Japan Series titles and 8 total pennants this decade. The main difference between him and Tsuruoka for the overall team managerial position is three Japan Series titles and three pennants. His record for the decade is 815-438-26, which is a .650 winning percentage when ties are ignored as per the Japanese custom.

Decade	League	League	All Players
One League Era (pre-1950)			All Players
1950 through 1959	Central	Pacific	All Players
1960 through 1969	Central	Pacific	All Players
1970 through 1979	Central	Pacific	All Players
1980 through 1989	Central	Pacific	All Players
1990 through 1999	Central	Pacific	All Players

Katsuya Nomura     c   230 points
He's the best catcher of the decade despite having only 11 AB before 1956. After that, though, he hit 101 homers and his lowest average was .253. He had his first Hall of Fame caliber year in 1957 when he led the league with 30 homers to go with his .302 average and .538 slugging percentage while catching in all of his team's games. Don Blasingame says Nomura's arm wasn't "real strong", but he was able to throw out a lot of runners by being quite good at calling pitchouts when guys were running. In short, Nomura played smart ball.

Takeshi Doigaki     c   216 points
He's not only the backup catcher of the 1950's PL all-stars, he's the backup catcher of the overall all-decade team as well. That puts him on his second overall all-decade team, a significant achievement, to say the least. It's probably more impressive that he was the very best catcher of the one league era, but finishing a reasonably close second to Nomura is hardly a disgrace.

Tokuji Iida     1b   332 points
He scores a little better for the overall decade than for the PL alone because in 1957 he went to the Central League's Swallows and stayed with them to the end of his career. His Pacific League accomplishments alone are enough to make him the best first baseman of the 1950's in NPB, though. The system rates 1955 as his best season because 1) he played in 143 games, 2) compared to earlier in the decade, many fewer runs were scored in Hawk games that year, and 3) he hit .310 with 72 walks for a .394 on base percentage. The ability to get on base also means a player has avoided using up one of the team's precious 27 outs, so a high on base percentage is a very important attribute.

Kihachi Enomoto     1b   274 points
He first played in 1955 as an 18 year old, and was a force from the outset. He led in walks in each of his first two seasons to go with top ten batting averages and decent power (16 and 15 HR, respectively). Those two years are two of his five Hall of Famer type seasons, the only two in this decade. His third through fifth years in NPB were good but still a step down from his freshman and sophomore seasons.

Isami Okamoto     2b   286 points
He came up as a 19 year old in 1950 and by 1952 he was a regular. Even though he never had a Hall of Famer type season, he still is the best second baseman of the 1950's.

Chico Barbon     2b   211 points
He came to Japan at a young age for a Western gaijin, 22. He won a Best Nine in 1958. He had very little power, with a career high of 8 homers. He had two solid years of hitting for average, his rookie year, 1955 (.280), and 1958 (.268). Otherwise, he only hit over .239 once, and that was in only 172 AB. He did have decent walk totals, and he also had speed. He led the league in steals three times (one of the was in the 1960's) and triples twice. In each of his first six seasons he stole at least 32 bases and 245 total for the six years.

Futoshi Nakanishi     3b   457 points
The best position player of the fifties in NPB. He arrived in NPB as a 19 year old in 1952. He was good as a rookie, and spectacular from 1953 through 1958, registering Hall of Fame caliber seasons in all six years. Then came the wrist injury in 1959, and he was not able to make a big contribution ever again.

Kazuo Kageyama     3b   286 points
He never had a Hall of Fame caliber year. His ability to draw walks made his first five seasons quite good, and kept his last five from being of minimal value.

Yasumitsu Toyoda     ss   398 points
The third best position player of the decade played right beside the best (Nakanishi) from 1953 to 1959. He had three of his seven Hall of Fame caliber seasons in this decade, including what is rated his very best season, 1956. That year, he hit .325 to win the batting title and added 76 walks and stole 31 bases. He was well below his best in HR with 12, but he had his career high in triples with 12 to compensate.

