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FuzzyRussianHat · 01-24-2024, 06:02 PM

For 1991, first baseman Francis Pung was the lone addition into the Austronesia Professional Baseball Hall of Fame. On his second ballot, Pung got the bump up to 75.9%. Three others were above 50%, led by SP Ary Mustofa at 58.8% on his third ballot. 1B Po-Yu Shao got 57.6% on his fourth attempt and CL Lee Tira had 55.9% in his fourth. No players were dropped after ten failed ballots.

Francis Pung – First Base – Davao Devil Rays – 75.9% First Ballot

Francis Pung was a 6’4’’, 200 pound left-handed first baseman from Olongapo, a city of around 260,000 people in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Pung was a fantastic contact hitter and an expert at putting the ball in play. He was excellent at avoiding strikeouts, but only okay at drawing walks. Pung had very good gap power, averaging around 30 doubles and another 10-15 triples per year. He also had solid speed and baserunning instincts, allowing him to leg out extra bases. Pung wasn’t a prolific home run hitter, but still got you around 10-15 per year on average. He was considered fairly durable and spent his entire career at first base. Defensively, Pung was slightly below average, but he wasn’t a liability by any means.

His family moved from the Philippines to Taiwan when he was a teenager. Pung played at Dali High School in Taipei and excelled, which earned him attention in the 1966 APB Draft. He was a rare high school draft pick, taken in the third round with the 50^th overall pick by Davao. Pung was a rarely used pinch hitter in his first two years, spending most of his time in developmental. He was a part time starter in 1969, then earned the starting role in 1970. From there, Pung’s only missed starts in the next 13 years with Davao came with occasional small injuries.

With the Devil Rays, Pung won seven batting titles. He led the Taiwan-Philippine Association in hits five times, doubles twice, RBI once, OBP four times, and OPS once. Pung picked up five Silver Sluggers (1971, 72, 73, 80, 81). He took second in 1972’s MVP voting and second again a decade later in 1982. Pung took the top honor once, winning MVP in 1978. That year had a career-best .922 OPS and .384 OBP.

Davao won the Philippine League title four times in Pung’s tenure. In 1975, the Devil Rays won the TPA title, falling in the Austronesia Championship to Semarang. In 27 playoff starts, Pung had 34 hits, 11 runs, 9 doubles, 2 home runs, and 10 RBI. He also played for the Philippines in the World Baseball Championship from 1973-83, although primarily as a pinch hitter. In 69 games and 19 starts, Pung had 26 hits, 15 runs, 6 home runs, and 16 RBI.

Pung was very popular with Davao, who locked him up after the 1975 season to an eight-year, $2,528,000 contract extension. The Devil Rays would eventually retire his #18 uniform as well. After a solid 1970s, Davao began to struggle and rebuild, bottoming out at 61-101 in 1983. Pung had put up consistent stats before that, but his slugging fell noticeably to start that year. Still, he reached the 2500 hit and 1000 RBI milestones with Davao. He finished his Devil Rays tenure with 2533 hits, passing Angelo Mula’s all-time APB mark of 2517.

1983 was the last year of his contact and Davao would trade him that summer to Manila for shortstops Romzi Ceputra and Suwita Sumarna. The Manatees got to the playoffs, but were one-and-done. Pung stayed in the Philippines and signed in 1984 with Zamboanga, where he had one okay season as a Zebra. He went unsigned in 1985, retiring that winter at age 37.

For his career, Pung had 2741 hits, 1032 runs, 457 doubles, 199 triples, 197 home runs, 1119 RBI, 738 stolen bases, a .309/.346/.473 slash, and 68.1 WAR. He was the APB hit king at retirement and the all-time leader in batting average and doubles. In the low offense environment of APB, he’s still seventh in hits, seventh in doubles, and fourth in batting average as of 2037. The advanced stats weren’t friendly to him though with the lack of home run power or defensive value. Of the 26 APB Hall of Fame hitters as of 2037, Pung is 25^th in WAR. He barely missed the cut on his first ballot with 65.7%. But you can’t leave the hit king out and Pung got the bump to 75.9% to earn second ballot induction as the lone member of the 1991 class.

