is a retired

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

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), ...

, best-selling author and Japanese television personality. He achieved the most recognition when he played for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

from through . Previously, Hasegawa played with the

Anaheim Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

(–), and before that spent six years with the

Orix BlueWave , styled as ORIX, is a Japanese diversified financial services group headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, and Osaka, Japan. ORIX offers leasing, lending, rentals, life insurance, real estate financing and development, venture capital, investment an ...

. He bats and throws right-handed.

Baseball career

Hasegawa was drafted in the first round by the Orix BlueWave in . He won 12 games in his rookie year, and received the Japanese Rookie of the Year Award in . He was a teammate of

Ichiro Suzuki , also known mononymously as , is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who played professionally for 28 seasons. He played nine years of his career with the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), where he began his ...

in Japan, and won two championships with the Orix BlueWave. In six seasons with the BlueWave, he was 57-45 with a 3.33 ERA. Hasegawa was purchased by the Anaheim Angels in January 1997, and he pitched well as a setup man. He signed with the Seattle Mariners on January 14, 2002. In , Hasegawa was named to the American League All-Star team as a middle reliever. He converted 16 of 17 saves at the end of the season when Mariners closer

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 ...

was injured. He concluded the season with a 1.48

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. Comp ...

in 63 relief appearances. Hasegawa was not offered a contract by the Mariners after the 2005 season, On January 23, 2006, he announced his retirementhttps://www.tsn.ca/mlb/news_story.asp?ID=152011 despite receiving several offers from Major League and Japanese league teams. In his nine-season MLB career, Hasegawa compiled a 45–44 record with 33 saves and a 3.71 ERA in 517

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

. He holds the record for most appearances by an Asian pitcher in Major League Baseball ahead of

Hideo Nomo is a Japanese former baseball pitcher who played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He achieved early success in his native country, where he played with the Kintetsu Buffaloes from to . He then exploited a l ...

. Hasegawa was known for releasing the ball very quickly, throwing off the batter's timing. He was very durable, spending time on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

only once in nine years in the majors.

Personal life

Hasegawa explained that he did not move to the U.S. to play in the majors; he entered the majors because he wanted to live in the U.S. He has since obtained permanent residence in the U.S. He speaks fluent

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, even interviewing teammates on an American television show, and he introduced himself in English at his first press conference in the U.S. He has also published a book in Japan with tips on improving English language skills. In addition to selling real estate in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

, Hasegawa frequently appears on baseball-related television shows in Japan, and is a commentator for major league games shown in Japan on

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

.Neel, Eric.
Could one of these guys be your team's next manager?
''ESPN Magazine'', 17 June 2008.

References

External links

Japanese league stats and info of Shigetoshi Hasegawa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasegawa, Shigetoshi 1968 births American League All-Stars Anaheim Angels players Japanese expatriate baseball players in the United States Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Japan Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Nippon Professional Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners Orix BlueWave players People from Kakogawa, Hyōgo Baseball people from Hyōgo Prefecture Seattle Mariners players Sportspeople from Newport Beach, California Baseball players from California