Archived Weblog Entry - 03/25/2003: "Japanese Baseball News: Tadayoshi Kajioka, Who Threw Second Postwar No Hitter, Dies"

We at Baseball Guru.com would like to pass along our sympathies to the family of former Hanshin righthander Tadayoshi Kajioka, who passed away from cardiac arrest Sunday at a hospital in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture. He was 82.

Kajioka was born on September 26, 1920 in Osaka. He went to Seiki Kogyo High School and then moved on to Senshu University, where he was the team ace and batted cleanup despite being only 5'7" and 150 pounds, leading Senshu to three consecutive Tokyo Metropolitan University League titles. He began drawing the interest of Hanshin scouts, but was drafted into the military upon graduation, serving in Manchuria. Toward the end of the WWII, he found himself in Beijing, a lucky break since it meant he wasn't hauled off to a Soviet prison camp like a lot of those who were in Manchuria when Japan surrendered.

Upon returning home, Kajioka joined an industrial league team owned by Chuo Heavy Industries and began getting feelers from the Nankai Hawks. But he felt an obligation to contact Hanshin first and they quickly signed him in February, 1947.

He broke in with a bang that year, racking up 22 wins against eight losses and posting a 1.92 ERA in 280.1 innings to help the Tigers to the pennant. The following year, he not only notched another 26 victories (17 losses) with a 2.54 ERA in 367.2 innings (35 complete games), but he tossed the second postwar no hitter in Japanese history on August 24th at Meiji Jingu Stadium (final score: 3-0) against, ironically, Nankai. About that game, Kajioka recalled that he thought to himself before pitching to the final batter, "please don't hit it."

Kajioka hurt his shoulder in the offseason and registered only 13, 12, and 13 victories in 190 innings or less the next three seasons with markedly higher ERAs before rebounding in 1952, when he grabbed an ERA title with a 1.71 mark in 257.2 innings while winning 21 games. He won another 16 contests in 1953, but that was all he had in his tank and he retired at the end of 1955 with a career record of 131-85 with 21 shutouts in 299 games covering 1920 innings, striking out 652 (3.05 K/9) and boasting a 2.80 ERA. He also holds the Hanshin team record for most career homers by a pitcher with 12.

He continued his love affair with the Tigers as well as baseball, taking a minor league coaching job with Hanshin in 1956 and eventually working his way up to a pitching coach position until leaving the team after the 1964 season to take a job as a regular company worker.

Kajioka was never far away from the sport, telling Nikkan Sports in an interview, "it's baseball for me until I die." He was the chairman of the Hanshin's retired players association for several years and his wife Takako used to say that she could tell whether the Tigers won or lost that day by the expression on his face.

His life took an unfortunate turn, though, when his home in Kobe burned down during the earthquake there and he moved in with his son's family in Urayasu.

His grandson, Chiaki Kajioka, played shortstop with Narashino High School as a senior and cracked an RBI single against Jinsei Gakuen High School at the 2001 Koshien Summer High School Baseball Tournament to give his team an early lead and made two sparkling defensive plays to preserve the victory, Narashino's first in Koshien play in 14 years, bringing a big smile to grandad's face.

He is survived by his son, Noriyoshi.