Baseball: The World's Game

[FuzzyRussianHat]

LF Jack Kiadii and DB/1B Mo Reda secured first ballot inductions for the 2016 West African Baseball Hall of Fame class. Kiadii was a very strong 89.0% and Reda got a respectable 77.0%. The top returner just missed the 66% requirement with 3B Yakubu Odiye’s 63.2% on his fourth attempt. Four others crossed 50% with RF Emmanuel Kao (59.1%, 3^rd ballot), RF Ada Nwankwo (59.1%, 7^th), 3B Falaba Bah (57.7%, 4^th), and 3B Aqudu Haddad (51.5%, 2^nd).



Strangely enough, OOTP decided to remove Kao from the ballot after only three tries. He likely would’ve made it eventually with 58.6% and 62.9% in his first two ballots. He only had a seven year WAB run between Dakar and Freetown, but won three straight MVPs from 1998-2000. Kao led in home runs thrice, runs twice, total bases four times, and OPS four times in WAB.

In WAB, he had 996 hits, 570 runs, 238 doubles, 250 home runs, 659 RBI, a .312/.373/.629 slash, 173 wRC+, and 38.7 WAR. As of 2037, he’s one of only 17 WAB batters with an OPS above one (1.002) and 3000+ plate appearances. He went onto win an MVP in MLB with New York and played 12 more seasons between the Yankees and Albuquerque.
In MLB, Kao had 1597 hits, 886 runs, 232 doubles, 453 home runs, 1034 RBI, a .271/.330/.545 slash, 163 wRC+, and 52.6 WAR. The combined pro totals had 2593 hits, 1456 runs, 470 doubles, 703 home runs, 1693 RBI, a .285/.346/.575 slash, 166 wRC+, and 91.3 WAR. Kao did stay on the MLB ballot and peaked at 30.5% in 2018. It is uncertain why he was removed from the WAB ballot when he was, but Kao’s career certainly deserved a spotlight as one of the finest hitters of his era.



Jack Kiadii – Left Field – Niamey Atomics – 89.0% First Ballot

Jack Kiadii was a 6’0’’, 200 pound right-handed outfielder from the capital of Liberia, Monrovia. Kiadii was a solid contact hitter with incredible gap power and steady home run power. His 162 game average saw 48 doubles, 13 triples, and 31 home runs. Kiadii was poor at drawing walks and avoiding strikeouts, but nearly half of his hits went for extra bases. On the basepaths, he graded as slightly above average.

Kiadii played the vast majority of his starts in left field, where he was a reliably great defender that won six Gold Gloves. He made some starts in center early in his career and was perfectly adequate there. Kiadii had excellent durability, playing 140+ games each year from 1996-2007. He was intelligent and adaptable, skills that served him well over a 16-year career.

In the 1993 WAB Draft, Kiadii was picked third overall by Niamey, where he’d spend nearly his entire career. The Atomics only used him in 15 games in 1994, then started him 115 games in 1995. Kiadii was second in Rookie of the Year voting and had the full-time gig the next year.

From 1996 to 2004, Kiadii posted seven seasons worth 6+ WAR. He won his first Silver Slugger in 1996 playing center field, then won in left for his 2001 and 2003 efforts. Kiadii won three Gold Gloves from 1998-2000, then another three from 2002-2004. Niamey had been terrible to start the 1990s, but became a reliable wild card by the end of the decade. The Atomics earned three straight playoff berths from 1998-2000, but couldn’t make it beyond the first round.

Kiadii signed a three-year, $9,080,000 extension after the 2000 season. That year had seen his first time as a league leader with 50 doubles and 396 total bases. 2001 would feature a 34-game hitting streak, which fell one short of the then WAB-record. His production was slightly down though in 2001 and 2002 from the prior years. Niamey made it to the Eastern League Championship Series in 2002, but lost with Kiadii going a lousy 2-26. The Atomics had another first round exit in 2003.

2003 was THE year though for Kiadii, earning his lone MVP and the rare MVP/Slugger/Gold Glove sweep. He led the league in RBI (148), total bases (41), and slugging (.679); each career highs. Kiadii also had career highs in hits (211), runs (116), home runs (41), average (.349), OPS (1.044), wRC+ (178), and WAR (8.2). That effort promoted Niamey to give the 30-year old Kiadii a five-year, $19,600,000 in May 2003.

Kiadii followed it up with a league best 53 doubles and 381 total bases in 2004, but struggled to a 92 wRC+ and 0.9 WAR in 2005. He bounced back in 2006 by leading with 120 RBI. Niamey missed the playoffs both years, but emerged again as a contender by winning back-to-back pennants in 2006 and 2007. They lost the 2006 WAB final to Monrovia, but beat the Diplomats in the 2007 rematch.

In the 2007 postseason, Kiadii was the ELCS MVP and posted 8 hits, 6 runs, 4 homers, and 7 RBI in 10 playoff starts. For his career, he wasn’t great in the playoffs with 39 starts, 39 hits, 22 runs, 8 doubles, 3 triples, 6 home runs, 17 RBI, 11 stolen bases, a .245/.269/.447 slash, 92 wRC+, and 0.5 WAR. He had a less prominent role by this point, but Niamey’s 1993 draft pick proved a successful one overall. Kiadii would see his #1 uniform eventually retired by the Atomics.

2008 was his last year in Niger and saw him reach the 2500 hit, 400 home run, and 1500 RBI milestones. Although his production had dropped, Niamey was still happy to have him. Kiadii signed a three-year, $7,360,000 extension in October 2008. Two months later, he was packing for Gabon. Kiadii wasn’t protected in the 2008 expansion draft and the newly formed Libreville Lakers grabbed him with the fourth overall pick.

Kiadii was only a part-time starter with unremarkable results in 2009 for Libreville, then only played 41 games in all of 2010 with 17 starts. He had 1.6 WAR and a .280/.310/.493 slash in a forgettable tenure there. Kiadii retired that winter at age 37 and returned to his adopted home of Niamey, where he remains a popular media figure for the Atomics.

The final stats had 2677 hits, 1243 runs, 659 doubles, 183 triples, 434 home runs, 1570 RBI, 309 stolen bases, a .304/.324/.568 slash, 144 wRC+, and 72.2 WAR. As of 2037, Kiadii ranks 22^nd in WAR among position players, 30^th in hits, 59^th in runs, 9^th in doubles, 30^th in triples, 52^nd in home runs, and 23^rd in RBI. Kiadii certainly had an impressive run and received the first ballot induction easily at 89.0% to headline WAB’s 2016 Hall of Fame class.



Mo Reda – Designated Hitter/First Base – Kumasi Monkeys – 77.0% First Ballot

Mo Reda was a 6’1’’, 200 pound left-handed slugger from Giza, Egypt. Especially against right-handed pitching, Reda had great contact skills with impressive home run power. He had a career 169 wRC+ and 1.009 OPS against RHP, while posting a more pedestrian 107 wRC+ and .752 OPS against lefties. Still, Reda’s strength got him 42 home runs and 34 doubles per his 162 game average. His eye for walks and avoiding strikeouts were both considered average at best.

Reda was actually a very intelligent and crafty baserunner who knew how to pick his spots despite his lackluster speed. He started about 3/5 of games as a designated hitter and spent the rest as a first baseman, grading as a mediocre defender. Reda’s durability was respectable, but he later fell victim to a sudden decline.

Arab League Baseball had formed when Reda was a teenager, but was still a fairly new thing as he entered high school. A scout from Kumasi noticed him while visiting Egypt and convinced him to join their academy and the more established WAB. Reda signed in June 1994 and spent most of five years in their developmental system. He did officially debut with a lone at-bat in 1998 at age 20, then had 40 games and 8 starts in 1999.

Reda earned a starting gig in 2000 and showed power potential. He then emerged as WAB’s top slugger from 2001-2004, winning Silver Sluggers each year. During this run, he led the Western League in runs scored thrice, home runs thrice, RBI four times, total bases four times, slugging thrice, OPS thrice, wRC+ thrice, and WAR twice. Reda won three straight MVPs from 2001-2003 and finished second in 2004.

In 2001, he broke WAB’s single-season RBI record with 156, then obliterated it with 186 in 2003. That set a new world record at the time, although SAB’s Majed Darwish would best that mark thrice later in the decade. Still, Reda’s mark is still the WAB record as of 2037 and is tied for the fifth-most in a season for any pro league.

2003 also saw 64 home runs to beat the old WAB record by two, although Reda’s mark would fall three years later. His 461 total bases stood as the WAB record until 2015 and still ranks fifth as of 2037. These efforts helped return Kumasi to contention after hovering around .500 from 1999-2001. The Monkeys lost in the Western League Championship Series in both 2002 and 2003. Then in 2004, they won their first WAB Championship and upended the Kano dynasty.

Reda was the MVP of the 2004 WLCS, posting 23 hits, 12 runs, 6 doubles, 2 home runs, and 22 RBI over 12 playoff starts that year. The 22 RBI tied the WAB playoff record and hasn’t been topped yet. For his playoff career, Reda had 31 games and 30 starts with 42 hits, 22 runs, 10 doubles, 5 home runs, 37 RBI, a .333/.383/.532 slash, 135 wRC+, and 1.1 WAR.

Ghana had become an adopted home for Reda with Kumasi, but he did go back to Egypt from 2001-2007 for the World Baseball Championship. He had an impressive 2003 with 11 home runs, 23 hits, 19 runs, and 15 RBI, helping the Egyptians to their second-ever elite eight. In 68 games, Reda had 82 hits, 53 runs, 15 doubles, 29 home runs, 51 RBI, a .323/.378/.732 slash, 215 wRC+, and 5.2 WAR.

After the 2002 season, Kumasi locked him up to an eight-year, $19,240,000 extension. Reda’s production dropped a bit in 2005, but a fractured hand in the early summer played a big part in that. He had hit decently in the prime years against lefties, but became actively bad against them from 2006 onward. Reda still was strong enough against righties to lead with 46 home runs in 2007. Kumasi missed the playoffs narrowly in 2005, then lost in the 2006 WLCS. The Monkeys fell to the bottom of the standings for the next five years.

Plantar fasciitis cost Reda part of 2008, but his overall value was dwindling quickly. In 2010, even his power against righties seemed to be gone, hitting only 18 homers despite a full season. He posted -0.5 WAR for the season as his contract expired. Reda wanted to still play somewhere in 2011, but most teams agreed that he was cooked. Thus, he retired at only age 33. Kumasi did quickly honor him by retiring his #12 uniform for an impressive decade of service.

Reda had 1984 hits, 1047 runs, 362 doubles, 445 home runs, 1377 RBI, 515 walks, 118 stolen bases, a .309/.359/.582 slash, 153 wRC+, and 55.8 WAR. As of 2037, he ranks 46^th in RBI, 44^th in home runs, 71^st in WAR among position players, and 99^th in hits. Among all batters with 3000+ plate appearances, his .941 OPS is 57^th and his slugging percentage is 51^st.

His accumulations are definitely on the lower end due to a short career, but his brief peak was as impressive as any WAB slugger had been. Three MVPs, the RBI record, and a championship ring with Kumasi was enough for most voters to overlook his sudden decline. At 77.0%, Reda earned a first ballot induction with WAB’s 2016 Hall of Fame class.

[FuzzyRussianHat]

For the second time in three years, South Asia Baseball inducted four players into its Hall of Fame. The 2016 crew was an impressive one with all earning first ballot induction and the top three players above 97%. 2B/1B David Rusli and RP Saroth Bora were both nearly unanimous at 99.3% with OF Kamlesh Kanmani close behind at 97.6%. RP Quang Huy Canh joined with a very solid 85.7%. No one else was above 50% with the top returner being RF Han Kywe Khant at 46.6% in his fourth try.



Dropped after ten failed ballots was P Saddam Rahman, who pitched 14 years between Mandalay, Ho Chi Minh City, and Ahmedabad. He had 179 saves and a 104-63 record over 1290.2 innings with a 2.64 ERA, 1530 strikeouts, 260 walks, 134 ERA+, and 29.7 WAR. Rahman was mostly a reliever with a few seasons of starting, which gave him an odd stat line. He didn’t have any individual awards either, but the voters still gave him 52.0% in his 2007 ballot debut. Rahman dropped down to 7.8% by the end, but was generally in the 30-50% range.



David “Fang” Rusli – Second Base/First Base – Jaipur Jokers – 99.3% First Ballot

David Rusli was a 6’0’’, 200 pound switch-hitting infielder from Sungai Kolok, Thailand, a town of 38,000 on the southern border with Malaysia. Nicknamed “Fang,” Rusli was one of the all-time great leadoff men with excellent contact ability and outstanding baserunning chops. He led the Indian League 11 times in stolen bases and was a menace when he got aboard. Rusli also was solid at drawing walks and terrific at avoiding strikeouts in his prime.

Rusli’s gap power was impressive, getting 39 doubles and 10 triples per his 162 game average. He didn’t have big home run power, but still averaged 9 per 162 games. Rusli made about 3/5 of his starts at second base with the rest at first. He graded as a terrible 2B defensively and a below average one at 1B. Strong durability meant he was rarely out of the lineup, starting 147+ games each year from 1996-2007.

With his skillset, Rusli was a very popular player with fans. However, he did clash at times with teammates and coaches due to selfishness and laziness. Despite of perceived lack of leadership and loyalty, he did play his entire career in Jaipur. A visiting scout caught wind of Rusli as a teenage amateur and gave him a developmental deal in September 1988, bringing him from Thailand to India.

Although he played his full career in the Indian League, Rusli did regularly return home for the World Baseball Championship. From 1995-2010, he had 134 games and 126 starts for the Thai national team, posting 139 hits, 65 runs, 24 doubles, 7 triples, 13 homers, 55 RBI, 73 stolen bases, a .291/.381/.453 slash, 138 wRC+, and 4.6 WAR.

Rusli’s IL debut came at age 20 in 1993 with 59 games and 8 starts. He was a regular pinch hitter and runner in 1994 and 1995, then earned a full-time starting job after that. Rusli played second base almost exclusively in his 20s, then started to shift over to first in his 30s. Even with his lackluster defense, Rusli’s batting impact was immediately felt in 1996, leading the league in triples (14), walks (78), steals (99), and OBP (.421). Sharing a position with the legendary Tirtha Upadhyaya early in his career did limit his awards potential despite regularly posting 6+ WAR.

1997 started an 11-year streak of 100+ stolen base seasons. Rusli led in doubles in 1998 and on-base percentage in 1999. Jaipur became a playoff regular with six berths from 1996-2002, but couldn’t compare with the historic Ahmedabad dynasty. In that stretch, the Jokers lost five times to the Animals in the ILCS. Still, they were pleased with Rusli’s results, giving him an eight-year, $20,840,000 extension after the 1998 season. He was one of the few big ticket players of the era to not eventually player for either Ahmedabad or Ho Chi Minh City, who hoovered up talent to maintain their dominance.

In 2001, Rusli exploded for an MVP season and his first Silver Slugger. He became SAB’s second-ever .400 hitter and led the league with career highs in hits (234), runs (135), wRC+ (239), and WAR (13.3). Rusli stole 143 bases, destroying the previous SAB single-season record of 125. To that point, that was the second most steals by any player in any world league and it remains the SAB record as of 2037. Rusli’s 13.3 WAR mark also ranks as SAB’s seventh-best season by a position player. He also had a career high 52 doubles and his .463 OBP broke the then-SAB record, although it would be topped three years later.

Rusli won two more batting titles and led in hits in both 2002 and 2003, earning Silver Sluggers both years and second place finishes in MVP voting. 2002 also saw a lead in doubles and his fourth time lading in OBP. It was one of nine seasons for Rusli worth 8+ WAR. Jaipur’s playoff streak ended in 2003, but they started a new six-year run the next year. The Jokers lost in the ILCS in 2004 and the first round in 2005 despite earning the #1 seed.

2005 saw Rusli lead in runs and OBP again, while 2006 had a lead in triples. With the Ahmedabad dynasty winding down, Jaipur finally had a chance to break through. They upset the Animals in the 2006 ILCS, then defeated Yangon for their first SAB title. Rusli was finals MVP and over 18 playoff starts in 2006 had 25 hits, 9 runs, 3 homers, 10 RBI, and 18 steals. The 18 stolen bases is a world playoff record that hasn’t been topped as of 2037, although a few have matched it.

