OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post

FuzzyRussianHat · 11-21-2024, 09:34 AM

Sabuj Nath – Closer – Jaipur Jokers – 72.9% Second Ballot

Sabju Nath was a 6’2’’, 200 pound left-handed relief pitcher from Bhadreswar, India; a city of 100,000 inhabitants in the West Bengal state. Nath had excellent stuff with very good control and above average movement. He had the one-two punch of fastball/slider with velocity around 95-97 mph. Nath had good stamina for a reliever and respectable durability, although he did have sporadic back troubles. He was well respected in the clubhouse for his leadership and work ethic.

Known relievers didn’t often get picked high in the draft, but Nath was an exception as he was selected 10^th overall in 1993 by Jaipur. He only saw 23 innings in his first year with poor results. Nath was an iffy setup guy the next year, but he earned the closer role for 1996. He posted five straight years with 30+ saves and an ERA below 1.50. Nath won Reliever of the Year in 1996 and 1999, while taking second in both 1997 and 1998; and third in 2000.

2000 had his highest save total with 49, his only time as a league leader. Nath’s best ERA, (1.18), ERA+ (266) and WAR (4.7) with the Jokers came in 1999, while his highest strikeout total was 152 in 1998. Jaipur became a regular playoff team in this era, but had no chance against Ahmedabad’s dynasty. From 1996-2002, the Jokers had six playoff appearances with five Indian League Championship Series losses to the Animals. Nath was more bad than good with a 4.57 ERA over 21.2 playoff innings for Jaipur.

Nath became a free agent after the 2000 season at age 28 and ended up going to the evil empire Ahmedabad for one year. He was used in a middle relief role, but was a beast with a 0.65 ERA over 55.1 innings. The Animals destroyed the Indian League at 125-37, but was upset by Yangon in the SAB Championship. Nath allowed two runs in his 1.1 innings of playoff relief.

He signed with Ho Chi Minh City in 2002 and 2003, doing well in his limited middle relief use. The Hedgehogs in the 2002 Southeast Asia League final, but started a SAB Championship three-peat from 2003-05. Nath left for expansion Da Nang in 2004 and was excellent as their closer with career highs in WAR (5.8), and strikeouts (163), winning his third Reliever of the Year award. The Nailers shocked SEAL by getting to the LCS in their inaugural season, but they were ultimately denied by HCMC.

Nath went back to Ho Chi Minh City for most of the next five years, generally again in middle relief. In the 2007 expansion draft, Nath was the fifth overall pick by Colombo. The Catfish would trade him back to HCMC for prospects in June 2008. That year, Nath was third in ROTY voting. The Hedgehogs won their final SAB title of their great run in 2009, giving Nath three rings with them. He generally stunk in the playoffs though with a 6.14 ERA over 14.2 innings.

In total for HCMC, Nath had a 1.62 ERA over 295.1 innings, 27 saves, 88 shutdowns, 463 strikeouts, 239 ERA+, and 11.5 WAR. He went back to Jaipur in 2010, but was traded near the deadline to Kolkata. Between his original stint and this partial season with Jaipur, Nath had 236 saves and 269 shutdowns, a 1.99 ERA, 591.2 innings, 853 strikeouts, 161 ERA+, and 18.5 WAR. He was well liked enough that the Jokers later retired his #16 uniform.

Nath had a weak 4.50 ERA in 22 regular season innings for the Cosmos but he stepped up in the playoffs. He threw 22.1 playoff innings and allowed only one run, striking out 23 with nine shutdowns, helping Kolkata upset 121-win Hanoi in the SAB Championship. He also allowed only one unearned run over 7.2 innings for the Cosmos in the inaugural Baseball Grand Championship.

Nath then went to Bangkok in 2011 with a 1.79 ERA over 55.1 innings. He finished with Yangon in 2012 with only 14.2 innings of work. Nath got destroyed allowing seven runs in 1.2 playoff innings for the Green Dragons, but earned his fifth SAB Championship ring between three teams that year. Nath retired that winter at age 40.

The playoff stats were a very mixed bag for Nath. His Kolkata run was legendary, and he also had a strong showing for Da Nang and some good moments in HCMC. When he was bad though, he was really bad. Nath finished with a 9-8 record, 10 saves, 22 shutdowns, 4.05 ERA, 44 games, 80 innings, 111 strikeouts, 86 ERA+, and 1.8 WAR. He fared generally better in the World Baseball Championship for India, making 25 appearances from 1997-2009 with 35.1 innings, 61 strikeouts, and a 2.29 ERA. Nath was part of India’s first world championship team in 2009.

