Hisao Niura, also known as Kim Il-young (; born May 11, 1951), is a Japanese former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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, ...

who played

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 ...

in Japan and

KBO League The KBO League () is a professional baseball league in South Korea. The league comprises ten teams. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers are the most success ...

baseball in South Korea. Over a 22-season career, he was a five-time champion, four times with 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 h ...

and once with the

Samsung Lions The Samsung Lions () are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982. They are based in the southeastern city of Daegu and are members of the KBO League. Their home stadium is Daegu Samsung Lions Park. They have won the Korean Cha ...

. He was a two-time

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

champion of Japan's

Central League The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, 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 i ...

. A workhorse during much of his career, he had success as both a starter and a reliever. Although born in Japan, Niura is of Korean descent, part of the

Zainichi () are ethnic Koreans who immigrated to Japan before 1945 and are citizens or permanent residents of Japan, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South Korean nationals who have immigrated to Japan since t ...

community.

Career

NPB

Niura was born in Japan and attended Shizuoka Shogyo High School, but technically held

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

citizenship. As a 17-year-old in the summer of 1968, Niura announced his intention to drop out of high school and turn pro, but as a "foreign player" was ruled ineligible even though he had attended a Japanese high school. Niura then became the subject of intense bidding in excess of the draft-restricted contract bonus of ¥1,000,000, with six NPB teams and even some

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

teams involved. As a result, Niura joined the

outside of the draft. This became a key case to change the ruling on NPB draft eligibility from "those with Japanese citizenship" to "those that are registered with Japanese schools." Niura made it to the top level of NPB in 1971, and ended up pitching for the Yomiuri Giants for 13 seasons. The Giants won the

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series between the winning cl ...

championship each of Niura's first three years in the league (this was during the Giants' record nine straight championships), although he did not pitch in any Series games. Niura's best stretch in NPB was from 1976 to 1979, when he won a total of 52 games, with a winning percentage of .619, with 32 complete games. Niura appeared in 50 games in 1976, half as a starter and half as a reliever. He tied for the league lead in shutouts with three, and finished third in ERA behind Takamasa Suzuki and Shigeru Kobayashi. That year he made his first Central League All-Star team. He finally appeared in a Japan Series game, pitching two innings in Game Two (Yomiuri ended up losing in seven games to the

Hankyu Braves The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture ...

). In 1977, his 2.32 ERA was the best in the

; his nine saves also were tied for the league lead. Hisao again pitched in the Japan Series (again against the Braves), appearing in Games One, Two, and Four, and taking the loss in the clincher Game Five. Niura won 15 games and saved 15 more in 1978, both career highs; his 63 appearances led the Central League. He repeated as ERA champion with a 2.81 mark, made his second All-Star team, won both Fireman of the Year and Middle Reliever of the Year, and was given a

Best Nine Award The Best Nine Award is awarded annually to the best player at each position in both the Central League and Pacific League of Japanese professional baseball as determined by a pool of journalists. History While the Best Nine Award was first prese ...

as the Central League's best pitcher. In 1979 Niura went 15–11 with 5 saves, a 3.43 ERA and 223 strikeouts in 236-1/3 innings, leading the Central League in strikeouts. He made his third All-Star team. Elbow problems in the period 1980 to 1983 reduced his workload.

KBO

Niura transitioned to the

of the nascent

in 1984, playing under his Korean name Kim Il-young. He was 16–10 with a 2.27 ERA in 1984. In 1985 Niura/Kim went 25-6 for the Lions, with a 2.79 ERA and 11 complete games to help lead the Lions to the

championship. (Under the format the league played during that era, because the Lions finished first in both half-seasons, no

Korean Series The Korean Series () is the final championship series of the KBO League. It has been held since the KBO League's first season in and is the final series of the post-season play-offs. From to 2013, the winner of the Korean Series went on to play ...

was played and Samsung was declared champion outright.)Young Hoon Lee, Rodney Fort, editors. ''The Sports Business in The Pacific Rim: Economics and Policy'' (Springer, Oct 31, 2014
p. 178
Kim won ten games in his first 12 starts that year, a KBO record for the fastest time to ten wins.Baek Byung-yeul

''The Korea Times'' (2016-05-02). Kim's 25 wins that year are still good for third-place in KBO single-season victories; he was beaten out for the 1985

KBO League Golden Glove Award The KBO League Golden Glove Award is an award given out annually by the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) to the best overall player at each position in the KBO League. It is also commonly known as the KBO Golden Gloves. The award was established i ...

by his teammate Kim Si-jin, who also won 25 games. He continued his KBO success in 1986, going 13–4 with a 2.53 ERA. Niura was diagnosed with

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

in 1986; that combined with the language barrier (Niura did not speak Korean), led to him returning to Japan. Niura's three years in the KBO resulted in a 54–20 record (a .730 winning percentage), a 2.53 ERA, 32 complete games, and 8 shutouts.

NPB (second stint)

Niura returned to NPB in 1987, having added a

screwball A screwball is a baseball and fastpitch softball pitch that is thrown so as to break in the opposite direction of a slider or curveball. Depending on the pitcher's arm angle, the ball may also have a sinking action. The pitch is sometimes known ...

and

changeup A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball, but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced spee ...

to his pitching repertoire, which previously had been limited to a

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch (baseball), pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. Its distinctive feature is its high speed. "Power pitchers," such as former major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, relied on the ...

and a

curveball In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curve ...

. Now playing for the

Yokohama Taiyō Whales The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its current n ...

, Niura ended up winning 11 games in 1987, along with 7 complete games and 4 shutouts, and won the Comeback Player of the Year Award (an honor he shared with Tōru Sugiura of 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 in Tokyo, the other being the Yomiuri G ...

). He made his fourth All-Star team in 1987 and his fifth (and final) one in 1988. On August 4, 1989, he shut out his old team Yomiuri on 13 hits, the most hits ever allowed by an NPB pitcher in a shutout. Niura's 22-season career ended in 1992, playing with the Yakult Swallows.

References

External links

(Hisao Niura) (Il-ryung Kim) {{DEFAULTSORT:Niura, Hisao 1951 births Living people Zainichi Korean baseball players Baseball people from Tokyo Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers KBO League pitchers Yomiuri Giants players Samsung Lions players Yokohama Taiyō Whales players Fukuoka Daiei Hawks players Yakult Swallows players Japanese expatriate baseball players in South Korea