Kazuhiro Sasaki

Kazuhiro "Daimajin" Sasaki (佐々木 主浩 Sasaki Kazuhiro, born February 22, 1968 in Sendai City, Japan) is a former Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher. He played his entire NPB career with the Yokohama Taiyo Whales / Yokohama BayStars (1990–1999; 2004–2005). Sasaki played his entire MLB career with the Seattle Mariners (2000–2003).\n', ' After playing college baseball for Tohoku Fukushi University, Sasaki was drafted with the seventh pick in the first round of the 1989 draft by the Yokohama Taiyō Whales (now named Yokohama DeNA BayStars) in Japan\'s Central League. He played for them from 1990–1999, before joining the Seattle Mariners in 2000. He joined a bullpen that had been one of the worst in the Major Leagues, and during his rookie year won the closer job from a floundering José Mesa. Sasaki\'s out pitch, a devastating split-fingered fastball that drops when arriving at home plate, was nicknamed "The Fang" by Mariners radio announcers. He complemented it with a four-seam fastball that topped out at mid-90s. Sasaki maintained a rigorous throwing program, sometimes at odds with club management, that saw him throw up to 100 pitches following games in which he did not appear.\n', ' Sasaki\'s transition to American baseball began with his being named American League Rookie of the Year. For three years, along with Jeff Nelson and Arthur Rhodes, Sasaki was an integral member of the back of Seattle\'s bullpen. He decided to leave the Mariners before the last year of his contract in 2004, giving up $8.5 million, citing his desire to be with his family in Japan. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, however, Sasaki\'s real reason for returning to Japan was pressure from ownership, due to his "indiscreet philandering".\n', '