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FuzzyRussianHat · 07-16-2025, 04:14 AM

Two starting pitchers were added into the Austronesia Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 2032, led by arguably the greatest of all time in Ching-Chen Yao at a near unanimous 99.7%. Purnadi Supriatna also made it on the first ballot, although his 69.7% barely crossed the 66% requirement. Closer Kyle Oliveira missed at 60.3% on his ninth try. No one else was above 50% with the next best debut down at 20.3%.

Dropped after ten failed ballots was closer Rizal Prastiche, who had a 20-year career spread out between 13 teams and five leagues. His longevity got him to 452 pro saves and 1087 games, ranking 30^th and 13^th, respectively. Prastiche didn’t have anywhere close to the overall dominance of the other world closers, but he was elite in his APB prime with Bandung.

In seven seasons, he won Reliever of the Year twice and helped the Blackhawks to the 2003 APB Championship. Prastiche bounced around between MLB, AAB, EBF, and A2L after that, then played his final two years back in APB. In APB, Prastiche had 302 saves and 361 shutdowns, 1.55 ERA, 749.1 innings, 1043 strikeouts, 167 ERA+, and 28.2 WAR. He got as high as 56.6% in his 2023 ballot debut before ending at only 19.7%. If Prastiche’s full run came in APB, he easily gets in on tenure alone, but there were enough other closers with more dominance and/or tenure in front of him.

SP Elliott Tran also fell off after ten ballots, peaking at 30.6% and ending at 5.0%. He was the 2007 Pitcher of the Year for Surabaya and led in strikeouts twice, helping them to the 2007 APB title. The advanced metrics were average on the whole with a 164-130 record, 2.56 ERA, 2718 innings, 3014 strikeouts, 409 walks, 101 ERA+, 93 FIP-, and 42.8 WAR. Especially with so many stud pitchers in the ultra-low scoring APB, Tran was nowhere near dominant enough to stand out.

Ching-Chen Yao – Starting Pitcher – Zamboanga Zebras – 99.7% First Ballot

Ching-Chen Yao was a 6’4’’, 200 pound left-handed pitcher from Tali, Taiwan; a district of Taichung with about 212,000 people. Yao’s raw stuff was absolutely bonkers and on the 1/10 scale was often rated as an 11 by scouts. On top of that, he had excellent control and movement. You could make a strong case that Yao’s 2012-21 run was the best decade any pitcher has ever posted in baseball history. Few pitchers were smarter with Yao posting an uncanny ability to know the perfect pitch in any situation.

Yao’s excellent fastball regularly hit the 99-101 mph range and was part of a five-pitch arsenal. His knuckle curve and changeup were both especially dangerous, but he also had a strong splitter and a respectable circle change. Yao’s ability to change speeds and keep each pitch from the same ¾ arm slot made him borderline impossible to solve when he was dealing.

If there was one downside, it was Yao’s stamina was merely average and his durability was spotty. In his 19-year career, he only had eight seasons with 200+ innings. Yao’s dominance meant he was still a top ten pitcher for shutouts even though he wasn’t in the top 50 for complete games and just made the too 50 for innings. His pickoff move was respectable, but Yao did grade as a poor defensive pitcher.

Yao left Taiwan as a teenager on an amateur deal with Zamboanga in September 2004. His entire career came in the Zebra stripes, becoming absolutely beloved in the Philippines for his run. Yao was also an absolute megastar back home and his highlight reels online made him a worldwide sensation. Few pitchers were more fun to watch as a neutral fan and even as an opposing fan, even knowing defeat was the most likely outcome.

In his early seasons though, it looked like Yao’s career might be very brief. He debuted in 2008 at age 20 with lackluster results over 121.2 innings. Yao didn’t look much better to start 2009, then suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in May 2009. He battled back and was ready to start the 2010 season, but then suffered a torn back muscle in spring training that cost him most of the season.

Yao looked excellent in his limited action late in 2010 and to start 2011, but shoulder inflammation popped in up late May that sidelined him for the rest of the year. At this point, it wasn’t unfair to think that you’d never get a full season out of the guy. Yao did miss a few weeks to a sore shoulder in 2012, but that year saw 205 outstanding innings to win his first Pitcher of the Year award.

He won his first ERA title (1.19) and led in strikeouts (385), WHIP (0.57), K/BB (19.2), and WAR (14.5). Even in the ultra-low scoring environment of APB, this was an exceptional season. The WAR mark ranked as the 10^th-best to that point by an APB pitcher and it was the second-best WHIP. Yao had a 21 strikeout game in May against Taichung, then fanned 22 facing Hsinchu in 11.1 innings in September. Zamboanga quickly realized they had something special and that summer inked Yao to a seven-year, $59,880,000 extension.

The Zebras had won three Taiwan-Philippine Association pennants from 2001-04, but had fallen largely into mediocrity since with Cebu posting a Philippine League dynasty through 2011. The 2012 effort put Zamboanga back above .500 at 92-70, although 106-win Cebu got the playoff spot. But with Yao leading the rotation, the Zebras were set to dominate the PL and the TPA for the remainder of the decade.

Yao repeated as Pitcher of the Year in 2013 and had a perfect game with 10 strikeouts against Davao on April 15. Zamboanga won the Philippine League at 91-72, winning a tiebreaker game over Cebu to advance. The Zebras then shocked a 119-win Taipei to win the Association Championship. Then, Zamboanga won their first-ever Austronesia Championship by defeating Bandung.

It was a rare finals MVP win by a pitcher by Yao, posting an 0.68 ERA over 26.1 innings with a 3-0 record, one save, 42 strikeouts, 3 walks, and 1.9 WAR. Yao then won Best Pitcher in his world introduction in the Baseball Grand Championship with a 1.29 ERA over 35 innings, 60 strikeouts, and 2.8 WAR. Zamboanga finished second at 13-6, only behind 15-4 Denver. Yao’s WAR was a tournament record to that point and would only be passed twice in later years.

