Japanese-Born MLB Home Run Leaders

[Frayed Knot]

Rookie Carroca is, I'm guessing, a reference that I'm missing. Nonetheless, not on the list.

On the heels of Hiroki Kuroda I went with Rookie Carroca because hearing the first name always reminded me of the second.
Rookie Carroca was, of course, a Filipino boxer* and later second husband to Belle Steinberg Carroca, Benjy Stone's mother
in MY FAVORITE YEAR (1992, Mark-Linn Baker, Lainie Kazan, Joseph Bologna, and the great Peter O'Toole)

We now return you to your quiz, already in progress.





* who held the Bantamweight title for well over six weeks

[Edgy MD]

We still need sumbucky to put up an IGT for this evening.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Kosuke Fukodome

[Cowtipper]

Tomo Ohka

[Edgy MD]

Hisasi Iwakuma.

[Cowtipper]

Takashi Saito

[Edgy MD]

Mac Suzuki!!

[Cowtipper]

Hideki Okajima

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Yusei Kekuchi

[Centerfield]

Kaz Sasaki is your all time JBMLB leader in saves. Number 2 on that list is pretty pissed off you haven't named him yet. Yusei Kikuchi made the most famous sushi reservation in MLB history last winter when twitter decided his party meant Ohtani was going to the Jays.

Here's Kikuchi showing up to dinner wondering why reporters were storming his cousin's birthday party.



1. Shogo Akiyama
2. Nori Aoki
3.
4.
5. Steve Chitren
6. Yu Darvish
7. Bobby Fenwick
8.
9. Shintaro Fujinami
10. Kosuke Fukudome
11.
12. Shigetoshi Hasegawa
13.
14.
15. Ryota Igarashi
16.
17. Tadahito Iguchi
18.
19. Hideki Irabu
20. Kazuhisa Ishii
21. Hisashi Iwakuma
22.
23. Kenji Johjima
24. Takashi Kashiwada
25.
26.
27. Masao Kida
28. Yusei Kikuchi
29.
30. Satoru Komiyama
31. Hiroki Kuroda
32.
33. Jung Hoon Lee
34. Kenta Maeta
35.
36. Hideki Matsui
37. Kazuo Matsui
38.
39. Daisuke Matsuzaka
40.
41.
42. Masanori Murakami
43.
44.
45. Norihiro Nakamura
46.
47. Hideo Nomo
48.
49. Tomo Ohka
50. Shohei Ohtani
51. Hideki Okajima
52. Akinori Otsuka
53.
54. Dave Roberts
55. Takashi Saito
56. Kazuhiro Sasaki
57.
58. Kodai Senga
59. Tsuyoshi Shinjo
60. Ichiro Suzuki
61. Mac Suzuki
62. Seiya Suzuki
63. Kazuhito Tadano
64. So Taguchi
65. Hisanori Takahashi
66. Ken Takahashi
67. Shingo Takatsu
68.
69. Masahiro Tanaka
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76. Yasuhiko Yabuta
77.
78. Yoshinobu Yamamoto
79.
80. Masato Yoshii

[Centerfield]

32 Answers left. Without the list I'd know maybe 4-5 of them.

A couple of easier ones still left, including some current players. The number 2 saves leader all time for JBMLB. Another is a former Yankee.

[Cowtipper]

Kei Igawa's the Yankee, I've been holding off on him. I have a handful more in my reservoir, but the ranks are thinning. There's a few more after that I remember the first or last name of, or can describe, at least.

One I'm having trouble with is a big name that is at the tip of my tongue. He played for the Red Sox, Orioles and I think he finished his career with the Cubs. A reliever, had some low-ERA seasons. I wanna say he played like 49 games his final year. I know all that but I can't even remember his name.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Did anyone guess the reliever for the Red Sox and Orioles whose name I can't remember?

[Cowtipper]

^^ that's who I'm trying to figure out!! I keep thinking Hideki Okajima, who was a Red Sox reliever, but that's not it.

