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FuzzyRussianHat · 08-17-2025, 05:09 PM

Hamamatsu shocked the Japan League with their 115-47 record atop the Central Division in 2033. The Chickenhawks were the first of the 2025 expansion teams to earn a playoff spot and had only just gotten their first winning season in 2032 at 85-77. Little did they know then that this would start a run of dominance for Hamamatsu. The Chickenhawks led the JL with 743 runs.

Kawasaki made a strong run for the top seed as well at 109-53 atop the Central Division. The Killer Whales earned a third straight playoff berth, but this was their first division title or 100+ win season since 2021. They broke their franchise wins record of 107 set during their 2000 championship season. Kawasaki allowed only 435 runs, the best in East Asia Baseball.

Sendai won the North Division at 102-60 for their second berth in three years and first division title since 2016. Niigata was close behind at 99-63 and got the first wild card, continuing their playoff streak to seven seasons. Hiroshima’s postseason streak grew to eight as they won the West Division again at 98-64. Last year’s division champ Kitakyushu fell to 84-78.

For the second wild card, defending JL champ Chiba took it at 90-72, fending off 89-73 Osaka and 88-74 Kobe. This ended a 10-year playoff streak for the Blaze. Nagoya notably was 78-84, their first losing season since 2021. Tokyo was also notable falling to a lousy 61-101, as the Tides had been at 91+ wins the past four seasons.

Niigata LF Masanori Fukuoka became only the sixth player in EAB history to win 5+ MVPs. He took the Japan League’s top honor after having previously won in 2026, 28, 29, and 31. Fukuoka also won his seventh Silver Slugger in left field. He pulled it off in 2033 despite losing more than a month to a strained back.

In 134 games, Fukuoka led the league in home runs (48), total bases (367), slugging (.725), OPS (1.086), and wRC+ (231). The 31-year old lefty added 8.6 WAR, 162 hits, 87 runs, 23 doubles, 19 triples, 109 RBI, and a .320 average. Fukuoka also hit for the cycle for the second time in his career, doing it on August 21 facing Chiba. He earned his 1000^th run scored earlier in the month.

Mitsumasa Suzuki won his second Pitcher of the Year, having also done it in 2031 with Suwon. He left the Snappers after that win for free agency and signed with Kawasaki at $201,300,000 over six years. In his second year with the Killer Whales, Suzuki led in strikeouts (369), WHIP (0.76), FIP- (48), and WAR (10.1). The 27-year old righty had a 20-4 record and 1.82 ERA in 252 innings. He finished 0.22 and two wins away from a Triple Crown.

Hiroshima swept Niigata 3-0 in the wild card round and Sendai outlasted defending champ Chiba 3-2. The top seeds prevailed in the divisional round with Hamamatsu over the Hammerheads 3-1 and Kawasaki over the Samurai 3-2. For the Killer Whales, this was their first appearance in the Japan League Championship Series since their 2019 pennant. On the other side was the upstart Chickenhawks making their first appearance.

It was a highly anticipated matchup with a 115-win team facing a 109-win squad. This set a JLCS record for most combined wins between the two participants. The still-new Hamamatsu couldn’t go all the way as Kawasaki took the series 4-2. The Killer Whales became nine-time Japan League champs (1938, 41, 67, 82, 99, 2000, 01, 19, 33).

Goyang had their fourth straight 100+ win season and grew their playoff streak to seven years. The Green Sox won their sixth division title of the stretch at 106-56 atop the North Division for the Korea League’s #1 seed. They had the most runs in EAB at 865. Pyongyang was a strong second in the division at 97-65, which secured the first wild card. The Pythons extended their playoff streak to four years.

The #2 seed and bye went to Incheon at 102-60 atop the Central Division, allowing the fewest runs with 518. The Inferno ended a three-year drought and got their first division title since 2026. Reigning EAB champ Busan won the Southeast Division at 98-64 by two games over Ulsan. The Blue Jays grew their EAB record playoff streak to 14 seasons and got their tenth straight division title. The Swallows at 96-66 ended up with repeat wild cards.

96-66 also got Gwangju the Southwest Division, ending a six-year playoff drought. The Grays hadn’t been a division champ since 2011. The first teams out in the wild card race were Seongnam at 90-72, Suwon at 89-73, and Jeonju at 88-74. This ended a four-year playoff streak for the Snappers, who had been in three of the last four KLCS.

The competition for Korea League MVP was tight, but Hamhung’s Toichi Kimura became a three-time winner. The 28-yar old 1B from Japan had won it in 2028 and 2029 for the Heat. In 2033, Kimura led in runs (122), homers (64), total bases (425), and slugging (.708). He added 206 hits, 145 RBI, .343 average, 1.094 OPS, and 9.0 WAR.

