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Kōyō Aoyagi
is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher who currently plays for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball. Early baseball career Kōyō played ball for the Terao Dolphins as a fifth-grader in primary school, and went on to pitch for Namamugi Junior High. He became the ace pitcher of Kawasaki Kikoka High School in Kanagawa, but his team never made it to any national tournaments. He entered Teikyo University where he was a regular starter in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area University Baseball League. Despite having undergone right elbow surgery in his third year, he pitched spectacularly the following year where he led the league in wins (6), and was awarded Best Nine. After four years and 37 game appearances, he finished 15–9 with a 1.91 ERA. Hanshin Tigers He was the Tiger's 5th round pick during the 2015 Nippon Professional Baseball draft. He signed a 40 million yen contract with Hanshin, for an estimated annual salary of 7.2 million yen. He was assigned jersey num ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the pitcher is assigned the number 1. The pitcher is often considered the most important player on the defensive side of the game, and as such is situated at the right end of the defensive spectrum. There are many different types of pitchers, such as the starting pitcher, relief pitcher, middle reliever, lefty specialist, setup man, and the closer. Traditionally, the pitcher also bats. Starting in 1973 with the American League(and later the National League) and spreading to further leagues throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the hitting duties of the pitcher have generally been given over to the position of designated hitter, a cause of some controversy. The Japanese Central Le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teikyo University
is a private university headquartered in the Itabashi ward of Tokyo, Japan. It was established in 1931 as Teikyo Commercial High School (帝京商業高等学校). It became Teikyo University in 1966. It is part of Teikyo Group, a multinational educational foundation that also operates language and cultural exchange facilities at pre-university levels in various countries. The university consists of eight undergraduate facilities, one junior college, and six graduate schools. Five main campuses in Japan are supplemented by several overseas campuses that provide study-abroad opportunities for Japanese students, as well as Japanese-oriented learning for residents of the campuses' home countries. Total enrollment is about 20,000 students. Although the headquarters is the Itabashi campus, the majority of students (approximately 17,000) are enrolled at the Hachiōji campus in West Tokyo. In the 2019 and 2020 editions of its university rankings, Times Higher Education ranked Teikyo U ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masahiro Yamamoto (baseball)
Masahiro 'Masa' Yamamoto (, born August 11, 1965, in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture) is a left-handed, retired Japanese professional baseball pitcher. A screwballer, Yamamoto pitched for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball for 29 years from 1986 to 2015. He is the oldest Japanese pitcher to win a baseball game. With 200+ career victories, he is a member of Meikyukai. Biography Yamamoto attended Nichidai Fujisawa High School, and was selected at age 18 by Chunichi. Yamamoto was the Central League Earned Run Average Champion in 1993, posting a 2.05 ERA. He won the 1994 Eiji Sawamura Award, going 19–8 with 3.49 ERA and 14 complete games. On September 16, 2006, Yamamoto threw a no-hitter against the Hanshin Tigers, becoming the oldest pitcher in NPB to throw a no-hit game. On September 5, 2014, Yamamoto won his first and only start of the season at Nagoya Dome in a shutout match against the Hanshin Tigers, making him the oldest Japanese pitcher to win a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cut Fastball
In baseball, a cut fastball or cutter is a type of fastball that breaks toward the pitcher's glove-hand side, as it reaches home plate. This pitch is somewhere between a slider and a four-seam fastball, as it is usually thrown faster than a slider but with more movement than a typical fastball. Some pitchers use a cutter to prevent hitters from expecting their regular fastballs. A common technique for throwing a cutter is to use a four-seam fastball grip with the baseball set slightly off center in the hand. A batter hitting a cutter pitch often achieves only soft contact and an easy out due to the pitch's movement keeping the ball away from the bat's sweet spot. The cutter is typically 2–5 mph slower than a pitcher's four-seam fastball. In 2010, the average pitch classified as a cutter by PITCHf/x thrown by a right-handed pitcher was 88.6 mph; the average two-seamer was 90.97 mph. Professional practitioners The New York Yankees' former closer Mariano Rivera, one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinker (baseball)
In baseball, a sinker or sinking fastball is a type of fastball which has significant downward and horizontal movement and is known for inducing ground balls. Pitchers capable of utilizing the sinker are able to throw the pitch almost exclusively, as it forces weak contact and ground balls, allowing them to rely less on secondary pitches in order to change speeds. While coaches agree that this pitch is very similar to the two-seam fastball, a two-seamer tends to have more lateral movement than a sinker. History Before the 1950s, pitchers did not know what caused their pitches to sink or "hop". They regarded either ability as a "gift from heaven". Bill James cites Curt Simmons as the first pitcher to be able to throw both sinkers and rising fastballs, apparently indicating that it was not known how to make a pitch sink and how to make one hop. Throwing mechanics One method of throwing the sinker is to simply grip the baseball along the two seams and throw it similar to a fastba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four-seam Fastball