Chusuke Kizuka     ss   212 points
He never had a really big season because he didn't walk much and had little power. Thus, his value resided almost exclusively in his defense and batting average. When the average declined from 1953 on, he was an ordinary player at best.

Kazuhiro Yamauchi     of   423 points
According to Fitts and Engel, he had 216 at bats against touring major leaguers and hit .301 but with only 3 HR. He's the best outfielder of the 1950's in NPB.

Hiroshi Oshita     of   341 points
He had seven seasons in which he qualified for the batting title and hit over .300 (of the nine in his career) and also had four of his career seven seasons of slugging over .500 in this decade. Such a standout performance wins him a spot among the starters on the all-decade team.

Seiji Sekiguchi     of   288 points
He was a valuable piece of the 1950's Lions dynasty, though not a big star. A powerhouse like those Lions clubs usually needs guys like Sekiguchi who make a significant contribution because then they're getting production from almost everywhere instead of having to deal with holes in the lineup. Any hole is a weakness which another championship caliber club will try to exploit--and those Lions had to combat the Giants and the Hawks of their time.

Kaoru Betto     of   258 points
His peak came in his second and third seasons, at ages 28 and 29 (he actually turned 30 late in the third season). His first five years are rather good, but because he started late, there's not a lot to back it up. This decade even misses his first two seasons, which is why he doesn't even start for the Pacific League all decade team.

Shoichi Busujima     of   241 points
His rookie year was 1954, which is a bit of a handicap in this decade's all-star teams because he gets nothing from the first four years of the decade. His 1957 season is the only one which the rating system sees as a Hall of Famer-type season. Even so, the only stat that year which impresses you is his .307 average, which put him in third place that year.

Katsuki Tokura     of   234 points
He was a 35 year old rookie in 1950 and had an excellent career for a player 35 and older. I'd love to know why he didn't play in NPB sooner. I'd suspect WW II played a part in that. He slugged .500 and hit 21 homers in 1950. Considering his age, he had good speed, stealing 20 or more bases three times. He hit .293 or better four times, finishing in the top eight in average each time. He could only manage 8 seasons before Father Time caught up with him.

Kazuhisa Inao     p   472 points
The rating system gives him enough credit for his exceptional performances that he ranks #1 among Pacific League players despite the fact his rookie year was 1956. Of course, in those 4 seasons he pitched 1411 innings and led the league in ERA three times and "slipped" to second in the fourth. He finishes fourth among pitchers for the whole decade solely due to his late start.

Atsushi Aramaki     p   368 points
He never had an ERA over 2.42 this decade despite pitching throughout the decade. He was washed up when it ended, going 0-2 in 66.2 IP with a 3.51 ERA in the 1960's even though he was only 33 when the 1950's ended. He appears to have been another casualty of Japanese training methods for pitchers and the usage patterns for pitchers (i.e. make them throw until their arms fall off, then get a new guy).

Takao Kajimoto     p   292 points
He was a rookie in 1954, which keeps his value in this decade down. He did have Hall of Fame caliber years in three of his first four seasons, but few of his seasons after that could reasonably be called better than "solid". He won nearly half his career victories this decade (117 of 254) while only collecting less than 37% of his career losses (94 of 255). This decade isn't the problem for his JHOF case, to be sure. He's good enough to make the overall all-decade staff despite his late start.

Yasuo Yonekawa     p   272 points
He loses a lot of points because of the rating system's use of the best five consecutive season element. He wasn't much outside of the 1950-1955 seasons, and while he had two excellent years in 1950 and 1951, he pitched only 23.2 innings in 1952, had a decent 1953, and then had two of his best three seasons. As a result, he loses one of his four best seasons and in return gets very little from 1952 for the five consecutive season element. The system rates 1955 as his best. That year, he went 22-21 for a 51-89 team, pitching 353.1 innings with a 2.26 ERA, his best in a season of at least 24 innings.

