Desperation forced Ogawa to commit murder

TOKYO — In a recent column I briefly mentioned Hiroshi Ogawa, a Japanese baseball player sentenced to life for murder. Readers wanted to know more, so here you are.

Hiroshi Ogawa was a 5’10” 160-pound right-handed pitcher who played for the Lotte Orions for six years from 1985 to the end of the 1990 season. A graduate of Gunma Prefectural Technical High School in Maebashi, where he twice took his team to the national championship tournament at Koshien Stadium, and later a star at Aoyama Gakuin University, he had a moderately successful pro career — his best season being 1988 when he won 10 games, lost 9, compiled an ERA of 3.40 and led the league in strikeouts, while pitching a personal high of 203 innings. Two years later, a shoulder injury forced his retirement.