A four-seam fastball, also called a rising fastball, a four-seamer, or a cross-seam fastball, is a pitch in baseball. It is a member of the fastball family of pitches and is usually the hardest (i.e., fastest) ball thrown by a pitcher. It is called what it is because with every rotation of the ball as it is thrown, four seams come into view. A few pitchers at the major league level can sometimes reach a pitch speed of up to 100 mph. It is often compared with the two-seam fastball. Grip and action The four-seam fastball is designed purely for velocity; it travels to the batter's box with little or no "break" from straight-line flight—the intent being to challenge the batter's reaction time instead of fooling him with a pitch that breaks downward or to one side or the other. The ball is gripped with the index and middle fingers set on or across a line (cross-seam) of the "horseshoe" seam that faces outward, i.e., away from the pitcher's body. The thumb is placed directly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slider (baseball)
In baseball, a slider is a breaking ball pitch that tails laterally and down through the batter's hitting zone. It is thrown at a speed that is lower than a fastball, but higher than the pitcher's curveball. The break on the pitch is shorter than that of the curveball, and the release technique is 'between' those of a curveball and a fastball. The slider is similar to the cutter (baseball), cutter, a fastball pitch, but is more of a breaking ball than the cutter. The slider is also known as a yakker or a snapper. Slider continuum Depending on velocity, a pitch can fall anywhere on the continuum from "fastball" to "slider": * fastball » Cutter (baseball), cut fastball » hard slider » slider » slurve ** cut fastball: slower than fastball ** hard slider: slower than fastball ** slider: slower than fastball The difference between a slider and curveball is that the curveball delivery includes a downward yank on the ball as it is released in addition to the lateral spin appli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Two-seam Fastball
A two-seam fastball is a pitch in baseball and softball. It is a variant of the straight fastball. The pitch has the speed of a fastball and can also include late-breaking action caused by varying the pressure of the index and middle fingers on the ball. Grip and action Several grips are used for a two-seam fastball, the most common of which is to place the index and middle fingers along the seams where they are closest together (where the horseshoes point in towards each other) with the thumb placed directly below on the leather with the rear of the thumb just touching the bottom near seam. The arm action is identical to a four-seam fastball, although the hand action differs slightly. Typically, the two-seam has more movement if the pitcher applies index fingertip pressure, or holds the baseball deeper in the hand. Both techniques cause the ball to spin out of the hand off-center and away from the pitcher, similar to the spin of a changeup. The two-seam fastball often is percei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quality Start
In baseball, a quality start is a statistic for a starting pitcher defined as a game in which the pitcher completes at least six innings and permits no more than three earned runs. The quality start has effectively replaced the 'complete game' as a meaningful measure of a starting pitcher's performance. ESPN.com no longer records complete games in its MLB 'stat' section. The quality start was developed by sportswriter John Lowe in 1985 while writing for ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. ESPN.com terms a loss suffered by a pitcher in a quality start as a ''tough loss'' and a win earned by a pitcher in a non-quality start a ''cheap win''. Nolan Ryan has used the term "High Quality Start" for games where the pitcher goes seven innings or more and allows three earned runs or fewer, which baseball columnist and former BBWAA president Derrick Goold referred to as "Quality Start Plus." All-time and single-season leaders All-time career quality start leaders † denotes that the pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walks Plus Hits Per Inning Pitched
In baseball statistics, walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) is a sabermetric measurement of the number of baserunners a pitcher has allowed per inning pitched. WHIP is calculated by adding the number of walks and hits allowed and dividing this sum by the number of innings pitched.MLB Glossary – Walks and hits per inning pitched (WHIP) ''MLB.com. Retrieved on September 13, 2016. WHIP reflects a pitcher's propensity for allowing batters to reach base, therefore a lower WHIP indicates better performance. While ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ground Ball/fly Ball Ratio
In baseball statistics, ground ball-fly ball ratio (denoted by G/F or GB/FB) is a measure of: * Frequency of batted ground balls in play versus fly balls in play to denote what kind of contact a batter makes more frequently. Calculated as (total ground balls in play) / (total fly balls in play); and * Frequency of ground balls allowed in play versus fly balls allowed in play to denote what kind of contact a pitcher surrenders more frequently to opposing batters. Calculated as (total ground balls in play surrendered) / (total fly balls in play surrendered). The related statistic of ''ground outs-fly outs ratio'' (denoted by ''GO/AO''), is a measure of: * Frequency of batted ground ball outs versus fly ball outs hit by the batter, calculated as (number of ground ball outs) / (number of fly ball outs). * Frequency of batted ground ball outs versus fly ball outs thrown by the pitcher, calculated as (number of ground ball outs) / (number of fly ball outs). A statistic in baseball that c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yuta Iwasada
is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher who currently plays for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball. Career Early career Yuta started his baseball career in 4th grade as an outfielder for the Wakaba Elementary School, and in 6th grade, made it to the semi-finals of a national baseball tournament. He doubled as 1st-base infielder and pitcher for the Kumamoto Hitsuyukan Senior High but his team never made it to nationals. He entered the Yokohama College of Commerce, and in his sophomore year, was chosen to pitch for the national team for the US-Japan Collegiate Baseball Championships. In his senior year, he was awarded Best Nine in the Kanagawa University Baseball League after winning 6 games in the tournament. Hanshin Tigers He was the Tiger's 1st round 3rd alternative pick during the 2013 Nippon Professional Baseball draft The 2013 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Draft was held on October 24, , for the 49th time at the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa to assi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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