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Two players earned induction into the East Asia Baseball 1943 Hall of Fame class. Pitcher Michiro Yabuta was a first ballot pick at 88.0%, while first baseman Ji-Hoo Kim barely making the cut on his second try at 67.6%. Pitcher Kil-Sung Min was the other player above 50%, finishing at 61.8% on his second try.



One player made it to his 10^th ballot and was dropped in closer Dong-Hyeon Park. His EAB career started at age 30 and only lasted eight seasons, but he posted 30.1 WAR and two Reliever of the Year awards between Hamhung and Yokohama.



Michiro “Ripper” Yabuta – Starting Pitcher – Nagoya Nightowls – 88.0% First Ballot

Michiro Yabuta was a 6’4’’, 200 pound right-handed starting pitcher from the small town of Akabira on the northern Japanese island Hokkaido. His fastball was in the 95-97 range and respectable, but it was a deadly changeup which got him most of his strikeouts. He also had a solid splitter and knuckle curve as well as respectable defense, as he thrice won the Gold Glove.

Yabuta came into professional baseball right as EAB was formed, missing out on the initial draft by a year. He signed at age 22 with Ulsan to begin his pro career and became a full-time start in his second season. By his fourth year, he found his rhythm as an ace, posting a 20 win, 2.27 ERA, 8.6 WAR 1924 campaign.

The struggling Ulsan franchise traded Yabuta to Gwangju in the summer of 1925, as the Grays were hoping to build a winner. They won three straight Korea League titles, although each time was denied in the EAB final during Yabuta’s three-and-a-half seasons there. Still, he posted a reliable 6-7 WAR each year with Gwangju. Not necessarily dominant, but reliably solid.

Yabuta signed a seven-year deal with Nagoya for the 1929 season at age 30 and was unremarkable in his first two seasons. But in year three, he started a solid run that helped the Nightowls win the EAB Championship in both 1931 and 1934. In 1933, Yabuta had career bests in WAR (9.0), strikeouts (337), and wins (23), giving him a second place finish in Pitcher of the Year voting; the closest he came to winning the award. In 1934, Yabuta was the second EAB pitcher to 200 career wins and in 1935, Yabuta became the first pitcher to 4000 career strikeouts.

Back issues caused the usually healthy Yabuta to miss about two months in 1935. In 1936, Yabuta signed with Sapporo, his home prefecture team. However, bone chips in his elbow put him out at the end of the season. His return the next year at age 38 was a struggle with Yabuta retiring at the end of the season. However, he became the first EAB pitcher to cross 4500 career strikeouts in this final season.

The final line: 245-180, 2.99 ERA, 3908.1 innings, 4608 strikeouts, 354 quality starts out of 505, and 86.1 WAR. He retired the leader in strikeouts, but also would be the highest ERA pitcher inducted at the time of his induction and a century later, would be one of two Hall of Famers to have 900+ career walks. Still, his longevity and legendary changeup were hard to deny, putting Michiro Yabuta in on the first ballot at 88.0%.



Ji-Hoo Kim – First Baseman – Saitama Sting – 67.6% First Ballot

Ji-Hoo Kim was a 6’0’’, 200 pound right-handed first baseman from Goyang, South Korea. Kim was renowned for having one of the best eyes in baseball history and legendary patience, leading his league in walks in 12 different seasons in his career. He also had solid power and contact as well, making him a feared hitter in the 1920s and 30s. He was a slow and weak baserunner and spent his career entirely at first base defensively, where he was an average fielder. Kim was also a hard worker, making him extremely popular everywhere he went.

Kim had an excellent amateur and semi-pro career, already feared as a hitter when East Asia Baseball was formed in 1921. Kim at age 25 signed with Saitama, the team he’s inducted officially with despite only playing four seasons with them. With the Sting, he had two batting titles, led in OPS three times, and in 1924, lead Japan in WAR at 10.8 for his first MVP.

Fresh off the MVP season, Saitama traded him for prospects to Pyongyang in exchange for three players, including eventual Hall of Fame pitcher Jun-Hyeok Cho. After one season with the Pythons, the now 30-year old Kim signed for the 1926 season with Gwangju. The Grays won two Korea League titles in Kim’s four year tenure, which saw three straight MVPs from 1926 to 1928. He led Korea in homers twice, RBI once, OPS thrice more, and WAR once at 10.3. A herniated disc kept him out for half of the 1929 season, his last with the Grays.

In 1930, the 34-year old Kim left for America; one of the first Korean players to do so successfully. He spent four seasons with MLB’s Houston, then two with Miami. Although not an MVP anymore, he still put up solid seasons and led the American Association in walks drawn four times. At age 40 in 1936, he came back to EAB for one season with Daegu, retiring that offseason.

Between EAB and MLB, Ki had 470 home runs, 94.2 WAR, 2129 hits, 1359 RBI, 1373 runs, and 1596 walks. Even in only 10 EAB seasons, he became the first Hall of Famer to 1000+ walks. His final EAB line was 1397 hits, 865 runs, 308 home runs, 857 RBI, 1042 walks, a .292/.420/.533 slash and 75.5 WAR. His .420 OBP is the all-time top career mark even a century later.

His low overall totals due to leaving for MLB and lack of signature run with one team made him disfavored by many voters, getting only 56.8% on his first ballot. He barely made the cut on try two at 67.6%. But four MVPs and seven Silver Sluggers over 10 seasons is outstanding and earned Ji-Hoo Kim a spot in the EAB Hall of Fame.