Tomohito Ito
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Tomohito Ito (伊藤 智仁; born October 30, 1970) is a Japanese former professional baseball player from
Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
, Japan. He played for the
Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Yom ...
from 1993–2003 before retiring. He currently works as a pitching coach for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. He won a bronze medal in the
1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...
before entering the Japanese professional leagues.


Biography

Ito was a phenomenon in his rookie year, going 7-2 with a 0.91 ERA in 14 games as a starter before injuring his pitching arm in July. His rookie-year slider is said to be one of the best pitches ever to be thrown in Japanese baseball history, reaching the low-90 mph range with an enormous amount of horizontal movement. He beat
Hideki Matsui , nicknamed "Godzilla", is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played baseball in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Matsui pl ...
to win the 1993 Japanese rookie of the year award, even though he was only active for 3 months that year. Despite making a brilliant debut, Ito was plagued by various injuries to his pitching arm, and did not play a single game from 1994–1995. He had surgery on his shoulder, and spent almost three years in rehabilitation before returning in 1996. In 1997, he made a huge comeback as a closer, marking 19 saves with a 1.51 ERA. He returned to the starting rotation in 1998, and marked a 2.72 ERA in 29 starts. He was able to pitch in the starting rotation until 2000, but sustained various other injuries to his legs and shoulder, and he had surgery on his right shoulder in October, 1999. His 2001 season ended in April, and he had shoulder surgery for the third time in his career that year. He pitched in a minor league game in October, 2002, and struck out the first batter he faced before dislocating his shoulder against the second batter. He threw only nine pitches that day. The team suggested he retire, but Ito refused, and made a comeback on October 24, 2003, pitching in a minor league game against the
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 ...
. The fastest pitch he threw was a 67 mph (109 km/h) fastball, and he walked two of the three batters he faced. He announced his retirement five days later. Ito's remarkable slider was enabled by a loose shoulder joint. A loose shoulder allows more arm movement, but
dislocation In materials science, a dislocation or Taylor's dislocation is a linear crystallographic defect or irregularity within a crystal structure that contains an abrupt change in the arrangement of atoms. The movement of dislocations allow atoms to sl ...
occurs far more frequently. Despite his short career, (he played only 127 games in the professional leagues) he is remembered as one of the most remarkable Japanese pitchers in the 1990s.


References


External links


Tomohito Ito's slider in 1993 (video clip)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ito, Tomohito 1970 births Living people Baseball people from Kyoto Baseball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Nippon Professional Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners Olympic baseball players for Japan Olympic bronze medalists for Japan Olympic medalists in baseball Yakult Swallows players Managers of baseball teams in Japan Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics