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Pune ended a three-year playoff drought and posted the Indian League’s best record at 109-53, leading in both runs scored (824) and fewest allowed (543). The Purple Knights won a strong West Division, finishing 17 games better than Mumbai. The Meteors at 92-70 took the wild card by four games over Ahmedabad. Mumbai got its second berth in three years, while the Animals missed the playoffs for the second time in three years. Ahmedabad had never done that, only missing the field four times over SAB’s 31 year history.

Kolkata clobbered the competition at 100-62 in the Central Division. Defending IL champ Jaipur dropped hard to 73-89, which ended a six-year playoff streak. The Jokers hadn’t posted a losing record since 1998. A tight South Division title went to Chennai at 87-75, topping Visakhapatnam by two games and Nagpur by five. It was the third-ever division title for the Cows, joining their 2006 and 1987 efforts. Hyderabad notably went from 85 wins in 2009 to 60-102 in 2010, tying with Bengaluru for the IL’s worst record.

LF Ratan Canduri spent only 2010 with Pune, but he earned the Indian League MVP while there. He had previously won the top honor with Mandalay in 2006. The 33-year old Indian righty led in runs (149), home runs (69), walks (11), OBP (.475), slugging (.796), OPS (1.270), wRC+ (262), and WAR (12.6). Canduri also had a .367 average and 141 RBI. He continued to play at a high level for another decade, but wouldn’t commit long-term anywhere, ultimately playing for seven more teams.

Ahmedabad’s Arkakara Raja won his third Pitcher of the Year, joining his 2002 and 2005 wins. The 31-year old lefty only pitched 188.1 innings in a split starter/relief role, but led the league with a 1.86 ERA. Raja had a 13-7 record and 12 saves, 243 strikeouts, 195 ERA+, and 4.1 WAR.

Pune swept Mumbai in the first round and Kolkata outlasted Chennai in five games. The Purple Knights earned their first Indian League Championship Series appearance since 1987, while it was back-to-back for the Cosmos. Kolkata pulled off the ILCS upset 4-2 to earn their first-ever pennant. They became the ninth of India’s 14 teams to win the title once.



The Southeast Asia League’s North Division saw an intense battle for first place between Hanoi and Dhaka. The Hounds prevailed again at 121-41, becoming the first franchise in world history to win 120+ games in three consecutive seasons. The Dobermans set a franchise record at 114-48, but were again relegated to a wild card. Both teams extended playoff streaks to six seasons. Hanoi set a SAB record with a team .348 on-base percentage, which remained the all-time best until 2031.

Bangkok and Yangon tied for the South Division title at 90-72. A one-game tiebreaker gave the Bobcats their first division title since 1988 and their first playoff berth since 2001. The Green Dragons earned the second wild card, finishing four ahead of Chittagong and five better than Kathmandu.

Defending South Asia Baseball champ Ho Chi Minh City fell short at 82-80, ending their historic playoff streak at 23 seasons. The Hedgehogs tied with Ahmedabad for SAB’s longest-ever streak and fell one year shy of Minsk’s world record of 24. This perhaps officially marked the end of the era of dominance for the Hedgehogs and Animals. The only other time that both had missed the playoffs was SAB’s inaugural 1980 season.

The bonkers power numbers for Hanoi DH Majed Darwish didn’t stop as he won his fourth straight SEAL MVP. For the third consecutive season, he topped 80+ home runs and 200+ RBIs, two marks no other player in the world had even reached once. Darwish won his second Triple Crown with a .381 average, 85 home runs, and 200 RBI. He was short of his world records of 91 homers from 2009 and 220 RBI from 2008. That said, this was still arguably Darwish’s best season.

He broke his own SAB records for runs scored (172), total bases (546), slugging (.869), and OPS (1.321) with each still holding in SAB as of 2037. The runs and total bases marks were also world records that still stand. Darwish had a career best 241 wRC+ and 14.5 WAR. That fell just short of Basava Sanjahay’s 14.7 WAR in 2006, but Darwish nearly passed him despite the DH penalty. He also had a career and league best 50 doubles.

While he’d still dominate SAB plenty more, this was the final of the absurd seasons for the 27-year old Bahraini, as his numbers would look more human in later years. But posting 261 homers, 629 RBI, 692 hits, and 506 runs in a three year stretch is a truly absurd stretch that still feels impossible.

Hanoi also had the Pitcher of the Year in Ba Phan, who they had signed the prior offseason on a four-year, $14,400,000 deal. The 31-year old Vietnamese lefty had posted mostly average seasons in his prior run with Vientiane. Phan led in ERA (2.43), wins (22-7), innings (255.2), complete games (14), and shutouts (5) in 2010. He also had 6.9 WAR, 165 ERA+, and 307 strikeouts. Phan was 14 strikeouts away from a Triple Crown.

Hanoi ousted Yangon and Dhaka dumped Bangkok 3-0, setting up a massive showdown between the division rivals. Despite their recent success, the Dobermans hadn’t been to the SEAL Championship since 2002, suffering five straight one-and-dones. The Hounds had suffered a first round loss the prior season despite going 122-40, but now had a shot at their third title in four years. The series was somewhat anticlimactic as Hanoi prevailed 4-1, becoming four-time Southeast Asia League champs.



The Hounds’ hopes for a third SAB Championship win in four years was thwarted with Kolkata earning the upset in six games. The Cosmos became the 10^th franchise to win it all through SAB’s 31 seasons to date. Finals MVP was 1B Umesh Pant, who joined Kolkata in a 2008 trade from De Nang. The 29-year old Nepali had 17 playoff starts, 24 hits, 11 runs, 4 doubles, 5 homers, and 10 RBI.

The Cosmos’ Lwin Swe Ko also had a big postseason, winning LCS and first round MVP. He set a playoff record with 59 total bases which still stands as of 2037. The 26-year old Burmese left fielder had 20 hits, 11 home runs, 2 doubles, 2 triples, 16 runs, and 15 RBI. The 11 homers was also a playoff record, although it would get passed in 2015.



Other notes: Aftab Alam became the sixth batter to reach 1500 runs scored. Alam, Devavesman Toppo, Dhuna Itar, and Ratan Canduri each crossed 600 career home runs in 2010, making six members of the club. Dong Hung and Kamlesh Kanmani became the sixth and seventh to reach 2500 career hits.

In their third season, Colombo finished 49-113, which tied SEAL’s all-time worst set by Kathmandu in 1994. 3B Kamala Vijay won his eighth Gold Glove. 3B Jatinder Chowdhary won his tenth Silver Slugger. Ratan Canduri won his seventh Silver Slugger, although it was his first as a first baseman. The previous wins were all in left field.