03/02/2021 1 Minute Read

International Baseball mourns loss of two 1984 Olympics alumni

Chung-Nan Tu, Chinese Taipei's "iron catcher", died at 61. Flavio Alfaro, who made a US roster stacked with future MLB stars, passed away at 59.

The world of international baseball mourns the loss of two players who participated in the sport's demonstration tournament of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Chung-Nan Tu, who played for Chinese Taipei, passed away at 61. Flavio Alfaro, who was on the US roster, died at 59.

Chung Nan Tu was nicknamed "the iron catcher". He was the starting catcher for Chinese Taipei in the 1980s and appeared in three WBSC (IBAF) Baseball World Cups: 1982, 1984 and 1986. He later played professionally. Chung Nan Tu coached in China after retiring from professional baseball. He later moved back to Taiwan and coached at the high school and college levels.

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Alfaro was a standout middle infielder with the San Diego State University Aztecs when Rod Dedeaux added him to his roster. Other USA middle infielders were future Hall-of-Famer Barry Larkin and sluggers Will Clark and Mark McGwire. Alfaro was also drafted in 1984. He suffered a back injury in 1986 and became the first player from the 1984 USA Olympic team to hang up the spikes and retire.