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FuzzyRussianHat · 04-04-2025, 05:55 AM

Reigning East Asia Baseball champion Niigata took the Japan League’s top seed and the North Division at 110-52, tying a franchise record. The Green Dragons allowed the fewest runs in EAB (505) and scored the second most in the JL (797). Sapporo was a distant second in the division at 98-64, but it landed the Swordfish a wild card. Sapporo’s playoff streak grew to three with their fifth berth in six years.

Hiroshima got the #2 seed and bye at 103-59 with their third consecutive West Division title. A very tight Central Division saw Nagoya (99-63) fend off Kobe (98-64), and Kyoto (96-66). The Nightowls lead EAB with 797 runs for their second playoff berth in three years. Nagota hadn’t taken a division title though since 2012.

The Blaze ended up with a wild card to grow their playoff streak to six years. The Kamikaze missed the wild card cut by two games. Fukuoka was the next closest at 91-71, extending their streak to winning seasons to a decade despite missing the playoffs. The longest active stretch of winning campaigns was Sapporo at 11 thanks to Osaka’s streak ending in 2028. The Orange Sox had a 13-year run, but struggled to 69-93.

Saitama was the fourth division champ at 90-72 atop the Capital Division. The Sting defeated Tokyo by six games and Yokohama by eight, earning a third title in four years. Last year’s division champ Chiba fell from 100 wins in 2027 to 77-85 in 2028.

Niigata LF Masanori Fukuoka won his second Japan League MVP in three years and posted one of the most impressive hitting seasons in all of baseball history. The 26-year old lefty became the first qualifying player in any league ever with a slugging percentage above .900, posting an incredible .905. Fukuoka had a 1.364 OPS, the second-best in world history only behind Mwarami Tale’s 1.375 from the 2009 African Association of Baseball history. Tale also previously had the slugging world record of .885.

Fukuoka was only the second-ever EAB player to hit above .400, joining Si-Hun Lee’s .411 from 1993. He had a triple slash of .403/.459/.905 for a bonkers 301 wRC+. Fukuoka’s OBP ranked as the fourth-best in EAB history. He also shattered the EAB record for WAR by a position player at 16.51, besting Takashi Ishihara’s 14.32 from 1948. The only other position player mark better in world history was Harvey Coyle’s 16.55 from the 2011 European Baseball Federation season.

Fukuoka’s WAR is the 18^th-best single season in baseball history when you factor in pitchers and two-way guys. It was third-best in EAB history behind Toshikuni Naikai’s 18.52 on the mound in 2020 and Tadasumi Tanabe’s 16.6 two-way effort from 1957. Fukuoka still holds the world record for slugging and OPS as of 2037 and holds the EAB record for WAR among position players.

He also set the EAB record for total bases at 523, blowing by Ishiguro’s 491. Fukuoka’s mark ranks fifth in world history with world home run king Majed Darwish of South Asia Baseball holding the top spot with 546 in 2010. Fukuoka’s effort was the ninth Triple Crown hitting season in EAB history and the first since 2008.

Fukuoka led with 136 runs, 233 hits, 70 home runs, and 169 RBI. It was the ninth 70+ homer season in EAB history and the second-best RBI mark behind only Jae-Hee Sin’s 175 from the inaugural 1921 campaign. Fukuoka was nine short of the EAB homers record and 11 from the runs scored mark. He also had 26 doubles, 27 triples, and 38 stolen bases. This earned Fukuoka the richest deal in baseball history to that point, signing an eight-year, $379,500,000 extension in the offseason with the Green Dragons.

Niigata also saw Takehiro Nakajima win his first Pitcher of the Year. The 29-year old lefty in his eighth year led in wins (21-5), and quality starts (27). Nakajima had a 1.72 ERA over 246.1 innings, 253 strikeouts, 195 ERA+, and 8.9 WAR. He had been picked by the Green Dragons with the #7 pick in the 2020 EAB Draft.

