Intended also as a slap at Sawamura Award winner Futoshi Nishiguchi, whom Ishii twice outpitched in Nippon's fall classic, the comment is no exaggeration.

Missing the first two months of the 1997 season rehabilitating from shoulder surgery, Ishii fell 18 innings short of qualifying for the league's pitching title, which he would have easily won with a 1.91 ERA.

Despite missing one third of the team's games, the Yakult southpaw compiled a 10-4 record and 120 strikeouts in 117 2/3 innings. Only ten pitchers from either league struck out more batters than Ishii, but most of them pitched 30 to 100 more innings than him.

Of all the hurlers who compiled at least 110 innings in 1997, Ishii maintained the lowest ERA while averaging the most strikeouts (9.18) and the fewest home runs (.382), hits (5.58) and base runners (9.71) per nine-inning game.

If not the best pitcher in Japan, no starter was more effective Kazuhisa Ishii at keeping opponents from reaching base and scoring. And that was never clearer than on September 2, 1997.

With the BayStars trailing the Swallows by 2.5 games in the Central League pennant race, the two teams met for a key series in early September. Despite facing the best batting team in the league, Ishii no-hit Yokohama, allowing four walks while striking out nine. His last pitch was clocked at 151 kph (95 mph).

Six weeks later, the left-handed power pitcher three-hit the Lions to win game 1 of the Japan Series, tying the record of twelve strikeouts by a pitcher in a nine-inning Japan Series match.

In the Professional Baseball News 1998 Yearbook, the staff of writers named Ishii the best fastball pitcher, the best slider pitcher, and the second best left-handed starter, and the second best overall pitcher in the CL.