The 33-year old Rusli signed a four-year, $10,080,000 extension in March 2006. He took third in 2007 MVP voting by batting .400 with a .480 OBP, along with league bests in hits (225), doubles (46), walks (91), and steals (110). Rusli’s 1.081 OPS and 117 RBI were also career bests. The .480 OBP ranks third-best as of 2037, behind only Ratan Canduri’s .487 in 2013 and .486 in 2006. The .400 average was rounded up, officially at .3996 for the seventh-highest in SAB history.

2008 saw injury issues for the first time as a fractured thumb, then a fractured hand, kept him out almost the entire fall, including the playoffs. Rusli was still a strong starter in 2009, but posted 5.0 WAR, his weakest full-season output. He came up big again in the playoffs as Jaipur won the IL pennant. They fell to Ho Chi Minh City in the SAB Championship, but Rusli was finals MVP in the defeat with 29 hits, 10 runs, and 10 steals over 18 playoff starts.

For his playoff career, Rusli had 103 starts with an impressive 136 hits, 60 runs, 23 doubles, 7 triples, 6 home runs, 40 RBI, 40 walks, 69 steals, a .343/.402/.481 slash, 174 wRC+, and 6.6 WAR. As of 2037, Rusli ranks third in steals, eighth in hits, and 16^th in runs in SAB history.

Jaipur surprisingly struggled to 73-89 in 2010, their first losing season since 1998. A torn quad kept Rusli out for a big chunk, but his production dropped notably too. He became a free agent for the first time and looked for work in 2011, but couldn’t find a suitor. Rusli retired that winter at age 39 and Jaipur immediately brought him in to retire his #14 uniform.

Rusli finished with 2913 hits, 1478 runs, 617 doubles, 156 triples, 145 home runs, 1068 RBI, 952 walks, a 7.2% strikeout rate, 1515 stolen bases, a .338/.404/.497 slash, 179 wRC+, and 119.2 WAR. Rusli retired as the SAB steals leader, but he would get passed in the 2030s by Gunavati Candrajita. As of 2037, he ranks 18^th in pro baseball history in stolen bases. Among world Hall of Famers, he also ranks 39^th in batting average and 29^th in on-base percentage.

On the SAB leaderboards as of 2037, Rusli is 14^th in WAR among position players, 11^th in hits, 26^th in runs, ninth in doubles, 26^th in triples, and 18^th in walks drawn. Among all hitters with 3000+ plate appearances, Rusli is ninth in batting average and sixth in OBP. He’s one of seven in SAB with a career OBP above .400. Rusli’s .901 OPS ranks 82^nd.

Tough competition kept Rusli from getting more awards, but few position players in his era of SAB were more reliably valuable. Despite perceived laziness, Rusli always stepped up in the playoffs and helped Jaipur break Ahmedabad’s control of the IL. He stands out even with a loaded four-player 2016 Hall of Fame class, earning co-headliner status with a near unanimous 99.3%.



Saroth “Goat” Bora – Closer – Ho Chi Minh City Hedgehogs – 99.3% First Ballot

Saroth Bora was a 6’3’’, 205 pound relief pitcher from the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. Bora had absolutely filthy stuff with good to sometimes great movement and control. He had a one-two combo of a 97-99 mph fastball and an excellent curveball. Bora had outstanding stamina and durability out of the bullpen and was almost always available to pitch. He was one of the smartest and hardest working guys in the game, thriving in a 17-year career.

Bora was spotted as a teenage amateur by a Vietnamese scout visiting Cambodia and signed in November 1988 by Ho Chi Minh City. He spent four years in the Hedgehogs academy before debuting at age 21 in 1993 with 33.1 innings. Bora earned the full-time closer the next year and led the Southeast Asia League in saves (48) and games (76).

1994 officially counted as his rookie season and Bora achieved a very unique feat of a Rookie of the Year and Reliever of the Year winner in the same campaign. Bora also was third in Pitcher of the Year voting. He led in saves again in 1995 and 1997. Bora took second in ROTY in 1995 and 1996, then won it for the second time in 1997. His 0.68 ERA, 5.5 WAR, and 532 ERA+ in 1997 were all career bests.

Ho Chi Minh City was the dynasty of SEAL with 23 straight playoff berths from 1987-2009 and 14 pennants in that run. Ahmedabad’s Indian League dynasty often got in their way in the SAB Championship in the early part of the run, beating HCMC in 1987, 89, 90, 92, 94, 95, 98, and 99. The Hedgehogs finally got their first SAB title win over the Animals in 1997. Bora was excellent in that playoff run with six saves and a 0.63 ERA over 14.1 innings with 30 strikeouts.

Bora took second in Reliever of the Year in both 1998 and 1999. This wrapped up his first HCMC run with 29.7 WAR and 250 saves over seven years, an impressive haul for a closer. Now 28-years old, he switched sides in the great rivalry and spent the next two years with Ahmedabad. Bora saw limited mid relief use in 2000, which saw a finals loss to HCMC.

The Animals won the IL with a historic 125-37 record in 2001, but were upset by Yangon in the SAB Championship. Bora reclaimed the closer role and tied the SAB record for saves with 52, a mark that still holds as of 2037. That earned him his third Reliever of the Year win. With Ahmedabad, Bora had a 1.75 ERA over 133.2 innings, 252 strikeouts, 181 ERA+, and 5.2 WAR.

Now 30-years old, Bora returned to Ho Chi Minh City, winning back-to-back ROTYs in 2002 and 2003. He also took second in 2002’s POTY voting, posting a league-best 47 saves that year with a 1.09 ERA in 90.2 innings and 5.1 WAR. The Hedgehogs lost in the 2002 LCS, but won the SAB title in 2003 against Bengaluru. This ended his second run with HCMC, as Bora was picked sixth overall by Lucknow in the 2003 expansion draft.

Bora spent the front end of 2004 with the Larks, who traded him at the deadline to Yangon for three prospects. The Green Dragons fell in the first round of the playoffs and didn’t sign Bora long-term. He decided to go back “home” for a third tenure with Ho Chi Minh City from 2005-2007. He wouldn’t be the closer during this stretch, but still was an important mid relief guy. HCMC won the 2005 SAB Championship, giving Bora his third ring.

His playoff exploits were impressive at all of his stops, playing 84 games with 152.1 total. In that run, Bora had 42 saves and 52 shutdowns, a 12-8 record, 2.36 ERA, 279 strikeouts, 31 walks, 155 ERA+, and 5.6 WAR. As of 2037, he’s the world record holder in playoff saves and appearances by a healthy margin. Bora also ranks second in playoff strikeouts and third in WAR among all SAB pitchers, starters included.

In 2001, Bora had an all-time great playoff run by tossing 19.2 scoreless innings in 11 games, posting six saves and 37 strikeouts. He’s one of only three pitchers in SAB playoff history with a zero ERA and 15+ innings. He had eight saves in the 2003 run, which is the SAB record still as of 2037.

In 2008, Bora signed with Kanpur and had his worst ERA to date at 3.62 in a part-time closing role, posting 0.7 WAR in 97 innings. HCMC then brought him back for a fourth tour in 2009, returning to the closer role. Bora wasn’t as dominant with 1.8 WAR and a 2.71 ERA in 73 innings, but he led in saves for the sixth time with 41. Bora also posted six playoff saves as HCMC won their final SAB title of the dynasty, beating Jaipur in the final.

Over 13 seasons between the four runs with Ho Chi Minh City, Bora had 387 saves and 420 shutdowns, a 1.71 ERA, 721 games, 941.1 innings, 1720 strikeouts, 220 walks, a 217 ERA+, and 45.4 WAR. His role in their dominance was certainly noticed by management, who later retired his #8 uniform After his last year with HCMC, Bora had 498 saves, inches away from becoming their first 500+ save closer.

Sadly, he didn’t get it as his velocity dropped steeply in 2010. Bora signed with Bangkok but only got one save with a 3.98 ERA over 40.2 innings, posting -0.5 WAR for the season. Instead of trying to hang around, Bora was content holding SAB’s #1 save spot and retired that winter at age 39.

For his career, Bora had a 95-84 record, 499 saves, 1.90 ERA, 976 games, 1307 innings, 2350 strikeouts, 290 walks, 546 shutdowns, a 191 ERA+, and 55.6 WAR. He remained the saves leader until passed by Amu Singh in the late 2020s. As of 2037, Bora is second in saves and third in games. Among all pitchers, he ranks 41^st in WAR.

Bora’s rate stats are impressive and as of 2037, he leads all SAB pitchers with 1000+ innings in WHIP (0.83), opponent’s average (.170) and opponent’s OBP (.225). His slugging (.294) ranks fifth and both ERA and his OPS (.520) ranks second only to his contemporary Taj Kanikaraja. These two and Singh are the only closers to win five SAB Reliever of the Year awards (Kanikaraja has six). Bora is second only to Singh in strikeouts amongst SAB relievers and leads them all in WAR.

It is often a debate pitting Bora against Kanikaraja in the SAB GOAT closer conversation, as Singh had more accumulations but less dominance. For many, Bora’s playoff heroics put him in the pole position and you could argue he’s the most prolific playoff closer in pro baseball history.

Among the world’s best relievers as of 2037, Bora ranks 14^th in saves, 27^th in shutdowns, 4^th in strikeouts, 26^th in WAR, 38^th in games, and 35^th in ERA+, Rarely do even the best relievers get close to unanimous inductions, but Bora’s 99.3% was well deserved as a co-headliner in SAB’s loaded 2016 Hall of Fame class.

[FuzzyRussianHat]

Kamlesh Kanmani – Outfielder – Delhi Drillers – 97.6% First Ballot

Kamlesh Kanmani was a 6’2’’, 195 pound right-handed outfielder from Bhopal, India; the capital of the Madhya Pradesh state with about 1,900,000 in its metro area. Kanmani was a very good contact hitter with an impressive pop in his bat. His gap power was especially great, getting 47 doubles and 4 triples per his 162 game average. Kanmani could go yard, topping 40+ home runs thrice in his career. He had a solid strikeout rate, but was below average at drawing walks. Kanmani didn’t get many extra bags with his legs as a firmly mediocre baserunner.

Kanmani was a career outfielder and primarily played right, where he graded as reliably average to above average. He played center in his first two seasons and was terrible with his lackluster range. Kanmani played a lackluster left at the end of his career once his arm weakened and his overall athleticism declined. He had fairly sturdy durability and was adaptable. Kanmani was a smart guy, but could get lazy when he thought he could get away with it.

In September 1991, Kanmani was signed to a developmental deal as a teenager by Delhi. After four years in their academy, he debuted in 1996 for the Drillers at age 21, struggling as a full-time starter. He fared better the next two years and even led the Indian League in doubles with 55 in 1997. Kanmani’s home run power started to emerge later in his 20s, upping his value. He won his first Silver Slugger in 1999, leading that year in RBI at 108.

Kanmani won Sluggers the next three years for Delhi and took third in 2000’s MVP voting and second in 2001. In 2000, he led in hits (194), total bases (336), average (.330), and slugging (.571). Then in 2001, Kanmani set the SAB single-season record with 58 doubles. That would be passed six times in later years. Each of his Slugger seasons with the Drillers were worth 6.5+ WAR or more. Kanmani was above a 200 wRC+ in 2000 and 2001.

Despite his work, Delhi was generally stuck in the mid-tier. Their only playoff berth during his run was a wild card round loss in 1998. The Drillers couldn’t match the powerhouse teams in spending and the budding superstar Kanmani left for free agency after his age 27 season. In seven years for Delhi, he had 1173 hits, 517 runs, 327 doubles, 141 home runs, 581 RBI, a .302/.342/.511 slash, 171 wRC+, and 38.3 WAR. He played the most games with them and they gave him his first break, thus Kanmani opted for induction in the Drillers brown and gold.

However, his most impactful seasons came with the Ho Chi Minh City dynasty, who signed him to an eight-year, $23,600,000 deal. Each of his first four seasons were worth 8+ WAR, winning Silver Sluggers in 2003, 2004, and 2005. Kanmani’s lone MVP came in 2005, which saw league bests in hits (214), doubles (48), total bases (406), and WAR (9.9), along with 46 homers and 144 RBI. He was third in 2003 MVP voting and second in 2004. 2004 saw his career best WAR (11.2), OPS (1.115), and home run tally (51).

Kanmani was a key piece as Ho Chi Minh City had their strongest stretch of the dynasty, three-peating as SAB champ from 2003-2005. He had solid showings during these runs, including earning 2004 finals MVP. The Hedgehogs would lose in the Southeast Asia League Championship in 2006, then fell in the first round in 2007. With HCMC in the playoffs, Kanmani had 52 starts, 63 hits, 23 runs, 13 doubles, 9 home runs, 28 RBI, a .315/.355/.545/ slash, 150 wRC+, and 2.4 WAR.

In 2007, Kanmani was on a solid pace but lost two months to a strained hamstring. He still had three years left on his deal, but with salaries generally increasing decided to opt out of the rest of the deal. With the Hedgehogs, Kanmani had 951 hits, 483 runs, 200 doubles, 211 home runs, 616 RBI, a .337/.379/.643 slash, 184 wRC+, and 42.1 WAR. Heading to his age 33 season, Kanmani signed with Yangon four years at $16,320,000. The Green Dragons had been one of the top contenders to HCMC for the SEAL throne.

Kanmani had a nice debut season in 2008 with 7.4 WAR and a league-best 52 doubles. Yangon won 114 games, but lost to a 120-win Hanoi in the LCS. However, Kanmani suddenly declined steeply in 2009, posting a mere 0.4 WAR and 99 wRC+ over a full season. He was reduced to a bench role in 2010, only playing 81 games with 41 starts. Yangon bought out the final year of his contract and Kanmani retired at age 35.

The final stats saw 2508 hits, 1185 runs, 618 doubles, 411 home runs, 1384 RBI, 511 walks, a .315/.356/.562 slash, 169 wRC+, and 88.4 WAR. As of 2037, Kanmani ranks 34^th in WAR for position players, 43^rd in hits, 8^th in doubles, 69^th in runs, 73^rd in homers, and 50^th in RBI. Among all players with 3000+ plate appearances, his .918 OPS ranks 59^th.

Despite the steep decline, Kanmani was one of SAB’s strongest hitters for a good decade and a big reason that Ho Chi Minh City earned their historic three-peat from 2003-2005. He’d be a clear headliner in most classes, although he managed to rank third in the loaded four-player 2016 Hall of Fame class. Kanmani was a no-doubter at 97.6%.



Quang Huy “Tank” Canh – Closer – Dhaka Dobermans – 85.7% First Ballot

Quang Huy Canh was a 6’3’’, 200 pound right-handed relief pitcher from Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam. Nicknamed “Tank” for his impressive physique, Canh was a fireballer with dangerous stuff, although his control and movement were both average at best. He had an impressive 98-100 mph fastball and a strong slider. Canh had good stamina and durability for a reliever, tossing 65+ innings in all but one of his 14 seasons. He was quite adaptable and known as a hard worker.

Canh got attention at a camp in HCMC as a teenager, which led to him signing a developmental deal in August 1991 with Dhaka. He spent five years training in their academy in Bangladesh, then debuted as a full-timer in 1997 at age 23. Canh was the closer immediately, although he was merely decent in his first few seasons. He emerged as a going concern in 2000 when he led the Southeast Asia League with 42 saves, taking second in Reliever of the Year voting.

2001 saw a 1.06 ERA and a career-best 4.8 WAR, earning Reliever of the Year honors. 2002 had his highest totals for innings (108.2), strikeouts (185), and games (75), finishing second in voting. After a six-year playoff drought, Dhaka surprised many by winning SEAL in 2002, although they lost to the Ahmedabad dynasty in the SAB Championship. Canh had six saves in the playoffs with a 2.57 ERA and 26 strikeouts over 14 innings.

That marked the end of the Dhaka run after six seasons, as Canh entered free agency at age 29. It was his longest tenure, posting 192 saves and 221 shutdowns over 500.1 innings, a 2.34 ERA, 811 strikeouts, 156 ERA+, and 15.7 WAR. Canh joined SEAL’s evil empire in 2003, but it made sense since Ho Chi Minh City was his hometown.

Canh had a set-up role in 2003 as his Hall of Fame classmate Saroth Bora was the Hedgehogs closer. He posted 1.7 WAR over 57 innings, winning the SAB Championship with the Hedgehogs. HCMC was happy with him and gave him a three-year, $4,020,000 extension. However, Canh was drafted eighth overall by Nagpur in the expansion draft.

