Hisashi Iwakuma started playing baseball as an elementary school first grader at the age of 6, by throwing a ball against a wall in a game of catch with himself and dreaming of becoming a professional. Now, at age 24, he is arguably the best pitcher in Japanese pro baseball.

Iwakuma will be aiming for a third consecutive season with 15 or more wins, as he gets set to throw the first pitch in the history of his new team, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, on Opening Day 2005 against the Chiba Lotte Marines on March 26.

Iwakuma left his former team, the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes, after that club merged with the Orix BlueWave last autumn. His transfer from the Orix Buffaloes to Rakuten came after a controversial tug-of-war that began after the pitcher made it clear he did not want to play for the Kansai-based combined team and had his sights set on Sendai, the home city of the expansion Eagles.