[FuzzyRussianHat]

Pitcher Sahid Fakhruddin was a nearly unanimous Hall of Fame selection in 1992 for Austronesia Professional Baseball, getting 99.3%. He would be the only inductee, although four others landed between 57-59%; SP Ary Mustofa (fourth ballot), SP Kai Diaz (seventh), SP Lifki Santoso (first), and 1B Po-Yu Shao (fifth).



One player was dropped after ten ballots in pitcher Dwi Aditya To. He had a solid debut with Taichung, helping them win the 1965 APB title and taking Association Finals MVP in 1966. He never won any other major awards and bounced around for the rest of his run with a 2.50 ERA, 175-169 record, 3133 innings, 2920 strikeouts, 583 walks, 107 ERA+, and 53.5 WAR. To was viewed as being solidly above average, debuting at 21.6% and finishing up at 5.0%.



Sahid Fakhruddin – Starting Pitcher – Semarang Sliders – 99.3% First Ballot

Sahid Fakhruddin was a 6’2’’, 200 pound left-handed pitcher from Depok, Indonesia; a city of more than two million located just south of Jakarta. Fakhruddin had very good stuff with respectable control, although his movement was subpar. His fastball was in the 96-98 mph range and he was excellent and fooling you when he switched to either his changeup or curveball. Fakhruddin had excellent stamina, leading in complete games four times and innings pitched once. He was an ironman who missed only eight days in his entire career, both because of brief illness.

Scouts throughout Indonesia were impressed with a young Fakhruddin as a teenager. In late 1967, it was Batam who signed him to a developmental contract. He spent three years in the Blue Raiders academy, but never played a game for Batam. In November 1970, he was traded with two other prospects to Semarang in exchange for veteran RF Geng Wu. Fakhruddin debuted with 213.2 innings in 1971 with mixed results, but good enough success to earn Rookie of the Year honors.

Fakhruddin had a very good second season with the Sliders, leading the Sundaland Association in strikeouts. His lone career no-hitter was in his sophomore season with a 13 strikeout, one walk game on August 29 against Bandung. 1972 even saw a 44 inning scoreless stream from mid July to mid August. He then emerged as an elite ace in year three with a TPA best 1.41 ERA, 424 strikeouts, and 12.2 WAR. This was the first of five straight Pitcher of the Year awards for Fakhruddin. He led in WAR four times in the stretch with each year above 9+. He would lead in strikeouts nine straight years while also leading in wins thrice, ERA twice, WHIP four times, complete games three times, and shutouts seven times.

As far as pitchers go, Fakhruddin was also a good batter. He won Silver Sluggers in 1972, 73, and 75. For his batting career, he had 3.5 WAR with a .198/.215/.237 slash, 162 hits, 49 runs, 4 home runs, and 52 RBI; good by pitcher standards in a very low scoring league. Fakhruddin was also a regular for Indonesia in the World Baseball Championship from 1974-85. He struggled though in 143.1 WBC innings with a lackluster 5.71 ERA, 2-14 record, 223 strikeouts, and -0.1 WAR. It was a far cry from the dominance he had with Semarang.

In 1975, Fakhruddin became the second APB pitcher with a Triple Crown season on a 23-5 record, 388 strikeouts, and 1.06 ERA. That ERA was a career best and the single-season record at the time. As of 2037, it is the 10^th lowest single-season ERA in APB. 1975 also saw Semarang earn its first-ever playoff berth and eventually the APB title as well. Fakhruddin had a 2.50 ERA over 18 playoff innings with 23 strikeouts.

Fakhruddin was third in Pitcher of the Year voting in both 1978 and 1979, then won for the sixth and final time in 1980. As of 2037, he’s one of only five pitchers in APB history to win the award six or more times. After missing the field in the four years after their 1975 title, Semarang took the 1980 Sundaland Association pennant. They lost in the APB Championship to Cebu, but Fakhruddin had an excellent postseason with a 0.72 ERA over 25 innings with 41 strikeouts.

That would be his final season in Austronesia Professional Baseball. With Semarang, he had a 172-111 record, 1.84 ERA, 2713 innings, 3755 strikeouts, 470 walks, 269/316 quality starts, 66 FIP-, and 78.7 WAR. It was a remarkable decade, although leaving did keep him from the top of the later leaderboards. Semarang retired his #15 uniform and that dominance couldn’t be ignored as APB’s Hall of Fame inducted him as a slam dunk at 99.3%. But ultimately, this was only the front half of his career.

Fakhruddin received MLB attention, but some teams were still weary based on his poor WBC stats. Some were afraid he was merely beating up weaker APB competition, while some didn’t want to risk spending big only for a big injury to ruin him like with Kun-Sheng Lin. His durability to that point was a major plus and Los Angeles took a chance on the 31-year old with a six-year, $5,020,000 deal.

Fakhruddin was never elite in MLB, although he did reliably eat innings. He put up average results for a then bottom-tier Angel team in his first two years in LA. Fakhruddin was lousy in 1983, but rebounded to middling stats in 1984. In total with the Angels, he had a 4.33 ERA, 57-60 record, 1046 innings, 824 strikeouts, and 9.6 WAR.

His big contract was an albatross for the Angels, who decided to straight up release him after his first five starts of 1985. St. Louis signed him and he posted a very respectable 4.0 WAR, giving some value entering free agency again at age 36. Fakhruddin signed a three-year, $4,060,000 deal with Vancouver.

He spent two years with the Volcanoes and was a respectable veteran presence with a 3.75 ERA, 29-34 record, 554 innings, 430 strikeouts, and 8.2 WAR. His 4.9 WAR and 3.59 ERA in 1986 was by far the best he had looked since leaving Indonesia. Vancouver decided to trade him in December 1987 to Kansas City for outfield prospects Jase Edgar and Fraser Gilliam.

Fakhruddin never played for the Cougars, who cut him at the end of 1988 spring training. Brooklyn would sign him where he again ate innings at the back up of the rotation. He would see his lone MLB playoff start with the Dodgers, allowing only two runs over eight innings.

His final stop would be Oklahoma City on a three-year, $4,980,000 deal, He actually led the American Association in 1989 in complete games with 23. Fakhruddin had a respectable 1989, but he struggled in 1990 with a 5.13 ERA and 7-27 record. The 27 losses tied the MLB single-season record for the most in a season. Fakhruddin had one more year on the contract in OKC, but the Outlaws cut him after spring training 1991. After going unsigned that year, he retired from professional baseball at age 42.

Fakhruddin’s MLB stats saw a 136-153 record, 4.13 ERA, 2635.1 innings, 1948 strikeouts, 798 walks, an ERA+ of 94, FIP- of 106, and 27.3 WAR. That was a respectable journeyman career, albeit far from MLB’s HOF. For his entire pro run, he had a 308-264 record, 2.97 ERA, 5348.1 innings, 5703 strikeouts, 1268 walks, 297 complete games, and 106.1 WAR. Not many guys can say they had 300+ professional wins, 5000+ innings, 5000+ strikeouts, and 100+ WAR. Fakhruddin’s spot in the APB Hall of Fame and as one of the top Indonesian pitchers ever is certainly undisputed.