Tetsu Yofu

Tetsu Yofu (養父 鉄)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 182 lb.

• School Asia University
• High School Teikyo Daisan High School

• Born June 26, 1973 in Kamakura, Kanagawa Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Tetsu Yofu was a Japanese pitcher who never played in Nippon Pro Baseball, but did appear in the Chinese Professional Baseball League and the US minor leagues (as high as AAA).

Yofu's professional career did not begin until age 27, when he signed with the Brother Elephants of Taiwan. He went 11-10 with a save, a 2.21 ERA and 166 strikeouts in 212 innings. He tied Osvaldo Martínez for 4th in wins, led in innings, was tied for second in losses, was third to Jen-Wen Hsiao and John Burgos in ERA and led in strikeouts (23 more than runner-up Burgos}. He won the Gold Glove at pitcher as well. He was even better in the Taiwan Series, going 2-0 with two saves and a 0.83 ERA, getting a win or save in all four of his club's victories. He won MVP honors in the 2001 Taiwan Series. He was the first foreigner to be named Series MVP; it would be six years before Nelson Figueroa was the second.

Tetsu signed with the Daiei Hawks of Japan for 2002 but had a 4.87 ERA in ni-gun and never made it to the parent club.

Yofu's next contract was with the Chicago White Sox chain. He split 2003 between the Birmingham Barons (9-8, 3.50, 114 K, 117 H in 131 IP) and Charlotte Knights (0-1, 4.80). In 2004, the right-hander was again with Birmingham (3-2, 2.63, 41 K, 9 BB in 41 IP) and Charlotte (5-4, 4.62, 111 K, 33 BB in 113 IP). On August 4, he threw a no-hitter for the Knights against their rivals, the Durham Bulls. In winter ball, he had a 5-3, 4.07 record for the Algodoneros de Guasave of the Mexican Pacific League.

Yofu sputtered after that. He was just 0-1 with a 7.11 ERA in two games for Birmingham in 2005, with 6 walks in 6 1/3 IP. He was suspended for a positive test for banned substances, then released by the White Sox. He signed a contract with the Newark Bears but never appeared in a game for them.

Returning to Taiwan, where he had started his pro career, he was 4-4 with a 4.07 ERA for the Elephants, then retired.

Overall, Yofu had records of 15-14, 2.55 in the CPBL and 17-16, 3.92 in AA and AAA in the USA (with 286 strikeouts in 300 2/3 IP).

His repertoire included a curveball, slider, splitter and fastball (peak 90 mph).

Sources

• Chinese Wiki Baseball
• Baseball America on steroids in 2005
• CPBL stats