Masahiro Yamamoto (baseball)


Masahiro 'Masa' Yamamoto is a left-handed, retired Japanese professional baseball pitcher. A screwballer, Yamamoto pitched for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball for 29 years from 1986 to 2015. He is the oldest Japanese pitcher to win a baseball game. With 200+ career victories, he is a member of Meikyukai.

Biography

Yamamoto attended Nichidai Fujisawa High School, and was selected at age 18 by Chunichi.
Yamamoto was the Central League Earned Run Average Champion in 1993, posting a 2.05 ERA.
He won the 1994 Eiji Sawamura Award, going 19–8 with 3.49 ERA and 14 complete games.
On September 16, 2006, Yamamoto threw a no-hitter against the Hanshin Tigers, becoming the oldest pitcher in NPB to throw a no-hit game.
On September 5, 2014, Yamamoto won his first and only start of the season at Nagoya Dome in a shutout match against the Hanshin Tigers, making him the oldest Japanese pitcher to win a game, at 49 years, 25 days, surpassing the old mark of 48 years, 4 months set by the Hankyu Braves’ Shinji Hamazaki in 1950. During the game, he threw 90 pitches in five scoreless innings, gave up five hits and a walk, and striking out two.
Yamamoto has pitched in six Japan Series with the Dragons, with his team winning once.