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FuzzyRussianHat · 10-19-2024, 06:31 PM

Christchurch earned a fourth straight Australasia League title and did it in historic fashion. The Chinooks finished a staggering 126-36, tying the world record for most wins in a season by any pro baseball team. The only other 126-36 team was 1993 Ho Chi Minh City, who famously lost in the first round of the South Asia Baseball playoffs to an 84-win Johor Bahru. The previous best in the Oceania Baseball Association was 1999 Oceania Champion Guam at 119-43. It was Christchurch’s 12^th pennant.

The Chinooks outperformed their expected win/loss by nine games, tying the AL’s team saves record at 61. They allowed the fewest runs in the AL at 511 and scored the most at 857. They also set an OBA record for attendance with 2,112,858, a mark that held until 2026.

Poor Sydney couldn’t catch a break, taking second with a franchise-record 105-57. The Snakes remained the only original OBA team without a pennant. Perth was third at 97-65 while Hobart, one of the 2006 expansion teams, had their best-ever record at 87-75. Meanwhile Melbourne collapsed for an all-time franchise worst 59-103 season, ending a 13-year streak of winning seasons.

With their dominance, Christchurch had the incredibly rare sweep of all the top awards, taking Australasia League MVP, Pitcher of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Reliever of the Year. MVP went to designated hitter Roe Kaupa, making him a four-time winner overall and a three-time winner in his four years with the Chinooks.

The 29-year old Papuan scored 142 runs, breaking Kiryl Savchuk’s single-season OBA record of 136 from 2001. Kaupa’s record still holds as of 2037. He also led in home runs (62), total bases (447), and WAR (9.6), while posting a 1.147 OPS, 195 wRC+, and 128 RBI. He led in homers for the fourth straight year and topped 60 for the third time. Kaupa would play one more year for Christchurch before opting out of his deal, shocking the OBA world with a seven-year, $94,700,000 deal with Vanuatu.

Lyle Summer won his first Pitcher of the Year and his third Reliever of the Year. It was the fifth time a closer won POTY in OBA, last occurring in 1993. The 30-year old American righty was in his second year with Christchurch having been used in mid relief the prior year. Summer came to OBA in 2008 with Samoa after flaming out of MLB, winning Reliever of the Year in 2011 and 2012 with the Sun Sox.

In 2016, Summer pitched in 83 games with 52 saves and 56 shutdowns, a 13-2 record, 98 innings, 163 strikeouts, a 418 ERA+, and 6.2 WAR. He fell one short of OBA’s single-season saves record, but did set the record for appearances. Summer set a WAR record by an AL ROTY winner. He’d return to America in 2017, but quickly got the yips, falling out of pro baseball entirely after the 2018 season.

Guam returned to the Pacific League’s perch for the first time since 2009, winning their 15^th pennant, which leads all OBA teams. The Golden Eagles allowed 496 runs, fewer even than 126-win Christchurch. Reigning OBA champ Tahiti was a distant second at 94-68, ending their hopes for a PL three-peat. The Tropics still grew their streak of winning seasons to 14 years, finishing no worse than third in that run. Guadalcanal and Vanuatu were tied for third at 88-74, while Port Moresby was fifth at 87-75. New Caledonia was the worst at 49-113, posting the second-worst mark in PL history.

The top individual performances in the Pacific League came from two teams just below .500. MVP went to Samoa’s Gavino Cuoghi, a 37-year old Argentinian who had come over in 2015 after a 13-year run in his home country with Mendoza. Cuoghi had won a Southern Cone League MVP for the Mutants all the way back in 2007, joining the small list of guys with MVPs in two different world leagues.

For the Sun Sox, Cuoghi led in hits (193), runs (112), RBI (111), triple slash (.339/.387/.633), OPS (1.020), wRC+ (200), and WAR (8.4). He added 40 home runs, 33 doubles, and 50 stolen bases. Cuoghi played one more year for Samoa, then finished his pro career out with Guadalcanal.

After a two-year break, Fiji’s Akira Brady returned to the Pitcher of the Year spot. It was the fifth for the 29-year old New Zealander, who won four straight from 2010-2013. Brady led in ERA (1.73), strikeouts (455), WHIP (0.73), quality starts (33), complete games (26), shutouts (9), FIP- (52), and WAR (13.1). Brady had a 201 ERA+ over 328.1 innings and 23-10 record, falling one win short from his third Triple Crown.

