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Eiji Sawamura Award
Japanese baseball award
Japanese baseball award
The Eiji Sawamura Award, commonly known as the Sawamura Award, is an honor bestowed upon the top starting pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball each year, when deemed necessary.
The award was originally established by Japanese magazine "Nekkyū" in 1947 to honor the career of Eiji Sawamura, a power pitcher who enjoyed an illustrious career for the Tokyo Giants before being killed in combat during World War II. It is a special award that is independent of the official Most Valuable Pitcher award that is presented to one pitcher in each league (Central and Pacific) each year.
Overview
Selection process
One starting pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball is chosen at the end of each season based on the following selection criteria.
- Games started: 25 or more
- Wins: 15 or more
- Complete games: 10 or more (1947–2025), 8 or more (2026–)
- Winning percentage: .600 or higher
- Innings pitched: 200 or more (1947–2025), 180 or more (2026–)
- Earned run average (ERA): 2.50 or lower
- Strikeouts: 150 or more
The selection criteria were established in ; prior to this, a pool of journalists voted on the pitcher they thought was most deserving of the award without any particular criteria. These simply serve as guidelines; while the pitcher who fulfills the most criteria has the most likelihood of winning, pitchers who do not fulfill all seven criteria have often been presented the award.
In the rare event that another pitcher has a season that is deemed more outstanding, a pitcher may, in turn, fulfill all seven criteria and not win the award. In , Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters starting pitcher Yu Darvish (16–4 win–loss record, 1.88 ERA, 208 strikeouts) fulfilled all seven criteria, but Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles starting pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma won the award despite meeting only six criteria because it was deemed that Iwakuma (21–4, 1.87 ERA, 159 strikeouts) had the better season overall.
The selection committee usually consists of five former pitchers.
Other notes
Because it began as an independent award by Nekkyū, a magazine catered towards Giants fans, only Central League pitchers were eligible to win the award from (the first year the NPB employed the current two-league format) to . The first pitcher to be bestowed the honors from the Pacific League was Hideo Nomo for the Kintetsu Buffaloes in .
No pitcher was found to be sufficiently deserving of the award in , , , , , and . The award has been presented to two pitchers in the same season twice (, ).
Winners
Bold names indicate pitchers who met all seven criteria (limited to 1982 and later winners)
| Year | Player | Team | Ref | Not awarded | Not awarded | **** | Not awarded | **** | **** | **** | **** | Not awarded | **** | **** | **** | Not awarded | Not awarded | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | Nankai Hawks | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1948 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1949 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1950 | Shochiku Robins | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1951 | Chunichi Dragons | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1952 | Chunichi Dragons | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1953 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1954 | Chunichi Dragons | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1955 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1956 | Kokutetsu Swallows | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1957 | Kokutetsu Swallows | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1958 | Kokutetsu Swallows | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1959 | Hanshin Tigers | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1960 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1961 | Chunichi Dragons | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1962 | Hanshin Tigers | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1963 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1964 | Hanshin Tigers | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1965 | Hanshin Tigers | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1966 | Hanshin Tigers | |||||||||||||||||||
| Yomiuri Giants | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1967 | Chunichi Dragons | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1968 | Hanshin Tigers | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1969 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1970 | Taiyo Whales | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1972 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1973 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1974 | Chunichi Dragons | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1976 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1977 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1978 | Yakult Swallows | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1979 | Hanshin Tigers | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1980 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1981 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1982 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1983 | Yokohama Taiyo Whales | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1984 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1985 | Chunichi Dragons | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1986 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1987 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1988 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | |||||||||||||||||||
| Starting this year, pitchers from the Pacific League also became eligible for selection. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1989 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1990 | Kintetsu Buffaloes | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1991 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1992 | Seibu Lions | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1993 | Chunichi Dragons | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1994 | Chunichi Dragons | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1995 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1996 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1997 | Seibu Lions | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1998 | Yakult Swallows | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1999 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001 | Seibu Lions | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2002 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2003 | Hanshin Tigers | |||||||||||||||||||
| Fukuoka Daiei Hawks | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | Chunichi Dragons | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2008 | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | Saitama Seibu Lions | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2013 | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Orix Buffaloes | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Yomiuri Giants | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | Chunichi Dragons | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Orix Buffaloes | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Orix Buffaloes | url= https://mainichi.jp/articles/20221024/k00/00m/050/092000c | title= オリックス・山本由伸、2年連続で沢村賞受賞 史上6人目の快挙 | access-date= October 24, 2022 | work= Mainichi Shimbun}} | |||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Orix Buffaloes | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters |
References
References
- (2023-10-30). "Yoshinobu Yamamoto wins third straight Sawamura Award".
- Coskrey, Jason. (October 21, 2019). "No Sawamura winner named for 2019 <season".
- Coskrey, Jason. (October 24, 2016). "Carp's Johnson becomes second foreign-born Sawamura Award winner".
- "中日・大野雄に沢村賞 選考4項目で巨人・菅野を上回る". The Asahi Shimbun.
- "オリックス・山本由伸、2年連続で沢村賞受賞 史上6人目の快挙". Mainichi Shimbun.
- "山本、3年連続の沢村賞＝史上2人目の快挙―プロ野球". Jiji Press.
- "沢村賞5年ぶり該当者なし 堀内委員長 苦言止まらず「投高打低の時代、帯に短したすきに長し」". Daily Sports.
- "日本ハム・伊藤大海が初の沢村賞「憧れていた」 球団ではダルビッシュ以来18年ぶり".
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