That ended his brief time playing in his native Vietnam. Canh did still represent his country regularly in the World Baseball Championship with 76.2 innings from 1999-2010. He posted 20 saves, a 2.35 ERA, 6-2 record, 131 strikeouts, 153 ERA+, and 1.6 WAR. After the expansion draft to Nagupur, Canh played his remaining years in the Indian League.

In two decent seasons for the Patriots, Canh had 64 saves, 162.1 innings, a 2.83 ERA, 276 strikeouts, 116 ERA+, and 6.2 WAR. Nagpur traded him after the 2005 season to Jaipur for three prospects. The Jokers wanted him long-term and gave him a three-year, $4,140,000 extension in spring training. Canh’s debut season saw a career and league-best 49 saves and 75 games in 2006.

In the playoffs, Canh had a 2.60 ERA over 17.1 innings with 26 strikeouts, helping Jaipur win the SAB Championship in 2006 over Yangon. He struggled in his later playoff appearances for the Jokers and finished his playoff career with a 3.73 ERA, 96 ERA+, and -0.5 WAR. Canh would win his second Reliever of the Year in 2007 with a career best 0.85 ERA over 95.2 innings.

His production in 2008 was merely decent, then he had some struggled in 2009. In total for Jaipur, Canh had 150 saves, a 2.30 ERA, 360.2 innings, 519 strikeouts, 153 ERA+, and 9.8 WAR. While there, he became the third in SAB to reach 400 career saves, which his contemporaries Bora and Taj Kanikaraja had done the prior two years.

Canh signed with Visakhapatnam in 2010 and filled more of a setup role, posting a 2.76 ERA over 65.1 innings and 0.8 WAR. He would miss much of the fall to shoulder inflammation. Canh retired that winter just after turning 37 years old.

The final stats for Canh: 425 saves and 490 shutdowns, 2.39 ERA, 69-80 record, 1145.2 innings, 1783 strikeouts, 309 walks, 148 ERA+, and 34.2 WAR. Among all SAB pitchers with 1000+ career innings, his ERA ranks 10^th as of 2037 and his .587 opponent’s OPS ranks 24^th. Canh sits seventh in saves in SAB and 46^th in all of pro baseball history.

Canh’s resume is far less dominant compared to Bora or Kanikaraja, who are the top two in ERA and OPS in SAB as of 2037. In a vacuum, he had a very solid run that the voters reacted favorably to. Canh received 85.7% for a first ballot nod as the fourth and final member of the loaded 2016 SAB Hall of Fame class.

[FuzzyRussianHat]

For the third time in four years and the fifth time in seven years, the Asian Baseball Federation didn’t add any players into the Hall of Fame. They had put four in with the 2015 and 2012 classes in between. 1B Altaf Aslam was the only one close to the 66% requirement, debuting at 62.5%. Two others were above 40% with LF Ramazan Olcay debuting at 47.3% and SP Masruq Abbas with 46.4% for his fourth ballot. No players were dropped after ten failed ballots.

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The 2016 Hall of Fame ballot for Arab League Baseball lacked impactful debuts with the top newcomer at only 17.7%. That helped open up the field for 2B Ahmad Abbas in his sixth ballot. His 66.2% barely crossed the 66% requirement, but it was enough to be the lone 2016 inductee. Also close was CL Adlen Sharif at 60.8% on his second try.



Four other returners were above 50%. SP Ahmad Abu Kabeer had 57.7% in his second ballot and LF Hassan El Mubarak saw 56.5% for his fifth. SP Ali Al-Shakal’s fourth ballot got 52.7% and LF Ibrahim Ahmed Raafat received 51.9% for his ninth opportunity. No players were dropped after ten failed ballots.



Ahmad “Torch” Abbas – Second Base – Tripoli Privateers – 66.2% Sixth Ballot

Ahmad Abbas was a 6’2’’, 200 pound switch-hitting second baseman from Fes, Morocco; the country’s second-largest city with over one million people. Abbas earned the nickname “Torch” for his impressive speed and baserunning ability. He was the traditional leadoff hitter who pared the speed with solid contact skills and gap power. Despite the solid contact ability, Abbas rarely drew walks and was merely average at avoiding strikeouts.

Abbas knew how to find the gap and leg it out, leading the conference six times in triples. His 162 game average saw 36 doubles and 19 triples, but he wasn’t going to smack dingers with only 28 career home runs. Abbas primarily played second base and was an excellent defender, winning two Gold Gloves. He stayed fairly healthy in his 20s, but dealt with injury woes in his 30s. Abbas was hard working, intelligent, and loyal, garnering the respect of his peers.

The 1991 ALB Draft was the second rookie draft for the still new league. Tripoli picked Abbas 21^nd overall and made him a full-time starter immediately, leading the Western Conference in at-bats as a rookie. Abbas earned his two Gold Gloves in 1994 and 1995 and his lone Silver Slugger in 1996. From 1995-1997, he led the conference in hits and triples. Abbas had 28 triples in 1997, setting the ALB single-season record which has been matched twice since, but not beaten.

1997 also saw his lone batting title (.362), as well as both league and career highs in runs (115) and hits (215). Abbas also had career bests in WAR (9.2), OPS (.942), and total bases (322), earning a third place in MVP voting. Tripoli made it to the conference final that year to break a five-year playoff drought, but lost to Khartoum. The Privateers would miss the playoffs for the next four years.

After the 1997 season, Tripoli locked Abbas up for eight years and $10,020,000. He played his entire pro career in Libya, but did return home to Morocco for the World Baseball Championship. He had 91 games and 84 starts from 1994-2004 with 77 hits, 36 runs, 13 doubles, 4 triples, 40 stolen bases, a .238/.285/.313 slash, and 0.5 WAR.

1999 had his career best in stolen bases with 107 and was his third time leading in steals. His bat regressed closed to league average in the next few years, but Abbas’ defense still made him a positive value player. 2002 would be a rough year due to a concussion in spring training that kept him out almost the entire season. Abbas made it back in the final month and Tripoli made the conference final, losing to Alexandria.

Abbas bounced back for a solid 2003, but struggled and was benched in 2004 with only 49 starts of 98 games. He saw only three pinch-hit at-bats in the playoffs as Tripoli fell in the first round. Abbas fared little better in 2005 and saw the season end with a broken bone in his elbow. His contract expired and he had no suitors for 2006, retiring that winter at age 37. Abbas was popular in Tripoli and his service was rewarded with his #34 uniform’s retirement.

In total, Abbas had 2122 hits, 1039 runs, 404 doubles, 218 triples, 28 home runs, 559 RBI, 993 stolen bases, a .296/.328/.425 slash, 108 wRC+, and 59.4 WAR. He was the all-time triples leader at retirement, although two players would pass him. As of 2037, he ranks 80^th in hits, 100^th in runs, 16^th in stolen bases, and 62^nd in WAR among position players. Abbas is sixth in WAR accrued at second base.

It wasn’t easy for leadoff guys to get noticed with the low power numbers. Plus with his few walks, sabremetric markers viewed Abbas as a slightly above average bat. He did have strong defense and some black ink, but his awards were limited. Tripoli was generally a middling team in his run and Abbas was unimpressive in his limited playoff appearances.

The resume was definitely borderline and he debuted at a measly 38.2%. Abbas climbed his way into the 50s by 2013 and got to 59.4% in 2015. With no notables up for the 2016 class, Abbas just barely got across the line for the sixth ballot add into the Arab League Hall of Fame. Especially as ALB aged, Abbas in retrospect ranks as one of the weakest inductees, but he’s in regardless.

[FuzzyRussianHat]

Relief pitcher Tewderos Tadesse became the fourth member of the African Association of Baseball’s Hall of Fame. He was the lone addition in 2016, debuting at 84.0%. Four others were above 50%, but short of the 66% requirement. SP Joel Mwasesa had 59.2% on his second ballot, SP Hendrik Jongman got 57.4% for his ninth go, 1B Abebe Chekol earned 54.4% for his fourth attempt, and SP Alemayehu Legesse saw 51.1% in his fifth try.



1B Laurent Kouakou became the first player to last ten ballots without induction. The Ivorian notably played a decade in West Africa Baseball before finishing his final seven years in AAB, winning MVP in 1999. His combined resume had 2281 hits, 1351 runs, 498 doubles, 682 home runs, 1766 RBI, a .254/.329/.545 slash, 142 wRC+, and 70.2 WAR.

However just in AAB, Kouakou had 1041 hits, 676 runs, 224 doubles, 332 home runs, 856 RBI, a .266/.355/.584 slash, 156 wRC+, and 38.3 WAR. That’s a stellar seven years, but not enough tenure to make it in. He peaked at 41.8% in 2010 and ended at 9.4%.

Also worth a mention was SS Nlandu Sankuru, who fell below 5% on his eighth ballot. He was hurt by his official career starting at age 30, but in nine seasons he managed five Silver Sluggers, 1229 hits, 753 runs, 306 doubles, 259 home runs, 831 RBI, a .279/.375/.539 slash, 150 wRC+, and 37.7 WAR. If he had his 20s to add to the tallies, Sankuru probably would’ve had a shot.

Additionally, RF Stijn Steeneveld dropped after nine ballots. The Dutchman played his first seven years in Europe before playing eight years in Africa, winning two MVPs with Bujumbura and AAB titles with both Kinshasa and Lubumbashi. Steeneveld was another hurt by lack of tenure, finishing in AAB with 1167 hits, 681 runs, 135 doubles, 358 home runs, 836 RBI, a .273/.313/.561 slash, 137 wRC+, and 35.3 WAR.



Tewderos Tadesse – Relief Pitcher – Kinshasa Sun Cats – 84.0% First Ballot

Tewderos Tadesse was a 6’0’’, 200 pound right-handed relief pitcher from the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. Tadesse’s stuff and movement were both tremendous in his prime, while his control was above average. His velocity hit the 95-97 mph range with a one-two punch of slider and sinker. Both looked the same until it was too late with steep movement.

Tadesse did have severe platoon splits, owning right-handed hitting with a career 1.49 ERA compared to a 2.97 ERA versus lefties. He had solid stamina for a reliever and boasted excellent durability over a 21-year career. Tadesse was a team leader and was adaptable.

When AAB officially formed for the 1995 season, Tadesse was already 26-years old and had a few years’ experience in Ethiopia’s semi-pro scene. He earned a couple offers and ended up going to the Democratic Republic of the Congo on a two-year deal with Kinshasa. Tadesse ended up spending five years with the Sun Cats, helping them become AAB’s first dynasty.

1995 saw career bests for Tadesse in saves (44), and WAR (7.6), earning Reliever of the Year honors and a second in Pitcher of the Year voting. His 7.6 WAR remains the AAB record by a ROTY winner as of 2037. Tadesse took second in ROTY in 1996, then won it again in 1997 with another second in POTY. Despite this, he saw a lesser role in the next two years for Kinshasa, still pitching effectively in a set-up role.

Kinshasa lost the inaugural Africa Series to Johannesburg in 1995, then fell in the 1996 Central Conference Championship. The Sun Cats then rattled off four straight AAB titles with Tadesse getting three rings. In the playoffs for Kinshasa, Tadesse had a 1.91 ERA over 37.2 innings with 9 saves, 61 strikeouts, 210 ERA+, and 2.1 WAR. In total for the Sun Cats, Tadesse had 126 saves and 163 shutdowns, a 1.53 ERA and 263 ERA+, 377.1 innings, 585 strikeouts, and 25.5 WAR.

Tadesse became a mercenary from 2000 onward going to Johannesburg in 2001, Lubumbashi in 2001, Dar es Salaam in 2002, then back to Lubumbashi in 2003. Although not the closer, his 1.72 ERA over 104.2 innings with the Loggerheads in 2001 earned him second in ROTY voting. Tadesse reclaimed the closer spot in 2002 with the Sabercats and won his second Reliever of the Year award. He had two more Africa Series appearances as the Jackalopes lost the 2000 final, while Lubumbashi won it in 2001. Tadesse had 11.2 scoreless innings in six appearances in the 2001 run.

In 2004, Tadesse returned to his hometown and became the closer for Addis Ababa. He had been a regular for his country in the World Baseball Championship from 1995-2010 despite his pro career taking him elsewhere. Ethiopia often used Tadesse as a starter with 22 starts and 17 relief appearances, posting 186 innings, a 14-9 record, 1.79 ERA, 268 strikeouts, 196 ERA+, and 8.0 WAR. As of 2037, he ranks 46^th in pitching WAR among all pitchers in WBC history.

Tadesse returned to the closer role in his lone year with the Brahmas, winning his fourth Reliever of the ear and taking third in Pitcher of the Year voting. Now 36-years old, he ended up back in lesser roles in 2005 with Luanda and 2006 with Dar es Salaam. Tadesse was back to the closer spot in 2007 with Durban and led in saves and games, taking third in ROTY voting. He struggled in the playoffs with a 5.19 ERA in 17.1 innings, but the Deer earned repeat AAB titles and Tadesse became a five-time Africa Series champ.

Next was a third stint with Lubumbashi in 2008, taking third in Reliever of the Year voting. Tadesse then had a second stay with Luanda, where he won his fifth ROTY. As of 2037, he’s one of only three to win the award five times in AAB. The Landsharks earned their first-ever pennant, but dropped the Africa Series to Addis Ababa. Tadesse had five saves over 12.2 playoff innings with a 1.42 ERA.

For the most part, Tadesse was a solid playoff pitcher. He had 50 appearances in AAB with 90.2 innings, a 2.38 ERA and 174 ERA+, 20 saves, 24 shutdowns, 111 strikeouts, and 3.2 WAR. Tadesse was the playoff saves leader in AAB at retirement, although Sipho Zuke would pass him in the 2030s. Tadesse does hold the record for the lowest opponent’s slugging percentage (.227) among all pitchers with 30+ playoff innings.

Tadesse signed with Ndjamena for 2010, but was sent to the European Second League as EBF teams could trade with AAB teams at this point. The Magic got three prospects for Tadesse, sending him to Stuttgart. He stayed in E2L to start 2011 with Dnipro, but got traded to the top tier in July with Birmingham. Tadesse got rocked in only nine appearances for the Bees and decided to retire that winter at age 43.

For his AAB career, Tadesse had a 2.12 ERA over 1129 innings, 803 games, 326 saves and 424 shutdowns, 103-60 record, 1577 strikeouts, 357 walks, 194 ERA+, and 56.8 WAR. As of 2037, he’s seventh in saves in AAB and 23^rd amongst all pitchers in WAR. Among all pitchers with 1000+ innings, his ERA ranks third, as does his opponent’s OPS of .531. Tadesse ranks #1 still in on-base percentage and sits third in both average and slugging.

He didn’t stay specifically in the closer role to rack up saves, but his rate stats were impressive. Among all relievers in pro baseball history, Tadesse is 25^th in WAR and 42^nd in ERA+. His contemporaries Rajab Hamadi and Mulumba Mwamba are considered better by some AAB scholars, but Tadesse’s playoff successes especially give him an argument. Most voters didn’t need extra convincing as Tadesse received 84.0% to earn first ballot induction as AAB’s lone 2016 Hall of Fame inductee.

[FuzzyRussianHat]

The 2016 World Baseball Championship was the 70^th edition and was hosted by India for the second time, this time centered in Kolkata. Division 1 was a mess as France, England, and the Netherlands each tied for first at 7-2. The tiebreaker went to the French for their first division title since 2011 and their 12^th overall. After a rare miss in 2015, the United States was the lone unbeaten in 2016 atop Division 2. Their closest foes were Peru (7-2) and Italy (6-3). The Americans advanced for the 56^th time. Last year’s world champion Philippines stunningly had an abysmal 1-8 effort, tied for the worst of any team.

Division 3 also had a three-way tie at 7-2 between China, Ethiopia, and Germany. The Chinese advanced on the tiebreaker for their second division win in three years and their 26^th overall. Spain, third last year, stunk at 2-7. Division 4 also had a three-way tie, but at 6-3 between Finland, Japan, and Taiwan. Haiti and Sweden were both close at 5-4. The tiebreaker went to the Finns for their first-ever division title. Finland became the 76^th unique nation to advance to the elite eight at least once.

Brazil advanced for the second time in three years and 33^rd time overall, taking Division 5 at 8-1. Hungary and India were their nearest foes at 6-3. A competitive D6 had Venezuela (7-2) edging 6-3 efforts by El Salvador, Indonesia, and Slovakia. It was the sixth division title for the Venezuelans and first since 2001. Division 7 went to 8-1 Ukraine, topping 7-2 Nigeria and 6-3 Iran. The Ukrainians earned their tenth division win and first since taking runner-up in 2013. The 2015 runner-up Mexico took fourth in D7 at 5-4.