Brady led in strikeouts for the seventh straight year, while leading in WAR for the sixth time and ERA for the fourth. It was his seventh time striking out 440+ batters in a season, tying him with Tarzan Rao for the most by an OBA ace. Brady also took second in MVP voting.

With the success of both franchises, the 57^th Oceania Championship was not the first finals meeting between Christchurch and Guam. The Golden Eagles were unbeaten, winning in 1980, 1992, and 1999 encounters with the Chinooks. The 1999 season was Guam’s historic 119-43 mark, which was the all-time best prior to Christchurch’s 2016.

The series lived up to the billing as a seven-game classic, but the Golden Eagles again played spoiler to the Chinooks, denying them the chance to be winningest league champ in pro baseball history. They still made it the farther than the only other 126-36 win team to that point and the mark did earn them the “wild card” slot into the Baseball Grand Championship.

Guam improved to 7-8 all-time in the finals while Christchurch lost back-to-back and dropped to 3-9 in the finals. This was the Golden Eagles first title since 2000. Although defeated, Christchurch had the finals MVP in 1B Naldo Soto. The 30-year old Filipino went 11-28 with 4 runs, 4 doubles, 2 homers, and 6 RBI.

Other notes: This was the final OBA season for five-time MVP Arjita Gabeja, retiring as the runs scored leader with 1683. As of 2037, he ranks fourth. Gabeja came close to Vavao Brighouse’s home run king crown of 804, but retired second at 786 and still ranks third as of 2037. Gabeja ended also with 1853 RBI, retiring second to Junia Lava and ranking fourth in modern times.

Lava became the second to 3000 career hits, finishing the season at 3042. He was in striking distance of OBA hit king Quentin Basa’s 3078. Lava also ended the year with 757 home runs, also still with a shot of catching Brighouse’s record of 804. Auckland’s Theo Merchant threw OBA’s 13^th perfect game, striking out seven against Gold Coast. It was the first perfecto since 2009. Akira Brady, Flynn Murphy, and Crow Xue each crossed 200 wins, making 21 OBA pitchers to do so.