Tokuji Kawasaki     p   268 points
He turned 29 early in the 1950 season, so he makes his only all decade squad based on the final eight years of his career. By the time the Lions were a powerhouse, he was fading.

Giichi Hayashi     p   254 points
He got a late start in NPB, at age 29 in 1949. All but 25 of his career innings pitched came in the 1950's.

Sadaaki Nishimura     p   251 points
His career was toast by age 22. From that point on, he pitched 317 innings over five seasons, going 18-21 with a 3.01 ERA. Craig Wright wrote in The Diamond Appraised about how important it is to be careful with talented young arms, and this guy is a great example of what often happens when you aren't. He was excellent in 1954-1956 while being used rather hard (60 games finished in relief plus 77 starts) and it looks like he paid the price for it.

Susumu Yuki     p   239 points
He got his start in NPB in 1948 at age 27. He was 93-40 with a 2.36 ERA in the decade in only 1067.1 innings. Even so, he was an important part of the Hawk powerhouses at the start of the decade.

Hisafumi Kawamura     p   231 points
He was a valuable part of the Lion dynasty at the end of the decade. He was 102-61 with a 2.42 ERA in 1348.1 innings from 1953 through 1959. Actually, he was washed up by 1959, pitching only 64 innings that year with an ERA of 4.08.

Kazuto Tsuruoka     mgr   35.47 points
He won 1 Japan Series in five tries this decade. His record was 814-450-34 for the decade, a .644 winning percentage. He beats out Mihara essentially because he had a strong team when the decade started and kept it there, while Mihara had to build an expansion club up to that level first.

Osamu Mihara     mgr-honorable mention   27.60 points
He won 3 Japan Series in four tries this decade, and had a 680-458-51 record for a .598 winning percentage for the decade.

Decade	League	League	All Players
One League Era (pre-1950)			All Players
1950 through 1959	Central	Pacific	All Players
1960 through 1969	Central	Pacific	All Players
1970 through 1979	Central	Pacific	All Players
1980 through 1989	Central	Pacific	All Players
1990 through 1999	Central	Pacific	All Players

NOTE: HM means "honorable mention"

Decade	League	League	All Players
One League Era (pre-1950)			All Players
1950 through 1959	Central	Pacific	All Players
1960 through 1969	Central	Pacific	All Players
1970 through 1979	Central	Pacific	All Players
1980 through 1989	Central	Pacific	All Players
1990 through 1999	Central	Pacific	All Players

1960's

Masaaki Mori     c   187 points
This method estimates his defensive contributions to comprise almose 2/3 of his value, and even that is probably low. He managed to play twenty years for many championship teams without making much of an offensive contribution, so you have to believe he was seen as a defensive stalwart.

Tatsuhiko Kimata     c   178 points
His rookie season was 1964, so the fact the first four years of the decade give him nothing is not helpful in his ranking for the decade. Furthermore, his power didn't come until 1967, when he hit 15 homers, and he finally got his average over .248 when he hit .289 in 1968. He was a far better player in the next decade.

Sadaharu Oh     1b   699 points
The fact Oh is the best player of this decade is one of his most impressive accomplishments because of the caliber of competition he faced for that distinction. All the top four players in NPB history (Oh, Nomura, Nagashima, and Harimoto) were all in or at least very near their primes during this decade, yet Oh was better than all of them.

Tatsuo Okitsu     3b-1b   245 points
Realistically, he's the best of a mediocre bunch of options for the first base backup for the 1960 Central League. He once hit .300 and finished in the top five in the batting race that year. He hit 15-21 homers in four of his 13 seasons, but that said, there's not much more to say for him.

Morimichi Takagi     2b   290 points
He starts for the Central League team but is a backup on the 1960 all-decade team. He began the decade as a 19 year old rookie and played until 1980. He didn't win an every day job until 1963. He never walked much, never taking more than 34 in a season. That limits how much of an offensive contribution he made. He was still a fine player, especially with the glove.

