[Raderick]

Originally Posted by myasu

I think you guys have heard of this story about Matsuzaka too.
Yes, it is crazy, Japanese high school baseball.

[edit] The legendary 3 days at the 1998 summer Koshien

In the quarterfinal of that year's Summer Koshien, Matsuzaka threw 250 pitches in 17 innings in a win over powerhouse PL Gakuen. (The previous day he had thrown a 148-pitch complete game shutout.) The next day though trailing 6-0 in the top of the eighth inning, the team miraculously won the game by scoring 7 runs in the last two innings (four in the eighth and three in the ninth). In that game he started in left field, but came in as a reliever in the ninth inning to record the win in 15 pitches. In the final, he threw a no-hitter, the second ever in a final. This performance not only elevated him to rock star status but also garnered him the attention of many scouts. After graduating from high school, he was taken by the Seibu Lions with the first pick of the 1998 draft, although both the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks of the American Major Leagues also recruited him heavily.[2]

Makes me wonder if we'll ever see a player pitch that much ever in the United States at the professional level.