Masamitsu Hamano

Masamitsu Hamano (濱野 雅慎)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 187 lb.

• School Kokushikan University
• High School Kobe Nishi High School

• Born December 3, 1984 in Hyogo Prefecture Japan

Biographical Information

Masamitsu Hamano has pitched for the Japanese national team.

Hamano joined JR Kyushu in Japan's industrial leagues after college. In 2010, he led the industrial leagues with 10 wins and got the Best Nine as the top pitcher. In the 2011 Baseball World Cup, he was 0-1 with a save and a 0.87 ERA for Japan, leading their main pitchers in ERA (Tomoyuki Kaida was a close second at 0.96). He struggled in his first game, a loss to the champion Dutch national team, with 3 hits, 3 walks and 3 runs (1 earned) in 3 1/3 IP. He did okay until the 4th when Sharlon Schoop doubled, Bryan Engelhardt singled (with a Mayo Sakagami error on the play), Hamano made an error on a pick-off attempt and Vince Rooi walked. Koichi Kotaka relieved and let all 3 inherited runners score to give Hamano the loss. In his next outing he turned in a strong relief outing against Panama with 5 1/3 shutout innings (3 H, 1 K, 6 BB) as the bright spot in a 6-2 loss. He saved a 9-4 win over Greece, with a hit and walk in 1 2/3 IP.

Hamano was back with Japan for the 2012 Asian Championship, which they won. He appeared twice, tossing one shutout inning against China and striking out six in two shutout innings against the Philippines national team, joining with Motoshi Oshiro and Ryo Akiyoshi on a two-hitter.

Hamano throws a slider and fastball (peak 91 mph).

Sources

• Yakyubaka
• 2011 Baseball World Cup Final Report
• Japanese Wikipedia entry