Fireman of the Year

The Fireman of the Year is the NPB equivalent of the discontinued Rolaids Relief Man Award and the current Mariano Rivera Award and Trevor Hoffman Award, given to the best relief pitcher in each league. First awarded in 1974 it was given to the pitcher with the most saves in its first two years. In 1976 the Central League introduced save points, relief wins plus saves. The Pacific League switched to the save points system in the following year. After the 2004 season, the criteria for the award reverted to saves, in part due to the development of the middle reliever.

The name "Fireman of the Year Award" was also sometimes used to refer to the Reliever of the Year award given out by the Sporting News form 1960 to 2004.

Award Winners

Year		Central League				Pacific League
		Player	Team	Total		Player	Team	Total
1974		Senichi Hoshino	Chunichi Dragons	10 SV		Michio Sato	Nankai Hawks	13 SV
1975		Takamasa Suzuki	Chunichi Dragons	21 SV		Chouji Murata	Lotte Orions	13 SV
1976		Takamasa Suzuki	Chunichi Dragons	32 SP		Michio Sato	Nankai Hawks	16 SV
1977		Takamasa Suzuki	Chunichi Dragons	23 SP		Yutaka Enatsu	Nankai Hawks	22 SP
1978		Hisao Niura	Yomiuri Giants	25 SP		Takashi Yamaguchi	Hankyu Braves	26 SP
1979		Yutaka Enatsu	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	31 SP		Motoyasu Kaneshiro	Nankai Hawks	20 SP
1980		Yutaka Enatsu	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	30 SP		Motoyasu Kaneshiro	Nankai Hawks	19 SP
1981		Mitsuo Sumi	Yomiuri Giants	28 SP		Yutaka Enatsu	Nippon Ham Fighters	28 SP
1982		Kazuyuki Yamamoto	Hanshin Tigers	40 SP		Yutaka Enatsu	Nippon Ham Fighters	37 SP
1983		Akio Saito	Yokohama Taiyo Whales	32 SP		Shigekazu Mori	Seibu Lions	39 SP
1984		Kazuyuki Yamamoto	Hanshin Tigers	34 SP		Yukihiko Yamaoki	Hankyu Braves	25 SP
1985		Kiyooki Nakanishi	Hanshin Tigers	30 SP		Yoshiaki Ishimoto	Kintetsu Buffaloes	26 SP
1986		Akio Saito	Yokohama Taiyo Whales	28 SP		Yoshiaki Ishimoto	Kintetsu Buffaloes	40 SP
1987		Genji Kaku	Chunichi Dragons	30 SP		Kazuhiko Ushijima	Lotte Orions	26 SP
1988		Genji Kaku	Chunichi Dragons	44 SP		Masato Yoshii	Kintetsu Buffaloes	34 SP
1989		Tsunemi Tsuda	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	40 SP		Yuji Inoue	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks	27 SP
1990		Tsuyoshi Yoda	Chunichi Dragons	35 SP		Yoshitaka Katori	Seibu Lions	27 SP
1991		Yutaka Ono	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	32 SP		Kazuhiro Takeda	Nippon Ham Fighters	22 SP
1992		Kazuhiro Sasaki	Yokohama Taiyo Whales	33 SP		Motoyuki Akahori	Kintetsu Buffaloes	32 SP
1993		Hiroshi Ishige	Yomiuri Giants	36 SP		Motoyuki Akahori	Kintetsu Buffaloes	32 SP
1994		Shingo Takatsu	Yakult Swallows	27 SP		Motoyuki Akahori	Kintetsu Buffaloes	33 SP
1995		Kazuhiro Sasaki	Yokohama BayStars	39 SP		Masafumi Hirai	Orix BlueWave	42 SP
1996		Kazuhiro Sasaki	Yokohama BayStars	29 SP		Motoyuki Akahori Toshihide Narimoto	Kintetsu Buffaloes Chiba Lotte Marines	30 SP
1997		Kazuhiro Sasaki	Yokohama BayStars	41 SP		Motoyuki Akahori	Kintetsu Buffaloes	33 SP
1998		Kazuhiro Sasaki	Yokohama BayStars	46 SP		Akinori Otsuka	Kintetsu Buffaloes	38 SP
1999		Shingo Takatsu	Yakult Swallows	31 SP		Brian Warren	Chiba Lotte Marines	31 SP
2000		Eddie Gaillard	Chunichi Dragons	36 SP		Rodney Pedraza	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks	38 SP
2001		Shingo Takatsu	Yakult Swallows	37 SP		Rodney Pedraza	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks	38 SP
2002		Eddie Gaillard	Chunichi Dragons	35 SP		Kiyoshi Toyoda	Seibu Lions	44 SP
2003		Shingo Takatsu	Yakult Swallows	36 SP		Kiyoshi Toyoda	Seibu Lions	40 SP
2004		Ryota Igarashi	Yakult Swallows	37 SP		Kouji Mise Yukiya Yokoyama	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	37 SP
2005		Hitoki Iwase	Chunichi Dragons	46 SV		Masahide Kobayashi	Chiba Lotte Marines	29 SV