is a Japanese

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

player and manager. He managed of the

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011 ...

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB) between 2019 and 2021. Although born in

Fukuoka prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...

, Yoda grew up in Kimitsu, Chiba Prefecture. His wife is

Tokyo Broadcasting System Television JORX-DTV (channel 6), branded as , is the flagship station of the Japan News Network in the Kantō region. It is owned-and-operated by , a subsidiary of TBS Holdings. TBS Television is one of the "five private broadcasters based in Tokyo." ...

announcer, Hiroko Kiba.

Early career

He is the son of Kenji and Atsuko Yoda. He has two siblings, Kozue and Kaori. Yoda attended Kisarazu Chuo High School (now Kisarazu Sōgō High School) in

Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...

before entering Asia University. Yoda was troubled with injuries during much of his time in college, caused by blood flow issues from throwing too much during high school. However, as a member of NTT East in the industrial leagues, Yoda's 150 km/h fastball caught the eye of national team selectors as well as professional scouts. At the 1989 NPB Draft, Yoda was selected in the first round by the

after showing a preference for a non-Tokyo team. Yoda signed on a provisional contract with a ¥75,000,000 sign-on bonus and a ¥7,200,000 yearly salary.

Professional career

Yoda's first appearance came in on April 7, 1990 against the

Yokohama Taiyo Whales The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its current n ...

on opening day. In the 11th inning with one out and runners on 1st and 3rd, he threw two strikeouts to close out his inning. From that point on Yoda was made full-time

closer Closer or Closers may refer to: Film and television * ''Closer'' (2000 film), a documentary by Tina Gharavi * ''Closer'' (2004 film), a 2004 adaptation of Patrick Marber's play (see below), directed by Mike Nichols * ''The Closer'', a 1990 mo ...

by manager

Senichi Hoshino was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball player and manager. In 2003, he led the Hanshin Tigers to their first Central League pennant in 18 years before retiring for health reasons. In 2007, he managed the Japanese national team for the 200 ...

and on June 1 passed double-digit saves. Yoda received the fan vote to appear in the 1990 All-Star game going on to claim 31 saves as well as claiming Rookie of the Year and Most valuable reliever awards. On 15 August at

Hiroshima Municipal Stadium , also called , is a baseball stadium in Minami-ku, Hiroshima, Japan. It is used primarily for baseball and is the home of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the Japanese Central League. The ballpark has a capacity of 32,000 people and opened on Apri ...

, Yoda threw a 157 km/h fastball, which was at the time a Japanese record. After the 1990 season, Yoda played on a team of Japanese all-stars, opposing American all-stars. While continuing as a reliever, Yoda had shoulder and elbow issues and was unable to leave behind any notable results after only 4 years of service. Halfway through the 1996 season, Yoda was traded to the

Chiba Lotte Marines The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba, Chiba, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings, Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. The Marines were a founding member of the Pacific Le ...

for Naoyuki Naitō and in the same year enjoyed a study abroad with the Memphis Chicks of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League B ...

Southern League. However, elbow injuries limited him. On return to the Marines, Yoda failed to make any first-team appearances and was released in the 1997 off-season. He signed for the

Nippon-Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō, in the Sapporo metropolitan area. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Ho ...

in 1998 via a try-out. The Fighters without a full-time closer had hoped Yoda would make the team, but he ended the season failing to make an appearance for either the top or farm team. However, due to pitching well in the fall development league he stayed with the team for a further year. On 2 October 1999, Yoda made his first pitching appearance in 4 years but was released at the end of the year. The

Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, next to their main stadium, Hanshin Koshien Stadium. The Tigers are owned by Hanshin Electric Railway Co., ...

would give Yoda another chance to revive his career in 2000 with then manager

Katsuya Nomura was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) catcher and manager. During his over 26-season playing career mostly spent with the Nankai Hawks (now the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks), he became one of NPB's greatest offensive catchers. He was award ...

mentioning in spring training that he was among the shortlist for closer. After pitching well in a pre-season game, Yoda was unable to get out of bed the following day following lumbar pain. Unable to fully recover, Yoda pitched in two farm games before eventually being released in the fall.

