This past weekend's games in the Australian Baseball League were the final ones of the season for the players on loan from NPB teams. Eagles pitcher Takahisa Hayakawa, who's been playing for the Perth Heat, made a statement in his final game on Friday. He took on the first place Adelaide Giants in the first game of a doubleheader in Adelaide and threw a near perfect seven inning game, striking out thirteen while walking none, giving up no runs and only one hit. (Since it was the first game of a double header, the game only went seven innings so he gets credit for a complete game shutout.) He was perfect until Anthony Quirion singled with one out in the sixth inning. Here's all thirteen strikeouts:
Perth won the game 4-0, which ran Hayakawa's record to a perfect 4-0. He didn't join the Heat until the third week of the season (he had pitched for Japan in the Asian Professional Baseball Championship) but he appeared in four games, making three starts and completing a game after it had been suspended due to rain. He struck out 46 batters in 27 innings while only walking four. His ERA was 1.00.
His dominance reminds me of another Japanese pitcher's stint in the ABL. Shota Imanaga of the Baystars spent the first six weeks of the 2018 season as a member of the Canberra Calvary. He went 4-0 in six starts, striking out 57 in 35 innings while only walking one(!) batter. His ERA was 0.51. Imanaga had a great season the following year so maybe Hayakawa will too.
There are no cards of Imanaga with Canberra and I'm not expecting any Perth cards of Hayakawa so here's an NPB card of each of them:
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| 2022 BBM Icons-Rough Diamond #25 |
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| 2023 BBM 2nd Version "Cross Moon" #CM58 |
1 comment:
That Cross Moon card is epic - suitable for a pitcher of such Australian dominance.
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