Masahiro Tanaka

Masahiro Tanaka (田中 将大, Tanaka Masahiro, born November 1, 1988) is a Japanese professional baseball starting pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). From 2007 through 2013, he played for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) Pacific League.

Tanaka led his high school team to a championship in the National High School Baseball tournament as a junior for Komazawa University Tomakomai High School in 2005 and a runner-up berth in the same tournament as a senior in 2006. Tanaka was the Eagles' first-round pick in the 2006 NPB high school draft and was the team's ace until the end of the 2013 season. From 2012 to 2013, he won 26 consecutive decisions, which broke an NPB record.

Early life

Tanaka was born in Itami, a city in Hyōgo, Japan. He began playing baseball in the first grade as a catcher for the Koyanosato Tigers (a Little League team) alongside current Yomiuri Giants shortstop Hayato Sakamoto, who was then the team's ace pitcher and Tanaka's batterymate. Tanaka and Sakamoto hit third and fourth in the lineup, respectively. He went on to play for the Takarazuka Boys while attending Itami Municipal Matsuzaki Junior High School, being used at both pitcher and catcher because of his strong throwing arm. He was chosen to the Junior All-South Kansai team in his third year of junior high—the equivalent of ninth grade in the United States.

Masahiro Tanaka (baseball, born 1954)

Masahiro Tanaka (田中 昌宏, Tanaka Masahiro, born September 28, 1954) is a former Japanese baseball first baseman and outfielder.

Early life

Tanaka went to high school at Chiben Gakuen High School in Japan and went to college at Osaka Shogyo University in Japan.

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