For his pro career, Nath had a 79-56 record, 322 saves, 442 shutdowns, 1.91 ERA, 1169 innings, 1749 strikeouts, 241 walks, 182 ERA+, and 40.5 WAR. He didn’t have as many saves as some of the other great SAB relievers, but his ERA was comparable. Nath also had the benefit of being on many championship teams, especially standing out at age 38 for Kolkata. The lower tallies kept him just out in 2018 at 65.4%, but he got across the 66% requirement on his second try at 72.9%. With that, Nath joined the three-player 2019 Hall of Fame class for South Asia Baseball.

Teerapat Siriyakorn – Outfielder – Chennai Cows – 69.6% Eight Ballot

Teerapat Siriyakorn was a 6’2’’, 200 pound left-handed outfielder from Sawankhalok, Thailand; a district of around 87,000 people. Siriyakorn was a very solid contact hitter who was around average at drawing walks and avoiding strikeouts. He was especially strong against right-handed pitching with a career 167 wRC+ and .889 OPS compared to a 116 wRC+ and .711 OPS against lefties. Siriyakorn had excellent gap power and had occasional bursts of home run power, getting 36 doubles, 9 triples, and 18 home runs per his 162 game average.

Siriyakorn had good running speed mixed with outstanding baserunning and base stealing instincts. Half of his career starts were in right field, where he graded as reliably good. Siriyakorn split the rest of his starts elsewhere in the outfield and was decent in left, but poor in center. He had excellent durability and almost never missed time to injury. The downside was Siriyakorn was considered a selfish and lazy jerk by many teammates, but his raw ability made him worth keeping around.

Despite coming from anonymity, Siriyakorn caught the eye of an Indian scout as a teenager. Chennai signed him to a developmental deal in June 1988 and had him in the academy for around three years. Siriyakorn became one of the select few in baseball history to debut at age 18, making 12 pinch-hit appearances in 1991. He was a part-timer with 87 games and 37 starts in 1992. The Cows put Siriyakorn into the lineup full-time from 1993-98.

All six of his full seasons with Chennai were worth 5.5+ WAR with three of the years getting 8+. Siriyakorn led in doubles in 1994 and led in both hits and batting average in 1997 and 1998. He won his lone Gold Glove in 1993, although he wasn’t in the other awards conversations. Part of that was the competition in the outfield, but part was due to Chennai’s general mediocrity. The Cows didn’t post a single winning season during Siriyakorn’s run, peaking at 80-82 in 1998.

While playing in the Indian League, Siriyakorn still returned home to Thailand for the World Baseball Championship from 1992-2007. He played 120 games and started 106, getting 125 hits, 68 runs, 27 doubles, 21 home runs, 54 RBI, 45 stolen bases, a .305/.358/.534 slash, 153 wRC+, and 4.9 WAR.

With Chennai, Siriyakorn had 1157 hits, 503 runs, 253 doubles, 75 triples, 84 home runs, 407 RBI, 379 stolen bases, a .316/.364/.495 slash, 167 wRC+, and 42.8 WAR. His play was one of the redeeming qualities for a bad franchise in the 1990s and they honored Siriyakorn later by retiring his #13 uniform. Unsurprisingly, he left when he became eligible for free agency after the 1998 season. Because he debuted so young, Siriyakorn was only 26-years old upon entering the market.

Siriyakorn signed a five-year, $8,500,000 deal with Ho Chi Minh City, who had been the dynasty in the Southeast Asia League. He only played three years with the Hedgehogs, but did well, including his lone Silver Slugger season in 2000. This saw career highs in WAR (9.0), hits (201), runs (120), home runs (41), and OPS (.970). The homer mark was especially surprising since he never topped 30 homers in any other season.

HCMC lost in the 1999 SAB Championship to Ahmedabad, then got revenge and beat the Animals in 2000. They had the top seed again in 2011, but were upset in the LCS by Yangon. Siriyakorn played well in the postseason over 37 games and 35 starts, getting 47 hits, 26 runs, 14 doubles, 4 triples, 3 homers, 19 RBI, a .315/.348/.523 slash, 148 wRC+, and 1.8 WAR. In total for the Hedgehogs, Siriyakorn had 530 hits, 300 runs, 103 doubles, 27 triples, 81 home runs, 220 RBI, a .305/.348/.536 slash, 149 wRC+, and 20.3 WAR.

