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Three of the four division champs were repeat winners in the Japan League. Kyoto took the top overall seed at 101-61 for their fourth Central Division title in five years. Two-time defending champ Hiroshima won a third straight West Division at 97-65, beating Kumamoto by seven games. Sendai repeated in the North Division at 89-73, topping Sapporo by five games.

The one new division winner was Yokohama in the Capital Division at 95-67, edging last year’s #1 seed Chiba by three games. The Yellow Jackets ended what was the JL’s longest active playoff drought at 22 seasons. The prior year, Yokohama had posted their first winning season since 2000.

Hiroshima LF Hitoshi Kubota made history as the first six-time MVP in East Asia Baseball history. The 31-year old switch hitter won his third straight Japan League MVP and his eighth Silver Slugger. The Hammerheads star led in runs (110), OPS (1.047), and wRC+ (207). Kubota added 47 home runs, 122 RBI, a .332 average, and 9.2 WAR.

Kyoto’s Takeo Nagai won Pitcher of the Year and his fourth Gold Glove. The 30-year old righty was in his third year with the Kamikaze, signing for seven years and $64,600,000 in 2012 after starting with Kitakyushu. Nagai led in wins (21-7) and quality starts (27). He added a 2.40 ERA over 247.2 innings, 252 strikeouts, 146 ERA+, and 7.4 WAR. Nagai also had a no-hitter against Yokohama in July with five strikeouts and two walks.

Both first round series went all five games with Hiroshima edging Yokohama and Kyoto topping Sendai. The Kamikaze and Hammerheads had won the last four pennants between them, but this was their first Japan League Championship Series meeting ever. Hiroshima had swept Kyoto in the first round in 2013 en route to repeat titles. The Kamikaze got their revenge, beating Hiroshima 4-3 in a classic. It was Kyoto’s third title in five years and their sixth overall.



The big shocker in the Korea League was the collapse of defending EAB champ Daegu. The Diamondbacks won 109 games en route to the 2013 title, but plummeted to 67-95 in 2014. That was Daegu’s lowest win total since 1968. It did open up opportunities for new potential contenders.

Ulsan had the top seed at 105-57, winning the South Division and earning a third straight playoff berth. Gwangju gave them a strong challenge at 101-61, easily getting the first wild card. It was repeat playoff berths for the Grays and their sixth in seven years.

Incheon bounced back from a 72-win 2013 and won the North Division at 102-60. While it was the Inferno’s second berth in three years, it was their first division title since 2006. Second in the division was Seongnam at 89-73, which narrowly gave them the second wild card. The Spiders ended a five-year playoff drought.

Just missing the cut were Daejeon (88-74), Jeonju (87-75), and Pyongyang (86-76). For the Ducks, this was their first winning season in 15 years. Unfortunately for them, they continued EAB’s longest active playoff drought at 26 years going back to 1988.

Stunning the baseball world in his first full season was DH Kunihiko Ishiguro, who won Korea League MVP for Gwangju. He officially wasn’t a rookie because of 74 games in 2013, but he had only started six games. Ishiguro started all 162 in 2014 and the 21-year old lefty crushed 79 home runs. This broke EAB’s previous high of 73 by Soo-Geun Yim in 2005. The only seasons with more in any world league to this point were the bonkers 91, 85, and 85 by South Asia Baseball’s Majed Darwish from 2008-10.

Ishiguro also led the league in runs (133), RBI (163), total bases (491), slugging (.765), OPS (1.124), wRC+ (198), and WAR (9.8). He remains EAB’s single-season home run king as of 2037 and his total bases record held until 2028. The RBI mark ranked third-best to that point with Jae-Hee Sin’s top mark of 175 from 1921 holding strong.

Ishiguro also had 209 hits, a .326 average and .359 OBP. His slugging was only the seventh-best in EAB history to that point, owing to a lack of non-homer extra base hits. Convinced they’d hit the jackpot, Gwangju gave him an eight-year, $82,540,000 extension in the winter.

Jae-Ha Jung won his second Pitcher of the Year and his first with Seongnam, who he signed with in 2013 for six years and $87,000,000. Jung won POTY previously in 2011 with Daegu. In 2014, the 29-year old righty led in wins (20-10), quality starts (22), and complete games (19). Jung added a 2.87 ERA over 267 innings, 282 strikeouts, and 6.5 WAR.

Seongnam stunned top seed Ulsan with a first round sweep, giving the Spiders their first Korea League Championship Series since 2008. The disappointments continue for Ulsan, who have been ousted in the first round in their last seven playoff appearances. Five of those seven were 100+ win season as well, adding to the sting for the Swallows.

On the other side, Gwangju outlasted Incheon 3-2 for their third KLCS in five years. However, the Grays title drought dated back to 1993. Seongnam’s title drought was back to 2003. Although both were wild cards, 101-win Gwangju was the major favorite. Yet, the Spiders pulled off the upset 4-2 for their fifth pennant.



The 94^th East Asian Championship was the first to go all seven games since Niigata/Goyang in 2008. Kyoto prevailed over Seongnam to give the Kamikaze their third title in five years and their fifth overall (1974, 1976, 2010, 2011, 2014). They’re the first team to win three in five years since Kitakyushu’s 1992-94 three-peat. The only other teams do achieve that were Hiroshima (1969-72), Pyongyang (six from 1961-68), Hamhung (1955-58), and Sapporo (1947-51).



Leading the way was LF Mitsunari Murakoshi, who was finals and JLCS MVP. The 27-year old in 14 playoff starts had 21 hits, 5 runs, 4 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, and 10 RBI. Manager Julian Loftus became only the fourth manager in EAB history with three titles. He did this despite retiring just above .500 after the 2015 season at 1146-1122. Loftus had an odd career before starting with Kyoto in 2002, holding managing jobs in BSA with Arequipa, OBA with Honolulu, and AAB with Harare.

Other notes: Koji Iwasaki became the third member of the 800 home run club. He played one more year to retire with 813, which ranks sixth as of 2037. Soo-Geun Yim became the 21^st to reach 3000 hits. SS Do-Hyeon Ju won his eighth Gold Glove. C Ha-Jun Au and OF Sang-Jun Gang won their seventh Silver Sluggers.