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The Taiwan-Philippine Association had two first-time league winners in 1973. Cebu had the best overall record at 97-65, beating Davao by nine games in the Philippine League. There have been four league winners in four years with only Quezon yet to finish first. Kaohsiung was the only team that hadn’t won the Taiwan League entering 1973. They changed that by rolling to the title at 92-70. Last year’s Association champ Tainan dropped hard to 76-86.

Despite the Titans struggling, ace Kun-Sheng Lin continued to dominate, winning his fifth straight Pitcher of the Year and his fourth league MVP. After a record 17.3 WAR the prior year, he posted 17.1 WAR in 1973, also leading in wins (25-9), ERA (1.24), innings (304.2), strikeouts (484), quality starts (32), complete games (30), shutouts (12) and FIP- (25). He set single-season records for complete games and shutouts that still hold as of 2037. As of then as well, he still has the top three APB strikeout seasons and five of the top eight in pitching WAR. Lin also earned his fourth pitching Triple Crown. Also worth noting, Taipei’s Hao-Ming Lu won his fourth straight Reliever of the Year, posting a stellar 0.49 ERA and 41 saves over 92.2 innings with 163 strikeouts and 6.8 WAR.



Over in the Sundaland Association, Surabaya and Batam continued their league dominance. The defending APB champ Blue Raiders cruised to the Malacca League title at 100-62 for their fourth straight playoff berth. The Sunbirds had their third straight berth, dominating the Java League at 103-59.

Surabaya 3B Kim Shin Pan won back-to-back MVPs. The 27-year old Singaporean righty was the WARlord at 11.7, adding a .303/.362/.592 slash, 43 home runs, and 101 RBI with a 231 wRC+. Pitcher of the Year was Semarang’s Sahid Fakhruddin. The third-year lefty from Depok led the association in WAR (12.2), ERA (1.41), strikeouts (424), WHIP (0.72), K/BB (10.3), complete games (19), and FIP- (38).

In the Taiwan-Philippine Association Championship between first time finalists, Kaohsiung topped Cebu 4-1. The Sundaland Championship was round three with Surabaya having taken it in 1971 and Batam winning in 1972. The Blue Raiders made it back-to-back titles in a seven game classic. Game seven went TWENTY INNINGS before Batam escaped with a 6-5 road win.



In the ninth Austronesia Championship, Kaohsiung prevented Batam from repeating as APB champs. The Steelheads took the series in six games, beginning what would become a dynasty run. 22-year old RF Chun-Chia Lan was the star of the postseason, winning MVP of both playoff series. He had 18 hits, 9 runs, 7 home runs, and 13 RBI in 11 games. His 1.0513 slugging and 1.5740 OPS remain APB postseason records as of 2037; the home run mark wasn’t passed until 2037, and the RBI mark sits tied for third-all time as of 2037. This was the breakout moment for Lan, who would go onto be one of the great APB hitters and a leader for Kaohsiung’s dynasty.



Other notes: 21-year old 1B Ming-Yi Wang of Taoyuan hit 50 doubles, setting a single-season APB record that still holds as of 2037. Kun-Sheng Lin had a 21 strikeout game against Zamboanga, tying his own single-game record that he set twice the prior year. Lin also threw the only no-hitter of his career on May 22, striking out 13 with one walk against Kaohsiung. Lin also became the first APB pitcher to 25000 career strikeouts. Yen-Hsun Chiang became the second hitter to 300 career home runs.