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Yuma Akasaka – Center Field – Osaka Orange Sox – 85.1% First Ballot

Yuma Akasaka was a 5’11’’, 200 pound right-handed center fielder from Sayama, Japan; a city of around 150,000 within the Saitama Prefecture. Akasaka was a great contact hitter that was solid at avoiding strikeouts, but below average at drawing walks. He didn’t have prolific power, but still had a reliable pop in his bat. Akasaka averaged 24 home runs and 35 doubles/triples per his 162 game average. Despite center field being associated with speed, Akasaka was laughably slow and sluggish as a baserunner.

However, he was excellent at timing his jumps and showed nice range in the field. Along with a strong arm and glove, Akasaka graded out as a consistently good to sometimes great defender in CF. He made a small number of starts at first base and third base as well. Akasaka was hard working and very intelligent, allowing him to succeed and become very popular. He also had pretty good durability over an 18 year career.

Akasaka attended Rikkio University in Niiza and earned plenty of attention ahead of the 1980 EAB Draft. With the sixth overall pick, Osaka added Akasaka to the roster. He was a part-time starter with decent results in 1981, but was relegated almost exclusively to the bench in 1982. Akasaka got the job back in 1983 and held it for the next 14 years for the Orange Sox.

1983 would be the first of 12 seasons of 6+ WAR for Akasaka. Before the 1985 season, Osaka signed him to an eight-year, $6,550,000 deal. He won his first Silver Slugger in 1985 with an 8.7 WAR season. This season, the Orange Sox ended a 26-year playoff drought, posting the Japan League’s best record. This would be the first of six consecutive playoff berths for Osaka.

The Orange Sox would claim the 1985 EAB Championship, besting Yongin. In 17 playoff games, Akasaka had 17 hits, 4 runs, 4 doubles, 1 homer, and 5 RBI. The next three years, Osaka was one-and-done each year in the playoffs. Akasaka was great though, winning his second Silver Slugger in 1986 with a second place in MVP voting. He posted league and career bests in doubles (45), batting average (.363), and OBP (.389), while also posting a career-best 9.8 WAR.

That would be Akasaka’s only time as a league leader except for leading in hits in 1990. Still, he won additional Silver Sluggers in 1987-92 and 94-96, earning 11 in total. In 1989, Akasaka had a 9.7 WAR season and won his lone MVP. Osaka won the EAB crown again, besting Daegu in the final. Akasaka had 17 playoff starts with 27 hits, 6 runs, 3 doubles, 1 home run, and 11 RBI.

That was the best of his postseason efforts. For his career with Osaka, he had 52 starts, 66 hits, 18 runs, 7 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs, 23 RBI, a .332/.354/.447 slash, and 148 wRC+. The Orange Sox would go one-and-done in 1990, then go on a playoff drought from 1991-95.

Akasaka missed some time in 1991 to injury, but bounced back with reliable stats into his 30s. In January 1993, Osaka gave Akasaka a five-year, $6,900,000 extension. The Orange Sox broke their drought in 1996, but again were one-and-done. That was Akasaka’s last time playing in the postseason for Osaka.

In 1997, Akasaka was still respectable, but saw only 3.0 WAR and 125 wRC+, his worst full season efforts of his career. He had one year left on his deal, but Osaka opted to trade him away to Yongin for two prospects. Akasaka remained very popular with Orange Sox fans and kept a good relationship with the franchise, who would retire his #1 uniform shortly.

Akasaka was a full-time starter for the Gold Sox in 1998, but were merely an okay starter. The Gold Sox gave him a qualifying offer for 1999, but he struggled in his limited action and was relegated to the bench. Akasaka didn’t get to the 3000 hit threshold as he hoped, posting 105 wRC+ and 1.5 WAR in 250 games for Yongin. Akasaka was unsigned in 2000 and retired that winter at age 41.

Akasaka ended with 2962 hits, 1225 runs, 492 doubles, 59 triples, 390 home runs, 1414 RBI, a .316/.353/.505 slash, 160 wRC+, and 114.4 WAR. As of 2037, Akasaka’s 18^th all-time in WAR by a position player. At retirement, he was one of only nine players in EAB history with 11 or more Silver Sluggers. That made him a pretty solid choice for the voters, earning 85.1% and a first ballot selection with the 2005 EAB Hall of Fame class.



Do-Yun En – First Base/Designated Hitter- Kumamoto Monsters – 78.1% First Ballot

Do-Yun En was a 6’0’’, 195 pound switch-hitting first baseman from Busan, South Korea. En was a good contact hitter with a great eye for drawing walks, although his strikeout rate was subpar. He was a strong bat with a 162 game average of 32 doubles, 13 triples, and 29 home runs. En wasn’t a prolific home run hitter, but his excellent gap power meant he regularly got extra base hits. En had average to below average speed and baserunning, but he was quicker than you’d expect from the average 1B/DH.

