Masato Yoshii
Encyclopedia
is a retired Japanese
baseball
player who is currently a pitching coach for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
in the Japanese Pacific League
. He pitched in the Major Leagues
from to .
twice and joined the Kintetsu Buffaloes
as the second round pick in the draft after graduating from the same elementary, middle, and high schools as former Seibu Lions
manager, Osamu Higashio
. After spending some time in the minors, he marked his first victory in , and in , he won 10 games and saved 24 games, which won him the Pacific League
relief pitcher title. He won five games and marked another 20 saves his next year. In , he became a starter. In , he was traded to the Yakult Swallows
and won more than 10 games a year for three straight years.
In the off-season, he became a free agent
and signed with the New York Mets
. He won six games in his first year in the majors and won 12 games in his second year. He was traded to the Colorado Rockies
in and the Montreal Expos
in . He had surgery on his left shoulder in September 2002.
In , Yoshii returned to Japan, joining the Orix BlueWave. He was the team's opening-day starter that year but had surgery on his left ankle in August; he ended the season with only two wins. He played in only three games in and was cut from the team at the end of the year. The Orix BlueWave merged with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes during the off-season to form the Orix Buffaloes
, and Yoshii ended up joining the Buffaloes for spring training and won six games in the season.
In , Yoshii marked a win against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
, becoming the fifth player in to have recorded victories against 12 Japanese professional baseball teams. On April 1, , he gave up two grand slams in one inning against the Rakuten Eagles, but the third baseman, Greg LaRocca
, had committed an error before loading the bases, giving Yoshii the irregular record of 8 runs given up, but 0 earned runs. On April 25, 2007, the 42-year-old Yoshii started the game against the Rakuten Eagles with 18-year-old Masahiro Tanaka
as the opposing pitcher and recorded a win giving up 1 run over 5 innings of pitching. This made him the sixth Japanese pitcher to have recorded a win at or above age 42, after Shinji Hamasaki, Tadashi Wakabayashi
, Yoshinori Sato, Yutaka Ohno
, and Kimiyasu Kudoh
.
He continued to pitch during the season as a starter but was demoted to relief duty by manager Terry Collins
after several poor performances. Yoshii requested to be traded to another team where he could continue to start and was sent to the Chiba Lotte Marines
on June 28 in exchange for an outfielder. His pitching continued to decline, and he ended the season with a 1–9 record before being demoted to the minors. He was released by the Marines on November 13, and announced his retirement to become a pitching coach for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
under manager Masataka Nashida
.
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player who is currently a pitching coach for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Sapporo, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at the Sapporo Dome. The Fighters also host a select number of regional home games in cities across Hokkaidō,...
in the Japanese Pacific League
Pacific League
The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series...
. He pitched in the Major Leagues
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
from to .
Biography
Yoshii played in the Koshien high school baseball tournamentHigh school baseball in Japan
In Japan, high school baseball generally refers to the two annual baseball tournaments played by high schools nationwide culminating at a final showdown at Hanshin Kōshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Japan...
twice and joined the Kintetsu Buffaloes
Kintetsu Buffaloes
The was a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Osaka, Japan, which were in the Pacific League. The team was owned by Kinki Nippon Railway Co. and later sold to the Orix Group, the owner of the Orix BlueWave baseball team, in 2004...
as the second round pick in the draft after graduating from the same elementary, middle, and high schools as former Seibu Lions
Seibu Lions
The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based west of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Prince Hotels, which in turn is owned by the Seibu Group...
manager, Osamu Higashio
Osamu Higashio
Osamu Higashio is a former Japanese baseball player who played in the Japanese professional leagues from 1969-1988. He also was manager of the Seibu Lions from 1995-2001.-Professional career:...
. After spending some time in the minors, he marked his first victory in , and in , he won 10 games and saved 24 games, which won him the Pacific League
Pacific League
The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series...
relief pitcher title. He won five games and marked another 20 saves his next year. In , he became a starter. In , he was traded to the Yakult Swallows
Tokyo Yakult Swallows
is a professional baseball team in Japan's Central League.The Swallows are named after their corporate owners, the Yakult Corporation. From 1950 to 1965, the team was owned by the former Japanese National Railways and called the Kokutetsu Swallows; the team was then owned by the newspaper Sankei...
and won more than 10 games a year for three straight years.
