Choji Murata (村田兆治, 27 November 1949 – 11 November 2022) was a Japanese

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

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 ...

. He played for the Tokyo/Lotte Orions over the period 1968 to 1990. Murata led the

Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consis ...

Earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

in 1975 and 1976. In 1976 he won 21 games, the only time he won 20 games or more in his career. Overuse of Murata's pitching arm led to extreme pain and injury,Whiting, Robert. ''You Gotta Have Wa'' (Vintage Departures, 1989), pp. 55–57. and ultimately Murata was forced to undergo Tommy John elbow surgery, performed in 1982 by Dr.

Frank Jobe Frank James Jobe (July 16, 1925 – March 6, 2014) was an American orthopedic surgeon and co-founder of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic. Jobe pioneered both elbow ligament replacement and major reconstructive shoulder surgery for basebal ...

in California. (Murata was the first Japanese pitcher to undergo the procedure.) As a result, Murata missed much of the 1982 season, all of the 1983 season, and most of the 1984 season during his recovery. Rebounding in 1985 with a 17–5 record, Murata won the

Nippon Professional Baseball Comeback Player of the Year Award The Nippon Professional Baseball Comeback Player of the Year Award is given to one player in each league of Central League and Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in ...

. In 1989 he again led the Pacific League in ERA. Retiring in 1990 with 200+ career wins, Murata became a member of

Meikyukai The is one of the two baseball halls of fame in Japan, the other being the . The Meikyukai is a limited company for public benefit. Founded by Hall of Fame pitcher Masaichi Kaneda in 1978, the Meikyukai honors players born after 1926 (the begi ...

. He was inducted into the

Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame The is a museum which includes a library, reference rooms and . It first opened in 1959 next door to Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. In 1988, the museum moved to a new site within the Tokyo Dome. The Hall of Fame and Museum was created as ...

in 2005. In 2008, Murata served on the

Eiji Sawamura Award The , commonly known as the Sawamura Award, is an honor bestowed upon the top starting pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball each year. The award was originally established by Japanese magazine "Nekkyū" in 1947 to honor the career of Eiji Sawa ...

selection committee. On 23 September 2022, Murata was arrested at

Haneda airport , officially , and sometimes called as Tokyo Haneda Airport or Haneda International Airport , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary ...

for allegedly assaulting a customs agent. On 11 November 2022, Murata's house in Seijo, Setagaya,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, caught on fire during the early morning. Subsequently, he was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead due to

carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as "flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large e ...

at age 72.

References

External links

Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame
1949 births 2022 deaths Baseball people from Hiroshima Prefecture Japanese baseball players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Tokyo Orions players Lotte Orions players Chiba Lotte Marines players Japanese baseball coaches Nippon Professional Baseball coaches Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Deaths by smoke inhalation {{japan-baseball-pitcher-stub

See also

References

External links