Takumi Akiyama
Takumi Akiyama
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Takumi Akiyama

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Takumi Akiyama

Takumi Akiyama (秋山 拓巳, Akiyama Takumi; born April 26, 1991) is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He previously played for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

Takumi's interest in baseball started when he was 3 as he played catch with his dad in the suburbs of Marugame City. He initially played little league baseball for the Imazu Junior Sports Club, but when his family had to move to Ehime, he joined the Saijō Juniors and even got to compete in national tournaments. He continued playing for the Saijō Seniors, and also got selected to play for the national team in an international tournament in his last year in junior high. He grew up a Yomiuri Giants fan as he lived in an area that only broadcasts Giants games.

He continued to play for Saijō High School where he excelled both as a hitter and pitcher. He batted cleanup from his first year, and as the senior ace pitcher, he carried his team in the prefectural and regional tournaments, all the way to both the Spring and Summer Koshien tournaments of 2009. Despite not making the finals of both national tournaments, he finished high school with an impressive 48 home run record which earned him the nickname "Iyo Godzilla" (Godzilla from Ehime).

Akiyama was the Hanshin Tigers' 4th round pick in the 2009 annual professional baseball draft. He signed a 40 million yen contract with the Tigers for a starting annual salary of 6 million yen, and was assigned jersey number 27.

2010

He lost his debut match against the Giants on August 21 (6 innings, 4 ERs). A week later, he managed to pull through his next start against the Swallows and earned his first career win, a feat that was last achieved by a high-school drafted Hanshin rookie 24 years ago by Shōji Tōyama in 1986. His streak continued on September 12 when he went the distance and achieved a shutout victory with no walks against the Swallows, becoming the 7th high-school drafted rookie in the Central League to ever achieve the feat. His next outings were not as victorious however, and he finished the season with a 4–3 record and a 3.35 ERA.

2011

Due to a neck injury, he spent most of the season in the minors. He was given the chance to start the September 28 game against the Swallows, but he failed to secure the win and ended his season with 0–1. During postseason, he was loaned to the Canberra Cavalry to play in the Australian Baseball League together with teammates Fumiya Araki and Yuhei Kai. He took the mound for four matches and topped the league as a starter with an ERA of 1.23 during his loan period. He struck out 16, gave up 13 hits, 10 walks and 3 earned runs (1.05 WHIP) in 22 innings before going back to Japan.

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