His production had dropped a bit in 2001 and he had started to clash a bit in the locker room with his attitude. Siriyakorn exercised his contract option and switched sides in the great dynasty war on a one-year deal with Ahmedabad. He had a strong 6.8 WAR season for the Animals and again was solid in the playoffs with 16 hits, 13 runs, 4 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 9 RBI, a 1.053 OPS, and 0.9 WAR. The Animals went 118-44 and won their 12^th SAB Championship of the dynasty run, beating Dhaka in the final.

Siriyakorn was a free agent again in 2003, but went unsigned as no one who could afford his price tag wanted to deal with his baggage. After sitting out except for the WBC, Siriyakorn returned to the IL on a one-year deal in 2004 with Delhi. He posted 4.0 WAR for the Drillers, which was still a good starter, but the weakest full season of his career. Siriyakorn could still hit righties well, but he was starting to struggle against lefties.

Due to that, Siriyakorn’s final two seasons were in a platoon role. He spent 2005 with Kanpur with 2.9 WAR, then had a 3.0 WAR effort in 2006 for Yangon. He played for Thailand in the 2007 WBC, but went unsigned that season. Siriyakorn retired from the game that winter at age 35.

Siriyakorn finished with 2246 hits, 1071 runs, 465 doubles, 121 triples, 227 home runs, 911 RBI, 460 walks, 657 stolen bases, a .306/.351/.495 slash, 155 wRC+, and 79.8 WAR. As of 2037, he ranks 72^nd in hits, 57^th in doubles, 65^th in stolen bases, and 49^th in WAR among position players.

Siriyakorn was in a weird spot where he put up good numbers, but was considered by some to have underperformed based on how quickly he entered the league. Also working against him was many people generally disliking him as a person. Siriyakorn also didn’t have many awards despite his success. However, he did play very well in the playoffs and helped for two title runs for two teams. Two batting titles also went over well with traditionalists.

In 2012, Siriyakorn debuted on the ballot at 57.3%. He dropped to 51.4%, then 39.9%, making his future look bleak. Siriyakorn bounced back and forth the next few years between the low 50s and upper 30s. 2019 was his eighth ballot and he got a surprising renaissance, jumping up to 69.6%. That pushed Siriyakorn across the 66% line to become the third member of SAB’s 2019 Hall of Fame class.

