Masao Kida


Masao Kida is a former Japanese baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball from -, and -.

Biography

Kida was drafted in the first round in, by the Yomiuri Giants, after graduating from the Nippon University high school. In, he won 12 games, recorded the most strikeouts in his league, and was chosen for the All-Star game. He had surgery on his right elbow in, and was traded to the Orix BlueWave in in exchange for Takahito Nomura. Kida made 16 saves that year.
In 1999, he signed with the Detroit Tigers as a free agent, but was demoted to the minors, and he returned to the BlueWave in June, 2000. He was cut in, and spent in semi-retirement. He joined the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2003, but got into a car accident in March, and was hospitalized. He was promoted to the majors in August of the same year, but pitched in only 3 games. In September,, he joined the Seattle Mariners, but only made one appearance in 2005, and was released after the season.
Tokyo Yakult Swallows player-manager Atsuya Furuta invited Kida to play in Japan, and he joined the team in the 2005 off-season. In, he posted a 3.09 ERA in 56 games as a reliever, and played in his second All-Star game, 16 years after his first appearance.
After pitching for the Swallows through the 2009 season, he joined the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters for 2010–2012.
Kida closed out his career in Japan's Baseball Challenge League, pitching for the Ishikawa Million Stars from 2013–2014. The Million Stars held a retirement ceremony for Kida on September 14, 2014. He struck out the side, and his uniform number 12 was retired by the team.

Pitching statistics

Nippon Professional Baseball