Mac Suzuki
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Mac Suzuki (マック鈴木? born Makoto Suzuki May 31, 1975 in Kobe, Japan) is a former major league baseball player who plays for Olmecas de Tabasco. Suzuki pitched for the Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies, and Milwaukee Brewers during his major league career.
[edit] Biography
Suzuki quit high school and joined a minor league team in 1992, at the age of 17. He was the first Japanese player to enter the majors without having first played in the Japanese professional leagues.
He signed with the Seattle Mariners in 1993, and was promoted to the majors in 1995, but went without pitching in a major league game that year. He made his major league debut on July 7, 1996, becoming the third Japanese player to play in the major leagues, after Masanori Murakami and Hideo Nomo. He was sent back to the minors shortly afterwards, but marked his first major league win in 1998. He was sent briefly to the New York Mets in June, 1999, before being shipped away again to the Kansas City Royals. He won 8 games in 2000, including one shut-out victory. He went to the Colorado Rockies, then to the Milwaukee Brewers, before returning to the Royals again. He did not win a game in 2002, and was released by the Royals. He announced his decision to enter the Japanese professional leagues at the end of the season.
According to regulations, Suzuki still needed to be picked in the draft to join a Japanese team. The Yakult Swallows had originally intended to choose him, but the Orix Blue Wave forcefully picked Suzuki in the 2nd round, and he ended up joining the Blue Wave. There was debate about whether Suzuki qualified for the Japanese rookie of the year award, since he had already played in the major leagues. The league granted him the qualification, but Suzuki rejected it, perhaps due to his pride as a former major leaguer. In the end, the debate proved meaningless, as Suzuki won only 4 games that year, and in August, 2003, he could not get a single out in a game against the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, where his team lost 1-29. He pitched horrendously against the Hawks in 2003, giving up 32 runs in only 6 games. In 2004, he started only 5 games (none of which were against the Hawks), all of which he failed to get past the 5th inning. His only win that year came against the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes, where he won despite giving up 5 runs over 5 innings. He did not pitch at all in 2005, and was cut from the team during the off-season.
Suzuki returned to the United States, and signed a minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics in December, 2005. He pitched poorly in spring training, and did not make the major league team. He joined a Mexican League team in 2006, and signed a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs in the 2006 off-season.
suzuki is now pitching for a pretty good team in mexico in the state of chihuahua for the DORADOS (goldens) DE CHIHUAHUA he has been puted in the official roster on may 11 and has been declared active on may 12, he played his first game against the ACEREROS DE MONCLOVA (monclova's steelers)the actual league's # 2 team on the north division. he entered to the game as a relief pitcher and ended the game with 4 strikeouts and 4 walks he looked as a pretty good pitcher for the fans that seem been delighted with the new aquisition of the team and he's supposed to lead a nice pitching game and take the team for the first time in history to the playoffs
He joined the La New Bears of the CPBL in Taiwan mid 2007, but was waived by the team in April 2008.
He is sometimes confused with a player of the same name, Makoto Suzuki, who joined the Yomiuri Giants in 2007.
[edit] Pitching stats
Major Leagues
- 117 Games
- 16 Wins
- 31 Losses
- 327 Strikeouts
- 5.72 ERA
Japanese Professional Leagues
- 53 Games
- 5 Wins
- 15 Losses
- 1 Save
- 7.53 ERA
Mexican Leagues
- 27 Games
- 4 Wins
- 5 Losses
- 11 Saves
- 3.48 ERA
