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East Asia Baseball elected two players into the Hall of Fame with its 1964 class. Both received no-doubt first ballot nods with pitcher Haruo Matsuzaki at 96.7% and pitcher Yeon-U Choo at 95.0%. Another pitcher, Min-Chin Park, came close on his second ballot, but was a few notches short at 63.8%. Two others, CF Ha-Min Park (51.2%, 5^th ballot) and LF Dong-Hee Cho (50.5%, 2^nd ballot) were above the 50% mark.



Dropped after ten attempts included shortstop Soo-Hyun Choo, a seven-time Silver Slugger winner and 1941 MVP. He had 90.7 WAR and 2572 hits for his entire pro career, but played his age 33-37 seasons in Oakland; limiting his EAB totals. With Seongnam and Kobe, he had 1997 hits, 906 runs, 267 home runs, 934 RBI, a .307/.341/.517 slash and 81.9 WAR; still very much worthy of strong consideration. He peaked at 58.1% on his fourth ballot before ending at 43.5%. Had his entire career been in EAB, that probably gets him across the line.

Also dropped was closer Masaji Toguchi, who ended at 7.3% after peaking at 42.2%. A two time Reliever of the Year, in 14 years almost entirely in Kobe, he had 348 saves, 2.19 ERA, 1158 strikeouts in 882 innings, and 26.1 WAR. Guys with similar resumes have gotten in with 300 saves often being the magic number, but Toguchi didn’t have the support. Also notably dropped after nine attempts with a somewhat similar story was Jun-Yeong Lee. He had 319 saves, a 2.32 ERA, 832.1 innings, 799 strikeouts, 19.1 WAR, and two Reliever of the Year awards. But he also lacked the longevity and true dominance required for strong consideration. Lee peaked at 31.1%.



Haruo Matsuzaki – Starting Pitcher – Yokohama Yellow Jackets – 96.7% First Ballot

Haruo Matsuzaki was a 5’11’’, 200 pound left-handed pitcher from Tokyo, Japan. He wasn’t considered amazing at anything, but had very consistently solid stuff and movement with average to above average control. Matsuzaki’s velocity peaked in the 96-98 mph range and he mixed five pitches in the arsenal; a fastball, curveball, forkball, splitter, and changeup. Apart for the changeup, the other four pitches were considered equally effective. Matsuzaki was also considered a very intelligent pitcher who knew how to pick his spots.

Matsuzaki attended the University of Tokyo and posted a 2.52 ERA over 314.2 innings with 376 strikeouts in his college career. This made him a highly touted prospect and he was picked second overall in the 1944 EAB Draft by Yokohama. Matsuzaki’s entire pro career came with the Yellow Jackets. He was a popular player and one of the few redeeming things about the franchise in his run, as they were mid to bottom tier his entire tenure with no playoff appearances.

After a primarily relief role in his rookie year, Matsuzaki became a full time starter in year two with respectable production. He emerged as a true ace a few years later, leading Japan in WAR in five straight seasons from 1950-54. Matsuzaki also led in strikeouts four times in five years from 1951-55 and led in ERA with 1.77 in 1953. He won the 1951 Pitcher of the Year, took third in 1952, then won it again in 1953 while also taking third in MVP voting that year.

Matsuzaki was also considered very durable, not suffering a single injury of not until a biceps strain put him out a month in 1957. That would be his final season of note, as in 1958 at age 35, his production fell hard off a cliff. He went from 2.24 ERA and 6.3 WAR the prior year to a lousy 4.01 ERA and 0.8 WAR. He opted to retire after this season at age 36. Also of note, Matsuzaki pitched for Japan in the World Baseball Championship tournaments of 1949 through 1957. He had a 3.83 ERA in 160 innings with 192 strikeouts and 2.9 WAR.

