Cheng-Hsien Chang (01)

Cheng-Hsien Chang (張正憲)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 190 lb.

• School Fu Jen Catholic University
• High School Hua Hsing High School

• Born February 8, 1967 in Chiayi County Taiwan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Cheng-Hsien Chang caught in the Olympics and later played four seasons in the Chinese Professional Baseball League.

Chang first made it to the international stage 13 years before his Olympic appearance, when he caught Han-Chao Tai's no-hitter in the finale of the 1979 Little League World Series. He had 17 putouts while going 0 for 3 from the 9th slot of the batting order. He played for Taiwan when they won a Bronze Medal in the 1985 World Junior Championship and was with them for the 1987 World Port Tournament and 1988 Haarlem Baseball Week as well. He helped Taiwan tie for first in the 1989 Asian Championship and played in the 1989 Intercontinental Cup.

He played in the 1990 Goodwill Games. In the 1990 Baseball World Cup, he split catching with Kun-Hong Pai and hit .194/.242/.290 with one run and five RBI in nine games while playing error-free ball. When not catching, he played three games at DH, second on the team, one behind Wen-Chung Chang. He was with Taiwan for a first-place finish in the 1990 Asian Games (baseball was not yet a medal event) and a Silver Medal in the 1991 Asian Championship to win a spot in the 1992 Olympics.

The Chiayi native excelled in the 1991 Intercontinental Cup, producing at a .386/.438/.477 rate with 9 runs and 7 RBI in 11 games, all at DH (Chi-Hsin Chen, Pai and Wen-Ming Huang were the catchers). In the 1992 Olympics, he backed up Wei-Chen Chen at DH and Pai and Chi-Hsin Chen at catcher, going 0 for 9 with 4 walks, a run and two RBI. In the Gold Medal Game, he replaced Wei-Chen Chen late in a 11-1 loss to Cuba, going 0 for 1 against Giorge Díaz.

Chang turned pro with the China Times Eagles in 1993, hitting .192/.263/.288 in 56 games. He fielded .979 but threw out 48.3% of attempted base-thieves. His offensive numbers remained low in 1994 (.213/.274/.277) and his caught stealing rate fell off (26.9%) while he fielded .983. In 1995, he batted .210/.277/.306 and was excellent on defense (.992 FLD%, 48.5% CS). He did not win the Gold Glove, which went to Chi-Chen Tseng. In 1996, he had his best offensive season in the CPBL at .277/.316/.419 while he fielded .995 and gunned down 43.2% of those who tried to run on him. I-Chung Hong won the Gold Glove instead while Tseng made the Best Nine. He had hit .232/.287/.338 in 263 CPBL games, with 62 runs and 65 RBI. He had fielded .989 and caught 42.4% of base-stealers.

He was then engulfed in the game-fixing scandal that ended the careers of all the Eagles players; he got a lifetime ban like all but one of his teammates. He later coached youth baseball. He had coached Chung Dau High School and Dali High School.

Overall, Chang hit .232/.287/.338 with 157 hits in 4 seasons in the CPBL.