Saitama swept Kobe 2-0 and Nagoya edged Sapporo 2-1 in the wild card round. The Nightowls then upset Hiroshima 3-1, earning their first trip to the Japan League Championship Series since their incredible 117-45 title campaign in 2009. The Sting gave the reigning champ Niigata a fierce challenge, but the Green Dragons escaped with a 3-2 series win.

Niigata was a heavy favorite to repeat, but pundits crowned them way too early. Not only were they upset in the JLCS by Nagoya, but the Nightowls pulled off a shocking sweep. Nagoya became nine-time Japan League champs (1931, 1934, 1937, 1940, 1948, 1964, 1979, 2009, 2028).

The Korea League had a competitive field with only seven wins separating the five playoff teams. Busan narrowly got the #1 seed at 100-62, winning a fifth consecutive South Division title. The Blue Jays playoff streak grew to nine seasons, tying the EAB record set by Pyongyang from 1961-69. Busan allowed the fewest runs in the KL at 538. Ulsan was second in the division at 98-64, earning a third straight wild card.

Goyang repeated as North Division champ and missed the top seed by one game at 99-63. Two-time defending league champ Incheon was second at 95-67, keeping their three-peat hope alive as a wild card. The final spot was 93-69 Changwon, bouncing back after having their six-year streak ended in 2027. The Crabs held off Pyongyang (89-73) and Seoul (87-75), the latter of which led in scoring with 783 runs.

Korea League MVP went to third-year Hamhung 1B Toichi Kimura. The 23-year old Japanese lefty led in hits (201), homers (61), RBI (149), total bases (423), slugging (.681), wRC+ (189), and WAR (8.6). Kimura added 120 runs, .324 average, and 1.035 OPS. He fell 15 points shy of a Triple Crown season. The Heat gave Kimura an eight-year, $167,600,000 extension in the offseason.

Ulsan’s Byung-Cheol Ban won Pitcher of the Year, leading in wins (23-6), innings (276), strikeouts (339), complete games (18), and shutouts (6). The 24-year old South Korean righty had a 2.41 ERA, 151 ERA+, and 7.9 WAR. Ban was second in ERA, but still a good distance from the Triple Crown with Goyang’s Oniji Hamamoto at 2.07.

Incheon ousted Changwon 2-0 in the first round, but the defending champs promptly were swept by Busan in the divisional series. Goyang outlasted Ulsan 3-2 on the other side, giving the Green Sox their first Korea League Championship Series trip since 2019. It was the fourth time in the Blue Jays’ run that they had made it, winning pennants in 2023 and 2024.

It was expected to be an intense and close series since one win separated the two division champs. Like the 2028 JLCS, the 2028 KLCS was also an unremarkable sweep with Goyang battering Busan. The Green Sox became five-time Korea League kings (1991, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2028).

The 108^th East Asian Championship was more exciting than both LCS with Goyang defeating Nagoya 4-2. It was the second overall title for the Green Sox, whose other ring came in 2012. Finals MVP went to 2028 Rookie of the Year winner Sung-Hoon Ma. He had been drafted 12^th in 2025 by Gwangju, but was traded to Goyang before the 2027 campaign. In 15 playoff starts, Ma had 14 hits, 15 runs, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 6 homers, and 17 RBI.

Other notes: 2028 saw three perfect games thrown, which had amazingly also happened back in 1935. Despite those occurrences, 2028’s perfectos were only the 40^th, 41^st, and 42^nd in EAB history. The first came from Yokohama’s Mauricio Nieto on May 15 with three strikeouts against Saitama. On August 2, Pyongyang’s Tokuei Wada did it with 11 Ks against Gwangju. Oniji Yamamoto also had 11 Ks for his perfect game over Hamhung on October 4.

In other pitching milestones, Nobuyoshi Yamauchi became the 7^th to 4500 strikeouts and Akikazu Yoshida became the 20^th to 4000 Ks. Jun-Hwi Jung became only the 47^th to 3500 Ks. Il-Hwan Lee and Hiroshi Yama****a became the 15^th and 16^th to 250 career wins. SS Jae-Won Park and RF Chae-Yun Choi both won their ninth consecutive Gold Gloves. 3B Tae-I Sin won his 7^th Gold Glove.