Yao’s dominance was absolute in the regular season, postseason, or tournament play. He pitched from 2013-18 and in 2025 for Taiwan in the World Baseball Championship with a 2.38 ERA over 113.1 innings, 8-6 record, 206 strikeouts, 31 walks, and 5.8 WAR. Most notable was Yao’s performance in Taiwan’s 2017 runner-up finish with a 1.23 ERA over 36.2 innings with a blistering 76 strikeouts and 2.6 WAR.

2014 was possibly on pace for his best-ever season, including another 22 K game, but he lost two months to a strained hamstring in the summer for a third place in Pitcher of the Year voting. 162 innings were required to qualify for rate stats and Yao had 172, setting the APB single-season record for ERA (0.73), WHIP (0.54), H/9 (3.66), K/9 (16.9), opponent’s triple slash (.121/.156/.166) and opponent’s OPS (.322).

The WHIP, K/9 OBP, slugging, and OPS were all world records for qualifying seasons to that point with only Toshikuni Naikai’s absurd 2020 East Asian Baseball season passing Yao for all but the OPS mark. Yao’s 2014 also is the second-best H/9 in world history and the ERA is third behind only Naikai’s 2020 (0.64) and Zhiyuan Lai’s 0.71 in the 1975 Chinese League season. Despite these stats, the lower inning count meant this would be the one season preventing Yao from ten consecutive Pitcher of the Year wins.

Zamboanga repeated as TPA champs with another win over Taipei, which would become a trend for the decade. They lost the APB Championship to Pekanbaru, although Yao was strong for a 1.69 ERA over 26.2 innings. In 2015, Yao finally stayed truly healthy for a career-best 259.1 innings, leading to an insane 17.24 WAR season. He won his third ERA title (1.08) and had a career best in strikeouts at 450. That ranks as the 7^th-best K total in APB history and is the only one in the top ten from the 21^st Century.

The WAR mark barely missed the APB single-season record of 17.3 by Kun-Sheng Lin in 1972 and 17.27 by Afiq Parker in 1999. As of 2037, Yao’s mark is 11^th-best single-season by any player ever in any league. He was Pitcher of the Year again and second in MVP voting with a career-best record of 21-3. Yao was two wins short of the Triple Crown, an honor he shockingly never achieved despite his successes.

Zamboanga had their best record yet at 105-57 and again got the road win over Taipei (this time at 110-52) for a third straight TPA Championship. In a finals rematch of two years prior, Bandung got revenge over the Zebras. Statistically, this was Yao’s best postseason with only one run allowed over 27.1 innings with 45 Ks and 1.8 WAR.

From 2012-20, Yao was worth 10+ WAR each year and 300+ strikeouts in all but one season. He led in WHIP each season and led in both WAR and Ks in all but 2014. Yao won Pitcher of the Year seven consecutive seasons from 2015-21, becoming only the fourth in world history to that point to win the award nine times. He won ERA titles from 2016-18 and was sub-one again at 0.80 in 2016. That ranks as the 5^th-best ERA in world history and third-best in APB as of 2037. Yao also had another 400+ K season with a blazing 42 in 2017. Yao finished up with two 22 strikeout games, four 21 K games, and one 20 K for his career.

Zamboanga’s streak was broken with an 88-74 finish in 2016, but they were back on top of the TPA in 2017-18. The Zebras lost the 2017 APB Championship to Johor Bahru, but got revenge on the Blue Wings in 2018. In the 2018 Baseball Grand Championship, Zamboanga finished 11-8 in a four-way tie for third, officially in third after the tiebreakers. Yao had a 2.53 ERA over 32 innings with 49 strikeouts. That winter, he signed a new eight-year, $105,400,000 extension to stick with the Zebras.

In 2019, Zamboanga won the PL again, but Taipei finally was able to defeat them in for the Taiwan-Philippine Association crown after going 0-5 in the decade. The Zebras kept a streak of winning seasons intact through to 2025, but this marked the end of the true dynasty run. They missed the playoffs from 2020-22, albeit by only one win in 2021 and two in 2022.

Yao notably tossed his second no-hitter on September 4, 2021 with 10 Ks and two walks versus Tainan. He then had two in 2022, getting 16 Ks and no walks on May 16 facing Kaohsiung and with 13 Ks and one walk on July 20 facing Manila. Yao is one of six APB aces with 4+ career no-nos. 2022 saw the end of his Pitcher of the Year streak, in part due to a lost month to a strained hamstring, although he still finished third in voting. However, he finished the year at 144.7 career WAR, passing Hadi Ningsih to become APB’s all-time WARlord.

In 2023, Yao won his eighth ERA title and led in WAR for the tenth time, although he fell short of 300 Ks. It was still enough for a historic tenth Pitcher of the Year. As of 2037, the only pitchers in world history with 10+ are CABA’s Richard Wright and EPB’s Matvey Ivanov with 11, plus CABA’s Israel Montague and CABA/MLB star Junior Vergara at 10. This season saw Yao cross the 200 career win and 4500 career strikeout thresholds.

Zamboanga returned to the Association Championship at 101-61 and won their sixth pennant of Yao’s run, this time over Hsinchu. They fell to Medan in the APB Championship with Yao missing the end of the postseason to a strained abdominal. This was his final playoff run, finishing with an outstanding 13-4 record and 3 saves in 151.2 innings, 1.42 ERA, 235 strikeouts, 12 walks, 6 complete games, 2 shutouts, 192 ERA+, 27 FIP-, and 8.0 WAR.

Yao retired as the APB playoff leader for WAR and strikeouts, although pitcher Hakimi Aziz eventually caught him for both. Yao remains the wins leader, remarkably putting up slightly better rate stats in the postseason than his insane regular season metrics. Whether the game was big or small, Yao knew how to deliver.