Division 8 was the tightest with four teams at 6-3; Canada, Denmark, Poland, and Uzbekistan. Austria and Pakistan at 5-4 were both in the hunt as well. After the tiebreaker formula was sorted out, the Poles prevailed for their seventh division title. It was Poland’s second elite eight in four years. With that, 2016’s elite eight saw no repeats from 2015.

China claimed first in Round Robin Group A at 5-1, advancing along with 4-2 Venezuela. The United States at 2-4 and Finland at 1-5 were eliminated. It was the 19^th time to the semifinal for the Chinese, who last did it in 2007. The Venezuelans had only gotten this far once before, taking fourth place way back in 1951.

Group B saw Brazil and Ukraine both advance at 4-2, while 3-3 France and 1-5 Poland were ousted. The Brazilians earned their 19^th final four berth, but they ended a lengthy drought back to 2003. Ukraine moved forward for the fourth time, having most recently done it in 2013. This continued a run of parity for the WBC over the last five years. The Ukrainians were the only country to make it to the semifinal twice that span. The 20 slots from 2012-2016 were claimed by 19 different countries.

Both semifinals saw 3-0 sweeps as China rolled Brazil and Venezuela dumped Ukraine. The Brazilians officially were third place, their eighth time finishing there. The Ukrainians had their first-ever fourth place finish. The Chinese earned their 12^th finals berth, having last made it as the runner-up in 2007. For the Venezuelans, they had never gotten this far.



In the 70^th World Championship, China returned to the throne by besting Venezuela 4-1. The Chinese are now 6-6 in the finals with titles in 1970, 1979, 1993, 1994, 2002, and 2016. They have the third most world titles behind the US (39) and Canada (7). It was the first time in WBC history as well seeing five different champs in a five year run. Shijiazhuang LF Cheng Kang led the way for the Chinese as the 27-year old slugger had 27 hits, 21 runs, 8 doubles, 15 home runs, 26 RBI, a 1.346 OPS, and 2.4 WAR.



Venezuela had the Tournament MVP in LF Emilio Scolari, an eighth-year pro for Maracaibo. In 21 starts, Scolari had 28 hits, 19 runs, 5 doubles, 2 triples, 13 homers, 27 RBI, a 1.397 OPS, and 2.2 WAR. Ecuador’s J.J. Cruz was given Best Pitcher honors. The Quito righty tossed 10.1 scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts and 4 hits allowed.

Other notes: Venezuela as a team had 12 triples, tying the all-time WBC best previously hit by the USA in 2003. With their title, China passed both Brazil and Mexico to move into third on the all-time tournament standings (listed below). The Brazilians remained fourth, as Mexico fell to fifth.

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For the first time in franchise history, Hanover earned a playoff spot. They had just missed the cut in 2015, but left no doubt in 2016 as the Western Conference’s top seed at 108-54. Palermo had also never been a playoff team since the European Second League formed in 2005, but pulled it off in 2016 at 103-59. Nottingham took the third playoff spot at 96-66, hoping their third straight berth finally earns them the promotion.

The fourth and final playoff spot went to Gothenburg at 92-70, edging out Liverpool (88-74) and Turin (87-75). The Gales were the 2012 E2L champ, but immediately got relegated right back. This was their first winning season since that 2012 title. A notable drop was London, who went from 102 wins in 2015 to an abysmal 62-100 in 2016.

The top two seeds advanced out of the Round Robin with Palermo going unbeaten at 6-0 and Hanover second at 4-2. Gothenburg finished 2-4 and Nottingham went 0-6. The Western Conference Championship needed all seven games, but the Priests upset the top-ranked Hitmen to guarantee their first-ever promotion.

It was a historic postseason run for Jean-Peal Lafontaine that led the way for Palermo, setting playoff records for runs (24), total bases (79), home runs (14), and RBI (28) that still stand as of 2037. Lafontaine’s 30 hits also set a new record, although that would fall in 2024. His 1.675 OPS was also a playoff record until 2035.



Only five wins separated first from fourth in the Eastern Conference. Lodz led the way at 98-64 for their second-ever playoff berth (2008). It was the Legion’s first time taking first in the standings. Tying for second at 96-66 were Berlin and Ljubljana. The Barons earned their second berth in three years, while the Juggernauts got back-to-back spots.

Cluj-Napoca secured the final playoff spot at 93-69, their first berth since 2007. Dnipro was also in the mix, but finished fifth at 89-73. Tallinn, a wild card last year, fell to ninth at 80-82. 2014 conference champ Sarajevo was 81-81 in their E2L return, having gotten relegated after only one season among the EBF Elite.

Ljubljana had the best run in the Round Robin at 5-1, advancing along with 3-3 Berlin. Cluj-Napoca and top seed Lodz both were ousted at 2-4. In the Eastern Conference Championship, the Juggernauts defeated the Barons 4-2, guaranteeing the Slovenian capital a first-ever promotion.



The Second League Championship ended up uneventful as Palermo dominated with a sweep of Ljubljana. Both earned their first trips to the European Baseball Federation’s top tier, as did Hanover. With two 100+ loss teams in the Northern Conference in 2016, that opened up a third promotion spot. The Hitmen as the best semifinalist at 108-54 moved up.



Other notes: Lviv’s Zurab Karpenko became the first player in E2L history with 400 career home runs. Although London stunk, their 1B Tomas Erdos won his third straight Western Conference MVP in only his fourth season. He joined Karpenko as the only three-time E2L MVPs to date.

[FuzzyRussianHat]

For the third year running, Johannesburg finished first in the African Association of Baseball’s Southern Conference. The reigning Baseball Grand Champion Jackalopes were dominant at 106-56, leading the AAB in runs scored by a healthy margin at 877. The Johannesburg pitching staff also had 1679 strikeouts and 10.38 K/9, which as of 2037 still rank second-best in conference history. The team ahead of them was Maputo, who set the record with one more K (1680) and a 10.56 K/9. This was also the overall AAB record until passed by the Central Conference’s Kinshasa in 2030.

At 93-69, the Piranhas ended a three-year playoff drought. They only snagged second by one game though, edging a 92-70 Luanda. The Landsharks notably got their first winning season since 2009. Last year’s wild card Lusaka dropped to fifth at 82-80 with Antananarivo fourth at 84-78. Harare was Africa Series champs in 2014 and just missed the playoffs in 2015 at 90-72, but they collapsed to a last place 62-100 in 2016. This was a franchise worst for the Hustlers.

Cape Town was a forgettable sixth at 78-84, but their RF Ange Ndikuriyo won his second Southern Conference MVP in three years. The 24-year old Rwandan lefty led in RBI (134), total bases 9400), and OPS (1.104). Ndikuriyo added 62 home runs, 177 hits, 118 runs, 189 wRC+, and 8.1 WAR. After the 2017 season, the Cowboys signed him to an eight-year, $56,980,000 extension.

He managed to unseat Lusaka’s Kaunda Kalinga for the award despite the latter’s 73 home runs. The 34-year old Tanzanian was also the leader in slugging (.724) and WAR (8.5). Kalinga became the first in AAB history with three 70+ home run seasons. To that point, the only others to do it in all of pro baseball history were SAB’s Majed Darwish and BSA’s Valor Melo.

Antananarivo’s Vasile Russu won his second Pitcher of the Year in three years. The 26-year old Moldovan lefty led in strikeouts (318), quality starts (24) and had a 152 ERA+. Russu had 6.7 WAR and a 2.64 ERA over 238.2 innings with a 14-11 record.



The cross-river rivals Kinshasa and Brazzaville both earned repeat playoff berths in the Central Conference. The Sun Cats again finished first at 107-55, while the defending Africa Series champ Blowfish were close behind at 104-58. Kinshasa’s pitching was especially impressive with 532 runs and 500 earned runs allowed, as both were second in AAB history only behind Addis Ababa’s 2013. The Sun Cats also had a 10.18 K/9, which was second in CC history to that point.

Brazzaville’s pitching staff was close behind with 561 runs allowed, while they scored more (809 to 755) than the Sun Cats. Third place Kampala had the most runs at 817, but poor pitching limited them to 94-68. That was still a new franchise best for the Peacocks, who along with Lilongwe were the only AAB teams without a playoff berth yet. The Addis Ababa dynasty was truly 100% over as they finished 76-86, their first losing season since 2002.

Bujumbura was fourth at 88-74, led by Central Conference MVP Tsegaye Alemu. The 24-year old Ethiopian second baseman led in runs (125), hits (213), triples (21), stolen bases (136), batting average (.376), OBP (.430), and WAR (8.3). Alemu set a new triples record which still holds in 2037 and fell three short of the then-stolen bases record. He’d regularly be high on the steals and triples charts, but the rest of Alemu’s career was relatively unremarkable.

Leading Kinshasa’s record-setting staff was Pitcher of the Year Reginald Ulengo. The ninth-year South African righty led in quality starts (25) but also walks (129). Ulengo had a 2.31 ERA over 230 innings, 304 strikeouts, 16-6 record, 178 ERA+, and 6.4 WAR. The Sun Cats gave him a four-year extension after 2016, but control issues would plague him consistently, leading in walks nine times. Kinshasa also notably had Deon Westerveld in the bullpen, who won his third Reliever of the Year in a row.

Johannesburg made quick work of Maputo with a Southern Conference Championship sweep, giving the Jackalopes repeat pennants and their seventh overall. In the Central Conference Championship rematch between the neighboring rivals, #2 seed Brazzaville again upset top seed Kinshasa, this time 4-2.



The 22^nd Africa Series was a rematch and yet again, it was Brazzaville defeating Johannesburg. The Blowfish became the fourth AAB franchise to earn a repeat, defeating the Jackalopes 5-3. Brazzaville is the only team to repeat despite finishing second in the standings both years (they still have never finished first). Third-year RF Salum Khosa was finals MVP, posting 17 hits, 12 runs, 3 doubles, 6 homers, and 15 RBI in 13 playoff starts.



Although Johannesburg stunningly was the Baseball Grand Champion in 2015, they continued to fail in the Africa Series. Since winning the inaugural 1995 finale, the Jackalopes have gone 0-6 since. This was also the eighth time in nine years that the Central Conference champ won it all.

Other notes: A concussion kept six-time Felix Chaula out all but 27 games in 2016, but he earned his eighth championship ring in his lone season with Brazzaville. Few players in any pro league had eight titles and Chaula may be the only one to do it with three franchises, winning with Durban in 2007 and six straight from 2008-2013 with Addis Ababa.

Luke Tembo and Mwarami Tale both joined Chaula as the only AAB members of the 800 home run club. Marlin Kimwaki became the fourth to reach 1500 runs scored. Negue Rouillard joined Kimwaki as the only players with 2500 hits. Both retired after 2017 with Kimwaki the hits leader at 2737, although it would be a short-lived reign.

Both Tale (CF) and 2B Fani Ngambi became 11-time Silver Slugger winners. SS Said Tesfaye earned his tenth Slugger. They won theirs in the Southern Conference, while the Central Conference had the rare occurrence of only first-time Slugger winners. SS Didrik Borgstrom won his seventh Gold Glove.

Pitcher Paul Lambote finished the season with 3591 strikeouts, passing Joel Mwasesa’s 3583 to become AAB’s strikeout leader. He still holds the top spot as of 2037, finishing with 4093 after the 2018 season. The Cape Town offense struck out 1688 times, setting a new Southern Conference worst that still holds in 2037. It was the AAB worst until beaten in 2018 by Addis Ababa.

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Baseball quickly grew in popularity in the Arab world and Arab League Baseball began looking into expansion after 20+ years. The general thought was to eventually grow each conference’s three divisions by one team, creating three divisions of five teams each. However, getting there all at once would require adding six teams, which many franchises thought was too many too soon due to concerns about diluting the talent pool. There were others who wondered if six viable markets were ready to have a big league team.

As discussions continued in the early 2010s, eventually it was settled on expanding with four teams first, then later adding the other two to get to 30 total teams. In the interim, each conference would have two divisions with five teams and one with four. The postseason format remained the same with only the three division champions advancing. The eventual expansion year would be for the 2016 season.



The Western Conference saw the Egypt-based Suez Sabres added to the Nile Division and the Algeria-based Oran Rattlesnakes posted in the Mediterranean Division. The Eastern Conference would see a bit of realignment, as the two additions would both go into the Gulf Division; the Oman-based Muscat Threshers and the Bahrain Blitz. This required one team to switch divisions and Kuwait was sent out of the Gulf. The Whales joined the four Iraqi teams and the former Iraq Division became the Mesopotamia Division.

This left the Saudi Division and the Levant Division as the two remaining with four teams. They would each gain a team in the second expansion in 2024 with the Syria-based Aleppo Alliance for the Levant Division. Yemen would get its first team with the Sanaa Shockers and the Saudi Division would be renamed the Arabia Division.



The three Western Conference division winners took their spots by double-digits, although the gap between the #1 seed and #3 seed was only four games. Giza surprised many by earning the top seed at 101-61 atop the Nile Division. It was the Goats’ first playoff berth since 2010. Alexandria had won five-straight division titles since then, but finished third in 2016 at 86-76. Khartoum was second at 89-73 and Cairo was a respectable 81-81.

Reigning Arab League Champion Casablanca repeated in the Mediterranean Division, finishing 11 games ahead of Algiers and 15 better than Tunis. Damascus earned a third straight Levant Division crown and was the only team in the division with a winning record. The Dusters led in runs scored at 785, while Giza allowed the fewest at 565. Expansion Suez made bad history debuting at 46-116, which remains the ALB’s all-time worst record as of 2037.

Western Conference MVP went to four-year Damascus RF Tzidkiel Monnish. The 25-year old Israeli switch-hitter led in runs (121), doubles (46), OPS (1.033), wRC+ (189), and WAR (8.3). Monnish added 44 home runs, 124 RBI, and a .333 average. Although he never won MVP again, Monnish became a staple for the Dusters over the next decade, signing a massive eight-year, $136,400,000 extension in 2019.

Damascus also had the Pitcher of the Year Ziyad bin Mostafa, winning for the second time (2012). The 32-year old Jordanian lefty earned his lone ERA title at 1.99. In 212.2 innings, bin Mostafa had a 16-5 record, 234 strikeouts, 189 ERA+, and 6.2 WAR.

The first round saw a rematch of the prior year’s Western Conference Final. Damascus got revenge 2-0 over Casablanca to guarantee their third straight WCF appearance. Giza was the #1 seed in only their second-ever WCF (2006). The series needed all five games with the Dusters getting the 3-2 upset over the Goats. Damascus earned their second pennant in three years, having won their first in 2014.



Both Jeddah and Abu Dhabi had historic seasons in the Eastern Conference. The Destroyers set a franchise-record at 114-48, earning a fifth straight Gulf Division title and their sixth in seven years. However, that wasn’t good enough for the #1 seed thanks to Jeddah at 117-45. The Jackals earned an eighth consecutive Saudi Division crown and guaranteed their third EC Final appearance in four years. Jeddah’s record was the second-best in ALB history, only behind Mosul’s 121-41 from 2000.

Both teams had impressive pitching staffs with the fewest runs allowed in ALB, but Jeddah’s 475 was the third fewest in ALB history at that point. As of 2037, that ranks third in conference history, as does their 11.95 K/9 and 1952 strikeouts. The Jackals staff also had only 255 walks and a 1.56 BB/9, which remain all-time EC bests. While Abu Dhabi allowed 553 runs by comparison, the Destroyers led ALB in runs scored at 837.

The Mesopotamia Division was a tight battle that didn’t include defending conference champ Sulaymaniyah, as the Sultans collapsed to 60-102. Mosul at 90-72 edged out 88-74 efforts by Basra and Kuwait. The Muskies ended a 13-year playoff drought. The Whales notably bounced back from an abysmal 50-win 2015. Of note from the expansion teams, Bahrain fared the best with a 78-84 debut in the Gulf Division.

Leading the Abu Dhabi offense was Eastern Conference MVP Adham Abdallah. The 27-year old Tunisian DH led in runs (127), home runs (63), RBI (151), total bases (460), slugging (.720), OPS (1.096), and wRC+ (189). Abdallah added 8.2 WAR and his .340 average was 14 points short of a Triple Crown. The Destroyers had extended Abdallah for six years and $28,580,000 after the 2012 campaign. He was only the fourth player in ALB history to breach 150+ RBI.

