Mutsuo Minagawa

was a Japanese professional baseball pitcher. Listed at 5' 10" , 162 lb. , Minagawa batted and threw right handed. He was born in Yonezawa, Yamagata.

A tough three quarters, side arm pitcher, Minagawa spent 18 seasons in the Pacific Coast League during three different decades spanning 1954–1971, all of them with the Nankai Hawks, which is currently known as the Softbank Hawks.

By using a wide array of breaking pitches, his command of sliders and screwballs

Pitching career

1950s Minagawa debuted in 1954 with Nankai at age 18 and was used sparingly in his first three seasons, being part of the pitching staff of the 1955 Pacific League pennant winner, even though he did not play in the Japan Series. He improved in 1956, ending with an 11-10 mark, 2.17 ERA and innings pitched in 60 appearances, starting 16 games and pitching his first career shutout. Then in 1957 he had 23 outings in 56 appearances, winning 18 games while losing 10. In addition, he posted a 2.64 earned run average for the seventh-best of the league, pitched an eight-best innings, and earned his first All-Star selection. claiming the right to face the Yomiuri Giants of the Central League in the Japan Series. And the Hawks prevailed, blanking Yomiuri 4–0 in the best-of-seven series, to clinch its first Japan Series after four failed attempts. Minagawa made a brief relief appearance in the Series, allowing a run in just one inning of work.

1960s Then in 1960, Minagawa went 11-8 with a 2.89 ERA in limited action due to an injury. He rebounded in 1961, running his record to 16-7 with a 1.98 ERA in 51 games as a swingman pitcher, helping the Hawks win a pennant for a third time. Moreover, Minagawa would face again the Yomiuri Giants in the 1961 Japan Series. He then lost a pitcher's duel to Ritsuo Horimoto in Game 2, and was 0-1 with a 2.92 ERA in the tournament, which was won by Yomiuri in six hard-battled games.

Once more, Minagawa would pitch effectively in 1962 with another dominating performance for the second-place Hawks, winning 19 games and losing just four for a respectable .826 W–L%, ranked as the best mark in the league. He also ended third in BB/9 (1.04), fifth in wins and tenth in ERA (2.50), striking out 119 batters and allowing only 33 walks over innings to complement his efforts.

In 1963 the Hawks came close to winning the pennant, but faded in the stretch and finished in second place five games behind the Toei Flyers. Minagawa pitched well this year, but not enough to propel his team to the title. He went 12-9 with a 2.54 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in 188.0 innings, while appearing in 53 of the 150 games of the Hawks. Additionally, he topped the league's qualified starters in W–L% (.720), tied for the second in ERA, finished third in shutouts, fifth in wins and tenth in complete games, while earning a third All-Star berth.

His most productive season came in 1968, when he posted a 31-10 record with a 1.61 ERA and worked hard to pitch a career-high innings. Minagawa also received Best Nine Award honors as the best pitcher in the Pacific League, and made his fourth consecutive All-Star team and fifth overall.

Minagawa was enshrined into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame as part of its 2011 class, along with three-time Triple Crown winner and manager Hiromitsu Ochiai. He is also a distinguished Meikyukai Member.

Even though he was never recognized with an Eiji Sawamura Award, Minagawa is well remembered as the last pitcher in Japanese professional baseball to post 30 wins or more in a single season, as was aforementioned before.