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Two-time defending Japan League champ Chiba won the North Division for the third straight season, finishing at 97-65. Meanwhile, the best two records in the league were in the South Division. Nagoya snapped a 14-year playoff berth with a 109-53, outlasting defending division champ Kyoto who went 105-57.

Kawasaki’s Kakuzo Yokoyama won back-to-back league MVPs. The 26-year old first baseman became the first player to hit 60+ home runs in consecutive seasons as he led Japan with 62 dingers, 142 RBI, 113 runs, .705 slugging, 1.100 OPS, a WRC+ of 213 and a 9.8 WAR. Pitcher of the Year was Nagoya’s Chun-Ho Kim. The 25-year old lefty was the ERA leader at 2.03 and also led Japan with a 0.89 WHIP, 26 quality starts, 55 FIP-, and 8.6 WAR. He added 252 strikeouts over 230.1 innings.



Pyongyang continued to roll in the Korea League. The two-time defending East Asian Champion had their third straight season with 112+ wins with a 112-50 mark atop the North Division. The Pythons were uncatchable despite solid efforts by Seoul (99-63) and Hamhung (93-69). Changwon won the South Division title with a 95-67, making the playoffs for the fifth time in seven years. Last year’s division champ Ulsan was a distant second at 86-76.

MVP went to 27-year old Seoul second baseman Min-Hyeok Shin. He was the Korean WARlord at 10.0 and also led in hits (202), .OBP (.431), slugging (.679), OPS (1.110) and wRC+ (194). He added 47 home runs and 139 RBI. Pitcher of the Year was Pyongyang’s Jun-Hui Ahn. The 25-year old righty was the leader in wins at 26-7 and innings (289) with a league-best 27 complete games. Ahn added 9.1 WAR, a 2.24 ERA, and 265 strikeouts.

In the Japan League Championship Series, Chiba made it a three-peat, outlasting Nagoya in a seven game classic. The Comets now have four league titles, having also won in 1952. In the Korea League Championship Series, Pyongyang was denied their three-peat by Changwon. The Pythons seemed on their way by winning the first three games, but the Crabs rallied from the 3-0 hole to take the series in seven games. The final game went 10 innings with Changwon taking it5-4, giving the Crabs four league titles (1959, 1945, 1923).

The East Asian Championship also was a seven game classic, although not as dramatic as the KLCS rally. Changwon edged Chiba, giving the Crabs their second-ever overall title, joining the 1945 campaign. RF Yeqing Zhao was the series MVP, posting 16 hits, 10 runs, 4 homers, and 7 RBI in 14 playoff games. The Comets suffer defeat in the championship for the third straight season, joining 1925-27 Gwangju as the only team to fall in three straight finals.





Other notes: It was the final season for Ju-An Pak, who smacked 49 home runs at age 39. This allowed him to pass Byung-Oh Tan as the all-time home run king with 760 for his career. Pak also finished with 3493 strikeouts, the most whiffs all-time. He’d be an interesting debate in the future as despite his prolific power, he posted only 47.4 WAR career WAR due to stinking at all other aspects of the game. His hold of the home run king title lasted only a few years with Lei Meng taking the title later in the decade.

1963 saw both Young-Hwan Sha and Ki-Wook Ahn cross 600 career home runs, becoming the fifth and sixth EAB players to do so. Sha also crossed 1500 runs scored, the fifth to accomplish that. Jae-Ha Pak became only the fourth pitcher to reach 250 career wins. Hirotaka Mizutani became a ten time Gold Glove winner at third base.