Hideki Okajima

Hideki Okajima 岡島 秀樹
Okajima with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Pitcher
Born: (1975-12-25) December 25, 1975 (age 41) Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan
Bats: Left Throws: Left
Professional debut
NPB: October 6, 1995, for the Yomiuri Giants
MLB: April 2, 2007, for the Boston Red Sox
NPB statistics
Win–loss record	38–40
Earned run average	3.19
Saves	50
MLB statistics
Win–loss record	17–8
Earned run average	3.09
Strikeouts	216
Teams
Yomiuri Giants (1994–2005) Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (2006) Boston Red Sox (2007–2011) Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (2012) Oakland Athletics (2013) Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (2014) Yokohama DeNA BayStars (2015)
Career highlights and awards
All Star (2007) World Series champion (2007) This Year in Baseball Setup Man of the Year Award (2007) AL Rookie of the Month (April 2007) 4× Japan Series champion (1994, 2000, 2002, 2006)

Hideki Okajima (岡島 秀樹, Okajima Hideki^?, born December 25, 1975) is a former Japanese professional baseball pitcher. Okajima has pitched for the Yomiuri Giants, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, and Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball, and the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball. Okajima was elected to the 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game as a first time All-Star via the All-Star Final Vote. He became the first Japanese-born pitcher to play in the World Series in Game 2 of the 2007 World Series. On July 18, 2016, Okajima announced his retirement.

Okajima attended Higashiyama High School and pitched in the 1994 Koshien National High School Tournament.

Okajima was drafted in the third round in 1993 by the Yomiuri Giants of the Nippon Professional Baseball League. Okajima pitched mostly as a setup man, but sometimes played the role of a starter until 1999. When he played with the Giants in Japan, Okajima chose to go by the nickname "Okaji" instead of "Hideki" because Hideki Matsui had preceded him on the Giants.