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Reigning East Asia Baseball champion Niigata once again had the top seed in the Japan League. The Green Dragons took the North Division at 110-52, earning their sixth division title in seven years. Sendai was 18 games behind them at 92-70, but that was still the second-best record in the JL. Alas, having no wild cards in the JL left the Samurai out, but it was their first 90+ win season since 1993.

The Central and West Divisions both had intense battles for their titles. In the Central, Kyoto (88-74) edged out Nagoya (86-76) and Osaka (85-77). This was both the first playoff berth and winning since for the Kamikaze since 1995. It was only the second time in seven years that the Orange Sox missed the playoffs.

In the West, Fukuoka (87-75) outlasted Hiroshima (86-76), Kumamoto (84-78), and Kitakyushu (81-81). The Frogs ended the longest active playoff drought in EAB at 26 years, as they hadn’t earned a spot since their 1980 title. That also ended the Hammerheads’ bid to tie Pyongyang’s EAB record nine-year playoff streak. Hiroshima still extended their streak of winning seasons to 14 despite missing the playoffs by a game.

The weakest division champ was Tokyo at 82-80, who took the Capital crown for the third time in four years. Despite their lousy mark, they still were nine games better than second place Kawasaki. The Capital Division has been consistently subpar recently with three of the last six winners taking it with 84 or fewer wins. Some English speaking fans had taken to sarcastically calling it the “Crapital” division.

Japan League MVP went to Hiroshima LF Hitoshi Kubota. Nicknamed “Virus,” the 24-year old switch hitter led in home runs (54), and WAR (9.9). Kubota added 190 hits, 117 RBI, a .347/.408/.702 slash, and 229 wRC+. He had already been in the league for parts of seven seasons, debuting at age 18. Hiroshima had locked Kubota up after the 2005 season on an eight-year, $49,780,000 extension.

Niigata’s Tokita Sasayama won Pitcher of the Year in a split starter/reliever role. The 30-year old led in ERA (1.86) and FIP- (55) with 6.2 WAR over only 179.1 innings. Sasayama had an 11-8 record, 14 saves, and 210 strikeouts in what would be the one standout year in an otherwise unremarkable career.

Tokyo shocked Niigata with a first round upset 3-1, earning a repeat spot in the Japan League Championship Series. Kyoto outlasted Fukuoka 3-2 to give the Kamikaze their first JLCS since 1993. The Tides took the series 4-2 over Kyoto for their sixth league title. 82-80 wasn’t even the weakest pennant winner for Tokyo, whose last title came in 1995 despite a mediocre 74-88 mark atop an abysmal division.



After missing the playoffs the prior two seasons, Ulsan emerged as the top seed in the Korea League in 2007. The Swallows won a strong South Division at 103-59, fending off Busan (97-65), Yongin (95-67), and Gwangju (92-70). The Blue Jays earned the first wild card, ending a nine year playoff drought. The Gold Sox extended their playoff streak to three by taking the second wild card. Changwon, the KLCS runner-up last year, dropped to 75-87.

Three-time defending KL champ Seoul won the North Division at 99-63. Incidentally, this was their first division title in their playoff streak despite winning three pennants. Suwon was the closest competitor at 89-73, ten from the division crown and six from the second wild card. Last year’s division champ Incheon plummeted to 65-97. It was the Inferno’s first losing season since 2000.

Second-year Suwon LF A-Min Bae won Korea League MVP and made history as the first Triple Crown hitter in EAB since Min-Hyeok Shin in 1966. Bae was only sixth to achieve the feat in EAB, posting 55 home runs, 147 RBI, and a .377 average. The 22-year old lefty also led in runs (125), hits (223), total bases (447), slugging (.756), OPS (1.173), wRC+ (216), and WAR (10.3). The Snappers picked Bae with the #1 pick in the 2005 EAB Draft and he had won Rookie of the Year in 2006.

Ulsan’s Hiroharu Okumura also made history as the first in EAB history to win both Pitcher of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same campaign. The 21-year old led in strikeouts (329), and shutouts (5). Okumura had a 20-10 record over 257.1 innings, 2.48 ERA, and 7.5 WAR. The Swallows thought they had the future ace and Okumura would led again in strikeouts in 2009 and 2010. Sadly, three torn UCLs and a torn flexor tendon forced him out of the game before his 28^th birthday.

Yongin upset Ulsan 3-1 in the first round, while Seoul outlasted Busan 3-2. The Seahawks had a chance to four-peat, while the Gold Sox earned their second Korea League Championship Series berth in three years. Yongin got revenge for their 2005 defeat, stopping Seoul in six games. It was the Gold Sox’s first pennant since 2001, but their fifth since 1994. Yongin now had eight titles total (1970, 84, 85, 94, 95, 97, 01, 07).



The Gold Sox were the heavy favorite over Tokyo in the 87^th East Asian Championship, but the 82-win Tides made them earn it. In game one, CF Tatsuo Onogi had a walk off RBI single for a 5-4 win in 12 innings for Yongin. From there, the series needed all seven games and still came down to the final at-bat of game seven. It was an unlikely hero in LF Gouki Sakamoto, who only started 36 games all regular season.



His postseason saw merely eight pinch hit at-bats, but in game seven, it was Sakamoto’s walk off solo home run that won it 2-1 for the Gold Sox. Veteran 3B Mitsutsugu Oya won MVP of both the finals and the KLCS. In 17 starts, he had 22 hits, 13 runs, 6 home runs, and 16 RBI. This was the fourth overall title for Yongin, joining their 1984, 1995, and 1997 rings. Tokyo is now 1-5 all-time in their finals appearances.

Other notes: Jung-Sang Ryu became the 26^th EAB slugger to 600 career home runs. Si-Hun Park reached both 2500 career hits and 1500 RBI, becoming only the 34^th to achieve the latter. Dong-Hwan Seon became the 28^th reliever to 300 career saves. Soo-Geun Yim won his seventh Silver Slugger. It was his first as a first baseman, he had won five in right field and one as a DH.