is a Japanese retired

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 in

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 ...

for the Seibu / Saitama Seibu Lions from 2001 through 2009.

Career

Mitsui was drafted in the 4th round of the 1991 NPB draft by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, but opted not to sign. He pitched for

Nippon Steel was formed in 2012 by the merger of the old Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal. was established in 1970 by the merger of Fuji Iron & Steel and Yawata Iron & Steel. Nippon Steel is the world's third largest steel producer by volume as of 2019. ...

Hirohata for most of the decade. In 2000, the Seibu Lions took him in the 2nd round. He debuted in 2001, going 3–3 with a 5.22 ERA as a swingman. In 2002, he improved to 10–2, 3.15 in 16 starts and 25 relief appearances. He was 5th in the Pacific League in ERA behind Masahiko Kaneda,

Koo Dae-sung Koo Dae-sung (; born August 2, 1969) is a Korean former professional baseball pitcher. A left-handed pitcher, Koo formerly played for the Hanwha Eagles in the KBO League, as well as the New York Mets of Major League Baseball and the Orix BlueW ...

Nate Minchey Nathan Derek Minchey (born August 31, 1969) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1993 through 1997 for the Boston Red Sox (1993–94, 1996) and Colorado Rockies (1997). He also played seven seasons in Japan, from 1998 unt ...

and

Kenichi Wakatabe is a former Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher, and current first squad pitching coach for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He previously played for the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks and the Yokohama BayStars. Haruk ...

. He made 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 ...

All-Star team. Mitsui had a 3.18 ERA in 3 games in the

2002 Japan Series The 2002 Japan Series was the 53rd edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's postseason championship series. It matched the Central League champion Yomiuri Giants against the Pacific League champion Seibu Lions. The Giants swept the Lions in four g ...

. In

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, Mitsui was 11–5 with a 5.22 ERA. He was second on Seibu in wins, behind

Daisuke Matsuzaka is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher, who pitched professionally for 23 seasons, 16 of them in NPB, 7 in MLB. He is currently a baseball color commentator, critic, reporter, and YouTuber. Daisuke is nicknamed in Japan and "Dice-K ...

. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, Mitsui was limited to 9 games, with a 7.69 ERA and 67 hits in

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. He was 2–3. He allowed one run in two innings in the 2004 Japan Series. Koji moved to relief in 2005 and was 1–2 with a 4.95 ERA. The next year, Mitsui was 4–1 with a save in 45 games; he had a 1.73 ERA, best on the club. He pitched in the MLB-NPB All-Star Series that winter. In 2007, he remained effective with a 4–2, 2.22 record in 47 outings. Only

Eiji Shotsu is a Japanese professional Nippon Professional Baseball player. He is currently with the Saitama Seibu Lions in Japan's Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan ...

had a lower ERA on the Lions. Mitsui struggled in 2008 as the veteran faded to 1–1, 7.50 and allowed 33 hits in 24 innings. He allowed one run in innings in the

2008 Japan Series The 2008 Japan Series was the 59th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's Japan Series, championship series. The best-of-seven playoff between the respective champions of the Central League's and the Pacific League's Climax Series (postseason) ...

, which Seibu won. Mitsui requested to be posted by the Lions to

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), ...

twice in the 2008–09 offseason, but attracted no bids on either occasion.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitsui, Koji 1973 births Baseball pitchers Japanese baseball players Living people Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Saitama Seibu Lions players Seibu Lions players Baseball people from Hokkaido