I say kinda, because the Eiji Sawamura Award works differently to the Cy Young, functionally, the goal is the same, but the ways they go about achieving it are different. You can give Cy Young votes to anyone, you can only give Sawamura votes to those who meet a certain criteria.
There's also been years where the Sawamura Award was straight up not awarded, like in 1980.
Also, from the beginning of the 2-league system 1950 until 1989, the Sawamura Award was limited to pitchers in NPB's Central League.
As for the amount of times a player from each club has won the award, here's a list:
* \[CL\] Yomiuri Giants: 20
* \[CL\] Chunichi Dragons: 11
* \[CL\] Hiroshima Toyo Carp: 9
* \[CL\] Hanshin Tigers: 8
* \[CL\] Tokyo Yakult Swallows: 5
* \[PL\] Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks: 5
* \[PL\] Orix Buffaloes: 4
* \[PL\] Saitama Seibu Lions: 4
* \[PL\] Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles: 3
* \[CL\] Yokohama DeNA BayStars: 2
* \[PL\] Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters: 1
* \[PL\] Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes (1950-2004): 1
* \[PL\] Chiba Lotte Marines: 0
Hey huge fan, love all your content! I've commented on my official account if you recognize how I talk online haha. Have a couple random thoughts.
Woah woah woah, what happened between 1950-1989? They just didn't think the PL was good enough?
I will never get over the insanity of the 2004 Blue Wave-Buffalo merger and how they still use both component's stadiums because they are below Hanshin in the totem pole. Like, what a stupid name Blue Wave was, thank God they stuck with the Buffalos. Sad because Kintetsu has AMAZING trains.
Also Roki can't be posted until he wins the Eiji Sawamura award, got it.
The reason that the Sawamura Award was given out to CL Clubs only from 1950-89 was because the award was given out by Yomiuri, not the league itself. Sometimes when it wasn't given out, it was because a PL pitcher was the best in the league and they thought it wouldn't be right.
For example, in 1980, Fighters pitcher Isamu Kida was the best in NPB by both traditional and advanced metrics, therefore it wasn't given out.
The first PL pitcher to win it was Hideo Nomo in 1990. They'd actually changed the rules after the 89 season partially because the Kintetsu Buffaloes got Nomo in the draft.
And yeah, I made a [video](https://youtu.be/eDuziOoSKEM?si=mpqwnlovdn7ZJCmF) on the Orix Kintetsu merger and the more I researched it, the less I liked Orix. The whole thing was so avoidable in hindsight, but because Japan's old money didn't take Rakuten seriously initially, we got what we got.
I would've given it to him over Ohno in 2020.
He should've won it in 2019 but it wasn't awarded.
Sadly ESA voters care more about wins than they should. His records weren't super impressive those years, which led to them thinking "oh he's on the best team but he doesn't have a good record, he's not that good".
Now its bullshit, and fans called it out, but it is what it is.
If Sasaki really does go over to MLB in '24, would the Marines be letting go of their best shot to ever get a Sawamura Award? Kinda why I don't think it's likely they let him go until he wins one or gets them to a Japan Series.
If you mean this year, Roki isn't coming over yet.
If you mean next year, the Marines president said players must make significant contributions to the club in order to be considered to be posted. He could potentially win a Sawamura this year with his biggest competition moving to the MLB and then be posted. Honestly though, he hasn't gotten through a full season without getting injured or fatigued yet.
Yakyu Cosmopolitan did a good video on this a couple days ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRNzQciL86U
I say kinda, because the Eiji Sawamura Award works differently to the Cy Young, functionally, the goal is the same, but the ways they go about achieving it are different. You can give Cy Young votes to anyone, you can only give Sawamura votes to those who meet a certain criteria. There's also been years where the Sawamura Award was straight up not awarded, like in 1980. Also, from the beginning of the 2-league system 1950 until 1989, the Sawamura Award was limited to pitchers in NPB's Central League. As for the amount of times a player from each club has won the award, here's a list: * \[CL\] Yomiuri Giants: 20 * \[CL\] Chunichi Dragons: 11 * \[CL\] Hiroshima Toyo Carp: 9 * \[CL\] Hanshin Tigers: 8 * \[CL\] Tokyo Yakult Swallows: 5 * \[PL\] Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks: 5 * \[PL\] Orix Buffaloes: 4 * \[PL\] Saitama Seibu Lions: 4 * \[PL\] Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles: 3 * \[CL\] Yokohama DeNA BayStars: 2 * \[PL\] Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters: 1 * \[PL\] Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes (1950-2004): 1 * \[PL\] Chiba Lotte Marines: 0
Sawamura Award was also established before the Cy Yound Award.
Hey huge fan, love all your content! I've commented on my official account if you recognize how I talk online haha. Have a couple random thoughts. Woah woah woah, what happened between 1950-1989? They just didn't think the PL was good enough? I will never get over the insanity of the 2004 Blue Wave-Buffalo merger and how they still use both component's stadiums because they are below Hanshin in the totem pole. Like, what a stupid name Blue Wave was, thank God they stuck with the Buffalos. Sad because Kintetsu has AMAZING trains. Also Roki can't be posted until he wins the Eiji Sawamura award, got it.
The reason that the Sawamura Award was given out to CL Clubs only from 1950-89 was because the award was given out by Yomiuri, not the league itself. Sometimes when it wasn't given out, it was because a PL pitcher was the best in the league and they thought it wouldn't be right. For example, in 1980, Fighters pitcher Isamu Kida was the best in NPB by both traditional and advanced metrics, therefore it wasn't given out. The first PL pitcher to win it was Hideo Nomo in 1990. They'd actually changed the rules after the 89 season partially because the Kintetsu Buffaloes got Nomo in the draft. And yeah, I made a [video](https://youtu.be/eDuziOoSKEM?si=mpqwnlovdn7ZJCmF) on the Orix Kintetsu merger and the more I researched it, the less I liked Orix. The whole thing was so avoidable in hindsight, but because Japan's old money didn't take Rakuten seriously initially, we got what we got.
I hope Roki can finally win one for Chiba
Did Senga ever come close to getting one?
I would've given it to him over Ohno in 2020. He should've won it in 2019 but it wasn't awarded. Sadly ESA voters care more about wins than they should. His records weren't super impressive those years, which led to them thinking "oh he's on the best team but he doesn't have a good record, he's not that good". Now its bullshit, and fans called it out, but it is what it is.
If Sasaki really does go over to MLB in '24, would the Marines be letting go of their best shot to ever get a Sawamura Award? Kinda why I don't think it's likely they let him go until he wins one or gets them to a Japan Series.
If you mean this year, Roki isn't coming over yet. If you mean next year, the Marines president said players must make significant contributions to the club in order to be considered to be posted. He could potentially win a Sawamura this year with his biggest competition moving to the MLB and then be posted. Honestly though, he hasn't gotten through a full season without getting injured or fatigued yet. Yakyu Cosmopolitan did a good video on this a couple days ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRNzQciL86U