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Defending Austronesian Champion Taoyuan won the Taiwan League title for the fourth time in six years. The Tsunami took first at 99-63, fending off a solid challenge from 99-67 Taichung. Taoyuan led the Taiwan-Philippine Association in both runs scored (586) and fewest allowed (457). In the Philippine League, Manila snapped a 12-year playoff drought with the Manatees first at 86-76. Defending PL champ Quezon and Cebu both tied for second at 80-82.

The Tsunami had the league MVP in veteran first baseman Ming-Chin Lin. The 33-year old led in the triple slash (.336/.369/.575) and led in OPS (.945), wRC+ (189), RBI (96), and doubles (36). He added 27 home runs and 8.2 WAR. Zamboanga’s Vhon Lasam won his third Pitcher of the Year award. The 28-year old lefty had been the World Baseball Championship’s Best Pitcher to start the year, then boasted a TPA best 1.97 ERA, 365 strikeouts, 0.83 WHIP, 57 FIP-, and 9.1 WAR. Lasam led in strikeouts for the fourth straight season, getting a 16-9 record in 264.2 innings. Also of note, Taoyuan’s Ting-Wei Ping won his fifth Reliever of the Year, posting 41 saves and a 1.14 ERA with 5.8 WAR. This would end the 30-year old’s APB career, as he’d spend the next decade bouncing between MLB squads.



The fight for the Malacca League crown was intense with Medan taking it at 96-66, finishing one ahead of Pekanbaru and three ahead of Batam. This gave the Marlins their third playoff berth in four years. They set a Sundaland Association record as a pitching staff with only 194 walks surrendered, a record that held until 2036. Last year’s ML winner Singapore fell to 77-83. Defending SA champ Jakarta cruised to the Java League crown at 89-73.

Bandung CF Fajar Lastori was the Sundaland Association MVP, his second time winning having also taken it in 1978. Nicknamed “Soupy,” he led in runs (85), home runs (42), total bases (312), and slugging (.533) with 9.1 WAR. Medan’s Ryco Bujang won his second Pitcher of the Year in three years. The 26-year old Indonesian lefty led in ERA (1.59), wins (22-7), quality starts (31), FIP- (55), and WAR (9.4). He added 325 strikeouts in 271.2 innings.

Taoyuan topped Manila 4-1 in the Taiwan-Philippine Association Championship, giving the Tsunami back-to-back TPA pennants and their fourth overall. Medan mauled Jakarta with a Sundaland Association Championship sweep, giving the Marlins their second title in three years and third overall.



In the 19^th Austronesian Championship, Taoyuan downed Medan in five games, giving the Tsunami back-to-back titles and their third overall. 1B Tsi-Hsiang Li was the finals MVP with the 25-year old getting 12 hits, 6 runs, and 2 home runs in 10 playoff games. Taoyuan became the third APB franchise to repeat as overall champs; Kaohsiung did it twice in their mid 1970s dynasty and Jakarta did it in 1969-70.



Other notes: APB’s ninth perfect game was pitched by Shu-Nung Zhang of Pekanbaru on July 10. He struck out six against Surabaya in his perfecto. Dada Wibowo set a bad all-time APB record, striking out 320 times. Francis Pung became the first APB batter to 2500 career hits. He retired after the 1984 season with 2741 hits, which would remain the APB all-time mark until the early 2000s. Abracham Gumelar became the first to 600 home runs, ending his career with 604. Chun-Chia Lan became only the third to 500 home runs. Wisnu Dharmayuman became the first pitcher to 4000 strikeouts. 1B Kent Wang won his 14^th Gold Glove. 2B Max Diama won his eighth Silver Slugger.