Biography
Hisashi Iwakuma (岩隈 久志 Iwakuma Hisashi?, born April 12, 1981) is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher with the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Iwakuma made his professional debut with the Buffaloes in 2000. He was named a NPB All-Star in 2003 and 2004, and played in the 2004 Athens Olympics. He joined the Eagles in 2005. As the Eagles' reigning staff ace, Iwakuma won the Eiji Sawamura Award in 2008, and was also a NPB All-Star that year. He appeared in the 2009 World Baseball Classic for the Japanese national team. Iwakuma was posted to Major League Baseball after the 2010 season, but he failed to come to an agreement with the winning bidder. After the 2011 season, Iwakuma signed with the Mariners. He was an MLB All-Star in 2013, as well as the third place finisher for the 2013 American League Cy Young award. On August 12, 2015, Iwakuma became the second Japanese player ever to pitch a no-hitter in Major League Baseball (joining Hideo Nomo, who threw two), throwing a three-walk, seven-strikeout 3-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Safeco Field[1] It was also his first career complete game, and the Mariners' fifth no-hitter in team history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hisashi_Iwakuma
