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Austonesia Professional came close to having no Hall of Fame inductees in 2039, but also nearly had four guys cross the 66% requirement. Ultimately, only C Yi-Hsiang Chang made it in with a debut at 69.4%, the first catcher added to the APB HOF. SP Patrick Chen was the closest miss with a 64.6% debut. SP Kuo-Chen Kao had 62.6% on his fifth ballot and SP Yee Husin saw 62.0% in his second go. No one else was above 50%.



SP Benigno Espionza fell off after ten failed ballots, peaking at 28.9% in 2033 and ending with 19.2%. He had a 15-year career almost entirely with Semarang, winning one Pitcher of the Year and two ERA titles. Espinoza also won APB titles in 2012 and 2016 for the Sliders, finishing with a 0.81 ERA in 44.1 playoff innings.

Espionza had a 158-132 record, 2.25 ERA, 2849.1 innings, 3024 strikeouts, 478 walks, 113 complete games, 29 shutouts, 109 ERA+, 98 FIP-, and 41.5 WAR. Injuries really derailed his longevity, including an elbow ligament tear in 2014 and both a labrum tear and fractured wrist in 2020. After an ERA title at age 30, he was worth only 0.2 WAR total over the next five years as he fell off a cliff. The pace and accomplishments were there, but Espionza’s decline was too steep.

Also worth a mention was 1B Widodo Megawati, who fell below 5% on his seventh ballot and peaked at only 17.4%. He’s one of only 13 players in world history with 15+ Gold Gloves, tied with Kent Wang for the most in APB. They’re both tied for the most by a 1B with only Beisbol Sudamerica’s D.J. Del Valle with more at 16.

In a 20-year career, Megawati had 2789 games, 2551 hits, 1040 runs, 516 doubles, 282 home runs, 1134 RBI, 725 walks, 2042 strikeouts, .259/.312/.410 slash, 134 wRC+, and 82.1 WAR. He ranks 6^th in games, 11^th in hits, 33^rd in runs, 4^th in doubles, and 44^th in WAR for position players. Megawati was a key player on the back-end of Davao’s late 2000s-early 2010s dynasty as well. However, voters looked for home run power and slugging at first base. Megawati’s defense and longevity didn’t impress them, but he’s still worthy of a quick mention.



Yi-Hsiang Chang – Catcher – Kaohsiung Steelheads - 69.4% First Ballot

Yi-Hsiang Chang was a 6’2’’, 200 pound left-handed hitting catcher from Luchou, Taiwan; a district of 200,000 people in New Taipei City. Chang was a very well-rounded batter facing right-handed pitching, especially for a catcher. Against RHP, he had a career .807 OPS and 147 wRC+. Chang wasn’t bad against lefties either with a .656 OPS and 109 wRC+ in the ultra-low scoring world of APB.

Chang’s power wasn’t prolific, but he was good for 26 home runs and 21 doubles per his 162 game average. He was better than most at drawing walks, but was subpar at avoiding strikeouts. Chang’s biggest offensive weakness was absolutely abysmal baserunning and speed. That was expected from a catcher, but never in APB had there been a catcher with his batting prowess.

The trade-off was that defensively, Chang was fairly mediocre behind the plate. His durability was generally strong over a 19-year career. Chang was a true fan favorite known for his impressive work ethic and team-first attitude. He quickly became one of the more popular players in Taiwan after a strong collegiate run at the University of Kang Ning in Taipei. In the 2015 APB Draft, Chang was the #5 overall pick by Kaohsiung, where he’d play his entire APB career.

Chang had a limited role with 66 games and 45 starts as a rookie. He was a full-timer after that the next 16 years. Chang was never an association leader, not surprising considering the difficulty doing it as a catcher. However, he was notably worth 6+ WAR each year from 2019-27. Chang even was second in 2020’s MVP voting, third in 2021, and third in 2024. 2021 had his career high 8.1 WAR. Chang’s best OPS and wRC+ were .869 and 176 from 2024.

