Hideo Fujimoto

Hideo Fujimoto (藤本 英雄), also known as Hideo Nakagami and born Lee Pal-ryong, was a Japanese baseball pitcher who lived from May 10, 1918, to April 26, 1997. Born in Busan, Korea, then part of the Japanese Empire, he moved to Japan at the age of eight. He attended Shimonoseki Shogyo High School and Meiji University before entering professional baseball.

Fujimoto pitched for the Tokyo Kyojin/Yomiuri Giants and the Chunichi Dragons, his career spanning both the one-league and two-league eras. He also served as player-manager of the Giants in 1944 and during part of 1946; the league cancelled all games in 1945 because of the Pacific War.

In 1943 he won the pitching triple crown, taking 34 games for the Kyojin and leading the league in wins, complete games (39), innings pitched (432⅔), and strikeouts (253). That season he threw a Japanese-record 19 shutouts and set the single-season ERA mark of 0.73. In May 1943 he pitched his first no-hitter, defeating Nagoya.

He holds the Japanese records for lowest career ERA (1.90) and lowest seasonal ERA (0.73), as well as the best all-time winning percentage (.697).