In the off-season, he became a free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
and signed with the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
. He won six games in his first year in the majors and won 12 games in his second year. He was traded to the Colorado Rockies
Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies are a Major League Baseball team based in Denver, Colorado. Established in 1991, they started play in 1993 and are in the West Division of the National League. The team is named after the Rocky Mountains...
in and the Montreal Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...
in . He had surgery on his left shoulder in September 2002.
In , Yoshii returned to Japan, joining the Orix BlueWave. He was the team's opening-day starter that year but had surgery on his left ankle in August; he ended the season with only two wins. He played in only three games in and was cut from the team at the end of the year. The Orix BlueWave merged with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes during the off-season to form the Orix Buffaloes
Orix Buffaloes
The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Osaka and Kobe, Japan. They play in the Pacific League. The team is owned by the Orix Group, a leading diversified financial services company based in Tokyo....
, and Yoshii ended up joining the Buffaloes for spring training and won six games in the season.
In , Yoshii marked a win against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
The is a baseball team founded in 2004; it played its first season in the Japanese Pacific League in 2005. It is simply called Rakuten . The team was created to fill the void left by the merger of the Orix Blue Wave and the Kintetsu Buffaloes, after the 2004 season due to financial difficulties,...
, becoming the fifth player in to have recorded victories against 12 Japanese professional baseball teams. On April 1, , he gave up two grand slams in one inning against the Rakuten Eagles, but the third baseman, Greg LaRocca
Greg LaRocca
Gregory Mark LaRocca is a second baseman for the Orix Buffaloes in the Nippon Professional Baseball league Pacific League....
, had committed an error before loading the bases, giving Yoshii the irregular record of 8 runs given up, but 0 earned runs. On April 25, 2007, the 42-year-old Yoshii started the game against the Rakuten Eagles with 18-year-old Masahiro Tanaka
Masahiro Tanaka
is a Japanese starting pitcher for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.Tanaka led his team to a championship in the National High School Baseball tournament as a junior for Komazawa University Tomakomai High School in and a runner-up berth in the same tournament as a senior in...
as the opposing pitcher and recorded a win giving up 1 run over 5 innings of pitching. This made him the sixth Japanese pitcher to have recorded a win at or above age 42, after Shinji Hamasaki, Tadashi Wakabayashi
Tadashi Wakabayashi
Tadashi Henry Wakabayashi was a professional baseball player from Oahu, Hawaii. He was a second generation Japanese-American.-Biography:...
, Yoshinori Sato, Yutaka Ohno
Yutaka Ohno
, is a former Japanese baseball player of the Hiroshima Carp of Japan's Central League.He was one of most famous Japanese left-handed pitchers.He was born in Izumo, Shimane.He was known as the man from ....
, and Kimiyasu Kudoh
Kimiyasu Kudoh
is a left-handed pitcher for the Pacific League's Saitama Seibu Lions of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball . He has recorded 224 career wins...
.
He continued to pitch during the season as a starter but was demoted to relief duty by manager Terry Collins
Terry Collins
Terry Lee Collins is the manager for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball. A former minor league shortstop, Collins managed the Albuquerque Dukes of the Pacific Coast League, the Buffalo Bisons of the International League, the Duluth Huskies of the summer collegiate Northwoods League, and...
after several poor performances. Yoshii requested to be traded to another team where he could continue to start and was sent to the Chiba Lotte Marines
Chiba Lotte Marines
The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by the Lotte conglomerate.-History:...
on June 28 in exchange for an outfielder. His pitching continued to decline, and he ended the season with a 1–9 record before being demoted to the minors. He was released by the Marines on November 13, and announced his retirement to become a pitching coach for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Sapporo, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at the Sapporo Dome. The Fighters also host a select number of regional home games in cities across Hokkaidō,...
under manager Masataka Nashida
Masataka Nashida
Masataka Nashida is the current manager of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters baseball team in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. Before his career as a manager, he played for the Kintetsu Buffaloes from to .-External links:...
.
See also
- List of Japanese baseball players
- List of Japanese players in Major League Baseball