Photo: User West Zest on Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Liu Kai is a footnote with real weight. A left-handed pitcher from Tianjin who entered a Chinese sports school at twelve and made it into the New York Yankees organization, he represents an early chapter in China's reach toward Major League Baseball. He was eventually released from the minors alongside countryman Zhang Zhenwang, and that's where many would close the book. I read it differently. Crossing the Pacific to wear a Yankees affiliate's uniform, in an era when Chinese pitchers were rare, is itself a small act of trailblazing. The outcome matters less to me than the door he helped nudge open.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Liu Kai
- Name (Japanese)
- 劉凱
- Reading
- りゅう・がい
- Born
- October 11, 1987 (age 38)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Libra / Rabbit
- Origin
- Tianjin, People's Republic of China
- Occupation
- baseball player
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8A%89%E5%87%B1
Frequently asked questions
When was Liu Kai born?
Born October 11, 1987 (age 38).
Where is Liu Kai from?
Liu Kai is from Tianjin, People's Republic of China.
What does Liu Kai do?
Liu Kai works as baseball player.
Baseball player — see all → · More people from People's Republic of China →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.