Tuffy Rhodes
Encyclopedia
Karl Derrick "Tuffy" Rhodes (born August 21, 1968 in Cincinnati, Ohio
) is a professional baseball
player. He played six years in Major League Baseball
in the US, and eleven years in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan
.
Rhodes is the all-time leader for foreign-born players, and tied for 10th overall, with 474 home run
s in Japan.
Prior to Japan, he was a center fielder
playing for the Houston Astros
, Chicago Cubs
and Boston Red Sox
from 1990-1995.
In his major league career, Rhodes batted
.224, with 13 home runs and 44 runs batted in
, 74 runs scored
and 14 stolen base
s in 225 games played.
In , he hit an extra-inning home run to win the American Association
championship for the Iowa Cubs
. His only season of more than 250 at bat
s came with the 1994 Cubs
. In that season, Rhodes became the first National League
player to hit three home runs on opening day when he connected off Dwight Gooden
at Wrigley Field
.
Granted free agency after the season, Rhodes signed with the Kintetsu Buffaloes
in the Pacific League
of NPB.
In the season, he hit his 55th homer to tie Sadaharu Oh
's Japanese League single season home run record, set in . For the rest of the season, opposing pitchers intentionaly walked Rhodes to prevent him from breaking Oh's record. The following year, Alex Cabrera
tied the record.
After Kintetsu refused to sign him to a multi-year contract, Rhodes signed a two-year deal with the Yomiuri Giants
of the Japanese Central League
in 2004. A successful first year was followed by a difficult second year. He left the team halfway through the 2005 season due to injury, and was released in the off-season.
In 2006, he tried to return to the major leagues with the Cincinnati Reds
but was released by the team in spring training. He shortly retired from baseball; however, after spending the rest of 2006 with his family, he returned to Japan in 2007, signing a one-year contract with the Orix Buffaloes
.
Rhodes began the 2007 season with a bang by hitting a home run in his first game http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G74ldOxawyY, and connecting for two more in the next game on two consecutive at bats. According to manager Terry Collins
, Rhodes still has an 'explosive' bat http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200703240122.html. While the Buffaloes struggled to a last-place finish in 2007, and also not having any protection to speak of in the lineup, Rhodes' comeback was a spectacular one, batting .291 and hitting 42 home runs to go with 96 runs batted in. The next season, teamed with fellow gaijin slugger Alex Cabrera
, Rhodes hit 40 home runs and drove in 118 runs despite his average dropping to .277. Combined, Cabrera and Rhodes, who earned the nickname "Caburo" late in the season, slammed 76 home runs and drove in 222 runs. Rhodes' 118 RBI also led the league as the Buffaloes made an improbable run to the playoffs, finishing second in the Pacific League. However, the success did not last as the Buffaloes were swept in the short first-round of the Pacific League Climax Series by Yu Darvish
and the more experienced Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
Although Rhodes is not Japanese, his long career in NPB earned him free agency
, in which he is treated as a "Japanese Player" and not bound to the restrictions of foreign players. Only three other non-Japanese players (Tai-Yuan Kuo
, Alex Ramírez
, and Alex Cabrera
) have achieved such a classification in NPB history.
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
) is a professional baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player. He played six years in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
in the US, and eleven years in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Rhodes is the all-time leader for foreign-born players, and tied for 10th overall, with 474 home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s in Japan.
Prior to Japan, he was a center fielder
Center fielder
A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball fielding position between left field and right field...
playing for the Houston Astros
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
, Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
and Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
from 1990-1995.
In his major league career, Rhodes batted
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
.224, with 13 home runs and 44 runs batted in
Run batted in
Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...
, 74 runs scored
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...
and 14 stolen base
Stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate...
s in 225 games played.
In , he hit an extra-inning home run to win the American Association
American Association (20th century)
The American Association was a minor league baseball league at the Triple-A level of baseball in the United States from to and to . Together with the International League, it contested the Junior World Series which determined the championship team in minor league baseball, at least for the...
championship for the Iowa Cubs
Iowa Cubs
The Iowa Cubs are a Triple-A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Chicago Cubs, that plays in the Pacific Coast League. Their home games are played in Des Moines, Iowa, at Principal Park.-Franchise history:...
. His only season of more than 250 at bat
At bat
In baseball, an at bat or time at bat is used to calculate certain statistics, including batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. It is a more restricted definition of a plate appearance...
s came with the 1994 Cubs
1994 Chicago Cubs season
The 1994 Chicago Cubs season was the 122nd for the franchise. One of the highlights of the season was Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes hitting three home runs on Opening Day. Rhodes would only hit five more homers that season.-Offseason:...
