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FuzzyRussianHat · 09-05-2025, 08:21 PM

The Japan League was quite top heavy in 2034 with four teams at 100+ wins and two above 110+. Defending champ Kawasaki, who went 109-53 last year, broke that franchise record at 114-48. The Killer Whales extended their playoff streak to four seasons with repeat Capital Division titles. Kawasaki led Japan with 723 runs and allowed the fewest in all of East Asia Baseball at 446. The Killer Whales also set the league attendance record with 2,927,105 tickets sold.

The #1 seed still wasn’t a guarantee with Hamamatsu close behind. The Chickenhawks had finished 115-47 for their first-ever playoff berth the prior year and kept a similar pace in 2034 at 110-52. It was a loaded Central Division with Kobe (100-62) and Osaka (99-63) taking the two wild card slots. The Blaze are back after having a ten-year playoff streak ended the prior year. The Orange Sox meanwhile ended an eight year playoff drought.

Sendai repeated as North Division champ at 100-62, fending off Sapporo (97-65) and Niigata (91-71). The Swordfish bounced back after four straight losing seasons, but fell two wins short in the wild card race and three for the division. The Green Dragons meanwhile had their seven-year playoff streak ended. It was their tenth straight season with 91+ wins.

The weakest division champ was Kitakyushu at 89-73, winning the West for the third time in five years. Hiroshima fell to 79-83 to end their eight-year playoff streak, their first losing season since 2024. Also notable was Chiba falling to 78-84 in the Capital Division, denying a third straight playoff berth. The Comets had won the pennant two years prior.

Japan League MVP went to Kawasaki 3B Yoshikazu Fujioka in his sixth season as a starter. The 26-year old was the WARlord at 10.3 and had 40 home runs, 108 RBI, 198 hits, 106 runs, 29 doubles, 195 wRC+, and a .327/.379/.576 slash. The Killer Whales would give Fujioka a mammoth eight-year, $363,500,000 extension in July 2035. They had taken him out of high school seventh overall in the 2025 EAB Draft.

Kobe’s Jin-Yu Jun had a historic season and became the sixth in EAB history to win Pitcher of the Year five times. The 31-year old righty had won in 2026, 27, and 29 with Ulsan and in 2032 for the Blaze. Jun had a 28-5 record, becoming the second-ever EAB pitcher with 28 wins. The other was Seiki Okuyama back in the inaugural 1921 season. There have only been 24 seasons in world history where a pitcher recorded 28 or more wins.

Jun also won his fourth ERA title with a career best 1.33, which ranked as the sixth-best qualifying season in EAB history. He led in WHIP (0.77), FIP- (53), and WAR (8.9) with a 244 ERA+. Jun struck out 325 over 244 innings, missing the Triple Crown by six Ks behind Sendai’s Atsuo Sugaya. It was the eighth time in nine years that Jun led in WAR, earning a second place in MVP voting as well. He had two years left on his $385 million deal signed with Ulsan in March 2029. The Swallows traded Jun to Kobe that winter.

Kitakyushu beat Kobe 3-1 and Sendai swept Osaka 3-0 in the wild card round. The top seeds held 3-1 in the divisional round with Kawasaki over the Kodiaks and Hamamatsu over the Samurai. This set up a highly anticipated rematch in the Japan League Championship Series.

In 2033, the Killer Whales knocked off the Chickenhawks on the road. Hamamatsu reversed the script in 2034, defeating Kawasaki 4-2 on the road. The Chickenhawks became the first of the 2025 expansion teams to win a pennant, a remarkable feat for a franchise in its tenth season.

Busan extended the longest playoff streak in EAB history to 15 seasons and won their 11^th consecutive division title. The Blue Jays dominated the Southeast Division for the Korea League’s top seed at 112-50. It was the second-best record of their streak, as they had won 119 games in 2026. They hoped to avoid that season’s one-and-done fate. Busan led all of EAB with 841 runs scored and allowed the fewest runs in the KL at 515.

