Yutaka Sudo

Yutaka Sudo (須藤 豊)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 162 lb.

• High School Kochi Commercial High School

• Born April 21, 1937 in Aki, Kochi Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yutaka Sudo played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 13 years.

Sudo signed with the Mainichi Orions in 1956, and he played 133 games with a .242/.277/.301 batting line as their starting second baseman in his first season. He hit .278/.331/.362 in 1957, but he then slumped to .190/.249/.229 in 1958 and Shinya Sasaki took his spot. Sudo struggled again in 1959 as he went 10-for-75, and he recorded a .238/.281/.298 batting line in 1960. He had a .229/.254/.297 batting line in 1961, and the Whales traded him to the Yomiuri Giants for Shosuke Doi.

The Kochi native played 92 games with a .202/.236/.281 batting line in 1962, and he slumped to .159/.208/.195 in 1963 so Kazuhide Funada took his spot. Sudo bounced back with a .280/.319/.329 batting line in 1964, and he hit .231/.282/.267 in 98 games in 1965. He was 0-for-7 in the 1965 Nippon Series, and the Giants beat the Nankai Hawks in 5 games. His batting line fell to .194/.282/.245 in 1966, and he hit .256/.304/.372 in 37 games in 1967. Sudo only played one game in 1968, and he announced his retirement. He later became the fielding coach for the Giants from 1974 to 1975 and for their minor league team from 1969 to 1973.

After leaving the Giants, Sudo worked in a rebar factory until he returned to the field in 1980 as Taiyo's minor league manager. He stayed in that spot for two seasons, and he he returned to the Giants as minor league fielding coach from 1983 to 1984, fielding coach in 1985 and minor league manager from 1986 to 1989. The Whales then named him as their new manager in 1990, and Sudo announced that his theory of leading the team was called "AFT Baseball", which meant aggressive, fundamental and technique. He focused on speed and defense, and he led the Whales to a 64-66 record. It was the last season that the Taiyo Whales were in the top three in the Central League. However, the Whales finished 5th in 1991, and Sudo was fired after they had a 61-69 record in 1992. He later became the bench coach for the Giants from 1993 to 1995 and in 2004, and he also worked as bench coach of the Seibu Lions from 1997 to 1999. He was the interim manager for the Lions for three games whenOsamu Higashio was suspended in 1997.

Overall, Sudo hit .230/.277/.291 with 495 hits and 8 homers in 13 seasons in NPB. He was 138-4-147 as a manager.

Sources

• Wiki Japan