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The CLB Northern League had a shakeup at the top in 1996. Nanjing finished first at 101-61, earning their first playoff appearance since 1989. It is only the second time the Nuggets have finished first in the standings (1973). Harbin was one back at 100-62, but snapped a playoff drought that stretched back to their 1981 title. Defending Chinese League champ Xi’an tied for third with Shenyang at 85-67. Zhengzhou, a semifinalist in 1995, took fifth at 83-79.

Northern League MVP went to Zhengzhou’s Ziming Feng. The 26-year old first basemen nicknamed “Butterball,” led in home runs (48), RBI (99), total bases (345), slugging (.583), OPS (.921), and wRC+ (196). Feng added 9.3 WAR and a .291 average. Xi’an’s Momota Oichi won back-to-back Pitcher of the Year honors, leading in wins (21-8), strikeouts (348), quality starts (29), FIP- (59), and 8.3 WAR). He had a 1.69 ERA over 255.2 innings, falling just four points short of a Triple Crown.



Four teams fought over the two postseason spots in the Southern League. Like in the Northern League, two teams ended lengthy playoff droughts. Foshan finished first at 96-66, earning their first postseason berth since their 1980 championship. Hong Kong at second at 94-68, ending a drought dating to 1985. The Champions allowed 304 earned runs, which still stands as the third lowest tally in SL history as of 2037. Kunming (93-69) and last year’s first place squad Chengdu (92-70) both narrowly missed the cut. Changsha, who was second in 1995, dropped to seventh at 79-83.

Southern League MVP went to 1B Julong Dou. The 29-year old in his ninth pro season led in hits (226), runs (75), doubles (42), average (.359), OBP (.396), and WAR (10.5). Foshan’s Jinlong Han was Pitcher of the Year, leading all pitchers with a 1.18 ERA. Han added an 18-8 record over 275 innings, 391 strikeouts, and 10.5 WAR.

The Northern League continued its dominance of the Southern League in the crossover playoff semifinals. Nanjing topped Hong Kong 4-2 and Harbin outlasted Foshan 4-3. It was the sixth time in the 1990s that both Northern League playoff teams made it to the China Series. It was the third finals berth by the Nuggets (1970, 1982) and the fourth for Harbin (1973, 80, 81).



In the 27^th China Series, Nanjing edged Harbin in a seven game classic to earn their first CLB title. With that, 13 of CLB’s 24 teams have now won the overall title. Veteran RF Zhen Luo was finals MVP as the 31-year old made 13 playoff starts with 13 hits, 9 runs, 5 home runs, and 8 RBI.



Other notes: Qingdao’s Hongbo Wan set a single-season CLB record with 35 triples. Wuhan’s Martin Cui set the single-season strikeout record with an impressive 22 Ks over nine innings on 7/22 against Macau. As of 2037, no other CLB pitcher has gotten to 22 strikeouts. Zhiming Cao became the seventh reliever to reach 300 saves. The next player to hit the mark wouldn’t do it until 2010. 2B Liang Shang Guan won his tenth and final Silver Slugger. He became the fourth batter to win the award ten times or more.