Baseball: The World's Game - Page 110

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-31-2025, 05:24 PM

The Western League’s four playoff teams were obvious as they each had 90+ wins while the rest of the league was below .500. The positioning wasn’t clear until the final weeks though. Freetown ended up first at 97-65, leading the WL in both runs scored (940) and fewest allowed (705). It was the sixth playoff berth in seven years for the Foresters, but it was their first time atop the standings since 1999.

Defending WL champ Dakar was next at 93-69, growing their playoff streak to five. Tied for the final two spots at 92-70 were both Kumasi and Accra. The Monkeys’ playoff streak moved to three and the Alligators ended a two-year drought. Of note was Abidjan’s fall to 72-90, ending their seven-year playoff streak. The Athletes have been so successful that this tied their franchise worst mark from 1984.

Dakar 3B Junior Jose won back-to-back Western League MVPs and his third overall. The 28-year old Mozambican led in home runs (71), total bases (452), slugging (.764), and WAR (9.6). Jose became only the third in WAB history with a 70+ homer season, falling seven short of Desmond Jaiyeola’s record of 78. He also had 125 runs, 204 hits, 156 RBI, .344 average, and 1.179 OPS. Prior to the season, the Dukes extended Jose at $142,700,000 over eight years.

Pitcher of the Year was Freetown’s Mahamoud Sy, who led in wins (19-5), ERA (2.84), innings (231), quality starts (21), and WAR (7.8). The 27-year old Mauritanian lefty had 247 strikeouts and 168 ERA+. Sy also earned a Gold Glove for his defensive efforts. He signed a six-year, $185,600,000 extension after the season. Surprisingly after a weaker 2029, the Foresters wouldn’t protect Sy and he’d end up taken in an expansion draft by Abuja.

Accra swept Kumasi in the first round, then got swept in round two by Dakar. This set up a Western League Championship Series rematch between the defending champ Dukes and Freetown. The series needed all five games, but the Foresters would have their revenge 3-2 over Dakar. It was the fourth pennant for Freetown (1977, 2011, 2024, 2028).

Ouagadougou at 101-61 just fended off two-time defending West African Baseball champ Cotonou (100-62) for the top spot in the Eastern League. The Osprey ended a seven-year playoff drought and tied the EL team record with 300 home runs. Ouagadougou led all of WAB in runs scored (961) while the Copperheads allowed the fewest (689).

The remaining playoff spots went to Lome (94-68) and Niamey (90-72) with a steep drop to fifth place Yaounde (81-81). The Lasers snapped a five-year playoff drought and the Atomics grew their streak to five. Last year’s first place finisher Ibadan fell to 79-83.

Ouagadougou 1B Youssouf N’Ko won Eastern League MVP by leading in batting average (.358), OBP (.415), wRC+ (167), and WAR (7.6). The 27-year old Guinean lefty added 215 hits, 114 runs, 38 doubles, 43 homers, 139 RBI, and 1.062 OPS. N’Ko took the honor despite Lagos DH Desmond Jaiyeola getting 74 home runs. Jaiyeola has the top three homer season in WAB history with 78 in 2024 and 76 in 2025. He’s only the seventh in all of baseball history with three 70+ homer seasons.

Port Harcourt’s Ngalle Eto’o won his second Pitcher of the Year, having also gotten it in 2024. The 29-year old Cameroonian lefty led in ERA (2.75), strikeouts (308), K/BB (17.1), FIP- (55), and WAR (8.0). He had a 14-7 record over 206 innings, falling two wins short of a Triple Crown.

Niamey edged Lome 2-1 in the first round of the playoffs, but promptly got swept in round two by Cotonou. The Copperheads were going for the EL three-peat, while top seed Ouagadougou was in the Eastern League Championship Series for the first time since 2020. Cotonou successfully defended their throne in a 3-2 battle with the Osprey, becoming six-time EL champs (2010, 11, 13, 26, 27, 28).

Cotonou was going for the third-ever three-peat in the 54^th West African Championship. Only Kano had done it in 1997-99 and again from 2001-03 with their historic dynasty. The Copperheads search for history was abruptly squashed as Freetown not only won, but got the emphatic sweep. It was the second title for the Foresters, joining their 1977 win. Veteran LF Edward Mumini was the star of the playoffs, winning ELCS and finals MVP. The 31-year old Nigerian in 9 starts had 13 hits, 7 runs, 2 doubles, 6 homers, and 12 RBI.

Other notes: Ouagadougou’s Justin Karefa-Smart set a single-season world record for at-bats at 709. Previously WAB hit king Fares Belaid held the record at 704 from 2020, which was the only other season in world history of 700+ ABs. Desmond Jaiyeola had a four home run game, the 7^th in WAB history.

In milestones, Abdel Aziz Ashraf and Clarence Cole became the 7^th and 8^th members of the 600 home run club. Youssoupha Diop and Jonah Moiseiwitsch became the 18^th and 19^th to 500 homers. Moiseiwitsch also became the 6^th to 3000 hits while Hassan Amara became the 7^th. Werzeg and Hassan both got to 2500 hits, now a 30-man club.

Jaiyeola, Diop, and Kerim Werzeg all reached 1500 RBI in 2028, a mark now reached by 18 sluggers. Mohamed Khammas and Shafiu Hassan became the 10^th and 11^th to score 1500 runs. Dagobert Mekongo became the 8^th pitcher to 200 wins and the 3^rd to 4000 strikeouts. He would finish with 4099 Ks, 3^rd behind Xavi Leko (5032) and Addise Assefa (4147). Rene Zossou was the 25^th pitcher to 3000 strikeouts. LF Didier Loubaki won his eighth Gold Glove.

FuzzyRussianHat · 04-01-2025, 06:35 AM

Chinese League Baseball made two significant changes prior to the 2028 season. The first was increasing the active roster size from 25 to 26 players. The only other world league at 26 was South Asia Baseball, who had only made the move in 2026. 25 was the “default” but many of the world leagues had lowered their active roster sizes over the years.

The other changes were made to increase offensive numbers league wide. CLB had been an extremely low offense environment, usually battling with Austronesia Professional Baseball for which had the least scoring. The changes weren’t so extreme to turn CLB into a high-scoring league, but officials felt the environment was possibly stunting league growth.

The league average ERA in the 1970s was around 2.80 and had fallen towards around the 2.30 mark when CLB first made changes to spark offense in 2016. It had hovered back around the 2.80 region since, but the changes would boost the league ERA to around the 3.20s. The batting average also grew from around .230 to around .245. CLB was still a low offense league on the global scale, but would now have some distance from APB’s bottom ranked stats.

