Daisuke Matsuzaka
Ishii turned in a 13-8, 3.07 campaign in 1999, his first year full-time as a starter. He made his second All-Star team. He was sixth in the circuit in ERA and fifth in wins. He had the second-best ERA on the Seibu starting staff, trailing Daisuke Matsuzaka, on a strong rotation including Toyoda, Shiozaki (at times), Mori (at times), Fumiya Nishiguchi and Matsuzaka.