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1923 in EAB
Sapporo won the Japan League North Division for the second straight season with a 103-59 mark and league-best 670 runs scored. Tokyo was close but just short at 99-63. In the South, Osaka took first at 102-60, fending off Kitakyushu (98-64) and Hiroshima (95-67). For the second time, Orange Sox pitcher Zeshin Saito won both league MVP and Pitcher of the Year, having thrown almost 34 WAR over three seasons. This time, Saito had enough support around him to lead Osaka to a league title, as the Orange Sox defeated the Swordfish in five games in the JLCS.
In the Korea League, Defending EAB champ Hamhung and Pyongyang battled at the top of the North Division. The Heat claimed first at 118-44, leaving the Pythons out of the postseason despite finishing 116-46. Hamhung outfielder Sozen Murata won MVP with 119 runs scored and a 1.093 OPS and Pitcher of the Year Chikara Ohkubo with a 12.7 WAR mark and 353 strikeouts. The 29-year old Ohkubo joined the Heat from Busan with a seven-year, $33,580 contract.
The South Division went to Changwon at 106-56, 13 games better than previous division champ Daegu. Despite Hamhung’s gaudy stats, the Crabs would oust them in six games in the Korea League Championship Series. However, Osaka would sweep Changwon in the East Asia Baseball Championship for the first overall title by a Japanese team.
Other notes: The fifth and sixth EAB perfect games were thrown in 1923. Katsunari Fujiwara of Tokyo tossed one against Kobe in April and Moon Kim of Changwon did it against Suwon in May.
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