List of Japanese players in Major League Baseball

This is an alphabetical list of 37 Japanese baseball players who have played in Major League Baseball between 1964 and 2008. This list only includes players who have played in at least one Major League game. This list does not include MLB players born in Japan to American parents, or players with Japanese ancestry, such as Dave Roberts, who grew up in the United States and never played professional baseball in Japan.

The first Japanese baseball player to appear in an MLB game was Masanori Murakami, a relief pitcher for the San Francisco Giants in 1964 and 1965. He did not start a trend; it would be thirty years until Hideo Nomo became the second Japanese player in Major League Baseball. Nomo's immediate success led to more Japanese players coming to America, a trend that has accelerated in recent years.

Players

Current

Position players

* Kosuke Fukudome: 2008–present Chicago Cubs
* Tadahito Iguchi: 2005–2007 Chicago White Sox, 2007 Philadelphia Phillies, 2008 San Diego Padres, 2008-present Philadelphia Phillies
* Akinori Iwamura: 2007–present Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays
* Kenji Johjima: 2006–present Seattle Mariners
* Hideki Matsui: 2003–present New York Yankees
* Kazuo Matsui: 2004–2006 New York Mets, 2006–2007 Colorado Rockies, 2008–present Houston Astros
* Ichiro Suzuki: 2001–present Seattle Mariners
* So Taguchi: 2002–2007 St. Louis Cardinals, 2008–present Philadelphia Phillies

Pitchers

* Kazuo Fukumori: 2008–present Texas Rangers
* Masahide Kobayashi: 2008–present Cleveland Indians
* Hiroki Kuroda: 2008–present Los Angeles Dodgers
* Daisuke Matsuzaka: 2007–present Boston Red Sox
* Hideki Okajima: 2007–present Boston Red Sox
* Takashi Saito: 2006–present Los Angeles Dodgers
* Keiichi Yabu: 2005 Oakland Athletics, 2008–present San Francisco Giants
* Yasuhiko Yabuta: 2008–present Kansas City Royals

Past

Position Players

* Norihiro Nakamura: 2005 Los Angeles Dodgers
* Tsuyoshi Shinjo: 2001 New York Mets, 2002 San Francisco Giants, 2003 New York Mets

Pitchers

* Shigetoshi Hasegawa: 1997–2001 Anaheim Angels, 2002–2005 Seattle Mariners
* Kei Igawa: 2007-08 New York Yankees (currently in minors)
* Hideki Irabu: 1997–1999 New York Yankees, 2000–2001 Montreal Expos, 2002 Texas Rangers
* Kazuhisa Ishii: 2002–2004 Los Angeles Dodgers, 2005 New York Mets
* Takashi Kashiwada: 1997 New York Mets
* Masao Kida: 1999–2000 Detroit Tigers, 2003–2004 Los Angeles Dodgers, 2004–2005 Seattle Mariners
* Satoru Komiyama: 2002 New York Mets
* Masumi Kuwata: 2007 Pittsburgh Pirates
* Masanori Murakami: 1964–1965 San Francisco Giants.
* Micheal Nakamura: 2003 Minnesota Twins, 2004 Toronto Blue Jays
* Hideo Nomo: 1995–1998 Los Angeles Dodgers, 1998 New York Mets, 1999 Milwaukee Brewers, 2000 Detroit Tigers, 2001 Boston Red Sox, 2002–2004 Los Angeles Dodgers, 2005 Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 2008 Kansas City Royals.
* Takahito Nomura: 2002 Milwaukee Brewers
* Tomokazu Ohka: 1999–2001 Boston Red Sox, 2001–2005 Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals, 2005–2006 Milwaukee Brewers, 2007 Toronto Blue Jays (currently in the Chicago White Sox minor system)
* Akinori Otsuka: 2004–2005 San Diego Padres, 2006–2007 Texas Rangers
* Kazuhiro Sasaki: 2000–2003 Seattle Mariners
* Mac Suzuki: 1996 Seattle Mariners, 1998–1999 Seattle Mariners, 1999–2001 Kansas City Royals, 2001 Colorado Rockies, 2001 Milwaukee Brewers, 2002 Kansas City Royals
* Kazuhito Tadano: 2004–2005 Cleveland Indians
* Shingo Takatsu: 2004–2005 Chicago White Sox, 2005 New York Mets
* Masato Yoshii: 1998–1999 New York Mets, 2000 Colorado Rockies, 2001–2002 Montreal Expos