Two other first basemen were right behind him in the MVP race. It was Cheongju’s Han Yi that actually got the Silver Slugger, matching Kimura’s 64 home runs and beating him with 158 RBI. Yi became the 79^th member of the 500 home run club at age 32 and the RBI total was tied for the sixth-best single season in EAB. He would opt of his deal with the Checkers two years early and sign a new four-year, $126 million deal with Yongin.

Gwangju’s Dendi Hidayat meanwhile tied EAB’s single-season hits record with 257, a mark previously set in 1997 by Hyeon-Seong Lim. In all of pro baseball history, this was one of only 18 seasons ever where a batter had 257 or more hits. Hidayat also had a .407 batting average, second in EAB history only to Si-Hun Lee’s .411 from 1993. The 26-year old Indonesian righty’s average ranked as the 16^th-best qualifying single season in baseball history.

Goyang’s Oniji Yamamoto won his second Pitcher of the Year, having also won in 2030. For 2033, the 28-year old lefty led in wins (22-8), strikeouts (313), WHIP (0.89), K/BB (18.4), and WAR (9.7). Yamamoto tossed 247 innings with a 2.59 ERA, 54 FIP- and 153 ERA+. The Green Sox locked him up long-term in February 2034 to a seven-year, $204 million extension.

Ulsan upset divisional rival Busan 3-2 in the wild card round to dethrone the defending champs. Gwangju swept Pyongyang on the other side and gave top seed Goyang a battle, although the Green Sox survived in five in the divisional round. Incheon meanwhile bested the Swallows 3-1.

The Inferno got their first Korea League Championship Series trip since the 2026-27 repeat. Goyang was making their fourth KLCS trip in six years, having won the pennant in 2028 and 2030. Incheon pulled off the road upset 4-2 to become six-time Korean champs, having also won in 1950, 1954, and 2002.

The 113^th East Asian Championship was guaranteed to deliver a sixth different champ in as many years. Incheon defeated Kawasaki 4-1 to become four-time EAB champs (1950, 1954, 2002, 2033). Finals MVP went to SS Jae-Won Park in his 14^th year with the Inferno. In 15 playoff games, Park had 17 hits, 7 runs, 1 triple, 4 homers, 8 RBI, and 0.9 WAR.

Park was best known for his stellar defense, winning a historic 14^th Gold Glove in 2033. He joined LF Ki-Chun Park as the only 14+ GG winners in EAB history and joined world WARlord Harvey Coyle as the only guys in world history with 14+ Gold Gloves specifically at shortstop. Entering 2037, only 19 players total in baseball history have won the award 14+ times.

Other notes: Kunihiko Ishiguro became EAB’s all-time home run leader in 2033, hitting 27 at age 40 for Niigata. This got him to 935 homers, passing Soo-Geum Yim’s 921. Ishiguro also scored 81 runs to become the runs scored leader, passing Byung-Oh Tan’s 2010 that had stood since 1953. Ishiguro would return in 2034 on a one-year deal with Yokohama and still had a shot as passing Yim’s RBI (2279) and total bases (7015) records. He had 2081 RBI and 6812 total bases, as well as 3211 games played. Hitoshi Kubota’s games played record (3304) was also in play.

In other milestones, Iemitsu Naiya became the 51^st to 1500 RBI and I-Sol Chang became the 52^nd. Naiya, Han Yi, and Jun’ichiro Fusejima all joined the 500 home run club, making that club 79 players strong. Four pitchers reached 3000 career strikeouts, a feat achieved by 117 EAB aces. SS Anh Vu Nguyen won his 7^th Silver Slugger.

Kitakyushu’s Ju-Won Hyun had two no-hitters in 2033, the first on March 26 with 8 strikeouts and 1 walk against Utsunomiya. The second was with 6 Ks and 2 BB on May 22 facing Kyoto. Hyun joined Sawamura Umemoto (2010) as the only EAB pitchers with multiple no-hitters in the same season. Busan’s Seong-Jun Mho had the 19^th four home run game in EAB history, doing it April 4 against Daegu.

In a bad playoff record, Incheon’s Kwang-Su Chwa struck out 32 times. He was an abysmal 7-56 in the postseason with -0.6 WAR. Maebashi’s pitching staff set all-time Japan League worsts for team ERA (4.79), hits allowed (1666), earned runs (769), and H/9 (10.37). Their 867 runs were second-worst to Sendai’s 958 from 1923.

