is a former Japanese pitcher regarded as one of the best

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

strikeout pitchers of all-time. In , he recorded 401 strikeouts, which is still the world record. Enatsu was a bit player in the Black Mist Scandal which embroiled Japanese baseball from 1969 to 1971. In November 1970 he received a stern warning from the Central League president due to "involvement with persons in baseball gambling." He recorded 9 consecutive strikeouts in one of the All-Star games, and 15 consecutive strikeouts in three of the All-Star games between and 1971. His consecutive strikeouts were broken up by

Katsuya Nomura was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) catcher and manager. During his over 26-season playing career mostly spent with the Nankai Hawks (now the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks), he became one of NPB's greatest offensive catchers. He was award ...

. The two records are still unbroken. A starting pitcher for the first part of his career, in 1977 he became a relief specialist, altogether accumulating 193 saves. While playing with the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Mats ...

in 1979, Enatsu was the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

, as he compiled a 9–5 record with a 2.67 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 104-2/3 innings. That year the Carp won the Central League pennant and the

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...

. In 1981, with the

Nippon-Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Fighters also host a ...

, Enatsu was the

Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...

MVP, garnering 25 saves and a 2.82 ERA, as the Fighters won the Pacific League pennant. Enatsu joined the Milwaukee Brewers for spring training in 1985 at age 36 in an attempt to play Major League Baseball. Enatsu finished spring training with a 4.91 ERA in 11 innings and was among the team's final cuts before the season.

In popular culture

Enatsu is a major shadow-figure in

Yōko Ogawa is a Japanese writer. Her work has won every major Japanese literary award, including the Akutagawa Prize and the Yomiuri Prize. Internationally, she has been the recipient of the Shirley Jackson Award and the American Book Award. '' The Memory ...

's novel ''

The Housekeeper and the Professor (literally "The Professor's Beloved Equation") is a novel by Yōko Ogawa set in modern-day Japan. It was published in Japan in August 2003, by Shinchosha. In 2009, the English translation by Stephen Snyder was published. Background The story c ...

'' (Hakase no ai shita sūshiki, 博士の愛した数式, 2003).

References

External links

* Career statistics and player information fro
Baseball-Reference
*

(Japanese) 1948 births Living people Sportspeople from Amagasaki Baseball people from Nara Prefecture Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Hanshin Tigers players Hiroshima Toyo Carp players Nankai Hawks players Nippon Ham Fighters players Seibu Lions players Japanese expatriate baseball players in the United States Nippon Professional Baseball MVP Award winners {{japan-baseball-pitcher-stub