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u/AdMajestic8119

▲ 4 r/NPB

Hiroshi Gondoh's rookie season in 1961 is beyond the realm of legendary. He pitched 429.1 innings, had a 35-19 record, struck out 310, and somehow only had a 1.70 ERA and 0.911 WHIP. As a rookie. His opponents weren't exactly easy: Shigeo Nagashima had found his breakthrough and hit .353 in 1961; Sadaharu Oh, then 21 years old, was beginning to establish himself too.

To this day 429.1 IP in a season is still a record since the NPB split into two leagues in 1950. And given modern pitching philosophies, I think it is a certainty this record will never be broken as long as the rules of baseball as a sport remains as they are.

It is close to an impossibility to find any pitcher who had a better rookie season in any league in history. I think most would agree this is statistically the best rookie pitching season in NPB history.

My question is: where does Gondoh's 1961 rank in terms of individual pitching seasons in the NPB since 1950? Yutaka Enatsu's 1968 (his 401-strikeout season), Masahiro Tanaka 2013 (24-0 record), Kazuhisa Inao 1961 (42-14 1.69 ERA 0.941 WHIP 353 K) come to mind. Is there anyone who realistically stands a chance at winning this debate?

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u/AdMajestic8119 — 17 days ago
▲ 5 r/NPB

This was originally a document to try and explain the NPB Draft so I could try and get it to ZenGM.

Then I realised I had to explain the NPB system before I could explain the Draft. One ballooned into another into another, and here you see the result.

Go have fun with it, suggest stuff if you want. Everyone here probably knows more about the NPB than me. At the end of the day I'm not even Japanese or American. Just a kid from East Asia who picked up on baseball and got interested and likes the system.

If anything, I hope this at least gives new fans a basic understanding of Japanese baseball. Have fun and fly high.

u/AdMajestic8119 — 18 days ago