Jeddah’s Khamis Sheik won Pitcher of the Year and nearly broke the ERA record at 1.56. This is still the second-lowest qualifying season in ALB history behind Hossam Bouaziz’s 1.45 from 1993. The 26-year old Somali lefty also fell one short of the wins record at 26-3 and led in WHIP (0.82), K/BB (11.7), quality starts (26), and WAR (10.4). Sheik struck out 338 batters over 231.1 innings, 12 short of a Triple Crown, and had a 260 ERA+. The Jackals gave him a four-year, $37,400,000 extension mid-season.

Mosul gave Abu Dhabi a strong challenge in the first round, but the Destroyers escaped 2-1 to set up the historic showdown with Jeddah. AD earned their third straight Eastern Conference Final appearance. They had lost to the Jackals in the 2014 conference final and in the 2013 first round. The Destroyers did have a first round win in 2012 en route to their lone pennant prior.

The 117-45 versus 114-48 matchup potentially was the most wins ever in a sub-league final in pro baseball history. Abu Dhabi earned the road upset over Jeddah 3-1 to even up their recent playoff battles at 2-2. The Jackals as the second-winningest team in ALB history suffered the same fate as the #1 team Mosul, who also lost in the conference final despite going 121-41.



The Destroyers became the third-winningest team to win a pennant in ALB history, behind only 116-win Medina (1993) and Amman (2010). Both of those all-timers went on to win it all. However, Abu Dhabi didn’t have the same luck as Damascus won the 27^th Arab League Championship handily 4-1. The Dusters became the 14^th of ALB’s original 24 franchises to win it all. Conference MVP Tzidkiel Monnish was also finals MVP for Damascus. In 12 playoff starts, he had 12 hits, 8 runs, 2 doubles, 2 homers, and 7 RBI.



Other notes: For the first time in ALB history (and as of 2037, the only time), there were two perfect games in the same season. There hadn’t been a perfecto since 2007. The 5^th perfect game came on July 3 by Tripoli’s Wilfried Niang with 13 strikeouts against Beirut. Then on July 31, Doha’s Amjad Yousif did it with seven strikeouts over Bahrain.

Farouk Adam became the fifth to reach 1500 runs scored. He eventually retired with 1817, which still sits fifth as of 2037. Moahmed Grisha became the 10^th batter to reach 2500 hits. Yahya bin Hakam was the 14^th to 500 home runs. 2B Mohamed Mustafa won his tenth Silver Slugger. It was his seventh straight at second base, having won his first three as a shortstop.

Abdullah Al-Tamtami was the second pitcher to 4000 strikeouts, passing Rashid Tariq’s 4008 for the all-time leader. This was Al-Tamtami’s last season, ending with 4035. He held the top spot for about a decade and ranks fifth as of 2037. Nour Al-Haj was the sixth reliever to reach 300 saves.

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2016 didn’t have any powerhouses in the Asian Baseball Federation’s East League, as 94-68 was good enough for the top seed. That went to Hyderabad, who earned their sixth consecutive playoff berth and their ninth in a decade. It was only their third division title in that stretch. The Horned Frogs finished 11 games ahead of three teams in the South Division. Notably at the bottom was Faisalabad at 66-96, ending a six-year playoff streak for the Fire. Faisalabad had won it all only two years prior.

Defending ABF champ Dushanbe won the North Division at 91-71, earning their fourth straight playoff berth. The Dynamo were the top scoring team by a healthy clip at 740 runs. Last year’s division winner Almaty had the first wild card at 89-75, while Asgabat and Bishkek tied the second at 87-75. ABF doesn’t use a tiebreaker game and the formula gave the spot to the Alphas for their second berth in three years. Karachi, Multan, and Rawalpindi each finished four games back of the wild card.

Dushanbe’s Nizami Aghazade continued his tear with his fifth East League MVP in his fifth season and his third Triple Crown. The 28-year old’s 14.5 WAR was slightly down from his record 16.0 the prior year, giving him a bonkers 71.6 WAR over a five-year stretch. Aghazade led the league in runs (118), hits (201), home runs (39), RBI (102), total bases (363), triple slash (.389/.473/.702), OPS (1.175), and wRC+ (254). He also won his second Gold Glove at second base,

The batting average and on-base percentage marks set new ABF single-season records. They’re both second as of 2037 with the average getting bested in 2031 and the OBP in 2034. His triple slash and wRC+ would be career highs for a qualifying season (his 2013 was better, but his 119 games kept him just shy of the league-leading limit). The Dynamo had wisely signed Aghazade to an eight-year, $74,200,000 extension the prior winter after posting likely the greatest start to a career in pro baseball history.

Almaty’s Nikolai Zvyagintsev won Pitcher of the Year in his third season. The 25-year old Kazakh righty led in ERA (1.73) and wins (19-9) with a 176 ERA+ over 233.2 innings. Zvyagintsev struck out 305 with 8.0 WAR. The Assassins gave him a six-year, $41,780,000 extension after the 2017 season.

Hyderabad survived 3-2 over Asgabat in their first round series, sending the Horned Frogs to their third East League Championship Series in four years. The reigning champ Dushanbe cruised by divisional foe Almaty 3-0. Hyderabad had home field advantage, but the Dynamo dominated 4-1 in their ELCS rematch. This was Dushanbe’s fourth pennant since joining ABF (2001, 2004, 2015, 2016) and their seventh overall counting their EPB years.



Tehran repeated as the West League’s #1 seed, but it wasn’t an easy path for them. They finished 102-60, only winning the Central Division by three games over Tabriz. The Tarpons grew their playoff streak to six years, while the 99-63 Tiger Sharks ended a five-year playoff drought as the first wild card. Adana rolled to a third straight Turkish Division title at 100-62, missing the top seed by two games. The Axemen allowed the fewest runs (455) in the WL while Tehran scored the most (643).

Lower down the Central Division, defending WL champ Shiraz repeated as the second wild card at 88-74. The Suns edged Baku by two games, Ankara by four, and Istanbul by five. The Blackbirds saw their seven-year playoff streak snapped despite their pitching staff allowing the second-fewest hits in WL history at 1077 (with the third-best H/9 at 6.62).

Tabriz dominated the West League awards with the MVP, Pitcher of the Year, and Rookie of the Year. MVP went to LF Shadi Alam, who won his seventh Silver Slugger as well. The 31-year old Iranian led in WAR (10.4) and runs (101) while adding a 1.010 OPS, 205 wRC+, 45 home runs, and 110 RBI. The #1 overall pick by the Tiger Sharks in 2007, the beloved slugger had signed an eight-year, $79,900,000 extension after the 2012 season to stay with Tabriz.

Pitcher of the Year went to fifth-year righty Akram Bhatti. The 26-year old Pakistani led in complete games (19) and shutouts (6). Bhatti added a 19-7 record over 246.1 innings, 2.27 ERA, 331 strikeouts, and 7.6 WAR. This accounted for about half of his career WAR thanks to numerous major injuries. Fellow Tabriz pitcher Hafez Farzani was the Rookie of the Year with a 2.52 ERA and 5.4 WAR over 228.1 innings.

The division champs prevailed in round one as Adana swept Tabriz and Tehran beat Shiraz 3-1. This was the Tarpons’ third West League Championship Series berth of their six-year playoff streak, while the Axemen earned their third in a row. Yet again, Adana couldn’t get over the playoff hump with Tehran winning 4-1. The Tarpons earned their third pennant (1993, 2011, 2016), bouncing back after their disappointing first round exit the prior year despite a 115-47 record.



Tehran became the 18^th franchise to win the ABF Championship, taking the 32^nd finale 4-1 over the defending champ Dushanbe. The Tarpons were also the first Iranian team to win it all since Shiraz in 2005. Finals MVP was veteran SS Saeed Joorabchian in his tenth season with Tehran. In 14 playoff starts, he had 23 hits, 10 runs, 7 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers, and 9 RBI. Joorabchian parlayed that run into a seven-year, $45,500,000 free agent deal with Hyderabad.



Other notes: Petri Viskari became the second batter to 2500 career hits. Ali Sungu was the seventh member of the 500 home run club. 1B Adnan Mohamed and 3B Eser Haspolatli both earned their eighth Gold Gloves, while SP Khalid Osmonov won his seventh. CF Ziad Tarkhan won his eighth Silver Slugger.

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The battle for the Indian League’s top seed was centered in the Central Division as Jaipur (99-63) outraced Kanpur (98-64). The Jokers hadn’t posted a winning season since their 2009 pennant, while the Poison earned repeat playoff berths as the wild card. Kolkata had a solid 88-74, but that wasn’t enough to extend their playoff streak beyond eight seasons. It was still the tenth winning season in a row for the Cosmos.

Hyderabad ended a seven-year playoff drought by winning the South Division at 93-69, besting Nagpur by six games. Last year’s IL runner-up Chennai was a non-factor at 76-86. Visakhapatnam, the IL champ in 2012 and 2013, finished 75-87 for their first losing campaign since 2008. Meanwhile, reigning league champ Mumbai was the only team above .500 in the West Division at 90-72. The Meteors earned a third straight division title and their seventh playoff berth in nine years.

Mumbai right fielder Vicharleen Anasuri repeated as Indian League MVP, again continuing a remarkable late-career run. The 37-year old lefty had joined the Meteors in 2015 and set multiple career bests. He had similar numbers in 2016, leading the league in WAR (10.6), wRC+ (217), OPS (1.080), slugging (.694), and RBI (139). Anasuri added 110 runs, 58 home runs, and a .333 batting average, winning his eighth Silver Slugger. This was his last hurrah, as he’d deal with injuries for most of 2017 before regressing hard after.

The Meteors also had the Pitcher of the Year Gauresh Mendes in his third season in the rotation. The 25-year old Sri Lankan righty led in wins (21-10), complete games (12), and WAR (7.0). Mendes had a 3.30 ERA over 243.2 innings, 328 strikeouts, and 116 ERA+.

Because the wild card automatically faces the top division winner in South Asia Baseball, that pitted the top two records against each other in round one. Wild card Kanpur stunned Jaipur with a road sweep, earning their first Indian League Championship Series berth since their 2007 pennant. On the other side, defending champ Mumbai got the 3-1 road win over Hyderabad. The Meteors rolled to a 4-1 ILCS win over the Poison, earning their fourth pennant (2005, 2008, 2015, 2016).



The Southeast Asia League’s South Division saw six games separate the #1 seed from the second wild card. After missing the playoffs last year, Vientiane bounced back for first place at 100-62. Although this was the Vampires’ fourth playoff berth in five years, it was their first-ever division title and a franchise record.

Reigning SAB champ and two-time defending SEAL champ Yangon was close behind at 98-64, ending their division title streak at five seasons. It did grow the Green Dragons’ playoff streak to 22 years, only one short of the record set by Ahmedabad (1985-2007) and Ho Chi Minh City (1987-2009). Phnom Penh was the second wild card at 94-68, which ended an 11-year run without a playoff berth or a winning record.

Hanoi’s own impressive North Division streak grew to five years at 98-64, the only winning team in the division. The Hounds’ own impressive playoff streak grew to 12 years. It was only the second time in that run that they didn’t win double-digits. Hanoi led all of SAB in runs scored (827). Last year’s wild cards Bangkok and Kathmandu both fell off to 72-90.

Hounds designated hitter Majed Darwish repeated as SEAL MVP and became SAB’s first-ever seven-time MVP. The 33-year old Bahraini switch hitter led the league in home runs (66), RBI (153), runs (136), total bases (403), walks (97), slugging (.673), OPS (1.058), wRC+ (183), and WAR (8.6). Darwish’s dominance continued with his 12^th straight season leading in runs scored, tenth straight in both RBI and total bases, and ninth in ten years leading in homers.

It was also Darwish’s tenth straight year with 150+ RBI and his ninth 60+ home run season. He had long blown by the world record for 150+ seasons, but was still one short of world home run king Nordine Soule for 60+ dinger seasons. In 2016, Darwish joined the 800 home run club (the fourth in SAB history), the 2000 RBI club (the third), and the 2500 hit club (the 13^th).

Vientiane’s Huynh Pham won his third Pitcher of the Year, joining his 2012 and 2013 wins. The 29-year old Vietnamese lefty led in wins (20-9), innings (252.1), and strikeouts (322). Pham had a 2.78 ERA and 137 ERA+ with 6.3 WAR. He continued also playing first base, posting 3.7 WAR with a .906 OPS over 92 games offensively.

Vientiane cruised to a first round sweep of Phnom Penh, earning their third-ever Southeast Asia League Championship Series appearance (1992, 2013, 2016). Another chapter in the great Yangon/Hanoi playoff rivalry took place in round one with the Hounds getting the 3-0 sweep. This denied the Green Dragons’ three-peat hopes and ended a four-season winning streak Yangon had over Hanoi. The Hounds reclaimed the lead 6-5 in their myriad playoff encounters since 2005.

For Hanoi, this also gave them a seventh straight SEAL finals berth and their tenth in 12 years. Vientiane was the favorite by seed, but the more experienced Hounds handled the Vampires 4-1. The Hounds earned their sixth SEAL pennant (1985, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2016).



The 37^th South Asia Baseball Championship was a rematch of the 2008 final, which saw a 120-win Hanoi defeat Mumbai. For the third straight year, the SAB finale came down literally to the final inning. In game seven, Hanoi ended it with a walk-off solo home run by 3B Avery Griner, winning the game 6-5 and the series 4-3.

Griner was an unexpected hero, having posted a .198 average and .543 OPS during the regular season. The 31-year old American ended up in SAB after going undrafted in MLB and had only 41 homers in his career, but he stepped up in the big spot. This was Griner’s final contribution to pro baseball, going unsigned the next two years before retiring.



Hanoi became four-time SAB champs, having also won in 2007, 2008, and 2013. Mumbai was the bridesmaid for back-to-back years and moved to 0-4 all-time in the finals. It was another heartbreaker for the Meteors, who lost 5-4 on a game seven walkoff the prior year to Yangon. 3B Yasir Malakawi was finals MVP even in defeat for Mumbai. The 29-year old Bangladeshi in 16 playoff starts had 22 hits, 15 runs, 5 doubles, 8 home runs, and 20 RBI.

Other notes: Hanoi’s Davavesman Toppo crossed 900 career home runs, finishing the year with 923. He’d get 30 more in the next two years to end at 953, falling just shy of Tirtha Upadhyaya’s SAB record 973. As of 2037, Toppo ranks 11^th in all of pro baseball history in homers.

He finished the year at 2127 RBI and would catch Upadhyaya’s 2160 record in 2017. His time as the leader would be short-lived as both Majed Darwish and Ratan Canduri were close behind, both crossing 2000 RBI in 2016. Canduri also became the third to reach 3000 hits. Jatinder Chowdhary and Sameer Sheikh both breached 1500 RBI, making 15 SAB batters to do so.

Vicharleen Anasur, Basava Sanjahay, and Asim Anuha each crossed 600 home runs, making that an 11-player club in SAB. Anasuri and Dhuna Itar both crossed 1500 runs scored, a mark reached by 12. Majed Darwish won his tenth Silver Slugger and C Lance Tong won his ninth. Anasuri won his eighth Silver Slugger and LF Lwin Swe Ko won his seventh.

In pitching milestones, Jay Singh became the third to 4000 career strikeouts and Viaan Ramakrishna became the fourth to 400 saves. Hanoi’s Dieu Anh threw SAB’s 12^th perfect game on July 17, striking out nine against Ho Chi Minh City. Chennai’s Arjay Mohan became the seventh pitcher with a 20 strikeout game, doing it against Delhi on May 1. SP Yar Mai Zaw won his ninth Gold Glove.

Hanoi manager Francisco Ayala won his fourth SAB Championship, becoming the third manager in SAB history to reach that mark. Sharafat Azam and Maruf Chowdhury both had him beat with five. Chowdhury won his in the front end of the great Ahmedabad dynasty with Azam winning on the back end.

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Dakar dominated the competition in WAB’s Western League at 112-50, the second-best record in WL history. The Dukes earned their sixth straight playoff berth and guaranteed their fifth consecutive WLCS appearance. 13 games back in second was Banjul at 99-63, setting a franchise-best for the 2009 expansion squad. The Bucks had their second playoff berth in three years and led all of WAB with 962 runs scored. Banjul set new WL single-season team records for slugging (.529) and triples (114). Both rank third as of 2037.

