This year's Sawamura Award selection committee agreed with me and choose Rakuten ace Hisashi Iwakuma as the recipient of this year's award. Here's a YouTube clip of the game that really put Iwakuma over the top.
Runner-up Yu Darvish had an outstanding year, meeting all seven guidelines for selection, but in the end Iwakuma's win total and slightly better era won out. Said selection committee member Choji Murata: "Darvish is a pitcher who can take the award again from next year".