Now 36-years old, Yao had seen mostly smaller injuries in the prior decade that cost him a month or two. In 2024, he had his first big one in some time with bone chips in his elbow, knocking him out from August onward. Zamboanga had their best record of his tenure at 110-52, but lost the association final to Kaohsiung. A sore shoulder limited Yao in 2025, but he threw just enough innings to win his ninth and final ERA title.

His triple-digit velocity had dipped towards the mid 90s in 2024-25, leading to much lower strikeout tallies despite maintaining good ERAs. In 2026, Yao now rarely reached 90 mph and other injuries piled on, leading to only 45 innings all season and 0.5 WAR. He retired that winter at age 39, falling just short of the 5000 strikeout threshold. Zamboanga immediately retired the #11 uniform of their beloved ace.

Yao finished with a 223-91 record, 1.46 ERA, 3245.1 innings, 4960 strikeouts, 418 walks, 327/389 quality starts, 130 complete games, 63 shutouts, 188 ERA+, 31 FIP-, and 163.5 WAR. Yao remained APB’s WARlord until passed by 10+ MVP slugger Binh Tang in the 2030s. He’s still got the top spot among pitchers, despite missing the top spots in some of the counting stats due to fewer innings.

As of 2037, Yao is 17^th in wins, 47^th in innings, 55^th in complete games, 6^th in shutouts, and 8^th in strikeouts. Among APB pitchers with 1000+ innings, Yao is the career leader in WHIP (0.66), opponent’s OBP (.186), and opponent’s OPS (.429). Yao is 4^th in ERA, 3^rd in opponent’s slugging (.242), 2^nd in batting average (.154) and 2^nd in H/9 (4.76) with generally only closers above him. Yao also ranks 8^th in K/9 at 13.76 and 28^th in BB/9 at 1.16.

Even if a few guys have more wins and/or strikeouts, Yao’s 10 Pitcher of the Year wins, playoff accolades, and overall dominance typically places him in the #1 spot for Austronesia Professional Baseball’s all-time pitcher rankings. Some cite Kun-Sheng Lin who had arguably more dominance pitching in his brief seven-year run. However, Lin loses points for leaving for MLB in his late 20s and being retired shortly after to injuries.

The other top guys in WAR, strikeouts, and/or wins have Yao beat in longevity, but he’s got them beat in efficiency. Prior to Binh Tang rewriting the offensive record books, several folks cited Yao as APB’s best-ever player full-stop. There hadn’t been an obvious undisputed GOAT choice to that point, but Tang’s offensive stats relative to his peers are even more obscene than Yao’s. Certainly Yao still fits into the #2 slot for many observers.

Because APB is the world’s lowest-scoring league by a good margin, the legendary aces there dominate unadjusted world leaderboards often in pitching. As of 2037, Yao has the lowest ERA of any Hall of Fame starter in the world and ranks 13^th if including closers. He also has the best career OPS among HOF starters and ranks 7^th when including relievers. Even with the limited innings, Yao also clocks in 50^th on the world strikeout list with all but one guy on that list having at least 300 more innings than Yao. He’s also one of only ten world Hall of Famers with 200+ wins and under 100 losses.

Stats like WAR, ERA+, and FIP- try to rate pitchers while adjusting and normalizing across eras, leagues, and ballparks. Yao’s 163.5 WAR is 4^th best all-time among pure pitchers and 21^st amongst all players ever. The three pitchers in front of him, Mohamed Ramos (205.1), Ulices Montero (191.7), and Akira Brady (180.4) each notably tossed 5000+ career innings, while Yao had only 3245.1. Yao is the only top 10 WAR pitcher to not reach at least 4000 innings.

Among Hall of Fame starters, Yao is the career FIP- leader at 31. Toshikuni Naikai, who had a similar career with big dominance in relatively few innings, is the next closest at 36. Yao’s 188 ERA+ is tied for 2^nd with Naikai with only EPB’s Bogdan Chirita better at 189. Chirita notably though only had an eight year official career. Even after adjusting for APB’s extremely low-scoring environment, Yao’s efficiency metrics are top of the line among starters all-time.

With those efficiency numbers, 10 POTYs, 9 ERA titles, 10 times leading in strikeouts, 10 times the WARlord, six pennants, two APB titles, a Best Pitcher in the BGC, and stellar playoff numbers overall; it is fair to ask if Ching-Chen Yao is the greatest pitcher of all time. There’s certainly a compelling case to be made, although the biggest things working against Yao are fewer innings and the low-offense stats of APB. Guys who dominated higher-scoring leagues and perceived “stronger” leagues usually get a boost in such discussions.

The added longevity and being in a perceived stronger league often puts guys like Ramos or Montero as the top two. Some might also rank two-way stars Chuchuan Cao and Igor Bury better; they and Brady are the only pitchers ahead of Yao in WAR. Rarely would you find a top ten list without Yao on it and he makes many of the top five pitcher lists.

You’ll also see Yao listed as a top ten Asian-born player at any position and he is widely considered the best-ever player out of Taiwan. Regardless of how you weight certain stats, perhaps the most impressive thing about Yao was how his postseason dominance matched his regular season stats. He’s a true baseball immortal with very few peers in the game’s nearly 140 year professional history. Yao’s 99.7% was frankly too low (there’s always that one jerk voter), but he rightfully headlined APB’s 2032 Hall of Fame class.

Purnadi Supriatna – Starting Pitcher – Medan Marlins – 69.7% First Ballot

Purandi Supriatna was a 6’2’’, 200 pound left-handed pitcher from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city with nearly 10 million in the metro. Supriatna was known for having excellent stuff along with solid control and above average movement. He had a good fastball that peaked in the 97-99 mph range and mixed in a curveball, changeup, and circle change. Supriatna’s ability to change speeds effectively made him especially dangerous when he was dealing.

