Chieh-Jen Yang

Chieh-Jen Yang (陽介仁)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 175 lb.

• School Chinese Culture University
• High School I-Ning High School

• Born September 16, 1959 in Taitung County Taiwan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Chieh-Jen Yang threw the first no-hitter in the history of the Chinese Professional Baseball League. A submarine pitcher, he threw a fastball (peak 85 mph), slider and changeup.

Yang was with the Taiwan Air Force baseball team after college, then spent 1984 with the Brother Hotels. He represented Taiwan in the 1982 Amateur World Series and 1984 Amateur World Series (2 R in 3 IP; only Ping-Yang Huang pitches less for Taiwan, which won a Silver Medal, their first Medal in an Amateur World Series). From 1985-1990, he played in Japan's industrial leagues. In the 1988 Baseball World Cup, Yang had a 2.08 ERA in six outings as Taiwan got the Bronze. Only Chien-Cheng Kuo had a better ERA for Taiwan. He remained with Taiwan for the 1988 Olympics.

The Taitung native was picked by the Wei Chuan Dragons 4th overall in the 1990 CPBL Draft. He debuted with a shutout on March 30, 1991 against the Mercuries Tigers, the third CPBL pitcher to debut with a whitewash. He threw a no-hitter on July 19, the first no-hitter in CPBL annals, also against the Tigers. It would be nine years before another Taiwan native (Chun-Yang Tsao) threw a no-hitter in the CPBL (import pitchers Ravelo Manzanillo, Mark Kiefer and Alvin Brown did it in the interim). In September, Yang was in a car accident and injured his pitching hand. For the season, he was 8-0 with a 3.79 ERA. He was 9th in the league in wins, though every pitcher with more wins had at least three losses as well.

In 1992, the 32-year-old fell to 4-6, 4.50 with two saves. He rebounded the next year, going 10-6 with a save and a 2.55 ERA. He tied Chip Duncan for 8th in the league in wins and was 5th in ERA, between José Nuñez and Dave Turgeon. In 1994, he was 8-10 with a save and a 3.38 ERA. He tied Hee-min Han and Darrel Akerfelds for 5th in the CPBL in losses. During 1995, he was 1-4 with a 6.75 ERA. He was 0-1 with a 9.82 ERA in limited action in 1996 and allowed one run in two innings in 1997.

Yang then became pitching coach for the Dragons, a role he held in 1998. In 1999, he moved to the Sinon Bulls as pitching coach. Partway during the season, though, the 39-year-old submariner came out of retirement. He was 0-1 with a 3.18 ERA in 1999. In 2000, the old-timer went 3-6 with three saves and a 3.38 ERA, followed by 4-6, 3.35 in 2001 to finally wrap it up. He also appeared in the 2000 Taiwan Series, and he started in Game 5, pitching 7 innings with only a run allowed to beat John Burgos and the Uni-President Lions. He then pitched 2 innings with a run allowed in Game 7, but the Bulls lost.

Overall, Yang had gone 38-40 with 8 saves and a 3.64 ERA, struck out 292 and pitched 699 innings in 180 games in 10 seasons in the CPBL.

Sources

• CPBL page
• Defunct IBAF site
• Taiwan Baseball Wiki