Hisao Niura, also known as Kim Il-young (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: 김일융; born May 11, 1951), is a Japanese former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

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 ...

who played

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 ...

in Japan and

KBO League The KBO League (), officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers ar ...

baseball in South Korea. Over a 22-season career, he was a five-time champion, four times with the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

and once with the

Samsung Lions The Samsung Lions () are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982. They are based in the southeastern city of Daegu and are members of the KBO League. Their home stadium is Daegu Samsung Lions Park. They have won the Korean Champ ...

. He was a two-time

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

champion of Japan's

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...

. A workhorse during much of his career, he had success as both a starter and a reliever. Although born in Japan, Niura is of Korean descent, part of the

Zainichi comprise ethnic Koreans who have permanent residency status in Japan or who have become Japanese citizens, and whose immigration to Japan originated before 1945, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South ...

community.

Career

NPB

Niura was born in Japan and attended Shizuoka Shogyo High School, but technically held

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

citizenship. As a 17-year-old in the summer of 1968, Niura announced his intention to drop out of high school and turn pro, but as a "foreign player" was ruled ineligible even though he had attended a Japanese high school. Niura then became the subject of intense bidding in excess of the draft-restricted contract bonus of ¥1,000,000, with six NPB teams and even some

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

teams involved. As a result, Niura joined the

outside of the draft. This became a key case to change the ruling on NPB draft eligibility from "those with Japanese citizenship" to "those that are registered with Japanese schools." Niura made it to the top level of NPB in 1971, and ended up pitching for the Yomiuri Giants for 13 seasons. The Giants won the

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...

championship each of Niura's first three years in the league (this was during the Giants' record nine straight championships), although he did not pitch in any Series games. Niura's best stretch in NPB was from 1976 to 1979, when he won a total of 52 games, with a winning percentage of .619, with 32 complete games. Niura appeared in 50 games in 1976, half as a starter and half as a reliever. He tied for the league lead in shutouts with three, and finished third in ERA behind

Takamasa Suzuki Takamasa (written: , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese judoka *, Japanese samurai *, Japanese daimyō *, Japanese photographer *, Japanese musician, known as ...

and

Shigeru Kobayashi was a Japanese baseball pitcher. He played for the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball. Kobayashi coached two other NPB teams, the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes and the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, and also spent a ...

. That year he made his first Central League All-Star team. He finally appeared in a Japan Series game, pitching two innings in Game Two (Yomiuri ended up losing in seven games to the

Hankyu Braves The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefectur ...

). In 1977, his 2.32 ERA was the best in the

; his nine saves also were tied for the league lead. Hisao again pitched in the Japan Series (again against the Braves), appearing in Games One, Two, and Four, and taking the loss in the clincher Game Five. Niura won 15 games and saved 15 more in 1978, both career highs; his 63 appearances led the Central League. He repeated as ERA champion with a 2.81 mark, made his second All-Star team, won both Fireman of the Year and Middle Reliever of the Year, and was given a

Best Nine Award The Best Nine Award is awarded annually to the best player at each position in both the Central League and Pacific League of Japanese professional baseball as determined by a pool of journalists. History While the Best Nine Award was first presen ...

as the Central League's best pitcher. In 1979 Niura went 15–11 with 5 saves, a 3.43 ERA and 223 strikeouts in 236-1/3 innings, leading the Central League in strikeouts. He made his third All-Star team. Elbow problems in the period 1980 to 1983 reduced his workload.

KBO

Niura transitioned to the

of the nascent

in 1984, playing under his Korean name Kim Il-young. He was 16–10 with a 2.27 ERA in 1984. In 1985 Niura/Kim went 25-6 for the Lions, with a 2.79 ERA and 11 complete games to help lead the Lions to the

championship. (Under the format the league played during that era, because the Lions finished first in both half-seasons, no

Korean Series The Korean Series is the final championship series of the KBO League. It has been held since the KBO League's first season in and is the final series of the post-season play-offs. From to 2013, the winner of the Korean Series went on to play in ...

was played and Samsung was declared champion outright.)Young Hoon Lee, Rodney Fort, editors. ''The Sports Business in The Pacific Rim: Economics and Policy'' (Springer, Oct 31, 2014
p. 178
Kim won ten games in his first 12 starts that year, a KBO record for the fastest time to ten wins.Baek Byung-yeul

''The Korea Times'' (2016-05-02). Kim's 25 wins that year are still good for third-place in KBO single-season victories; he was beaten out for the 1985

KBO League Golden Glove Award The KBO League Golden Glove Award is an award given out annually by the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) to the best overall player at each position in the KBO League. It is also commonly known as the KBO Golden Gloves. The award was established i ...

by his teammate

Kim Si-jin Kim Si-jin (Hangul:김시진, Hanja: 金始眞; born March 20, 1958 in Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea) is a retired pitcher and a former manager (baseball), manager in the Korea Baseball Organization. Playing career Amateur career ...

, who also won 25 games. He continued his KBO success in 1986, going 13–4 with a 2.53 ERA. Niura was diagnosed with

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

in 1986; that combined with the language barrier (Niura did not speak Korean), led to him returning to Japan. Niura's three years in the KBO resulted in a 54–20 record (a .730 winning percentage), a 2.53 ERA, 32 complete games, and 8 shutouts.

NPB (second stint)

Niura returned to NPB in 1987, having added a

screwball A screwball is a baseball and fastpitch softball pitch that is thrown so as to break in the opposite direction of a slider or curveball. Depending on the pitcher's arm angle, the ball may also have a sinking action. The pitch is sometimes known a ...

and

changeup A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced speed ...

to his pitching repertoire, which previously had been limited to a

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. "Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thro ...

and a

curveball In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curve ...

. Now playing for the

Yokohama Taiyō Whales The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its current ...

, Niura ended up winning 11 games in 1987, along with 7 complete games and 4 shutouts, and won the Comeback Player of the Year Award (an honor he shared with Tōru Sugiura of the

Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Yom ...

). He made his fourth All-Star team in 1987 and his fifth (and final) one in 1988. On August 4, 1989, he shut out his old team Yomiuri on 13 hits, the most hits ever allowed by an NPB pitcher in a shutout. Niura's 22-season career ended in 1992, playing with the Yakult Swallows.

References

External links

(Hisao Niura) (Il-ryung Kim) {{DEFAULTSORT:Niura, Hisao 1951 births Living people Zainichi Korean people Baseball people from Tokyo Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers KBO League pitchers Yomiuri Giants players Samsung Lions players Yokohama Taiyō Whales players Fukuoka Daiei Hawks players Yakult Swallows players Japanese expatriate baseball players in South Korea