Supriatna had strong stamina in his 20s, but was more average in his later years. He also mostly avoided major injuries in his prime. Supriatna’s pickoff move was outstanding and he was one of the best at holding runners. He also graded as a solid defensive pitcher and had a better bat than the average pitcher, winning a Silver Slugger in 2026. Supriatna’s career .187 average wasn’t amazing by any stretch, but he wasn’t the guaranteed out that most aces were when forced to hit.

After dominating the college ranks, most scouts rated Supriatna as both the best Indonesian prospect in the 2016 APB Draft and as the best overall option. Medan agreed with that assessment, picking Supriatna with the #1 overall choice. He was a full-time starter right away and had seven straight seasons with 200+ innings for the Marlins. He had a respectable rookie campaign, then was firmly a solid starter in the next two seasons.

Supriatna’s fourth season was his first of three straight leading the Sundaland Association in WAR at 9.0. He won the ERA title with a career best 1.32 and led in wins (20-4), WHIP (0.72), and FIP- (41); earning Pitcher of the Year. Medan ended a six-year playoff drought in the Malacca League, but lost to reigning APB champ Palembang in the association finals. Supriatna held up his end, allowing one run over 17 playoff innings with 26 Ks.

He was even better arguably with league bests in WAR (11.8), quality starts (30), strikeouts (395), and innings (272.2), along with a 1.39 ERA. However, Supriatna was second in Pitcher of the Year voting, overlooked perhaps due to Medan’s mediocre 75-87 season. The Marlins bounced back with repeat playoff trips and Supriatna had repeat POTY wins.

2022 had his career bests for strikeouts (401), and WAR (12.2) with a 1.71 ERA over 273.1 innings. Among those Ks was a 22-strikeout game against Depok on September 2, one short of the APB single-game record. Supriatna’s WAR was down to only 6.7 in 2023 with 208.1 innings, but he won his second ERA title (1.34) and was even third in MVP voting with a 20-6 record and 13 saves in a more mixed starter/relief role.

Both years, Medan won the Sundaland Association pennant, beating Bandung in 2022 and Jakarta in 2023. They lost the 2022 Austronesia Championship to Quezon, but won it all in 2023 over Zamboanga. Supriatna was surprisingly underwhelming in those playoff runs with a 2.92 ERA in 2022 and 4.10 in 2023, although FIP suggested perhaps some bad luck. For his playoff career, Supriatna had a 7-2 record with a 2.78 ERA and 92 ERA+, but an 68 FIP- over 68 innings with 86 strikeouts, 14 walks, and 1.9 WAR.

Medan also earned a spot in the 2023 Baseball Grand Championship and finished 8-11. Supriatna had a solid showing with a 2.48 ERA in 29 innings, 153 ERA+, 1.4 WAR, and 39 strikeouts. He also represented Indonesia from 2019-28 in the World Baseball Championship with an 11-4 record, 2.96 ERA, 134 innings, 204 strikeouts, 41 walks, and 2.8 WAR. The Indonesians had division titles from 2022-24 with Supriatna.

Supriatna did continue to return home for the WBC, although his time competing in the pros in Indonesia ended with Medan’s 2023 title. He was granted free agency and started a worldwide search, eventually getting a massive seven-year, $199,000,000 deal with Virginia Beach of Major League Baseball. The short tenure meant Supriatna didn’t get his #26 retired with Medan despite his role in repeat pennants.

For the Marlins, Supriatna had a 110-65 record, 1.69 ERA, 1643 innings, 2131 strikeouts, 243 walks, 164/193 quality starts, 68 complete games, 30 shutouts, 151 ERA+, 57 FIP-, and 54.3 WAR. He didn’t stay long enough to make the leaderboards for counting stats generally, but he is 96^th in WAR among APB pitchers as of 2037 and 74^th in shutouts.

As for rate stats, Supriatna’s ERA ranks 12^th among pitchers with 1000+ innings. His .498 opponent’s OPS is 14^th with a .183/.219/.279 triple slash ranking 20^th/14^th/16^th. Supriatna’s 0.79 WHIP is 12^th, 5.74 H/9 ranks 22^nd, and his 11.67 K/9 in 41^st. His candidacy came down to the arguments of favoring peak versus longevity. Those who favored longevity more strongly felt Supriatna didn’t stay long enough to belong in the Hall of Fame.

The majority though felt that three Pitcher of the Year wins, two ERA titles, two pennants, and an APB Championship ring got Supriatna across the line even with only a seven-year run. Some voters also gave him partial credit for his later MLB tallies, arguing that he easily would’ve gotten the required accumulations had he stayed. At 69.7%, Supriatna only barely crossed the 66% line for induction, but he found a spot into Austronesia Professional Baseball’s Hall of Fame on the first ballot for 2032.

Virginia Beach was coming off repeat playoff trips when they signed Supriatna, although they didn’t get beyond the second round. They stayed stuck in the middle tier during his tenure with solid production in his first three years. Supriatna’s best effort in MLB was 2026 with a 2.83 ERA over 213 innings, 144 ERA+, and 5.8 WAR. He struggled though in 2027 and dealt with a partially torn labrum and a flexor-pronator strain.

Supriatna mostly ate innings in his remaining three seasons as his velocity started to dip to age. For Virginia Beach, Supriatna had a 72-74 record, 4.08 ERA, 1395.1 innings, 1218 strikeouts, 345 walks 98 ERA+, 101 FIP-, and 18.3 WAR. He graded as a reliably average arm on the whole over seven MLB seasons. Supriatna wanted to play in 2031, but no one was interested as he now had trouble hitting 90 MPH on his fastball. He retired in winter 2031 at age 36.

Supriatna’s combined pro numbers saw a 182-139 record, 2.79 ERA, 3038.1 innings, 3349 strikeouts, 588 walks, 110 complete games, 38 shutouts, 121 ERA+, 77 FIP-, and 72.6 WAR. He wasn’t an inner-circle type Hall of Famer, but Supriatna was legit elite in his Medan peak and earned recognition in his role in two pennants for them.

