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It was a quiet ballot in 1973 for East Asia Baseball’s Hall of Fame with the few new additions seeing very little traction. One player was inducted and barely so as pitcher Katsuya Watanabe got 67.6% on his second attempt; just passing the 66% threshold required for entry. Only two others were above 50% with pitcher Tokinari Nakano at 59.9% on his fourth attempt and closer Hyeon-Jae Seo at 50.7% in his ninth try. There were no players dropped after ten ballots in the 1973 group.



Katsuya “Mad Hatter” Watanabe – Starting Pitcher – Sapporo Swordfish – 67.6% Second Ballot

Katsuya Watanabe was a 5’11’’, 200 pound right-handed pitcher from Kodaira, a city of about 200,000 people in the western part of metro Tokyo. He threw hard with 97-99 mph peak velocity, although his stuff was graded merely as above average with his movement and control considered average at best. He had a four pitch arsenal with a fastball, slider, forkball, and changeup. Watanabe’s biggest asset perhaps was excellent stamina and a great work ethic. He was also considered a very good defensive pitcher, winning Gold Gloves in 1952 and 1953.

Watanabe went to Shizuoka Shogyo High School and was considered an excellent prospect out of high school. Sapporo selected him 18^th overall in the 1946 East Asia Baseball Draft and trained him in their system for the better part of four years. He pitched 11.1 innings in 1950, then made his way into the rotation after that. Watanabe wasn’t dominant, but was steady for the Swordfish.

Watanabe caught the end of the Sapporo dynasty, making two playoff starts in their 1951 EAB championship season. They got back to the final in 1956 and he had a solid run with a 2.76 ERA, 33 strikeouts, and 1.1 WAR in four starts. He also started pitching for Japan in the World Baseball Championship, making four starts and nine relief appearances from 1955-63. Watanabe had a 2.62 ERA over 44.2 innings with 57 strikeouts. He was steady again and his stamina meant he led Japan in shutouts four seasons, but Watanabe was never a Pitcher of the Year finalist.

Before the 1958 season, Watanabe was traded by Sapporo to Sendai for four prospects. His one year with the Samurai saw his lone no-hitter, an effort against Chiba on August 23 with 12 strikeouts and two walks. He led the league in innings pitched that year, but notably also walked more batters than anyone else. He entered free agency at age 31 after his one year in Sendai and re-signed with Sapporo on a seven-year, $624,000 deal.

Watanabe was okay in his return, but was occasionally a healthy scratch. In late April 1961, the Swordfish traded him again along with 3B prospect Yoshinori Izawa to Changwon for 3B Ti-Sai Tung. His final stats between the two Swordfish stints was 137-97, 2.96 ERA, 2109 innings, 2042 strikeouts, and 32.0 WAR. The franchise would also choose to retire his #40 uniform at the end of his career.

Watanabe stayed with the Crabs through 1965 with the same steady numbers for most of that stint. Changwon was a Korea League contender in the early to mid 1960s, making the EAB final in both 1963 and 1964 and winning it in 1963. In five playoff starts, he had a 3.78 ERA in 33.1 innings with 25 strikeouts. In total with the Crabs, Watanabe had a 76-54 record, 3.70 ERA, 1054 strikeouts in 1168.1 innings and 13.5 WAR. He struggled in the 1965 season and was let go at the end of the year by Changwon. The 38-year old Watanabe signed with Chiba for 1966 but struggled in limited action. He suffered a torn rotator cuff that August and went unsigned in 1967, retiring that winter at age 40.

The final tallies for Watanabe, 240-164 record, 3.24 ERA, 3696 innings, 3422 strikeouts to 875 walks, 301/473 quality starts, a FIP- of 99 and 49.2 WAR. The advanced stats suggest he had sustained averageness and he finished with the third lowest WAR of any starter in the EAB Hall of Fame. The traditionalists who like the wins stat noted that 240 was the eighth most at the time of retirement and that he had some important playoff moments for both Sapporo and Changwon. Despite the big accolades, this got him in at 67.6% on his second ballot. A weak field may have bolstered him significantly, but either way, Watanabe is forever in the Hall of Fame.