Kei Igawa

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**Kei Igawa**
Major League Baseball debut
Free Agents — No. --
Starting Pitcher
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
--/--, ---- for the
Selected MLB statistics (through ----)
Wins	0
Losses	0
ERA	0.00
SO	0

Kei Igawa (井川慶, Igawa Kei^?, born July 13, 1979 in Oarai, Ibaraki Prefecture) (height - 6'1", weight - 212lbs.) is a Japanese left-handed pitcher that played for the Hanshin Tigers from 1999 to 2006. He led the Central League in strikeouts in 2002, 2004, and 2006. He played in the 2006 Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series.

He was the number two draft choice of the Hanshin Tigers in 1998. After a couple of years in the Hanshin minor league system, Igawa entered the starting rotation in 2001. In his first full season season as a starter, Igawa went 9-13 for the last-placed Tigers, but finished with a Central League second-best 2.67 ERA, behind only Chunichi's Shigeki Noguchi.

In 2002, Hanshin improved to fourth and Igawa's record was 14-9. He finished third in ERA (2.49), trailing Masumi Kuwata and Kenshin Kawakami. He also led the Central League with 206 strikeouts.

In 2003, the Tigers won the Central League pennant. Igawa finished with a 20-5 record, and led the Central League in wins. He also led the league with a 2.80 ERA, and was third with 179 strikeouts. He was named to the Best Nine, won the MVP in the Central League and also won the Sawamura Award, the Japanese equivalent of the MLB Cy Young Award^[1].

Igawa saw a decline in performance in 2004 and 2005. In 2004, despite leading the league at 228 strikeouts, he went 14-11 with a 3.73 ERA. In 2005, Igawa went 13-9 with a 3.86 ERA, fifth among his team's starters in ERA, and was briefly exiled to the minors. He was only tied for fifth in strikeouts (down significantly to 145) and 10th in ERA, but was still third in the circuit in victories. While still a productive hurler, Igawa became a target of fan criticism due to his inability to perform at his prior level. ^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, Igawa announced his intention to play in North America. On November 16, 2006, Igawa was posted by the Hanshin Tigers. On November 29, 2006, it was announced that the New York Yankees were the highest bidders at $26,000,194, with the last three digits representing his strikeout total for the 2006 season. As a result, the Yankees gained the exclusive rights to negotiate with the southpaw, and have until midnight of December 28, 2006 to work out a contract with Igawa's agent, Arn Tellem. ^[2].

[edit] Career Statistics (through 2006)

^[3]

Year	Team	G	W	L	SV	IP	K	BB	HR	ERA
1998	Hanshin	―	―	―	―	―	―	―	―	―
1999	Hanshin	7	1	1	0	15.1	14	13	1	6.46
2000	Hanshin	9	1	3	0	39.1	37	19	5	4.35
2001	Hanshin	29	9	13	0	192.0	171	89	11	2.67
2002	Hanshin	31	14	9	1	209.2	206	53	15	2.49
2003	Hanshin	29	20	5	0	206.0	179	58	15	2.80
2004	Hanshin	29	14	11	0	200.1	228	54	29	3.73
2005	Hanshin	27	13	9	0	172.1	145	60	23	3.86
2006	Hanshin	29	14	9	0	209	194	49	17	2.97
Total	―	190	86	60	1	1244	1174	395	116	3.14