Kitabeppu Manabu, born July 12, 1957 sadly passed on June 16, 2023. He was a well-known right-handed pitcher from Japan who was drafted in the first round by the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in 1975. Because of his flawless control throwing, he was known as the “Precision Machine” (, Seimutsu-Kikai), and his pet name was Pei-San.
He had trouble in his first three seasons until going 17-11 with a 3.58 ERA in 1979 to earn a spot on his first All-Star squad. As a member of the squad that won the Japan Series in 1980, Kitabeppu was selected to his first of five straight All-Star games.
Manabu Kitabeppu cause of death: How did Manabu Kitabeppu die?
On June 16, 2023, just after midnight, he passed away at a hospital in Hiroshima. He revealed that he has been battling leukaemia for a very long period in 2020.
Since Kitabeppu, just one pitcher (Kimiyasu Kudoh) has won 200 games in Nippon Professional Baseball. In terms of career stats, Kitabeppu is ranked 17th in wins, 20th in innings pitched (3,113), 26th in strikeouts (1,757), 9th in hits allowed (3,225), and fourth in home runs allowed (380, which is a Central League record).
After retiring, Kitabeppu worked as an announcer until taking over as the Carp’s pitching coach.