10-19-2024, 06:31 PM	#1716
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 3,456	2016 in OBA Christchurch earned a fourth straight Australasia League title and did it in historic fashion. The Chinooks finished a staggering 126-36, tying the world record for most wins in a season by any pro baseball team. The only other 126-36 team was 1993 Ho Chi Minh City, who famously lost in the first round of the South Asia Baseball playoffs to an 84-win Johor Bahru. The previous best in the Oceania Baseball Association was 1999 Oceania Champion Guam at 119-43. It was Christchurch’s 12^th pennant. The Chinooks outperformed their expected win/loss by nine games, tying the AL’s team saves record at 61. They allowed the fewest runs in the AL at 511 and scored the most at 857. They also set an OBA record for attendance with 2,112,858, a mark that held until 2026. Poor Sydney couldn’t catch a break, taking second with a franchise-record 105-57. The Snakes remained the only original OBA team without a pennant. Perth was third at 97-65 while Hobart, one of the 2006 expansion teams, had their best-ever record at 87-75. Meanwhile Melbourne collapsed for an all-time franchise worst 59-103 season, ending a 13-year streak of winning seasons. With their dominance, Christchurch had the incredibly rare sweep of all the top awards, taking Australasia League MVP, Pitcher of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Reliever of the Year. MVP went to designated hitter Roe Kaupa, making him a four-time winner overall and a three-time winner in his four years with the Chinooks. The 29-year old Papuan scored 142 runs, breaking Kiryl Savchuk’s single-season OBA record of 136 from 2001. Kaupa’s record still holds as of 2037. He also led in home runs (62), total bases (447), and WAR (9.6), while posting a 1.147 OPS, 195 wRC+, and 128 RBI. He led in homers for the fourth straight year and topped 60 for the third time. Kaupa would play one more year for Christchurch before opting out of his deal, shocking the OBA world with a seven-year, $94,700,000 deal with Vanuatu. Lyle Summer won his first Pitcher of the Year and his third Reliever of the Year. It was the fifth time a closer won POTY in OBA, last occurring in 1993. The 30-year old American righty was in his second year with Christchurch having been used in mid relief the prior year. Summer came to OBA in 2008 with Samoa after flaming out of MLB, winning Reliever of the Year in 2011 and 2012 with the Sun Sox. In 2016, Summer pitched in 83 games with 52 saves and 56 shutdowns, a 13-2 record, 98 innings, 163 strikeouts, a 418 ERA+, and 6.2 WAR. He fell one short of OBA’s single-season saves record, but did set the record for appearances. Summer set a WAR record by an AL ROTY winner. He’d return to America in 2017, but quickly got the yips, falling out of pro baseball entirely after the 2018 season. Guam returned to the Pacific League’s perch for the first time since 2009, winning their 15^th pennant, which leads all OBA teams. The Golden Eagles allowed 496 runs, fewer even than 126-win Christchurch. Reigning OBA champ Tahiti was a distant second at 94-68, ending their hopes for a PL three-peat. The Tropics still grew their streak of winning seasons to 14 years, finishing no worse than third in that run. Guadalcanal and Vanuatu were tied for third at 88-74, while Port Moresby was fifth at 87-75. New Caledonia was the worst at 49-113, posting the second-worst mark in PL history. The top individual performances in the Pacific League came from two teams just below .500. MVP went to Samoa’s Gavino Cuoghi, a 37-year old Argentinian who had come over in 2015 after a 13-year run in his home country with Mendoza. Cuoghi had won a Southern Cone League MVP for the Mutants all the way back in 2007, joining the small list of guys with MVPs in two different world leagues. For the Sun Sox, Cuoghi led in hits (193), runs (112), RBI (111), triple slash (.339/.387/.633), OPS (1.020), wRC+ (200), and WAR (8.4). He added 40 home runs, 33 doubles, and 50 stolen bases. Cuoghi played one more year for Samoa, then finished his pro career out with Guadalcanal. After a two-year break, Fiji’s Akira Brady returned to the Pitcher of the Year spot. It was the fifth for the 29-year old New Zealander, who won four straight from 2010-2013. Brady led in ERA (1.73), strikeouts (455), WHIP (0.73), quality starts (33), complete games (26), shutouts (9), FIP- (52), and WAR (13.1). Brady had a 201 ERA+ over 328.1 innings and 23-10 record, falling one win short from his third Triple Crown. Brady led in strikeouts for the seventh straight year, while leading in WAR for the sixth time and ERA for the fourth. It was his seventh time striking out 440+ batters in a season, tying him with Tarzan Rao for the most by an OBA ace. Brady also took second in MVP voting. With the success of both franchises, the 57^th Oceania Championship was not the first finals meeting between Christchurch and Guam. The Golden Eagles were unbeaten, winning in 1980, 1992, and 1999 encounters with the Chinooks. The 1999 season was Guam’s historic 119-43 mark, which was the all-time best prior to Christchurch’s 2016. The series lived up to the billing as a seven-game classic, but the Golden Eagles again played spoiler to the Chinooks, denying them the chance to be winningest league champ in pro baseball history. They still made it the farther than the only other 126-36 win team to that point and the mark did earn them the “wild card” slot into the Baseball Grand Championship. Guam improved to 7-8 all-time in the finals while Christchurch lost back-to-back and dropped to 3-9 in the finals. This was the Golden Eagles first title since 2000. Although defeated, Christchurch had the finals MVP in 1B Naldo Soto. The 30-year old Filipino went 11-28 with 4 runs, 4 doubles, 2 homers, and 6 RBI. Other notes: This was the final OBA season for five-time MVP Arjita Gabeja, retiring as the runs scored leader with 1683. As of 2037, he ranks fourth. Gabeja came close to Vavao Brighouse’s home run king crown of 804, but retired second at 786 and still ranks third as of 2037. Gabeja ended also with 1853 RBI, retiring second to Junia Lava and ranking fourth in modern times. Lava became the second to 3000 career hits, finishing the season at 3042. He was in striking distance of OBA hit king Quentin Basa’s 3078. Lava also ended the year with 757 home runs, also still with a shot of catching Brighouse’s record of 804. Auckland’s Theo Merchant threw OBA’s 13^th perfect game, striking out seven against Gold Coast. It was the first perfecto since 2009. Akira Brady, Flynn Murphy, and Crow Xue each crossed 200 wins, making 21 OBA pitchers to do so. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports The Level Playing Field: Alternate MLB History From 1884-Onward Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)