Yuki Saito

Yuki Saito (斎藤 佑樹) is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher.

He played 11 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.

That November, he led his team to the semi-finals of the 36th Meiji Jingu Tournament, securing Waseda Jitsugyo High a berth in the 78th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament that would be held the following spring.

That June, Saito took the mound as Waseda's ace in the second-round match, semi-finals, and finals of the 56th All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series, earning wins in the latter two games and leading the school to their first national championship in 33 years.

Saito was also named the tournament MVP for his efforts.

The 78 strikeouts he recorded were second only to then-Tokushima Commercial High School ace Eiji Bando's 83 in 1958.

As the tournament, various media outlets took a strong liking to Saito's custom of using a blue handkerchief that he kept folded in his pocket to wipe sweat from his face.

This, combined with his good looks, led to his being dubbed the "Handkerchief Prince" (ハンカチ王子).

Later, the name "Yū-chan" (佑ちゃん) stuck after Masahiro Tanaka told media that that was what he called Saito during the U.S.-Japan High School Baseball Tournament that was held following the national championship.

(Saito and Tanaka were both chosen to play for the Japanese team in the tournament, organized by the Japanese Educational Resource Center in conjunction with the Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy.) The suffix "-chan" is often attached to names to express affection for that person in Japanese; the nickname is similar in nature to Tanaka's own nickname, "Mā-kun" (マー君).

Though it had been reported even prior to the tournament that Saito planned on proceeding to college upon completing high school rather than declaring for the Nippon Professional Baseball draft that would be held in the fall, his sensational performance and sudden popularity caused much speculation regarding his decision (particularly by the media).

On September 11, he held a press conference in front of more than 150 reporters and announced that he would not be declaring for the draft, opting to go to college instead.

In the Nojigiku Hyōgo National Sports Festival, the final tournament of his high school career, Saito faced Tomakomai High in the finals in a rematch of the national championship held in the summer, pitching a complete-game shutout and defeating them one last time.

The game remained tied 1-1 after fifteen innings, resulting in the first rematch in the tournament finals since Matsuyama Commercial High School and Misawa High School met in 1969.

Saito insisted on starting in the rematch that took place the next day, holding Tomakomai High to three runs and striking out Tanaka, the final batter, to bring Waseda Jitsugyo High the school's first-ever national championship.

The 69 innings and 948 total pitches that Saito threw were the most in tournament history (he pitched 42 innings in the last four days alone).

Saito's desire to play in the national baseball tournaments held at Koshien Stadium was sparked when he went to the stadium to see Kiryu Commercial High School, the Gunma champions, play in the summer tournament in 2002.

He considered enrolling in Kiryu High School like his brother, but opted to apply at a school with a stronger baseball reputation so that he could play at a higher level.

In 2004, Saito left his home in Gunma to attend Waseda Jitsugyo High School, a private affiliate school of Waseda University, choosing to live in Tokyo with his brother.

He earned a spot on the team's bench in his first year and was assigned the uniform number "1" (which denotes a high school team's ace pitcher in Japan) by the summer of his second.

However, while he managed to take his team to the semi-finals of the West Tokyo Tournament that summer, he gave up three home runs in the match against Nihon University Third Senior High School in a humiliating mercy-rule loss.

Saito's team faced Nihon University Third High again just months later in the semi-finals of the regional tournament held that fall.

This time, Saito pitched a complete game shutout and went on to win in the finals as well.

Saito rose to national stardom as a senior for Waseda Jitsugyo High School when he led the team to a title in the 88th National High School Baseball Championship in 2006.

He was given the nickname The Handkerchief Prince (ハンカチ王子) by the Japanese media for his use of a handkerchief to wipe sweat from his face while on the mound and is also often referred to as Yū-chan (佑ちゃん).

Saito was born in Nitta, a town in Gunma Prefecture that has since been incorporated into the larger city of Ōta.

He began playing baseball in the first grade, following in the footsteps of his older brother, who as team captain would later lead Kiryū High School to the semi-finals of the regional Gunma Tournament of the National High School Baseball Championship.

In the spring of 2006, pitching in a national tournament for the first time, Saito took the mound against Kanzei High School of Okayama, going the distance in a grueling match that ended in a tie after fifteen innings as per tournament regulations as well as the rematch that ensued the very next day, eventually leading his team to the win (though it lost to Yokohama　Senior High School in the quarter-finals).

That summer, he faced Nihon University Third High yet again in the finals of the West Tokyo Tournament, defeating them in extra innings to earn a spot in the 88th National High School Baseball Championship in 2006.

Saito started and held the opposing team to under three runs in every game in the national tournament, even contributing with his bat by hitting a home run in the third-round match against Fukui Commercial High School and leading the school to their first appearance in the national championship finals in 26 years.

The finals against Komazawa University Tomakomai High School (the South Hokkaido champions) became a classic pitchers' duel between Saito and Tomakomai High's ace pitcher Masahiro Tanaka.

In 2007, Saito enrolled in Waseda University as a sociology major, pitching in the opener of the spring season of the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League against the University of Tokyo on April 14.

He threw six shutout innings, striking out eight and allowing just one hit and earning the first win of his college career.

He earned the trust of head coach Atsuyoshi Otake and was sent to the mound in the crucial second game of series several times, including the pivotal game against arch-rival Keio University on June 3 that clinched their second consecutive league title.

Saito finished the season with a 4-0 record and a 1.65 ERA, starting four games and closing out two others in situations that would be recorded as saves in professional leagues (there are no official saves in the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League).

He was chosen to the league's Best Nine, the first time a freshman pitcher had ever won the award in the spring season, and was also named the league Most Valuable Player in online fan voting.

A month later, in July 2007, Saito was chosen to play for Japan in the 36th Japan-USA University Baseball Championship Series.

He started in Game 3 of the series and came away with the win, becoming the first freshman to play for Japan to earn a win in the history of the tournament.

However, he could not find his location in Game 5 after coming on in relief, ultimately being charged with the loss.

After the game, he commented to the American media, "There's a part of me that would like to play in the majors after experiencing professional baseball in Japan once."