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FuzzyRussianHat · 02-06-2025, 06:25 PM

Three players earned Hall of Fame inductions on their ballot debuts for Austronesia Professional Baseball in 2025. OF Paola Baptista was the clear headliner at a nearly unanimous 99.3%. Joining him were relief pitchers Evan Yanizar at 76.5% and Metta Adam at 73.9%. The best returner was another RP with Kyle Oliveira at 58.8% on his second ballot. Also above 50% but short of the 66% threshold was SP Bagus Ranga at 57.7% in his fourth go and 3B Yu-Ting Tsai with a 52.9% debut. No players were dropped from the ballot after ten failed tries.

Paolo Baptista – Outfield – Zamboanga Zebras – 99.3% First Ballot

Paolo Baptista was a 6’0’’, 200 pound left-handed hitting outfielder from Manolo Fortich, Philippines; a city of around 113,000 inhabitants in the Bukidnon province. Few players in his era in the low-scoring APB were better at getting extra base hits. Baptista’s 162 game average got you 34 home runs, 20 doubles, and 14 triples. He was especially strong facing right-handed pitchers with a career 179 wRC+ and .905 OPS. Versus lefties, Baptista had 120 wRC+ and .673 OPS.

On the whole, Baptista was an above average contact hitter with a good eye for walks and a below average strikeout rate. His baserunning skills were excellent, although his speed was merely good and not great in his prime. Just over half of his career starts came in center field, almost all in the first half of his career. Baptista graded as reliably average in center.

As his speed and range diminished in his early 30s, Baptista spent the second half of his career bouncing around between left field, right field, and designated hitter. His metrics suggested solid defense in RF and around average marks in LF. Baptista stayed mostly healthy in his 20s, but his later years were plagued by various major leg injuries. Still, he gutted out a 21-year career using his impressive work ethic, intelligence, and adaptability to survive the grind. Baptista became one of the most beloved and famous Filipino players ever and had a key role in two separate dynasty runs for Zamboanga.

The Zebras banked their future on Baptista by picking him second in the 1998 APB Draft. They had posted six straight losing seasons and hadn’t been a playoff team since 1981. To that point, Zamboanga and Depok were the only teams in APB that had never won a pennant. Baptista would play a big role in reversing that trend. Although they were only 75-87 in his rookie year of 1999, he had a stellar debut with 7.1 WAR, although Baptista surprisingly took only second in Rookie of the Year.

The playoff drought ended in 2000 with Zamboanga winning the Philippine League in 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2004. The Zebras lost in the Taiwan-Philippine Association final in 2000 to Kaohsiung. However, they earned their first TPA pennants in the other three seasons, besting the Steelheads in 2001 and Tainan in both 2003 and 2004. Zamboanga still didn’t win their first Austronesia Championship yet, falling to Semarang in 2001, Bandung in 2003, and Jakarta in 2004. Baptista was impressive over 43 playoff starts in this run with 3.1 WAR, 51 hits, 26 runs, 5 doubles, 13 home runs, 31 RBI, and 19 stolen bases.

Baptista had brought the Zebras their first sustained success, leading the TPA in WAR in four of those five seasons with a combined 48.8 WAR for the stretch. In that run, he led four times in OPS, slugging, and total bases, while leading thrice in wRC+, home runs, and RBI. Baptista also led in walks in 2003 and led in runs and triples in 2004. His sophomore season 2000 had his career-best WAR at 11.4, closely followed by 10.8 WAR in 2001. Baptista won MVP in 2000, 01, 02, and 04 with Silver Sluggers each of those years. He also finished second in 2003’s MVP voting.

2005 was a setback year with a torn groin muscle knocking him out close to two months. Still, Baptista won another Silver Slugger despite playing only 93 games. Zamboanga fell to 82-80, but hoped their competitive window was still open. That winter, the Zebras gave Baptista an eight-year, $73,700,000 extension. Unfortunately, they were below .500 for the next six years as Davao took control of the Philippine League with their own dynasty run.

Although Zamboanga faltered, Baptista won additional Silver Sluggers from 2006-08 in CF, followed by a 2009 win in RF and one in LF for 2010. Baptista won his fifth MVP in 2009 with career and TPA highs in homers (42), slugging (.602), OPS (.960), and wRC+ (198). Baptista was only the third APB player to that point to win five MVPs and is one of one six to do it as of 2037. He was also second in MVP voting in both 2006 and 2010. Baptista also hit for the cycle in 2006 against Taichung.

