Keiichi Yabu #22

Attended Shingu High School and Tokyo Keizai University...was top draft pick of Hanshin Tigers in 1994...married (Yukik, Dec. 9, 1994)...daughter (Kanako, April 3, 1998)...2 sons (Tomoki, Sept. 22, 1995 and Masahiro, Jan. 22, 2003).

2008

Yabu was non-roster invitee to Spring Training and earned spot on club's Opening Day roster...went 3-6 with 3.57 ERA (27er, 68.0ip) in 60 relief appearances for San Francisco... became 4th Japanese-born player in Giants history, joining Masanori Murakami (1964-65) and outfielders Tsuyoshi Shinjo (2002) and Dave Roberts (2007-present)...posted best ERA among qualifying SF relievers, and paced 'pen in innings pitched, while ranking 4th in games...inherited 41 runners (2nd-most on Giants' staff behind Jack Taschner, 57), stranding 77.3%...was unscored upon in 39 of 60 appearances...tossed more than 1.0 inning on 23 occasions, posting 1.65 ERA (8er, 43.2ip) when pitching more than 1.0 frame...was extremely tough on right-handed hitters, holding them to .181 clip (30-for-166), 12th-lowest figure among NL relievers (min. 150 BF)... forged 1.83 ERA (8er, 39.1ip) and .193 average against over 1st 29 games, however after June 22 posted 5.97 figure (19er, 28.2p) and .303 average against (36-for-119) over his final 31 contests... with season debut March 31 at Los Angeles-NL, logged his 1st appearance in Majors since Sept. 29, 2005 with Oakland...suffered 1st career loss April 1 at Los Angeles-NL, allowing 2-out, gamewinning infield single to Delwyn Young in 9th inning...collected 1st victory as Giant April 14 vs. Arizona, marking 1st victory by Japanese pitcher in Giants uniform since Masanori Murakami defeated Reds Sept. 30, 1965...1st Japanese player in ML history registered 5-1 ledger over 54 games (1 start) for SF in 1964-65...fashioned 1.10 ERA (2er, 16.1ip) in 11 May contests, holding opponents to .148 clip...was involved in Giants' 7th triple play in club history, May 30 vs. San Diego...threw just 1 pitch to Kevin Kouzmanoff, inducing 5-4-3 triple play (Jose Castillo-Ray Durham-John Bowker)...is only 2nd Japanese-born pitcher in majors to be on mound for such feat (other Hideo Nomo - 1996 with LA)...marked club's 1st triple play since June 14, 1999 at Colorado when Rockies' Edgard Clemente hit into 5-4-3 triple play (Bill Mueller-Jeff Kent-J.T. Snow)...last time feat was accomplished in San Francisco was Oct. 3, 1980 vs. San Diego...missed brief time after being placed on Disabled List July 20 with sprained right middle finger...was reinstated Aug. 6...posted 1.80 ERA (1er, 5.0ip) with 7 K's and 6 BBs in 3 rehab games at triple-A Fresno... allowed just 2 earned runs over his final 9.0 innings (8 game span), dropping season figure from 3.81 to 3.57.

2005

Yabu became the first Japanese player to pitch for Oakland...appeared in 40 games with the A's, all in relief, and was 4-0 with one save, one blown save and a 4.50 ERA...the 40 games were 10 more than his Japanese Leagues high of 30 with Hanshin in 1996...allowed a .287 opponents batting average...allowed 8 of his 16 (50.0%) inherited runners to score and first batters faced were 11-for-32 (.344) with 4 walks and 4 hit by pitches...his 8 hit batters led AL relievers and tied the Oakland record for hit batters by a reliever (also Horacio Piña in 1973)...had a 3.14 ERA (28.2 ip, 10 er) and .250 (26-for-104) opponents average in 20 games in Oakland and a 5.83 ERA (29.1 ip, 19 er) and .319 (38-for-119) opponents average in 20 games on the road...allowed 5 of his 6 home runs on the road...had a 2.73 ERA (33.0 ip, 10 er) in 22 outings when pitching on 3 or more days rest and a 6.84 ERA (25.0 ip, 19 er) in his 18 other outings...tossed 2.0 or more innings in 13 of his 40 outings, including 3.0 or more on 4 occasions...posted an 0.87 ERA (10.1 ip, 1 er) in 6 outings in the month of April but had a 5.29 ERA (47.2 ip, 28 er) the rest of the season...appeared in just 18 of the A's final 92 games...did not pitch over a 12-game span from June 22 to July 5 and went 10 games without pitching from July 26-Aug. 5...made his ML debut on April 9 at Tampa Bay in an 11-2 A's loss...relieved Barry Zito in the 4th inning with the bases loaded and the A's trailing 8-1...allowed all three of his inherited runners to score, including a two-run single to the first batter he faced, Julio Lugo...however, did not allow a run of his own in 3.2 scoreless innings and posted career-high 5 K's...recorded his first ML win on April 22 at Los Angeles (2.0 ip, 1 h)...entered the game in the 7th inning with the A's trailing 3-2 but Scott Hatteberg had a two-run single in the ninth inning for the win...allowed a career-high 7 runs (3 er) in 1.0 inning on May 9 at Boston...tossed a career-high 4.0 innings on May 13 vs. New York-AL, allowing one hit, one walk and one unearned run...was charged with his first and only blown save on May 16 vs. Boston when he allowed a 2-run double to David Ortiz with the A's leading 4-2...the A's came back to score 2 in the 8th to give him his 3rd win and he picked up win number 4 in his next outing on May 20 at San Francisco...lined out in his only ML at bat in that game vs. Giants...recorded his first and only ML save on July 25 vs. Cleveland when he pitched the final 3.0 innings of the A's 13-4 win.

1994

Went 6-9 with a 3.02 ERA in 19 games, all starts, in his final season with Hanshin...in 11 seasons pitching for Hanshin in the Japanese Central League, he compiled an 84-106 record and a 3.54 ERA in 268 games, 236 starts...never had an ERA above 4.17.

1995

Compiled a career best 2.98 ERA which was sixth best in the Central League...also had a career high 196.0 innings pitched...posted a 7-13 record in 27 games, all starts.

1996

Went 11-14 with a 4.01 ERA in 30 games, all starts...established career highs for wins, games, games started and strikeouts (145).

1997

Went 10-12 with a 3.59 ERA in 29 games, 22 starts.

1998

Matched his career high in wins as he was 11-10 with a 3.51 ERA in 24 games, all starts.

1999

Established a career high for losses as he was 6-16 with a 3.95 ERA in 28 games, 27 starts...ranked 10th in the Central League in ERA.

2000

Lost 10 games for the sixth consecutive season as he was 6-10 with a 4.17 ERA in 25 games, 24 starts.

2001

Had career lows in games and games started as he was 0-4 with a 4.09 ERA in 17 games, eight starts.

2002

Finished with a winning record for the second time in his career, posting a 10-6 mark and a 3.14 ERA in 20 games, 15 starts...it was his fourth 10-win season

2003

Finished with a winning record for the second consecutive season, going 8-3 with a 3.96 ERA in 23 games, 15 starts, for Central League Champion Hanshin...the Tigers lost to the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in the Japan Series, four games to three.

2004

Went 6-9 with a 3.02 ERA in 19 games, all starts, in his final season with Hanshin...in 11 seasons pitching for Hanshin in the Japanese Central League, he compiled an 84-106 record and a 3.54 ERA in 268 games, 236 starts...never had an ERA above 4.17.