Defending WL champ Bamako was a strong third place at 94-68 to earn repeat playoff berths. There was a steep drop to Kumasi at 85-77, taking the final wild card. It was their fourth wild card in five years, edging Nouakchott by one game. Abidjan missed the playoffs for only the second time in 12 years, taking sixth at 78-84. The Athletes allowed the fewest runs at 700, but poor offense and bad luck sank them, finishing ten wins below their expected W/L.

Western League MVP went to RF Clarence Cole. The 28-year old Sierra Leonean led in OBP (.436), wRC+ (183), and WAR (9.1). Cole added an 1.105 OPS, .369 average, 43 home runs, 52 stolen bases, and 130 runs. The following April, the Bullfrogs locked Cole up with a seven-year, $94,300,000 extension.

Dakar’s Redd Freeman earned Pitcher of the Year. The 24-year old Nigerian righty led in wins (21-2), quality starts (19), complete games (9), shutouts (4), and WAR (6.0). Freeman added a 2.91 ERA over 219.2 innings, 239 strikeouts, and 160 ERA+. Unfortunately, Freeman suffered a stretched elbow ligament the next season and never matched his 2016 production.

Bamako swept Kumasi in the first round, then got swept by Banjul in round two. The Bucks hoped to repeat the stunning Western League Championship Series upset win from two years prior against Dakar. The Dukes got revenge and won 3-1 for their third pennant in five years. Dakar became four time WL champs (1988, 2012, 2013, 2016).



Libreville became the first of the 2009 expansion teams to earn a first place finish in the standings. The Lakers’ 100-62 mark atop the Eastern League was also their first-ever winning season. Libreville led the league in both runs (895) and fewest allowed (741). The former powerhouse Kano was second at 96-66, ending their longest-ever playoff drought at seven seasons.

Lome and Cotonou took the remaining wild cards to extend their lengthy playoff streaks. The Lasers were third at 94-68 for their fifth straight berth and the 88-74 Copperheads earned their seventh in-a-row. Defending West African Baseball champ Port Harcourt missed out by taking fifth at 81-81, ending their playoff streak at three seasons. Also of note was Niamey’s collapse to 67-95 for their first losing season since 1997. Their 18-year run of winning seasons was a WAB record.

Cotonou designated hitter Fares Belaid won his third Eastern League MVP, having previously done it in 2014 and 2012. The 27-year old Tunisian tied his own single-season hits world record from the prior year (268) and became the third in WAB history to bat .400, hitting the mark exactly. Belaid also led in WAR (8.3), OBP (.415), total bases (445), and RBI (139). Belaid added a 1.080 OPS, 173 wRC+, 47 doubles, 20 triples, and 30 home runs.

Douala had the EL’s worst record at 63-99, but their ace Kadir Onyeali earned Pitcher of the Year anyway. The 29-year old Nigerian righty led in ERA (2.5), innings (247.1), and quality starts (21). Onyeali added a 14-14 record, 291 strikeouts, 188 ERA+, and 6.7 WAR. He stayed loyal to the Dingos and signed a six-year, $69,600,000 extension the following autumn.

Cotonou upset Lome 2-0 in the first round, then fell 2-1 in a tough round two match with Kano. The Condors hadn’t been to the Eastern League Championship Series since 2008, but this was Kano’s 20^th trip. The newcomer Libreville didn’t let that phase them at all, cruising to a 3-0 sweep. The Lakers became the second of the four 2009 expansion teams to win a pennant, as Banjul had done it in 2014. The new franchises had integrated impressively in a short time frame.



Libreville wouldn’t be the first of the expansion teams to win it all, as Dakar rolled 4-1 in the 42^nd West African Championship. The Dukes finally got over the hump, as they had gone 0-3 in their previous finals trips, becoming the 15^th WAB franchise to earn the title. This also snapped the six-year run of titles for Eastern League teams over the Western League.



At 112-50, Dakar had the fourth-best record in WAB history by a champion, behind only 1999 Kano (123-39), 1998 Kano (114-48), and 2011 Cotonou (114-48). Finals MVP was well-traveled 2B R.J. Olvera. The 35-year old Mexican had played in CABA and MLB previously and was in his fourth WAB season, although his first with Dakar. In 9 playoff starts, Olvera had 11 hits, 5 runs, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 2 homers, and 8 RBI.

Other notes: Freetown’s offense had 1829 hits and 11.63 H/9, which were the second-worst marks in Western League history. Both Akuneto Adeyemo and Lamin Sowe crossed 2500 hits, making nine WAB batters to do so. RF Jacob Jamil won his 11^th Gold Glove, becoming the first in WAB history to win that many. P Isaac Appiah and LF Julis Ayuba both won their ninth Gold Gloves. DH/2B Bright Abubakar won his eighth Silver Slugger.

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Chinese League Baseball had been considered a “dead ball” league compared to the rest of the pro baseball world. In the 2000s, CLB had the lowest offense of any world league with a league ERA around 2.48 and batting average around .212. 2015 had all-time lows in both the Northern League (.205) and Southern League (.203) for batting average. The NL’s 2.28 ERA was the lowest in any season in any league ever in 2015, while the SL was 2.34.

While CLB wasn’t trying to go to the other extreme, officials did want to up the offense and the perceived excitement. Thus, CLB instituted rules changes beginning in 2016. The league batting average jumped to around .223 with an ERA around 2.75 for 2016. These numbers were still very low on the historical world scale, but pushed CLB closer to the offensive environment it started with in the 1970s. It put them more in line with the neighboring Austronesia Professional Baseball as well.



The Northern League had four different playoff teams from the prior year. Changchun and Jinan tied for first at 95-67 with the Camels officially getting the #1 spot on the tiebreaker. Although there had already been 2009 expansion teams that had gotten to and won the China Series, Changchun was the first to earn a first place finish in the standings. It was only the second-ever winning season for the Camels. The Jumbos meanwhile ended a three-year playoff drought.

Shijiazhuang (91-71) and Qingdao (88-74) earned the other two playoff spots. The expansion Serpents also earned their first-ever berth, while the Devils had their third in five years. Missing the cut were Shenyang (85-77), last year’s top seed Beijing (84-78), defending Chinese League champ Xi’an (83-79), and Hangzhou (82-80). Shanghai was ninth at 79-83, ending their record eight-year playoff streak and their eight-year run of winning seasons.

Shijiazhuang LF Cheng Kang won his third Northern League MVP in five seasons with a truly historic effort. Considering he had 46.7 WAR in his first four seasons and led in the triple slash all four years, it was hard to believe he could do better. However, the 27-year old lefty set numerous career highs with an all-time season. Kang set the CLB total bases record at 433, a mark that still holds as of 2037.

Kang earned his third consecutive Triple Crown and is the only CLB player with three. He crushed 68 home runs, 30 more than second place in the NL. This fell two short of Peng Wang’s single-season record of 70 from 2011. Kang had a .349/.422/.758 slash and led in RBI (135), hits (199), runs (118), OPS (1.180), wRC+ (297), and WAR (14.9).

The slugging and OPS were both CLB records that were only bested in 2034 by Jinhao Lin. The WAR mark ranks third-best in CLB history for position players. The Serpents gave him the biggest extension in Chinese baseball history in the winter for eight-years and $114,400,000.

Amazingly, Kang didn’t have the best WAR in the NL in 2016, as two-way star Chuchuan Cao had 16.7 with 10.4 pitching and 6.3 offensively. The Shenyang star finished second in MVP voting, but topped 16+ combined WAR for the fourth straight year. Cao also made history on April 11 with CLB’s 49^th perfect game, striking out 14 against Xi’an. Through his first five seasons, Cao had an absurd 83.2 WAR.

Zhengzhou’s Yuandong Wang earned his fifth Pitcher of the Year (2009-11, 2014, 2016). The 29-year old lefty led in strikeouts (347), and shutouts (6). Wang added a 17-9 record, 1.38 ERA, 8.9 WAR, and 193 ERA+ over 254.1 innings. His ninth year with the Zips was his last, as he left in the offseason for Brazil with a six-year, $64,800,000 deal with Recife.

In the Northern League’s round robin, the top two seeds advanced with Changchun at 5-1 and Jinan at 3-3, while both Qingdao and Shijiazhuang finished at 2-4. It was the first-ever semifinal berth for the expansion Camels, while the Jumbos earned their third (2000, 2007). The series was a seven-game classic with Changchun prevailing, marking the third straight year that one of the expansion teams made it to the China Series.



Shenzhen had the Southern League’s best record and the top mark overall in CLB at 104-58. The Spartans earned their sixth consecutive playoff berth and finished first for the fourth time in that stretch. Shenzhen was the highest scoring team in CLB at 605. Defending SL champ Nanning was second at 97-65, followed by Kunming at 95-67. Both teams earned repeat wild card berths.

Shantou took the fourth and final spot at 91-71, led by a powerful offense with 228 home runs and a .436 slugging percentage. The homer mark remains the SL’s all-time best as of 2037 while the slugging ranks third. The 2014 champ Scorpions made it back by five games over Chengdu (86-76), six over Dongguan (85-77), and eight over Wenzhou (84-78). This ended the Clowns’ eight-year playoff streak, which was tied with Shanghai for the longest in CLB history. Shenzhen now had the longest active run at six seasons.

Shantou CF Zhenfeng Lu won the Southern League MVP in his sixth season for the Scorpions. The 27-year old righty led in hits (180), runs (113), total bases (373), slugging (.623), OPS (.972), wRC+ (213), and WAR (13.0). Liu added 47 home runs and 122 RBI. As of 2037, his WAR mark is the 11^th-best single season by a CLB position player.

Nanning lefty Liangyi Shi won Pitcher of the Year in his seventh season for the Nuts. The 28-year old posted only the fifth pitching Triple Crown in CLB history with a 21-9 record, 1.76 ERA, and 335 strikeouts. Shi was also the WARlord at 9.7 and posted a 155 ERA+ and seven shutouts over 255.2 innings. Shi signed a five-year, $44,800,000 extension with Nanning prior to the season.

While the top two advanced from the Northern League’s round robin, the opposite happened in the Southern League. Kunming and Shantou both advanced at 4-2 with Shenzhen at 3-3 and Nanning at 1-5. This was the first time in the semifinal since 2003 for the Muscle and the second in three years for the Scorpions. The series was uneventful with a Kunming sweep, sending them to the China Series for the seventh time (1977-79, 2000, 02-03, 16).



In the 47^th China Series, Changchun became the second of the 2009 expansion teams to win it all, defeating Kunming in a seven game thriller. The Camels became the 20^th of CLB’s 30 franchises to secure the title. 1B Tie Li was MVP of the finals and the semifinals in his fifth year with Changchun. In 20 playoff starts, he had 25 hits, 14 runs, 11 home runs, and 24 RBI. Li set new CLB playoff records for hits, homers, and RBI. The RBI mark still holds as the top spot in 2037, while the HR mark is second-best.



Other notes: CLB had two perfect games in 2016. Along with the previously mentioned one by Chuchuan Cao, Hangzhou’s Sen Guo tossed the 50^th CLB perfecto on August 14, striking out nine against Tianjin.

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Yet again, Taipei had the Taiwan-Philippine Association’s top seed, winning a fifth straight Taiwan League title at 103-59. It was their seventh TL title in eight years with 98 or more wins in all eight seasons. Their closest foe was Tainan at a distant 90-72.

The Philippine League had a shakeup with Davao back on top at 97-65. The Devil Rays were a dynasty from 2005-2011, but had bottomed out at 60-102 in 2015. They broke up Zamboanga’s four-peat dreams, as the Zebras were second at 88-74. Cebu, who won 100 games in 2015, fell off to 72-90. Zamboanga allowed the fewest runs in the TPA at 405, while Davao scored the most at 583. The Zebras under-performed their expected win/loss by nine games.

Taichung was just above .500, but they had the Taiwan-Philippine Association VP Buwono Gunawan. The 25-year old Indonesian second baseman was already in his seventh year, leading in the triple slash (.322/.366/.581), OPS (.946), wRC+ (198), WAR (11.0), hits (189), doubles (32), total bases (341), and runs (94). Gunawan added 30 home runs and 70 stolen bases. He beat out Tainan’s Yao Tsai for MVP despite the latter’s 52 home runs.

Zamboanga ace Ching-Chen Yao was also in the MVP mix, winning back-to-back Pitcher of the Year awards and the fourth of his career. He followed up his bonkers 17.2 WAR 2015 campaign by leading in WAR (14.8), strikeouts (384), ERA (0.80), WHIP (0.61), and shutouts (7). Yao had a 343 ERA+ over 247.1 innings and an 18-6 record, falling two wins short of a Triple Crown.

The 0.80 ERA was the second-lowest by a qualifying starter in APB history to that point, only behind his record-setting 0.73 in 2014. As of 2037, Yao’s 2016 still ranks third-best, while his opponent’s OPS (.371) ranks fourth and his WAR ranks 11^th. In the last five seasons, the 28-year old lefty had posted 70.8 WAR. On a scale from 1/10, many scouts graded his stuff as an 11 at this point.



For the first time since leaving South Asia Baseball for Austronesia Professional Baseball in 2008, Johor Bahru earned a playoff berth. The Blue Wings hadn’t even won more than 74 games in APB prior, but they had the top seed in the Sundlanad Association at 96-66 atop the Malacca League. Their Malaysian rival Kuala Lumpur had won their first division title the prior year, but fell off a cliff in 2016 at 63-99.

In a very competitive Java Sea League, Semarang and Palembang tied for the top spot at 91-71, while reigning APB champ Bandung finished third at 89-73 and Surabaya was 85-77. The Sliders won the one-game tiebreaker over the Panthers for their first playoff berth since winning it all in 2012. Semarang had the fewest runs allowed in the SA at 402. Palembang had the second most stolen bases in SA history at 402, but it wasn’t enough to advance.

Semarang secured the Sundaland Association’s top awards, led by MVP Terrence Kuike. The 31-year old center fielder was the WARlord (11.9) in his 12^th season for the Sliders. Kuike had a .293/.340/.487 slash, 195 wRC+, 28 home runs, and 168 hits with 56 stolen bases. He also posted a 13.4 zone rating and 1.047 EFF defensively.

Pitcher of the Year went to Benigno Espinoza. The 27-year old Filipino lefty led in K/BB (20.2) and quality starts (30). Espinoza tossed 270.1 innings with a 1.56 ERA, 17-8 record, 344 strikeouts, 17 walks, 159 ERA+, and 8.9 WAR. He signed a four-year extension before the season and had a few more solid seasons before regressing hard in his early 30s.

Taipei had become known for being a playoff choker in recent memory, going 0-6 in the Taiwan-Philippine Association Championship from 2009-2015. They had lost to Davao in 2009 and 2010 and the 2016 final seemed to be going in the same direction. The Devil Rays started up 3-0, but the Tigercats made the improbable comeback to win the series in seven games. Taipei finally won the big one for their first pennant since 1993 and their fifth overall.

The Sundaland Association Championship was far less dramatic as Semarang rolled Johor Bahru 4-1. The Sliders earned their eighth pennant with wins in 1975, 1980, 1988, 1990, 2001, 2002, 2012 and 2016. That gave them an impressive 8-2 record in their SA finals berths.



The 52^nd Austronesia Championship was an all-timer, needing all seven games and extra innings in the finale. Semarang went up 5-4 in the top of the 13^th inning and came away with the win over Taipei. Pitcher of the Year Benigno Espinoza was the finals MVP, posting a 1.05 ERA over three playoff starts with 27 strikeouts over 25.2 innings. He tossed a three-hit shutout in the series.



This was Semarang’s sixth APB title (1975, 1990, 2001, 2002, 2012, 2016), tying them with Jakarta and Taoyuan for the most. One of their two defeats had been Taipei’s last title when they met previously in 1988. The Sliders were the fourth different champ in four years, although they broke up the parity having won five years prior.

Other notes: APB’s 40^th perfect game came on June 18 from Singapore’s Rob Bruja, striking out 10 against Johor Bahru. Cebu’s Favian Frias had his third no-hitter in a 15-strikeout performance over Tainan. Singapore’s Wil Tabaldo hit 51 home runs in 2016, becoming the only player in APB history with four 50+ homer seasons. Tabaldo became the 20^th to reach 400 career home runs in 2016. Kyle Oliveira became the ninth reliever to 300 career saves. RF Shih-Chieh Tseng won his ninth Gold Glove and 3B Adalberto Salenda won his eighth.

