Makoto Tsuchida

Makoto Tsuchida (槌田 誠)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 165 lb.

• School Rikkyo University
• High School Kurashiki Technical High School

• Born June 12, 1943 in Okayama, Okayama Japan
• Died January 7, 1999

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Makoto Tsuchida played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 11 years.

Tsuchida was the second player to win the triple crown in the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League after World War II (following Sukehiro Moroki), and he hit .310 with 2 best nine awards in his college career. He drafted by the Nankai Hawks and Yomiuri Giants in the first round of the second 1966 NPB draft, and the Giants won the lottery for the rights to him. He crushed a pinch-hit grand slam against Chikara Morinaka on June 6, 1967, and he was the first position player whose first career hit was a grand slam (the first player to do so - Tetsuya Yoneda was a pitcher). Tsuchida ended up hitting .231/.244/.436 in 25 games for the Giants in his rookie year.

The Okayama native improved to .320/.414/.580 in 1968, but he didn't get many chances because the Giants already had legendary catcher Masaaki Mori. He was 0 for 1 when Yomiuri won the 1968 Japan Series. He played 49 games with a .267/.284/.395 batting line in 1969 (going 1 for 1 with a double, run and RBI as they won the 1969 Japan Series), and he went 3-for-14 in 1970; he was 0 for 1 when they won the 1970 Japan Series. Tsuchida then hit .200/.277/.320 in 75 at-bats in 1971, and he had a .271/.292/.386 batting line in 1972. He slumped to .123/.177/.211 in 1973, then he went 8-for-29 in 1974. Tsuchida struggled in 1975 as he had a 1-for-29 record, then he hit .158/.158/.158 in 1976 (he scored one run but did not bat in the 1976 Japan Series, which they lost to the Hankyu Braves) and the Giants released him. The Yakult Swallows picked him up, but Tsuchida only hit .103/.188/.138 in 1977 and he announced his retirement. He later became the minor league battery coach for the Nippon Ham Fighters from 1978 to 1979.

Overall, Tsuchida hit .215/.265/.338 with 107 hits and 14 homers in 11 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan