Shigetoshi Hasegawa - Baseball Career

Baseball Career

Hasegawa was drafted in the first round by the Orix BlueWave in 1990. He won 12 games in his rookie year, and received the Japanese Rookie of the Year Award in 1991. He was a teammate of Ichiro Suzuki in Japan, and won two championships with the Orix BlueWave.

Hasegawa was purchased by the Anaheim Angels in January 1997, and pitched well as a setup man. He signed with the Seattle Mariners on January 14, 2002. In 2003, Hasegawa was named to the All-Star team as a middle reliever and ended up converting 16 of 17 saves at the end of the year when Mariners closer Kazuhiro Sasaki was injured. He concluded the season with a 1.48 ERA in 63 relief appearances.

Hasegawa was not offered a contract by the Mariners after the 2005 season, On January 23, 2006, he announced his retirement despite receiving several offers from Major League and Japanese league teams. In his nine-season MLB career, Hasegawa compiled a 45–44 record with 33 saves and a 3.71 ERA in 517 games. He holds the record for most appearances by an Asian pitcher in Major League Baseball ahead of Hideo Nomo. Hasegawa was known for releasing the ball very quickly, throwing off the batter's timing. He was very durable, spending time on the disabled list only once in nine years in the majors.