Pyongyang took the #2 seed at 102-60 in the North Division, growing their postseason streak to five seasons. Last year’s KLCS runner-up and division champ Goyang was eight back. However, the Green Sox’s 94-68 record landed them the second wild card slot, growing their postseason streak to eight seasons.

Suwon (99-63) edged out defending EAB champ Incheon (98-64) in the Central Division, although both advanced to the playoffs. The Snappers earned their fifth playoff trip in six years. The Inferno had a 2,959,201 season attendance, setting the single-season record for all of EAB. Seongnam (92-70) and Yongin (90-72) were next in the Central. Them and Ulsan (89-73) were the closest foes to 94-win Goyang for the second wild card slot.

The Southwest Division was easily the weakest, but it required a 163^rd game to settle it after both Gwangju and Daejeon finished 84-78. The Grays got the tiebreaker win to repeat as division champs. It was the first winning season since 2022 for the Ducks, but their overall futility continued. Daejeon’s playoff drought grew to 46 seasons, the longest active skid in EAB. The all-time worst was Fukuoka’s 50-year drought from 1930-79, but the Frogs at least had the excuse of theirs happening in an era with only two playoffs teams per league.

Korea League MVP went to Suwon 1B Ye-Seung Lee, who led in home runs (59) and total bases (425). The 28-year old righty from Seoul had 203 hits, 115 runs, 31 doubles, 139 RBI, a .313/.355/.655 slash, 173 wRC+, and 8.3 WAR. Lee was originally in Gwangju’s system, but was traded to the Snappers before debuting in 2027. In February 2035, Suwon would commit to a seven-year, $269 million extension for Lee.

Long-time Busan pitcher Sung-Ho Lee had a career year at age 37 and won Pitcher of the Year. The lefty led in ERA (1.98), wins (22-5), WHIP (0.88), and quality starts (24). Lee had 205 strikeouts in 250.1 innings and 7.3 WAR. He was picked 16^th by the Blue Jays way back in the 2018 EAB Draft and had been there ever since, debuting back in 2022.

Gwangju upset the reigning EAB champ Incheon 3-2 in the wild card round and Suwon topped Goyang 3-1. Both them pulled off shocking 3-2 upsets in the divisional round with the Grays over Busan and the Snappers over Pyongyang. 85-win Gwangju’s advance was especially surprising, getting their first Korea League Championship Series trip since 2026. For the Blue Jays, this was the fifth time in their 15-year playoff streak that they got the top seed, but lost in the divisional round.

The Snappers earned their fourth KLCS trip in six years, but they had a title drought dating back to 1992. That year, Suwon upset Gwangju in the KLCS. The Grays would bounce back with the 1993 pennant, their most recent. In the 2034 encounter, the Snappers defeated the Grays 4-2 to become four-time Korean champs (1935, 1981, 1992, 2034).

The 114^th East Asian Championship was guaranteed to crown the 29^th unique franchise to win the EAB title. Suwon had gone 0-3 in their prior trips, while Hamamatsu was making their first appearance. The Chickenhawks would dominate 4-1 over the Snappers to claim the crown in their tenth season. This left Suwon and Daejeon as the only original EAB teams yet to win it all in more than a century of trying.

In his third season and first as a full-time starter, 1B Mitsuru Ishida was finals MVP. The 22-year old had been taken third by Hamamatsu in the 2030 EAB Draft. In 15 playoff starts, Ishida had 22 hits, 11 runs, 7 doubles, 5 home runs, 11 RBI, 1.130 OPS, and 1.3 WAR. The Chickenhawks were the seventh different EAB champ in as many years.

Other notes: 2034 was the final season for EAB home run king Kunihiko Ishiguro, a decent effort split between Yokohama and Goyang with 3.7 WAR, 28 homers, and .883 OPS in 148 games. He would search for a team for 2035, but ultimately was unsigned. In 2034, Ishiguro got to 7070 total bases, passing Soo-Geun Yim’s 7015 for the EAB career record. Ishiguro also passed Hitoshi Kubota’s 3304 games played, becoming the EAB leader with 3359 games.