At age 34, Baptista began to have a series of major injuries that greatly limited his play. He missed all of 2011 with a broken kneecap suffered late in spring training. Baptista then lost almost all of 2012 with a ruptured Achilles tendon. But by this point, Zamboanga had reloaded. Ching-Chen Yao would lead the way, winning ten Pitcher of the Year awards from 2012-23. They took second in 2012 at 92-70 to end a streak of losing seasons.

Baptista would only play 208 games from 2012-15 due to various injuries. When healthy, he was still a solid starter, although he was also down from his prime peaks. 2013 saw a fractured tibia and strained hamstring keep him out most of the year. But he was back for the playoff run as Zamboanga won their first-ever APB Championship over Bandung. Baptista had 0.2 WAR over 11 playoff starts, but was much better in the Baseball Grand Championship with 0.9 WAR and 168 wRC+ in 19 games. The Zebras finished 13-6 in the BGC, second only to Denver at 15-4.

Concerned about his health, Zamboanga gave their beloved star only a qualifying offer for 2014. The season featured a torn abdominal muscle and strained hamstring in the regular season. Then in the playoffs, Baptista suffered his second Achilles tear, this time in the other leg. The Zebras won the TPA pennant again, but lost the APB Championship to Pekanbaru. It was unclear if the soon-to-be 38-year old Baptista could even come back from another huge injury like that.

Baptista was briefly a free agent, but Zamboanga brought him back on a one-year deal in 2015. He played 64 games, but at a high level with 188 wRC+ and 3.8 WAR. He was unremarkable in the playoffs, but the Zebras again got to the APB Championship, this time losing to Bandung. Baptista earned another one-year deal for 2016 and managed to avoid massive injuries, playing 124 games with 3.9 WAR. Zamboanga missed the playoffs, but gave Baptista a two-year conditional deal.

The 40-year old Baptista had his healthiest season in ages with 131 games and 3.0 WAR. He was okay in the playoffs as Zamboanga won their fourth pennant in five years, getting upset in the APB Championship by Johor Bahru. Baptista’s playoff stats for his career were quite solid, although that was largely carried by his great runs in his 20s. In total, Baptista had 81 playoff games with 73 hits, 38 runs, 10 doubles, 3 triples, 19 home runs, 50 RBI, 13 walks, 28 stolen bases, .247/.283/.493 slash, 153 wRC+, and 3.8 WAR.

Baptista didn’t meet the vesting criteria after the 2017 season and became a free agent again, this time leaving Zamboanga for good. He played 2209 games with 2018 hits, 1144 runs, 280 doubles, 206 triples, 479 home runs, 1251 RBI, 731 walks, 613 stolen bases, .259/.324/.532 slash, 168 wRC+, and 113.7 WAR. Before Baptista, the Zebras had only four playoff berths and no series wins over their first 35 years. During his run, Zamboanga won six Taiwan-Philippine Association pennants and one APB title. He was a beloved hero and his #3 uniform would quickly be retired.

He wasn’t ready to be done though and spent the next two years with Manila. Baptista had limited success with 234 games, 149 hits, 88 runs, 22 doubles, 27 homers, 81 RBI, .205/.286/.371 slash, 110 wRC+, and 2.3 WAR. Baptista wanted to play in 2020, but had to retire that winter at age 43 after finding no interest from other teams.

Baptista finished with 2443 games, 2167 hits, 1232 runs, 302 doubles, 215 triples, 506 home runs, 1332 RBI, 810 walks, 2094 strikeouts, 655 stolen bases, .254/.321/.518 slash, 163 wRC+, and 116.0 WAR. As of 2037, Baptista ranks 9^th in WAR among position players, 12^th in runs, 45^th in hits, 14^th in total bases (4417), 94^th in doubles, 12^th in triples, 15^th in home runs, 9^th in RBI, and 23^rd in walks. Among APB batters with 3000+ plate appearances, Baptista’s .839 OPS ranks 25^th. He also ranks 85^th in OBP and 19^th in slugging.

If not for the injury-laden later years, some argued that Baptista might have made a case as APB’s greatest position player to that point. Even with the injuries, he cracks many top ten and top five lists despite the grand tallies being lower than some of his competition. Five MVPs and ten Silver Sluggers is an impressive haul.

Most importantly, Baptista helped turn Zamboanga from a lower-rung franchise to into one of the top contenders in the Philippines. He was certainly an inner-circle level talent and deservedly headlined a solid 2025 Hall of Fame class for Austronesia Professional Baseball with a near unanimous 99.3%.