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Christchurch earned a fourth straight Australasia League title and did it in historic fashion. The Chinooks finished a staggering 126-36, tying the world record for most wins in a season by any pro baseball team. The only other 126-36 team was 1993 Ho Chi Minh City, who famously lost in the first round of the South Asia Baseball playoffs to an 84-win Johor Bahru. The previous best in the Oceania Baseball Association was 1999 Oceania Champion Guam at 119-43. It was Christchurch’s 12^th pennant.

The Chinooks outperformed their expected win/loss by nine games, tying the AL’s team saves record at 61. They allowed the fewest runs in the AL at 511 and scored the most at 857. They also set an OBA record for attendance with 2,112,858, a mark that held until 2026.

Poor Sydney couldn’t catch a break, taking second with a franchise-record 105-57. The Snakes remained the only original OBA team without a pennant. Perth was third at 97-65 while Hobart, one of the 2006 expansion teams, had their best-ever record at 87-75. Meanwhile Melbourne collapsed for an all-time franchise worst 59-103 season, ending a 13-year streak of winning seasons.

With their dominance, Christchurch had the incredibly rare sweep of all the top awards, taking Australasia League MVP, Pitcher of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Reliever of the Year. MVP went to designated hitter Roe Kaupa, making him a four-time winner overall and a three-time winner in his four years with the Chinooks.

The 29-year old Papuan scored 142 runs, breaking Kiryl Savchuk’s single-season OBA record of 136 from 2001. Kaupa’s record still holds as of 2037. He also led in home runs (62), total bases (447), and WAR (9.6), while posting a 1.147 OPS, 195 wRC+, and 128 RBI. He led in homers for the fourth straight year and topped 60 for the third time. Kaupa would play one more year for Christchurch before opting out of his deal, shocking the OBA world with a seven-year, $94,700,000 deal with Vanuatu.

Lyle Summer won his first Pitcher of the Year and his third Reliever of the Year. It was the fifth time a closer won POTY in OBA, last occurring in 1993. The 30-year old American righty was in his second year with Christchurch having been used in mid relief the prior year. Summer came to OBA in 2008 with Samoa after flaming out of MLB, winning Reliever of the Year in 2011 and 2012 with the Sun Sox.

In 2016, Summer pitched in 83 games with 52 saves and 56 shutdowns, a 13-2 record, 98 innings, 163 strikeouts, a 418 ERA+, and 6.2 WAR. He fell one short of OBA’s single-season saves record, but did set the record for appearances. Summer set a WAR record by an AL ROTY winner. He’d return to America in 2017, but quickly got the yips, falling out of pro baseball entirely after the 2018 season.



Guam returned to the Pacific League’s perch for the first time since 2009, winning their 15^th pennant, which leads all OBA teams. The Golden Eagles allowed 496 runs, fewer even than 126-win Christchurch. Reigning OBA champ Tahiti was a distant second at 94-68, ending their hopes for a PL three-peat. The Tropics still grew their streak of winning seasons to 14 years, finishing no worse than third in that run. Guadalcanal and Vanuatu were tied for third at 88-74, while Port Moresby was fifth at 87-75. New Caledonia was the worst at 49-113, posting the second-worst mark in PL history.

The top individual performances in the Pacific League came from two teams just below .500. MVP went to Samoa’s Gavino Cuoghi, a 37-year old Argentinian who had come over in 2015 after a 13-year run in his home country with Mendoza. Cuoghi had won a Southern Cone League MVP for the Mutants all the way back in 2007, joining the small list of guys with MVPs in two different world leagues.

For the Sun Sox, Cuoghi led in hits (193), runs (112), RBI (111), triple slash (.339/.387/.633), OPS (1.020), wRC+ (200), and WAR (8.4). He added 40 home runs, 33 doubles, and 50 stolen bases. Cuoghi played one more year for Samoa, then finished his pro career out with Guadalcanal.

After a two-year break, Fiji’s Akira Brady returned to the Pitcher of the Year spot. It was the fifth for the 29-year old New Zealander, who won four straight from 2010-2013. Brady led in ERA (1.73), strikeouts (455), WHIP (0.73), quality starts (33), complete games (26), shutouts (9), FIP- (52), and WAR (13.1). Brady had a 201 ERA+ over 328.1 innings and 23-10 record, falling one win short from his third Triple Crown.

Brady led in strikeouts for the seventh straight year, while leading in WAR for the sixth time and ERA for the fourth. It was his seventh time striking out 440+ batters in a season, tying him with Tarzan Rao for the most by an OBA ace. Brady also took second in MVP voting.



With the success of both franchises, the 57^th Oceania Championship was not the first finals meeting between Christchurch and Guam. The Golden Eagles were unbeaten, winning in 1980, 1992, and 1999 encounters with the Chinooks. The 1999 season was Guam’s historic 119-43 mark, which was the all-time best prior to Christchurch’s 2016.

The series lived up to the billing as a seven-game classic, but the Golden Eagles again played spoiler to the Chinooks, denying them the chance to be winningest league champ in pro baseball history. They still made it the farther than the only other 126-36 win team to that point and the mark did earn them the “wild card” slot into the Baseball Grand Championship.



Guam improved to 7-8 all-time in the finals while Christchurch lost back-to-back and dropped to 3-9 in the finals. This was the Golden Eagles first title since 2000. Although defeated, Christchurch had the finals MVP in 1B Naldo Soto. The 30-year old Filipino went 11-28 with 4 runs, 4 doubles, 2 homers, and 6 RBI.

Other notes: This was the final OBA season for five-time MVP Arjita Gabeja, retiring as the runs scored leader with 1683. As of 2037, he ranks fourth. Gabeja came close to Vavao Brighouse’s home run king crown of 804, but retired second at 786 and still ranks third as of 2037. Gabeja ended also with 1853 RBI, retiring second to Junia Lava and ranking fourth in modern times.

Lava became the second to 3000 career hits, finishing the season at 3042. He was in striking distance of OBA hit king Quentin Basa’s 3078. Lava also ended the year with 757 home runs, also still with a shot of catching Brighouse’s record of 804. Auckland’s Theo Merchant threw OBA’s 13^th perfect game, striking out seven against Gold Coast. It was the first perfecto since 2009. Akira Brady, Flynn Murphy, and Crow Xue each crossed 200 wins, making 21 OBA pitchers to do so.

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Rostov dominated the EPB’s European League in 2016 at 104-58, taking first by 21.5 games. The Rhinos led in runs (719) and earned their fifth straight playoff berth. It was their third time in first place during that run. Defending EL champ Moscow vary narrowly took the wild card slot, extending their playoff streak to three years and their run of winning seasons to 18.

The Mules tied for the wild card at 82-80 with Kazan, needing a tiebreaker game to take the spot over the Crusaders. Only six wins separated second from seventh after the regular season with Minsk and Volgograd both two back at 80-82, Krasnodar three back at 79-83, and Voronezh four back at 78-84. Moscow’s 83-80 was the worst record by a playoff team in EPB history.

For the third time in four years, Rostov LF Igor Gorbatyuk earned European League MVP. The 31-year old Russian led in home runs (43), RBI (126), walks (81), total bases (358), OBP (.424), slugging (.643), OPS (1.067), wRC+ (216), and WAR (11.1). Gorbatyuk had a .339 batting average, taking second in the EL.

Second-year Minsk righty Rumyan Mardanyan earned Pitcher of the Year honors. The 23-year old Armenian led in ERA (1.74), strikeouts (342), and WAR (10.4), posting a 185 ERA+ and 47 FIP. Mardanyan had a 15-7 record over 253.2 innings and helped the Miners get back near .500 after three sub-70 win seasons.



The reigning Eurasian Professional Baseball champion Ufa took first again in the Asian League standings. Unlike last year when they tied at 95-67 with Omsk, the Fiends took it by 14 games at 105-57 for their third straight playoff berth. Ufa led the AL in both runs (713) and fewest allowed (539). Krasnoyarsk earned the wild card at 91-71, besting Ulaanbaatar by six games and Omsk by nine. This was the Cossacks’ first playoff berth since their 2009 pennant.

Asian League MVP went to Ufa DH Syarhey Prokhorov. The 28-year old Belarusian came to the Fiends in 2015 in a trade with Voronezh. He broke out in 2016, leading in hits (223), RBI (117), total bases (409), triple slash (.347/.382/.637), OPS (1.019), wRC+ (197), and WAR (8.9). He also added 44 home runs and 38 doubles. This earned Prokhorov a seven-year, $36,000,000 extension. Unfortunately for Ufa, he regressed hard by 2019.

Repeating as Pitcher of the Year was Vladivostok righty Kaysar Alkhasov. The 31-year old Kazakh won the ERA title (1.81) and led in quality starts (26), and WAR (7.3). Alkhasov also had a 15-11 record, 249 innings, 254 strikeouts, and 188 ERA+. He pitched one more year for the Shibas, then was traded to Krasnoyarsk, where he would post strong production for nine years.

Rostov was the heavy favorite in the European League Championship Series in the rubber match with Moscow. The Rhinos had won in 2014 and the Mules in 2015, both as the top seed. 83-win Moscow reversed that trend with a stunning 4-1 series victory over Rostov. The Mules earned back-to-back pennants and their seventh since 2005. The Russian capital had ten pennants overall to their name.

Ufa had earned their first-ever pennant and first EPB title in 2015. The Fiends repeated in the Asian League Championship Series 4-2 over Krasnoyarsk. This set up a rematch with Moscow, which was the first finals rematch since the Mules met Yekaterinburg in 2006-2007.



Like their 2015 encounter, the 62^nd EPB Championship needed all seven games. Moscow got revenge over Ufa and became five-time EPB champs (1974, 1975, 2006, 2009, 2016). The Mules set the EPB record for the worst record by a champion at 83-80 and were statistically among the weakest champs in any pro league. They also joined a very small group that won it all after needing a tiebreaker game just to make it into the postseason field.



Finals MVP was 2B Alberto Fernandez in his third year with Moscow. The 31-year old Mexican came to Russia after six seasons in CABA between Torreon and Haiti. In 12 playoff starts, Fernandez had 17 hits, 6 runs, 5 doubles, 2 triples, and 4 RBI. Although there had been repeat finals appearances, this was the sixth different champion in six years for EPB.

Other notes: Ivan Mushailov became the ninth to 600 home runs, the second to 1500 runs scored, and the 21^st to 2500 hits in 2016. He played one more year and fell short of the runs record by 58. Krasnodar’s offense had 104 triples, tying the European League record. This mark held until 2035. RF Elebyi Shevchenko won his ninth Gold Glove, SS Mehmet Ucar won his eighth, and 1B Artu Sagdatullin won his seventh. RF Nikolay Kargopolcev won his seventh Silver Slugger.

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The European Baseball Federation made the surprise decision to lower the active roster size from 24 to 23 for the 2016 season. This put them even with CABA for the lowest of any of the pro leagues at this point.



Reigning EBF champ Antwerp got even better in 2016 with a franchise record 112-50, leading the Northern Conference in runs scored (843) and taking third in runs allowed (625). The Airedales easily repeated as Northwest Division champs and earned a third straight playoff berth. The second best record in the conference came in the Northwest by 96-66 Amsterdam. The Anacondas easily got the first wild card, expanding their wild card streak to four seasons.

The #2 seed went to Cologne at 94-68 atop the Northwest Division at 94-68, giving the Copperheads their seventh straight playoff berth. Oslo earned the Baltic Sea Division title at 92-70, bouncing back after their six-year streak was ended the prior year. The battle for the British Isles Division and the second wild card ended up a complicated mess.

For the BI Division, Dublin and Birmingham tied for the top spot at 86-76 with both falling just short in the wild card race. The one-game playoff tiebreaker went to the Bees for their first division title since 2011. This also kept the Dinos just out, ending an impressive eight-year playoff run. Dublin still grew their stretch of winning seasons to 12 despite missing the postseason.

Nine teams finished within five games of the second wild card spot. There was a three-way tie at the top at 88-74 between Leipzig, Prague, and Stockholm. Brussels was one back at 87-75, while five teams (Birmingham, Dublin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Warsaw) were two away at 86-76. Even 84-78 Kyiv and 82-80 Brno were real threats entering September.

Two tiebreaker games were needed with the seeding pitting Stockholm versus Prague first. The Pilots prevailed there, but then lost a winner-take-all against Leipzig. This was the Lumberjacks’ first playoff berth or winning season since earning promotion as the 2009 Second League champ. The biggest disappointment of the chasing teams perhaps was Hamburg, as they had gone 109-53 the prior year. Also notable was Paris dropping to 79-83, ending their four-year playoff streak. The Poodles hadn’t finished below .500 since 2003.

Two teams lost 100+ games and thus both were relegated as both Glasgow and Reykjavik were a lousy 56-106. Sheffield (65-97), Copenhagen (66-96), and Edinburgh (67-95) narrowly escaped demotion. The Raccoons had won 82 games the prior year, but collapsed in their fourth year in the top tier. The Highlanders had slowly plummeted in the last decade, but it again showed how fortunes can change. It wasn’t that long ago that Glasgow had their nine-year playoff streak from 1996-2004.

Oslo SS Harvey Coyle had his Northern Conference MVP streak ended at six in 2015, but returned to the pole position in 2016. He joined Sean Houston as the only seven-time MVPs in EBF history. The 29-year old English switch hitter led in home runs (61), RBI (136), runs (117), total bases (414), slugging (.706), and WAR (12.9). Coyle also had a 1.069 OPS and 191 wRC+.

Coyle also won his ninth Gold Glove, posting a 22.7 zone rating and 1.104 EFF. He also took home his ninth Silver Slugger with a remarkable 125.8 WAR accumulated before turning 30. He had nine seasons as the WARlord with 12+ each year and earned his seventh season of 50+ homers. Coyle crossed 1000 runs scored and 500 home runs in 2016.

Warsaw’s Rory Moriarty earned Pitcher of the Year at only age 22. The English/Irish dual national led in ERA (2.40), strikeouts (367), WHIP (0.91), K/BB (11.1), and WAR (9.4). He had a 156 ERA+ over 255.1 innings and a 17-8 record, falling two wins short of a Triple Crown. This was Moriarty’s first full season in the rotation, although he had pitched in the prior three years in some capacity for the Wildcats.

Both wild cards advanced with 2-0 sweeps in the first round with Amsterdam over Birmingham and Leipzig over Oslo. Cologne clobbered the Lumberjacks 3-0 with a sweep, while the Anacondas shocked top seed Antwerp. Amsterdam not only beat their top-ranked division rival, but swept the defending European champs.

The Anacondas hadn’t been in the Northern Conference Championship since 2007 and hadn’t won it since their 1980s dynasty. Despite their playoff streak, this was the Copperheads’ third berth and first since their lone pennant in 2012. Amsterdam ended 26-year pennant drought, defeating Cologne 4-2. This was the Anacondas’ ninth conference title, leading all teams in the Northern Conference.



The Southern Conference also saw its top two records come from the same division. That was the East Central Division, led by 103-59 Bucharest for their first playoff berth since 2009. It was the best record they had posted since joining EBF. Chisinau gave them a fight at 98-64 in their fifth season since getting promoted for 2012. The Counts hadn’t won more than 70 games prior to 2016, stunning observers with their sudden emergence. Chisinau out-performed their expected win/loss by ten games and did it with EBF’s second-lowest payroll at $108.5 million.

The #2 seed went to Marseille at 95-67, but they only narrowly won the Southwest Division with Madrid close behind at 93-69. The Musketeers got their third division title in five years. The Conquistadors earned the second wild card to end a seven-year playoff drought. East Central teams Tirana (91-71) and Belgrade (90-72) were their closest foes. Zaragoza (89-73) and Valencia (85-77) were both in the mix, but had their playoff streaks thwarted at three and two years, respectively. Defending conference champ Barcelona meanwhile plummeted to 71-91.

Zurich was the only team above .500 in the South Central Division at 93-69. It ended a two-year playoff skid for the Mountaineers and was their first division title since their 2010 pennant. In a lousy Southeast Division, 82-80 was enough for Yerevan to take it over 79-83 Thessaloniki. It was the first playoff berth for the Valiants since 2007.

Vienna historically had been one of EBF’s more successful franchises and been a conference champ as recently as 2012. However, a terrible 59-103 in 2016 doomed them to demotion. Every other team sans Tbilisi won at least 70 games, but the Trains’ 68-94 kept them safe from the 100+ loss relegation threshold.

Belgrade LF Danijel Rajovic was Southern Conference MVP for the second time in three years. Still in only his fourth season, the 26-year old Serbian led in home runs (51), total bases (379), slugging (.663), OPS (1.056), and wRC+ (195). Rajovic added 8.3 WAR, a .332 average, and 114 RBI. The Bruisers eventually gave him a seven-year, $101,100,000 expansion after the 2019 season, but he’d decline quickly into his 30s.