Ishiguro was already the runs leader and finished with 2123, ranking 19^th on the world leaderboard at retirement. He also finished with 2157 RBI, second to Yim’s 2279 for the EAB record and 34^th on the world leaderboard through the 2036 season. Ishiguro’s 963 homers are tied for 9^th in all of world history and he’s 18^th in world history for games played. His career stats included 3300 hits, 345 doubles, 268 triples, 809 stolen bases, a .287/.346/.615 slash, 172 wRC+, and 126.4 WAR. Ishiguro ranks 10^th in WAR among EAB position players and has an easy Hall of Fame induction coming in five years.

In other batting milestones, I-Sol Chang became the 37^th member of the 600 home run club. Masanori Fukuoka and Toichi Kumura were the 80^th and 81^st to 500 dingers. Fukuoka also won his 8^th Silver Slugger in left field. Chang Soo-Cho became the 102^nd with 2500 hits. SS Anh Vu Nguyen won his 8^th consecutive Silver Slugger.

EAB’s 46^th perfect game came on June 5 as Incheon’s Ju-Sung Kang struck out 11 against Chongjin. In other pitching milestones, Ho-Jin Su became the 71^st to 200 career wins. Seung-Ho Lee became the 50^th ace with 3500 career strikeouts. Jin-Yu Jun was the 118^th to 3000 Ks. Ju-Chan Ha, Sin-Cheol Park, and Kenji Yoshii each joined the 300 save club, now 36 members strong.

SS Jae-Won Park won his 15^th consecutive Gold Glove, becoming one of only 12 players in all of world history with 15+ Gold Gloves. LF Ki-Chun Park (1971-85) was the only other to do it from EAB. Jae-Won Park also was the first with all 15 wins at shortstop. OBA/MLB legend Jimmy Caliw had the world record 17 Gold Gloves, but that was split with 11 at SS and 6 at 2B.

