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Two players were added into the East Asia Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010. Pitcher Sung-Hyun Tak was the headliner with 92.2% in his debut. Two-way pitcher/outfielder Makhmud Hakim grabbed the second spot at 74.3%, crossing the 66% requirement on his third try. 3B Shigefumi Tsukehara came painfully close, but missed out with 64.3% on his third ballot. No one else was above 50% and no players were dropped from the ballot after ten failed attempts.



Sung-Hyun Tak – Starting Pitcher – Suwon Snappers – 92.2% First Ballot

Sung-Hyun Tak was a 6’0’’, 200 pound right-handed pitcher from Incheon, South Korea. Tak threw hard with 98-100 mph peak velocity and boasted great stuff and movement with excellent control. His slider was his most deadly pitch, but he also had a strong splitter, cutter, and changeup in the arsenal. Tak’s stamina was weak compared to most EAB aces of the era and he was plagued by injuries throughout his career. When healthy though, Tak was lights out.

Tak was signed as a teenage amateur by Suwon in January 1986. He spent most of five years in their developmental academy, officially debuting in 1990 at age 21 with ten relief appearances. Tak was moved to the starting rotation in 1991 and stayed there for a decade. He had a strong debut season, taking second in 1991 Rookie of the Year voting.

In his second season, Tak led the Korea League in ERA at 1.96 and WIHIP at 0.87, taking second in Pitcher of the Year voting. Suwon also snapped a seven-year playoff drought in 1992 and won the KL pennant before falling to Kitakyushu in the EAB Championship. Tak had a great playoff run with a 1.95 ERA over 37 innings, 47 strikeouts, 194 ERA+, and 1.4 WAR. For his whole career, he was a great playoff pitcher with a 2.25 ERA over 92 innings, 111 strikeouts, 13 walks, 169 ERA+, and 2.9 WAR.

Tak also was a successful pitcher on the global stage, appearing from 1992-2001 for South Korea in the World Baseball Championship. He tossed 124 innings with an 11-5 record, 2.69 ERA, 143 strikeouts, 30 walks, 134 ERA+, 66 FIP-, and 3.8 WAR.

The Snappers were regularly a playoff team during Tak’s run with eight berths and eight division titles from 1992-2000. Apart from their 1992 pennant though, Suwon struggled to do anything in the postseason. They lost in the 1997 KLCS to Yongin while suffering first round playoff exits in each of the other appearances.

Tak led in wins in 1993 and took third in POTY voting. 1994 saw a setback as a torn biceps knocked him out for the summer. He led in WAR for the first time in 1995 with 9.8, but still was a finalist with a second place POTY finish. Tak was third in 1996 and earned a big payday for his continued success. He inked a seven-year, $24,920,000 extension with Suwon in March 1997.

In 1997, Tak led in WAR again and finally earned his first Pitcher of the Year. A torn triceps in 1998 cost him the final two months of the regular season and the playoffs. Tak bounced back with a third in 1999 POTY voting, leading in WAR for the third time.

At age 31 in 2000, Tak had perhaps his finest season with a career-best 10.0 WAR, 47 FIP-, and 27 quality starts. He led Korea in ERA (2.07), and WHIP (0.88) while leading in strikeouts for the first time with 277. Tak won his second Pitcher of the Year and fell only two wins short of the Triple Crown. This was “grace” for him, as Tak quickly fell from here thanks to injuries.

In May 2001, Tak suffered a partially torn UCL, putting him on the shelf for 10 months. He was back by spring training 2002, but wouldn’t pitch an inning in the regular season. Tak tore his flexor tendon in late March, costing him the next 13 months. He rehabbed and returned to play in 2003, but had lost a lot of velocity and stamina. Suwon used him in 50.1 innings of relief, although he did still pitch respectably in that role.

With one year left on his big contract, Suwon traded Tak in the offseason to Kawasaki for catcher prospect Shoshichi Namba. That proved a good move by the Snappers, as Namba gave them a solid decade of service behind the plate and won a Gold Glove. The Killer Whales used Tak out of the bullpen, but he struggled in only 16 innings of action.

Tak didn’t get a chance to improve over the small sample size, as a strained biceps and herniated disc kept him out most of 2004. He retired that winter at age 36. Suwon would quickly honor him for his excellent service by retiring his #30 uniform

Tak ended with a 174-77 record, 2.53 ERA, 2245.1 innings, 2499 strikeouts, 306 walks, 204/298 quality starts, 52 complete games, 150 ERA+, 63 FIP-, and 74.4 WAR. The advanced stats show how dominant Tak was in his prime, although he didn’t stick around long enough to make a dent on the al-time leaderboards. EAB’s Hall of Fame voters tended to be favorable towards guys with impressive short-bursts. Tak wasn’t an exception, receiving 92.2% and a first ballot induction in 2010.



