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World War II is often marked as having started in 1939 with Germany's invasion of Poland. Japan had already been fighting in China for a few years prior and would soon ramp up the Pacific Theatre. Baseball would continue within the East Asia Baseball structure throughout the entirety of the war with the main baseball-specific impact being EAB players being forbidden to leave for other leagues and players being imported from other leagues. The nature of EAB meant there were incredibly few non-Japanese/Korean players already though compared to the more diversified rosters in MLB, CABA, and BSA.



In the Japan League, defending league champ Kawasaki again was North Division champion, finishing at 92-70 with seven games ahead of Yokohama. In a very competitive South Division, nine games separated first from last place. Hiroshima took the top spot at 91-71, joining 1922 as their only playoff appearances. They were two games better than last year’s division champ Kyoto and Kitakyushu; four ahead of Fukuoka, five on Kobe, eight on Nagoya, and nine on Osaka.

Orange Sox first baseman Yu-Jin Kim won the league MVP, with the 25-year old leading Japan in runs (106), homers (51), RBI (128), walks (69), OPS (1.008), wRC+ (226) and WAR (8.9). Kobe’s Drew St. Louis won his second Pitcher of the Year, leading with a career-best 1.43 ERA. The 25-year old Trinidadian also led Japan in strikeouts (a career-high 366), plus a 9.9 WAR.



Goyang took the Korea League North Division at 94-68 for their third division title in four seasons. Defending EAB champ Busan won back-to-back South Divisions and their sixth title in eight seasons. The Blue Jays at 101-61 had the best record in Korea, finishing eight ahead of Gwangju.

Green Sox DH Byung-Oh Tan led the league in runs for the fifth straight season, earning the 26-year old his first league MVP. Tan also was the league leader in hits (225), WAR (9.3), average (.363), and OBP (.400), while adding 40 home runs and 110 RBI. Tan also earned his sixth Silver Slugger as a designated hitter. Blue Jays ace Yu-Geon Moon became a four time Pitcher of the Year winner. The 31-year old led in ERA (2.13) for the fifth time in his career, also adding 273 strikeouts, 26 quality starts, and 8.0 WAR.

The JLCS went to Hiroshima for the first time in franchise history as the Hammerheads defeated defending champ Kawasaki in six games. The KLCS was claimed by Busan in seven games over Goyang, giving the Blue Jays back-to-back Korea League titles. In the East Asian Championship, Hiroshima topped Busan in six for their first overall title.





Other notes: Hiroshima’s Kazuo Ogiwara became the first four-time Reliever of the Year winner. On April 18, Fukuoka’s Tokinari Ito threw a perfect game with nine strikeouts against Kobe. Danzu Min became the seventh EAB player to 400 career home runs. Changwon’s Hyeong-Jun Sim became the fourth pitcher to 200 career wins.