01-24-2024, 06:02 PM	#910
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,796	1991 APB Hall of Fame For 1991, first baseman Francis Pung was the lone addition into the Austronesia Professional Baseball Hall of Fame. On his second ballot, Pung got the bump up to 75.9%. Three others were above 50%, led by SP Ary Mustofa at 58.8% on his third ballot. 1B Po-Yu Shao got 57.6% on his fourth attempt and CL Lee Tira had 55.9% in his fourth. No players were dropped after ten failed ballots. Francis Pung – First Base – Davao Devil Rays – 75.9% First Ballot Francis Pung was a 6’4’’, 200 pound left-handed first baseman from Olongapo, a city of around 260,000 people in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Pung was a fantastic contact hitter and an expert at putting the ball in play. He was excellent at avoiding strikeouts, but only okay at drawing walks. Pung had very good gap power, averaging around 30 doubles and another 10-15 triples per year. He also had solid speed and baserunning instincts, allowing him to leg out extra bases. Pung wasn’t a prolific home run hitter, but still got you around 10-15 per year on average. He was considered fairly durable and spent his entire career at first base. Defensively, Pung was slightly below average, but he wasn’t a liability by any means. His family moved from the Philippines to Taiwan when he was a teenager. Pung played at Dali High School in Taipei and excelled, which earned him attention in the 1966 APB Draft. He was a rare high school draft pick, taken in the third round with the 50^th overall pick by Davao. Pung was a rarely used pinch hitter in his first two years, spending most of his time in developmental. He was a part time starter in 1969, then earned the starting role in 1970. From there, Pung’s only missed starts in the next 13 years with Davao came with occasional small injuries. With the Devil Rays, Pung won seven batting titles. He led the Taiwan-Philippine Association in hits five times, doubles twice, RBI once, OBP four times, and OPS once. Pung picked up five Silver Sluggers (1971, 72, 73, 80, 81). He took second in 1972’s MVP voting and second again a decade later in 1982. Pung took the top honor once, winning MVP in 1978. That year had a career-best .922 OPS and .384 OBP. Davao won the Philippine League title four times in Pung’s tenure. In 1975, the Devil Rays won the TPA title, falling in the Austronesia Championship to Semarang. In 27 playoff starts, Pung had 34 hits, 11 runs, 9 doubles, 2 home runs, and 10 RBI. He also played for the Philippines in the World Baseball Championship from 1973-83, although primarily as a pinch hitter. In 69 games and 19 starts, Pung had 26 hits, 15 runs, 6 home runs, and 16 RBI. Pung was very popular with Davao, who locked him up after the 1975 season to an eight-year, $2,528,000 contract extension. The Devil Rays would eventually retire his #18 uniform as well. After a solid 1970s, Davao began to struggle and rebuild, bottoming out at 61-101 in 1983. Pung had put up consistent stats before that, but his slugging fell noticeably to start that year. Still, he reached the 2500 hit and 1000 RBI milestones with Davao. He finished his Devil Rays tenure with 2533 hits, passing Angelo Mula’s all-time APB mark of 2517. 1983 was the last year of his contact and Davao would trade him that summer to Manila for shortstops Romzi Ceputra and Suwita Sumarna. The Manatees got to the playoffs, but were one-and-done. Pung stayed in the Philippines and signed in 1984 with Zamboanga, where he had one okay season as a Zebra. He went unsigned in 1985, retiring that winter at age 37. For his career, Pung had 2741 hits, 1032 runs, 457 doubles, 199 triples, 197 home runs, 1119 RBI, 738 stolen bases, a .309/.346/.473 slash, and 68.1 WAR. He was the APB hit king at retirement and the all-time leader in batting average and doubles. In the low offense environment of APB, he’s still seventh in hits, seventh in doubles, and fourth in batting average as of 2037. The advanced stats weren’t friendly to him though with the lack of home run power or defensive value. Of the 26 APB Hall of Fame hitters as of 2037, Pung is 25^th in WAR. He barely missed the cut on his first ballot with 65.7%. But you can’t leave the hit king out and Pung got the bump to 75.9% to earn second ballot induction as the lone member of the 1991 class. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)