In 1961, East Asia Baseball would add one player into its Hall of Fame. Starting Pitcher Ju-Han Choi was the guy as a first ballot nod with 85.1% of the vote. Fellow SP Young-Gil Chyu was second best with 60.9% on his fifth attempt. Five other players would finish above the 50% mark.

One was dropped after 10 attempts in pitcher Ichirouta Oya. He finished at 38.6% and peaked at 48.0% on his fourth ballot. Oya in 20 years had a 206-222 record, 2.96 ERA, 3953.2 innings, 3622 strikeouts, and 45.5 WAR. Good longevity, but delightfully average. Also of note, two were dropped after an eighth ballot due to falling below 5%. RF Min-Seong Pak was MVP in 1932 and had 2640 hits, 1406 runs, 495 home runs, 1469 RBI, and 86.6 WAR. Despite a pretty solid resume in 24 years almost exclusively with Busan, he never got much traction, peaking at 36.4% on his debut. Pitcher Takiji Ito was the other, peaking at 29.6%. In 15 years, he had a 207-145 record, 3.05 ERA, 3237 strikeouts, 54.2 WAR, and three Silver Sluggers at the position. Alas, he fell into the Hall of Very Good category ultimately.

Ju-Han Choi – Starting Pitcher – Kawasaki Killer Whales – 85.1% First Ballot
Ju-Han Choi was a 5’10’’, 175 pound right-handed pitcher from Hunghae, a small town in the eastern South Korean province of North Gyeongsang. Choi’s velocity peaked at 96-98 mph with good control and above average movement. His premier pitch was his curveball, but Choi had a five-pitch arsenal, adding a fastball, slider, forkball, and changeup. While talented, teammates often dismissed him as a lazy dumb jerk, which detractors say limited his potential. Still, he was incredibly durable, throwing 235+ innings in all but his first and final seasons.
Choi moved to Japan for college and attended Fukuyama University. After a respectable amateur career, Choi was picked 23rd overall in the 1937 EAB Draft by Goyang. He spent seven seasons with the Green Sox and was a bone fide ace by years three-six, posting four straight seasons of 6+ WAR. Choi placed second in Pitcher of the Year voting in 1943, the closest he came to the award. In 1940, he tossed a no-hitter against Daegu with nine strikeouts and one walk.
Goyang in this period was a consistent playoff team, although they never were able to take the Korea League title. Choi couldn’t be blamed; in four postseasons he had a 2.60 ERA over 52 innings with 36 strikeouts. In total for his seven seasons with the Green Sox, Choi had a 112-73 record, 3.16 ERA, 1847 strikeouts over 1738 innings, and 35.6 WAR.
Now age 30, Choi was traded for the 1945 season to Kawasaki for outfielder Akira Serizawa and reliever Joon-Suk No. It was a rebuilding era for the Killer Whales, who had success earlier in the decade. Choi spent seven years there and opted to be inducted in the Kawasaki hat, despite having arguably a more notable tenure in Goyang. With the Killer Whales, Choi had a 81-102 record, 2.85 ERA, 35 saves, 1749 strikeouts over 1693 innings, and 33.7 WAR.
He left for the 1952 season at age37 and signed with Seongnam. Choi was third in Pitcher of the Year in his Spiders debut, an impressive accomplishment for someone that age. In 1953, he became the seventh EAB pitcher to reach 4000 career strikeouts and threw his second no-hitter that summer against Gwangju, He had three solid seasons with Seongnam, then fell off in his final season at age 40, retiring after the 1955 campaign.
The final stats for Choi: 238-223, 3.11 ERA, 4335.1 innings, 4444 strikeouts, 853 walks, 377/564 quality starts, 85 FIP- and 88.0 WAR. He was rarely viewed as a top five level guy in his career, but had enough longevity to earn notice. At retirement, he was third all-time in EAB strikeouts at 4444 and sixth in wins, giving him enough juice despite the signature run or season to grab first ballot honors at 85.1%.
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