08-17-2025, 05:09 PM	#2391
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 3,540	2033 in EAB Hamamatsu shocked the Japan League with their 115-47 record atop the Central Division in 2033. The Chickenhawks were the first of the 2025 expansion teams to earn a playoff spot and had only just gotten their first winning season in 2032 at 85-77. Little did they know then that this would start a run of dominance for Hamamatsu. The Chickenhawks led the JL with 743 runs. Kawasaki made a strong run for the top seed as well at 109-53 atop the Central Division. The Killer Whales earned a third straight playoff berth, but this was their first division title or 100+ win season since 2021. They broke their franchise wins record of 107 set during their 2000 championship season. Kawasaki allowed only 435 runs, the best in East Asia Baseball. Sendai won the North Division at 102-60 for their second berth in three years and first division title since 2016. Niigata was close behind at 99-63 and got the first wild card, continuing their playoff streak to seven seasons. Hiroshima’s postseason streak grew to eight as they won the West Division again at 98-64. Last year’s division champ Kitakyushu fell to 84-78. For the second wild card, defending JL champ Chiba took it at 90-72, fending off 89-73 Osaka and 88-74 Kobe. This ended a 10-year playoff streak for the Blaze. Nagoya notably was 78-84, their first losing season since 2021. Tokyo was also notable falling to a lousy 61-101, as the Tides had been at 91+ wins the past four seasons. Niigata LF Masanori Fukuoka became only the sixth player in EAB history to win 5+ MVPs. He took the Japan League’s top honor after having previously won in 2026, 28, 29, and 31. Fukuoka also won his seventh Silver Slugger in left field. He pulled it off in 2033 despite losing more than a month to a strained back. In 134 games, Fukuoka led the league in home runs (48), total bases (367), slugging (.725), OPS (1.086), and wRC+ (231). The 31-year old lefty added 8.6 WAR, 162 hits, 87 runs, 23 doubles, 19 triples, 109 RBI, and a .320 average. Fukuoka also hit for the cycle for the second time in his career, doing it on August 21 facing Chiba. He earned his 1000^th run scored earlier in the month. Mitsumasa Suzuki won his second Pitcher of the Year, having also done it in 2031 with Suwon. He left the Snappers after that win for free agency and signed with Kawasaki at $201,300,000 over six years. In his second year with the Killer Whales, Suzuki led in strikeouts (369), WHIP (0.76), FIP- (48), and WAR (10.1). The 27-year old righty had a 20-4 record and 1.82 ERA in 252 innings. He finished 0.22 and two wins away from a Triple Crown. Hiroshima swept Niigata 3-0 in the wild card round and Sendai outlasted defending champ Chiba 3-2. The top seeds prevailed in the divisional round with Hamamatsu over the Hammerheads 3-1 and Kawasaki over the Samurai 3-2. For the Killer Whales, this was their first appearance in the Japan League Championship Series since their 2019 pennant. On the other side was the upstart Chickenhawks making their first appearance. It was a highly anticipated matchup with a 115-win team facing a 109-win squad. This set a JLCS record for most combined wins between the two participants. The still-new Hamamatsu couldn’t go all the way as Kawasaki took the series 4-2. The Killer Whales became nine-time Japan League champs (1938, 41, 67, 82, 99, 2000, 01, 19, 33). Goyang had their fourth straight 100+ win season and grew their playoff streak to seven years. The Green Sox won their sixth division title of the stretch at 106-56 atop the North Division for the Korea League’s #1 seed. They had the most runs in EAB at 865. Pyongyang was a strong second in the division at 97-65, which secured the first wild card. The Pythons extended their playoff streak to four years. The #2 seed and bye went to Incheon at 102-60 atop the Central Division, allowing the fewest runs with 518. The Inferno ended a three-year drought and got their first division title since 2026. Reigning EAB champ Busan won the Southeast Division at 98-64 by two games over Ulsan. The Blue Jays grew their EAB record playoff streak to 14 seasons and got their tenth straight division title. The Swallows at 96-66 ended up with repeat wild cards. 