1983 Season :
Transfert/ FA :
-
Amsalu Leake, 34 yo CL, was traded (DIA --> JDT) for C J.Sbarro and SS V.Albanov.
-
Chien-Shih Au, 36yo CF, signed as a FA (TSH --> LGG) a contract of 1 060 000 € in 2y.
-
Guan-pei Chio, 28 yo LF, signed as a FA (GRE --> B&Y) a contract of 4 690 000 € in 7y.
-
Luis Reyes, 35 yo SP, was traded (LNN --> FRE) for 2B S.Martin and CF C.Imhoff
-
Alejandro Fragoso, 27 yo CF, signed as a FA (B&Y --> SST) a contract of 7 970 000 € in 8y.
Managerial changes :
GRE Winner of the championship last year, Charlie Mills choosed to step down from his position, he instead will work as a bench coach for the Freros (I find this move strange but hey, at least he will be paid more
). Oberdan Diaz has been chosen to be the new manager of the Expendables, this will be his first coaching job.
SEAG Edgar Lemus retired in 1982, after 21 years as manager of the Jade Tigers and the Silver Eagles. He won the championship in 1980. Buddy Carlyle, previous manager of the Jade Tigers (1974-1981) will replace him.
MAP C.J Helman (1977-)
FRE Tommy Kasper (1981-)
CITY Boutros Nyachae (1981-)
LGG Roberto Schmidt (1982-)
LNN Paul McCarthy (1982-)
GRE Oberdan Diaz (1983-)
SST Carlos Ramos (1975-)
DIA Alejandro Zamora (1979-)
B&Y Andrew Lefave (1981-)
TSH Yellel Cooper (1982-)
JDT Suggut Tse (1982-)
SEAG Buddy Carlyle (1983-)
Now the third best franchise, owning 3 championships, the
Expendables had been dealing with inconsistency over time. They lost their biggest hitter, Chio.
CF Akifumi Shimizu will try to fill the gap. He made an interesting 1982 season, hitting
.247/.377/.373 with
4.4 WAR.
The Nang Nius will again seek to end their drought. Their rotation is particularly daunting. If Myung-gu Kim is their Ace,
Akira Kazama might be as performant. He pitched his first LBL season last year, finishing with a
13-7 record,
2.53 ERA, 214 K,
1.07 WHIP and
4.6 WAR.
Not back yet in postseason, the
Black & Yellows are building an amazing team, as they signed the great LF Chio. Defensively, they will be led by
Wayt Roxo, that only played for them since his debuts in 1974. He has won every
Sapphire Award as first base since 1979. Last year, he batted for
.316/.369/.451 and
3.9 WAR.
Achieving their best season last year,
City will try to pursue on this path. SP
Meddur Khalil achieved a promising season, with
13-11 record,
3.13 ERA,
168 K,
1.20 WHIP and
4.3 WAR. He is only 26, and will surely want to establish himself in his hometown franchise.
Since their title in 1976, the
Jade Tigers' best season was in 1978, with a .517 record. Rebuilding takes time, and it looks like it will not be any time soon that the Jade Tigers will be competitive again. The prospect
Michel Dubost, who plays CF, looks really promising. He was named #2 prospect in 1980 and 1981 and #3 in 1982.
The
Silver Eagles had lost their historical coach, but they can rely on a solid core of player that had been at the club since a long time.
Melvin Narvaez is one of them. He played 1B, and was drafted by the SEAG in 1972. At 31, he batted for
.262/.359/.474 last year.
Moon Division
The Nang Nius sat at the top of the Moon Division, with the best record in the league. The Freros will accompany them, as they managed to finish second. Far behind, three teams are really close : the Expendables, the Maple Leaves and City, while the Green Goblins finished last after their promising first season last year.
Sun Division
The Tattoed Sharks finished last with what may be the worst season ever by a franchise. They only won 34 games and lost more than a hundred games. They were a tie for the division title, between the Diamonds and the Black & Yellows. It is the first playoffs since 1979 for the B&Y. The Sea Stars and the Silver Eagles both had a positive record, while the Jade Tigers are still rebuilding.
Pitcher Albert Martinez was picked first this year, by the Jade Tigers. He comes from Chicago, Illinois.
The Diamonds finally won their first postseason series, after 4 failed attempts. It was a tight battle against the Freros. The other matchup of the semi-finals is a classic duel between the Nang Nius and the Black & Yellows. The Nang Nius had not won in playoffs against the Black & Yellow since 1965. However, this year they finally were able to get rid ot their nemesis 4-3. After their defeat at the same level last year, the Nang Nius finally ended their 18-years championship drought, winning their 6th title against the Diamonds !
A glance of the players behind this title :
Who were the best player this year ?
LNN Skipper
Paul McCarthy is in place for only two seasons but he had impressed since his arrival. He both won the Moon division and the championship this year.