Tsuruo Otsuka

Tsuruo Otsuka (大塚 鶴雄)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 140 lb.
• High School Kiryu High School

• Born 1919 in Gunma Prefecture Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Infielder Tsuruo Otsuka played in the Japanese Baseball League for five seasons from 1939 to 1943.

He started out with the Tokyo Senators in 1939 and in one of his very first games on March 26th, set a Japanese record by reaching base twice on a dropped third strike in the same game. He hit .204 in 96 games as Tokyo's starting shortstop that year. In 1940, he was with Tsubasa, the new name taken on by the Tokyo team after Japanese teams were urged to drop English names. He hit .211 in 104 games with the only two homers of his career, and 40 RBIs, also a career high. His 75 errors that season are the all-time Japanese record.

In 1941, after Tsubasa had merged with the Nagoya Kinko to form the Taiyo team, he lost his job and moved over to Nankai, a team coming off an awful season and which needed some reinforcements. However he had his worst season, hitting just .162 in 43 games as he was reduced to being a utility infielder. In 1942, he was the starting third baseman for Nankai and batted .214 in 105 games. He moved again in 1943, to the short-lived Yamato team, where he batted a career-best .232 in 27 games at third base.

Little else is known about him. He played under the name "Yanagi Tsuruji" from 1939 to 1942. His career was presumably ended by World War II, but no further details are available, including whether he was inducted in the Japanese military and when or where he died.