Kazuhiro Sasaki was born on Thursday, February 22, 1968, in Sendai City, Japan. Sasaki was 32 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 5, 2000, with the Seattle Mariners. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Kazuhiro Sasaki baseball stats page.
"At 36 (when he left MLB and a $8.5 million dollar salary) Sasaki was not that old for a major league pitcher, perhaps, but ancient by the standards of the NPB. (Sasaki missed much of the 1999 season with Yokohama because of arm surgery.) His lifestyle didn't help. The 6'4", 220-pound reliever, nicknamed Daimajin after a giant stone samurai that comes to life on celluloid to rescue imperiled villagers, had lived alone in a Mercer Island condominium while with the Mariners. He bought a silver Porsche, frequented Seattle watering holes and was spotted hanging out at the University of Washington student union. On the road he was often wined and dined at expensive Japanese-only nightclubs by wealthy businessmen residing in the U.S." - Robert Whiting in Sports Illustrated (03/22/2004, Volume 100, Issue 12, 'Lost in Translation', Source)
Kazuhiro Sasaki![]() Kazuhiro Sasaski Autograph on a 2001 Fleer Tradition (#331) |
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Kazuhiro SasakiKazuhiro Sasaki Pitching Stats |
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| Year | Age | Team | G | GS | GF | W | L | PCT | ERA | CG | SHO | SV | IP | BFP | H | ER | R | HR | BB | IBB | SO | WP | HB | BK | HLD |
| 2000 | 32 | Mariners | 63 | 0 | 58 | 2 | 5 | .286 | 3.16 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 62.2 | 265 | 42 | 22 | 25 | 10 | 31 | 5 | 78 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001 | 33 | Mariners | 69 | 0 | 63 | 0 | 4 | .000 | 3.24 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 66.2 | 261 | 48 | 24 | 24 | 6 | 11 | 2 | 62 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002 | 34 | Mariners | 61 | 0 | 55 | 4 | 5 | .444 | 2.52 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 60.2 | 249 | 44 | 17 | 24 | 6 | 20 | 4 | 73 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003 | 35 | Mariners | 35 | 0 | 25 | 1 | 2 | .333 | 4.05 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 33.1 | 150 | 31 | 15 | 17 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 29 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | G | GS | GF | W | L | PCT | ERA | CG | SHO | SV | IP | BFP | H | ER | R | HR | BB | IBB | SO | WP | HB | BK | HLD | ||
| 4 Years | 228 | 0 | 201 | 7 | 16 | .304 | 3.14 | 0 | 0 | 129 | 223.1 | 925 | 165 | 78 | 90 | 24 | 77 | 13 | 242 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 0 | ||
Kazuhiro SasakiKazuhiro Sasaki Hitting Stats |
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| Year | Age | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | GRSL | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | SH | SF | HBP | GIDP | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| 2000 | 32 | Mariners | 63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| 2001 | 33 | Mariners | 69 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| 2002 | 34 | Mariners | 61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| 2003 | 35 | Mariners | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Career | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | GRSL | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | SH | SF | HBP | GIDP | AVG | OBP | SLG | ||
| 4 Years | 228 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||
Kazuhiro SasakiKazuhiro Sasaki Fielding Stats |
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| Team | POS | G | GS | OUTS | TC | TC/G | CH | PO | A | E | DP | PB | CASB | CACS | FLD% | RF |
| 2000 Mariners | P | 63 | 0 | 188 | 6 | 0.1 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 0.86 |
| 2001 Mariners | P | 69 | 0 | 200 | 9 | 0.1 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .889 | 1.08 |
| 2002 Mariners | P | 61 | 0 | 182 | 16 | 0.3 | 14 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .875 | 2.08 |
| 2003 Mariners | P | 35 | 0 | 100 | 2 | 0.1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 0.54 |
| Career | POS | G | GS | OUTS | TC | TC/G | CH | PO | A | E | DP | PB | CASB | CACS | FLD% | RF |
| P Totals | 228 | 0 | 670 | 33 | 0.1 | 30 | 9 | 21 | 3 | 2 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .909 | 1.21 | |
| 4 Years | 228 | 0 | 670 | 33 | 0.1 | 30 | 9 | 21 | 3 | 2 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .909 | 1.21 | |
Kazuhiro SasakiKazuhiro Sasaki Miscellaneous Stats |
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| Baserunning Statistics | Other Positions | Common Hitting Ratios | Common Pitching Ratios | |||||||||
| Team | SB | CS | SB% | PH | PR | DH | AB/HR | AB/K | AB/RBI | K/BB | K/9 | BB/9 |
| 2000 Mariners | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.52 | 11.20 | 4.45 |
| 2001 Mariners | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.64 | 8.37 | 1.48 |
| 2002 Mariners | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.65 | 10.83 | 2.97 |
| 2003 Mariners | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.93 | 7.83 | 4.05 |
| Career | SB | CS | SB% | PH | PR | DH | AB/HR | AB/K | AB/RBI | K/BB | K/9 | BB/9 |
| 4 Years | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.14 | 9.75 | 3.10 |
Kazuhiro SasakiKazuhiro Sasaki Miscellaneous Items of Interest |
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| Team | Roster | Uniform Numbers | Salary | All-Star | World Series |
| 2000 Seattle Mariners | 22 | $4,000,000.00 | - | - |
| 2001 Seattle Mariners | 22 | $4,666,667.00 | Stats | - |
| 2002 Seattle Mariners | 22 | $5,070,000.00 | Stats | - |
| 2003 Seattle Mariners | 22 | $8,070,000.00 | - | - |
| Kazuhiro Sasaki Stats by Baseball Almanac | ||||

Did you know that Kazuhiro Sasaki wore number 22 with the Seattle Mariners, with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars (Japan Central League, Sasaki played for them from 1990–1999), and as a college pitcher at Tohoku Fukushi University because he was born on 2/22 at 2:22 AM?
Did you know that when Kazuhiro Sasaki saved forty-five games in 2001, he set a new Seattle Mariners record for most saves in a season, since passed by Fernando Rodney who had 48 saves in 2014?
As a "rookie" (1990-1999, Nippon Professional Baseball), Kazuhiro Sasaki won both the Rookie of the Year Award and The Sporting News Rookie Pitcher of the Year, both in 2000. On April 4, 2003, the play-by-play for a ninth inning save read:
Texas Rangers 9TH: Bloomquist Stayed in Game (DH); Greene Batted for Clark; Sasaki Replaced Rhodes (P); Greene struck out; Everett struck out but advanced to first on a wild pitch; Young was called out on strikes; Lamb Batted for Diaz; Lamb struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mariners 6, Rangers 4.
That 4k inning was only the nineteenth recorded instance in American League history, the second by a Seattle Mariner (Matt Young, September 9, 1990). Young was a lefty, making Sasaski the first Mariners' righty to ever stikeout four batters in the same inning.
Kazuhiro Sasaki was inducted to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame with the class of 2014, alongside Choichi Aida, Koji Akiyama and Hideo Nomo; Sasaki and Nomo were the first Japanese-born ballplayers from a Major League Baseball team voted into the prestigious Hall.