11-21-2024, 09:34 AM	#1815
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 3,454	2019 SAB Hall of Fame (Part 2) Sabuj Nath – Closer – Jaipur Jokers – 72.9% Second Ballot Sabju Nath was a 6’2’’, 200 pound left-handed relief pitcher from Bhadreswar, India; a city of 100,000 inhabitants in the West Bengal state. Nath had excellent stuff with very good control and above average movement. He had the one-two punch of fastball/slider with velocity around 95-97 mph. Nath had good stamina for a reliever and respectable durability, although he did have sporadic back troubles. He was well respected in the clubhouse for his leadership and work ethic. Known relievers didn’t often get picked high in the draft, but Nath was an exception as he was selected 10^th overall in 1993 by Jaipur. He only saw 23 innings in his first year with poor results. Nath was an iffy setup guy the next year, but he earned the closer role for 1996. He posted five straight years with 30+ saves and an ERA below 1.50. Nath won Reliever of the Year in 1996 and 1999, while taking second in both 1997 and 1998; and third in 2000. 2000 had his highest save total with 49, his only time as a league leader. Nath’s best ERA, (1.18), ERA+ (266) and WAR (4.7) with the Jokers came in 1999, while his highest strikeout total was 152 in 1998. Jaipur became a regular playoff team in this era, but had no chance against Ahmedabad’s dynasty. From 1996-2002, the Jokers had six playoff appearances with five Indian League Championship Series losses to the Animals. Nath was more bad than good with a 4.57 ERA over 21.2 playoff innings for Jaipur. Nath became a free agent after the 2000 season at age 28 and ended up going to the evil empire Ahmedabad for one year. He was used in a middle relief role, but was a beast with a 0.65 ERA over 55.1 innings. The Animals destroyed the Indian League at 125-37, but was upset by Yangon in the SAB Championship. Nath allowed two runs in his 1.1 innings of playoff relief. He signed with Ho Chi Minh City in 2002 and 2003, doing well in his limited middle relief use. The Hedgehogs in the 2002 Southeast Asia League final, but started a SAB Championship three-peat from 2003-05. Nath left for expansion Da Nang in 2004 and was excellent as their closer with career highs in WAR (5.8), and strikeouts (163), winning his third Reliever of the Year award. The Nailers shocked SEAL by getting to the LCS in their inaugural season, but they were ultimately denied by HCMC. Nath went back to Ho Chi Minh City for most of the next five years, generally again in middle relief. In the 2007 expansion draft, Nath was the fifth overall pick by Colombo. The Catfish would trade him back to HCMC for prospects in June 2008. That year, Nath was third in ROTY voting. The Hedgehogs won their final SAB title of their great run in 2009, giving Nath three rings with them. He generally stunk in the playoffs though with a 6.14 ERA over 14.2 innings. In total for HCMC, Nath had a 1.62 ERA over 295.1 innings, 27 saves, 88 shutdowns, 463 strikeouts, 239 ERA+, and 11.5 WAR. He went back to Jaipur in 2010, but was traded near the deadline to Kolkata. Between his original stint and this partial season with Jaipur, Nath had 236 saves and 269 shutdowns, a 1.99 ERA, 591.2 innings, 853 strikeouts, 161 ERA+, and 18.5 WAR. He was well liked enough that the Jokers later retired his #16 uniform. Nath had a weak 4.50 ERA in 22 regular season innings for the Cosmos but he stepped up in the playoffs. He threw 22.1 playoff innings and allowed only one run, striking out 23 with nine shutdowns, helping Kolkata upset 121-win Hanoi in the SAB Championship. He also allowed only one unearned run over 7.2 innings for the Cosmos in the inaugural Baseball Grand Championship. Nath then went to Bangkok in 2011 with a 1.79 ERA over 55.1 innings. He finished with Yangon in 2012 with only 14.2 innings of work. Nath got destroyed allowing seven runs in 1.2 playoff innings for the Green Dragons, but earned his fifth SAB Championship ring between three teams that year. Nath retired that winter at age 40. The playoff stats were a very mixed bag for Nath. His Kolkata run was legendary, and he also had a strong showing for Da Nang and some good moments in HCMC. When he was bad though, he was really bad. Nath finished with a 9-8 record, 10 saves, 22 shutdowns, 4.05 ERA, 44 games, 80 innings, 111 strikeouts, 86 ERA+, and 1.8 WAR. He fared generally better in the World Baseball Championship for India, making 25 appearances from 1997-2009 with 35.1 innings, 61 strikeouts, and a 2.29 ERA. Nath was part of India’s first world championship team in 2009. For his pro career, Nath had a 79-56 record, 322 saves, 442 shutdowns, 1.91 ERA, 1169 innings, 1749 strikeouts, 241 walks, 182 ERA+, and 40.5 WAR. He didn’t have as many saves as some of the other great SAB relievers, but his ERA was comparable. Nath also had the benefit of being on many championship teams, especially standing out at age 38 for Kolkata. The lower tallies kept him just out in 2018 at 65.4%, but he got across the 66% requirement on his second try at 72.9%. With that, Nath joined the three-player 2019 Hall of Fame class for South Asia Baseball. Teerapat Siriyakorn – Outfielder – Chennai Cows – 69.6% Eight Ballot Teerapat Siriyakorn was a 6’2’’, 200 pound left-handed outfielder from Sawankhalok, Thailand; a district of around 87,000 people. Siriyakorn was a very solid contact hitter who was around average at drawing walks and avoiding strikeouts. He was especially strong against right-handed pitching with a career 167 wRC+ and .889 OPS compared to a 116 wRC+ and .711 OPS against lefties. Siriyakorn had excellent gap power and had