[FuzzyRussianHat]

The East Asia Baseball Hall of Fame inducted one player in the 1949 class as SP Joon-Kyu Cho was a no-doubt first ballot pick at 98.5%. The only other player to cross 50% was SP Ping’an Xie at 50.6% on his seventh try.



Getting dropped after his 10^th ballot was closer Takanori Uenuma, who peaked at 47.9% on his second try. He pitched with 10 teams between EAB and MLB and won Korea League Reliever of the Year twice, posting 274 EAB saves and 37.9 WAR. Also dropped after 10 tries was SP Naotake Yo****ake who spent 14 seasons with Ulsan with a 179-152 record, 3.13 ERA, 2995 strikeouts and 87.1 WAR. He peaked at 34.4% on his first try.



Joon-Kyu “Skippy” Cho – Starting Pitcher – Sapporo Swordfish – 98.5% First Ballot

Joon-Kyu Cho was a 6’2’’, 195 pound left-handed pitcher from Kimchaek, a coastal city in the northeastern part of modern North Korea. Nicknamed “Skippy,” he had 94-96 mph velocity but still had great stuff, mixing a fastball with a strong changeup and knuckle curve. Cho was also generally thought of as a solid defensive pitcher. Cho was signed as an amateur by Sapporo at age 16 and after hanging around on the reserve roster, debuted at age 21 in 1928.

His first season was 1929 and Cho was excellent, earning the Japan League Rookie of the Year on a 1.93 ERA, 303 strikeout, 6.0 WAR season. He would become an ace from there, leading his league in strikeouts six times in a seven year stretch. He won three Pitcher of the Year awards with the Swordfish; 1932, 34, and 35. He took second in 1931 and third in 1933. Sapporo became a contender in the early 1930s, winning the Japan League title in 1932 & 33 and the EAB title in 1932. His stats with the Swordfish was 126-56, 1.92 ERA, 2327 strikeouts in 1703.2 innings, and 52.6 WAR; along with two no-hitters. His #1 jersey would be retired in 1942.

Fresh off winning Pitcher of the Year, the 29-year old Cho opted for free agency and moved back to Korea, signing with Pyongyang. He was third in Pitcher of the Year in his first year with the Pythons, but that would be his last outstanding year. He remained a good starter with Pyongyang, putting up 27.4 WAR and a 65-63 record with a 2.97 ERA and 1502 strikeouts over 5 ½ seasons.

Cho was traded in late June 1941 to Saitama and finished the season with the Sting. He then signed with Hamhung, the team closest to where he grew up, and pitched two seasons with the Heat. He earned his 200^th win with Hamhung and became the second pitcher to 4000 career strikeouts. He had a solid first year, but began to struggle in his second season and suffered a torn meniscus in the late summer. Cho opted to retire at age 37.

His final statistics: 219-143, 2.59 ERA, 3350.1 innings, 4369 strikeouts, 311/458 quality starts, and 90.3 WAR. At the time of retirement, Cho was second all-time in EAB in strikeouts and third in WAR. One of the dominant strikeout pitchers of the 1930s, Cho was an easy fist ballot pick at 98.5%.