Hisashi Iwakuma participant of 2004 Summer Olympics
Hisashi Iwakuma (岩隈 久志, Iwakuma Hisashi, born April 12, 1981) is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He has played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes from 2000 to 2004, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles from 2005 to 2011, and Yomiuri Giants in 2019, and all of his time in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners from 2012 to 2017. Iwakuma retired in 2020 due to lingering shoulder issues that had prevented him from playing that year.
Iwakuma made his professional debut with the Buffaloes in 2000. He was named a NPB All-Star in 2003 and 2004, and played in the 2004 Athens Olympics. He joined the Eagles in 2005. As the Eagles' reigning staff ace, Iwakuma won the Eiji Sawamura Award in 2008, and was also a NPB All-Star that year. He appeared in the 2009 World Baseball Classic for the Japanese national team.
Iwakuma was posted to Major League Baseball after the 2010 season, but he failed to come to an agreement with the winning bidder. After the 2011 season, Iwakuma signed with the Mariners. He was an MLB All-Star in 2013, as well as the third-place finisher for the 2013 American League Cy Young Award.
On August 12, 2015, Iwakuma became the second Japanese player ever to pitch a no-hitter in Major League Baseball (joining Hideo Nomo, who threw two), throwing a three-walk, seven-strikeout 3–0 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Safeco Field. It was also his first MLB complete game, and the Mariners' fifth no-hitter in team history.2004
Iwakuma began the 2004 season 12–0 and establishing a franchise record for most consecutive wins to start the season. He received the most fan votes among Pacific League starting pitchers for the NPB All-Star Game that year, starting Game 1 at Nagoya Dome on July 10, and pitched in the 2004 Athens Olympics as a member of the Japanese national team in August. He finished with a 15–2 record for the year, leading the league in both wins and winning percentage (.882) for the first time in his career. He also pitched in Game 5 of the MLB All-Star Series held in November, holding the MLB All-Stars to one run over seven innings to earn the win.
Following the 2004 season, Iwakuma's Buffaloes and the Orix BlueWave, another Pacific League team based in the Kansai region, opted to merge to alleviate some of their financial difficulties, later leading to the addition of a new team named the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles that would fill the void created by the merger. Iwakuma was initially named a member of the newly formed Orix Buffaloes in a dispersal draft held that November, but refused to comply and join the Buffaloes and became involved in a contractual dispute. Although the Buffaloes attempted to persuade him to play for their team, they eventually agreed to trade him to the Eagles in exchange for cash.International career
2004 Athens Olympics
Iwakuma made his first appearance on the international stage when he was named to the Japanese national team that would play in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Coming off a torrid 12–0 start to the regular season, Iwakuma took the mound in the second game of the preliminary round against the Netherlands on August 16. However, he allowed seven baserunners (three hits, three walks, and a hit-batter) and gave up three runs (two earned) against a team that was viewed as the heavy underdog, leading head coach (and acting manager) Kiyoshi Nakahata to pull him from the game after just 12⁄3 innings. Though Japan went on to win the game 8–3 behind a strong relief effort (five shutout innings) by future MLB pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, Iwakuma lost the trust of the coaching staff and did not pitch in the tournament again.