The Northern League’s four playoff teams were completely different from the prior year. Hangzhou took first at 92-70 to notably earn their third playoff berth in four years, leading all of CLB with 652 runs scored. It was the second-time ever that the Hens finished first in the standings (1979). Beijing was one back in second at 91-71 and allowed the NL’s fewest runs at 538. This ended a 12-year playoff drought for the Bears, which had been the longest active drought in China.

It was a crowded mess for the final two playoff spots. Qingdao took third at 87-75 to end their four-year playoff drought. Urumqi and Harbin tied at 86-76, but the Unicorns advanced by winning the tiebreaker game. The Unicorns ended a three-year playoff drought. Just missing the cut were Shijiazhuang (83-79), Tianjin (82-80), Nanjing (81-81), and Xi’an (80-82). Defending China Series winner Zhengzhou shockingly fell to last place at 70-92. Last year’s first place finisher Jinan fell to 77-85.

Harbin’s Ming Li won his second Northern League MVP in three seasons. The 26-year old CF led in runs (114), total bases (373), and WAR (11.0). Li had 182 hits, 27 doubles, 13 triples, 46 homers, 109 RBI, 53 steals, and a .304/.352/.624 slash.

Beijing’s Kai-Wen Hung was Pitcher of the Year as the 30-year old Taiwanese lefty led in wins at 19-6. Hung had a 2.49 ERA, 263.1 innings, 221 strikeouts, 134 ERA+, and 4.4 WAR. The pitching WAR total was notably the second-lowest by a CLB POTY winner to date. Hung was notably a regular pinch hitter and had 1.5 WAR offensively with 12 homers, 23 RBI, .845 OPS, and 140 wRC+ over 153 at-bats.

Qingdao (5-1) and Hangzhou (3-3) advanced out of the round robin while Urumqi and Beijing were both eliminated at 2-4. The Hens earned their second semifinal trip in three years, while the Devils hadn’t gotten there since 2012. Qingdao rolled 4-1 over Hangzhou in the semi to earn only their third-ever trip to the China Series (1992, 2008, 2028).

In the Southern League, Changsha (99-63) edged out last year’s runner up Xiamen (98-64) for the top spot. The Cannons led the SL in scoring (639) and ended a five-year playoff drought. It was only their third time atop the standings (1997, 2004). The Mutts would end up as the only 2027 playoff team to make it back in 2028. Last year’s top seed, Xiamen picked up a fifth playoff berth in six years.

Shenzhen (92-70) and Dongguan (90-72) took the remaining spots. Wenzhou (88-74) was the first team out despite allowing the fewest runs (469). The Spartans snapped a decade-long playoff drought and the Donkeys ended a five-year skid. Chongqing, Kunming, and Nanning each finished 84-78, which ended three-year playoff streaks for both the Cavaliers and Muscle.

Changsha’s Tao Cai won his third Southern League MVP, returning to the perch after winning way back in 2021-22. The 31-year old LF led in OBP (.421) and OPS (1.062). Cai had 206 hits, 105 runs, 31 doubles, 40 home runs, 105 RBI, .352 average, and 11.2 WAR. There was tough competition, including Shenzhen’s Faqing Zhang and Chongqing’s Aniwa Xirzat. Zhang was the WARlord at 12.0, while Xirzat set new CLB single-season records for batting average (.392) and hits (235). Both of those marks still hold as of 2037.

Guangzhou’s Kamesh Sajeev won his third Pitcher of the Year, having previously won in 2022-23. The 29-year old Indian righty led in WHIP (0.78) complete games (20), and shutouts (6). Sajeev had a 17-6 record and 11 saves, 1.96 ERA, 234 innings, 256 strikeouts, 154 ERA+, and 6.4 WAR. The Gamecocks would trade him to Xiamen for five prospects in the offseason as a long-term deal wasn’t coming together. Sajeev spent one year with the Mutts, then departed for MLB and a six-year, $160,800,000 deal with Ottawa.

Shenzhen was the top team in the round robin at 5-1, their first semifinal trip since 2015. Changsha and Xiamen were both 3-3 and Dongguan finished 1-5. The tiebreaker pushed the Mutts ahead for their fifth semi in six years. Although Xiamen barely got out of the round robin, they cruised to a semifinal sweep over the Spartans to earn back-to-back China Series trips. The Mutts earned their fifth finals appearance (1981, 2006, 09, 27, 28).

In the 59^th China Series, Xiamen defeated Qingdao 4-2 to break up the Northern League’s five-year run of titles. The Mutts earned their third ring, having also won it all in 2006 and 2009. Second year LF Shubin Liu was finals MVP, getting 16 hits, 8 runs, 3 doubles, 2 triples, 3 homers, 7 RBI, 5 steals, and 1.306 OPS over 10 playoff starts.

Other notes: Tianjin set a league team record with 117 triples. Beijing’s .314 team OBP was the second-best in NL history. Shantou’s Feng Smith had a 32-game hitting streak, breaking the previous CLB record of only 27. Lung Ding set a bad record by getting caught stealing 85 times. Tao Cai became the 14^th member of the 400 home run club and Kenny Sang became the 17^th to score 1000 runs. Yihai Wu became the 10^th to 300 saves.

FuzzyRussianHat · 04-01-2025, 04:50 PM

Three-time defending Taiwan-Philippine Association champ Cebu again took the top seed and the Philippine League crown. The Crows were 97-65 and allowed the fewest runs in the TPA at 449, finishing eight games ahead of Davao. Cebu also set a new Austronesia Professional Baseball single-season attendance record with 2,378,383 tickets sold. The Devil Rays had the previous record at 2,373,133 in 2011.

The Taiwan League was more competitive with Tainan (90-72) edging out Taipei (89-73), and Taoyuan (85-77). The Titans ended a 21-year playoff drought going back to 2006. The defending TL winner Hsinchu fell to last place at 73-89. Although the Sweathogs fell off, that didn’t stop 1B Binh Tang from his record eighth Taiwan-Philippine Association MVP.

“The King” had won MVP from 2020-25, then again in 2027 and now 2028. Still only 28-years old, The Vietnamese lefty led in OBP (.373), slugging (.585), OPS (.957), wRC+ (188), and WAR (10.4). Tang had 187 hits, 91 runs, 39 doubles, 37 homers, 98 RBI, 30 steals, and a .318 batting average. He also became the 28^th APB slugger to 400 career home runs.

