Friday, April 17, 2009

A Tuffy Rhodes sighting

We have a Tuffy Rhodes sighting, and I couldn't be more excited. He's a former Royals farmhand, even though he never made it into any games with them, and is a member of baseball trivia forever for being one of only 3 players to hit 3 homeruns on opening day.


American Tuffy Rhodes hit his 444th homer in Japan to move into a tie for 12th place on the career home runs list with Yomiuri Giants great Shigeo Nagashima. Rhodes connected for a three-run homer in the fourth inning of the Orix Buffaloes' 10-2 win over the Seibu Lions on Wednesday.

The 40-year-old Rhodes leads all active players in Japanese baseball in home runs. Tomoaki Kanemoto of the Hanshin Tigers is the closest to Rhodes with 425.

Rhodes, who previously played with major league clubs the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox, is in his 13th season in Japan.

Sadaharu Oh holds the record for most home runs in Japanese professional baseball with 868.

Rhodes tied Oh for the most homers in a single season with 55 in 2001 when he played for the Kintetsu Buffaloes.
I remember when Tuffy first went to Japan, but I can't believe the kid is 40-years old, and has been there for that long. And 444. That's averaging 34 dingers a year. Not too shabby.

His major league record:

6 Seasons 225 590 74 132 29 3 13 44 14 7 74 121 .224 .310 .349 .659 79 206

Just a season's worth of play over 6 summers. And not really good ones.

His career in Japan:

Year.Team.Games..AB..Runs.Hits..2B.3B..HR..TB..RBIs.SB.CS.BB.IBB..K...Avg..Slg..OBP

1996.KIN......130...501...80.....147...29...1...27...259....97...11..8...57...0..122...293...517....363
1997.KIN......135...511...88......157...37...0...22...260..102..22..8...87...0..109...307...509...409
1998.KIN......134...494...81.....127...25...0...22...218.....70..15..3...81...0..120...257...441...359
1999.KIN......131...491...94.....148...38...1...40...308...101...5..2....69...0..115...301...627...388
2000.KIN.....135...525...85.....143...25..2...25...247......89...6..6....58...0..134...272...470...345
2001.KIN......140...550.137....180..19...0...55...364....131...9..2....83...0..140...327...662...421
2002.KIN.....138...534...94.....145...31..2...46...318.....117...5..2....71...8..140....272...596...361
2003.KIN.....138...508...94.....140..16...0...51...309....117...7..1....98..11..137....276...608...391 2004.YOM...134...523...95.....150..17...0...45...302......99...3..1....72...2..147.....287...577...378
2005.YOM...101...379...54........91....9...0...27...181......70...2..0....55...1..125.....240...478..337
2007.ORX....132..464....75......135..19...0...42...280.....96...0..0....88..10..147....291...603..403
2008.ORX....142..499....82.....138...21...1...40...291....118...2..0....95...9..145....277....583..394

Totals...1590.5979.1059.1701.296.7.442.3337.1207.87.33.914..41..1581..284..558..380

A nice little career for Tuffy, and one he should be proud of. And maybe this will put an end to the debate of whether or not players from the Japanese leagues should be eligible for the Rookie of the Year award.

I mean, lets be serious. Look at what Tuffy did in the states, and look at what he's done in Japan.
Is there really a question about it?

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