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Austronesia Professional Baseball added its third and fourth Hall of Famers from the 1981 voting. Both were starting pitchers from Kun-Sheng Lin being a no-doubt pick at 99.3%. W.C. Yu joined him his third attempt, finally getting over the 66% hump with 69.1%. No one else was above 50% and no players were cut after ten ballots.



Kun-Sheng “Duke” Lin – Starting Pitcher – Tainan Titans – 99.3% First Ballot

Kun-Sheng Lin was a 5’11’’, 200 pound right-handed pitcher from Taipei, Taiwan. His stuff was the thing of legends with a 99-101 mph fastball mixed with a stellar changeup and excellent curveball. Lin was an absolute master at changing speeds, while also having solid movement and control. In his prime, he had incredible stamina with 208 of his 327 career starts being complete games. An incredibly hard worker and adaptable pitcher, Lin’s (albeit brief) prime could arguably be the most impressive seven years any professional pitcher has strung together.

Lin attended the Tatung Institute of Commerce and Technology in Chiayi and excelled as an amateur, earning a lot of attention ahead of the 1967 APB Draft. Tainan would select Lin third overall and he’d be an immediate star, finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting. He posted 7.1 WAR, which would manage to be easily his weakest APB season. That’s because Lin’s dominance in the next six years would be unprecedented.

Lin led the Taiwan-Philippine Association in strikeouts and WAR six straight seasons, getting 400+ Ks and 12+ WAR each year. His ERA was below two each season and led the TPA four times. He also led in wins those same four years to get four Triple Crowns, something that had never been done by any professional pitcher to that point. As of 2037, he’s one of only two pitchers in any pro league to win four or more Triple Crowns. Not surprisingly, this 1969-74 stretch saw six straight Pitcher of the Year awards. In four of those seasons (1969, 1970, 1972, 1973), he also won the league MVP.

The 1969-73 seasons were each worth more than 15+ WAR, a mark that had never been reached by any pitcher in other leagues. His best was 17.3 WAR in 1972, a year that also had a career high 511 strikeouts and 308.1 innings. His best ERA was 1.21 in 1969 with a 0.59 WHP in 1973, 12 shutouts that year, and a FIP- of 16 in 1970. As of 2037, five of the top eight all time pitching WAR seasons in APB belong to Lin. The 17.3 WAR was to that point the third best in any pitching season ever, only behind two seasons by South American legend Mohamed Ramos. Lin holds four of the top five strikeout seasons in APB with only Ramos having had a 500+ K season to that point. The 30 complete games and 12 shutouts in 1973 also remain APB records with many of his other marks being still top five.

Despite all that, he only had one no-hitter in his career, a 13 strikeout, one walk effort in 1973 against Kaohsiung. Lin did strike out 21 in a game on three occasions, which held as the APB single-game record until 1984. Despite his dominance as well, Tainan only made the playoffs twice in his tenure. They were Association champ in 1969 with Lin posting a 0.89 ERA in 30.1 innings; the Titans falling in the APB final to Jakarta. They won the TPA again in 1972, but Lin missed the playoffs to injury. He also pitched for Taiwan in the World Baseball Championship from 1968-78, although he wasn’t amazing, posting a 3.96 ERA over 150 innings with 230 strikeouts and 3.6 WAR.

Tainan limped to 59 wins in 1974 and hoped that moving Lin could give them pieces to rebuild with. They traded him straight up to Manila for rookie 2B Max Diama, who would go onto with eight Silver Sluggers in a fine career. Lin won his sixth and final Pitcher of the Year with the Manatees, who missed out on the postseason. Now a free agent at age 29, Lin had worldwide suitors that could offer far more money than the still fledgling APB. Thus, he left for America and signed a six-year, $3,140,000 deal with Phoenix.

His time with the Firebirds was snake-bitten from the start as a torn meniscus in May 1975 put him out six months. Lin bounced back with a very good 1976, showing he could hold his own against the stronger competition. Various injuries cost him parts of 1977, although he had a fine postseason in helping Phoenix to an AACS appearance. Lin was off to a great start in 1978, but suffered a horrible torn rotator cuff. This wrecked him as a pitcher and he was terrible in his 1979 comeback attempt. Phoenix cut him before the 1980 season and apart from a brief month in minor league Peoria, that was it at only age 35. His Phoenix tenure had a 3.90 ERA, 39-43 record, 726.2 innings, 643 strikeouts, and 11.7 WAR.

For his full pro career, Lin had a 178-118 record, 2.23 ERA, 2759.2 innings, 3716 strikeouts, and 113.8 WAR. In his seven APB seasons, he had a 139-75 record, 1.63 ERA, 2033 innings, 3073 strikeouts to only 293 walks, FIP- of 33, 197/230 quality starts, 166 complete games, 37 shutouts, and 102.1 WAR. Other more tenured pitchers would pass his totals, but the fact he’s even still up near the top from only SEVEN APB seasons is remarkable. His prime was maybe the best-ever for any pro pitcher, but sadly it was brief. The stingy Tainan franchise didn’t even retire his jersey number because of that briefness. But Lin still is revered as an all-time great Taiwanese pitcher and an obvious first ballot Hall of Famer at 99.3%.



W.C. “Cactus” Yu – Starting Pitcher – Pekanbaru Palms – 69.1% Third Ballot

W.C. Yu was a 5’11’’, 200 pound right handed pitcher from Taipei, Taiwan. Nicknamed “Cactus,” he had respectable stuff with solid control and below average movement. Yu’s velocity peaked in the 95-97 mph range with a fastball, curveball, changeup arsenal. He had strong stamina and regularly went deep into games. Yu was also considered a pretty respectable defensive pitcher.

When Austronesia Professional Baseball was formed, Yu was already 28 years old and known as one of Taiwan’s best pitchers in the semi-pro ranks. Multiple teams wanted to sign him for the new organization and it would be Pekanbaru that got him on a two-year, $115,000 deal. It paid off immediately for the Palms, who were the first Sundaland Association Champion. Yu led the SA in strikeouts his first three seasons and posted 10+ WAR in his first two. He earned the 1965 and 1967 Pitcher of the Year awards, plus had a second place finish in 1966 and third place in 1968.

Yu had a solid 1965 postseason with a 1.48 ERA in 24.1 innings, but the Palms fell to Taichung in the first APB Championship. They wouldn’t get back to the postseason despite Yu’s efforts. After his first four stellar seasons, the now 33-year old saw his production drop steeply. Pekanbaru, who also began to struggle as a franchise, traded Yu to Semarang before the 1971 deadline. With the Palms, he had a 114-72 record, 2.45 ERA, 1745.1 innings, 1848 strikeouts, and 42.3 WAR. Yu would be worth negative value in a half-season with Semarang, as well as in 1972 with Taichung. He was a reliever with Kaohsiung in 1973 and earned a APB ring, but this marked the end of his career at age 37.

Yu’s final stats: 123-84 record, 2.52 ERA, 1905.2 innings, 1955 strikeouts, 159/232 quality starts, FIP- of 83, and 40.3 WAR. His totals were also hurt by starting at age 28 with a few more good years making his resume look better. In a short burst, Yu was great but his totals are still very low compared to most other Hall of Fame pitchers. His short burst doesn’t compare to the cartoonish one of his HOF classmate Kun-Sheng Lin. Still, Yu had his supporters and many voters wanted to start populating the APB Hall. After 55.7% and 55.9% in his first two tries, Yu got the bump to 69.1% to earn the Hall of Fame nod on his third ballot.