07-16-2025, 04:14 AM	#2327
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,803	2032 APB Hall of Fame Two starting pitchers were added into the Austronesia Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 2032, led by arguably the greatest of all time in Ching-Chen Yao at a near unanimous 99.7%. Purnadi Supriatna also made it on the first ballot, although his 69.7% barely crossed the 66% requirement. Closer Kyle Oliveira missed at 60.3% on his ninth try. No one else was above 50% with the next best debut down at 20.3%. Dropped after ten failed ballots was closer Rizal Prastiche, who had a 20-year career spread out between 13 teams and five leagues. His longevity got him to 452 pro saves and 1087 games, ranking 30^th and 13^th, respectively. Prastiche didn’t have anywhere close to the overall dominance of the other world closers, but he was elite in his APB prime with Bandung. In seven seasons, he won Reliever of the Year twice and helped the Blackhawks to the 2003 APB Championship. Prastiche bounced around between MLB, AAB, EBF, and A2L after that, then played his final two years back in APB. In APB, Prastiche had 302 saves and 361 shutdowns, 1.55 ERA, 749.1 innings, 1043 strikeouts, 167 ERA+, and 28.2 WAR. He got as high as 56.6% in his 2023 ballot debut before ending at only 19.7%. If Prastiche’s full run came in APB, he easily gets in on tenure alone, but there were enough other closers with more dominance and/or tenure in front of him. SP Elliott Tran also fell off after ten ballots, peaking at 30.6% and ending at 5.0%. He was the 2007 Pitcher of the Year for Surabaya and led in strikeouts twice, helping them to the 2007 APB title. The advanced metrics were average on the whole with a 164-130 record, 2.56 ERA, 2718 innings, 3014 strikeouts, 409 walks, 101 ERA+, 93 FIP-, and 42.8 WAR. Especially with so many stud pitchers in the ultra-low scoring APB, Tran was nowhere near dominant enough to stand out. Ching-Chen Yao – Starting Pitcher – Zamboanga Zebras – 99.7% First Ballot Ching-Chen Yao was a 6’4’’, 200 pound left-handed pitcher from Tali, Taiwan; a district of Taichung with about 212,000 people. Yao’s raw stuff was absolutely bonkers and on the 1/10 scale was often rated as an 11 by scouts. On top of that, he had excellent control and movement. You could make a strong case that Yao’s 2012-21 run was the best decade any pitcher has ever posted in baseball history. Few pitchers were smarter with Yao posting an uncanny ability to know the perfect pitch in any situation. Yao’s excellent fastball regularly hit the 99-101 mph range and was part of a five-pitch arsenal. His knuckle curve and changeup were both especially dangerous, but he also had a strong splitter and a respectable circle change. Yao’s ability to change speeds and keep each pitch from the same ¾ arm slot made him borderline impossible to solve when he was dealing. If there was one downside, it was Yao’s stamina was merely average and his durability was spotty. In his 19-year career, he only had eight seasons with 200+ innings. Yao’s dominance meant he was still a top ten pitcher for shutouts even though he wasn’t in the top 50 for complete games and just made the too 50 for innings. His pickoff move was respectable, but Yao did grade as a poor defensive pitcher. Yao left Taiwan as a teenager on an amateur deal with Zamboanga in September 2004. His entire career came in the Zebra stripes, becoming absolutely beloved in the Philippines for his run. Yao was also an absolute megastar back home and his highlight reels online made him a worldwide sensation. Few pitchers were more fun to watch as a neutral fan and even as an opposing fan, even knowing defeat was the most likely outcome. In his early seasons though, it looked like Yao’s career might be very brief. He debuted in 2008 at age 20 with lackluster results over 121.2 innings. Yao didn’t look much better to start 2009, then suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in May 2009. He battled back and was ready to start the 2010 season, but then suffered a torn back muscle in spring training that cost him most of the season. Yao looked excellent in his limited action late in 2010 and to start 2011, but shoulder inflammation popped in up late May that sidelined him for the rest of the year. At this point, it wasn’t unfair to think that you’d never get a full season out of the guy. Yao did miss a few weeks to a sore shoulder in 2012, but that year saw 205 outstanding innings to win his first Pitcher of the Year award. He won his first ERA title (1.19) and led in strikeouts (385), WHIP (0.57), K/BB (19.2), and WAR (14.5). Even in the ultra-low scoring environment of APB, this was an exceptional season. The WAR mark ranked as the 10^th-best to that point by an APB pitcher and it was the second-best WHIP. Yao had a 21 strikeout game in May against Taichung, then fanned 22 facing Hsinchu in 11.1 innings in September. Zamboanga quickly realized they had something special and that summer inked Yao to a seven-year, $59,880,000 extension. The Zebras had won three Taiwan-Philippine Association pennants from 2001-04, but had fallen largely into mediocrity since with Cebu posting a Philippine League dynasty through 2011. The 2012 effort put Zamboanga back above .500 at 92-70, although 106-win Cebu got the playoff spot. But with Yao leading the rotation, the Zebras were set to dominate the PL and the TPA for the remainder of the decade. Yao repeated as Pitcher of the Year in 2013 and had a perfect game with 10 strikeouts against Davao on April 15. Zamboanga won the Philippine League at 91-72, winning a tiebreaker game over Cebu to advance. The Zebras then shocked a 119-win Taipei to win the Association Championship. Then, Zamboanga won their first-ever Austronesia Championship by defeating Bandung. It was a rare finals MVP win by a pitcher by Yao, posting an 0.68 ERA over 26.1 innings with a 3-0 record, one save, 42 strikeouts, 3 walks, and 1.9 WAR. Yao then won Best Pitcher in his world introduction in the Baseball Grand Championship with a 1.29 ERA over 35 innings, 60 strikeouts, and 2.8 WAR. Zamboanga finished second at 13-6, only behind 15-4 Denver. Yao’s WAR was a tournament record to that point and would only be passed twice in later years. Yao’s dominance was absolute in the regular season, postseason, or tournament play. He pitched from 2013-18 and in 2025 for Taiwan in the World Baseball Championship with a 2.38 ERA over 113.1 innings, 8-6 record, 206 strikeouts, 31 walks, and 5.8 WAR. Most notable was Yao’s performance in Taiwan’s 2017 runner-up finish with a 1.23 ERA over 36.2 innings with a blistering 76 strikeouts and 2.6 WAR. 2014 was possibly on pace for his best-ever season, including another 22 K game, but he lost two months to a strained hamstring in the summer for a third place in Pitcher of the Year voting. 