04-04-2025, 05:55 AM	#2188
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,575	2028 in EAB Reigning East Asia Baseball champion Niigata took the Japan League’s top seed and the North Division at 110-52, tying a franchise record. The Green Dragons allowed the fewest runs in EAB (505) and scored the second most in the JL (797). Sapporo was a distant second in the division at 98-64, but it landed the Swordfish a wild card. Sapporo’s playoff streak grew to three with their fifth berth in six years. Hiroshima got the #2 seed and bye at 103-59 with their third consecutive West Division title. A very tight Central Division saw Nagoya (99-63) fend off Kobe (98-64), and Kyoto (96-66). The Nightowls lead EAB with 797 runs for their second playoff berth in three years. Nagota hadn’t taken a division title though since 2012. The Blaze ended up with a wild card to grow their playoff streak to six years. The Kamikaze missed the wild card cut by two games. Fukuoka was the next closest at 91-71, extending their streak to winning seasons to a decade despite missing the playoffs. The longest active stretch of winning campaigns was Sapporo at 11 thanks to Osaka’s streak ending in 2028. The Orange Sox had a 13-year run, but struggled to 69-93. Saitama was the fourth division champ at 90-72 atop the Capital Division. The Sting defeated Tokyo by six games and Yokohama by eight, earning a third title in four years. Last year’s division champ Chiba fell from 100 wins in 2027 to 77-85 in 2028. Niigata LF Masanori Fukuoka won his second Japan League MVP in three years and posted one of the most impressive hitting seasons in all of baseball history. The 26-year old lefty became the first qualifying player in any league ever with a slugging percentage above .900, posting an incredible .905. Fukuoka had a 1.364 OPS, the second-best in world history only behind Mwarami Tale’s 1.375 from the 2009 African Association of Baseball history. Tale also previously had the slugging world record of .885. Fukuoka was only the second-ever EAB player to hit above .400, joining Si-Hun Lee’s .411 from 1993. He had a triple slash of .403/.459/.905 for a bonkers 301 wRC+. Fukuoka’s OBP ranked as the fourth-best in EAB history. He also shattered the EAB record for WAR by a position player at 16.51, besting Takashi Ishihara’s 14.32 from 1948. The only other position player mark better in world history was Harvey Coyle’s 16.55 from the 2011 European Baseball Federation season. Fukuoka’s WAR is the 18^th-best single season in baseball history when you factor in pitchers and two-way guys. It was third-best in EAB history behind Toshikuni Naikai’s 18.52 on the mound in 2020 and Tadasumi Tanabe’s 16.6 two-way effort from 1957. Fukuoka still holds the world record for slugging and OPS as of 2037 and holds the EAB record for WAR among position players. He also set the EAB record for total bases at 523, blowing by Ishiguro’s 491. Fukuoka’s mark ranks fifth in world history with world home run king Majed Darwish of South Asia Baseball holding the top spot with 546 in 2010. Fukuoka’s effort was the ninth Triple Crown hitting season in EAB history and the first since 2008. Fukuoka led with 136 runs, 233 hits, 70 home runs, and 169 RBI. It was the ninth 70+ homer season in EAB history and the second-best RBI mark behind only Jae-Hee Sin’s 175 from the inaugural 1921 campaign. Fukuoka was nine short of the EAB homers record and 11 from the runs scored mark. He also had 26 doubles, 27 triples, and 38 stolen bases. This earned Fukuoka the richest deal in baseball history to that point, signing an eight-year, $379,500,000 extension in the offseason with the Green Dragons. Niigata also saw Takehiro Nakajima win his first Pitcher of the Year. The 29-year old lefty in his eighth year led in wins (21-5), and quality starts (27). Nakajima had a 1.72 ERA over 246.1 innings, 253 strikeouts, 195 ERA+, and 8.9 WAR. He had been picked by the Green Dragons with the #7 pick in the 2020 EAB Draft. Saitama swept Kobe 2-0 and Nagoya edged Sapporo 2-1 in the wild card round. The