09-05-2025, 08:21 PM	#2428
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,986	2035 in EAB The Japan League was quite top heavy in 2034 with four teams at 100+ wins and two above 110+. Defending champ Kawasaki, who went 109-53 last year, broke that franchise record at 114-48. The Killer Whales extended their playoff streak to four seasons with repeat Capital Division titles. Kawasaki led Japan with 723 runs and allowed the fewest in all of East Asia Baseball at 446. The Killer Whales also set the league attendance record with 2,927,105 tickets sold. The #1 seed still wasn’t a guarantee with Hamamatsu close behind. The Chickenhawks had finished 115-47 for their first-ever playoff berth the prior year and kept a similar pace in 2034 at 110-52. It was a loaded Central Division with Kobe (100-62) and Osaka (99-63) taking the two wild card slots. The Blaze are back after having a ten-year playoff streak ended the prior year. The Orange Sox meanwhile ended an eight year playoff drought. Sendai repeated as North Division champ at 100-62, fending off Sapporo (97-65) and Niigata (91-71). The Swordfish bounced back after four straight losing seasons, but fell two wins short in the wild card race and three for the division. The Green Dragons meanwhile had their seven-year playoff streak ended. It was their tenth straight season with 91+ wins. The weakest division champ was Kitakyushu at 89-73, winning the West for the third time in five years. Hiroshima fell to 79-83 to end their eight-year playoff streak, their first losing season since 2024. Also notable was Chiba falling to 78-84 in the Capital Division, denying a third straight playoff berth. The Comets had won the pennant two years prior. Japan League MVP went to Kawasaki 3B Yoshikazu Fujioka in his sixth season as a starter. The 26-year old was the WARlord at 10.3 and had 40 home runs, 108 RBI, 198 hits, 106 runs, 29 doubles, 195 wRC+, and a .327/.379/.576 slash. The Killer Whales would give Fujioka a mammoth eight-year, $363,500,000 extension in July 2035. They had taken him out of high school seventh overall in the 2025 EAB Draft. Kobe’s Jin-Yu Jun had a historic season and became the sixth in EAB history to win Pitcher of the Year five times. The 31-year old righty had won in 2026, 27, and 29 with Ulsan and in 2032 for the Blaze. Jun had a 28-5 record, becoming the second-ever EAB pitcher with 28 wins. The other was Seiki Okuyama back in the inaugural 1921 season. There have only been 24 seasons in world history where a pitcher recorded 28 or more wins. Jun also won his fourth ERA title with a career best 1.33, which ranked as the sixth-best qualifying season in EAB history. He led in WHIP (0.77), FIP- (53), and WAR (8.9) with a 244 ERA+. Jun struck out 325 over 244 innings, missing the Triple Crown by six Ks behind Sendai’s Atsuo Sugaya. It was the eighth time in nine years that Jun led in WAR, earning a second place in MVP voting as well. He had two years left on his $385 million deal signed with Ulsan in March 2029. The Swallows traded Jun to Kobe that winter. Kitakyushu beat Kobe 3-1 and Sendai swept Osaka 3-0 in the wild card round. The top seeds held 3-1 in the divisional round with Kawasaki over the Kodiaks and Hamamatsu over the Samurai. This set up a highly anticipated rematch in the Japan League Championship Series. In 2033, the Killer Whales knocked off the Chickenhawks on the road. Hamamatsu reversed the script in 2034, defeating Kawasaki 4-2 on the road. The Chickenhawks became the first of the 2025 expansion teams to win a pennant, a remarkable feat for a franchise in its tenth season. Busan extended the longest playoff streak in EAB history to 15 seasons and won their 11^th consecutive division title. The Blue Jays dominated the Southeast Division for the Korea League’s top seed at 112-50. It was the second-best record of their streak, as they had won 119 games in 2026. They hoped to avoid that season’s one-and-done fate. Busan led all of EAB with 841 runs scored and allowed the fewest runs in the KL at 515. Pyongyang took the #2 seed at 102-60 in the North Division, growing their postseason streak to five seasons. Last year’s KLCS runner-up and division champ Goyang was eight back. However, the Green Sox’s 94-68 record landed them the second wild card slot, growing their postseason streak to eight seasons. Suwon (99-63) edged out defending EAB champ Incheon (98-64) in the Central Division, although both advanced to the playoffs. The Snappers earned their fifth playoff trip in six years. The Inferno had a 2,959,201 season attendance, setting the single-season record for all of EAB. Seongnam (92-70) and Yongin (90-72) were next in the Central. Them and Ulsan (89-73) were the closest foes to 94-win Goyang for the second wild card slot. The Southwest Division was easily the weakest, but it required a 163^rd game to settle it after both Gwangju and Daejeon finished 