The Japanese phenom has become a global star after one of the greatest games ever pitched, and he has survived tragedy along the way
There are no-hitters. There are perfect games. And there’s the sort of virtuosity that Rōki Sasaki managed to conjure for two and a half unforgettable hours on Sunday afternoon at the Zozo Marine Stadium outside Tokyo.
Sasaki, a right-handed flamethrower for the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, achieved one of his sport’s rarest feats when he retired the minimum 27 batters without allowing an opposing player to reach base in a 6-0 win over the Orix Buffaloes, racking up a record-tying 19 strikeouts in only 105 pitches. Even more remarkable: he’s still only 20 and grew up amid the wreckage of the 2011 tsunami after his house – and several family members – were swept away by the floodwaters.
