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FuzzyRussianHat · 09-01-2024, 07:37 AM

2012 marked a change in the postseason format for Chinese League Baseball. Previously, CLB had been unique in having an interleague playoff structure, which allowed the possibility for a championship matchup between two teams from the same league. That had happened 20 times in 42 seasons with 12 all-Northern League matchups and eight all-Southern League matchups.

CLB decided to scrap that feature for 2012 onward, although the format otherwise stayed the same. The first round remained a four-team double round robin, but the NL teams played the NL and vice versa. The top two advanced to a best-of-seven semifinal for the league title, followed by the best-of-seven China Series.

Xi’an led the Northern League standings at 101-61, ending a playoff drought going back to 2000. The Attack edged out Shanghai (100-62) by one game for the top spot. The Seawolves grew their playoff streak to five seasons. The #3 seed went to 97-65 Jinan, ending the Jumbos’ four-year playoff drought.

The fourth and final playoff spot went to 92-70 Qingdao, which snapped a three-year postseason skid for them. The Devils pitching staff had a 0.820 team WHIP, which ranked second-best in NL history. Their 5.95 H/9 ranked third-best ever. Qingdao edged Shiijazhuang (89-73) and Tianjin (86-76) for the final playoff spot.

The Serpents notably became the first of the 2009 expansion teams to post a winning record. The Jackrabbits saw their playoff streak end at three seasons. Also missing the field was last year’s China Series runner-up Beijing, who dropped to 80-82. Nanjing, who topped the NL standings at 100-62 in 2011, fell to 79-83 in 2012.

Leading Shiijazhuang to their franchise-best season was LF Cheng Kang, the #1 overall pick in the 2011 CLB Draft. His rookie season was an all-timer, winning both Northern League Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player. He joined Shenzhen’s Nyo Sar Htet from 1974 as the only rookies to win MVP in Chinese League history. Kang also bested Htet’s 9.6 WAR for the highest by a ROTY winner.

Kang was the leader in WAR (10.8), wRC+ (259), triple slash (.343/.427/.613), OPS (1.040), total bases (309), and runs (87). He also had 35 home runs, 82 RBI, and 71 walks. The Serpents had drafted him #1 in 2010, but he didn’t sign. They picked Kang again in 2011 and this time it paid dividends.

Xi’an’s Changwei Yang picked up Pitcher of the Year honors. The 27-year old righty led in both ERA (1.32) and WHIP (0.72). Yang added a 15-7 record over 245.2 innings, 287 strikeouts, 184 ERA+, and 7.9 WAR. The Attack had signed him to a five-year, $24,800,000 extension prior to the start of the season.

#4 seed Qingdao’s great pitching gave them the top spot in the Round Robin at 4-2. Shanghai and Xi’an both were 3-3, while Jinan was 2-4. The Seawolves got the tiebreaker to advance over the Attack. This set up a rematch of the 2008 China Series, which was the last semifinal berth for both the Devils and Seawolves. Shanghai would cruise to a sweep of Qingdao, giving the Seawolves their third-ever finals berth (1976, 2008, 2012).

While the Northern League saw numerous playoff streaks snapped, the Southern League saw the same four teams advance from the prior year. Even odder, all four finished in the exact same spot in the standings. Shenzhen once again took the #1 spot with a 105-57. The Spartans’ pitching had a .800 team WHIP, the second-lowest in CLB history behind only Wuhan’s .779 in 1974. This remains the second-lowest as of 2037.

Chengdu was a close second at 103-59, giving the Clowns five straight wild cards. Defending CLB champ Changsha took third again at 92-70, growing their playoff streak to three. The Cannons have earned eight playoff appearances over the past decade and made it to the China Series four times, although they’ve only finished atop the SL standings once. The fourth and final spot was Guangzhou at 91-71. There was a nine-game drop to fifth place Foshan.

Repeating as Southern League MVP was Chengdu 1B Peng Wang. The 28-year old righty didn’t come close to his historic 70 homer, 150 RBI, 15.1 WAR tear in 2011. Still, Wang led again in homers (47), RBI (113), runs (98), total bases (340), slugging (.586), OPS (.936), and wRC+ (227). He also had 10.8 WAR. The Clowns playoff chances took a huge hit though as Wang suffered a torn ACL in late September.

