Hitoki Iwase (岩瀬仁紀, born November 10, 1974) is a retired Japanese professional baseball player from

Nishio, Aichi is a city located in Aichi Prefecture, in the Chūbu region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 169,984 in 65,553 households, with a population density of 1,054 persons per km². The total area of the city was . It is a regional ...

, Japan. He holds the NPB record for career saves and mound appearances. In 2005, he marked 46 saves with a 1.88 ERA, renewing the single-season save record previously set by

Kazuhiro Sasaki Kazuhiro "Daimajin" Sasaki (佐々木主浩 ''Sasaki Kazuhiro'', born February 22, 1968) is a former Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher. He played his entire NPB career with the Yokohama Taiyo W ...

. This was subsequently broken by

Dennis Sarfate Dennis Scott Sarfate (born April 9, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, and Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, Saitama Seibu L ...

of the

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. The team was formerly known as the Nankai Hawks and was based in Osaka. ...

in 2017. He was chosen to play on the Japanese Olympic baseball team for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, and won a bronze medal. In the 2007 Japan Series, he saved a perfect game with eight innings thrown by

Daisuke Yamai is a former Japanese professional baseball pitcher who played his entire career with the Chunichi Dragons. He is most noted for his combined perfect game with Hitoki Iwase in the 2007 Japan Series to clinch the title for the Dragons for the firs ...

. In 2008, he was selected to play on the Japanese Olympic baseball team for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. In group stage against South Korean Olympic baseball team, his pitch was hit by Hyunsoo Kim, which resulted in a loss. In the semifinal round against the South Korean team, his pitch was hit by Seung-Yeop Lee, leading to a two-run homerun. This again led to another loss. His overall performance in the 2008 Summer Olympics included three defeats and an ERA of 13.75.

References

External links

Career statistics - NPB.jpJapanese league stats and info of Hitoki Iwase
1974 births Living people People from Nishio, Aichi Baseball people from Aichi Prefecture Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Chunichi Dragons players Baseball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players of Japan Olympic bronze medalists for Japan Olympic medalists in baseball Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers who have pitched a perfect game 21st-century Japanese people {{Japan-Olympic-medalist-stub