Photo: User West Zest on Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)

Liu Kai

劉凱　/　りゅう・がい

Baseball player from People's Republic of China

October 11, 1987 (age 38)　・　Tianjin, People's Republic of China

baseball player

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.

Overview

Liu Kai (simplified Chinese: 刘凯; traditional Chinese: 劉凱; pinyin: Líu Kǎi; born 11 October 1987 in Tianjin, China) is a left-handed pitcher, formerly of the New York Yankees organization. Liu was later released by the New York Yankees minor league system, along with his Chinese teammate Zhang Zhenwang. Liu began playing organized baseball at the age of 12, when he was enrolled in a sports school in China.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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
Blood type: Private
Height: Private
Agency: Private
Occupation: baseball player

2. Background

Elementary school: Private
Junior high: Private
High school: Private
University: Private

3. Relationships

Spouse: Private
Children: Private
Parents: Private
Siblings: Private

4. Personality

Motto

Private

6. Links

Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8A%89%E5%87%B1

Baseball player — see all →　·　More people from People's Republic of China →