Nightowls then upset Hiroshima 3-1, earning their first trip to the Japan League Championship Series since their incredible 117-45 title campaign in 2009. The Sting gave the reigning champ Niigata a fierce challenge, but the Green Dragons escaped with a 3-2 series win. Niigata was a heavy favorite to repeat, but pundits crowned them way too early. Not only were they upset in the JLCS by Nagoya, but the Nightowls pulled off a shocking sweep. Nagoya became nine-time Japan League champs (1931, 1934, 1937, 1940, 1948, 1964, 1979, 2009, 2028). The Korea League had a competitive field with only seven wins separating the five playoff teams. Busan narrowly got the #1 seed at 100-62, winning a fifth consecutive South Division title. The Blue Jays playoff streak grew to nine seasons, tying the EAB record set by Pyongyang from 1961-69. Busan allowed the fewest runs in the KL at 538. Ulsan was second in the division at 98-64, earning a third straight wild card. Goyang repeated as North Division champ and missed the top seed by one game at 99-63. Two-time defending league champ Incheon was second at 95-67, keeping their three-peat hope alive as a wild card. The final spot was 93-69 Changwon, bouncing back after having their six-year streak ended in 2027. The Crabs held off Pyongyang (89-73) and Seoul (87-75), the latter of which led in scoring with 783 runs. Korea League MVP went to third-year Hamhung 1B Toichi Kimura. The 23-year old Japanese lefty led in hits (201), homers (61), RBI (149), total bases (423), slugging (.681), wRC+ (189), and WAR (8.6). Kimura added 120 runs, .324 average, and 1.035 OPS. He fell 15 points shy of a Triple Crown season. The Heat gave Kimura an eight-year, $167,600,000 extension in the offseason. Ulsan’s Byung-Cheol Ban won Pitcher of the Year, leading in wins (23-6), innings (276), strikeouts (339), complete games (18), and shutouts (6). The 24-year old South Korean righty had a 2.41 ERA, 151 ERA+, and 7.9 WAR. Ban was second in ERA, but still a good distance from the Triple Crown with Goyang’s Oniji Hamamoto at 2.07. Incheon ousted Changwon 2-0 in the first round, but the defending champs promptly were swept by Busan in the divisional series. Goyang outlasted Ulsan 3-2 on the other side, giving the Green Sox their first Korea League Championship Series trip since 2019. It was the fourth time in the Blue Jays’ run that they had made it, winning pennants in 2023 and 2024. It was expected to be an intense and close series since one win separated the two division champs. Like the 2028 JLCS, the 2028 KLCS was also an unremarkable sweep with Goyang battering Busan. The Green Sox became five-time Korea League kings (1991, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2028). The 108^th East Asian Championship was more exciting than both LCS with Goyang defeating Nagoya 4-2. It was the second overall title for the Green Sox, whose other ring came in 2012. Finals MVP went to 2028 Rookie of the Year winner Sung-Hoon Ma. He had been drafted 12^th in 2025 by Gwangju, but was traded to Goyang before the 2027 campaign. In 15 playoff starts, Ma had 14 hits, 15 runs, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 6 homers, and 17 RBI. Other notes: 2028 saw three perfect games thrown, which had amazingly also happened back in 1935. Despite those occurrences, 2028’s perfectos were only the 40^th, 41^st, and 42^nd in EAB history. The first came from Yokohama’s Mauricio Nieto on May 15 with three strikeouts against Saitama. On August 2, Pyongyang’s Tokuei Wada did it with 11 Ks against Gwangju. Oniji Yamamoto also had 11 Ks for his perfect game over Hamhung on October 4. In other pitching milestones, Nobuyoshi Yamauchi became the 7^th to 4500 strikeouts and Akikazu Yoshida became the 20^th to 4000 Ks. Jun-Hwi Jung became only the 47^th to 3500 Ks. Il-Hwan Lee and Hiroshi Yama****a became the 15^th and 16^th to 250 career wins. SS Jae-Won Park and RF Chae-Yun Choi both won their ninth consecutive Gold Gloves. 3B Tae-I Sin won his 7^th Gold Glove. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)