The , commonly known as the Sawamura Award, is an honor bestowed upon the top

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

in Nippon Professional Baseball each year. The award was originally established by Japanese

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"Nekkyū" in 1947 to honor the career of Eiji Sawamura, a power pitcher who enjoyed an illustrious career for the Tokyo Giants before being killed in combat during World War II. It is a special award that is independent of the official ''Most Valuable Pitcher'' award that is presented to one pitcher in each league (

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and Pacific) each year.

Overview

Selection process

One starting pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball is chosen at the end of each season based on the following selection criteria. * Games started: 25 or more *

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: 15 or more *

Complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s: 10 or more * Winning percentage: .600 or higher *

Innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

: 200 or more * Earned run average (ERA): 2.50 or lower *

Strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s: 150 or more The selection criteria were established in ; prior to this, a pool of journalists voted on the pitcher they thought was most deserving of the award without any particular criteria. These simply serve as guidelines; while the pitcher who fulfills the most criteria has the most likelihood of winning, pitchers who do not fulfill all seven criteria have often been presented the award. In the rare event that another pitcher has a season that is deemed more outstanding, a pitcher may, in turn, fulfill all seven criteria and not win the award. In , Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters starting pitcher Yu Darvish (16–4 win–loss record, 1.88 ERA, 208 strikeouts) fulfilled all seven criteria, but Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles starting pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma won the award despite meeting only six criteria because it was deemed that Iwakuma (21–4, 1.87 ERA, 159 strikeouts) had the better season overall. The selection committee usually consists of five former pitchers.

Other notes

Because it began as an independent award by ''Nekkyū'', a magazine catered towards Giants fans, only Central League pitchers were eligible to win the award from (the first year the NPB employed the current two- league format) to . The first pitcher to be bestowed the honors from the Pacific League was Hideo Nomo for the Kintetsu Buffaloes in . No pitcher was found to be sufficiently deserving of the award in , , , , and . The award has been presented to two pitchers in the same season twice (, ).

Winners

''Bold names indicate pitchers who met all seven criteria (limited to 1982 and later winners)'' Hideo Fujimoto 2

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sawamura Award Nippon Professional Baseball trophies and awards Awards established in 1947 1947 establishments in Japan

Overview

Selection process

Other notes

Winners

See also

References