Tainan’s Kuan-Yang Kang repeated as Pitcher of the Year with the 27-year old Taiwanese lefty leading in strikeouts (402), FIP- (39), and WAR (10.9). His season was the 37^th in APB history with 400+ Ks. Kang added a 14-12 record, 1.89 ERA, 243.1 innings, and 154 ERA+. The Titans finally gave him a five-year, $189,300,000 extension in September 2029.

Defending APB champ Jakarta took the Sundaland Association’s top seed at 96-66 and won the Java Sea League for the fourth year running. The Jaguars had to fend off fierce challenges from Depok (91-71), Surabaya (90-72), and Palembang (87-75). Jakarta also broke their own SA attendance record set the prior year by selling 2,333,657 seats.

Johor Bahru again won the Malacca League at 90-72 with no one else above .500. This set up Blue Wings versus Jaguars for the fourth straight year in the Sundaland Association Championship. Interestingly, the top scoring team was Surabaya at 551 runs while Semarang allowed the fewest at 362.

Although Pekanbaru stunk at 73-89, they had the Sundaland Association MVP in LF James Yuwono. It was his third MVP, having also gotten it in 2024 and 2025. The 29-year old Indonesian lefty led in runs (96), homers (46), total bases (332), slugging (.606), OPS (.956), wRC+ (242), and WAR (9.6). Yuwono added 159 hits, 88 RBI, and a .290 average.

Jakarta’s Muhammad Danial Ismail won Pitcher of the Year in only his third season. The 23-year old Malaysian righty led in wins (23-4), strikeouts (327), and quality starts (31). Ismail also had a 1.69 ERA over 256 innings, 144 ERA+, and 7.3 WAR. His ERA was third with Semarang’s Yuchi Jiang first at 1.40. Ismail also had the second no-hitter of his career on April 14 with 4 Ks and 2 BBs facing Bandung.

Also worth a mention was Johor Bahru’s Normeezan Hasrin, who won his fourth Reliever of the Year. He repeated in his second year with the Blue Wings and had previously won in 2022 with Bandung and 2026 with Hsinchu. The 31-year old hometown favorite had one of the greatest relief seasons ever and had the very rare feat of leading all pitchers in WAR.

Hasrin posted 8.1 WAR over 109 innings, also leading in games (82) and saves (52) while posting a 0.50 ERA, 193 strikeouts, and 485 ERA+. He was one short of APB’s saves record of 53 set in 2013 by Metta Adam. The WAR total was the second highest in pro baseball history by any ROTY winner, behind only Maksym Badlo’s 8.3 in the 1983 Eurasian Professional Baseball season. Hasrin was second in Pitcher of the Year voting and had a 44 inning and 34 game scoreless streak during the season.

Cebu claimed a fourth consecutive Taiwan-Philippine Association Championship by defeating Tainan 4-2. The Crows were now nine-time TPA champs (1980, 90-92, 2012, 25-28), tying them with Zamboanga for the most. Meanwhile, Johor Bahru and Jakarta continued to trade Sundaland Association Championship wins. The Jaguars had won in 2025 and 2027, while the Blue Wings had taken it in 2026. Johor Bahru returned to the perch in 2028 by winning the series 4-1. JB earned their fourth pennant (2017, 18, 26, 28).

Cebu had failed against Jakarta in their recent Austronesia Championship meetings, but had beaten Johor Bahru in 2026. The Crows again got the better of the Blue Wings, taking the 64^th APB finale 4-2. Cebu was now a four-time APB champ (1980, 1991, 2026, 2028).

CF Chas Galindo was finals MVP in his ninth season for the Crows. In 12 playoff starts, the 31-year old Filipino had 14 hits, 6 runs, 1 triple, 2 homers, 6 RBI, 6 steals, and 0.7 WAR. Pitcher Hakimi Aziz also had a notable postseason, setting records for WHIP (0.29) and opponent’s OBP (.090). The 24-year old Malaysian won his three starts with a 0.38 ERA over 24 innings with 41 strikeouts and 1.7 WAR. Aziz tossed a shutout against both Tainan and Johor Bahru.

Other notes: In an opener role, Fitri Izwan set the APB single-season record with 67 starts as a pitcher. Both 1B Robert Corrado and 3B Rory Suiza won their 7^th Gold Gloves. Catcher Yi-Hsiang Chang won his 11^th straight Silver Slugger.

FuzzyRussianHat · 04-02-2025, 05:45 AM

In the Australasia League, Sydney at 105-57 outraced 101-61 Brisbane to return to the top spot. After going title-less in their first 58 seasons, the Snakes have now earned six pennants in 11 years (2018-19, 22, 24-25, 28). For the Black Bears, they notably had their first winning season since 2023 and their second-ever 100+ win season.

Adelaide was third at 94-68, followed by Melbourne at 88-74 and last year’s champ Canberra at 87-75. Christchurch notably dropped to 78-84 for their first losing campaign since 2010. Their 17-year streak fell one short of the OBA record set by Honolulu (1981-97).

Sydney 1B David Odom won Australasia League MVP, bouncing back after missing all of 2027 to a torn PCL. Only two days prior to the injury, Odom had signed an eight-year, $176 million extension with the Snakes. The 28-year old New Zealander returned and led in hits (225), doubles (37), stolen bases (91), average (.359), OBP (.396), and WAR (9.6). Odom also won his fifth Gold Glove and added 111 runs, 25 homers, 20 triples, 114 RBI, and .999 IPS. He beat out teammate Lewis Sundstrom for the honor despite Sundstrom’s 64 homers and 139 RBI.

Gold Coast’s Charlie Ornelas won Pitcher of the Year in only his third season. The 22-year old Filipino righty led in wins (22-13), ERA (2.28), innings (327.2), K/BB (8.1), quality starts (30), and shutouts (5). Ornelas added 372 strikeouts, 162 ERA+, and 10.6 WAR. He had tough competition from Christchurch’s Quinn Burry, who led in WAR (11.4) and strikeouts (436).

Honolulu crushed the Pacific League competition at 110-52 to end an eight-year pennant drought. It was their 15^th pennant, second behind Guam’s 17. The Honu led the league in both runs scored (725) and fewest allowed (514). It was a steep drop to Fiji in second at 95-67 and both Port Moresby and Vanuatu in third at 94-68.