Takeshi Koba     2b-ss   216 points
He's much more famous for managing the great Carp teams of 1975-1985. He might have been much more famous as a player but for a serious beaning which broke his jaw late in 1963. He was never the same player after that incident. He won two stolen base crowns.

Shigeo Nagashima     3b   623 points
He finishes second for the decade to Oh, edging out Nomura for that honor. That fact makes it even clearer that the reason I ranked Nomura over Nagashima overall is due solely to Nomura's much greater longevity. Nagashima swept all ten Best Nine awards for third basemen during this decade.

Takeshi Kuwata     3b-ss   346 points
He also makes the all decade team. He led the league in RBI once and HR once in this decade and also finished in the top six in average three times. He showed speed in his first three seasons, with 25, 16, and 20 steals, but after that never stole more than 7 in a season.

Sadayuki Tokutake     3b   254 points
He only makes the team because of the weak crop at shortstop. Only had five plate appearances outside of this decade.

Yoshio Yoshida     ss-2b   248 points
He was already 26 when the decade began, so the tail end of his career is a bit of a drag on his rating for this decade. His managers loved to have him bunt, even though he hit leadoff-- he had seven seasons with over 20 sacrifice bunts.

Shinichi Eto     of   450 points
He played with the Dragons until 1970, when he forced a trade over disputes with his manager, Osamu Mihara. After that, he was a bit of a nomad, playing for three teams in seven years of fairly consistent decline. During the sixties, though, he was one of the three best outfielders of the decade in NPB and the best outfielder of the Central League for the decade.

Kazuhiko Kondo     of   354 points
He makes the all decade team as a reserve. He was in the top four in average six times, all in this decade. Really, he was as good as done in 1969, but he didn't retire until after the 1973 season.

Mitsuo Naka     of   329 points
He makes the overall all decade team because the weakness at shortstop combined with the multipositional skills of Hirose and Kuwata open up a spot, and Naka is the best player not on the team. His career didn't take off until this decade, partially because he was only 24 in 1960. It seems he took a few years to acclimate himself to this level of play, which isn't shocking, especially for a young player.

Kazuhiro Yamauchi     of   297 points
He ranks higher for the overall team of the decade because then you get to combine both his Central and Pacific league accomplishments. He was traded for Koyama for the 1964 season. Please note that the overall score is lower than the Central League plus the Pacific League scores because the league scores each have their three best seasons and their best five consecutive seasons counted, while the overall decade rating counts the three best seasons of the decade and the best five consecutive seasons of the decade. Yamauchi is the second best outfielder overall in the decade and the fifth best player of the decade.

Isao Shibata     of   246 points
He led the league in steals six times and stole 20 or more 15 times in his career. He also led the league in triples three times. He hit 10 or more homers eight times in his career, but only three of them were over 15 (18, 18 and 26). He didn't play much until 1963, which doesn't help his score for the decade.

Dave Roberts     of   223 points
He came to NPB at age 33 and turned 34 that June. In his first six seasons in NPB, he slugged over .500 all but one time, always hit at least 19 HR with four seasons of 28-40. Age caught up to him in 1973. His rating is this low because the first season that counts in this decade is 1967, so his rating is based on only three seasons.

Masaichi Kaneda     p   395 points
This is his second decade as the best pitcher in the game. He spent his last five seasons as a member of the "V-9" Giants. According to Robert Whiting in The Meaning of Ichiro, he was "notoriously short-tempered and combative." As good a book as The Meaning of Ichiro is, it contains what I regard as at the very least a misleading comment about Kaneda. On page 67 of my copy, it says Kaneda "dictated to his coaches when he would pitch, demanding no less than three days' rest." This may be true of Kaneda's time with the Giants, as he pitched in many fewer games than he did as a Swallow. However, when Kaneda was with the Swallows, this statement is much harder to accept. From 1951 to 1963, Kaneda pitched in at least 47 games each season, over 1/3 of his team's games. Usually, he was in over 40% of the Swallows' games and on occasion he was even in over half their games. It's hard to imagine a usage pattern which would accomodate these facts and the above quotation from Mr. Whiting.