02-06-2025, 06:25 PM	#2045
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,650	2025 APB Hall of Fame (Part 1) Three players earned Hall of Fame inductions on their ballot debuts for Austronesia Professional Baseball in 2025. OF Paola Baptista was the clear headliner at a nearly unanimous 99.3%. Joining him were relief pitchers Evan Yanizar at 76.5% and Metta Adam at 73.9%. The best returner was another RP with Kyle Oliveira at 58.8% on his second ballot. Also above 50% but short of the 66% threshold was SP Bagus Ranga at 57.7% in his fourth go and 3B Yu-Ting Tsai with a 52.9% debut. No players were dropped from the ballot after ten failed tries. Paolo Baptista – Outfield – Zamboanga Zebras – 99.3% First Ballot Paolo Baptista was a 6’0’’, 200 pound left-handed hitting outfielder from Manolo Fortich, Philippines; a city of around 113,000 inhabitants in the Bukidnon province. Few players in his era in the low-scoring APB were better at getting extra base hits. Baptista’s 162 game average got you 34 home runs, 20 doubles, and 14 triples. He was especially strong facing right-handed pitchers with a career 179 wRC+ and .905 OPS. Versus lefties, Baptista had 120 wRC+ and .673 OPS. On the whole, Baptista was an above average contact hitter with a good eye for walks and a below average strikeout rate. His baserunning skills were excellent, although his speed was merely good and not great in his prime. Just over half of his career starts came in center field, almost all in the first half of his career. Baptista graded as reliably average in center. As his speed and range diminished in his early 30s, Baptista spent the second half of his career bouncing around between left field, right field, and designated hitter. His metrics suggested solid defense in RF and around average marks in LF. Baptista stayed mostly healthy in his 20s, but his later years were plagued by various major leg injuries. Still, he gutted out a 21-year career using his impressive work ethic, intelligence, and adaptability to survive the grind. Baptista became one of the most beloved and famous Filipino players ever and had a key role in two separate dynasty runs for Zamboanga. The Zebras banked their future on Baptista by picking him second in the 1998 APB Draft. They had posted six straight losing seasons and hadn’t been a playoff team since 1981. To that point, Zamboanga and Depok were the only teams in APB that had never won a pennant. Baptista would play a big role in reversing that trend. Although they were only 75-87 in his rookie year of 1999, he had a stellar debut with 7.1 WAR, although Baptista surprisingly took only second in Rookie of the Year. The playoff drought ended in 2000 with Zamboanga winning the Philippine League in 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2004. The Zebras lost in the Taiwan-Philippine Association final in 2000 to Kaohsiung. However, they earned their first TPA pennants in the other three seasons, besting the Steelheads in 2001 and Tainan in both 2003 and 2004. Zamboanga still didn’t win their first Austronesia Championship yet, falling to Semarang in 2001, Bandung in 2003, and Jakarta in 2004. Baptista was impressive over 43 playoff starts in this run with 3.1 WAR, 51 hits, 26 runs, 5 doubles, 13 home runs, 31 RBI, and 19 stolen bases. Baptista had brought the Zebras their first sustained success, leading the TPA in WAR in four of those five seasons with a combined 48.8 WAR for the stretch. In that run, he led four times in OPS, slugging, and total bases, while leading thrice in wRC+, home runs, and RBI. Baptista also led in walks in 2003 and led in runs and triples in 2004. His sophomore season 2000 had his career-best WAR at 11.4, closely followed by 10.8 WAR in 2001. Baptista won MVP in 2000, 01, 02, and 04 with Silver Sluggers each of those years. He also finished second in 2003’s MVP voting. 2005 was a setback year with a torn groin muscle knocking him out close to two months. Still, Baptista won another Silver Slugger despite playing only 93 games. Zamboanga fell to 82-80, but hoped their competitive window was still open. That winter, the Zebras gave Baptista an eight-year, $73,700,000 extension. Unfortunately, they were below .500 for the next six years as Davao took control of the Philippine League with their own dynasty run. Although Zamboanga faltered, Baptista won additional Silver Sluggers from 2006-08 in CF, followed by a 2009 win in RF and one in LF for 2010. Baptista won his fifth MVP in 2009 with career and TPA highs in homers (42), slugging (.602), OPS (.960), and wRC+ (198). Baptista was only the third APB player to that point to win five MVPs and is one of one six to do it as of 2037. He