(born September 28, 1968) is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

baseball pitching coach for the

Hanshin Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railwa ...

and a former baseball

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played eleven seasons in Japan, and parts of two seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the Oakland Athletics in 2005 and the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

in 2008.

Career

Prior to his MLB career, Yabu pitched for the

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

from 1994 to 2004. During that time, he had a combined record of 84 wins and 106 losses in 268 games with 206 starts. He completed 39 complete games and had a career 3.57

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

. In 2005 with the Athletics, Yabu pitched 58 innings in 40 games with 4 wins and 0 losses. He had an ERA of 4.50 and allowed 34 runs while

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

44. Yabu asked for and was granted his release by the Rockies prior to the start of the 2006 season after he did not make the Rockies' major league roster. He pitched briefly in the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

with the Potros de Tijuana, then sat out the 2007 season. Yabu signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the San Francisco Giants in December 2007, and made the 2008 Opening Day roster. Prior to the 2009 season, he was released by the Giants. However, he re-signed with the organization to a minor league contract.A.M. NOTES: Yabu re-signed, Zito’s fastball, etc.
/ref> Later that July, he was released from the Giants system. During his year with the Giants, he had an ERA of 3.57, allowed 33 runs, and struck out 48, in 68 innings pitched throughout 60 games, with a win–loss record of 3-6 for the season. Yabu did not appear in another MLB game after being released from the Giants. Returning to NPB, he pitched for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. He retired from professional baseball upon the conclusion of the 2010 season.

Triple play

On May 30, 2008, Yabu entered a game against the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

as a reliever for the Giants with the score tied and with runners at first and second base, with nobody out. He threw one pitch, and

Kevin Kouzmanoff Kevin Kouzmanoff (born July 25, 1981) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics, Colorado Rockies and Texas Rangers. Ko ...

grounded into a triple play. He continued to pitch 2 additional hitless innings that game.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yabu, Keiichi 1968 births Living people Fresno Grizzlies players Hanshin Tigers players Japanese baseball coaches Japanese expatriate baseball players in Mexico Japanese expatriate baseball players in the United States Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Japan Mexican League baseball pitchers Nippon Professional Baseball coaches Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Nippon Professional Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners Oakland Athletics players Potros de Tijuana players San Francisco Giants players Baseball people from Mie Prefecture Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles players Águilas de Mexicali players

Career

Triple play

See also

References

External links