Ping-Yang Huang

Ping-Yang Huang (黃平洋) (The Golden Arm)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.

• School Fu Jen Catholic University
• High School Chung-Hua High School

• Born November 13, 1962 in Kaohsiung City Taiwan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Ping-Yang Huang was a top pitcher in Taiwan in the 1980s and 1990s.

Huang pitched for Taiwan in the 1982 Amateur World Series, 1983 Asian Championship and 1983 Intercontinental Cup. In the 1984 Amateur World Series, he struck out 4 of 9 batters he faced, but allowed 3 hits and 3 runs in 1 1/3 IP to post Taiwan's highest ERA. Taiwan still won a Silver Medal, their first Medal ever in an Amateur World Series. He was in the 1985 Asian Championship. In the 1986 Amateur World Series, the 23-year-old international veteran was 0-1 with two saves and a 0.67 ERA to help Taiwan win a Bronze Medal. He finished second to teammate Ming-Shan Kang on the ERA leaderboard.

The Kaohsiung native was MVP of the 1987 Asian Championship, as Taiwan won Gold and qualified for the 1988 Olympics. In the 1987 Intercontinental Cup, the young right-hander pitched 30 1/3 innings, leading all hurlers. He appeared for Taiwan in the 1988 Olympics. Huang also pitched in the 1988 Baseball World Cup, he went 2-2 with a 3.52 ERA. He saved his best for last, working five shutout relief innings in the Bronze Medal game. He relieved Yi-Hsin Chen and Chen-Jung Lo, allowing only one hit and no walks against a lineup led by Atsuya Furuta and Kenjiro Nomura. Huang got the decision in a 4-2 victory.

When professional baseball came to Taiwan with the Chinese Professional Baseball League in 1990, Huang was picked by the Wei Chuan Dragons. He was an immediate star, going 20-8 with 5 saves and a 2.23 ERA. He led the league in wins and tied Enrique Burgos for the lead in strikeouts. He was starter of the first Taiwan Series - the 1990 Taiwan Series Game 1, and he completed the game with only a run allowed to get a win. He pitched 2 2/3 innings with a run allowed in Game 4 and got a loss, then he shut out the Mercuries Tigers to help the Dragons win the first Taiwan Series title. In 1991, Huang was 13-9 with 4 saves and a 1.89 ERA, allowing only 165 hits in 210 innings. He led the league in ERA and won the first Best Nine at pitcher in the CPBL, the Taiwanese equivalent of the Cy Young Award. He pitched 35 1/3 innings in 4 games in the 1991 Taiwan Series and he had a 3.06 ERA, but the Dragons lost to the Uni-President Lions in 7 games.

Ping-Yang was 13-8 with 3 saves and a 3.72 ERA in 1992. In 1993, he went 17-11 with two saves and a 2.03 ERA. He became the first pitcher in league history to win 50 games and also the first to strike out 500 batters. He was .11 behind ERA leader Yi-Hsin Chen. Huang fanned 184 batters and allowed 209 hits in 244 innings; he set a new league record for strikeouts (since broken several times). Huang fell to 2-6, 5.75 for the 1994 Dragons with 59 hits allowed in 47 innings. He had Tommy John surgery and only pitched one game in 1995 (no runs in 3 1/3 IP). In 1996, he tossed three scoreless innings only.

The Taiwan Major League formed in 1997 as a rival to the CPBL and Huang jumped to the new circuit's Taipei Gida club. He went 7-7 with a 5.23 ERA in 1997, his first full season in three years. His recovery continued in 1998 when he posted a 6-4, 2.64 record. He was 5th in the TML in ERA and helped his club to a title. In 1999, the 36-year-old veteran went 8-7 with 2 saves and a 4.64 ERA. He was 11-3 with a 3.40 ERA in 2000 when the Gida dominated the circuit; he was 8th in the league in ERA but only 4th on a talented staff. During 2001, the old-timer was 5-5 with 2 saves and a 3.54 ERA to wrap up his career. Huang became the pitching coach for Taipei after retiring as a player, but only held that role for one year. He was a TV baseball commentator in 2003. In 2008, he was offered the job of pitching coach for the dMedia T-Rex but refused the offer.

Overall, Huang 102-68 with a 3.05 ERA, struck out 973 and pitched 1,479 1/3 innings in 12 seasons in the CPBL.

Huang's wide-ranging repertoire included a forkball, sinker, slider, changeup, knuckleball and fastball (peak speed of 90 mph).

Sources

• Defunct IBAF site
• 1988 and 2001 Baseball Almanacs
• Taiwan Baseball Wiki
• A History of Cuban Baseball by Peter Bjarkman
• CPBL.com Bio