Non-News du Jour: Kyuji to Stay with Hanshin

» 03 December 2008 » In npb »

Kyuji Fujikawa got himself into the news the other day, commenting that he intends to hang out in Japan for the time being. “I think I’m happier playing in Japan [than in the majors]”, said Kyuji, adding that he wants to beat the Giants next year. I wouldn’t have posted this, except that he asked Hanshin to post him last off-season. The team categorically denied the request.

In other news, Kyuji is aiming to hit 160 km/h (100 mph) on the gun next year. Hideki Irabu, Kazuo Yamaguchi, and Ryota Igarashi jointly hold the record for Japanese pitchers at 158 km/h, while Marc Kroon holds the NPB record at 161 162 km/h. I’m not sure what Kyuji’s personal best is, I think the hardest I’ve seen him throw is about 155 km/h.

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  1. Patrick
    Matt a.k.a. No.1Bayfan
    03/12/2008 at 10:51 pm Permalink

    Hmmmm, I can only wonder as to why Kyuji has all of a sudden had this “strong desire” to stick around in Japan………

    And I would also like to make a correction and point out that Kroon broke his own record of 161km/h as he threw a pitch clocked at 162km/h during inter-league play against Softbank this year.

  2. Patrick
    Patrick
    04/12/2008 at 2:28 pm Permalink

    Okay articles have cited a desire in beating the Giants next year, which makes sense to me.

    Thanks for the catch on the 162. I’ll go ahead and make that correction.