is a Japanese-born Australian 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 for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

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), ...

(MLB) and the

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Fighters also host a ...

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

Saitama Seibu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Railway, wh ...

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 ...

(NPB). He was educated at the Knox School and Wesley College,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Career

Nakamura was born to an Australian mother and Japanese father. The family moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

when he was 3 years old, and Nakamura later moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

after signing with the

in 1997. Despite having participated on the Australian Olympic baseball team in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, Nakamura was not successful in Major League Baseball; he pitched in only 31 games from 2003 to 2004, and never recorded a win. He was traded to the

in 2004, and was not re-signed for the next season. On July 27, 2004, Nakamura surrendered

Gary Sheffield Gary Antonian Sheffield (born November 18, 1968) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball for eight teams from 1988 to 2009. He is a sports agent. For most of his career, Sheffield played right ...

's 400th career home run. After being cut from the majors, Nakamura sought opportunities in Japan and was drafted in the 4th round of the 2004 draft by the

, and he debuted against the

Seibu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Railway, wh ...

on March 29, 2005. He was injured halfway through the year, but ended with a record of 3-0 and a 2.31 ERA over 32 games. He struck out more batters than innings pitched, and did not give up a single run in the second half of the season. In his second year Nakamura made 39 saves, setting a new

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 ...

single-season record, and the Fighters won the Japanese championship series. Nakamura pitched in four Japanese championship series games, and did not give up a single hit. He has since been traded from the Fighters and signed for the Yomiuri Giants. Nakamura retired as a member of the Saitama Seibu Lions after the conclusion of the 2012 season.

International career

Nakamura represented Australia at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in Atlanta and

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in Sydney. He had four appearances out of the bullpen in Atlanta and three appearances in Sydney games.

Pitching style

Nakamura throws sidearm and relies mostly on two types of curves and a fastball around 90 mph. One of his curves has a movement resembling a slider (some commentators have called it a

slurve The slurve is a baseball pitch in which the pitcher throws a curve ball as if it were a slider.

), while the other has a wide break.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakamura, Micheal 1976 births Living people Australian Christians Australian expatriate baseball players in Canada Australian expatriate baseball players in the United States Baseball coaches Baseball people from Nara Prefecture Baseball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Edmonton Trappers players Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters players Japanese Christians Japanese expatriate baseball players in Canada Japanese expatriate baseball players in the United States Japanese emigrants to Australia Japanese people of Australian descent Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Australia Major League Baseball players from Japan Minnesota Twins players Olympic baseball players of Australia People educated at Wesley College (Victoria) category:Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Saitama Seibu Lions players People from Nara, Nara Toronto Blue Jays players Yomiuri Giants players