En made about half of his career starts at first base and was a terrible defender. Roughly 1/5 of his starts were split between right and left field, where En was even worse defensively. The remainder of his starts came as a designated hitter. He was a great batter with outstanding durability, playing 150+ games each year over 16 straight years.

En had a strong college run in Seoul with Sungkyunkwan University, putting him among the top prospects entered into the 1981 East Asia Baseball Draft. With the fifth overall pick, En was selected by Kumamoto. The Monsters were entering only their fifth season, having struggled since entering the Japan League with the 1978 expansion. Still, En only saw 18 appearances as a pinch hitter in 1982. He was rostered most of 1983 and posted 2.5 WAR despite only having 118 games and 47 starts. That earned him the full-time job from 1984 onward.

In his first full season, En led Japan in doubles and walks. The next year, he was the leader in runs, total bases, OBP, slugging and wRC+. The 228 wRC+ and 9.0 WAR were career bests, as was his 109 runs, 207 home runs, 40 home runs, 122 RBI, .354 average, and 1.087 OPS. This would be one of only two Silver Sluggers for En, along with a second place in MVP voting.

En remained reliably solid for the next few years, leading in walks drawn in both 1988 and 1989 as well as OBP in 1987. By 1988, Kumamoto was finally good enough to earn its first-ever playoff berth, albeit winning a lousy division at 80-82. En stunk in nine playoff starts with -0.3 WAR with the Monsters losing in the Japan League Championship Series to Yokohama.

Despite that playoff effort, En was a popular player and signed a five-year, $7,600,000 extension with Kumamoto in April 1989. Although playing in Japan, En would return to South Korea for the World Baseball Championship. From 1985-99, he had 102 games and 63 WBC starts, posting 71 hits, 45 runs, 19 doubles, 13 home runs, 34 RBI, 40 walks, a .260/.365/.487 slash, 146 wRC+, and 2.9 WAR.

1990 would be En’s second Silver Slugger and another second place MVP finish, leading the league in slugging (.633), OPS (1.049), and wRC+ (215). It was also his third season worth 7+ WAR. Kumamoto struggled into the early 1990s though and En began pondering his options. After the 1993 season, he declined his contract option, becoming a free agent heading into his age 34 season.

In total with Kumamoto, En had 1800 hits, 996 runs, 346 doubles, 144 triples, 302 home runs, 1019 RBI, 755 walks, a .305/.384/.567 slash, 187 wRC+, and 62.6 WAR. En remained a popular figure with Monsters fans and would see his #7 uniform later retired. He was also the first Hall of Fame inductee to go in representing one of the four 1978 expansion squads.

En returned home to Korea and signed a five-year, $10,360,000 deal with Suwon. He spent the vast majority of his time as a DH for the Snappers, leading the Korea League thrice in plate appearances. He also led in walks in 1995, but otherwise was generally was a good but not outstanding starter.

Suwon was a regular contender during En’s five-year tenure, winning four division titles. However, they were one-and-done thrice and lost in the 1997 KLCS to Yongin. En was at least respectable in his efforts in 23 starts with 25 hits, 13 runs, 5 doubles, 2 triples, 6 home runs, 16 RBI, and a .291/.344/.605 slash. In total with the Snappers, En had 828 hits, 470 runs, 146 doubles, 56 triples, 156 home runs, 402 RBI, a .273/.344/.513 slash, 134 wRC+, and 18.2 WAR.

En hit 2500 hits in his last year with Suwon, but it was statistically the weakest of his career. He was a free agent again coming up on age 39, but Seongnam gave En a one-year, $2,720,000 deal. He was very middling in his half season for the Spiders, but did cross the 1500 career runs scored threshold. En ultimately had 0.9 WAR and a 108 wRC+.

En’s career would end in July with a partially torn labrum, which cost him eight months total after a setback required surgery. He wanted to make a comeback, but no teams were interested in an aged DH off a major injury. After going unsigned in 2000, En retired that winter at age 40.

En ended with 2703 hits, 1505 runs, 508 doubles, 204 triples, 472 home runs, 1464 RBI, 1122 walks, 233 stolen bases, a .293/.370/.545 slash, 167 wRC+, and 81.7 WAR. Because of the normal big power at first and DH from competitors, En didn’t get a ton of awards looks. Plus, his primary years were on a struggling expansion team. However, as of 2037 he’s one of 27 guys with 500+ career doubles and one of only 25 with 1000+ career walks.

Although an arbitrary distinction, En is the only EAB player to have reached 500+ doubles, 200+ triples, 450+ home runs, and 1000+ walks. It was a strong enough resume that even in a stacked 2005 Hall of Fame group, En was able to break through for a first ballot addition at 78.1%. He was a solid way to round off an impressive four-player group.