Choji Murata (村田兆治, 27 November 1949 – 11 November 2022) was a Japanese

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He played for the Tokyo/Lotte Orions over the period 1968 to 1990. Murata led the

Pacific League The , or , or the , due to sponsorship reasons, 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 a ...

Earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

in 1975 and 1976. In 1976 he won 21 games, the only time he won 20 games or more in his career. Overuse of Murata's pitching arm led to extreme pain and injury,Whiting, Robert. ''You Gotta Have Wa'' (Vintage Departures, 1989), pp. 55–57. and ultimately Murata was forced to undergo Tommy John elbow surgery, performed in 1982 by Dr.

Frank Jobe Frank Wilson Jobe (July 16, 1925 – March 6, 2014) was an American Orthopedic surgery, orthopedic surgeon and co-founder of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic. Jobe pioneered both elbow ligament replacement and major reconstructive shoulde ...

in California. (Murata was the first Japanese pitcher to undergo the procedure.) As a result, Murata missed much of the 1982 season, all of the 1983 season, and most of the 1984 season during his recovery. Rebounding in 1985 with a 17–5 record, Murata won the Nippon Professional Baseball Comeback Player of the Year Award. In 1989 he again led the Pacific League in ERA. Retiring in 1990 with 200+ career wins, Murata became a member of Meikyukai. He was inducted into the

Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame The , commonly known outside of Japan as the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, is a hall of fame and museum in Tokyo dedicated to professional baseball, with a prominent focus on professional baseball in Japan. The Hall is intended to honor and co ...

in 2005. In 2008, Murata served on the Eiji Sawamura Award selection committee. On 23 September 2022, Murata was arrested at

Haneda airport , also known as and sometimes abbreviated to ''Tokyo-Haneda'', is the busier of the two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary domestic base of J ...

for allegedly assaulting a customs agent. On 11 November 2022, Murata's house in Seijo,

Setagaya is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. It is also the name of a neighborhood and administrative district within the ward. Its official bird is the azure-winged magpie, its flower is the fringed orchid, and its tree is the '' Ze ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, caught on fire during the early morning. Subsequently, he was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead due to

carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as " flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large ...

at age 72.

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Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame
1949 births 2022 deaths Baseball people from Hiroshima Prefecture Japanese baseball players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Tokyo Orions players Lotte Orions players Chiba Lotte Marines players Japanese baseball coaches Nippon Professional Baseball coaches Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Deaths by smoke inhalation {{japan-baseball-pitcher-stub

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