occasional bursts of home run power, getting 36 doubles, 9 triples, and 18 home runs per his 162 game average. Siriyakorn had good running speed mixed with outstanding baserunning and base stealing instincts. Half of his career starts were in right field, where he graded as reliably good. Siriyakorn split the rest of his starts elsewhere in the outfield and was decent in left, but poor in center. He had excellent durability and almost never missed time to injury. The downside was Siriyakorn was considered a selfish and lazy jerk by many teammates, but his raw ability made him worth keeping around. Despite coming from anonymity, Siriyakorn caught the eye of an Indian scout as a teenager. Chennai signed him to a developmental deal in June 1988 and had him in the academy for around three years. Siriyakorn became one of the select few in baseball history to debut at age 18, making 12 pinch-hit appearances in 1991. He was a part-timer with 87 games and 37 starts in 1992. The Cows put Siriyakorn into the lineup full-time from 1993-98. All six of his full seasons with Chennai were worth 5.5+ WAR with three of the years getting 8+. Siriyakorn led in doubles in 1994 and led in both hits and batting average in 1997 and 1998. He won his lone Gold Glove in 1993, although he wasn’t in the other awards conversations. Part of that was the competition in the outfield, but part was due to Chennai’s general mediocrity. The Cows didn’t post a single winning season during Siriyakorn’s run, peaking at 80-82 in 1998. While playing in the Indian League, Siriyakorn still returned home to Thailand for the World Baseball Championship from 1992-2007. He played 120 games and started 106, getting 125 hits, 68 runs, 27 doubles, 21 home runs, 54 RBI, 45 stolen bases, a .305/.358/.534 slash, 153 wRC+, and 4.9 WAR. With Chennai, Siriyakorn had 1157 hits, 503 runs, 253 doubles, 75 triples, 84 home runs, 407 RBI, 379 stolen bases, a .316/.364/.495 slash, 167 wRC+, and 42.8 WAR. His play was one of the redeeming qualities for a bad franchise in the 1990s and they honored Siriyakorn later by retiring his #13 uniform. Unsurprisingly, he left when he became eligible for free agency after the 1998 season. Because he debuted so young, Siriyakorn was only 26-years old upon entering the market. Siriyakorn signed a five-year, $8,500,000 deal with Ho Chi Minh City, who had been the dynasty in the Southeast Asia League. He only played three years with the Hedgehogs, but did well, including his lone Silver Slugger season in 2000. This saw career highs in WAR (9.0), hits (201), runs (120), home runs (41), and OPS (.970). The homer mark was especially surprising since he never topped 30 homers in any other season. HCMC lost in the 1999 SAB Championship to Ahmedabad, then got revenge and beat the Animals in 2000. They had the top seed again in 2011, but were upset in the LCS by Yangon. Siriyakorn played well in the postseason over 37 games and 35 starts, getting 47 hits, 26 runs, 14 doubles, 4 triples, 3 homers, 19 RBI, a .315/.348/.523 slash, 148 wRC+, and 1.8 WAR. In total for the Hedgehogs, Siriyakorn had 530 hits, 300 runs, 103 doubles, 27 triples, 81 home runs, 220 RBI, a .305/.348/.536 slash, 149 wRC+, and 20.3 WAR. His production had dropped a bit in 2001 and he had started to clash a bit in the locker room with his attitude. Siriyakorn exercised his contract option and switched sides in the great dynasty war on a one-year deal with Ahmedabad. He had a strong 6.8 WAR season for the Animals and again was solid in the playoffs with 16 hits, 13 runs, 4 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 9 RBI, a 1.053 OPS, and 0.9 WAR. The Animals went 118-44 and won their 12^th SAB Championship of the dynasty run, beating Dhaka in the final. Siriyakorn was a free agent again in 2003, but went unsigned as no one who could afford his price tag wanted to deal with his baggage. After sitting out except for the WBC, Siriyakorn returned to the IL on a one-year deal in 2004 with Delhi. He posted 4.0 WAR for the Drillers, which was still a good starter, but the weakest full season of his career. Siriyakorn could still hit righties well, but he was starting to struggle against lefties. Due to that, Siriyakorn’s final two seasons were in a platoon role. He spent 2005 with Kanpur with 2.9 WAR, then had a 3.0 WAR effort in 2006 for Yangon. He played for Thailand in the 2007 WBC, but went unsigned that season. Siriyakorn retired from the game that winter at age 35. Siriyakorn finished with 2246 hits, 1071 runs, 465 doubles, 121 triples, 227 home runs, 911 RBI, 460 walks, 657 stolen bases, a .306/.351/.495 slash, 155 wRC+, and 79.8 WAR. As of 2037, he ranks 72^nd in hits, 57^th in doubles, 65^th in stolen bases, and 49^th in WAR among position players. Siriyakorn was in a weird spot where he put up good numbers, but was considered by some to have underperformed based on how quickly he entered the league. Also working against him was many people generally disliking him as a person. Siriyakorn also didn’t have many awards despite his success. However, he did play very well in the playoffs and helped for two title runs for two teams. Two batting titles also went over well with traditionalists. In 2012, Siriyakorn debuted on the ballot at 57.3%. He dropped to 51.4%, then 39.9%, making his future look bleak. Siriyakorn bounced back and forth the next few years between the low 50s and upper 30s. 2019 was his eighth ballot and he got a surprising renaissance, jumping up to 69.6%. That pushed Siriyakorn across the 66% line to become the third member of SAB’s 2019 Hall of Fame class. __________________ 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)