162 innings were required to qualify for rate stats and Yao had 172, setting the APB single-season record for ERA (0.73), WHIP (0.54), H/9 (3.66), K/9 (16.9), opponent’s triple slash (.121/.156/.166) and opponent’s OPS (.322). The WHIP, K/9 OBP, slugging, and OPS were all world records for qualifying seasons to that point with only Toshikuni Naikai’s absurd 2020 East Asian Baseball season passing Yao for all but the OPS mark. Yao’s 2014 also is the second-best H/9 in world history and the ERA is third behind only Naikai’s 2020 (0.64) and Zhiyuan Lai’s 0.71 in the 1975 Chinese League season. Despite these stats, the lower inning count meant this would be the one season preventing Yao from ten consecutive Pitcher of the Year wins. Zamboanga repeated as TPA champs with another win over Taipei, which would become a trend for the decade. They lost the APB Championship to Pekanbaru, although Yao was strong for a 1.69 ERA over 26.2 innings. In 2015, Yao finally stayed truly healthy for a career-best 259.1 innings, leading to an insane 17.24 WAR season. He won his third ERA title (1.08) and had a career best in strikeouts at 450. That ranks as the 7^th-best K total in APB history and is the only one in the top ten from the 21^st Century. The WAR mark barely missed the APB single-season record of 17.3 by Kun-Sheng Lin in 1972 and 17.27 by Afiq Parker in 1999. As of 2037, Yao’s mark is 11^th-best single-season by any player ever in any league. He was Pitcher of the Year again and second in MVP voting with a career-best record of 21-3. Yao was two wins short of the Triple Crown, an honor he shockingly never achieved despite his successes. Zamboanga had their best record yet at 105-57 and again got the road win over Taipei (this time at 110-52) for a third straight TPA Championship. In a finals rematch of two years prior, Bandung got revenge over the Zebras. Statistically, this was Yao’s best postseason with only one run allowed over 27.1 innings with 45 Ks and 1.8 WAR. From 2012-20, Yao was worth 10+ WAR each year and 300+ strikeouts in all but one season. He led in WHIP each season and led in both WAR and Ks in all but 2014. Yao won Pitcher of the Year seven consecutive seasons from 2015-21, becoming only the fourth in world history to that point to win the award nine times. He won ERA titles from 2016-18 and was sub-one again at 0.80 in 2016. That ranks as the 5^th-best ERA in world history and third-best in APB as of 2037. Yao also had another 400+ K season with a blazing 42 in 2017. Yao finished up with two 22 strikeout games, four 21 K games, and one 20 K for his career. Zamboanga’s streak was broken with an 88-74 finish in 2016, but they were back on top of the TPA in 2017-18. The Zebras lost the 2017 APB Championship to Johor Bahru, but got revenge on the Blue Wings in 2018. In the 2018 Baseball Grand Championship, Zamboanga finished 11-8 in a four-way tie for third, officially in third after the tiebreakers. Yao had a 2.53 ERA over 32 innings with 49 strikeouts. That winter, he signed a new eight-year, $105,400,000 extension to stick with the Zebras. In 2019, Zamboanga won the PL again, but Taipei finally was able to defeat them in for the Taiwan-Philippine Association crown after going 0-5 in the decade. The Zebras kept a streak of winning seasons intact through to 2025, but this marked the end of the true dynasty run. They missed the playoffs from 2020-22, albeit by only one win in 2021 and two in 2022. Yao notably tossed his second no-hitter on September 4, 2021 with 10 Ks and two walks versus Tainan. He then had two in 2022, getting 16 Ks and no walks on May 16 facing Kaohsiung and with 13 Ks and one walk on July 20 facing Manila. Yao is one of six APB aces with 4+ career no-nos. 2022 saw the end of his Pitcher of the Year streak, in part due to a lost month to a strained hamstring, although he still finished third in voting. However, he finished the year at 144.7 career WAR, passing Hadi Ningsih to become APB’s all-time WARlord. In 2023, Yao won his eighth ERA title and led in WAR for the tenth time, although he fell short of 300 Ks. It was still enough for a historic tenth Pitcher of the Year. As of 2037, the only pitchers in world history with 10+ are CABA’s Richard Wright and EPB’s Matvey Ivanov with 11, plus CABA’s Israel Montague and CABA/MLB star Junior Vergara at 10. This season saw Yao cross the 200 career win and 4500 career strikeout thresholds. Zamboanga returned to the Association Championship at 101-61 and won their sixth pennant of Yao’s run, this time over Hsinchu. They fell to Medan in the APB Championship with Yao missing the end of the postseason to a strained abdominal. This was his final playoff run, finishing with an outstanding 13-4 record and 3 saves in 151.2 innings, 1.42 ERA, 235 strikeouts, 12 walks, 6 complete games, 2 shutouts, 192 ERA+, 27 FIP-, and 8.0 WAR. Yao retired as the APB playoff leader for WAR and strikeouts, although pitcher Hakimi Aziz eventually caught him for both. Yao remains the wins leader, remarkably putting up slightly better rate stats in the postseason than his insane regular season metrics. Whether the game was big or small, Yao knew how to