Hung-Chin Tu

Hung-Chin Tu (涂鴻欽) (The Train)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 198 lb.

• School Chinese Cultural University
• High School San-Hsin High School

• Born August 17, 1964 in Chiayi County Taiwan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Hung-Chin Tu was a two-time Olympian and pitched in the CPBL for 7 years. He and Ping-Yang Huang, Chang-Heng Hsieh, Yi-Hsin Chen was called the "Big Four" in the early CPBL.

Tu played in the 1984 Olympics. In the 1984 Amateur World Series, he was 0-1 with a 2.33 ERA; Taiwan won Silver, their first Medal ever at an Amateur World Series. Tu was named the Most Valuable Pitcher in the 1985 Asian Championship and also appeared in the 1985 Intercontinental Cup, 1986 Baseball World Cup, 1987 Asian Championship and 1988 Olympics. In the 1988 Baseball World Cup, Tu struck out 12 in 11 2/3 IP and was 1-0 but his 6.17 ERA was clearly the worst on Taiwan (Yi-Hsin Chen was next at 3.86 for the Bronze Medal winners).

The Chiayi native joined the Mercuries Tigers when the CPBL was formed in 1990. Tu shutout the Wei Chuan Dragons with 14 strikeouts in his debut on March 25, and he set several CPBL records. He was the first pitcher to have a shutout and a complete game in the CPBL, and he also broke the CPBL record for most strikeouts as a local pitcher. (En-Yu Lin broke it in 2006). He still holds the CPBL record for most strikeouts in a debut (through 2023), and other than him, only Jo-Hsi Hsu struck out more than 10 in his first game. Tu was named the starter of the 1990 CPBL All-Star Game 1, and he pitched 3 shutout innings. He record 2 shutout innings in Game 3 and got the win. He was 10-8 with 5 saves and a 2.47 ERA that first season, ranking 6th in ERA (.56 behind Joe Strong). He lost the opener of the 1990 Taiwan Series to Strong and the Dragons. He came back to win game 5 and had a 1-1, 0.69 record in the Series, which the Tigers lost.

Tu had a 11-4, 2.43 record with a save in 1991, and he attended the 1991 CPBL All-Star Games. He pitched 2 shutout innings to collect a save in Game 1, then allowed 2 unearned runs in Game 2. As the starter of Game 3, Tu pitched 2 innings and ended up with a no-decision. He was 4th in ERA (.54 behind Ping-Yang Huang) and 4th in wins (4 behind Strong). In 1992, he fell to 7-7, 2.92. He was 3-8 with three saves and a 2.97 ERA in 1993 and 1-0 with a 5.51 ERA in '94. He was 5-6 with two saves and a 3.74 ERA the next year and was 0-1 with a 3.92 ERA in 1996. He then vanished from Taiwanese baseball as part of the "Black Tiger" scandal. Rumors had Tu as the scandal's ringleader.

Tu threw a curveball, slider and fastball (peak 92 mph).

Overall, Tu was 37-36 with a 3.05 ERA, struck out 345 and pitched 649 2/3 innings in 7 seasons in the CPBL.

Sources

• Chinese Wiki Baseball
• CPBL.com Bio