Yoshinori Toda

Yoshinori Toda (戸田 善紀)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 176 lbs.

• High School PL Gakuen High School

• Born July 27, 1945 in Osaka, Osaka, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yoshinori Toda pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball for 17 years.

The Hankyu Braves signed Toda in 1963, but he spent his first four seasons primarily in the NPB Farm Leagues, and he only played 13 games combined with the big club. He had a 2.67 ERA in 15 relief outings in 1969, and he appeared in the 1969 Nippon Series. He pitched a shutout inning in Game 1, recorded another 2 shutout innings in Game 3, then he allowed a solo shot to Sadaharu Oh in Game 4. He allowed another solo home run to Yukinobu Kuroe in Game 6, and the Yomiuri Giants beat the Braves. His ERA then rose to 5.03 in 17 games in 1970, and he had a 3.38 ERA in 12 games in 1971.

Toda played 34 games in 1972, and he had a 3.32 ERA with a 8-4 record. In the 1972 Japan Series, he pitched 2 shutout innings in each of Game 1, 2 and 4, but he then struggled in Game 5. He only retired one batter (Shigeru Takada), and he allowed 4 homers - to Masaaki Mori, Oh, Shigeo Nagashima and Kuroe. Kazumi Takahashi got the win over him with a shutout, and the Giants beat the Braves again. Toda entered the rotation in 1973, and he was 8-9 with a 3.04 ERA. The Braves then named him their closer in 1974, and Toda notched 8 saves with a 3.45 ERA in 41 relief outings. He was 4th in the Pacific League in saves (between Akira Tanaka and Masaharu Mitsui) and 7th in appearances (tied with Hisashi Yamada, Yutaka Yanagida and Satoshi Niimi).

The Osaka native joined the rotation again in 1975, and he was 11-5 with a 3.17 ERA. He ranked 8th in wins, tied with Mitsuhiro Adachi, Takenori Emoto, Hiroaki Fukushi, Osamu Nomura and Kazuyoshi Takemura. Toda also pitched 3 shutout innings with 4 strikeouts in the 1975 Nippon Series Game 3, then he got the win with 3 2/3 shutout innings in Game 6. The Braves beat the Hiroshima Carp, and Toda won his first Nippon Series title. The 1976 season was Toda's career year. He threw a no-hitter on May 11 against the Nankai Hawks, and he ended up 12-5 with a 3.91 ERA. He was 10th in wins, tied with Takashi Yamaguchi and Koichi Nakayama. He was also selected into the 1976 NPB All-Star Games, and he pitched a shutout inning with a strikeout of Isao Harimoto in Game 3. Toda pitched 1 2/3 shutout innings in 1976 Nippon Series Game 5, and the Braves beat the Giants in 7 games.

Toda was then traded with Kiyoshi Morimoto and Kenji Komatsu to the Chunichi Dragons for Mitsuo Inaba, Kinji Shimatani and Masato Osumi. He was 6-7 with a 4.75 ERA in 1977, then he had a 5-6 record with a 3.91 ERA in 1978. Toda recorded a 3.23 ERA in 16 games in 1979, then he started 22 games with a 3.42 ERA and a 7-6 record in 1980. However, his ERA rose to 8.40 in 1981, then he announced his retirement in 1982.

Overall, Toda was 67-57 with a 3.71 ERA, struck out 665 and pitched 1,176 innings in 17 years in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio
• 1976 NPB All-Star Game