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Three of the four division champions in the Japan League were repeat winners in 1986. The one that wasn’t was Yokohama, who won the Capital Division at 94-68 for their first playoff berth since 1966. It was a tight race, edging out Kawasaki at 91-71 and Chiba at 89-73. The Killer Whales see their five-year postseason streak and four-year JLCS streak end. The best overall record in the JL was Hiroshima, winning the West Division at 98-64. Defending East Asian Champion Osaka cruised to the Central Division title at 91-71. Sapporo claimed the North Division at 91-71, giving the Swordfish seven division titles in eight years.

Hiroshima’s Aiya Kodama won his fifth consecutive Pitcher of the Year and also claimed Japan League MVP. He’s the first pitcher to win JL MVP since Zeshin Saito in 1923 (not counting two-way players). Kodama became the first five-time Pitcher of the Year in Japan and EAB’s only three-time Triple Crown winner, posting a 22-4 record, 1.41 ERA, and 370 strikeouts. The ERA mark was the fifth lowest in a season for a EAB starter. The 27-year old lefty also led in WAR (11.5), FIP- (44), WHIP (0.85), K/BB (14.2), and complete games (16), adding 268.1 innings.

Hiroshima swept Sapporo in the first round, while Yokohama ousted defending champ Osaka 3-1. This gave the Hammerheads their first Japan League Championship Series appearance since their 1972 title and the Yellow Jackets their first since taking the crown in 1966. Yokohama capped off their turnaround with the pennant, winning the JCLS 4-2. The Yellow Jackets are now six-time Japan League champs, although it has been a while (1924, 26, 27, 65, 66, 86).



Daejeon had the Korea League’s top record and set a franchise record with a 111-51 mark atop the South Division. The Ducks have made the postseason six times in eight years after posting only two berths in their first 55 seasons. Jeonju was a distant second place in the division at 92-70, but that was enough to get the first wild card and back-to-back playoff appearances. Hamhung ended a seven-year playoff drought, winning the North Division at 92-70. Seongnam was two games back at 90-72 and tied with the South Division’s Yongin for the final wild card. The tiebreaker favored the defending KL champ Gold Sox, ending the Spiders’ playoff streak at four seasons.

Korea League MVP went to Jeonju RF Seon-Yul Go. The 25-year old lefty leadoff man led in runs scored with 116 and posted 7.0 WAR, 201 hits, a .333/.385/.502 slash, and 87 stolen bases. Daejeon veteran Eun-Chan Uhm picked up Pitcher of the Year. In his 12^th season with the Ducks, he led in WAR (8.5) and FIP- (51), adding 248 strikeouts and a 2.23 ERA over 209.1 innings with a 17-6 record.

Yet again, Daejeon suffered an early postseason exit despite their regular season dominance, falling 3-1 to Yongin. This gave the Gold Sox a chance to three-peat in the Korea League Championship Series. Jeonju topped Hamhung 3-1 in the other series, making the Jets the first of the 1978 expansion teams to get to its league semifinal. Jeonju ousted Yongin 4-1 in the KLCS, giving the Jets the pennant in their ninth year of existence.



In the 66^th East Asian Championship, Jeonju downed Yokohama 4-2 to claim the overall title for the young franchise. 1B Min-Seong Ahn was finals MVP with 13 hits, 10 runs, 5 home runs, and 10 RBI over 13 playoff games. The win also continues an impressive streak of parity with 12 different EAB Championship winners in 12 years.

Other notes: Yokohama’s Kitahachi Kawamoto, the JLCS MVP, set a postseason record with eight doubles. Osaka’s Fumihiko Ueda struck out 21 in a complete game win against Nagoya, becoming the third EAB pitcher to fan 21+ in a game. 1986 had two impressive hitting streaks with Ji-Hu Kim of Jeonju getting 38 and Ulsan’s Sumiya Kumagai getting 37. These rank third and fourth longest in EAB history with the record being 42, set in 1921 by Sang-Hyun Kang. LF Ki-Chun Park won his 15^th and final Gold Glove. This is a EAB record for any position and wouldn’t be matched until 2034.