Amateur Career
Watanabe began baseball at age 6, and began throwing underhanded during middle school at the suggestion of his father. Watanabe attracted little attention through high school and college, and joined the Kazusa Magic amateur baseball team in 1999 after graduating from college. He was finally noticed by professional scouts when he was chosen as a member of the 2000 Sydney Olympics Japanese national team, where he marked a win in a game against Italy.
He pitched in the Japanese national amateur baseball tournament in late 2000, and was drafted in the 4th round by the Chiba Lotte Marines that year.
Read more about this topic: Shunsuke Watanabe
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