Awards and notable accomplishments

*MVP: Ichiro Suzuki, 2001 AL
*Rookie of the Year: Hideo Nomo, 1995 NL; Kazuhiro Sasaki, 2000 AL; Ichiro Suzuki, 2001 AL
*Gold Glove Award: Ichiro Suzuki, 7 times, 2001–07 AL OF
*Silver Slugger Award: Ichiro Suzuki, twice, 2001 & 2007
*All-Star Game MVP: Ichiro Suzuki, 2007
*American League Rookie of the Month: Hideki Okajima, April 2007

Offensive

*Single-season hits record: Ichiro Suzuki, 2004 (262 Hits)
*Batting titles: Ichiro Suzuki, 2001 (.350 Avg) and 2004 AL (.372 Avg)
*Stolen bases champion: Ichiro Suzuki, 2001 AL (56 Stolen Bases)
*Only inside-the-park home run in All-Star game history: Ichiro Suzuki, 2007

Pitching

*No-hitters: Hideo Nomo, with two no-hitter games, and the only Japanese pitcher to throw a no-hitter in Major League Baseball. Nomo is one of only five players that have ever pitched at least one no-hitter game in both the National League and American League in Major League Baseball history.
**No-hitter #1: April 1st, 1996. Pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Colorado Rockies.
**No-hitter #2: September 17th, 2001. Pitching for the Boston Red Sox against the Baltimore Orioles. Walked three and struck out 11.
*Strikeout champion: Hideo Nomo, 1995 NL (236 Strikeouts) & 2001 AL (220 Strikeouts)

All-star selection

Position players

*Kosuke Fukudome, 2008 NL
*Hideki Matsui, twice, 2003-04 AL
*Ichiro Suzuki, 8 times, 2001-08 AL

Pitchers

*Shigetoshi Hasegawa, 2003 AL
*Hideo Nomo, 1995 NL
*Hideki Okajima, 2007 AL
*Takeshi Saito, 2007 AL
*Kazuhiro Sasaki, twice, 2002-03 AL

World Series appearances

Boldface indicates that player was on the winning team.

* Hideki Irabu, 1998 New York Yankees (on the roster, but did not play)
* Tsuyoshi Shinjo, 2002 San Francisco Giants
* Hideki Matsui, 2003 New York Yankees
* So Taguchi, 2004 and 2006 St. Louis Cardinals
* Tadahito Iguchi, 2005 Chicago White Sox
* Hideki Okajima, 2007 Boston Red Sox
* Daisuke Matsuzaka, 2007 Boston Red Sox
* Kazuo Matsui, 2007 Colorado Rockies

Further reading

* Rains, Rob. "Baseball Samurais: Ichiro Suzuki and the Asian Invasion". New York: St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2001. ISBN 0312982577.

* Whiting, Robert. "The Meaning of Ichiro: The New Wave from Japan and the Transformation of Our National Pastime". Warner Books, 2004; retitled for the 2005 paperback to "The Samurai Way of Baseball: The New Wave from Japan and the Transformation of Our National Pastime". ISBN 0446531928, ISBN 0446694037.

External links

* [http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/graphics/03_30_07_japanese_players/ Japanese players in Major League Baseball] : graph, "The Boston Globe"
* [http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/analysisjalbright15.html "Why Haven’t We Had More Japanese Players in the Majors?"] , Jim Albright, BaseballGuru.com
* "booms and busts" [http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061115&content_id=1740835&vkey=hotstove2006&fext=.jsp "Japan Offers Rewards, with Risk: Plenty of Players Find Success, While Others Disappoint"] , Tom Singer, MLB.com, November 15, 2006
* Statistics and awards at [http://www.baseball-reference.com/ Baseball Reference]
* [http://www.japaneseballplayers.com/en/ Japanese Players in MLB]