Yao-Teng Chang

Yao-Teng Chang (張耀騰)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 145 lb.

• School Chinese Culture University
• High School Meiho High School

• Born March 28, 1965 in Tainan County Taiwan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yao-Teng Chang was an Olympic Silver Medalist who was named Taiwan's top shortstop one year.

Chang played for Taiwan in the 1983 World Junior Championship, 1986 Amateur World Series, 1987 World Port Tournament, 1989 Asian Championship, 1989 Intercontinental Cup, 1990 Asian Games and 1991 Asian Championship. In the 1991 Intercontinental Cup, the 26-year-old hit .350/.400/.500 and stole 11 bases in 14 tries. He scored 10 runs in 11 games while playing primarily third base and shortstop. He was 3 for 5 with a triple and a steal in the Bronze Medal game, but Taiwan fell 4-3 in 13 innings to Nicaragua. He edged José Estrada by one for the Cup lead in swipes. It was also the record for steals in any Intercontinental Cup for the 1991-2006 era. He failed to take All-Star honors, as Akihiro Togo was picked at shortstop and Gabriel Pierre was picked at third base.

Chang batted .250/.289/.333 with 7 runs in 9 games in the 1992 Olympics; he had one error in eight games as Taiwan's shortstop and stole one base in two tries. Hitting second in the Gold Medal game, he went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts against Giorge Diaz in a 11-1 loss as Taiwan got the Silver Medal.

Yao-Teng hit .238/.281/.302 for the 1993 Jungo Bears in his pro debut. He stole 12 bases in 15 tries. In 1994, he batted .249/.319/.289 and was 22-for-28 in steals. The next year, he hit .251/.310/.332 and stole 45 bases in 59 attempts. He led the Chinese Professional Baseball League in swipes, won the CPBL Gold Glove at short (he had fielded .971) and was named to the Best Ten as the loop's elite shortstop. The Tainan native hit just .212/.295/.256 for the 1996 Sinon Bulls with only 12 steals in 21 tries. That year, he became director of the Taiwan baseball players' union. In 1997, Chang hit .275/.342/.386 with 10 steals in 16 attempts for the China Times Eagles. It was his final pro season. Chang was later a youth baseball coach.

Overall, Chang had batted .245/.307/.312 with 101 steals in 359 games in 5 seasons in the CPBL.

Sources

• Defunct IBAF site
• CPBL Player Page
• Taiwan Baseball Wiki