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Masahiro Tanaka
Masahiro Tanaka (田中 将大, Tanaka Masahiro; born November 1, 1988) is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has previously played in NPB for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees.
From 2007 through 2013, he played for the Eagles in NPB. Tanaka was posted by the Eagles after the 2013 season to be signed with the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball (MLB) and signed a seven-year, $155 million contract, the fifth-largest deal ever given to a pitcher at the time. He made his major league debut in 2014 and played for the Yankees through the 2020 season, before deciding to return to Japan. Tanaka has said that he decided to return to Japan partly due to anti-Asian racism in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tanaka was the Eagles' first-round pick in the 2006 NPB amateur player draft. From 2012 to 2013, he won 26 consecutive decisions, which set a new NPB record. In MLB, Tanaka was the Yankees' Opening Day starter for four seasons and was twice named an All-Star.
Tanaka was born in Itami, a city in Hyōgo, Japan. He began playing baseball in the first grade as a catcher for the Koyanosato Tigers (a Little League team) alongside current Yomiuri Giants shortstop Hayato Sakamoto, who was then the team's ace pitcher and Tanaka's batterymate. Tanaka and Sakamoto hit third and fourth in the lineup, respectively. He went on to play for the Takarazuka Boys while attending Itami Municipal Matsuzaki Junior High School, being used at both pitcher and catcher because of his strong throwing arm. He was chosen to the Junior All-South Kansai team in his third year of junior high—the equivalent of ninth grade in the United States.
Tanaka moved on to Komazawa University Tomakomai High School in Hokkaidō, now playing solely as a pitcher for the team. Armed with a fastball that sat in high-80s and a hard slider, he led his team all the way to a championship in the 87th National High School Baseball tournament held at Koshien Stadium in the summer of his second year (eleventh grade). His very last pitch of the tournament was clocked at 150 km/h (93 mph), the first time a pitcher had ever clocked that speed as a junior in the history of the tournament.[citation needed] Tanaka, already a highly coveted talent by NPB scouts, was chosen to the Japanese team that would play in the IBAF AAA World Junior Championships following the tournament and contributed to the team's title.[citation needed]
Now given the uniform number 1 and officially appointed the team's ace pitcher,[citation needed] Tanaka led Tomakomai High to a regional title as well as a championship in the Meiji Jingu Tournament that fall, hitting home runs in four straight games in the latter himself. While his team was viewed as the favorite[by whom?] going into the 78th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament to be held the following spring, Tomakomai High was forced to withdraw from the tournament because of allegations of misconduct of some of the players.[citation needed]
Tomakomai High earned a berth in the 88th National High School Baseball Championship that summer. Tanaka managed to lead them to their third consecutive appearance in the tournament finals despite being ill prior to the tournament.[citation needed] The team's coach did not start Tanaka in the finals against Waseda Jitsugyo High School (an affiliate school of Waseda University), opting to rest him due to the number of innings he had thrown in the last few games,[citation needed] but he ended up sending Tanaka to the mound in relief midway through the third inning. Tanaka held Waseda Jitsugyo to just one run and struck out 10, but the opponent's ace, Yuki Saito, held Tomakomai High to one run himself on seven hits. The game remained tied 1–1 after 15 innings, forcing a rematch as per tournament regulations. It was the first time in 37 years (since Matsuyama Commercial High School and Misawa High School met in the finals in 1969) that the tournament finals had resulted in a rematch.[citation needed]
In the rematch that ensued the next day, Tanaka again came on in relief in the bottom of the first, but Tomakomai High lost to Waseda Jitsugyo despite his pitching the remaining 71⁄3 innings of the game. (Tanaka was the last batter, striking out to end the game.) The pitchers' duel between Tanaka and Saito in the finals and the rematch that followed became one of the most defining moments in all of sports in Japan that year.[citation needed] Tanaka, dealing with intestinal inflammation, threw 742 pitches in 522⁄3 innings (six appearances) in the tournament, striking out 54 and walking 20 with a 2.22 earned run average (ERA).
