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Three players picked up inductions into the Chinese League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994. The highest mark went to OF Xinze Yan, who received a notable bump on his fifth ballot to get in at 78.2%. LF Chaoqing Yang was the only first-ballot inductee, receiving 71.4%. 1B Shenchao An rounded out the group, narrowly crossing the 66% threshold with 67.9% in his fourth ballot. Only one other player was above 50% with closer Huyi Gao at 60.3% for his debut. No players were dropped after ten failed ballots.



Xinze “Goat” Yan – Outfielder – Tianjin Jackrabbits – 78.2% Fifth Ballot

Xinze Yan was a 6’0’’, 200 pound right-handed outfielder from Chengdu, the fourth most populous city in China with more than 20 million people. Yan was nicknamed “Goat” for his fondness and ownership of multiple goats. He was one of CLB’s first solid power hitters, although he could also hit well for contact. Yan was also very good at drawing walks, although his strikeout rate was average. He had decent speed and was viewed as reliably durable. Yan made about half of his starts in right field with around 40% in left and the rest at first base. At each spot, he was a firmly mediocre defender.

Yan was already 25 years old and an established pro when Chinese League Baseball was officially christened for the 1970 season. He was one of the top available free agents and Tianjin scooped him up with an eight-year, $1,328,000 deal. This paid off as the Jackrabbits were one of CLB’s first Northern League contenders. In 1971, they had a record-setting 123-39 season, although they fell in the championship to Guangzhou. The next year, Tianjin went 102-60 and became the third CLB champion. Yan was great in the 1971 playoffs and actually subpar in 1972. Between the two, he had 25 starts, 30 hits, 11 runs, 2 home runs, and 10 RBI.

Yan led the Northern League in total bases, slugging, and OPS in 1971. He was the OPS leader again in 1972 and 1973 and also led in 1973 in OBP, slugging, and wRC+. Yan’s lone MVP win came in 1971, although he took second in 1972, 73, and 74. He would win nine consecutive Silver Sluggers from 1971-79. Yan also became popular in all of China as he helped them to the 1970 and 1979 world titles in the World Baseball Championship. From 1970-80, he had 200 WBC games with 189 hits, 142 runs, 77 home runs, 142 RBI, a .268/.380/.635 slash, and 11.9 WAR.

For his Tianjin tenure, Yan had 1296 hits, 703 runs, 237 doubles, 258 home runs, 726 RBI, a .305/.383/.553 slash, 187 wRC+, and 65.1 WAR By 1976, the Jackrabbits had fallen to the bottom of the standings and Yan was ready to move onto free agency. Tianjin would later retire his #34 uniform for his role in their early success. The 33-year old Yan would sign a five-year, $1,590,000 deal with Chongqing.

He won Silver Sluggers in his first two seasons with the Cavaliers, although his power dropped noticeably in his third year. A herniated disc also cost him about six weeks of that season. Yan didn’t turn around Chongqing as they hoped and the team wanted to move on. In total, Yan had three seasons there with 410 hits, 224 runs, 83 home runs, and 17.6 WAR. Before the 1981 season, he was moved to Beijing for five prospects who would later help the Cavaliers see success in the mid 1980s.

Yan was merely alright in his half season with the Bears, suffering a torn labrum in late July that knocked him out nine months. He was a free agent again at age 37 and Changsha signed him to a three-year, $1,434,000 deal. With the Cannons in 1982, Yan became the first CLB batter to 1000 runs scored and the second to 1000 career RBI. However, he hit .201 and was worth 1.3 WAR, which was not what Changsha was looking for out of him.

Yan was traded for two players before the 1983 season to Hong Kong. He had a bit of a revival with the Champions, leading the Southern League in both walks and OPS. He was respectable again in 1984 and helped Hong Kong to a playoff appearance. With the Champions, Yan was the second CLB batter to 2000 hits and the third to 400 home runs. He picked up 6.4 WAR over two seasons. Yan couldn’t find work in China for 1985, but oddly enough found interest from EPB’s Tirana Trojans. His one season in Albania was unremarkable. Yan went unsigned in 1986 and finally retired that winter at age 42.

