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Citizens of Japan and fans of baseball were treated to an incredible feat on August 12, 2015 when Hisashi Iwakuma became only the second Japanese born player to throw a no-hitter in a Major League Baseball game. Even if you don’t sport sports, you’ll want to read on to see why this is so amazing after the break!

To “throw a no-hitter” means that a pitcher prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit (safely reaching first base off a batted ball) in a game with at least nine innings. It is an amazing accomplishment to throw a no-hitter and in baseball’s 139 year history only an average of two no-hitters are thrown in a year. Hisashi Iwakuma threw his first no-hitter while pitching for the Seattle Mainers against the Baltimore Orioles at home and threw only the fifth no-hitter in Mariners franchise history. He is also the first American League pitcher to throw a no-hitter in almost three years, a feat last performed by his teammate Felix Hernandez.

The only other Japanese born pitcher to throw a no-hitter is Hideo Nomo, the man credited with paving the way for Japanese players in the MLB who threw two in his career, one in 1996 and the other in 2001. It is obviously exciting for Iwakuma to join an elite list of pitchers, but it must be something extra special to share a space in the history books next to Hideo Nomo. People from Japan and fans of baseball all congratulated Iwakuma saying,

“It’s a brilliant achievement by the 2nd Japanese-born player following Nomo! I’m really happy to hear stories that have Japanese people in them.”
“Congratulations on the no-hitter!”
“Unbelievable! Iwakuma is amazing!”
“That’s great! Come back to Japan!”
“His condition this year hasn’t been the greatest, but he’s a player that can pitch like that naturally.”

We’re not sure anyone can pitch like that naturally, but we are happy to see him apparently coming out of a bit of a slump!

▼ Even the US embassy in Japan congratulated Iwakuma.

Congratulation, Hisashi Iwakuma! We look forward to your next no-hitter! Or perhaps you’ll kick the difficulty up a notch and throw a perfect game?

Source: My Game News Flash
Top Image: Flickr/Keith Allison