Minoru Murayama     p   348 points
He's the third best pitcher of the decade. Oddly, though he only pitched in four seasons outside of this decade, two of his three league leaderships in ERA and his leadership in winning percentage all fell outside the 1960's. It is also interesting that he wasn't at his best in the Tigers' 1964 pennant season, goint 22-18 with a subpar 3.32 ERA. He was wonderful in the other Tiger pennant year in the decade, 1962. In 1962, Murayama went 25-14 while leading the league in innings pitched and ERA.

Kunio Jonouchi     p   253 points
He makes the overall all decade pitching staff, but not by much. By the end of the decade, he was nearly finished. A quick summary of his career would be that up through 1968, he was a valuable pitcher who played for the "V-9" Giants.

Noburu Akiyama     p   245 points
By the time this decade started, he was in his fifth season. His 1956-1959 period was quite valuable with league leaderships in innings pitched in each of his first three seasons (at least 359 IP each time) and then he "backed off" to 300.1 in 1959. As a result, he pitched nearly half his career innings before the 1960's started (1445 of 2993). He remained an effective starter through 1964, winning his one ERA title and finishing fourth in that category in two other seasons. He was 101-61 from 1960 through 1964. He only pitched 103.1 innings in 1965 and was ineffective (ERA's over 4) in 1966 and 1967.

Hiroshi Gondo     p   223 points
He pitched almost 800 innings in his first two seasons and had only three ineffective seasons after that. You have to suspect arm troubles from overuse killed his career, and The Meaning of Ichiro confirms that Gondo had arm troubles after those first two years. It's a shame, because those first two years showed great promise.

Gene Bacque     p   222 points
He was a big factor in the Tigers' success in 1964. He had four other quality seasons in NPB to add to that 1964 campaign. He was in the top seven in ERA four times after arriving in Japan at a young age for a Western gaijin, 25.

Minoru Kakimoto     p   211 points
His career is exactly this decade, from 1960 to 1969. He won an ERA title and twice won 20 games. He pitched for four teams, though over 70% of his innings were with the Dragons. I suspect his arm was hurting after 1964. He logged 856 innings in 1962 through 1964, and after that he never pitched effectively in over 85 innings in a season again.

Kiyoshi Oishi     p   202 points
He was used as a reliever from 1967 to 1969 by the Braves, finishing 58 games in relief and only starting 6. It would be interesting to know how many of those finished games would qualify under the standards used for saves.

Masaaki Koyama     p   190 points
This score represents what Koyama did before he was traded for Yamauchi. It's interesting that to date, only two players have ever made the all-decade team for both leagues in the same decade, and they were traded for each other in the decade they accomplished the feat. This rating only gets to use four seasons, and 1963 with its 3.59 ERA isn't a big help in boosting the score. However, from 1960 through 1962, he threw 1006 innings with a 2.13 ERA, which is quite valuable. Overall, he is the fifth best pitcher of the decade.

Tetsuharu Kawakami    mgr   38.68 points
He's the most successful manager of the decade, which is no surprise given the fact he won seven Japan Series in his seven pennant winning seasons in this decade. Such success in winning titles puts him well ahead of the most successful manager of the Pacific League for this decade, Kazuto Tsuruoka. His won-loss mark for the decade is 706-478-32 for a .596 winning percentage.

Decade	League	League	All Players
One League Era (pre-1950)			All Players
1950 through 1959	Central	Pacific	All Players
1960 through 1969	Central	Pacific	All Players
1970 through 1979	Central	Pacific	All Players
1980 through 1989	Central	Pacific	All Players
1990 through 1999	Central	Pacific	All Players

Katsuya Nomura     p   609 points
He had 13 Hall of Famer type seasons, and six of them scored over 30 EWS. All the 30 point seasons were in this decade, as were 3 more of the 24-30 point seasons. His only "off" season was 1969, when he played in 106 games with a .245 average but added 22 homers. This fine record earns him his second start for an all-decade team, which is a rare feat an any position, much less catcher. He's also the best Pacific League player of the decade, the only catcher so far to earn that honor.

