[FuzzyRussianHat]

One player made the East Asia Baseball Hall of Fame in 1947 as starting pitcher Tadao Iemochi picked up 85.6% on his first try on the ballot. Only two others were above 50%; reliever Toyohiko Taguchi at 55.1% on his second try and 3B Koson Mori at 51.3% on his seventh. There were no EAB players who were dropped on their 10^th ballot in 1947.



Tadao Iemochi – Starting Pitcher – Kobe Blaze – 85.6% First Ballot

Tadao Iemochi was a 6’2’’, 195 pound right-handed pitcher born in Yokohama, Japan. Iemochi was never a powerful pitcher as his velocity peaked at 93-95 mph. However, he was known from great movement on his pitches and later in his career, strong control. He mixed up a four-pitch arsenal of a slider, forkball, changeup, and sinker.

He moved to Tokyo as a teenage and attended Nishogakusha High School, where he caught a lot of attention as a baseball prospect. While players usually played in college or semi-pro, Iemochi was picked out of high school eighth overall in the 1923 EAB Draft by Kobe. He mostly was kept on the reserve roster to develop his skills, although he did see brief relief outings in 1924 and 1925. In 1926, he became a full-time starting pitcher at age 21.

Iemochi was a respectable starter in his early 20s. In late 1929, he suffered a torn flexor tendon, putting his career in question. He came back late in 1930 to make a few starts, but then at age 26, bounced back with his best season to date in 1931 with a career-best 8.8 WAR. He became a legitimate ace from 1931-1936, winning Pitcher of the Year in 33 and 36 and taking third in 32, 35, and 36. In 1935, Iemochi became a Blaze legend with a 0.73 ERA in three postseason starts. Kobe won their first East Asian Championship and Iemochi was named the series MVP; a rare honor for a pitcher.

In May 1937, he again suffered a torn flexor in his elbow. He never regained his elite form, but came back and was a solid contributor in 1938 and 1939. In 1940 at age 35, a torn labrum put him out for almost the entire year. Kobe voided his team option at that point, although they would later retire his #1 jersey and honor him as one of the franchise’s greats. He signed with Fukuoka for 1941, but a torn labrum meant he saw limited action. He tried a another comeback with Nagoya for 1942, but a second torn labrum in spring training officially put him out of the game.

Iemochi’s final stats: 188-141, 2.36 ERA, 3014.1 innings, 2736 strikeouts, 522 walks, 282/385 quality starts, and 76.9 WAR. A number of big injuries kept him from compiling higher totals, but his ability to keep pitching despite that speaks to his resilience. His 1931-1936 stretch was about as good of a six years a pitcher can have and he was instrumental in bringing Kobe a championship. Thus, Iemochi secured first ballot Hall of Fame status at 85.6%.