Juei Ushiromatsu Explained

is a Japanese former professional baseball relief pitcher who played in the New York Mets minor league system in 1998. He is notable for being the first Japanese player to sign directly with a major league organization without playing any professional baseball in Japan.^[1]

Background

After attending Omagari Kogyo High School in Akita Prefecture, Ushiromatsu signed with New York in November 1997 at the urging of scout Isao Ojimi when he was 18 years old.^[2] The 6' 1", 165 pound left-handed pitcher, who was bypassed in Japan's amateur draft, signed for a bonus of about $100,000.^{[3] [4] [5] [6]} He pitched for the Gulf Coast Mets that season - his only professional campaign in the United States - and went 0–2 with a 4.85 ERA in 16 relief appearances.^[7] His professional career ended prematurely after he injured his back in a car accident.^[8]

Notes and References

1. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-nov-27-sp-58346-story.html LATimes article
2. http://www.t3.rim.or.jp/~sports/latest/ml.html First high school student scouted by US teams
3. https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/27/sports/baseball-moving-quickly-blue-jays-snatch-myers-from-orioles.html November 27, 1997 NY Times article
4. https://apnews.com/977901b042374d76e3d9271291e2b7b4 AP article
5. Web site: PLUS: BASEBALL -- BOSTON; Red Sox Sign Japanese Outfielder (Published 1997) . . https://web.archive.org/web/20171229111744/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/01/sports/plus-baseball-boston-red-sox-sign-japanese-outfielder.html . 2017-12-29 . live .
6. http://web-japan.org/trends98/honbun/ntj980610.html June 10, 1998 article
7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=ushiro001jue BR Minors page
8. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F01E5D8123BF931A15751C1A96F9C8B63 NYTimes article