Takeshi Yasuda

Takeshi Yasuda (安田 猛)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 8", Weight 158 lb.

• School Waseda University
• High School Kokura High School

• Born April 25, 1947 in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Japan
• Died February 20, 2021 in Tokyo Prefecture Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Takeshi Yasuda pitched for the Yakult Swallows for one decade.

Yasuda played for Dai Showa Seishi in the industrial leagues after college and Yakult picked him in the 6th round of the 1971 NPB draft. Yasuda had an amazing debut, going 7-5 with a 2.08 ERA in 1972 with a WHIP of .99. He won the Central League ERA title over Tomohiro Tanimura by .18 and also led in games pitched (50). He was named the CL Rookie of the Year for his fine work. In 1973, Takeshi was even better, though he was just 10-12. His 2.02 ERA led the CL by .19 over Kazumi Takahashi. He only had a .96 WHIP, and again led in games pitched (53, tied with Yutaka Enatsu). He completed 1 1/3 shutout inning in the 1973 NPB All-Star Game1, but he allowed a walk-off hit to Hiroyuki Yamazaki in Game 3 and got the loss. From July 17 until September 9, he did not walk a batter, a stretch of 81 innings, setting a Nippon Pro Baseball record. The control specialist would pitch 23 walkless complete games in his career.

The Kitakyushu went 9-5 with a 3.18 ERA in 1974 and 16-12 with 4 saves and a 2.73 ERA in 1975, walking only 36 in 243 2/3 IP; he did not hit a batter all year. He was 4th in the CL in ERA (between Yukitsura Matsumoto and Senichi Hoshino), 5th in wins (between Hoshino and Kazushi Saeki), 5th in losses (tied with Yutaka Enatsu and Katsuji Sakai), 10th in strikeouts (between Hoshino and Kenji Furusawa) and tied four others for the league lead in shutouts (3). He also made another All-Star selection, and he was named the starter of the 1975 NPB All-Star Game3. However, Yasuda gave up a 2-run shot to Masahiro Doi in the 3rd inning, and he got the loss again.

In 1976, the southpaw was 14-13 with two saves and a 3.93 ERA, walking 32 in 229 1/3 innings; he managed to go the whole season without a wild pitch. He was among CL's leaderboard in wins (8th, tied with Tsuneo Horiuchi), losses (5th, tied with Hiromu Matsuoka and Saeki), complete games (12, 4th behind Kojiro Ikegaya), and innings (4th, between Takenori Emoto and Matsumoto). Yasuda posted a 17-16 record with six saves and a 3.74 ERA in 1977. He made his third and final All-Star team, and he completed 3 innings without an earned run as the starter of Game 3. He was 9th in the circuit in ERA (between Satoshi Takahashii and Takamasa Suzuki), 5th in wins (3 behind Takahashi), 10th in strikeouts (between Furusawa and Masaji Hiramatsu) and 2nd in losses (tied with Ikegaya).

Takeshi went 15-10 with four saves and a 3.93 ERA in 1978, and he was 4th in wins (tied with Hiroaki Fukushi and Hisao Niura). He was 0-1 with a 8.00 ERA in the 1978 Japan Series, losing game one to the Hankyu Braves, but Yakult came back to win it in seven behind the slugging of Katsuo Osugi and Charlie Manuel. The veteran fell to 1-4, 6.26 with 69 hits in 46 1/3 innings n 1979, t. He bounced back a bit in 1980, going 4-3 with a save and a 3.81 ERA. Yasuda gave up 7 runs in 7 innings in 1981 and retired. After his playing career came to an end, Yasuda was a coach and scout for Yakult, signing Hiroto Kato and Toshihiro Noguchi.

Overall, Yasuda went 93-80 with 17 saves and a 3.26 ERA in 358 games in NPB. He walked 285 batters in 1,508 1/3 innings and threw only 5 wild pitches, a number many pitchers top in a single season.

Source

• Japan Baseball Daily by Gary Garland
• Wiki Japan