Pitcher of the Year was Zaragoza’s Dani Redondo. The 28-year old Portuguese lefty won the ERA title at 2.21. Redondo added a 22-8 record over 269.1 innings, 232 strikeouts, 7.4 WAR, and 169 ERA+. He also won his second Silver Slugger. Redondo pitched one more year with the Gold Hawks, then earned a six-year, $100,200,000 MLB payday with Las Vegas.

Both first round playoff matchups went 2-1 with Chisinau over Yerevan and Zurich over Madrid. The Counts took their divisional foe Bucharest to the limit, but the top-seeded Broncos survived 3-2. Meanwhile, Zurich got the 3-1 upset over Marseille in a renewal of a classic playoff rivalry.

This was the second Southern Conference Championship appearance for the Broncos since joining EBF along with their 2008 pennant. It was the first since 2012 for the Mountaineers. Zurich earned the road upset 4-2 for their first pennant since 2010. The Mountaineers became ten-time Southern Conference champs, tying them with Barcelona for the most.



The 67^th European Championship was the third finals meeting between the historically successful Amsterdam and Zurich franchises. They met back-to-back in 1983-1984 with the Anacondas winning both times. In 1983, the series went all seven games with the finale ending 6-5 in 12 innings. Despite both franchise’s prestige, Zurich hadn’t won it all since 1993 and Amsterdam hadn’t since 1989. The matchup also guaranteed the fifth different champ in five years.

There had also been a six-year streak of wins by the Northern Conference. Zurich snapped that and got some revenge for the 1980s, beating Amsterdam 4-2 for their third cup (1965, 1993, 2016). 3B Ludevit Dano was a playoff stud, winning MVP of the conference finals and the European Championship. The 27-year old Slovak in 19 playoff starts had 29 hits, 15 runs, 4 doubles, 3 triples, 5 homers, 14 RBI, and 11 stolen bases.



Other notes: Munich’s offense drew only 219 walks all season, which were the fewest in EBF history. This remained the all-time low until 2030. Amsterdam’s Josiah Navarro had a 34-game hit streak in the early spring. Blazej Swierczewski became the ninth to 3000 hits and the 15^th to reach 600 career home runs.

Ben Springer and Jiri Lebr became the 22^nd and 23^rd to 1500 career RBI. Gianfranco Marinis was the 35^th pitcher to 200 wins and Herbert Knoop was the 11^th reliever to 300 saves. 1B Francisco Cruz and SS Billy Wishart won their seventh Gold Gloves.

Promotion/Relegation: Glasgow, Reykjavik, and Vienna were the relegated teams while Ljubljana, Palermo, and Hanover were promoted. Glasgow’s drop left five teams for the six-team British Isles Division with no logical replacement, so Hanover ended there despite it not making immediate sense geographically.

Likewise, Ljubljana didn’t make a ton of sense for “Northwest,” but they were slotted straight up in Reykjavik’s spot for simplicities’ sake, avoiding shifting a bunch of teams around.

Palermo was placed in the South Central Division along with the other Italian teams. This did require one other shift for balance, moving Zagreb to the East Central to take Vienna’s old slot. In the Second League, Glasgow and Reykjavik easily slotted into the Western Conference and Vienna into the Eastern Conference.

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Four of the five playoff teams from the prior year in the Bolivar League made it back with the same teams winning each division. Medellin again won the Colombia-Ecuador Division, but this time earned the #1 seed at 102-60. The Mutiny grew their playoff streak to six seasons, the longest active one in Beisbol Sudamerica. Callao earned a third straight playoff berth at 98-64 in the Peru-Bolivia Division for the #2 seed. The Mutiny led the league in scoring (841) while the Cats allowed the fewest runs (550).

Last year’s BL champ Maracaibo again was the Venezuela Division winner, although they had the tightest competition. The Mariners were 94-68, finishing two games ahead of Barquisimeto and five ahead of Ciudad Guayana. The Black Cats earned the first wild card, returning to the playoffs after their seven-year streak was broken in 2016. The Giants repeated with the second wild card spot at 89-73, fending off Caracas and Quito by two games, Guayaquil and La Paz by three, and Cali by six. Although the Golds missed out, they notably had their 13^th consecutive winning season. The Pump Jacks also notably had their first winning season since 2004.

The Bolivar League had its seventh different MVP in as many seasons. This time it went to second-year Maracaibo RF Francisco Serrata, who led the league in runs (126), OBP (.433), slugging (.697), OPS (1.131), wRC+ (189), and WAR (8.9). The 24-year old Venezuelan lefty added 42 home runs, 107 RBI, 37 doubles, 58 stolen bases, and a .370 average. Serrata beat out Guayaquil’s Rodrigo Aguilar despite the latter leading with 62home runs and 139 RBI.

Meanwhile, Pitcher of the Year went to Sebastian Marquez for the fifth straight year and the seventh time in eight years. The Barquisimeto ace became the fourth pitcher in BSA history to win the award seven times, joining legends Mohamed Ramos, Lazaro Rodriguez, and Laurenco Cedillo.

The 30-year old Venezuelan won his fourth ERA title (2.40) and posted an 18-8 record over 206.1 innings, 237 strikeouts, 7.4 WAR, and 165 ERA+. This would be Marquez’s last POTY, although he’d have two more solid years for the Black Cats. Marquez would leave for a MLB payday in 2019 worth $105,000,000 over five years with Columbus.

Ciudad Guayana beat division rival 2-1 in the first round of the playoffs, but promptly got swept by Medellin in the divisional series. With that, the Mutiny earned their fifth consecutive appearance in the Bolivar League Championship Series. They’re the first team to earn five straight BLCS bids since the 1974-78 Valencia dynasty.

On the other side, Callao ousted defending BL champ Maracaibo 3-1, giving the Cats their first BLCS since winning Copa Sudamerica in 2012. Medellin was the top seed, but Callao clobbered them with an unexpected 4-0 sweep. This is the Cats’ fourth-pennant, as they also won in 1954 and 1957. The Mutiny are 2-3 during their BLCS streak with back-to-back defeats.



The Southern Cone League was amazingly balanced as the best record was only 93-69 and the worst was 70-92. Sao Paulo earned the #1 seed atop the Southeast Division, but only beat Rio de Janeiro by one game. The Padres are back in the playoffs after having their five-year streak ended the prior year. For the Redbirds, they ended a six-year drought by getting the first wild card. Last year’s #1 seed Montevideo was a non-factor in the division at 79-83.

Concepcion won the South Central Division at 92-70 and only missed the top seed by a game. Like Sao Paulo, the Chiefs are back after having a playoff streak (four for them) ended in 2015. Last year’s division champ Santiago got the second wild card at 87-75, edging Cordoba by one game and both Asuncion and Rosario by six.

Reigning Copa Sudamerica winner Recife grabbed a weak North Division at 86-76, beating Brasilia by six games. The Retrievers extended their playoff streak to four and got their seventh berth in eight years. Since BSA doesn’t give division winners preference in seeding, Recife had the #5 and lowest seed. Also of note, Fortaleza’s playoff streak ended at four with a 74-88 finish. The Foxes hadn’t posted a losing season since 2003.

Recife 3B Niccolo Coelho won his third Southern Cone League MVP, having also won in 2011 and 2014. The 33-year old Brazilian led in RBI (139) and added 49 home runs, 101 runs, a .349/.404/.682 slash, 1.085 OPS, 200 wRC+, and 10.4 WAR. Coelho won his seventh Silver Slugger in his 11^th season with the Retrievers.

Although Montevideo missed the playoffs, their ace Ivan “Dragon” Sandoval won Pitcher of the Year. The 29-year old Paraguayan righty led in WAR (8.1) and wins (17-10). Sandoval added a 2.19 ERA over 234.1 innings, 246 strikeouts, and 170 ERA+. He was the fifth different winner of the award in five years.

Santiago eliminated the defending champ Recife 2-1 in the first round, then gave the top seed Sao Paulo a fierce challenge. The Padres held on 3-2 to advance to the Southern Cone League Championship. Despite their six playoff berths in seven years, this was SP’s first time getting to the LCS since 1996.

On the other side, Rio de Janeiro downed Concepcion 3-1, giving the Redbirds their first LCS bid since winning the 2008 pennant. The series was a seven game classic with Rio outlasting Sao Paulo 4-3, continuing the Padres’ drought. The Redbirds became four-time Southern Cone champs (1970, 2003, 2008, 2016).



Both teams in the 86^th Copa Sudamerica were making their fourth finals appearance. Callao improved to 4-0 all-time in the finals, besting Rio de Janeiro 4-2 for their second title in five years. In his second year with the Cats, 3B Jesus Gueret was finals MVP. He had taken an odd path there, having grown up in the Central African Republic, followed by an eight-year run in Europe with Helsinki In the 2016 playoffs, Gueret had 14 starts with 14 hits, 8 runs, 3 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers, and 5 RBI.



Other notes: Callao’s Arsenio Araujo became only the fifth in BSA history to reach 700 career home runs. He played three more years and finished with 765, which ranks fifth as of 2037. Araujo and Hector Correa both joined the 3000 hit club in 2037, marking 11 players to reach that club. As of 2037, Araujo’s 3349 hits rank sixth and Correa’s 3005 is 20^th.

Fernan Murillo crossed 5000 career strikeouts, becoming only the seventh pitcher to reach that in BSA. He retired after 2018 with 5344, which ranks 7^th in 2016. SS Merkin Najera and CF Dominic Solano won their seventh Gold Gloves. C Cicero Lugo won his ninth straight Silver Slugger. 1B Rodrigo Aguilar and 2B Antonio Arceo won their seventh Silver Slugger.

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The 2016 Japan League saw all four division winners repeat from the prior year. The longest playoff streak was Hiroshima at five years with the Hammerheads earning the #1 seed at 96-66 atop the West Division. Hiroshima led the league in scoring with 706 runs. Their playoff streak was the longest active one in EAB.

Reigning East Asia Baseball champ Yokohama won a third straight Capital Division at 94-68. The Yellow Jackets did have to fend off 87-75 efforts by both Kawasaki and Chiba. Sendai secured the North Division four years running with a 92-70 finish. The closest battle was the Central Division, which saw Osaka repeat at 89-73, just edging out 89-74 Kobe and 88-75 Kyoto.

Japan League MVP went to Kobe 1B Masaru Ochiai in his fifth season as a starter. The 27-year old led in home runs (56), RBI (133), total bases (413), OBP (.391), slugging (.685), OPS (1.076), wRC+ (215), and WAR (10.5). Ochiai’s .335 batting average fell four points short of a Triple Crown. He stayed with the Blaze for one more year before joining Kyoto as a free agent on a six-year, $66,000,000 deal.

Third-year Fukuoka lefty Toshikuni Naikai earned Pitcher of the Year with an all-time great season. The 23-year old broke the EAB ERA record for a starter at 1.10, topping Kazuhiro Kobayashi’s 1.31 that had held since 1924. Naikai also broke the WAR record for a pitcher at 14.3, besting another nearly century-old record of 12.7 by Chikara Ohkubo in 1923.

Naikai also led in strikeouts (386), WHIP (0.70), K/BB (16.8), ERA+ (310), and FIP- (17). His 18-4 record over 230 innings fell one shy of his own Triple Crown. The WHIP mark tied the single-season by from 1953 by Yeon-U Cho and his .434 opponent’s OPS was second only to Ju-An Kim’s .426 in 1924. This was just the beginning for Naikai, who amazingly would best these efforts. He would see a setback though in 2017 with a torn meniscus costing him most of the year.

Hiroshima beat Osaka 3-1 in the first round, sending the Hammerheads to their fifth straight Japan League Championship Series. Defending champ Yokohama survived in five against Sendai, making the Samurai one-and-done for the fourth straight season. In the JLCS rematch, the Yellow Jackets won 4-1 to repeat and earn their ninth pennant overall. The Hammerheads fell for the third straight year in the JLCS.



While the Japan League had the same playoff field as the prior year, only one made it back in the Korea League. Seoul took the top seed at 94-68 atop the North Division, ending an eight-year playoff drought. Changwon claimed the South Division at 92-70, which ended their own nine year skid. The Crabs hadn’t been a division champ since 1965. Changwon led the KL in scoring (780). The Crabs won their division by five games and the Seahawks took theirs by six.

It was a very tight wild card race with seven teams within six games of each other. Pyongyang was the only repeat playoff team, getting the first slot at 88-74. Jeonju tied with last year’s KLCS runner-up Seongnam at 87-75 with the Jethawks advancing on the tiebreaker. This snapped a 16-year playoff drought for Jeonju going back to 1999.

Falling just short were Daejeon (86-76), Gwangju (84-78), Incheon (83-79), and Yongin (82-80). The biggest surprise was defending Korea League champ Ulsan collapsing down to 70-92. That ended a four-year playoff run for the Swallows and was their first losing season since 2009.

Gwangju DH Kunihiko Ishiguro won his second Korea League MVP in three years. In his third year starting, Ishiguro led in runs (138), homers (64), RBI (143), total bases (450), slugging (.738), OPS (1.113), and wRC+ (200). The 138 runs scored was the fifth most in EAB history at that point. Ishiguro added 9.8 WAR, a .331 average, and 46 stolen bases.

Seoul’s Do-Kyun Lee won his third Pitcher of the Year in four years and repeated as a Triple Crown winner with a 21-7 record, 2.06 ERA, and 420 strikeouts. Lee joined Soo Moon as the only repeat TC winners by an EAB pitcher (2000-01). The 420 Ks was second-most in EAB history only behind Lee’s own 447 from the prior year. The 27-year old also led in WHIP (0.77), K/BB (14.5), quality starts (25), complete games (21), FIP- (42), and WAR (12.3). Lee also made world history in the playoffs against Jeonju.

In an extra-innings performance, Lee set a world record for strikeouts with 26 over 11.2 innings. The previous pro record was 24 by Hyderabad’s Rami Naqvi in the 1999 ABF season. Lee also broke Nick Hedrick’s 25 strikeouts over 9 innings in the 1957 World Baseball Championship for the United States. Lee still holds the record as of a 2037, an especially remarkable feat in a playoff game.

That effort helped Seoul win 3-1 over Jeonju in the first round, while Changwon topped Pyongyang 3-1 on the other side. The Seahawks hadn’t gotten to the Korea League Championship Series since 2007, while the Crabs’ last berth was 2006. In 2006, Seoul claimed their last pennant by beating Changwon. The Crabs got revenge in 2016 for the upset in a seven-game classic. Changwon became six-time Korea League champs, ending a 51-year pennant drought back to 1964.



Changwon ended a 52-year drought for the overall East Asian Championship, rolling to a sweep of the defending champ Yokohama in the 96^th finale. The EAB final hadn’t seen a sweep since 1996. The Crabs became three-time champs (1945, 1963, 2016) and were the fifth different champ in five years.

The playoff star was 1B Yeo-San Park, who won MVP of the finals and the KLCS. The third-year slugger had 15 playoff starts with 20 hits, 9 runs, 3 doubles, 2 triples, 5 home runs, 10 RBI, and a 1.073 OPS. In the last decade, there had been nine different EAB champs crowned in 10 years with only Kyoto repeating.



Other notes: RF Soo-Geun Lim became the EAB RBI leader in 2016, finishing the season at 2154 to pass Hyeog-Jun Wi’s 2097. Lim played two more seasons and finished at 2279 RBI, which remains the EAB record as of 2037 and ranks 19^th in all of pro baseball history. He ended 2016 at 876 home runs, passing Hyeog-Jun Wi for second on the EAB chart (873). He was still 21 away from the leader Lei Meng’s 897.

Yoo Sen finished the season having drawn 1665 career walks as the EAB all-time leader. He played three more years to get to 1841, which ranks fourth in all of pro baseball history. Sen and Seung-U Lee both crossed 1500 RBI, making 41 EAB hitters to have reached that mark. Hamhung’s Kwang-Sik Oh had a 31-game hit streak, the first player to reach 30+ since 2000.

Sendai’s Edham Shirmemet threw EAB’s 35^th perfect game on June 10, striking out 10 against Hiroshima. Sekien Ida became the 16^th pitcher to 4000 career strikeouts, ending his final season with 4012 Ks. SS Do-Hyeon Ju won his tenth consecutive Gold Glove. LF Hitoshi Kubota won his tenth Silver Slugger and 3B Chul Park won his seventh.