{{Infobox baseball biography |name = Jo Matumoto |team = |number = |position = Pitcher |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1971|2|5}} |birth_place = São Paulo, Brazil |bats = Left |throws = Left |debutleague = |debutdate = |debutyear = |debutteam = |statleague = |statyear = |stat1label = |stat1value = |stat2label = |stat2value = |stat3label = |stat3value = |teams = }} '''Jo Matumoto''' (born February 5, 1971) is a Brazilian former professional baseball player. He is a left-handed pitcher.
Matumoto was born in Brazil and is of Japanese descent. He emerged from relative baseball obscurity, signed by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2007 as an undrafted free agent at the age of 36.<ref name="toronto.bluejays.mlb.com">{{Cite web |url=http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20070223&content_id=1812793&vkey=pr_tor&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor |title=The Official Site of The Toronto Blue Jays: Official Info: Blue Jays sign Matumoto<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2007-02-24 |archive-date=2011-05-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518170006/http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20070223&content_id=1812793&vkey=pr_tor&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor |url-status=dead }}</ref> Matumoto's wife had contacted agent Randy Hendricks as she desperately searched for someone in North America to give Matumoto an opportunity.<ref name=bastian>{{cite news |last=Bastian |first=Jordan |title=Matumoto can't believe his good fortune |work=MLB.com |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070223&content_id=1813554&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb |accessdate=July 20, 2011}}</ref> Matumoto did not speak any English at that time.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jays put pitching talent through their paces; Matumoto headed to minors |url=http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=558f6c64-a9d5-4c01-9101-599cebbd0f2e&k=80333 |newspaper=National Post |accessdate=July 20, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110140929/http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=558f6c64-a9d5-4c01-9101-599cebbd0f2e&k=80333 |archivedate=November 10, 2012 }}</ref> He became a free agent at the end of the {{baseball year|2008}} season.
While playing baseball in Japan, Matumoto was part of an "industrial league" team in Japanese professional baseball, essentially the Japanese equivalent of the Minor League Baseball circuit.<ref name=canwest/> He was signed by the Nippon Blue Jays<ref name=fidlin>{{cite news |last=Fidlin |first=Ken |title=Jays give old rookie a shot |publisher=Sun Media |url=http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Baseball/MLB/Toronto/2007/02/24/3662169-sun.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119142839/http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Baseball/MLB/Toronto/2007/02/24/3662169-sun.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 19, 2016 | access-date=July 20, 2011}}</ref>—a team unaffiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays, but founded by a former Toronto Blue Jays farm team player, fellow Brazilian Jose Pett.<ref name=bastian/> Matumoto would play in Japan from 1996 until 2001.<ref name=canwest>{{cite news |url=http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=f6ac6333-3b3f-4a18-aeb4-77990174b41c&k=3255 |title=Brazilian pitcher goes on storybook odyssey |agency=CanWest News Service |newspaper=National Post |accessdate=July 20, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024084637/http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=f6ac6333-3b3f-4a18-aeb4-77990174b41c&k=3255 |archivedate=October 24, 2012 }}</ref>
Matumoto returned to Brazil and has seen action playing for their national baseball team since {{baseball year|1995}} and was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the {{baseball year|2005}} South American Games when he led Brazil to a victory over Venezuela.<ref name="toronto.bluejays.mlb.com"/><ref name=bastian/> He was considered the ace of the national team.<ref name="toronto.bluejays.mlb.com"/><ref name=fidlin/><ref>{{cite news |title=Wife's plea gets Matumoto a job |url=https://www.thestar.com/printarticle/185278 |newspaper=Toronto Star |accessdate=July 20, 2011 }} {{Dead link|date=April 2014|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}</ref> Matumoto pitches with a three-quarters delivery, throwing in the high 80s with a solid slider. His best pitch was a screwball.<ref>{{cite news |title=Brazilian pitcher agrees to minor league contract with Blue Jays |newspaper=The San Diego Union-Tribune |url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/baseball/20070223-1316-bba-bluejays-matumoto.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120910115426/http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/baseball/20070223-1316-bba-bluejays-matumoto.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 10, 2012 |accessdate=July 20, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Transaction Analysis: February 21–28, 2007 |date=March 2007 |publisher=Baseball Prospectus |url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5921 |accessdate=July 20, 2011}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|1}}
==External links== {{Baseballstats|brm=matumo001jo-}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matumoto, Jo}} Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:Brazilian expatriate baseball players in Canada Category:Brazilian expatriate baseball players in Japan Category:Brazilian expatriate baseball players in the United States Category:Brazilian people of Japanese descent Category:Sportspeople of Japanese descent Category:Chico Outlaws players Category:Québec Capitales players Category:New Hampshire Fisher Cats players Category:Baseball players from São Paulo Category:Syracuse Chiefs players Category:Baseball players at the 1995 Pan American Games Category:Baseball players at the 1999 Pan American Games Category:Baseball players at the 2003 Pan American Games Category:Pan American Games competitors for Brazil Category:2005 Baseball World Cup players