With the continuous activity of "Pitcher Otani, Hitter Shohei" in the Us Major League, while the 2021 MLB season that ended played a historic level, more people also paid attention to the situation of Japanese players going to the US Major League. But you know what? Among the Japanese players in the United States, there are the most players from Kansai, so this time I will let you briefly introduce the knowledge of several Japanese players in the United States!
▋ Japanese players who challenged the Major Leagues
In the baseball circle in Asia, Japan has always been the number one power in Asia. In addition to the legendary "Ichiro Suzuki", which has long been a household name, there have been many outstanding players in the past 30 years. As early as 1964, "Murakami Masanori" was recorded in history as the first Japanese player to challenge major leagues. The next player to challenge major leagues is generally considered to have opened up the indiscriminate pursuit of modern Japanese players into major leagues, that is, the "Noshige Hero" of 1995. Since then, a total of 64 Japanese players have left their mark in major leagues, and as many as 7 players are active in baseball.
World Hita King "Ichiro Suzuki"
Heisei Monster "Daiko Matsuzaka"
▋ Tips: The largest proportion of Kansai among Japanese players in the United States?
According to major league records, as many as 23 of the 64 active Japanese players can be found to be from Kansai, including "Nobushige Hero", who is known as the trailblazer of major leagues, and "Dabi Shuyu", a Japanese player who is active in duty. Since the Japanese baseball mecca "Koshien Stadium" is located in Kansai, and the headquarters of the "Japan Junior Wildball League" is located in Osaka, children in the Kansai area have grown up in a deep baseball culture since childhood, and their school's appearance in Koshien is considered to be a matter of Mitsumasa's ancestors.
Kansai players who love their hometown also hold the idea of making a name for themselves in their hometown after traveling to other places, and some people also believe that Kansai people are generally more open than the average Japanese, and it is easier to integrate into the new environment and help their performance on the court. Let's take a look at some of the representative Kansai players!
▋ Active Duty First Japan Strong Throw "Darby Shuyou"
Born in Osaka Prefecture, the 35-year-old "Dabi Shuyou" went to major leagues to sign a contract with the Texas Rangers in 2012, and later played for the Dodgers, Cubs, and currently plays for the "San Diego Padres" of the major leagues, the first Japanese pitcher in the major leagues, known for having more than 10 variational balls and super triple-strike ability. In high school, he went to the Tohoku region to become a famous "Tohoku High School", and in the summer of his sophomore year of high school, he entered Koshien and eventually lost the team in the final and won the second place. However, in terms of his performance in high school, many experts have commented that Dabishu is a "monster after Daisuke Matsusaka".
Darbysho had served for the Texas Rangers
After joining the Hokkaido Ham Fighter in 2004, he became the team's ace pitcher at a breakneck pace, winning the Sawamura Award, the highest honor for Japanese pitchers, and twice winning the MVP of the year. In 2011, he signed an all-time high salary of 500 million yuan with the Hams, and then announced his challenge to the Major Leagues late that year. At present, he has left the record of the second most single season wins and the most three strikeouts of Asian players in the major leagues, and is also the first pitcher in history to achieve "500K, 1000K, 1500K".
What is sawamura reward?
Sawamura's status is equivalent to the "Ceyon Award" of the American Major Leagues. Awarded since 1947, only pitchers from the Central League and players who opened the Pacific League after 1989 could also be selected. Hero Nobuki was the first winner of the Pacific Alliance.
▋ Nichiren Quansheng legendary "Son of God" General Tanaka Dai
Nicknamed "Son of God," Shogun Tanaka was born in Hyogo Prefecture and played for the New York Yankees, the number one major league player in 2014-2020, signing the fifth-largest pitcher in major league history for a seven-year, $155 million deal. Although born in the Kansai region, Shogun Tanaka's baseball career began with Hokkaido's famous baseball school Komagi Komaki High School. In 2004 and 2005, he won the summer Koshien championship with the team for two consecutive years, and in the 2005 championship game, he threw the first 150 km speedball in the history of high school baseball, and successfully won the championship. After graduating from high school, he joined the "Tohoku Lotte Golden Vulture", and after emerging in the new year, he was also named "Son of God" by the then famous handsome Katsuya Nomura.
