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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2020
Posts: 2,904
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2020 in APB
Starting in 2020, Austronesia Professional Baseball increased the service time requirements for free agency from seven years to eight years. APB began at seven years, bumped up to eight for 1977, then dropped back down to seven in 2000. This is still in the middle relative to other world leagues, but more restrictive. As of 2037, APB’s standard remains eight years.
For the first time in 20 years, Manila took the top spot in the Philippine League. The Manatees finished 96-66, taking the title by 12 games and the #1 seed in the Taiwan-Philippine Association by eight games. Cagayan de Oro was a distant second at 84-78 with Zamboanga at 83-79. This was only the second time in eight years that the Zebras weren’t on top, although their streak of winning seasons grew to nine.
Taipei’s reign atop the Taiwan Division continued on, finishing first for the ninth consecutive season and the 11th time in 12 years. The Tigercats finished 88-74, which was their worst record of their APB-record playoff streak. Taipei had won 97 or more games each year since 2009. Kaohsiung (84-78) was their closest competitor. Hsinchu at 77-85 was notable as they underperformed their expected win/loss by 11 games.
The Sweathogs were led by young DH Binh Tang, who won his first of what would be many Taiwan-Philippine Association MVPs. The 20-year old Vietnamese lefty was in his second season as a full-time starter and would soon earn the nickname “The King.” This would be incredibly fitting for Tang, who would soon go onto be APB’s undisputed greatest hitter of all time in the coming years.
Tang was the first Triple Crown hitter in APB since 1990 and had only the ninth-ever batting TC in APB. He led in home runs (47), RBI (109), average (.312), total bases (373), hits (192), runs (96), slugging (.606), OPS (.966), wRC+ (203), and WAR (10.0).
Although Zamboanga fell off, Ching-Chen Yao didn’t as he won his APB-record setting eight Pitcher of the Year. It was the sixth consecutive for Yao, who was one of only six pitches in world history to that point with 8+ POTYs. The 32-year old Taiwanese lefty led in strikeouts (398), WHIP (0.56), K/BB (23.4), FIP- (23), and WAR (13.6). Yao had a 1.46 ERA and 190 ERA+ over 246.1 innings with a 17-6 record.
For Yao, this was his eighth time leading in both strikeouts and WAR, as well as his ninth year in a row leading in WHIP. It was his third-best WHIP of his career, but the 0.56 mark in 2020 ranks as the sixth-lowest qualifying season in all of pro baseball history. As of 2037, a WHIP below 0.60 has only happened 15 times; Yao would have six of these seasons. He also became the 31st APB pitcher to reach 3500 career strikeouts. Also of note, Tainan’s Achmad Albaar became a three-time Reliever of the Year winner.
Defending APB champ Palembang won the Java Sea League for the third year running and took the top seed in the Sundaland Association. At 94-68, the Panthers were 11 games ahead of their nearest foe Surabaya. Palembang allowed 409 runs, the fewest of any APB teams.
The Malacca League had an intense four-team battle. Medan (90-72) narrowly took the title, ending a six-year playoff drought. The Marlins edged Batam by one game, Kuala Lumpur by three, and Johor Bahru by four. Last year’s ML champ Singapore fell to fifth at 77-83 despite leading in runs scored at 574. They underperformed their expected W/L by nine games.
In his first full season, Batam’s Kuan-Jen Lai earned Sundaland Association MVP. The 22-year old Taiwanese first baseman led in hits (180), RBI (101), total bases (331), triple slash (.322/.391/.592 slash), OPS (.983), wRC+ (224), and WAR (10.3). Lai’s 40 home runs fell one short of a Triple Crown season. Singapore’s Wil Tabaldo had 41 homers, leading the league for the tenth consecutive season.
Pitcher of the Year was Medan’s Purnadi Supriatna. The 25-year old Indonesian lefty in his fourth season led in wins (20-4), ERA (1.32), WHIP (0.72), FIP- (41), and WAR (9.0). Supriatna struck out 298 over 219 innings with a 207 ERA+. Also of note, Kuala Lumpur’s Syanhaz Noor won his third consecutive Reliever of the Year.
In the Taiwan-Philippine Association Championship, Taipei outlasted Manila 4-3 to earn back-to-back pennants. The Tigercats won their third in five years and seventh overall. The Sundaland Association Championship also was a seven game classic with Palembang hanging on over Medan to also repeat. The Panthers became six-time SA champs.
The 56th Austronesia Championship was the second repeat battle in four years. Zamboanga and Johor Bahru had gone back-to-back in 2017-18, and now it was Taipei and Palembang battling again. The series would be a seven game classic, marking only the second time in APB history (1987) that each playoff series went the distance.
After failing to win it all repeatedly despite their Taiwan League dominance of the last decade, Taipei finally took the top honor by getting revenge over Palembang 4-3. The Tigercats earned their third APB title with prior wins in 1968 and 1988. SP Anto Astuti was finals MVP in his tenth season for Taipei. In four playoff starts, Astuti had a 3-0 record with a 1.42 ERA over 31.2 innings and 33 strikeouts.
Other notes: Singapore’s Wil Tabaldo became APB’s home run king as the 33-year old Filipino finished the season at 621. He became the third member of the 600 home run club, passing Chun-Chia Lan’s 619 and Abracham Gumelar’s 604 for the top mark. Tabaldo finished the season at 1343 RBI, sitting 83 away from Gumelar’s record. Tabaldo also passed 100 career WAR and 2000 hits in 2020. Iqbal Safari was also in striking distance of Gumelar’s RBI record, ending his age 40 season at 1329.
Rahmat Hasjim became the 18th pitcher to earn 4000 career strikeouts. Yu-Ren Lin was the 24th member of the 200 win club. RF Shih-Chieh Tseng won his 12th Gold Glove, joining 1Bs Kent Wang (15) and Akbar Fatchurohman (13) as the only 12+ GG winners in APB history. 1B Widodo Megawati won his tenth consecutive Gold Glove.
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