. In that season, Rhodes became the first National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
player to hit three home runs on opening day when he connected off Dwight Gooden
Dwight Gooden
Dwight Eugene Gooden , nicknamed "Doc Gooden" or "Dr. K", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was one of the most dominant and feared pitchers in the National League in the middle and late 1980s.-Career:...
at Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...
.
Granted free agency after the season, Rhodes signed with the Kintetsu Buffaloes
Kintetsu Buffaloes
The was a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Osaka, Japan, which were in the Pacific League. The team was owned by Kinki Nippon Railway Co. and later sold to the Orix Group, the owner of the Orix BlueWave baseball team, in 2004...
in the Pacific League
Pacific League
The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series...
of NPB.
In the season, he hit his 55th homer to tie Sadaharu Oh
Sadaharu Oh
Sadaharu Oh, or Wang Chenchih , is a retired Japanese-Taiwanese baseball player and manager. He batted and threw left-handed and primarily played first base. Oh, who was born in Sumida, Tokyo the son of a Taiwanese father and a Japanese mother, had originally signed with the powerhouse Yomiuri...
's Japanese League single season home run record, set in . For the rest of the season, opposing pitchers intentionaly walked Rhodes to prevent him from breaking Oh's record. The following year, Alex Cabrera
Alex Cabrera
Alex Cabrera is a Venezuelan first baseman and right-handed batter who played in Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball...
tied the record.
After Kintetsu refused to sign him to a multi-year contract, Rhodes signed a two-year deal with the Yomiuri Giants
Yomiuri Giants
The are a professional baseball team based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. The team competes in the Central League in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top level of professional play in Japan. They play their home games in the Tokyo Dome, opened in 1988. The English-language press occasionally calls the...
of the Japanese Central League
Central League
The or is one the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consists of six teams from around the country,The Central League...
in 2004. A successful first year was followed by a difficult second year. He left the team halfway through the 2005 season due to injury, and was released in the off-season.
In 2006, he tried to return to the major leagues with the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
but was released by the team in spring training. He shortly retired from baseball; however, after spending the rest of 2006 with his family, he returned to Japan in 2007, signing a one-year contract with the Orix Buffaloes
Orix Buffaloes
The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Osaka and Kobe, Japan. They play in the Pacific League. The team is owned by the Orix Group, a leading diversified financial services company based in Tokyo....
.
Rhodes began the 2007 season with a bang by hitting a home run in his first game http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G74ldOxawyY, and connecting for two more in the next game on two consecutive at bats. According to manager Terry Collins
Terry Collins
Terry Lee Collins is the manager for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball. A former minor league shortstop, Collins managed the Albuquerque Dukes of the Pacific Coast League, the Buffalo Bisons of the International League, the Duluth Huskies of the summer collegiate Northwoods League, and...
, Rhodes still has an 'explosive' bat http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200703240122.html. While the Buffaloes struggled to a last-place finish in 2007, and also not having any protection to speak of in the lineup, Rhodes' comeback was a spectacular one, batting .291 and hitting 42 home runs to go with 96 runs batted in. The next season, teamed with fellow gaijin slugger Alex Cabrera
Alex Cabrera
Alex Cabrera is a Venezuelan first baseman and right-handed batter who played in Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball...
, Rhodes hit 40 home runs and drove in 118 runs despite his average dropping to .277. Combined, Cabrera and Rhodes, who earned the nickname "Caburo" late in the season, slammed 76 home runs and drove in 222 runs. Rhodes' 118 RBI also led the league as the Buffaloes made an improbable run to the playoffs, finishing second in the Pacific League. However, the success did not last as the Buffaloes were swept in the short first-round of the Pacific League Climax Series by Yu Darvish
Yu Darvish
Yu Darvish is a Japanese starting pitcher for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.Darvish pitched in the 2008 Beijing Olympics as well as the 2009 World Baseball Classic as a member of the Japanese national team...
and the more experienced Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Sapporo, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at the Sapporo Dome. The Fighters also host a select number of regional home games in cities across Hokkaidō,...
Although Rhodes is not Japanese, his long career in NPB earned him free agency
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
, in which he is treated as a "Japanese Player" and not bound to the restrictions of foreign players. Only three other non-Japanese players (Tai-Yuan Kuo
Tai-Yuan Kuo
Kuo Tai-yuan, ; , born March 20, 1962), is a retired Taiwanese NPB baseball pitcher and currently a baseball coach. With 117 wins accumulated during his 13 seasons in the Seibu Lions, Kuo set the record of being the international player who achieves most wins in the NPB history, and is widely...
, Alex Ramírez
Alex Ramírez
Alexander Ramón Ramírez is a former Major League Baseball outfielder who currently plays for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball. He played in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates...
, and Alex Cabrera
Alex Cabrera
Alex Cabrera is a Venezuelan first baseman and right-handed batter who played in Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball...
) have achieved such a classification in NPB history.