This ended the five-year reign atop the PL by the Mud Hens, who won the Oceania Championship in 2023, 24, 26, and 27. Notably for the Freedom, they had a remarkable bounce back after an abysmal 53-109 in 2027. It was Fiji’s first winning season since 2020.

In his Vanuatu debut, RF Vic Ahn won Pacific League MVP. The 27-year old Australian lefty started with Hobart, then spent two years with Canberra after a trade. He joined the Wizards for 2028 on a five-year, $75,200,000 free agent deal. Ahn led in runs (101), and homers (45), while adding 185 hits, 108 RBI, .934 OPS, and 6.2 WAR. Ahn also became the seventh OBA slugger with a four home run game, doing it on August 9 against Honolulu.

Pitcher of the Year was Ellis Byron, who split the season between Timor and Fiji. The 28-year old Australian righty debuted with the Tapirs in 2021, but was traded at the deadline to the Freedom in the last year of his deal. Byron’s combined effort saw an ERA title (2.22) as well as league bests in quality starts (33), FIP- (74), and WAR (8.5). He added a 16-13 record over 312.2 innings with 327 strikeouts.

Byron left for MLB in the offseason on a six-year, $128,400,000 deal with Ottawa, but sadly suffered a stretched elbow ligament in his first spring training. He did rehab back and looked strong in a full 2030 for the Elks. Unfortunately, Byron had another elbow tear in 2031 and only managed sporadic relief appearances for the rest of his career.

The 69^th Oceania Championship was the second finals meeting between Sydney and Honolulu, as the Snakes had won 4-3 back in 2019. The end result was the same in 2028, but this time Sydney routed the Honu with a sweep. The Snakes became five-time OBA champs (2018, 2019, 2022, 2025, 2028). Finals MVP was 3B Colin Schindler, who was only a part-time starter in the regular season. The hometown boy went 10-19 in the series with 4 runs, 1 triple, 1 homer, 5 RBI, and 5 stolen bases.

Other notes: OBA saves leader Jayden Owens became the first in OBA history to reach 500 career saves, a mark only met by 11 others thus far. Owens finished the year with 514, which would be his final tally as he saw limited use in his final two years. As of 2037, Owens ranks 11^th in world history in saves. Samoa’s pitching staff set bad OBA records by allowing 1579 hits with a 9.87 H/9.

In other pitching milestones, Stef Page became the 10^th to 250 wins and the 9^th to 4500 strikeouts. It was his final year, finishing with 250 wins exactly and 4543 Ks. Sigfred Vela became the 15^th to 4000 Ks. Vela and Colton Stark became the 33^rd and 34^th to 200 wins. Willy Waldron was the 25^th batter to 2500 career hits.

CF Pouvalu Manu won his 13^th Gold Glove, tying Ashton Hughes for the position record. LF Martin Topio was the only other 13-time winner in within OBA. The OBA WARlord Jimmy Caliw notably won a world record 17 between SS/2B, but 11 were in OBA and six were in MLB. C Dan Bais won his 8^th Silver Slugger, setting a position record.

FuzzyRussianHat · 04-02-2025, 06:00 PM

No one was dominant in the European League as 92-70 earned the top seed for Volgograd atop the South Division. It was a nice rebound for the Voyagers, whose seven-year playoff streak was snapped in 2027 at 75-87. Volgograd has won the division seven times in the decade. Samara was second in the division at 86-76, which earned the second wild card for repeat playoff trips.

2020 expansion squad Gomel earned its first playoff berth and won its first North Division title at 90-72. The Griffins edged out defending Eurasian Professional Baseball champ Minsk by one. The 89-73 Miners got the first wild card for their third straight playoff berth. St. Petersburg (83-79) and Kazan (82-70) were the first teams out; both having won wild cards last year. The Polar Bears saw a four-year playoff streak ended despite leading the EL with 641 runs. Gomel allowed the fewest at 492.

Volgograd LF Seriozhenka Gusarov repeated as European League MVP as the 28-year old Russian led in hits (200), total bases (345), average (.328), slugging (.566), OPS (.926), and wRC+ (180). Gusarov added 79 runs, 32 doubles, 13 triples, 29 homers, 78 RBI, and 7.3 WAR. He also hit for the cycle in July against Krasnodar. Prior to the season, the Voyagers extended Gusarov at eight years and $101,300,000.

Gomel’s Araz Aliev won his second Pitcher of the Year in three seasons. The 29-year old Uzebk righty led in strikeouts (397), innings (277.1), K/BB (16.5), complete games (22), shutouts (6), FIP- (34), and WAR (13.98). Aliev added a 22-6 record, 1.98 ERA, and 160 ERA+. He missed the Triple Crown by eight ERA points and one win.

Aliev’s WAR ranked as the fourth-best single-season by an EPB pitcher, just shy of the record 14.17 by Taleh Ismailov from 1956. As of 2037, Aliev’s effort is the 46^th-best season by pitching WAR in all of pro baseball history. He also took second in MVP voting, more than living up to the seven-year, $77,100,000 extension he had received the prior winter.

Gomel ousted the reigning champ Minsk 3-1 in the first round while Volgograd swept Samara. The Griffins were making their first-ever European League Championship Series appearance, while the Voyagers were making their fourth of the decade. Just like in 2020, 22, and 23, Volgograd came away with the pennant. The Voyagers rolled to a 4-1 victory over the Griffins.

Defending Asian League champ Nur-Sultan repeated atop the West Division and took the top seed at 98-64. Perm was five back in the division at 93-69 and got the first wild card, ending a two-year playoff drought. The Setters allowed the fewest runs in the AL at 481.

Krasnoyarsk’s impressive East Division title streak grew to 10 years and their playoff streak went to 11. The 95-67 Cossacks fell three wins short of the top seed, but only won the division by three over Vladivostok. The 92-70 Shibas led in scoring at 654 and got the second wild card for their first-ever playoff trip. It was a nine game drop to the next wild card contenders with Omsk and Novosibirsk both 83-79.

Vladivostok was the last of the 2008 expansion teams to make it to the postseason. With Gomel’s berth in 2028, that left Khabarovsk as the only expansion team of any year yet to advance to the playoffs. The Rockets finished 82-80 in 2028, their first winning season in nine tries. Yekaterinburg notably struggled to 71-91, their first losing campaign since 2020. The Yaks had been to the ALCS four times in the prior five years.