deliver. Now 36-years old, Yao had seen mostly smaller injuries in the prior decade that cost him a month or two. In 2024, he had his first big one in some time with bone chips in his elbow, knocking him out from August onward. Zamboanga had their best record of his tenure at 110-52, but lost the association final to Kaohsiung. A sore shoulder limited Yao in 2025, but he threw just enough innings to win his ninth and final ERA title. His triple-digit velocity had dipped towards the mid 90s in 2024-25, leading to much lower strikeout tallies despite maintaining good ERAs. In 2026, Yao now rarely reached 90 mph and other injuries piled on, leading to only 45 innings all season and 0.5 WAR. He retired that winter at age 39, falling just short of the 5000 strikeout threshold. Zamboanga immediately retired the #11 uniform of their beloved ace. Yao finished with a 223-91 record, 1.46 ERA, 3245.1 innings, 4960 strikeouts, 418 walks, 327/389 quality starts, 130 complete games, 63 shutouts, 188 ERA+, 31 FIP-, and 163.5 WAR. Yao remained APB’s WARlord until passed by 10+ MVP slugger Binh Tang in the 2030s. He’s still got the top spot among pitchers, despite missing the top spots in some of the counting stats due to fewer innings. As of 2037, Yao is 17^th in wins, 47^th in innings, 55^th in complete games, 6^th in shutouts, and 8^th in strikeouts. Among APB pitchers with 1000+ innings, Yao is the career leader in WHIP (0.66), opponent’s OBP (.186), and opponent’s OPS (.429). Yao is 4^th in ERA, 3^rd in opponent’s slugging (.242), 2^nd in batting average (.154) and 2^nd in H/9 (4.76) with generally only closers above him. Yao also ranks 8^th in K/9 at 13.76 and 28^th in BB/9 at 1.16. Even if a few guys have more wins and/or strikeouts, Yao’s 10 Pitcher of the Year wins, playoff accolades, and overall dominance typically places him in the #1 spot for Austronesia Professional Baseball’s all-time pitcher rankings. Some cite Kun-Sheng Lin who had arguably more dominance pitching in his brief seven-year run. However, Lin loses points for leaving for MLB in his late 20s and being retired shortly after to injuries. The other top guys in WAR, strikeouts, and/or wins have Yao beat in longevity, but he’s got them beat in efficiency. Prior to Binh Tang rewriting the offensive record books, several folks cited Yao as APB’s best-ever player full-stop. There hadn’t been an obvious undisputed GOAT choice to that point, but Tang’s offensive stats relative to his peers are even more obscene than Yao’s. Certainly Yao still fits into the #2 slot for many observers. Because APB is the world’s lowest-scoring league by a good margin, the legendary aces there dominate unadjusted world leaderboards often in pitching. As of 2037, Yao has the lowest ERA of any Hall of Fame starter in the world and ranks 13^th if including closers. He also has the best career OPS among HOF starters and ranks 7^th when including relievers. Even with the limited innings, Yao also clocks in 50^th on the world strikeout list with all but one guy on that list having at least 300 more innings than Yao. He’s also one of only ten world Hall of Famers with 200+ wins and under 100 losses. Stats like WAR, ERA+, and FIP- try to rate pitchers while adjusting and normalizing across eras, leagues, and ballparks. Yao’s 163.5 WAR is 4^th best all-time among pure pitchers and 21^st amongst all players ever. The three pitchers in front of him, Mohamed Ramos (205.1), Ulices Montero (191.7), and Akira Brady (180.4) each notably tossed 5000+ career innings, while Yao had only 3245.1. Yao is the only top 10 WAR pitcher to not reach at least 4000 innings. Among Hall of Fame starters, Yao is the career FIP- leader at 31. Toshikuni Naikai, who had a similar career with big dominance in relatively few innings, is the next closest at 36. Yao’s 188 ERA+ is tied for 2^nd with Naikai with only EPB’s Bogdan Chirita better at 189. Chirita notably though only had an eight year official career. Even after adjusting for APB’s extremely low-scoring environment, Yao’s efficiency metrics are top of the line among starters all-time. With those efficiency numbers, 10 POTYs, 9 ERA titles, 10 times leading in strikeouts, 10 times the WARlord, six pennants, two APB titles, a Best Pitcher in the BGC, and stellar playoff numbers overall; it is fair to ask if Ching-Chen Yao is the greatest pitcher of all time. There’s certainly a compelling case to be made, although the biggest things working against Yao are fewer innings and the low-offense stats of APB. Guys who dominated higher-scoring leagues and perceived “stronger” leagues usually get a boost in such discussions. The added longevity and being in a perceived stronger league often puts guys like Ramos or Montero as the top two. Some might also rank two-way stars Chuchuan Cao and Igor Bury better; they and Brady are the only pitchers ahead of Yao in WAR. Rarely would you find a top ten list without Yao on it and he makes many of the top five pitcher lists. You’ll also see Yao listed as a top ten Asian-born player at any position and he is widely considered the best-ever player out of Taiwan. Regardless of how you weight certain stats, perhaps the most impressive thing about Yao was how his postseason dominance matched his regular season stats. He’s a true baseball immortal with very few peers in the game’s nearly 140 year professional history. Yao’s 99.7% was frankly too low (there’s always that one jerk voter), but he rightfully headlined APB’s 2032 Hall of Fame class. Purnadi Supriatna – Starting Pitcher – Medan Marlins – 69.7% First Ballot Purandi Supriatna was a 6’2’’, 200 pound left-handed pitcher from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city with nearly 10 million in the metro. Supriatna was known for having excellent stuff along with solid control and above average movement. He had a good fastball that peaked in the 97-99 mph range and mixed in a curveball, changeup, and circle change. Supriatna’s ability to change speeds effectively made him especially