The Silver Slugger was his exclusive property with 12 consecutive wins from 2018-29. Chang is one of two players at any position with 12+ Sluggers in APB, joining the legendary Binh Tang. The only other catchers in any world league with 12+ is the record holder Cicero Lugo (16) from BSA as well as CABA’s Luis Moran with 12.

Kaohsiung had been abysmal in the later 2010s, but Chang helped get them back at or above .500 from 2020-28. In July 2021, he signed an eight-year, $127,400,000 extension to stick with the Steelheads. Chang opted out after the 2023 season and inked a new richer five-year, $162,600,000 extension. In 2024, Kaohsiung ended a 12-year playoff drought by winning the Taiwan League at 96-66. They defeated Zamboanga 4-1 for their first Taiwan-Philippine Association pennant since 2007.

The Steelheads would be denied in a seven-game classic facing Bandung in the Austronesia Championship. In 12 playoff starts, Chang had 12 hits, 4 runs, 1 double, 1 homer, 4 RBI, .721 OPS, 136 wRC+, and 0.4 WAR. Kaohsiung was 92-70 the next year, falling three short of Hsinchu for the TL title.

They took first at 98-64 in 2026, but lost to defending champ Cebu in the TPA final. This would be the final time Chang played in the postseason. However, he was a World Baseball Championship regular from 2017-34 for Taiwan. Chang had 145 games and 129 starts in the WBC with 114 hits, 76 runs, 19 doubles, 40 home runs, 82 RBI, .250/.356/.555 slash, 161 wRC+, and 5.9 WAR. This helped make in very popular across the entire island nation.

The Steelheads hovered around .500 for 2027 and 2028. Before the 2028 season, Chang signed a four-year, $122 million extension with Kaohsiung. This year had his only real major injury with a torn meniscus in August. Chang stuck around as the team fell to the bottom with sub-70 win seasons from 2029-31.

He had stayed remarkably consistent even into his late 30s, posting 6.1 WAR in 2032 and 4.7 WAR in 2033. Kaohsiung rebounded to .500 in 2032, but dropped back to 74-88 in 2033. Chang signed a two-year, $43,600,000 extension after the 2032 season, but didn’t meet the vesting criteria for the second year. That winter, they mutually parted ways after 18 seasons.

Chang wanted to still play somewhere, but aging catchers didn’t have a big market. He ended up in the African Association of Baseball on a two-year, $28,800,000 deal with Lusaka. Chang had still been effective previously, but perhaps the culture shock helped precipitate a steep decline. He had -0.4 WAR and 93 wRC+ in 117 games for the Lake Monsters in 2034. Chang retired that winter at age 40.

In APB, Chang played 2347 games with 2019 hits, 892 runs, 303 doubles, 33 triples, 368 home runs, 1039 RBI, 730 walks, 1891 strikeouts, .257/.319/.444 slash, 139 wRC+, and 100.0 WAR. Chang ranks 61^st in games, 82^nd in runs, 72^nd in hits, 71^st in total bases (3492), 96^th in doubles, 51^st in homers, 40^th in RBI, 44^th in walks, and 20^th in WAR among position players.

Chang is APB’s leader in runs, total bases, homers, RBI, and WAR for catchers. On the downside, he’s also the leader in errors (493) and passed balls (185). Specifically at catcher, Chang was just barely below 100 WAR (99.96). Only two catchers in world history have topped 100 WAR, showing how impressive Chang was in his space.

Of course, Hall of Fame voters historically have the strong anti-catcher bias with the lower accumulations that come with the position. Austronesia Professional Baseball voters also have that magnified as they expect totals more in line with other leagues despite APB being the world’s lowest-scoring league. As such, they hadn’t inducted a single catcher in the HOF’s 70+ year history. Chang couldn’t be denied, although he only barely breached the requirement. At 69.4%, he stood alone for induction in 2039.