1963 Nankai Hawks Roster
Team Record: 85-61
Finished 2nd in the JPPL
Manager: Kazuto Tsuruoka (85-61)
Location: Osaka, Japan
Ballpark: Osaka Stadium
The Nankai Hawks of the Japan Pacific League ended the 1963 season with a record of 85 wins and 61 losses, finishing second in the JPPL.
The Hawks topped the league with 626 runs, ignited by 184 home runs. Nankai yielded 485 runs. Katsuya Nomura crushed 52 homers for the team, while Kent Hadley, Buddy Peterson and Kenji Koike each walloped 15 or more, too. Katsuya Nomura accounted for 135 RBI. Shozo Higuchi led all regular batters with a .312 average. Chikara Morinaka paced the team with 17 wins, and Mutsuo Minagawa registered a 2.54 earned run average, tops among pitchers with enough qualifying appearances.
Players from the 1963 Nankai Hawks who spent time in Major League Baseball during their careers included Masanori Murakami, Kent Hadley, Buddy Peterson and Joe Stanka.
Kazuto Tsuruoka served as manager.Click on column headings to sort.
| Player | Bats | Throws | Birth Date | Height | Weight | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yoshio Anabuki | R | R | May 6, 1933 | 5'9" | 178 | Kagawa-cho, Kagawa JP |
| Kent Hadley | L | L | December 17, 1934 | 6'3" | 190 | Pocatello, ID US |
| Toshihiro Hayashi | S | L | April 6, 1944 | 5'9" | 191 | Nagoya, Aichi JP |
| Shozo Higuchi | L | L | September 26, 1939 | 5'9" | 160 | , Osaka JP |
| Yoshinori Hirose | R | R | August 27, 1936 | 5'9" | 158 | Saeki-gun, Hiroshima JP |
| Motoaki Horigome | L | L | October 31, 1939 | 5'9" | 156 | Komoro, Nagano JP |
| Noboru Inoue | R | R | May 26, 1934 | 5'8" | 162 | Hoi-gun, Aichi JP |
| Takashige Kanehiko | R | R | January 27, 1937 | 5'10" | 158 | , Kanagawa JP |
| Kiyoshi Kanemura | R | R | June 16, 1939 | 5'10" | 162 | , Shiga JP |
| Kenji Koike | R | R | February 5, 1939 | 5'6" | 154 | , Shizuoka JP |
| Tsunemi Koizumi | L | L | July 5, 1942 | 5'10" | 158 | , Nagano JP |
| Makito Masui | S | L | May 24, 1937 | 5'8" | 160 | , Yamaguchi JP |
| Mutsuo Minagawa | R | R | July 3, 1935 | 5'10" | 162 | Yonezawa, Yamagata JP |
| Kiyohiro Miura | R | R | September 2, 1938 | 5'11" | 180 | Beppu, Oita JP |
| Chikara Morinaka | S | R | October 20, 1939 | 5'9" | 162 | , Nara JP |
| Nobushige Morishita | R | R | September 4, 1933 | 5'9" | 170 | Yawata, Fukuoka JP |
| Masanori Murakami | L | L | May 6, 1944 | 6'0" | 180 | Kita Tsuru-gun, Yamanashi JP |
| Hiroyuki Nakajima | R | R | December 4, 1939 | 5'9" | 167 | , Kyoto JP |
| Toru Nakajo | R | R | February 22, 1943 | 5'9" | 154 | , Hiroshima JP |
| Akitada Niiyama | R | R | July 29, 1939 | 5'10" | 165 | Kobe, Hyogo JP |
| Katsuya Nomura | R | R | June 29, 1935 | 5'9" | 187 | Takeno-gun, Kyoto JP |
| Isami Okamoto | R | R | February 26, 1931 | 5'8" | 162 | Kyoto, Kyoto JP |
| Keiji Osawa | R | R | March 14, 1932 | 5'8" | 170 | Fujisawa, Kanagawa JP |
| Buddy Peterson | R | R | April 23, 1925 | 5'9" | 170 | Portland, OR US |
| Teruo Shimabara | L | L | February 2, 1927 | 5'8" | 162 | Taichung, TW |
| Joe Stanka | R | R | July 23, 1931 | 6'6" | 201 | Hammon, OK US |
| Tadashi Sugiura | R | R | September 17, 1935 | 5'9" | 156 | Toyoda, Aichi JP |
| Tadashi Suzuki | R | R | August 26, 1941 | 5'8" | 154 | , Mie JP |
| Takao Suzuki | R | R | April 21, 1938 | 5'11" | 173 | , Aichi JP |
| Eiichiro Takahashi | R | R | June 4, 1936 | 5'9" | 145 | Shinjo, Yamagata JP |
| Goro Tomishima | R | L | July 31, 1937 | 5'8" | 160 | , Ibaraki JP |
| Sumio Watarai | R | R | September 4, 1938 | 5'10" | 165 | , Oita JP |