For his CLB career, Yan had 2159 hits, 1147 runs, 359 doubles, 411 home runs, 1157 RBI, a .281/.364/.499 slash, 171 wRC+, and 93.0 WAR. The accumulations look low compared to other world leagues, but keep in mind the incredibly low offense atmosphere of CLB. As of 2037, Yan is still 14th in hits, sixth in runs, 18th in home runs, ninth in RBI, and 30th in offensive WAR. For the early CLB ballots, some voters looked to other leagues for standards and that hurt both Yan and a lot of 1970s-era Chinese batters. Yan was just outside on his first four ballots at 61.0%, 65.4%, 63.1%, and 56.9%. On the fifth ballot, he got a sizeable bump to 78.2%, earning his spot in the 1994 class.



Chaoqing “The Warden” Yang – Left Field – Guangzhou Gamecocks – 71.4% First Ballot

Chaoqing Yang was a 6’0’’, 200 pound right-handed left field from Guangzhou. It is China’s third largest city and is also known as Canton. Yang was a well-rounded player offensively who hit solidly for contact and power. His gap power was excellent, getting around 20 doubles and another 20 triples per season along with 30-35 home runs. He was respectable at drawing walks, but his strikeout rate was subpar. Yang also had solid speed and baserunning instincts. He was a career left fielder with occasional starts in center. In LF, he was considered above average defensively. Yang was a hard worker, very smart, and quite durable.

It lined up perfectly for the Guangzhou native, who was well known and liked as an amateur in his home town. He was a top prospect ahead of CLB’s 1976 Draft and the Gamecocks had the first overall pick. Yang’s hometown club made the pick and he’d be a full-time starter playing 140+ games each year for 12 years with them.

Yang provided great value from the beginning with 6.5 WAR and a Rookie of the Year in 1977. His first eight seasons were all worth 6+ WAR with three years topping 10+. He led the Southern League in WAR thrice, runs scored four times, hits once, triples twice, RBI once, total bases twice, slugging twice, and OPS twice. Yang also played from 1979-88 on the Chinese World Baseball Championship team with 91 games, 71 hits, 59 runs, 32 home runs, 80 RBI, and 2.7 WAR.

Yang won MVP twice in his career. In 1981, he led the league in the triple slash, runs, hits, and posted 11.9 WAR. In 1984, he posted a career-best 12.3 WAR. Yang also took second in 1979, 1980, and 1983’s MVP voting. He won five Silver Sluggers (79, 80, 81, 84, 86). Yang earned an eight-year, $2,524,000 contract extension after the 1980 season. Guangzhou would snap a six-year playoff drought in 1981, although they were ousted in the semifinal.

They wouldn’t get back to the playoffs again until 1986 with another semifinal exit. They finally broke through in 1987 and made it to the China Series, although the Gamecocks lost in the final to Beijing. In 22 career playoff starts, Yang had 22 hits, 15 runs, 7 home runs, 11 RBI, and 1.4 WAR. He spent one more season with his hometown team before seeing his contract expire after the 1988 campaign. Yang remained popular as a local hero and saw his #4 uniform retired by Guangzhou.

Yang’s 1988 was statistically the weakest of his career, although it looked like the 35-year old could still provide solid value. The asking price was too high for what he offered and Yang was unsigned in 1989 and into the 1990 season. Wanting to just play somewhere at that point, he went to newly formed Arab League Baseball and signed with Dubai. Yang was lousy in his one year with the Diamonds, leading the conference in strikeouts in only 120 games. He still wanted to play somewhere in 1991, but finally retired that winter at age 38 after failing to find work.