Repeating as Asian League MVP was Vladivostok 1B Erik Farkas. The 29-year old Hungarian lefty led in runs (100), total bases (348), slugging (.576), OPS (.945), wRC+ (182), and WAR (8.2). Farkas added 189 hits, 42 homers, 99 RBI, and a .313 average. The Shibas locked him up prior to the season on an eight-year, $96,500,000 extension.

Pitcher of the Year was Nur-Sultan’s Vardan Aslan, who led in WHIP (0.86), and complete games (20). The 24-year old Uzbek righty had an 18-8 record, 2.00 ERA, 269.2 innings, 301 strikeouts, 153 ERA+, and 7.5 WAR. He was now living up to the #2 overall pick in the 2023 EPB Draft by the Setters.

Vladivostok defeated Nur-Sultan 3-1 in the first round and Perm outlasted Krasnoyarsk 3-2. For the Pitbulls, it was their third Asian League Championship Series of the decade (2021, 2025). However, the Shibas prevailed 4-1 over Perm in their first ALCS trip.

In the 74^th EPB Championship, Vladivostok defeated Volgograd 4-2 to become the 24^th different franchise to win an EPB title. Parity continued for the top spot with nine different champs throughout the 2020s. 1B Nikolai Karjakin was Vladivostok’s top playoff performer and won ALCS MVP. In 15 playoff starts, the 28-year old Russian had 20 hits, 12 runs, 5 doubles, 1 triple, 2 homers, and 10 RBI.

Other notes: In pitching milestones, Ivan Nikolin became the 31^st to 4000 career strikeouts. Svyatoslav Tyahnybok and Yevgeni Lyubimov were the 59^th and 60^th to 3500 Ks. Lyubimov also became the 60^th to 200 wins. Dimo Antonov became the 19^th reliever to 300 saves.

In hitting milestones, Afzal Koveshnikov and Gleb Korelin became the 29^th and 30^th to reach 2500 hits. Korelin also won his 7^th Silver Slugger at second base. Timofei Averkin won his 10^th Silver Slugger. It was his first as a DH, having won nine in right field previously. LF Brandon Chunchignorov won his 13^th and final Gold Glove, becoming the 3^rd in EPB history to win 13+. CF Robert Albrecht won his 7^th Gold Glove.

FuzzyRussianHat · 04-03-2025, 06:43 AM

Four teams fought for the Northern Conference’s top seed across two divisions and were separated by only two wins. Nantes, who debuted in the European Baseball Federation’s Elite Tier with a wild card in 2027, secured the West Division and top spot at 105-57. Hanover at 104-58 won the Central Division to grow their playoff streak to six. It was their first-ever division title in the top tier. The second place finishers both were 103-59 with Manchester in the West and three-time defending EBF champ Rotterdam in the Central.

The Crushers led the entire EBF with 840 runs scored while the Ravens allowed the fewest in the NC at 575. It was Manchester’s second-ever playoff berth (2020), while Rotterdam grew their streak to eight years. It was the seventh year running that the Ravens won 100+ games. Glasgow at 98-64 in the West got the third wild card for back-to-back berths.

Kharkiv and Stockholm tied at 93-69 atop the East Division with the Killer Bees winning the tiebreaker game to advance. This grew Kharkiv’s playoff streak to five and was their fourth division title of the run. The Swordsmen were five wins short in the wild card race. The next closest teams were Cologne (91-71) and Frankfurt (89-73). Notably Dublin fell to 75-87, their first losing season since 2017 and only their second losing campaign since 2004.

Northern Conference MVP went to Nantes LF Freddie Iwan, who was the WARlord at with 9.6. The 25-year old Welsh lefty had 221 hits, 107 runs, 35 doubles, 10 triples, 30 homers, 90 RBI, 50 stolen bases, a .376/.413/.624 slash, 1.036 OPS, and 180 wRC+. He also hit for the cycle in June against Glasgow. The Trappers gave Iwan a five-year, $118,400,000 extension in the offseason, although he ultimately opted out and left for Munich in 2031.

Pitcher of the Year went to Manchester’s David Ruiz, who led in WAR (8.0), WHIP (0.94), K/BB (12.8), quality starts (27), and FIP- (61). The 27-year old Spaniard had a 18-6 record in 231 innings, 261 ERA, 269 strikeouts, and 151 ERA+. The Crushers gave Ruiz a four-year, $62 million extension in the offseason.

Also notable was closer Edward Slomka winning his third Reliever of the Year with Nantes, leading with 45 saves. The 34-year old Pole made his EBF return after a three-year MLB excursion. Slomka’s previous ROTY wins came in 2019 and 2021 for Thessaloniki.

In the first round, Kharkiv edged Glasgow 2-1 and Rotterdam outlasted Manchester 2-1. Both top seeds held in round two with Hanover surviving in five against the Killer Bees and Nantes sweeping the Ravens. This ended Rotterdam’s four-peat bids and marked the first time since 2022 that they didn’t make the Northern Conference Championship. Both Hanover and Nantes earned their first-ever NCC appearance. The Hitmen would pull off the 4-2 road victory over the Trappers and became the sixth original E2L team to make it to the final.

The Southern Conference wasn’t nearly as top heavy with only 104-58 Munich with triple-digit wins. The Mavericks won a loaded Central Division to grow their division title streak to eight seasons and playoff streak to nine. Munich won 100+ games for the sixth time in that run and allowed the fewest runs in EBF at 554. Their offense also set a new conference team record with 297 doubles.

All three wild cards came from the Central with Ljubljana (96-66), Palermo (95-67), and Bratislava (92-70) advancing. Defending conference champ Zagreb was fifth in the division at 84-78, ending their playoff streak at eight seasons. The Gulls did still extend their streak of winning seasons to 11 years. Both Munich and Rotterdam are tied for the longest active such streak at 12.

For the Juggernauts, this was their first-ever playoff berth in their 12 seasons in the EBF Elite. Ljubljana had only just posted their first winning season in 2027 at 83-79. The Priests picked up their third wild card in five years. The Blue Falcons had just made it back to the EBF Elite, having won the Second League Championship in 2027. It was Bratislava’s first playoff berth in the top tier since 2007.

The #2 seed went to West Division champ Barcelona at 95-67, earning back-to-back division crowns. Marseille led in scoring at 782 runs, but their 90-72 record was five short in the division race and two away for the third wild card. In the East Division, Odesa (87-75) outlasted Chisinau (85-77) to end the Counts’ five-year hold on the division crown. This was the first-ever playoff trip for the Drifters, who joined EBF in a 2000 expansion.