Hiromi Wada     c   213 points
He's a five time all-star who was overshadowed by Nomura. He probably would have won a few Best Nines if Nomura hadn't blocked the way, and I think he's among the best 20-25 catchers in NPB history. Of course, the competition at catcher is rather weak. In any event, Wada is the second best catcher of the decade and thus gets a spot on the overall all-decade team.

Kihachi Enomoto     1b   447 points
This is his second appearance on a Pacific League decade all-star team, this time as a starter. He is also good enough in this decade to back up Oh on the overall all-decade team. In fact, his mark this decade is better than any first baseman not named Oh scores for any of the decade all-star teams thus far.

Katsuo Osugi     1b   222 points
He had only five seasons in this decade, and his rookie year was pretty much a wipeout (.192 average, 1 homer). His 1968 season wasn't spectacular either because of a .239 average, but he did hit 34 homers that year to give it some significant value.

Daryl Spencer     2b   323 points
He played seven seasons in NPB, 1964-1968 and 1971-1972. He retired after 1968, but in 1971, the Hankyu Braves called and asked him to be a coach. He had gotten out of playing shape, but his coaching duties in spring training included running infield practice in the traditionally vigorous manner. All the exercise he got doing this helped him get in better and better shape, and he soon tried taking batting practice. The team asked him to be a part-time first baseman/pinch hitter in addition to coaching, and he agreed. He worked in those multiple capacities for two seasons, and then became a full-time coach for the Braves for a few more years. Spencer's 1964 and 1965 seasons were Japanese Hall of Fame quality, and the next two were quite impressive. The formula says hes's the best second baseman of the 1960's in NPB, and I agree. (Thanks to Wylie Wong, the author of an planned book on former San Francisco Giants for the information on Spencer in 1969-1970).

Jack Bloomfield     2b   264 points
His 1962 season is a JHOF caliber year, which isn't hard to believe for a season in which he hit .374 to lead the league. He spent five seasons with the Buffaloes and two more with the Hawks. Overall, his NPB career began when he was 27 in 1960 and ran through 1966.

Akitoshi Kodama     3b   278 points
He had already finished six seasons before this decade began and he was 25 when it did. He finished in the top eight in average eight times, five in this decade. This rating misses his last two years because he was in the Central League with the Tigers.

Tony Roig     ss-3b   244 points
He played for the Lions in the first five NPB seasons, and for the Buffaloes in his last. He won a Best Nine at third in 1966. Since 1) Roig qualifies at third base, 2) there isn't another third baseman this good in the 1960's in the Pacific League, 3) Roig is one of the top three shortstops in the Pacific League in the 1960's, and 4) those three shortstops are separated my a mere two rtg2 points, it's easy to put Roig here and keep all three shortstops. Frankly, I think that if I had to drop one of the shortstops, Roig would have been the one I'd select on the theory his defense should have suffered from his age.

Yasumitsu Toyoda     ss   246 points
This rating is based on only three seasons, 1960-1962, because after that, Toyoda went to the Central League's Swallows. I chose him to be the starter because he is a more brilliant player than Koike. When you combine his performance in this decade from both Leagues, Toyoda is the best shortstop of the decade overall. That is his second start for an overall all decade team, a most impressive accomplishment.

Kenji Koike     ss   246 points
He loses very little because his last five years aren't included. That is the case because in those last five years, he only hit .217 in 695 AB with only 9 homers--which is to say he didn't do much of note. He had only three seasons in which he hit better than .238, and one of them was .269 in only 201 AB. He qualified for the batting title in the other two seasons with an average over .238. He did have some speed early in his career, stealing 24, 20 and 30 bases in 1962-1964.

Isao Harimoto     of   544 points
He's only the fourth best player in this decade, but except for Oh in the 1970's, this score would be the best among position players in every other decade. He won a Best Nine in the outfield every year in this decade. There's no question he's the best outfielder of the decade.