Leading Shenzhen’s impressive pitching staff was Pitcher of the Year Zheng Zhang. The 26-year old led in wins (21-4), ERA (1.31), WHIP (0.64), and K/BB (14.6). Zhang added 306 strikeouts over 247.2 innings for a 186 ERA+ and 8.7 WAR. The Spartans had wisely locked up their ace after the 2010 season on a five-year, $22,520,000 extension.

The Southern League also had their #4 seed atop the Round Robin with Guangzhou at 4-2. Shenzhen and Changsha tied at 3-3 and Chengdu was 2-4. The top-seed Spartans advanced on the tiebreaker, earning their first semifinal appearance since 1991. It was back-to-back berths for the Gamecocks, who ultimately upset Shenzhen 4-3 in the semifinal. Guangzhou picked up a sixth China Series appearance (1971, 1974, 1987, 1999, 2000, 2012).

In the 43^rd China Series, Shanghai crushed Guangzhou in only the third-ever finals sweep, joining the 1983 and 1995 seasons. The Seawolves became two-time CLB champs, having also won in 2008. Finals MVP was second-year 2B Kaishek Shi. In 14 starts, he had 20 hits, 4 runs, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homer, and 7 RBI.

Shanghai also had a record-setting postseason run from closer Shengting Wu, who allowed one run over 15 innings with three saves, six shutdowns, three hits, one walk, and 27 strikeouts. As of 2037, Wu still holds CLB postseason records by anyone with 15+ innings in H/9 (1.80), WHIP (0.27), opponent’s average (.064), opponent’s OBP (.083), and opponent’s OPS (.211).

Other notes: The 46^th CLB perfect game was thrown by Xiamne’s Joong Xu on May 5, striking out 13 against Dongguan. MVP Cheng Kang had a 20-game hitting streak, which is notable because the dead-ball Chinese League hadn’t had a 20+ game hitting streak since 2005. It was only the third 20+ game streak of the 21^st Century.

In their fourth season, expansion Urumqi was historically bad at 51-111, which was only one win better than the NL’s all-time worst. The Unicorns scored only 336 runs, which remains the NL’s worst as of 2037. Their 117 doubles is also the all-time lowest mark, while their .237 team OBP and .275 team slugging rank third-worst.

Setting a bad playoff record was Guangzhou’s Yu Zhao, who struck out 34 times in 66 at-bats. Zhao’s value was as a fielder, winning five Gold Gloves in center.

