On the blog today, a 1969 "Japan Special" celebrating Japanese Hall of Fame pitcher Minoru Murayama of the Hanshin Tigers:
Murayama
put in 14 years in Japan's Central League, all with the Tigers between
1959 and 1972, and some of his seasons were/are mind boggling.
For
example, in 1970 at the age of 33, he appeared in 25 games, completing
seven and tossing five shutouts, with a record of 14-3, tossing 156
innings and ending up with an incredible 0.98 earned run average!
In
1962, the 25 year-old posted a record of 25-14 over 57 appearances,
starting 38 while completing 23, with six shutouts and 265 strikeouts,
this time posting a remarkable 1.20 ERA over 366.1 innings.
By
the time he retired, he finished with a record of 222-147 over 509
games, completing 192 of 348 starts and tossing 55 shutouts, striking
out 2271 batters and posting a final 2.09 ERA over 3050 innings.
In
1993 he was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, capping
off an incredible career that also saw him win three Eiji Sawamura
Awards (Cy Young equivalent) and an MVP in 1962.