84-78. The Grays got the tiebreaker win to repeat as division champs. It was the first winning season since 2022 for the Ducks, but their overall futility continued. Daejeon’s playoff drought grew to 46 seasons, the longest active skid in EAB. The all-time worst was Fukuoka’s 50-year drought from 1930-79, but the Frogs at least had the excuse of theirs happening in an era with only two playoffs teams per league. Korea League MVP went to Suwon 1B Ye-Seung Lee, who led in home runs (59) and total bases (425). The 28-year old righty from Seoul had 203 hits, 115 runs, 31 doubles, 139 RBI, a .313/.355/.655 slash, 173 wRC+, and 8.3 WAR. Lee was originally in Gwangju’s system, but was traded to the Snappers before debuting in 2027. In February 2035, Suwon would commit to a seven-year, $269 million extension for Lee. Long-time Busan pitcher Sung-Ho Lee had a career year at age 37 and won Pitcher of the Year. The lefty led in ERA (1.98), wins (22-5), WHIP (0.88), and quality starts (24). Lee had 205 strikeouts in 250.1 innings and 7.3 WAR. He was picked 16^th by the Blue Jays way back in the 2018 EAB Draft and had been there ever since, debuting back in 2022. Gwangju upset the reigning EAB champ Incheon 3-2 in the wild card round and Suwon topped Goyang 3-1. Both them pulled off shocking 3-2 upsets in the divisional round with the Grays over Busan and the Snappers over Pyongyang. 85-win Gwangju’s advance was especially surprising, getting their first Korea League Championship Series trip since 2026. For the Blue Jays, this was the fifth time in their 15-year playoff streak that they got the top seed, but lost in the divisional round. The Snappers earned their fourth KLCS trip in six years, but they had a title drought dating back to 1992. That year, Suwon upset Gwangju in the KLCS. The Grays would bounce back with the 1993 pennant, their most recent. In the 2034 encounter, the Snappers defeated the Grays 4-2 to become four-time Korean champs (1935, 1981, 1992, 2034). The 114^th East Asian Championship was guaranteed to crown the 29^th unique franchise to win the EAB title. Suwon had gone 0-3 in their prior trips, while Hamamatsu was making their first appearance. The Chickenhawks would dominate 4-1 over the Snappers to claim the crown in their tenth season. This left Suwon and Daejeon as the only original EAB teams yet to win it all in more than a century of trying. In his third season and first as a full-time starter, 1B Mitsuru Ishida was finals MVP. The 22-year old had been taken third by Hamamatsu in the 2030 EAB Draft. In 15 playoff starts, Ishida had 22 hits, 11 runs, 7 doubles, 5 home runs, 11 RBI, 1.130 OPS, and 1.3 WAR. The Chickenhawks were the seventh different EAB champ in as many years. Other notes: 2034 was the final season for EAB home run king Kunihiko Ishiguro, a decent effort split between Yokohama and Goyang with 3.7 WAR, 28 homers, and .883 OPS in 148 games. He would search for a team for 2035, but ultimately was unsigned. In 2034, Ishiguro got to 7070 total bases, passing Soo-Geun Yim’s 7015 for the EAB career record. Ishiguro also passed Hitoshi Kubota’s 3304 games played, becoming the EAB leader with 3359 games. Ishiguro was already the runs leader and finished with 2123, ranking 19^th on the world leaderboard at retirement. He also finished with 2157 RBI, second to Yim’s 2279 for the EAB record and 34^th on the world leaderboard through the 2036 season. Ishiguro’s 963 homers are tied for 9^th in all of world history and he’s 18^th in world history for games played. His career stats included 3300 hits, 345 doubles, 268 triples, 809 stolen bases, a .287/.346/.615 slash, 172 wRC+, and 126.4 WAR. Ishiguro ranks 10^th in WAR among EAB position players and has an easy Hall of Fame induction coming in five years. In other batting milestones, I-Sol Chang became the 37^th member of the 600 home run club. Masanori Fukuoka and Toichi Kumura were the 80^th and 81^st to 500 dingers. Fukuoka also won his 8^th Silver Slugger in left field. Chang Soo-Cho became the 102^nd with 2500 hits. SS Anh Vu Nguyen won his 8^th consecutive Silver Slugger. EAB’s 46^th perfect game came on June 5 as Incheon’s Ju-Sung Kang struck out 11 against Chongjin. In other pitching milestones, Ho-Jin Su became the 71^st to 200 career wins. Seung-Ho Lee became the 50^th ace with 3500 career strikeouts. Jin-Yu Jun was the 118^th to 3000 Ks. Ju-Chan Ha, Sin-Cheol Park, and Kenji Yoshii each joined the 300 save club, now 36 members strong. SS Jae-Won Park won his 15^th consecutive Gold Glove, becoming one of only 12 players in all of world history with 15+ Gold Gloves. LF Ki-Chun Park (1971-85) was the only other to do it from EAB. Jae-Won Park also was the first with all 15 wins at shortstop. OBA/MLB legend Jimmy Caliw had the world record 17 Gold Gloves, but that was split with 11 at SS and 6 at 2B. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)