was also second in MVP voting in both 2006 and 2010. Baptista also hit for the cycle in 2006 against Taichung. At age 34, Baptista began to have a series of major injuries that greatly limited his play. He missed all of 2011 with a broken kneecap suffered late in spring training. Baptista then lost almost all of 2012 with a ruptured Achilles tendon. But by this point, Zamboanga had reloaded. Ching-Chen Yao would lead the way, winning ten Pitcher of the Year awards from 2012-23. They took second in 2012 at 92-70 to end a streak of losing seasons. Baptista would only play 208 games from 2012-15 due to various injuries. When healthy, he was still a solid starter, although he was also down from his prime peaks. 2013 saw a fractured tibia and strained hamstring keep him out most of the year. But he was back for the playoff run as Zamboanga won their first-ever APB Championship over Bandung. Baptista had 0.2 WAR over 11 playoff starts, but was much better in the Baseball Grand Championship with 0.9 WAR and 168 wRC+ in 19 games. The Zebras finished 13-6 in the BGC, second only to Denver at 15-4. Concerned about his health, Zamboanga gave their beloved star only a qualifying offer for 2014. The season featured a torn abdominal muscle and strained hamstring in the regular season. Then in the playoffs, Baptista suffered his second Achilles tear, this time in the other leg. The Zebras won the TPA pennant again, but lost the APB Championship to Pekanbaru. It was unclear if the soon-to-be 38-year old Baptista could even come back from another huge injury like that. Baptista was briefly a free agent, but Zamboanga brought him back on a one-year deal in 2015. He played 64 games, but at a high level with 188 wRC+ and 3.8 WAR. He was unremarkable in the playoffs, but the Zebras again got to the APB Championship, this time losing to Bandung. Baptista earned another one-year deal for 2016 and managed to avoid massive injuries, playing 124 games with 3.9 WAR. Zamboanga missed the playoffs, but gave Baptista a two-year conditional deal. The 40-year old Baptista had his healthiest season in ages with 131 games and 3.0 WAR. He was okay in the playoffs as Zamboanga won their fourth pennant in five years, getting upset in the APB Championship by Johor Bahru. Baptista’s playoff stats for his career were quite solid, although that was largely carried by his great runs in his 20s. In total, Baptista had 81 playoff games with 73 hits, 38 runs, 10 doubles, 3 triples, 19 home runs, 50 RBI, 13 walks, 28 stolen bases, .247/.283/.493 slash, 153 wRC+, and 3.8 WAR. Baptista didn’t meet the vesting criteria after the 2017 season and became a free agent again, this time leaving Zamboanga for good. He played 2209 games with 2018 hits, 1144 runs, 280 doubles, 206 triples, 479 home runs, 1251 RBI, 731 walks, 613 stolen bases, .259/.324/.532 slash, 168 wRC+, and 113.7 WAR. Before Baptista, the Zebras had only four playoff berths and no series wins over their first 35 years. During his run, Zamboanga won six Taiwan-Philippine Association pennants and one APB title. He was a beloved hero and his #3 uniform would quickly be retired. He wasn’t ready to be done though and spent the next two years with Manila. Baptista had limited success with 234 games, 149 hits, 88 runs, 22 doubles, 27 homers, 81 RBI, .205/.286/.371 slash, 110 wRC+, and 2.3 WAR. Baptista wanted to play in 2020, but had to retire that winter at age 43 after finding no interest from other teams. Baptista finished with 2443 games, 2167 hits, 1232 runs, 302 doubles, 215 triples, 506 home runs, 1332 RBI, 810 walks, 2094 strikeouts, 655 stolen bases, .254/.321/.518 slash, 163 wRC+, and 116.0 WAR. As of 2037, Baptista ranks 9^th in WAR among position players, 12^th in runs, 45^th in hits, 14^th in total bases (4417), 94^th in doubles, 12^th in triples, 15^th in home runs, 9^th in RBI, and 23^rd in walks. Among APB batters with 3000+ plate appearances, Baptista’s .839 OPS ranks 25^th. He also ranks 85^th in OBP and 19^th in slugging. If not for the injury-laden later years, some argued that Baptista might have made a case as APB’s greatest position player to that point. Even with the injuries, he cracks many top ten and top five lists despite the grand tallies being lower than some of his competition. Five MVPs and ten Silver Sluggers is an impressive haul. Most importantly, Baptista helped turn Zamboanga from a lower-rung franchise to into one of the top contenders in the Philippines. He was certainly an inner-circle level talent and deservedly headlined a solid 2025 Hall of Fame class for Austronesia Professional Baseball with a near unanimous 99.3%. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)