96-66 also got Gwangju the Southwest Division, ending a six-year playoff drought. The Grays hadn’t been a division champ since 2011. The first teams out in the wild card race were Seongnam at 90-72, Suwon at 89-73, and Jeonju at 88-74. This ended a four-year playoff streak for the Snappers, who had been in three of the last four KLCS. The competition for Korea League MVP was tight, but Hamhung’s Toichi Kimura became a three-time winner. The 28-yar old 1B from Japan had won it in 2028 and 2029 for the Heat. In 2033, Kimura led in runs (122), homers (64), total bases (425), and slugging (.708). He added 206 hits, 145 RBI, .343 average, 1.094 OPS, and 9.0 WAR. Two other first basemen were right behind him in the MVP race. It was Cheongju’s Han Yi that actually got the Silver Slugger, matching Kimura’s 64 home runs and beating him with 158 RBI. Yi became the 79^th member of the 500 home run club at age 32 and the RBI total was tied for the sixth-best single season in EAB. He would opt of his deal with the Checkers two years early and sign a new four-year, $126 million deal with Yongin. Gwangju’s Dendi Hidayat meanwhile tied EAB’s single-season hits record with 257, a mark previously set in 1997 by Hyeon-Seong Lim. In all of pro baseball history, this was one of only 18 seasons ever where a batter had 257 or more hits. Hidayat also had a .407 batting average, second in EAB history only to Si-Hun Lee’s .411 from 1993. The 26-year old Indonesian righty’s average ranked as the 16^th-best qualifying single season in baseball history. Goyang’s Oniji Yamamoto won his second Pitcher of the Year, having also won in 2030. For 2033, the 28-year old lefty led in wins (22-8), strikeouts (313), WHIP (0.89), K/BB (18.4), and WAR (9.7). Yamamoto tossed 247 innings with a 2.59 ERA, 54 FIP- and 153 ERA+. The Green Sox locked him up long-term in February 2034 to a seven-year, $204 million extension. Ulsan upset divisional rival Busan 3-2 in the wild card round to dethrone the defending champs. Gwangju swept Pyongyang on the other side and gave top seed Goyang a battle, although the Green Sox survived in five in the divisional round. Incheon meanwhile bested the Swallows 3-1. The Inferno got their first Korea League Championship Series trip since the 2026-27 repeat. Goyang was making their fourth KLCS trip in six years, having won the pennant in 2028 and 2030. Incheon pulled off the road upset 4-2 to become six-time Korean champs, having also won in 1950, 1954, and 2002. The 113^th East Asian Championship was guaranteed to deliver a sixth different champ in as many years. Incheon defeated Kawasaki 4-1 to become four-time EAB champs (1950, 1954, 2002, 2033). Finals MVP went to SS Jae-Won Park in his 14^th year with the Inferno. In 15 playoff games, Park had 17 hits, 7 runs, 1 triple, 4 homers, 8 RBI, and 0.9 WAR. Park was best known for his stellar defense, winning a historic 14^th Gold Glove in 2033. He joined LF Ki-Chun Park as the only 14+ GG winners in EAB history and joined world WARlord Harvey Coyle as the only guys in world history with 14+ Gold Gloves specifically at shortstop. Entering 2037, only 19 players total in baseball history have won the award 14+ times. Other notes: Kunihiko Ishiguro became EAB’s all-time home run leader in 2033, hitting 27 at age 40 for Niigata. This got him to 935 homers, passing Soo-Geum Yim’s 921. Ishiguro also scored 81 runs to become the runs scored leader, passing Byung-Oh Tan’s 2010 that had stood since 1953. Ishiguro would return in 2034 on a one-year deal with Yokohama and still had a shot as passing Yim’s RBI (2279) and total bases (7015) records. He had 2081 RBI and 6812 total bases, as well as 3211 games played. Hitoshi Kubota’s games played record (3304) was also in play. In other milestones, Iemitsu Naiya became the 51^st to 1500 RBI and I-Sol Chang became the 52^nd. Naiya, Han Yi, and Jun’ichiro Fusejima all joined the 500 home run club, making that club 79 players strong. Four pitchers reached 3000 career strikeouts, a feat achieved by 117 EAB aces. SS Anh Vu Nguyen won his 7^th Silver Slugger. Kitakyushu’s Ju-Won Hyun had two no-hitters in 2033, the first on March 26 with 8 strikeouts and 1 walk against Utsunomiya. The second was with 6 Ks and 2 BB on May 22 facing Kyoto. Hyun joined Sawamura Umemoto (2010) as the only EAB pitchers with multiple no-hitters in the same season. Busan’s Seong-Jun Mho had the 19^th four home run game in EAB history, doing it April 4 against Daegu. In a bad playoff record, Incheon’s Kwang-Su Chwa struck out 32 times. He was an abysmal 7-56 in the postseason with -0.6 WAR. Maebashi’s pitching staff set all-time Japan League worsts for team ERA (4.79), hits allowed (1666), earned runs (769), and H/9 (10.37). Their 867 runs were second-worst to Sendai’s 958 from 1923. __________________ 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)