His final EAB stats: 195-153, 2.49 ERA, 3362.2 innings, 3595 strikeouts, 304/416 quality starts, FIP- of 76, and 81.7 WAR. A very solid and steady career that perhaps was overlooked by some due to being stuck throughout on a lousy Yokohama squad. The Yellow Jackets didn’t overlook him, retiring his #21 uniform. The Hall of Fame voters didn’t either ultimately, giving him first ballot induction status at 96.7%.



Yeon-U Choo – Pitcher – Tokyo Tides – 95.0% First Ballot

Yeon-U Choo was a 5’9’, 180 pound right-handed Pitcher from Sinch’ang, a small North Korean town located about an hour east of Pyongyang. Choo was known as an incredibly hard thrower with a 99-101 mph fastball. This with his curveball, changeup, and sinker meant he was considered to have great stuff. His movement was viewed as below average though at times with average to above average control. A questionable work ethic worked against him at times. Choo was also notable as the first East Asia Baseball Hall of Famer to have significant runs as both a starting pitcher and a closer, moving to the bullpen in his 30s.

A Tokyo scout discovered Choo as a teenage amateur in his small North Korean home, signing him in 1938 at age 16. Choo made his debut at age 20 in 1942 and struggled in a partial season, then saw some improvement in year two. The entirety of his 10 year Tokyo run was in the rotation and by year four, he had emerged as a premiere strikeout pitcher. Choo had five straight 300+ strikeout seasons and led Japan from 1946-49. He also led the league in WAR five straight years from 1945-49.

In 1945, Choo won his first Pitcher of the Year award. He took it again in 1947 with a blistering 11.5 WAR season with career bests in strikeouts (364), ERA (1.56), and wins (21). Choo took second for the award in 1949. In total with Tokyo, he had a 117-94 record, 2.50 ERA, 1976.2 innings, 2672 strikeouts, and 57.0 WAR. He was the best thing for a generally low-tier Tides squad in that era, never making the playoffs. They would go on to retire his #12 uniform.

In 1951 at age 29, Tokyo traded Choo to Sendai in a deal for five prospects. He finished that year as a starter, but the Samurai thought he would be better suited to the bullpen for most of his run. Despite his successes as a starter, Choo’s main knock was a lack of stamina and inability to go deep in games. His 10 career complete games is well below the majority of EAB Hall of Fame starters who typically had triple digits. He picked up 40 saves in his relief debut in 1952. Sendai moved him back to a starter role in 1953 and he had a strong 7.1 WAR season that earned him second in Pitcher of the Year voting, but the rest of his career after was in the bullpen.

He was a good closer, finishing second in Reliever of the Year in 1957. Choo got his first playoff experience with Sendai, who won the Japan League title in 1953 and made berths in 1954 and 57. A ruptured disc put him out a big chunk of 1956, but he bounced back to lead Japan in saves the next year. In total, he had 169 saves and a 47-27 record with the Samurai, posting a 2.20 ERA, 961 strikeouts in 675 innings, and 18.3 WAR.

Choo was also a regular for the North Korean team in the World Baseball Championship, playing the event 11 times. He had a 4.59 ERA over 104 innings with 161 strikeouts. Choo returned to North Korea in his final pro year signing with Hamhung at age 36. He was a decent bullpen piece in the regular season, but shined in the playoffs en route to the EAB title with the Heat. In the postseason, he had a 0.61 ERA and six saves in eight appearances, striking out 17 in 14.2 innings. Choo opted to retire on this high.

The final stats: 168-128, 211 saves and 235 shutdowns, 2.44 ERA, 2705 innings, 3703 strikeouts, 466 walks, FIP- of 69, and 76.3 WAR. He has a peculiar stat line with the split career, but still notably was the 14^th pitcher to 3500 strikeouts despite that. At his peak, he was among the most dominant starters in the game and still had respectable tallies despite the lack of innings relative to other HOF starters. Thus, Choo’s peers put him into the Hall on his first ballot at 95.0%.