Sawamura Award

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The Sawamura Award is given to the top starting pitcher in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball each year. The only exceptions were in 1971, 1980, 1984, and 2000, when no one won the award, and 1966 and 2003 when the award was given to two pitchers. The award, created in 1947, is named after Eiji Sawamura, the legendary Yomiuri Giants pitcher of the 1930's and 1940's. The award was formerly a selection of best starter in the Central League, before being open to Pacific League pitchers in 1989. The first Pacific League winner of the award was Hideo Nomo (1990).

The award's recipient is decided by a panel of five great former pitchers. The 2007 panel consisted of Masayuki Dobashi (chairman), Kazuhisa Inao (who later withdrew from the panel due to health issue), Masaji Hiramatsu, Tsuneo Horiuchi, and Yutaka Ohno.

[edit] Selection Criteria

In 1982, a set of standards were established for selecting winners. Achieving each of the seven standards below is not a requirement for the award; generally, winners achieve at least four of the milestones.

Standards:

  • Games started: 25
  • Complete games: 10
  • Wins: 15
  • W/L Percentage: .600
  • Innings Pitched: 200
  • Strikeouts: 150
  • ERA: 2.50

Yu Darvish, the 2007 winner, achieved all seven standards. He started 26 games for a record of 15-5 with 12 CGs, pitched 207.2 innings, compiled a 1.85 ERA, and struck out 205 batters.

[edit] Sawamura Award Winners

(Bolded names stands for pitcher since 1982 who had achieved all the standards)

Year Player Team
1947 Takehiko Bessho Nankai Hawks
1948 Hiroshi Nakao Yomiuri Giants
1949 Hideo Fujimoto Yomiuri Giants
1950 Shigeo Sanada Shochiku Robins
1951 Shigeru Sugishita Chunichi Dragons
1952 Shigeru Sugishita Chunichi Dragons
1953 Takumi Otomo Yomiuri Giants
1954 Shigeru Sugishita Chunichi Dragons
1955 Takehiko Bessho Yomiuri Giants
1956 Masaichi Kaneda Kokutetsu Swallows
1957 Masaichi Kaneda Kokutetsu Swallows
1958 Masaichi Kaneda Kokutetsu Swallows
1959 Minoru Murayama Hanshin Tigers
1960 Ritsuo Horimoto Yomiuri Giants
1961 Hiroshi Gondo Chunichi Dragons
1962 Masaaki Koyama Hanshin Tigers
1963 Yoshiaki Ito Yomiuri Giants
1964 Gene Bacque Hanshin Tigers
1965 Minoru Murayama Hanshin Tigers
1966 Minoru Murayama
Tsuneo Horiuchi
Hanshin Tigers
Yomiuri Giants
1967 Kentaro Ogawa Chunichi Dragons
1968 Yutaka Enatsu Hanshin Tigers
1969 Kazumi Takahashi Yomiuri Giants
1970 Masaji Hiramatsu Taiyo Whales
1971 Not awarded
1972 Tsuneo Horiuchi Yomiuri Giants
1973 Kazumi Takahashi Yomiuri Giants
1974 Senichi Hoshino Chunichi Dragons
1975 Yoshiro Sotokoba Hiroshima Toyo Carp
1976 Kojiro Ikegaya Hiroshima Toyo Carp
1977 Shigeru Kobayashi Yomiuri Giants
1978 Hiroshi Matsuoka Yakult Swallows
1979 Shigeru Kobayashi Hanshin Tigers
1980 Not awarded
1981 Takashi Nishimoto Yomiuri Giants
1982 Manabu Kitabeppu Hiroshima Toyo Carp
1983 Kazuhiko Endo Yokohama Taiyo Whales
1984 Not awarded
1985 Tatsuo Komatsu Chunichi Dragons
1986 Manabu Kitabeppu Hiroshima Toyo Carp
1987 Masumi Kuwata Yomiuri Giants
1988 Yutaka Ono Hiroshima Toyo Carp
1989 Masaki Saito Yomiuri Giants
1990 Hideo Nomo Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes
1991 Shinji Sasaoka Hiroshima Toyo Carp
1992 Takehiro Ishii Seibu Lions
1993 Shinji Imanaka Chunichi Dragons
1994 Masahiro Yamamoto Chunichi Dragons
1995 Masaki Saito Yomiuri Giants
1996 Masaki Saito Yomiuri Giants
1997 Fumiya Nishiguchi Seibu Lions
1998 Kenjiro Kawasaki Yakult Swallows
1999 Koji Uehara Yomiuri Giants
2000 Not awarded
2001 Daisuke Matsuzaka Seibu Lions
2002 Koji Uehara Yomiuri Giants
2003 Kei Igawa
Kazumi Saito
Hanshin Tigers
Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
2004 Kenshin Kawakami Chunichi Dragons
2005 Toshiya Sugiuchi Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
2006 Kazumi Saito Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
2007 Yu Darvish Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
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