Tetsu Suzuki

Tetsu Suzuki (鈴木 哲)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.

• School Keio University
• High School Fukushima High School

• Born January 22, 1964 in Fukushima, Fukushima Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Tetsu Suzuki pitched in the Olympics and Nippon Pro Baseball.

Suzuki was 18-10 with a 2.74 ERA in college and pitched for the Japanese collegiate team. While deemed first-round material, he said he was not interested in turning pro and went undrafted; he then played for Kumagai-gumi in the industrial leagues. He was on the Japanese national team that won Silver in the 1987 Asian Championship. He was 1-1 with a 2.22 ERA in the 1988 Baseball World Cup; his 24 1/3 IP were 2nd on the Japanese national team behind Takehiro Ishii and his five appearances tied Ishii and Shuji Yoshida for the team lead. He started the Bronze Medal Game against Taiwan but lost to Ping-Yang Huang after serving up a three-run homer to Kuang-Huei Wang; he allowed four runs in 6 2/3 IP before Tetsuya Shiozaki relieved. He was with Japan when they finished second in the 1988 Olympics (baseball was not a medal sport yet).

The right-hander was picked by the Seibu Lions in the 2nd round of the 1989 NPB draft; despite having earlier saying he would not turn pro, he did ink a deal. He was 1-1 with a 2.83 ERA in 7 games (4 starts) in 1990, walking 20 in 28 2/3 IP. He did not play in the 1990 Japan Series, which Seibu won. In 1991, he went 4-6 with a 4.06 ERA as a swingman. Seibu beat the Chunichi Dragons in 7 games in the 1991 Japan Series; he relieved in game four, allowing one run (a Takashi Osanai homer) in two innings. He struggled in 1992 (0-2, 20 H, 18 R, 15 ER in 11 1/3 IP) and 1993 (0-1, 10 H, 11 BB, 9 R, 9 ER in 10 IP) and did not pitch in either Japan Series (Seibu won in '92 and lost in '93).

He was then traded to the Hiroshima Carp for backup catcher Yukihiro Ueda. He did well his first year there, going 2-3 with a save and 2.62 ERA in 36 games (6 starts) in 1994 while his WHIP fell from 2.1 to 1.32. He saw limited action in 1995 (5 R in 8 IP) then was sold back to Seibu. He pitched 4 1/3 IP in 1996 (6 H, 4 BB, 4 R, 1 ER, 4 K) to end his playing career. He had gone 7-13 with a 4.01 ERA in 84 NPB games (26 starts). His fastball was around 87 mph and he threw a forkball and slider.

After retiring, he scouted for Seibu and managed in the minors for them.