Suguru Egawa

Suguru Egawa (江川 卓, Egawa Suguru, born May 25, 1955 in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture) is a Japanese former pitcher and current baseball analyst.

High school career

Egawa entered Sakushin Gakuin High School.^[1] In his high school career, he recorded two perfect games, nine no-hitters, 20 shutouts, and 30 complete games in 44 games pitched.^[2] He closed out his high school career with an earned run average of 0.41, which was significantly lower than Daisuke Matsuzaka (1.12) and Masahiro Tanaka (1.31).^[3] In the spring of 1973, he set a still-standing record of 60 strikeouts in National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament. He was nicknamed "The Monster", a nickname that Matsuzaka later received as well. However, he was different from Matsuzaka in not having strong teammates. His team had never won the championship at the Koshien Stadium.

Professional career

Egawa repeatedly attempted to join Yomiuri Giants, but failed every time. On November 21, 1978, he forcedly signed with Yomiuri Giants, but other baseball teams protested against the contract. Because there was no reverse-draft, his act was regarded as unfair by the other Japanese professional baseball teams. After many controversies, he officially entered Yomiuri Giants.^[4]

Egawa had over 10 wins each year from 1980 to his retirement. He recorded 8 consecutive strikeouts in 1984 All-Star game, but did not reach Yutaka Enatsu's record of 9 straight strikeouts.

In 1985, Randy Bass seemed to poised break Sadaharu Oh's single season record of 55 home runs. Yomiuri Giants pitchers were said to have been given instructions to intentionally walk Bass in every at bat. However, Egawa ignored the indication in the first game of the two last Giants' games against Hanshin Tigers (1 hit-1 out-1 walk). After Egawa left the mound, Bass was issued five walks in six at-bats.

On June 26, 1986, he gave up a home run to Bass, which was Bass' seventh consecutive game with a home run. Sadaharu Oh's record is also 7 consecutive games. Egawa was admired for his fair play, even though it sometimes went against the wishes of his team.

Retirement

Since he retired in 1987, he has been worked as a baseball analyst. In the Japanese anime film Whisper of the Heart, he played a role as a baseball analyst.

References

1. ↑ Shinzō Abe (2006-11-09). "Throwing the First Pitch at the Japan-U.S. All Star Series". Abe Cabinet E-mail Magazine. Kantei. Retrieved 2008-07-01. 
2. ↑ 怪物・江川 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-07-01. 
3. ↑ 高校通算勝利 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-07-01. 
4. ↑ "Iwakuma not the first Japanese pitcher caught in tug-of-war". The Japan Times. 2004-12-22. Retrieved 2008-07-01. 

External links

• Nippon Professional Baseball career statistics from JapaneseBaseball.com