Former Dodgers Pitcher Elected To Japanese Hall of Fame

An incredible accomplishment for the former Dodgers pitcher.

Once a fixture in the Dodgers' starting rotation from 2008-11, Hiroki Kuroda was named to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame on Thursday.

"I would like to express my gratitude to everyone. I faced more than 10,000 hitters during my career. I worked hard with teammates and against opponents. Many people were involved in my career. Many fans cheered me on."

via 

The Japan Times

The right-hander played professionally in Japan and North America for 20 years. He won 203 games and had a career earned run average of 3.51.

Congratulations Hiroki Kuroda on your induction into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame! pic.twitter.com/el9a0i0UHj

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) January 18, 2024

Kuroda joined the Dodgers as a free agent before the 2008 season after 11 seasons with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, and went on to win 41 games while wearing blue. He appeared in 115 games (114 starts) and was 41-46 with a 3.45 ERA.

He made a statement during his rookie season when he took a perfect game into the eighth inning against Atlanta and got the Game 3 win against Chicago to complete a sweep of the Cubs in the National League Divisional Series. It was the first postseason series win for the Dodgers since 1988.

Kuroda was named the Opening Day starter in 2009 and went on to the have a very productive tenure in Los Angeles before becoming a New York Yankee in 2012 where he spent three seasons and won 38 games.

He returned to Japan after the 2014 season and capped his professional career with two seasons in Hiroshima.