Choji Murata

{{Infobox NPB player

|name=Choji Murata

|image = Choji Murata 19901013.jpg

|caption=Murata in 1990

|position=Pitcher

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{birth date|1949|11|27|df=y}}

|birth_place=Toyota District, Hiroshima, Japan

|death_date={{death date and age|2022|11|11|1949|11|27|df=y}}

|death_place=Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan

|debutleague= NPB

|debutteam = Tokyo Orions

|debutdate=

|debutyear= {{npby|1968}}

|finalleague = NPB

| finalteam = Lotte Orions

|finaldate =

|finalyear = {{npby|1990}}

| statleague = NPB

| stat1label = Win–loss

| stat1value = 215–177

| stat2label = Earned run average

| stat2value = 3.24

| stat3label = Shutouts

| stat3value = 36

| stat4label = Innings pitched

| stat4value = 3,331.1

| stat5label = Strikeouts

| stat5value = 2,363

| highlights =

3x ERA champion

|teams =

As player

Tokyo Orions/Lotte Orions ({{npby|1968}}–{{npby|1990}})

As coach

Fukuoka Daiei Hawks ({{npby|1995}}–{{npby|1997}})

| hoflink = Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame

| hoftype = Japanese

| hofdate = 2005

| hofvote =

| hofmethod =

}}

Choji Murata (村田兆治, 27 November 1949 – 11 November 2022) was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher. He played for the Tokyo/Lotte Orions over the period 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.

Overuse of Murata's pitching arm led to extreme pain and injury,Whiting, Robert. You Gotta Have Wa (Vintage Departures, 1989), pp. 55–57. and ultimately Murata was forced to undergo Tommy John elbow surgery, performed in 1982 by Dr. Frank Jobe in California.Whiting, Robert. [http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1068391/index.htm "The Pain Of Perfection,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221063530/http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1068391/index.htm |date=21 February 2009 }} Sports Illustrated (15 May 1989). [https://japanesebaseball.com/writers/display.gsp?id=18781 Archived at JapaneseBaseball.com]. (Murata was the first Japanese pitcher to undergo the procedure.){{cite news |title=Hall of Fame pitcher Murata pays tribute to Dr. Jobe |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2014/03/07/baseball/hall-of-fame-pitcher-murata-pays-tribute-to-dr-jobe/ |access-date=18 February 2021 |work=The Japan Times |date=7 March 2014}} As a result, Murata missed much of the 1982 season, all of the 1983 season, and most of the 1984 season during his recovery.

Rebounding in 1985 with a 17–5 record, Murata 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.

On 23 September 2022, Murata was arrested at Haneda airport for allegedly assaulting a customs agent. {{cite news | title = 村田兆治容疑者、逮捕空港で暴行も容疑否認携帯電話を手に金属探知ゲートへ→何度も引っかかり… | newspaper = Yahoo News | date = 24 September 2022 | url = https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/c640975e24069e2c2803adef4d172f661f65359c | language = ja | accessdate = 24 September 2022 | archive-date = 29 September 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220929012953/https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/c640975e24069e2c2803adef4d172f661f65359c | url-status = dead }}

On 11 November 2022, Murata's house in Seijo, Setagaya, Tokyo, caught on fire during the early morning. Subsequently, he was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead due to carbon monoxide poisoning at age 72.{{Cite web|date=11 November 2022|url=https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20221111-OYT1T50085/|title=元プロ野球投手の村田兆治さん、自宅火災で死亡|trans-title=Choji Murata, former professional baseball player, died due to fire at his house|access-date=11 November 2022|lang=ja}}