[FuzzyRussianHat]

The 1987 Indian League had two first-time division winners. Kanpur had the best overall record at 95-67, winning the Central Division by nine games over Kolkata. Chennai claimed a weak South Division at 85-77 as the only team above .500. Visakhapatnam, who won the division last year with 103 wins, fell to 78-84. The West Division had Pune narrowly secure the title at 91-71, bouncing back after missing the playoffs for the first time the prior year. Defending South Asian Champ Ahmedabad was one back at 90-72, which earned them the wild card and a sixth playoff berth over SAB’s first eight seasons.

Delhi’s V.J. Williams won his fourth straight Indian League MVP. The 26-year old second baseman was the leader in runs (115), hits (188), total bases (391), OBP (.421), slugging (.688), OPS (1.109), wRC+ (252), and 12.4 WAR. His overall resume gave him the MVP over Ahmedabad’s Andee Siddharth despite record setting power. Siddharth set the new single-season home run record with 67 (passing the previous high of 66) and had the first 150+ RBI season with 153. Siddharth remained the home run king until 1996. Kanpur’s Arvind Lal won Pitcher of the Year, leading in wins (21-3), ERA (1.63), WHIP (0.82), and K/BB (9.7). Lal had 281 strikeouts over 215.1 innings with 7.5 WAR.

Defending champ Ahmedabad won 3-1 on the road over Kanpur in the first round of the playoffs, while Pune swept Chennai 3-0. The division rivals met in the Indian League Championship Series with the wild card Animals taking it 4-2 to earn back-to-back IL pennants.



The Southeast Asia League was quite competitive in 1987 with the best overall record being only 92-70. That went to Bangkok, who earned the South Division title for back-to-back seasons. They were only two ahead of Ho Chi Minh City and three ahead of Vientiane, although both of those teams snagged wild cards. The Hedgehogs earned a fourth playoff berth in five years and the Vampires got back-to-back wild cards. In the North Division, Hanoi was first at 91-71 for their first division title and second playoff berth in three years. Mandalay (86-76) and defending SEAL champ Kathmandu (85-77) both ended up a few games shy of both the division crown and a wild card spot.

Chittagong fell below .500, but CF Van Loi Phung won his second Southeast Asia League MVP. The 26-year old Vietnamese righty was the leader in runs (108), RBI (129), total bases (376), OPS (1.045), wRC+ (1830, and WAR (11.3). He added a .340 average and 43 home runs. Vientiane’s Zainal bin Aziz won back-to-back Pitcher of the Year awards and led in strikeouts (381), innings (261.2), WHIP (0.89), K/BB (8.1), FIP- (43), and WAR (12.1). bin Aziz also had a 1.96 ERA and 20-4 record.

Ho Chi Minh City upset Hanoi 3-2 in a classic first round series and Bangkok bested Vientiane 3-1. It was the first Southeast Asia League Championship Series berth for the Bobcats and the second for the Hedgehogs, who were runner-up in 1984. The series was a seven game thriller with Ho Chi Minh City taking it for their first title of what would become a run of annual dominance for the next 20 years.



The eighth South Asian Championship wouldn’t have much excitement though as Ahmedabad swept Ho Chi Minh City to earn back-to-back SAB titles. Although a sweep, this kicked off what would become an intense rivalry with these teams meeting in numerous championships for the rest of the 20^th Century. Andee Siddharth was finals MVP and had 6 home runs, 17 hits, 9 runs, and 15 RBI over 14 playoff starts.



Other notes: V.J. Williams won his sixth Silver slugger at 2B. RF Najib Kumaili also won his sixth.