Japanese Headhunters

Before I got to your last sentence, Osamu Higashio came to mind.

The only other pitcher that threw with such fire and passion (more so than Higashio, IMHO) was Senichi Hoshino (now Senior Director of Hanshin). As manager of the Dragons for a couple of stints, it's believed that he called for hit batters on occasion (but I don't know of anyone who has or would call him out on that).

Although there was a bean ball battle a number of years ago that resulted in a rule of automatic ejection if a batter was hit in the helmet, I don't recall who was involved in the incident. And even since the rule reverted to ejection "at the discretion of the umpire," there have still be a number of cases where the umpire thought it intended enough to send the pitcher home.

Still, I can't think of any Japanese pitchers in the last couple of decades who would have intentionally thrown a bean ball. (Balvino Galvez tried to throw one at an umpire and was suspended for the remainder of the season - but amazingly returned to the Giants the next season.)

I heard Charlie Manuel (now Phillies managers) used to get thrown at a lot when he played in Japan. I'm not sure by who, but I think it was around the same time Higashio was pitching, so he could have been the main culprit.

When I think of MLB, I think of guys like Clemens, Pedro (Martinez), and Drysdale as big inside of the plate guys and/or headhunters (although there is a big distinction between the two), but not sure of other NPB pitchers.

At Koshien about 3 years ago, I saw a Hawks pitcher throw at Kanemoto's head two pitches in a row (hitting him the second time and almost ending his playing streak), but I don't remember who it was and if he was known for this or if it was just an isolated incident.

The pitcher was Mise of the SoftBank Hawks, and this incident caused a benches clearing rush, though nothing nasty happened (apart from the bean ball).

Kanemoto was hit in the head by a Giants pitcher this season, but this was clearly accidental and the pitcher (Takahashi) was mortified and apologized profusely to Kanemoto.

The most recent example of head-hunting was Esteban Yan of the Tigers who used to get balked. He got so annoyed at this that he resorted to dead balling batters (though what he thought they had to do with the umpire's decision is beyond comprehension). Eventually, he started throwing bean balls and he hit a Swallows batter in the head. That was the end of his Tigers playing career and he left at the end of the season.

I think that Dylan Hernandez did a good job of investigating the sentiment in Japan in this Los Angeles Times article.

Very interesting article. Thanks for the link, Westbay-san.

Any Tigers or Hawks fans out there know if anything prompted Mise to hit Kanemoto? (A little dated incident now, but I never got all the details.)

As Kuroda said, most pitchers deny it and say "It slipped." Sometimes this is actually the truth. The strange thing with Mise is he knocked Kanemoto to the dirt and then plunked him in the head on the very next pitch. I think it's the only time I've ever seen two pitches like that in a row. Usually just one sends the message!

So, Christopher or anyone else, know if there was some retaliation or history?

I never heard about any history, and the whole incident remained unexplained. Mise, I think, pitched in the Hawks' very next game, but I don't know if Oh took any action against him.

Some Japanese baseball fans told me Oh has a reputation for letting his pitchers throw at batters. Any truth to that?

Oh, as far as I know, does not have a reputation of ordering his pitchers to throw at the opposing batter. Oh is known to have a mellow personality.

Here is a Hanshin pitcher who threw 3 times in a row at Furuta's head [YouTube]. I am not sure who this is. This is from a 1996 game.

Iriki throwing at Arias [YouTube].

Anyone know who this Hanshin pitcher is? The footage is a little too grainy to make out. Surprising to see someone go after Furuta like that!

In 1996, Shimata Tetsuya was the Tigers' pitcher wearing number 45.

Michael, do you know what happened to Shimata? He seems to disappear from the stats after 1998.

Gee, I don't know. I've entered his data, and judging from his salary increase to above 1,000-man yen for 1997, I would guess that management thought that he had made the top team to stay in 1996. Yet 1996 was his last year with any time at ichi-gun.

Can't believe some Schmo went after Furuta like that. And it took him 3 pitches to the head to charge the mound.

What bothered me was that shimpan-san didn't give Shimada a warning, even after the 2nd pitch. Sometimes stuff slips out, but those last two were no doubt deliberate. Where's the warning?