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Pitcher Tyson Sugiarto was the lone addition into the Austronesia Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014. Sugiarto was a first ballot pick, but not a slam dunk at 71.6%. With the next best debut down at 12.4%, that helped him make the cut beyond the 66% requirement. Five returners would top 50%, but fall short of the 66% cut.



Leading that group was RF Basuki Susanti at 60.8% on his fourth ballot. Closer Bo-Kai Yen got 58.5% on his second go and 1B Gavin Loh had 56.5% on his second attempt. SP Kan-Lin Ching received 52.3% for his second ballot and CF Fransisco Hartati had 52.0% for his third.

Pitcher Yu-Ching Kuo fell off after ten failed ballots, peaking at a mere 19.5% in 2011 and ending with 3.9%. He had a three-year run leading in strikeouts, posting 1360 Ks and 29 WAR in that stretch with Surabaya. Kuo also had three no-hitters during that run of dominance. However, Kuo had only 239 total innings after his age 26 season due to multiple catastrophic injuries.

He finished with a 92-55 record, 2.09 ERA, 1430.2 innings, 2336 strikeouts, 280 walks, 123 ERA+, and 44.7 WAR. His 14.7 K/9 still ranks third as of 2037 among any APB pitcher with 1000+ career innings and his .516 opponents’ OPS is 22^nd. Kuo goes down as a major “what if?” guy if he would’ve stayed healthy.



Tyson “Tippy” Sugiarto – Starting Pitcher – Singapore Sharks – 71.6% First Ballot

Tyson Sugiarto was a 6’4’’, 200 pound right-handed pitcher from Jakarta, Indonesia. Sugiarto had solid stuff and control, although his control was below average. His 97-99 mph fastball was by far his most potent pitch. Sugiarto had the rare six-pitch arsenal with his splitter and forkball both being quite good. He also had a curveball, slider, and changeup he could go to.

Compared to most aces in the low-scoring APB environment, Sugiarto had below average stamina. Although he had fewer complete games, Sugiarto had fantastic durability , making 30+ starts each year from 1997-2008. His defense and ability to hold runners were both weak. Although walks could be an issue, Sugiarto still would give you reliable innings in most outings.

Some scouts noticed Sugiarto coming out of high school for the 1990 APB Draft, but most preferred to give him a second look after college. Singapore decided otherwise, picking Sugiarto to start the third round with the 47^th overall pick. He spent two years in development before officially debuting in 1993 at age 21, although Sugiarto only had 26.1 innings that year.

Singapore made him a part-time starter in 1994, but Sugiarto still wasn’t ready. He was a full-time reliever in 1995 with iffy results, but earned a full rotation spot in 1996. That year had a career-best 1.65 ERA and saw Singapore set a franchise-record at 105-57. It was only their second-ever playoff berth, as they had posted only losing seasons from 1983-1994.

The Sharks won their first-ever Sundaland Association pennant, but lost the APB Championship to Taoyuan. Sugiarto struck out 23 in 16 innings, but had a 3.38 ERA and 73 ERA+ in his three appearances. Singapore had a five-year stretch of winning seasons after that, which was one of their most competitive runs. However, they found themselves a few games outside of playoff contention.

Sugiarto was never a Pitcher of the Year finalist, but he had nine straight 4+ WAR seasons from 1996-2004. Unfortunately the only stat he ever led in was walks allowed twice. Singapore was content with his reliability and signed Sugiarto to a six-year, $12,600,000 extension in February 2000. The Sharks winning stretch ended with a 66-96 mark in 2002.

Singapore bounced back in 2003 with a 90-72 record and division title, although they lost the Association final to Bandung. Sugiarto was better in his 11 playoff innings this year with a 1.64 ERA. The Sharks fell right back to 74-88 the next year and began looking at a rebuild. In June 2005, Sugiarto was traded to Semarang for 3B Byron Lam and C Pin Tay.

With Singapore, Sugiarto had a 144-132 record, 2.44 ERA, 2540 innings, 2960 strikeouts, 672 walks, 107 ERA+, and 49.8 WAR. The Sharks would also choose to retire his #32 uniform. Sugiarto was 33 when he joined the Sliders and had an excellent second half for them. His combined 2005 season had a career-best 6.9 WAR. They won their division, but were upset in the Association final by Palembang. Sugiarto had a 1.80 ERA over 15 playoff innings.

Sugiarto had one more year with the Sliders, finishing with a 26-17 record, 1.73 ERA, 374.1 innings, 403 strikeouts, and 7.9 WAR. A free agent at age 35, Bandung was impressed and gave him a three-year, $11,760,000 deal. Sugiarto had 2.4 WAR in 2007 with the Blackhawks, his lowest full season effort. He regressed to only 0.4 WAR over 245.2 innings in 2008 and retired after that season at age 37.

The final stats saw a 199-177 record, 2.35 ERA, 3403.1 innings, 3724 strikeouts, 859 walks, 340/421 quality starts, 109 ERA+, and 60.5 WAR. As of 2037, Sugiarto is 77^th in pitching WAR, 33^rd in strikeouts, and 32^nd in wins. He’s a guy that advanced stats suggest was merely above average for a long time. Sugiarto’s lack of black ink and Pitcher of the Year considerations would seem to confirm that.

However, APB voters were very pitcher friendly and many placed significant value on longevity. Sugiarto wasn’t dominant, but he was quite steady. He also got the benefit of debuting on a 2014 ballot that didn’t have any other notable debuts, making his resume pop out. At 71.6%, Sugiarto narrowly received the first ballot nod as APB’s lone Hall of Famer in 2014.