Repeating as MVP was 1B Matt Gomez, although he was now with Marseille. He won in 2027 with Zaragoza, but left the Gold Hawks for free agency and got eight years and $204,800,000 from the Musketeers. The 27-year old Spaniard led in runs (121), OBP (.434), and WAR (10.3). Gomez had 201 hits, 41 doubles, 33 homers, 111 RBI, and 1.037 OPS.

Munich’s Nejc Novak won his third Pitcher of the Year, having previously won in 2022 and 2024. The 32-year old Slovene righty led in ERA (1.66), quality starts (23), and FIP- (61). It was only the third time in the 2000s that a qualifying pitcher had an ERA below 1.70. Novak’s mark ranks 29^th as of 2037. He also had a 20-4 record, 10 saves, 233 innings, 244 strikeouts, 224 ERA+, and 7.6 WAR.

The first round had Bratislava over Odesa 2-1 and Ljubljana over Palermo 2-0. Top seed Munich bested the Blue Falcons 3-1 to earn their fourth straight trip to the Southern Conference Championship. Perhaps even more impressive, it was the ninth time in eleven years that the Mavericks were playing for the pennant; a run only rivaled by Zurich during their record 21-year playoff streak.

A newcomer approached though as Ljubljana shocked Barcelona 3-2 in the second round for a conference finals trip in their first-ever playoff appearance. The Juggernauts gave a valiant effort, but couldn’t keep the magic going as Munich prevailed 4-2. The Mavericks won their sixth pennant since 2018 and their 12^th overall, now tied with the Mountaineers for the most finals trips.

The 79^th European Championship was the second all-German matchup, joining Munich’s 2021 win over Hamburg. For the first time since 2015, the finale needed all seven games. Hanover won the war of attrition over the Mavericks, becoming the 30^th different franchise to win it all. The Hitmen joined Antwerp (2015) and Chisinau (2024) as the only champs that began as European Second League teams back in 2005.

Finals MVP went to LF Felix Timm in his seventh year with Hanover. The 28-year old Austrian and 2024 conference MVP had 17 playoff starts with 18 hits, 12 runs, 2 doubles, 2 triples, 5 homers, and 19 RBI. He had committed the prior spring to an eight-year, $200 million extension with the Hitmen. Five different teams from Germany now have a European Championship as Hanover joined Munich, Berlin, Cologne, and Hamburg.

Other notes: Kharkiv’s Danut Alecandrescu had the 17^th four home run game in EBF history versus Brno on September 13. Max Gerlach, Stefanos Emmanoulidis, and Zeljko Siladjdzic each reached 1500 runs scored, a mark now met by 26 in EBF. Gerlach and Theofilos Psarras became the 31^st and 32^nd to 1500 RBI. Siladjdzic became the 46^th to reach 2500 hits. Christian Brunner became the 40^th member of the 500 home run club and won his 7^th Silver Slugger at 3B. Slawomir Boguski became the 28^th pitcher to 3500 strikeouts,

Promotion/Relegation: In a normal season, Hamburg (57-105), Krakow (60-102), and Wroclaw (62-100) would’ve been relegated from the Northern Conference for losing 100+ games and Skopje (65-97) would’ve been demoted with the lowest Southern Conference record. Those teams caught a lucky break as the European Baseball Federation would choose to expand and realign in 2029. More details on that to come in a later post.

The EBF Elite Tier conferences would shift from three divisions of eight teams (24 total) to two large 13 team divisions (26 total). To facilitate this growth, no teams would be relegated based on 2028 results. Meanwhile the top four from the 2028 European Second League season (Lodz, Lyon, Helsinki, and Sheffield) were promoted to fill the four new spots.

FuzzyRussianHat · 04-03-2025, 06:59 PM

The Bolivar League’s power was concentrated in the Peru-Bolivia Division with Lima earning repeat titles and the top seed at 109-53. Close behind was Santa Cruz at 102-60 for the first wild card, giving the Crawfish their fifth consecutive playoff berth and fourth straight 100+ win season. The Lobos led all of Beisbol Sudamerica with 903 runs and had a .520 team slugging percentage; the second-best mark in BSA history behind their own .523 from the prior year. Santa Cruz allowed the fewest runs in the league at 611.

The next best two records came from the Colombia-Ecuador Division with Medellin on top at 99-63, ending an eight-year playoff drought for the Mutiny. Three-time defending BL champ Barranquilla was second at 93-69 and grew their playoff streak to seven seasons as the second wild card. Quito was third at 88-74, five short in the wild card race.

Three teams fought in a weaker Venezuela Division with Caracas again coming out on top. The 85-77 Colts fended off 83-79 efforts by both Maracaibo and Valencia. Caracas claimed the division for the fourth straight season and for the 11^th time in 12 years. The Colts also posted their 13^th consecutive winning season. The Mariners notably had their first winning season since 2019.

Bolivar League MVP went to Lima RF Marc Melgar in his fifth season for his hometown squad. Nicknamed “Alley Cat,” Melgar led in runs (134), total bases (426), batting average (.404), slugging (.754), OPS (1.210), and WAR (9.9). He became the seventh qualifying hitter in BSA history to hit above .400. Melgar also had only the eighth ever BSA season of an OPS above 1.200. He was also only seven short of the single-season runs record.

The 26-year old Peruvian added 228 hits, 43 doubles, 13 triples, 43 home runs, 128 RBI, 65 stolen bases, .456 OBP, and 194 wRC+. Melgar was the #1 pick in the 2022 BSA Draft and the Lobos locked him up after the 2028 season with an eight-year, $160,500,000 extension. He had emerged as an absolute megastar both in his hometown of Lima and throughout all of Peru.

The Lobos also had the Pitcher of the Year Santino Condori. The 28-year old Peruvian led in wins (23-8) and posted a 2.93 ERA over 255.1 innings, 246 strikeouts, 142 ERA+, and 5.8 WAR. Lima also had the #3 pick in 2022’s draft and used it for Condori.

Caracas upset Barranquilla 2-0 in the first round to end the Blues’ four-peat hopes. The Colts gave top seed Lima a fight in the divisional series, but the Lobos escaped with a 3-2 win. This secured repeat trips to the Bolivar League Championship Series for Lima. Santa Cruz swept Medellin on the other side for their second BLCS in three years. The Lobos rolled to a sweep over the Crawfish to end a 26-year pennant drought. Lima became nine-time Bolivar League champs (1935, 1968, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2028).