Masahiro Tanaka
Masahiro Tanaka (田中 将大, Tanaka Masahiro; born November 1, 1988) is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has previously played in NPB for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees.
From 2007 through 2013, he played for the Eagles in NPB. Tanaka was posted by the Eagles after the 2013 season to be signed with the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball (MLB) and signed a seven-year, $155 million contract, the fifth-largest deal ever given to a pitcher at the time. He made his major league debut in 2014 and played for the Yankees through the 2020 season, before deciding to return to Japan. Tanaka has said that he decided to return to Japan partly due to anti-Asian racism in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tanaka was the Eagles' first-round pick in the 2006 NPB amateur player draft. From 2012 to 2013, he won 26 consecutive decisions, which set a new NPB record. In MLB, Tanaka was the Yankees' Opening Day starter for four seasons and was twice named an All-Star.
Tanaka was born in Itami, a city in Hyōgo, Japan. He began playing baseball in the first grade as a catcher for the Koyanosato Tigers (a Little League team) alongside current Yomiuri Giants shortstop Hayato Sakamoto, who was then the team's ace pitcher and Tanaka's batterymate. Tanaka and Sakamoto hit third and fourth in the lineup, respectively. He went on to play for the Takarazuka Boys while attending Itami Municipal Matsuzaki Junior High School, being used at both pitcher and catcher because of his strong throwing arm. He was chosen to the Junior All-South Kansai team in his third year of junior high—the equivalent of ninth grade in the United States.
Tanaka moved on to Komazawa University Tomakomai High School in Hokkaidō, now playing solely as a pitcher for the team. Armed with a fastball that sat in high-80s and a hard slider, he led his team all the way to a championship in the 87th National High School Baseball tournament held at Koshien Stadium in the summer of his second year (eleventh grade). His very last pitch of the tournament was clocked at 150 km/h (93 mph), the first time a pitcher had ever clocked that speed as a junior in the history of the tournament.[citation needed] Tanaka, already a highly coveted talent by NPB scouts, was chosen to the Japanese team that would play in the IBAF AAA World Junior Championships following the tournament and contributed to the team's title.[citation needed]
Now given the uniform number 1 and officially appointed the team's ace pitcher,[citation needed] Tanaka led Tomakomai High to a regional title as well as a championship in the Meiji Jingu Tournament that fall, hitting home runs in four straight games in the latter himself. While his team was viewed as the favorite[by whom?] going into the 78th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament to be held the following spring, Tomakomai High was forced to withdraw from the tournament because of allegations of misconduct of some of the players.[citation needed]
Tomakomai High earned a berth in the 88th National High School Baseball Championship that summer. Tanaka managed to lead them to their third consecutive appearance in the tournament finals despite being ill prior to the tournament.[citation needed] The team's coach did not start Tanaka in the finals against Waseda Jitsugyo High School (an affiliate school of Waseda University), opting to rest him due to the number of innings he had thrown in the last few games,[citation needed] but he ended up sending Tanaka to the mound in relief midway through the third inning. Tanaka held Waseda Jitsugyo to just one run and struck out 10, but the opponent's ace, Yuki Saito, held Tomakomai High to one run himself on seven hits. The game remained tied 1–1 after 15 innings, forcing a rematch as per tournament regulations. It was the first time in 37 years (since Matsuyama Commercial High School and Misawa High School met in the finals in 1969) that the tournament finals had resulted in a rematch.[citation needed]
In the rematch that ensued the next day, Tanaka again came on in relief in the bottom of the first, but Tomakomai High lost to Waseda Jitsugyo despite his pitching the remaining 71⁄3 innings of the game. (Tanaka was the last batter, striking out to end the game.) The pitchers' duel between Tanaka and Saito in the finals and the rematch that followed became one of the most defining moments in all of sports in Japan that year.[citation needed] Tanaka, dealing with intestinal inflammation, threw 742 pitches in 522⁄3 innings (six appearances) in the tournament, striking out 54 and walking 20 with a 2.22 earned run average (ERA).
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