Chung-Yi Huang

From BR Bullpen

Chung-Yi Huang (黃忠義) (Infield Magician)

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 5' 9", Weight 181 lb.

BR register page

Biographical Information[edit]

Chung-Yi Huang represented Taiwan in over a dozen international events, despite being ineligible for a 5-year period. Huang was a two-time Olympian. He was arguably the best second baseman in the first two decades of Taiwanese professional baseball, being honored nine times as his league's premier player at that position. He is a cousin of Olympic performers Kuang-Shih Wang and Kuang-Huei Wang. His nephew Cheng-Hao Cheng is an All-Star in the CPBL, and his son Shao-Hsi Huang also played pro baseball.

Huang played for Taiwan in the 1985 World Port Tournament and 1989 Intercontinental Cup. He was named the best defensive player of the 1989 Asian Championship. In the 1990 Baseball World Cup, he hit .400/.462/.514 with 8 RBI in 9 games. Julio Medina beat him out for All-Tournament honors at second base. Huang was with Taiwan for the 1990 Asian Games, 1990 Goodwill Games and 1991 Asian Championship. In the 1991 Intercontinental Cup, he .250/.296/.375. During the 1992 Olympics, Huang batted .351/.415/.541 with 8 runs in 9 games. As Taiwan's leadoff man in the Gold Medal game, he was 1 for 4 with an error in a 11-1 loss to the Cuban national team and Giorge Díaz. As international baseball was still an amateur-only event, the 1992 Olympics were Huang's last appearance on the world stage until 1998, when pros were permitted to play.

The Hualien native began his pro career with the Jungo Bears in 1993, starting a 16-year run in Taiwanese pro ball. He hit .301/.383/.447 and stole 16 bases but was caught stealing 14 times. He won a CPBL Gold Glove at second base (fielding .971) and was named to the Best Ten as the top player at that position in the Chinese Professional Baseball League. He was also selected into the 1993 CPBL All-Star Game, and he would not miss this event until 2007. Huang led the league in runs, and ranked 2nd in hits (4 behind Kuei-Chang Tseng). In 1994, Huang hit .270/.353/.386 and hit 8 triples, a CPBL record. The mark would be broken two years later by Hector Roa. In 1995, Chung-Yi batted .249/.344/.355 in an off-year. The Bears became the Sinon Bulls and Huang produced at a .332/.418/.468 rate in 1996 and was named to the Best Ten, starting a 7-year run wherein he always won that honor. He ranked 7th in hits, 25 behind Tseng.

Huang hit .262/.350/.338 in 1997 and fielded .972. He won his second Gold Glove and made the Best Ten. He attended the 1997 CPBL All-Star Game, and he was 2-for-2. In 1998, he batted .314/.383/.456 and fielded .985, winning his third Gold Glove and fourth Best Ten nod. He was 8th in the CPBL in average, .73 behind Jay Kirkpatrick. He hit .290/.313/.323 in the 1998 Taiwan Series, but the Bulls lost to the Wei Chuan Dragons in 7 games. As pros were allowed back in international games, he played for Taiwan in the 1998 Asian Games.

In 1999, Huang batted .283/.365/.410 and stole 20 bases in 22 tries. He made the Best Ten again. He played in the 1999 Asian Championship, winning All-Tournament honors at second base. In the 1999 Intercontinental Cup, he hit just .143/.250/.143 in a disappointing show. Huang had a career year during 2000. He hit .354/.432/.514 and stole 23 bases in 32 tries. He led the CPBL in average (.033 over Min-Ching Luo, hits (115) and RBI (51) and easily won another Best Ten nod. His batting line was .208/.345/.250 in the 2000 Taiwan Series, and the Bulls were beaten by the Uni-President Lions in 7 games.

Huang hit .290/.382/.386 and stole 17 bases while being thrown out only 5 times in 2001. He again made the Best Ten. On March 15, he became the first local player to steal home. He also attended the 2001 CPBL All-Star Game, and he was 2-for-2. Huang hit a poor .226/.314/.226 and made 3 errors in 10 games in the 2001 Baseball World Cup, joining other prominent Taiwan players like Tai-Feng Chen and Kan-Lin Huang in putting up a poor show. Huang batted .326/.397/.530 with a career-high 15 home runs in 2002. He led the CPBL with 107 hits, was second in average (8 points behind Chien-Wei Chen) and made the Best Ten for the 7th straight season. On June 13, he collected his 1,000th hit in his 876th game, becoming the fastest player to the century mark in CPBL annals (later broken). He played for Taiwan in the 2002 Asian Games.

The infield magician hit .300/.370/.411 for the 2003 Bulls to finish 8th in the league in average. He was 1-for-23 in the 2003 Taiwan Series and the Bulls lost to the Brother Elephants in 6 games. Huang won the All-Star Game home run contest that year. He helped Taiwan win Silver in the 2003 Asian Championship to qualify for the 2004 Olympics. In 2004, Huang batted .312/.397/.455 to make his 9th and last Best Ten. He was third in average behind Cheng-Min Peng and Tai-Shan Chang. Huang hit .192/.344/.385 in the 2004 Taiwan Series, and he finally won his first Taiwan Series title as the Bulls beat the Lions in 7 games. Through 2023, no one has won 9 Best Ten honors in the CPBL at any position; Tai-Shan Chang's 8 at third base rank second. In the 2004 Olympics, Huang continued his struggles on the international stage by batting .148/.223/.148 as Taiwan's starting second sacker.

Huang became a player-coach for Sinon in 2005 and hit .276/.348/.362, still playing regularly at age 37. He concluded his international career in the 2005 Asian Championship. In '06, he batted .341/.403/.431 but lost Best Ten honors to Sen Yang. In the 2007 CPBL season, the veteran became a player-manager. On May 15, he blasted a pinch-hit, go-ahead grand slam against Chun-Chung Huang and he won the game MVP. He was the only manager to pinch-hit a homer in CPBL history, and he was also the only manager to be named the game MVP. He cut his own playing time, only hitting .247/.286/.333 in 34 games. The Bulls finished 34-46-1 under his reign and he lost his job at the helm. Through that point in time, Huang was the all-time CPBL leader in both games and hits. In 2008, he hit .268/.346/.360 while moving to first base. He retired following that year to become a full-time coach with Sinon. He coached the Bulls/EDA Rhinos from 2008 to 2012.

Overall, Huang batted .298/.377/.419 in 1,423 games, collecting 1,582 hits, 257 doubles, 105 homers and 159 steals in 16 seasons in the CPBL. As of 2023, he ranked 8th in hits (552 behind Tai-Shan Chang), 10th in runs (330 behind Cheng-Min Peng), 12th in RBI (688 behind Chang), 9th in doubles (136 behind Yi-Chuan Lin), 23th in homers (198 behind Chih-Sheng Lin), 4th in walks (412 behind Peng) and 9th in steals (136 behind Kan-Lin Huang).

Primary Sources[edit]

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