page_title: Kenshin Kawakami
section_title: Major League Baseball career
hierarchical_section_title: Kenshin Kawakami / Major League Baseball career
caption_attribution_description: Kenshin Kawakami
context_page_description: Kenshin Kawakami is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Chunichi Dragons and in Major League Baseball for the Atlanta Braves.
context_section_description: On January 13, 2009, Kawakami signed a three-year deal with the Atlanta Braves.
  Kenshin Kawakami threw his first game as an Atlanta Brave on February 26 in a Spring training game against the Pirates. Kawakami pitched two innings allowing one hit and striking out one batter.
  Kawakami pitched his first Major League game on April 11, 2009 against the Washington Nationals. He picked up his first Major League win, giving up 3 earned runs, and striking out 8 in 6 innings. On May 22 and against countryman Daisuke Matsuzaka at Fenway Park, he limited the Boston Red Sox to two hits and two earned runs in six innings and helped the Braves begin a 13-game stretch with an 8-2 win over the Red Sox.
  A video game version of Kawakami helped Wade McGilberry from Mobile, Alabama win $1 million as part of the Major League Baseball 2K10 Perfect Game Challenge.  McGilberry used Kawakami to pitch a perfect game in Major League Baseball 2K10, and won the contest by being the first person to do so in accordance with the contest rules.
  Kawakami went 1-10 in 2010 and recorded nine straight losses before picking up his first win on June 26 against the Detroit Tigers at Turner Field. He pitched seven innings with six strikeouts in a 4-3 win for the Braves. After being sent to the bullpen, Kawakami only pitched once in 40 games, where he performed poorly, allowing 2 runs in one inning.  On November 12, following the season, the Braves outrighted Kawakami to their Double-A affiliate, the Mississippi Braves.
  During the 2010 season, a group of fans would dress as "Kenshin's Geishas" to support Kawakami during homestands.
caption: Kawakami pitching for the Atlanta Braves in 2009
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