[FuzzyRussianHat]

Chinese League Baseball’s Hall of Fame saw its first inductee from the 1984 voting as pitcher Chun Lin received 90.1% on his debut. The top five on the ballot all were in their debut, but only two were above 1/3 with pitchers Feixien Zhang at 39.3% and Xi Zhong at 35.0%.



Chun Lin – Pitcher – Chengdu Clowns – 90.1% First Ballot

Chun Lin was a 5’9’’, 185 pound right-handed pitcher from Jinzhou, a prefecture-level city of more than 2,700,000 in China’s northeastern Liaoning province. Lin had very good stuff, movement, and control with 97-99 mph peak velocity. His arsenal was fastball, slider, forkball, and changeup. He was very durable, although he wasn’t one to throw many complete games. Lin had been a star of the semi-pro ranks in his early 20s throughout China. He was 27-years old when CLB was officially formed for the 1970 season and signed his first CLB deal with Chengdu; a four-year, $616,000 deal.

In his debut season, Lin was third in Pitcher of the Year voting and won a Silver Slugger. He then won Pitcher of the Year in both 1972 and 1973, taking third in MVP voting in 1972. Lin had two no-hitters with the Clowns, both with 11 strikeouts and one walk. The first came in May 1970 against Hong Kong with the second in March 1971 against Kunming. Lin led in strikeouts, WIHP, and WAR twice in his four year run with Chengdu. He als pitched with China’s World Baseball Championship team from 1971-75 with a 2.87 ERA over 75.1 innings.

With Chengdu in only four seasons, Lin had a 74-27 record, 1.43 ERA, 928.1 innings, 1194 strikeouts, 32 FIP-, and 44.6 WAR. The Clowns were solid, but didn’t make the playoff in Lin’s run. Now age 31, he left for the 1974 season and signed a six-year, $1,608,000 deal with Wuhan. The Wolverines would make the playoffs three times with Lin, although they couldn’t get beyond the semifinal. Lin took second in Pitcher of the Year voting in 1974 and third in 1976. He posted a career-best 0.60 WAR in his first season with Wuhan. Lin saw his production drop significantly in his fourth and fifth seasons with the Wolverines and opted to retire after the 1978 season at age 35. With Wuhan, Lin had a 72-45 record, 2.30 ERA, 1098.2 innings, 1015 strikeouts, and 26.8 WAR.

Lin’s full career had a 146-72 record, 1.90 ERA, 2027 innings, 2209 strikeouts to 271 walks, 219/276 quality starts, a 0.81 WHIP, 56 FIP-, and 71.4 WAR. His rate stats are very impressive for what was officially a nine year career, although the totals are lower on the later leaderboards. Had Lin’s early 20s been included, he probably would’ve figured more prominently on the all-time lists for Chinese pitchers. His run was impressive enough though to make him the first CLB Hall of Famer and a first ballot pick at 90.1%.