Masaichi Kaneda

Masaichi Kaneda
金田 正一
Kaneda in 1956
Pitcher
Born: Kim Kyung-Hong
(1933-08-01)1 August 1933
Heiwa, Nakashima, Aichi, Empire of Japan
Died: 6 October 2019(2019-10-06) (aged 86)
Tokyo, Japan
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
NPB debut
23 August, 1950, for the Kokutetsu Swallows
Last appearance
18 October, 1969, for the Yomiuri Giants
NPB statistics
Win–loss400–298
Earned run average2.34
Shutouts82
Innings pitched5,526.2
Strikeouts4,490
Career statistics
Batting average.198
Hits406
Home runs38
Run batted in177
Teams
As player

As manager

Career highlights and awards
As player

As manager

Member of the Japanese
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction1988

Masaichi Kaneda (金田 正一, Kaneda Masaichi; 1 August 1933 – 6 October 2019) was a Japanese professional baseball pitcher of Zainichi Korean origin, one of the best-known pitchers in Japanese baseball history, and is the only Japanese pitcher to have won 400 games. He was inducted in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.

Nicknamed "The Emperor" because he was the most dominant pitcher in Japan during his prime, Kaneda holds numerous Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) career records. He won 400 games despite being on an extremely weak team, the Kokutetsu Swallows, for most of his career. About 90% of his 400 career wins came with the Swallows. He left for the Yomiuri Giants in 1965. In five seasons with the team, he won the Japan Series each time before retiring in 1969. Kaneda batted and threw left-handed. After his playing career ended, he became a manager for the Lotte Orions, where he managed in two different stints that saw him win the Japan Series in 1974.