Tsutomu Iwamoto

Tsutomu Iwamoto (岩本 勉)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 191 lbs.

• High School Hannan University High School

• Born May 11, 1971 in Yao, Osaka, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Tsutomu Iwamoto pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 13 years.

Iwamoto was drafted by the Nippon Ham Fighters in the second round of the 1989 NPB draft. He spent his first five seasons mostly in the NPB Farm Leagues, only pitched 14 games combined with the big club. He was fighting with the Yips, so he didn't played many games and also changed his pitching motions to three-quarter while in ni-gun. Iwamoto finally broke out in 1995 and he was named the main long reliever of the Fighters. He was 5-7 with a 3.07 ERA in 29 appearances in this season. Iwamoto joined the rotation in 1996, and he had a 10-9 record with a 3.99 ERA. He ranked 6th in strikeouts with 144, 34 behind Pacific League leader Kimiyasu Kudo. Iwamoto struggled in the next season, and his ERA rose to 4.74 in 19 starts.

The Yao native bounced back soon in 1998, and he was selected into the 1998 NPB All-Star Game. He relieved Satoru Komiyama in the 3rd inning, pitched two innings with two runs allowed (by Hideki Matsui's home run) and ended up with a no-decision as the game was tied. Iwamoto was 11-8 with a 4.11 ERA in this season, led the league in complete games with 10, ranking 4th in strikeouts (38 behind Fumiya Nishiguchi) and 4th in wins (3 behind Tomohiro Kuroki, Nishiguchi and Kazuhiro Takeda). Iwamoto also won two votes in 1998 PL MVP Voting.

He shut out the Kintetsu Buffaloes in the opening game in 1999, and became the first PL pitcher to complete a shutout in the opening game in back-to-back years since Kazuhisa Inao did it in 1962. Iwamoto also attended 1999 NPB All-Star Game 3. He relieved Komiyama in the 5th inning, pitched 2 innings and allowed a run (Tsuyoshi Shinjo's solo shot). He ended up 13-11 with a 2.81 ERA, led the PL in complete games again, ranked 6th in wins (3 behind Daisuke Matsuzaka) and 3rd in strikeouts (38 behind Kudo).

Iwamoto was selected into the All-Star Game for the third consecutive year , and he was named the starter of Game 1. He pitched 3 innings with 2 walks, only allowing a run due to Roberto Petagine's solo shot in the 2nd inning. Iwamoto struggled after the All-Star break due to injury, so he was only 6-12 with a 5.21 ERA in 2000. He still didn't pitch well in 2001 as he led the PL in homers allowed with 28, and he was only 7-12 with a 4.91 ERA. The veteran only pitched 4 games in 2002, and his ERA was a terrible 6.41 in 17 relief outings in 2003. Iwamoto joined the rotation again in 2004, but his ERA was still 6.16. In 2005, he became the first PL pitcher to crush a homer in his first at-bat since the PL instituted the designated hitter (benefiting from interleague play), but Iwamoto still only had 10 appearances, then he announced his retirement.

Overall, Iwamoto was 63-79 with a 4.44 ERA, struck out 885 and pitched 1,244 1/3 innings in 13 years in the NPB.

Related Sites

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio