BR Bullpen:Did You Know Archive/Foreign Baseball

This is an archive of articles under the scope of foreign baseball that were featured on the Main Page as part of Did You Know?.

Did you know...[edit]

...that Tetsuya Iida set a Central League record for consecutive steals without getting nabbed?
...that Craig Stansberry is one step from becoming the first Major League player born in the Middle East?
...that Choji Murata was the first Japanese star to have Tommy John surgery?
...that Luis Padrón almost became the first Cuban player of the 20th Century?
...that Panamanian shortstop Frank Austin lost one Negro National League batting title upon recent research - but gained a different batting championship?
...that Jumbo Ozaki became one of Japan's greatest golfers after his baseball career went nowhere?
...that Tatsuya Ozeki lost his chance to play in the Milwaukee Brewers system when they botched the immigration paperwork?
...that 1992-1993 Orix BlueWave manager Shozo Doi refused to give regular playing time to a young Ichiro Suzuki, convinced he could not succeed with his swing?
...that Kazumi Saitoh recently became the first two-time Sawamura Award winner from the Pacific League?
...that former Orix BlueWave and Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Takahito Nomura was recently arrested for possession of drugs?
...that Barney Pelty has the records for the lowest career ERA by a Jewish pitcher and the lowest single-season ERA by a St. Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles pitcher?
...that Ntema Ndungidi was the first African native to play for an affiliated minor league team and almost the first Canadian drafted in the first round of major league baseball's amateur draft?
...that Takuro Ishii is the all-time Yokohama BayStars franchise hit leader despite having been a pitcher for his first three years?
...that Jose Oliva posthumously won a Dominican League MVP award?
...how Hiromi Makihara pitched a perfect game despite an error by his club?
...that Sachio Kinugasa holds the Most Consecutive Games Played in Nippon Pro Baseball despite leading the Central League in times hit by pitch six times?
...that the 1949 Caribbean Series was the first edition of the Caribbean Series and was the subject of a sweep by the Almendares Blues?
...that Fernando Valenzuela Jr. is a winter ball teammate of his father?
...that Darryl Brinkley is the only Winter League Player of the Year not to make the majors?
...that Morimichi Takagi was supposedly offered a million yen bonus if he would show more emotion?
...that Takao Kajimoto oddly set NPB records for both consecutive losses and consecutive strikeouts?
...that Francisco Campos won the first Mexican League pitching Triple Crown in 48 years?
...that recently retired Atsushi Kataoka holds the Pacific League single-season walk record?
...that the 1985 Expos were helped by Jeff Reardon setting a team save record?
...that Dirk van 't Klooster outhit outfield mates Andruw Jones and Yurendell de Caster in the 2006 World Baseball Classic?
...that Salomon Torres worked as a minor league baseball coach for a couple seasons before returning to the major leagues as a pitcher?
...that Kenichi Zenimura is known as the Father of Japanese American baseball - and was also the father of two professional baseball players?
...why Alonzo Powell made his Chunichi Dragons teammates T-shirts of an elephant swinging a baseball bat
...that Tsuyoshi Wada holds the Tokyo Big Six University League record for strikeouts in a career?
...that Kazuhisa Ishii holds the Nippon Pro Baseball record for wild pitches in a season?
...that Futoshi Nakanishi married his manager's daughter the year he was Pacific League MVP?
...that Shohei Baba became a famous wrestler after his NPB pitching career was ended by injury?
...that Jimmy Wood was believed to be the first Canadian major leaguer until research in 2006 proved this to be false?
...that Kazumi Takahashi won the clincher in the Japan Series a record four years in a row?
...that Cheol-Sun Bak was the first South Korean native to sign with a major league team?
...that Jason Bay's sister, Lauren, was a pitcher for the Canadian softball team at the 2004 Olympics?
...that Hitoshi Tamura lost his chances at a Triple Crown in 2005 when he crashed his porsche and missed a month due to injuries?
...that Eric Hillman was the second foreign pitcher in the Pacific League to be named to the Best Nine, earning the honor 32 years after it was first accomplished?
...that Hiroki Kuroda was the second Olympic athlete in his family? He pitched in the 2004 Olympics while his mother had been an Olympic shotputter.
...that Angel Moreno has won over 420 games in 31 seasons in professional baseball?
...that Shinya Miyamoto, the captain of Japan's team in the 2000 Olympics, holds the NPB record with 67 sacrifice hits in a season?
...that infamously light-hitting Mario Mendoza is a member of the Salon de la Fama, Mexico's Baseball Hall of Fame?
...that Rikkert Faneyte was MVP of the 1987 European Championships and a two-time MVP in Hoofdklasse?
...that Akinori Otsuka refused to report to the Kintetsu Buffaloes in 2003, demanding a trade when he felt they rigged his chances under the posting system?
...that the Águilas del Zulia have produced the likes of Greg Maddux, Luis Aparicio and Ryne Sandberg?
...that Yukio Muramatsu had a 1.26 career ERA before his life was cut short by World War II?
...that Chile Gomez was once paraded through the streets of Mexico City on the shoulders of the fans?
...that Cristobal Torriente was one of the initial inductees in the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame a year after dying in poverty?
...that Takahiro Arai, as a rookie, lost track of the number of outs and threw away the baseball with two outs, letting a run score?
...that a Perfect Game was thrown in the 2005 Mexican League postseason?
...that Cuba native Andrés Ayón is second all-time in the Mexican League in winning percentage?
...that the 2005 Japan Series marked the first time the winning club in the Japan Series was managed by an American?
...that Japanese Baseball Hall of Famer Takehiko Bessho pitched 14 innings in the Koshien Tournament one year with a broken arm?
...that Cornelio Garcia has the highest average of any Mexican native in the history of the Mexican League?
...that Yokohama Peace Stadium was the site of the first international baseball game in Japan and was briefly named after Lou Gehrig?
...that 1988 Olympian Kenjiro Nomura was the 4th-fastest player in Nippon Professional Baseball history to collect 1,500 hits?
...that Martin Dihigo is the only man to be a member of the Hall of Fame, Salon de la Fama and Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame?
...that Alex Cabrera's 55 home runs in 2002 are tied for the most in a season in Nippon Pro Baseball?
...that Reggie Otero led the Canadian-American League in batting average in 1942 and won a record seven titles in the Venezuelan League?
...that Masahiro Yamamoto had a chance at becoming the second Japanese player for an American team but decided to return to Japan instead?
...that the Venezuelan League traces its roots to the mid-1940s as one of the oldest winter leagues?
...that Dennis Martinez is the all-time leader in wins among Latin American players with 245 wins.

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BR Bullpen:Did You Know Archive/Foreign Baseball

Did you know...[edit]

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