Makhmud Hakim – Outfielder/Pitcher – Niigata Green Dragons – 74.3% Third Ballot

Makhmud Hakim was a 6’3’’, 200 pound right-handed pitcher and switch-hitter from Zhuzhou, China; a prefecture-level city of 3,855,000 in the Hunan province. Hakim was a two-way player who had a full career as an outfielder and a five-year run as a starting pitcher. At the plate, he was above average to good contract skills with a nice eye and solid knack for avoiding strikeouts. Hakim also above average in terms of power, averaging 26 home runs, 26 doubles, and 9 triples per his 162 game average.

Hakim had good speed and great baserunning instincts. He made about 3/5s of his starts in right field with around 1/5 in left and the rest either as a pitcher or designated hitter. Defensively, Hakim was firmly mediocre. He worked very hard though and had outstanding durability, a rare trait from a two-way guy as they often physically break down from the workload.

As a pitcher, Hakim had excellent control and in his prime showed decent stuff and movement. He lacked the stamina expected from a starting pitcher and rarely could go deep in games, which limited his use as an arm. Hakim had a nice fastball/slider one-two punch and a rarely used changeup. The lack of diversity in his arsenal also limited his pitching opportunities. Hakim’s unique skillset made him a popular player throughout his run.

Although born in China, Hakim’s family left for Japan when he was a teenager and he ended up an EAB prospect instead of a CLB one. Hakim soared up the big board with his two-way potential and was picked third overall in the 1986 EAB Draft by Niigata. The Green Dragons kept him in developmental in 1987 and debuted him in 1988 as mostly a pinch hitter and occasional reliever.

Hakim became a full-time starter in the outfield in 1989 and held that down for the rest of his Niigata run. He would only see 42.1 innings as a pitcher in his first two full seasons with unremarkable results there. Hakim looked great as a batter though and won Japan League MVP in his second full season in 1990. He led the league in runs (113) and WAR (8.3) while posting career bests in home runs (37) and RBI (109). That season, he also set a JL single game record against Chiba with 11 RBI. That day, he was 5-5 with 4 homers, 1 double, and 5 runs scored.

This also gave Niigata its first look at contention. The Green Dragons were a 1978 expansion team and hadn’t posted a winning season up to that point. In 1990, Niigata earned the Japan League pennant, falling to Seongnam in the EAB Championship. In 1991, the Green Dragons would win it all, beating Goyang in the finale. Niigata suffered a first-round exit in 1992, then fell into mediocrity for about a decade after that.

In the 1990 run, Hakim had 23 hits, 7 doubles, 6 runs, 3 home runs, and 12 RBI in 16 playoff starts. In 1991, he won EAB Championship MVP with 15 hits, 7 runs, 4 doubles, 3 home runs, and 6 RBI at the plate. That was his first year as a full-time pitcher, excelling in the playoffs with a 1.80 ERA over 30 innings with 22 strikeouts and a 3-1 record.

In 1991, Hakim won his second league MVP, Pitcher of the Year, and two Silver Sluggers (one in RF, one as a pitcher). At the plate, he had 7.0 WAR over 128 games with a 1.023 OPS and 211 wRC+. In his first full season pitching, he led in wins at 21-3 with a 2.35 ERA over 230 innings, 189 strikeouts, 140 ERA+, and 6.4 WAR.

Hakim regressed on the mound in 1992 with a 3.86 ERA and 84 ERA+, although he still had 4.2 WAR. That was his finest hitting season though, which won him his third MVP and two more Silver Sluggers. Hakim had league and career bests in the triple slash (.393/.438/.702), OPS (1.140), wRC+ (257), and WAR (10.3). At the time, that was the second-best batting average and 10^th-best single season OPS in EAB history. The batting average still ranks eighth as of 2037.

During his MVP prime, Hakim did briefly play for his country China in the World Baseball Championship, helping them win the 1993 and 1994 world titles. He played from 1991-94 with 73 games and 63 starts, 61 hits, 35 runs, 13 doubles, 10 home runs, 29 RBI, a .245/.310/.426 slash, 113 wRC+, and 0.9 WAR. Hakim was just used as an outfielder, pitching just one inning in relief in 1993.

Hakim won another Silver Slugger as a pitcher in 1993 and posted 6.1 WAR at the plate and 4.1 on the mound. The Green Dragons fell to 79-89 and plummeted to 68-94 in 1994. Niigata figured they weren’t going to be able to keep Hakim, who was due for free agency after the 1995 campaign. At the deadline, he was sent to Kobe for pitchers Tsuneichi Kitikawa and Shogo Hino.