Post-playing career

NHK Analyst and national team coaching

From 2001 to 2015, Yoda served as a

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

for

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

baseball broadcasts. During this time, Yoda was also a columnist for Tokyo Chunichi Sports Shimbun as well as serving as a pitching coach for the

Japan women's national baseball team The Japan women's national baseball team, also known as or represents Japan in international women's baseball competitions. They are WBSC World Rankings#Baseball 2, currently ranked first in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation ...

and club team, Thousand Leaf Ichihara. Yoda served as a coach for the

Japanese national baseball team The , also known as , is the National sports team, national team representing Japan in international baseball competitions. It won the World Baseball Classic in 2006 World Baseball Classic, 2006, 2009 World Baseball Classic, 2009, and 2023 World ...

in the

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike the tw ...

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

On 13 October 2015, Yoda was appointed as pitching coach of the

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping ...

. In the off-season of the same year, Yoda was listed alongside

Kazuyoshi Tatsunami is a former Japanese professional baseball infielder and manager. He played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Chunichi Dragons from to 2009. He was drafted in the first round in the NPB Draft. Career Playing career Tatsunami hold ...

Takeshi Yamasaki is a retired Japanese professional baseball player. During his 24 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, he played for the Chunichi Dragons, the Orix BlueWave, and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Career Yamasaki was selected at the number 2 ...

Hideki Hashigami Hideki Hashigami (橋上秀樹, born November 4, 1965) is a former Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Base ...

Kazuhiro Sasaki Kazuhiro Sasaki (佐々木主浩 ''Sasaki Kazuhiro'', born February 22, 1968) is a Japanese former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played his entire Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) career with the Yokohama Taiyō Whales / Yokohama ...

and

Takashi Saito is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher who is currently the chief pitching coach for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Saito's professional career spanned 23 years. He spent his first 13 seasons pit ...

to take over as Rakuten manager.

Masataka Nashida Masataka Nashida (Japanese:梨田昌孝, born August 4, 1953, in Hamada, Shimane, Japan) is a former Nippon Professional Baseball catcher and manager. As a player, he played for the Kintetsu Buffaloes from 1972 to 1988. After playing, he went on ...

however would be the successful candidate. From 2018, Yoda was demoted to work with the Rakuten farm pitchers and at the end of the season was released.

Chunichi Dragons

On the 17th of October 2018, Yoda was instated as the new manager of his former club the

. After 3 seasons in charge, it was confirmed on the 12th of October that Yoda would be stepping down as manager at the end of the 2021 NPB season.

Personal life

Yoda's shoulder breadth has been somewhat of a topic since his playing days and has been measured at 60 cm. Major leaguer,

Yu Darvish , more commonly known as Yu Darvish (ダルビッシュ有), is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers, Lo ...

who is 10 cm taller than Yoda has been reported as saying "what's going on with those shoulders?" On Yoda's aforementioned debut with the Taiyo Whales, there was a cross-play involving Whales player

Yoshiyuki Shimizu is a Japanese speed skater. He competed in three events at the 1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from Februa ...

tackling then Dragons catcher,

Takeshi Nakamura is a Japanese former professional baseball catcher. He played for the Chunichi Dragons, Yokohama Baystars and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. He was most recently the first team battery coach for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Profession ...

which almost lead to a brawl. Later on 22 June 1994, after striking Whales outfielder, Glenn Braggs, Yoda failed to tip his hat leading to Braggs

charging the mound In baseball, charging the mound is an assault by a batter against the pitcher, usually the result of being hit by a pitch or nearly being hit by a pitch, such as a brushback. The first incidence of a professional charging of the mound has not b ...

. Yoda and Braggs were ejected from the game after the following a

bench-clearing brawl A bench-clearing brawl is a form of fighting that occurs in sports, most notably baseball and ice hockey, where most or all players on both teams leave their Dugout (baseball), dugouts, bullpens, or benches, and charge onto the playing area in or ...

. Yoda hates the words "''gambare''" (do your best) and "''doryoku''" (determination), preferring the word ''junbi'' (preparation). After becoming Dragons manager, Yoda declared that he would use "player that are best prepared" and that he has explained "the importance of preparation before a game".

References

External links

Dragons.jpRights Inc. Talent Agency
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoda, Tsuyoshi 1965 births Asia University (Japan) alumni Chunichi Dragons managers Chunichi Dragons players Chiba Lotte Marines players Hanshin Tigers players Japanese expatriate baseball players in the United States Living people Managers of baseball teams in Japan Memphis Chicks players Nippon Ham Fighters players Nippon Professional Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Baseball people from Kitakyushu