Brasilia dominated the Southern Cone League field at 111-51, becoming the league’s first 110+ win team since Fortaleza in 2009. The Bearcats got their second playoff trip in three years, but it was their first North Division title since 2012. Brasilia led the league in runs scored (747) and led all of BSA with 500 runs allowed.

2026 Copa Sudamerica champ Buenos Aires bounced back after just missing the 2027 playoff field. The Atlantics at 100-62 claimed their first Southeast Division title since 2019. Sao Paulo’s four-year division title streak ended, but the 92-70 Padres extended their playoff steak to five seasons. They were the second wild card, beating out defending league champ Manaus by four games (88-74) and Rosario by five (87-75).

In a tight South Central Division, Concepcion (97-65) squeaked by Santiago (96-66). The Chiefs finally ended what was an eight-year division title streak for the Saints. Concepcion had their sixth playoff trip in seven years and their 15^th since 2011. Santiago was the first wild card and grew their postseason run to nine years. Like the Chiefs, the Saints have only missed the playoffs thrice over the last 18 seasons. Both Chilean teams had come to expect regular postseason trips.

Santiago two-way star Will Arocha repeated as both Southern Cone League MVP and Pitcher of the Year. It was the third MVP win for the 27-year old Chilean in only his fifth season. On the mound, Arocha led in WAR (9.3), quality starts (27), complete games (19), and shutouts (7). He also had a 17-9 record, 2.36 ERA, 267 innings, 286 strikeouts, 152 ERA+, and a Gold Glove as a pitcher. Arocha also played 88 games at second base and had 126 games total offensively, posting 6.3 WAR, 149 hits, 70 runs, 24 doubles, 15 triples, 21 homers, 82 RBI, 43 stolen bases, .338/.372/.603 slash, and 185 wRC+.

Arocha’s combined 15.6 WAR broke his own two-way record in BSA and was the 11^th-best two-way WAR in world baseball history. His season was the 4^th-best WAR by any BSA player, behind only pitchers Mohamed Ramos (17.94 in 1936, 17.65 in 1938) and Timoteo Caruso (16.03 in 1942). Arocha again won MVP, Pitcher of the Year, a Gold Glove, and Silver Slugger. Prior to Arocha, that sweep had only been done once in all of professional baseball history; now he had done it back-to-back years.

Sao Paulo ousted Santiago 2-0 in the first round, then stunned top seed Brasilia 3-1 in the divisional series. The Padres earned their fourth Southern Cone Championship trip in five years. Buenos Aires swept Concepcion to set up a rematch of the 2026 league final. The Atlantics again prevailed over Sao Paulo, winning this time 4-2. Buenos Aires became 11-time Southern Cone champs (1941-42, 1945-47, 1963, 1975, 1980, 1982, 2026, 2028).

Despite the general successes of both teams, the 98^th Copa Sudamerica was the first finals battle between Lima and Buenos Aires. The series ended up relatively uneventful with the Atlantics defeating the Lobos 4-1. BA won its second Cup in three years and led all teams with eight overall (1941, 1942, 1945, 1963, 1975, 1980, 2026, 2028).

Finals MVP was 1B Sedat Erdogan, who had an unusual path to Beisbol Sudamerica. The 28-year old Turk had flamed out as a prospect in the Asian Baseball Federatio. Valencia gave him a shot in BSA in 2024 and he spent part of four years there as a backup. He was cut in early 2027 by the Velocity and grabbed shortly thereafter by Buenos Aires.

Erdogan barely played in 2027, but became a starter for the first time in his career for 2028. In 14 playoff starts, Erdogan had 16 hits, 14 runs, 4 homers, and 10 RBI. He’d get taken in the offseason by Cochabamba in an expansion draft, where he spent three unremarkable seasons before retiring. Erdogan finished with only 6.5 WAR for his career, but earned a spot in history with his playoff performance.

Other notes: Cordoba’s Hernan Bautista tossed BSA’s 50^th Perfect Game on May 19 with seven strikeouts facing Porto Alegre. Maturin’s Caleb van Noord had 38 triples, tied for the 4^th-best single season in BSA history and three short of the BSA record. In an opener role, Asa McLennan set a league record for pitching starts at 60.

In batting milestones, Juan Rizo and Benjamim Pinheiro became the 24^th and 25^th to reach 1500 runs scored. Jeffry Lucero became the 58^th member of the 500 home run club. Pablo Amor became the 80^th to 2500 career hits. SS Eddy Corunha won his 7^th straight Silver Slugger. In pitching, Igor Vigil was the 38^th to 300 career saves.

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.

FuzzyRussianHat · 04-04-2025, 09:35 PM

Leon ran away with the Mexican League’s top seed at 108-54, repeating as South Division champ. The Lions’ playoff streak grew to four seasons as they allowed the fewest runs in the Central American Baseball Association at 534. Leon was also tied for the most scored in the ML at 719 along with Torreon. Mexicali won the North Division at 96-66. Although the Maroons got a repeat playoff berth, this was their first division title since 2007.

The four wild cards went to Cancun (92-70), San Luis Potosi (91-71), Torreon (90-72) and defending ML champ Guadalajara (86-76). Missing the cut was Mexico City (84-78), Monterrey (83-79), Ecatepec (82-80), and Puebla (81-81). The Captains and Hellhounds both earned repeat playoff trips. The Tomahawks ended a three-year drought and the Potros snapped a nine-year skid.

Despite being the last team in, Guadalajara’s pitching staff notably had 1718 strikeouts and a 10.67 K/9. Those ranked as the fifth-most Ks and second-best K/9 in CABA history. The Aztecs as the first team out saw their playoff streak ended at seven years. Last year’s top seed Tijuana notably fell from 104 wins to a lackluster 77-85. It was the first losing campaign since 2013 by the Toros. Meanwhile Juarez dropped to 71-91, their first losing season since 2013. The Jesters had won at least 80 games each season back to 2011. The last time that Tijuana and Juarez were concurrently below 80 wins was 1990.

The playoff miss didn’t stop Mexico City 2B Leonardo Martinez from repeating as Mexican League MVP. The 28-year old righty again led in home runs (56), RBI (124), total bases (395), and WAR (9.3). Martinez added 104 runs, 184 hits, a .308/.343/.661 slash, 1.004 OPS, and 201 wRC+. He stayed one more year with the Aztecs before getting a seven-year, $219,600,000 free agent deal in 2030 with Haiti.