[Edgy MD]

I'm at the point where I'm close to typing names of people that don't exist, but kind of sound like that guy from that team.

The worst is when I spend twenty minutes on ... that Expos pitcher ... you know the one ... he mostly started ... and he kind of stood out because the Expos disappeared before Japanese players became more ubiquitous ... and it was a less polysyllabic name ... Oh something ... but that can't be right ... Oh is more of a Chinese name ... but it kind of sounded like that ... or kind of like a Japanese emperor or famous general ... maybe like Tojo? ... AND I'M THINKING OF TOMO OHKA!!

And then after all that ... I find out he's already been named. Frus-ter-a-ting.

[Cowtipper]

Can we just dump all the rest we can think of? Or are we still doing the 1 per post rule?

[Centerfield]

Can we just dump all the rest we can think of? Or are we still doing the 1 per post rule?

No limitations. Smoke 'em if you got em.

[Centerfield]

Trouble transitioning from Japan? Maybe for losers. I'm 3-0 with 0.84 ERA. But still you name that other guy first.

[MFS62]

Craig House

Later

[Cowtipper]

There was another big guy signed this year by the Padres I think. Very good reliever in Japan.

Anyway, Kenshin Kawakami, Micheal Nakamura, Akinori Iwamura, Munanori Kawasaki. There was a Masahide, but I don't recall the last name.

Wanna say there was a Rangers pitcher that we're missing, too, from the past few years. He was older.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Uehara!

don' recall his first name

[Cowtipper]

Koji!

[Centerfield]

Koji Uehara, former All-Star, is number 2 on the all time saves list for JBMLB.

1. Shogo Akiyama
2. Nori Aoki
3.
4.
5. Steve Chitren
6. Yu Darvish
7. Bobby Fenwick
8.
9. Shintaro Fujinami
10. Kosuke Fukudome
11.
12. Shigetoshi Hasegawa
13.
14. Craig House
15. Ryota Igarashi
16. Kei Igawa
17. Tadahito Iguchi
18.
19. Hideki Irabu
20. Kazuhisa Ishii
21. Hisashi Iwakuma
22. Akinori Iwamura
23. Kenji Johjima
24. Takashi Kashiwada
25. Kenshin Kawakami
26. Munenori Kawasaki
27. Masao Kida
28. Yusei Kikuchi
29.
30. Satoru Komiyama
31. Hiroki Kuroda
32.
33. Jung Hoon Lee
34. Kenta Maeta
35.
36. Hideki Matsui
37. Kazuo Matsui
38.
39. Daisuke Matsuzaka
40.
41.
42. Masanori Murakami
43.
44. Micheal Nakamura
45. Norihiro Nakamura
46.
47. Hideo Nomo
48.
49. Tomo Ohka
50. Shohei Ohtani
51. Hideki Okajima
52. Akinori Otsuka
53.
54. Dave Roberts
55. Takashi Saito
56. Kazuhiro Sasaki
57.
58. Kodai Senga
59. Tsuyoshi Shinjo
60. Ichiro Suzuki
61. Mac Suzuki
62. Seiya Suzuki
63. Kazuhito Tadano
64. So Taguchi
65. Hisanori Takahashi
66. Ken Takahashi
67. Shingo Takatsu
68.
69. Masahiro Tanaka
70.
71.
72.
73. Koji Uehara
74.
75.
76. Yasuhiko Yabuta
77.
78. Yoshinobu Yamamoto
79.
80. Masato Yoshii

[Centerfield]

25 JBMLB players left. You guys have already named a lot more than I would have ever gotten.

You're still missing this guy. He's the one guy left I thought would have been named by now.



He's one of two active players left. The other guy finished 6th in ROTY voting last year.

[Centerfield]

A couple of clues.

4 western names remain.

There is a Masahide.

There's also this guy. Pitched 9 years on the bigs. Third all time in appearances for JBMLB. A little hurt we've forgotten him.