dangerous when he was dealing. Supriatna had strong stamina in his 20s, but was more average in his later years. He also mostly avoided major injuries in his prime. Supriatna’s pickoff move was outstanding and he was one of the best at holding runners. He also graded as a solid defensive pitcher and had a better bat than the average pitcher, winning a Silver Slugger in 2026. Supriatna’s career .187 average wasn’t amazing by any stretch, but he wasn’t the guaranteed out that most aces were when forced to hit. After dominating the college ranks, most scouts rated Supriatna as both the best Indonesian prospect in the 2016 APB Draft and as the best overall option. Medan agreed with that assessment, picking Supriatna with the #1 overall choice. He was a full-time starter right away and had seven straight seasons with 200+ innings for the Marlins. He had a respectable rookie campaign, then was firmly a solid starter in the next two seasons. Supriatna’s fourth season was his first of three straight leading the Sundaland Association in WAR at 9.0. He won the ERA title with a career best 1.32 and led in wins (20-4), WHIP (0.72), and FIP- (41); earning Pitcher of the Year. Medan ended a six-year playoff drought in the Malacca League, but lost to reigning APB champ Palembang in the association finals. Supriatna held up his end, allowing one run over 17 playoff innings with 26 Ks. He was even better arguably with league bests in WAR (11.8), quality starts (30), strikeouts (395), and innings (272.2), along with a 1.39 ERA. However, Supriatna was second in Pitcher of the Year voting, overlooked perhaps due to Medan’s mediocre 75-87 season. The Marlins bounced back with repeat playoff trips and Supriatna had repeat POTY wins. 2022 had his career bests for strikeouts (401), and WAR (12.2) with a 1.71 ERA over 273.1 innings. Among those Ks was a 22-strikeout game against Depok on September 2, one short of the APB single-game record. Supriatna’s WAR was down to only 6.7 in 2023 with 208.1 innings, but he won his second ERA title (1.34) and was even third in MVP voting with a 20-6 record and 13 saves in a more mixed starter/relief role. Both years, Medan won the Sundaland Association pennant, beating Bandung in 2022 and Jakarta in 2023. They lost the 2022 Austronesia Championship to Quezon, but won it all in 2023 over Zamboanga. Supriatna was surprisingly underwhelming in those playoff runs with a 2.92 ERA in 2022 and 4.10 in 2023, although FIP suggested perhaps some bad luck. For his playoff career, Supriatna had a 7-2 record with a 2.78 ERA and 92 ERA+, but an 68 FIP- over 68 innings with 86 strikeouts, 14 walks, and 1.9 WAR. Medan also earned a spot in the 2023 Baseball Grand Championship and finished 8-11. Supriatna had a solid showing with a 2.48 ERA in 29 innings, 153 ERA+, 1.4 WAR, and 39 strikeouts. He also represented Indonesia from 2019-28 in the World Baseball Championship with an 11-4 record, 2.96 ERA, 134 innings, 204 strikeouts, 41 walks, and 2.8 WAR. The Indonesians had division titles from 2022-24 with Supriatna. Supriatna did continue to return home for the WBC, although his time competing in the pros in Indonesia ended with Medan’s 2023 title. He was granted free agency and started a worldwide search, eventually getting a massive seven-year, $199,000,000 deal with Virginia Beach of Major League Baseball. The short tenure meant Supriatna didn’t get his #26 retired with Medan despite his role in repeat pennants. For the Marlins, Supriatna had a 110-65 record, 1.69 ERA, 1643 innings, 2131 strikeouts, 243 walks, 164/193 quality starts, 68 complete games, 30 shutouts, 151 ERA+, 57 FIP-, and 54.3 WAR. He didn’t stay long enough to make the leaderboards for counting stats generally, but he is 96^th in WAR among APB pitchers as of 2037 and 74^th in shutouts. As for rate stats, Supriatna’s ERA ranks 12^th among pitchers with 1000+ innings. His .498 opponent’s OPS is 14^th with a .183/.219/.279 triple slash ranking 20^th/14^th/16^th. Supriatna’s 0.79 WHIP is 12^th, 5.74 H/9 ranks 22^nd, and his 11.67 K/9 in 41^st. His candidacy came down to the arguments of favoring peak versus longevity. Those who favored longevity more strongly felt Supriatna didn’t stay long enough to belong in the Hall of Fame. The majority though felt that three Pitcher of the Year wins, two ERA titles, two pennants, and an APB Championship ring got Supriatna across the line even with only a seven-year run. Some voters also gave him partial credit for his later MLB tallies, arguing that he easily would’ve gotten the required accumulations had he stayed. At 69.7%, Supriatna only barely crossed the 66% line for induction, but he found a spot into Austronesia Professional Baseball’s Hall of Fame on the first ballot for 2032. Virginia Beach was coming off repeat playoff trips when they signed Supriatna, although they didn’t get beyond the second round. They stayed stuck in the middle tier during his tenure with solid production in his first three years. Supriatna’s best effort in MLB was 2026 with a 2.83 ERA over 213 innings, 144 ERA+, and 5.8 WAR. He struggled though in 2027 and dealt with a partially torn labrum and a flexor-pronator strain. Supriatna mostly ate innings in his remaining three seasons as his velocity started to dip to age. For Virginia Beach, Supriatna had a 72-74 record, 4.08 ERA, 1395.1 innings, 1218 strikeouts, 345 walks 98 ERA+, 101 FIP-, and 18.3 WAR. He graded as a reliably average arm on the whole over seven MLB seasons. Supriatna wanted to play in 2031, but no one was interested as he now had trouble hitting 90 MPH on his fastball. He retired in winter 2031 at age 36. Supriatna’s combined pro numbers saw a 182-139 record, 2.79 ERA, 3038.1 innings, 3349 strikeouts, 588 walks, 110 complete games, 38 shutouts, 121 ERA+, 77 FIP-, and 72.6 WAR. He wasn’t an inner-circle type Hall of Famer, but Supriatna was legit elite in his Medan peak and earned recognition in his role in two pennants for them. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)