Hakim posted 5.5 WAR and 182 wRC+ offensively in 1994 and 1.3 WAR pitching with only 11 starts on the mound that year. Each was with Niigata, as Kobe didn’t use Hakim as a pitcher in 1994’s regular season. He did make two starts with a 1.35 ERA over 13.1 in the playoffs as the Blaze lost the JLCS to Kitakyushu.

1995 was Hakim’s sixth and final Silver Slugger (his fourth as a pitcher) and saw a third place in MVP voting. He had a nice 2.76 ERA over 224.2 innings for 3.2 WAR on the mound and 5.0 WAR, a .904 OPS, and 169 wRC+ at the plate. Kobe missed the playoffs and Hakim entered free agency after the season at age 31.

This marked the end of his East Asia Baseball Career, although he still played for another decade elsewhere. At the plate, Hakim finished with 1065 games and 935 starts, 1204 hits, 647 runs, 198 doubles, 79 home runs, 201 home runs, 596 RBI, 310 walks, 237 stolen bases, a .326/.379/.586 slash, 193 wRC+, and 49.3 WAR. Pitching, he had 1017.1 innings, a 3.07 ERA, 64-42 record, 1017.1 innings, 857 strikeouts, 107 ERA+, and 19.1 WAR.

Hakim’s Hall of Fame case was a tricky one, hurt by low accumulations from only a nine-year run. His batting stats in that stretch were outstanding, but the grand totals were much lower than many voters wanted. Hakim graded as merely above average as a pitcher, but that extra value got him to 68.4 WAR combined, putting him closer to the borderline.

Some voters held him leaving against him, but others did give Hakim some credit for his post-EAB tenure. He just missed the Hall of Fame cut at 62.4% in 2008 and 62.9% in 2009. On his third try, Hakim crossed the 66% line at 74.3% to earn a spot in the 2010 East Asia Baseball Hall of Fame.

Hakim’s career continued into America, signing a six-year, $21,840,000 deal with the Dallas Dalmatians of Major League Baseball. Dallas wanted him to focus on hitting though and his two-way exploits ended when he left Japan, apart from three innings in 2001 in a relief appearance.

The learning curve was a bit steep for Hakim, who posted a very average debut season in 1996. He was below average in 1997, but bounced back as a serviceable starter in the next four seasons with Dallas. He managed to lead the American Association in triples with 18 in 1999. The Dalmatians had playoff berths in 1996 and 1998, but couldn’t get beyond the second round.

With Dallas in total, Hakim had 941 games, 922 hits, 489 runs, 141 doubles, 52 triples, 142 home runs, 523 RBI, a .258/.318/.445 slash, 108 wRC+, and 14.7 WAR. He was a free agent again after the 2001 season at age 37. Hakim stayed in Texas, inking a two-year, $14,400,000 deal with Houston.

He would put up similar numbers in his stay with the Hornets with 301 hits, 152 runs, 49 doubles, 36 home runs, 141 RBI, a .265/.336/.424 slash, 106 wRC+, and 5.7 WAR. Hakim still had suitors as a 39-year old free agent in 2004 and snagged a two-year, $15,400,000 deal with Albuquerque. He struggled starting for the Isotopes with a 85 wRC+ and 0.1 WAR over 145 games. Hakim was cut following spring training in 2005.

Baltimore gave him a look in 2005 as a backup, playing 112 games with 38 starts and 0.8 WAR. That marked the end of his MLB tenure, which saw 1501 games, 1386 hits, 730 runs, 209 doubles, 209 home runs, 70 triples, 767 RBI, 148 stolen bases, a.256/.319/.436 slash, 106 wRC+, 21.3 WAR. It wasn’t anything special, but a quite serviceable run for a guy in his 30s.

Hakim was briefly under contract with Las Vegas in 2006, but was cut after two weeks in the minors. Hakim wasn’t ready to give up the game yet and searched worldwide for a job. He ended up in the Arab League with Kuwait, posting 0.7 WAR and 114 wRC+ over 132 games. Hakim was unsigned in 2007 and retired that winter at age 43.

For his entire hitting career, Hakim had 2698 games and 2438 starts, 2714 hits, 1433 runs, 432 doubles, 155 triples, 425 home runs, 1419 RBI, 832 walks, 420 stolen bases, a .283/.342/.493 slash, 140 wRC+, and 71.4 WAR. With the pitching stats, he had 90.5 WAR, which ranks 22^nd among all two-way players as of 2037.

Hakim is second in offensive WAR among all two-way guys though, as most of those in front of him had stronger and more tenured pitching runs. Hakim leaves an interesting legacy and at his peak in the early 1990s was among the most impressive players in the game.