09-01-2024, 07:37 AM	#1572
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,944	2012 in CLB 2012 marked a change in the postseason format for Chinese League Baseball. Previously, CLB had been unique in having an interleague playoff structure, which allowed the possibility for a championship matchup between two teams from the same league. That had happened 20 times in 42 seasons with 12 all-Northern League matchups and eight all-Southern League matchups. CLB decided to scrap that feature for 2012 onward, although the format otherwise stayed the same. The first round remained a four-team double round robin, but the NL teams played the NL and vice versa. The top two advanced to a best-of-seven semifinal for the league title, followed by the best-of-seven China Series. Xi’an led the Northern League standings at 101-61, ending a playoff drought going back to 2000. The Attack edged out Shanghai (100-62) by one game for the top spot. The Seawolves grew their playoff streak to five seasons. The #3 seed went to 97-65 Jinan, ending the Jumbos’ four-year playoff drought. The fourth and final playoff spot went to 92-70 Qingdao, which snapped a three-year postseason skid for them. The Devils pitching staff had a 0.820 team WHIP, which ranked second-best in NL history. Their 5.95 H/9 ranked third-best ever. Qingdao edged Shiijazhuang (89-73) and Tianjin (86-76) for the final playoff spot. The Serpents notably became the first of the 2009 expansion teams to post a winning record. The Jackrabbits saw their playoff streak end at three seasons. Also missing the field was last year’s China Series runner-up Beijing, who dropped to 80-82. Nanjing, who topped the NL standings at 100-62 in 2011, fell to 79-83 in 2012. Leading Shiijazhuang to their franchise-best season was LF Cheng Kang, the #1 overall pick in the 2011 CLB Draft. His rookie season was an all-timer, winning both Northern League Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player. He joined Shenzhen’s Nyo Sar Htet from 1974 as the only rookies to win MVP in Chinese League history. Kang also bested Htet’s 9.6 WAR for the highest by a ROTY winner. Kang was the leader in WAR (10.8), wRC+ (259), triple slash (.343/.427/.613), OPS (1.040), total bases (309), and runs (87). He also had 35 home runs, 82 RBI, and 71 walks. The Serpents had drafted him #1 in 2010, but he didn’t sign. They picked Kang again in 2011 and this time it paid dividends. Xi’an’s Changwei Yang picked up Pitcher of the Year honors. The 27-year old righty led in both ERA (1.32) and WHIP (0.72). Yang added a 15-7 record over 245.2 innings, 287 strikeouts, 184 ERA+, and 7.9 WAR. The Attack had signed him to a five-year, $24,800,000 extension prior to the start of the season. #4 seed Qingdao’s great pitching gave them the top spot in the Round Robin at 4-2. Shanghai and Xi’an both were 3-3, while Jinan was 2-4. The Seawolves got the tiebreaker to advance over the Attack. This set up a rematch of the 2008 China Series, which was the last semifinal berth for both the Devils and Seawolves. Shanghai would cruise to a sweep of Qingdao, giving the Seawolves their third-ever finals berth (1976, 2008, 2012). While the Northern League saw numerous playoff streaks snapped, the Southern League saw the same four teams advance from the prior year. Even odder, all four finished in the exact same spot in the standings. Shenzhen once again took the #1 spot with a 105-57. The Spartans’ pitching had a .800 team WHIP, the second-lowest in CLB history behind only Wuhan’s .779 in 1974. This remains the second-lowest as of 2037. Chengdu was a close second at 103-59, giving the Clowns five straight wild cards. Defending CLB champ Changsha took third again at 92-70, growing their playoff streak to three. The Cannons have earned eight playoff appearances over the past decade and made it to the China Series four times, although they’ve only finished atop the SL standings once. The fourth and final spot was Guangzhou at 91-71. There was a nine-game drop to fifth place Foshan. Repeating as Southern League MVP was Chengdu 1B Peng Wang. The 28-year old righty didn’t come close to his historic 70 homer, 150 RBI, 15.1 WAR tear in 2011. Still, Wang led again in homers (47), RBI (113), runs (98), total bases (340), slugging (.586), OPS (.936), and wRC+ (227). He also had 10.8 WAR. The Clowns playoff chances took a huge hit though as Wang suffered a torn ACL in late September. Leading Shenzhen’s impressive pitching staff was Pitcher of the Year Zheng Zhang. The 26-year old led in wins (21-4), ERA (1.31), WHIP (0.64), and K/BB (14.6). Zhang added 306 strikeouts over 247.2 innings for a 186 ERA+ and 8.7 WAR. The Spartans had wisely locked up their ace after the 2010 season on a five-year, $22,520,000 extension. The Southern League also had their #4 seed atop the Round Robin with Guangzhou at 4-2. Shenzhen and Changsha tied at 3-3 and Chengdu was 2-4. The top-seed Spartans advanced on the tiebreaker, earning their first semifinal appearance since 1991. It was back-to-back berths for the Gamecocks, who ultimately upset Shenzhen 4-3 in the semifinal. Guangzhou picked up a sixth China Series appearance (1971, 1974, 1987, 1999, 2000, 2012). In the 43^rd China Series, Shanghai crushed Guangzhou in only the third-ever finals sweep, joining the 1983 and 1995 seasons. The Seawolves became two-time CLB champs, having also won in 2008. Finals MVP was second-year 2B Kaishek Shi. In 14 starts, he had 20 hits, 4 runs, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homer, and 7 RBI. Shanghai also had a record-setting postseason run from closer Shengting Wu, who allowed one run over 15 innings with three saves, six shutdowns, three hits, one walk, and 27 strikeouts. As of 2037, Wu still holds CLB postseason records by anyone with 15+ innings in H/9 (1.80), WHIP (0.27), opponent’s average (.064), opponent’s OBP (.083), and opponent’s OPS (.211). Other notes: The 46^th CLB perfect game was thrown by Xiamne’s Joong Xu on May 5, striking out 13 against Dongguan. MVP Cheng Kang had a 20-game hitting streak, which is notable because the dead-ball Chinese League hadn’t had a 20+ game hitting streak since 2005. It was only the third 20+ game streak of the 21^st Century. In their fourth season, expansion Urumqi was historically bad at 51-111, which was only one win better than the NL’s all-time worst. The Unicorns scored only 336 runs, which remains the NL’s worst as of 2037. Their 117 doubles is also the all-time lowest mark, while their .237 team OBP and .275 team slugging rank third-worst. Setting a bad playoff record was Guangzhou’s Yu Zhao, who struck out 34 times in 66 at-bats. Zhao’s value was as a fielder, winning five Gold Gloves in center. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)