Yoshinori Hirose     of-ss   352 points
Tsuruoka must not have been too impressed with his fielding at shortstop, because otherwise it makes little sense to move a shortstop who could hit as well as Hirose to the outfield. Therefore, he might make an acceptable backup shortstop for an all-decade team, but I don't think he's a good choice to start at that position for such a team.

Masahiro Doi     of   342 points
He makes the overall all decade team as a reserve while he is a starter for the 1960's PL stars. He had six JHOF quality seasons, all for the Buffaloes and half of them in this decade.

Kazuhiro Yamauchi     of   301 points
He was traded at age 31 and turned 32 in his first season with the Tigers. Granted, he only had four seasons in the PL before the trade, but the advantage in age should be the more significant edge. Instead, Yamauchi was just about as valuable in his six years in the CL in this decade as he was in his four in the PL. It's safe to say he aged rather gracefully.

Shoichi Busujima     of   273 points
This is his second all PL squad, a quite significant achievement. He never made the overall all decade team, but that is mostly due to the fact his timing wasn't good for him to do so, with his rookie season falling in 1954. As such, he got no credit for the first four years of the 1950's, and the sixties wind up losing some of his prime years and putting in their place some seasons when he was in decline due to age.

Teruyuki Takakura     of   231 points
He started this decade as a 25 year old veteran of seven seasons. As a result, a good bit of his decline phase makes it into this decade. He only had more than 2 steals once after 1963, with seven in 1966.

Kazuhisa Inao     p   383 points
This is the second decade in which he is the highest rated pitcher in the Pacific League, and it is also the second decade in which he is in the starting rotation of the overall all decade team. Both of these accomplishments are very impressive. Because he was used so heavily, his career ended with this decade. The only question is if he had been used less, would the resulting greater length of his career give him more innings at his high level of effectiveness? Keep in mind, too, that in 1958, 1961 and 1963 it made sense to push Inao hard in those close races to win a pennant. It didn't work in 1961, when they finished four back, but unless they only made it close after the pennant was no longer in doubt, it probably made sense to try to let your best pitcher get you the pennant. His 402.1 IP in 1959, however, is simply inexcusable since it came for a team which was 22 games off the pace. I am reluctant to comment on 1957's 373.2 innings without knowing more about how the race developed. I know the Lions won by seven, but were they able to coast a couple of weeks to the finish, or did they open up the big lead in the last week, increasing their lead even after they clinched the title, or was it some other scenario? The nature of that scenario has a huge impact on how defensible it was to ride Inao so hard--the closer the race, the more reason to give the ball to your ace. On the other hand, the more of a runaway it is, the more reason to save your ace for another day. In 1962, he led the league in innings pitched, but with "only" 320.2. Even so, it probably should have been less in view of the fact the Lions finished 16 games out.

Mitsuo Minagawa     p   317 points
His 31 win 1968 season came in the midst of a pennant race which Minagawa's Hawks came up a game short. He pitched almost 100 more innings that year than in any other season in his career. Without that heavy usage, I think there's a good chance he would have been effective into his forties, since he turned 33 that year and pitched three more years anyway. He was ineffective in the last two years, though. It's awfully hared not to chase a pennant with your best when you are that close, though.

Tadashi Sugiura     p   288 points
After 1964, he never pitched more than 111.1 innings in a season, becoming almost a pure reliever. He maintained his number of games finished in relief from 1965 to 1969, but only started 24 games over five seasons, with a maximum of 8 starts in a season. His career ended with only 35.2 IP in 1970 at age 34. This rating leaves out his stellar freshman and sophomore seasons of 1958 and 1959, or he would certainly rate higher.

Tetsuya Yoneda     p   284 points
He only makes this one all decade team because he only played four years in the 1950's and by the seventies, he was in decline, starting that decade at age 32. If he'd been born 2 or 3 years earler, he'd surely make the fifties squad, and if he'd been born 2-3 years later, he'd have made the 1970's team. Anyway, he's the last member of the starting rotation of the 1960's PL all-stars and makes the bullpen of the 1960's all-decade team.

