Choji Murata
Choji Murata is a former Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher. He played for the Tokyo/Lotte Orions from 1968 to 1990.
Murata led the Pacific League in Earned run average in 1975 and 1976. In 1976 he won 21 games, the only time he won 20 games or more in his career.
Murata missed all of the 1983 season and most of the 1984 season. Rebounding in 1985 with a 17-5 record, he won the Nippon Professional Baseball Comeback Player of the Year Award.
In 1989 he again led the Pacific League in ERA.
Retiring in 1990 with 200+ career wins, Murata became a member of Meikyukai. He was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.
In 2008, Murata served on the Eiji Sawamura Award selection committee.