From the 2021 season, Tanaka will return to the "Tohoku Rakuten Golden Vultures"
The 2011 season was the first season for Tanaka to reach its peak, and in the whole year, it not only won the "Sawamura Award" but also won the first place in important statistics such as the king of winning pitching and the king of defense. The real legendary season came in the 2013 season, when Tanaka won a "24-0- and 0-losing" record for the whole year, and the 28 consecutive wins across the season were also included in the Kim World Record. In the same year, against the background of Tanaka's performance, he led the Lotte team to win the first "Japan One" championship since the founding of the team. And Tanaka Shogun Daiya, who completed such a feat, joined the major league team with a high salary, and the 7-year major league trip, although it failed to impact the success of the major league championship, it also made Yankees fans nostalgic. From the 2021 season onwards, General Tanaka will return to the "Tohoku Rakuten Golden Vultures" and continue to write a new story.
▋ "Hiroshima Carp Ace" Kenta Maeda
Born in Osaka Prefecture, the same year as General Tanaka, "Kenta Maeda" may not be as well-known as the above two aces, but the glory won in the Japanese baseball world is not lost to them. Kenta Maeda joined Osaka Baseball Academy in high school, and although she only led the team to the Koshien Final Four in three years, it was enough to attract the attention of professional teams. After graduating, he was named "Hiroshima Toyo Carp" and joined Nippon Professional Baseball in 2007. After rising to the first team in the 2008 season, he immediately took over the "18" jersey, which symbolized the ace, and Maeda, who continued to improve steadily, also played the peak of his career in 2010, pushing Dabi Shu to win the "Sawamura Award" and achieve the youngest and first pitcher in the history of the treble.
Kenta Maeda while playing for the Hiroshima Carp
Kenta Maeda was selected for the Japanese team in 2012 to participate in the "World Baseball Classic", and his superb possession was noticed by the US media for the first time. After senior Osamu Darby and contemporaneous General Tanaka successfully challenged the Major League, Kenta Maeda also went to major leagues to join the Los Angeles Dodgers after winning the Sawamura Award again in the 2015 season. In 2017, he unsuccessfully attacked the championship with Darby Hugh at the Dodgers, and in 2020, he was traded to the "Minnesota Twins" and is still struggling in the major leagues.
▋ Hero Noshige, a pioneer in the United States, "Dr. K."
Noshige, known for his "Tornado Venture Method", is known for his super three-strike ability and is nicknamed "Dr. K". After successfully challenging major leagues in 1995, he was hailed as a "pioneer" in Japanese football. Born in Osaka City, Nobuhide joined the Kintetsu Bison (disbanded) in 1990 and won the first pitcher triple crown in his first year of his career, winning the Victory, Defense And Mitsugen, and winning the first pitcher's Triple Crown of the Heisei era. He was also the first "Sawamura Reward" winner of the league, and for four consecutive years, he won the most wins in the league. After joining the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995, he also immediately won the rookie king and the three zhen king. In 1996 and 2001, he also won two no-hits tournaments, which can be said to be full of honors in the United States and Japan, and also set an insurmountable benchmark for future challenges in major leagues.
Nomoshige's famous "tornado" pitch
▋ Special: Shohei Otani, a national treasure from Iwate Prefecture
Speaking of the baseball players who are currently the most concerned baseball players in the world, it is none other than Shohei Otani. Shohei Otani is not from Kansai, but was born in Iwate Prefecture, today in today's Northeast Japan, and in high school, he went to Hanamaki Higashi High School, a baseball school that is also working in the United States, and set his goal of becoming "Japan's first" and "the first Japanese to throw 160 km of speedball". Finally, in the summer koshien of his third year of high school, Shohei Otani threw the first speedball in amateur history with a speed of 160 kilometers per hour!
Shohei Otani for the Los Angeles Angels
After graduation, Shohei Otani, who was supposed to directly challenge major leagues, decided to stay in Japan Professional Baseball first and joined the "Hokkaido Japanese Ham Fighter". He was selected for the Star Race from the rookie season and broke several records in the season that had been hanging for decades. It is worth mentioning that in 2014 Shohei Otani finally left an unprecedented record of "double-digit wins and double-digit home runs". In 2016, he threw the fastest ball speed in the history of The Japanese Professional Baseball in the competition, and in the same year, he also helped the Ham Team win the "Japan One" and won the "Best Player Award". At the end of the 2017 season, Shohei Ohtani also announced that he would challenge major leagues and join the Los Angeles Angels. After a crazy 2021, let's look forward to shohei Otani next season to bring us more and more exciting games!
After reading the above introduction, is the wild ball soul in my heart burning? In addition to Shohei Otani, the famous Japanese players who have stormed the Major Leagues of the United States in history can be said to be shining with stars. Each player has their own stories and records worth telling, and these stories leave every baseball fan with happy or sad memories.
Most of mlb's Japanese players are from Kansai? American professional baseball players Hiuyuki Darby and Tanaka are mostly Kansai people! | Tesco! Japan