Masaaki Ikenaga     p   245 points
He came to the Lions in 1965 at age 18, turning 19 in August that year. He pitched at least 253.2 innings in each of his first five seasons for a total of 1425 innings. In 1970, he pitched 52.1 innings to conclude his NPB career at age 25. In 1966, the Lions finished only four out, so I won't criticize his 267.2 IP for that year. In 1967, they finished second, but nine games out. Unless the Lions were close until a late season swoon, it's hard to justify loading 335.1 innings on so young an arm. In the other three years in the 1960's, the Lions were never closer than 11 1/2 games behind the pennant winner. If the Lions had not loaded so many innings onto Ikenaga's young arm when they weren't even serious contenders for the pennant, he would have been around much longer and might have helped them later on. Ikenaga is good enough in his five years this decade to finish in a tie with Akiyama fot the last spot on the all-decade team.

Yukio Ozaki     p   241 points
In his three seasons of heavy use (at least 286 IP), the Flyers were on the fringes of the pennant race each time, but no more. The 378 innings in 1965 is by far the hardest to justify since it is 86 more innings than he pitched in any other season, and while the Flyers came in second, they were 12 games back. Take those extra 86 innings away, and it could well have paid off in several hundred more innings for the franchise in other years.

Mitsuhiro Adachi     p   234 points
He was used in a much more reasonable manner than many of his contemporaries--never more than 270.1 innings, for one thing. He was able to pitch 21 years and 3103 innings for the Braves, and I believe the way he was used helped him do that.

Masayuki Dobashi     p   231 points
His rating would be much higher if you could shift his second through fourth seasons into this decade. You'd only lose his sorry farewell season (15 IP, 5.40 ERA), and you'd gain 746 innings with a 53-34 record and an ERA of 2.28.

Masaaki Koyama     p   218 points
I believe that one of the secrets to his 21 years of pitching in NPB can be found in the fact he avoided the combination of pitching more than 250 innings in a season and finishing more than 16 games in relief. When he had more than 16 games finished in relief, he pitched under 250 innings, and when he pitched more than 250 innings, he never finished more than 16 in relief. That usage pattern gave him more rest than many of his contemporaries got, which gave his arm a chance to recover, which likely led to greater longevity.

Kazuto Tsuruoka     mgr   25.08 points
He won 4 pennants but only 1 Japan Series in this decade. His won-loss record for the decade was 715-499-37 for a wonderful .589 winning percentage.

Decade	League	League	All Players
One League Era (pre-1950)			All Players
1950 through 1959	Central	Pacific	All Players
1960 through 1969	Central	Pacific	All Players
1970 through 1979	Central	Pacific	All Players
1980 through 1989	Central	Pacific	All Players
1990 through 1999	Central	Pacific	All Players

NOTE: HM means "honorable mention"

Decade	League	League	All Players
One League Era (pre-1950)			All Players
1950 through 1959	Central	Pacific	All Players
1960 through 1969	Central	Pacific	All Players
1970 through 1979	Central	Pacific	All Players
1980 through 1989	Central	Pacific	All Players
1990 through 1999	Central	Pacific	All Players

1970's

Koichi Tabuchi     c   485 points
He's the best catcher of the 1970's, and had to beat out two other formidable candidates in Kimata and Nomura for that honor. Tabuchi's best years in homers mostly came in the same seasons which were his best for walks. In his most patient years at the plate, Tabuchi drew 60-70 unintentional walks in 130 game seasons, a very nice total.

Tatsuhiko Kimata     c   354 points
The rating system says Nomura beats him out as the backup catcher of the 1970's all-decade team by a single point. It's questionable whether that verdict would hold up on a closer examination of the defense of the younger Kimata (who began the decade at age 25) versus the defense of the much more veteran Nomura (Nomura was a full decad