For his Guangzhou and CLB career, Yang had 1767 hits, 1033 runs, 243 doubles, 215 triples, 386 home runs, 10001 RBI, a .266/.337/.542 slash, 496 stolen bases, and 99.4 WAR. He was sixth in hitting WAR at induction and now sits 19th as of 2037. Yang doesn’t dominate leaderboards, but he was a great player for a decade with his hometown squad. He didn’t cross the threshold by a ton, but he was a first ballot inductee nonetheless at 71.4%.



Shenchao An – First Base – Qingdao Devils – 67.9% Fourth Ballot

Shenchao An was a 6’3’’, 200 pound left-handed first baseman from Yuancheng, a district within Heyuan of the southern Guangdong province. An was a great contact hitter with excellent gap power. He averaged around 30 doubles per 162 games, although rarely got triples as wasn’t particularly fast on the basepaths. He also was respectable at drawing walks and quite good at avoiding strikeouts. An didn’t hit many home runs, but still got you 10-15 per year. A career first basemen, An was an excellent defender that won 12 Gold Gloves. He was also an ironman, playing 149+ games in all but one season.

An was a young prospect when Chinese League Baseball started in 1970, but had begun his semi-pro career and was eligible as a free agent. At age 22, he signed his first big league deal worth $162,000 over two years with Qingdao. He would spend 12 seasons with the Devils, finally signing a five-year, $1,718,000 extension in 1977 after years of one-year add-ons.

An earned a full-time starting job immediately and took second in 1970 Rookie of the Year honors. He won Gold Gloves in all of his Qingdao seasons except for 1979. An also secured Silver Sluggers in 1972, 74, and 77. Those were hard to come by with first base being associated with big sluggers primarily. An was never an MVP finalist either with his lack of dingers, but he still led the Northern League statistically many times.

In six different seasons, An was the league leader in hits. He was the leader in doubles four times and batting average thrice. An twice played for China in the World Baseball Championship, starting for the 1974 and 1975 runner-up teams. He was beloved by Qingdao fans, although they never made the playoffs in An’s tenure. The Devils were the dirt worst at the start of the 1970s, although they were at least usually above .500 towards the end of the decade. Qingdao would later retire An’s #41 uniform.

An notably was the first CLB batter to 2000 career hits, a mark reached in 1980. His run ended somewhat surprisingly as he was traded to Changsha after the 1981 season for prospects. An won his 12th and final Gold Glove in his one year with the Cannons. As of 2037, he still holds the CLB position record for Gold Gloves and is the all-time leader at the position in Zone Rating, starts, put outs, assists, double plays, innings, and errors.

An was a free agent after the 1982 season and went unsigned in 1983. Qingdao brought him back in 1984 for one more season, although he did miss time to a fractured hand. While there, he became the first CLB batter to 2500 career hits. For his runs with the Devils he had 2362 hits, 871 runs, 390 doubles, 161 home runs, 881 RBI, a .307/.349/.430 slash, and 79.8 WAR.

An was a free agent again in 1985 and played his final CLB season with Macau. MLB’s Boston gave him a chance with a two-year, $2,720,000 deal. He was a decent reliable starter in his two seasons with the Red Sox, posting 4.9 WAR and 313 hits. An still wanted to play, but couldn’t find a buyer in 1988. He finally had to retire that winter at age 41.

For his CLB career, An had 2704 hits, 973 runs, 442 doubles, 183 home runs, 996 RBI, a .305/.347/.427 slash, 150 wRC+, and 90.0 WAR. Junjie Hsiung would pass hit as CLB’s hits leader by the end of the 1980s, but An is still second as of 2037 in CLB’s low offense environment. He’s also second all-time in doubles behind Hsiung’s 442. Among all CLB Hall of Famers as of 2037, his .305 batting average is third best. Still, the stingy CLB voters were dismissive due to his lack of MVPs and lack of playoff appearances. An came close but missed with 60.3% and 62.7% in his first two ballots. He dropped to 49.1% in 1993, but bounced just across the line in 1994 at 67.9%. That earned An his spot to round out CLB’s 1994 class.