Hirokazu Sawamura

Former Yomiuri Giants, Chiba Lotte Marines and Boston Red Sox pitcher Hirokazu Sawamura was another player who retired at the end of last season.  I'd written a post about him when he departed for Boston after the 2020 season so this is going to be kind of an abbreviated summary of his career.

As the earlier post says, Sawamura was the Giants' first pick in the 2010 NPB draft out of Chuo University.  He was Central League Rookie Of The Year in 2011 and was in the Giants starting rotation for a few years before injuries forced him into a bullpen role.  He became the team's closer and led the Central League in saves in 2016 with 37.  He struggled with injuries in the late teens and was traded to the Marines late in the 2020 season.

He left for Boston that winter and spent two seasons in the Red Sox bullpen.  He didn't pitch two well but he was released shortly before the end of the 2022 season.  He returned to Japan and rejoined the Marines.  He spent the past three seasons in Lotte's bullpen with somewhat mixed results and at the end of last season, the Marines decided to part ways with the 37 year old.  He had originally intended to continue playing but decided last December that he'd retire instead.

Here's a selection of his baseball cards.  I wanted to pick cards that I hadn't show in the previous post so there's only one of his 2011 cards here - check out the other post for information on his rookie cards.

2011 BBM 2nd Version #601

2011 Giants Winning Game Card #68

2012 Calbee Series Two #125

2014 BBM Giants #G004

2016 BBM Fusion #122

2019 Epoch NPB #291

2024 Topps Stadium Club NPB #208

I have a certified autographed card of him from his days with the Red Sox and I have to say that's one of the worst autographs I've ever seen on a card:

2022 Topps Baseball Japan Edition #TJA-HS

I really like his Randy Arozarena impression on this 2023 Epoch One card:

2023 Epoch One #154

2023 Topps Now WBC #WBC-49