Tijuana’s struggles didn’t hinder ace Richard Wright, who joined Junior Vergara as CABA’s only eight-time Pitcher of the Year winners. It was the fifth straight for Wright, who was in his tenth season for the Toros. The 30-year old Jamaican lefty led in wins (22-8), strikeouts (375), quality starts (24), complete games (15), shutouts (4), FIP- (39), and WAR (11.6).

Wright led in both Ks and WAR for the eighth time in his career. It was actually the first time since his rookie season that he DIDN’T win the ERA title. His 1.97 ranked third with Mexicali’s Stinky Pasillas taking first at 1.59. Wright notably had his fifth sub-two ERA season, posting 176 ERA+ over 247 innings. In 2028, Wright became, the 81^st CABA pitcher to 3000 career strikeouts.

The first round of the playoffs saw San Luis Potosi over Torreon and Guadalajara over Cancun, both 2-1. The division champs held firm in round two as Mexicali won 3-1 against the Potros and Leon swept the defending champ Hellhounds. The Lions made their first Mexican League Championship Series trip since their 2018 pennant. For the Maroons, they last made it with their 2007 title. Top-seeded Leon continued their overall dominance and took the MLCS 4-1 against Mexicali. The Lions secured their tenth Mexican League title, having also won in 1927, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1986, and 2018.

Last year, only one team in the Caribbean League won 100+ games. In 2028, four achieved that mark with a fierce battle for the top seed and two of the division titles. Guatemala ended up the #1 seed narrowly at 108-54 atop the Central Division, while West Division champ Santo Domingo was 107-55. The Ghosts grew their playoff streak to eight, while the defending CL winner Dolphins’ streak grew to four.

Both teams had historic offensive seasons. Santo Domingo scored the most runs in CABA history at 938. The excitement from that led to a new CABA attendance record as well at 2,868,844. Although Guatemala had only 850 runs by comparison, they set new CABA team records for batting average (.299), on-base percentage (.345), and hits (1712).

Even with these offenses, both only won their division titles by six games. In the Central, Honduras was 102-60 to grow their playoff streak to six. Bahamas went 101-61 in the West to extend their streak to four. It was the Buccaneers who allowed the fewest runs at 556.

Those teams also had tough battles for the three wild card slots. Haiti at 99-63 got the remaining spot while Nicaragua (97-65) and Havana (90-72) missed the cut. With that, five of the six playoff teams were repeats. The lone difference was Puerto Rico won a terrible East Division at 82-80, two games ahead of last year’s winner Suriname (80-82) and four better than Trinidad.

Santo Domingo 3B Jamel Forsyth won his second Caribbean League MVP, having previously won in 2024. The 31-year old Grenadan lefty led in the triple slash (.381/.428/.706), OPS (1.135), wRC+ (192), WAR (10.9), runs (131), and RBI (147). Forsyth also had 214 hits and 50 homers, falling eight short of a Triple Crown. The Dolphins gave their superstar a new four-year, $122 million extension the following spring.

Guatemala’s Israel Montague remained a force with his seventh Pitcher of the Year win of his nine-year career. The 31-year old Panamanian lefty earned his second Triple Crown with a 22-6 record, 1.96 ERA, and 398 strikeouts. It was Montague’s seventh ERA title and his fifth time with the most Ks.

He also led in WHIP (0.74), and K/BB (15.3) over 243 innings with a 204 ERA+. Surprisingly, Montague’s 10.5 WAR was second in the league. Bahamas ace Carlos Montes had 11.0 WAR, but comparatively had a 2.52 ERA and 324 Ks. Montague posted his sixth sub-two ERA season.

Bahamas edged Haiti 2-1 and Honduras swept Puerto Rico in the first round. Both wild cards then swept their high-powered foes in round two. The Buccaneers downed Guatemala 3-1 and the Horsemen survived 3-2 against defending champ Santo Domingo. After many years of mediocrity, Bahamas earned its third straight appearance in the Caribbean League Championship Series. Their lone title came against Honduras in 2026.

The Horsemen got their revenge over the Buccaneers 4-2 to end a 16-year pennant drought. Honduras was now 18-time Caribbean champs (1919, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1953, 1958, 1959, 1963, 1991, 1993, 2003, 2004, 2011, 2028). The Horsemen led all Caribbean teams and were now tied with Juarez for the most finals appearances. Honduras has been to the CLCS a staggering 44 times, which is the most LCS trips by any team in any world league.

With both teams successes, it was unsurprisingly not the first time that Honduras and Leon had met for the Central American Baseball Association Championship. That said, a few generations had passed since the three previous battles. In 1939, the Lions won their first-ever title in a seven-game classic. In 1942, the Horsemen got their revenge in another seven-game showdown. Round three came in 1959 with Leon surviving yet another seven-game thriller.

Round four in 2028 lived up to the historic billing with the 118^th CABA Championship also going the distance. Honduras evened things up against Leon to become nine-time CABA kings. (1926, 1940, 1942, 1958, 1963, 1993, 2003, 2011, 2028). This tied the Horsemen for the second-most with Santo Domingo, while Mexico City’s 11 held the top spot. Finals MVP went to 1B Grady Hall in his fifth season with Honduras. It was the first as a full-time starter for the 26-year old Jamaican. In 19 playoff starts, Hall had 26 hits, 11 runs, 4 doubles, 2 homers, 5 RBI, and 10 stolen bases.

Other notes: CABA’s 37^th perfect game came on May 31 from Guadalajara’s Vicente Perez with 16 strikeouts against Chihuahua. Noah Breton became the first with 900 CABA home runs. He was one of 20 players with 900+ professional homers through the 2028 campaign. Marcelo Campa became only the 26^th member of CABA’s 600 homer club and the 23^rd to 1500 runs scored. Luis Moran was the 64^th to reach 500 homers and Jonas Pimentel was the 63^rd to 2500 hits. Amauris Huerta was the 53^rd pitcher to 200 wins. SS Ferdinand Varela won his 7^th Silver Slugger.

FuzzyRussianHat · Yesterday, 06:58 AM

Ottawa ran away with the National Association’s top seed in 2028 at 105-57, finishing 12 games better than the next team. The Elks were second in both runs scored (818) and fewest allowed (618). The Canadian capital also set a new world season attendance record at 3,431,240, besting the previous high of 3,426,361 by Los Angeles in 2013. Although Ottawa earned repeat playoff berths, it was their first Northeast Division title since 2022.

The #2 seed was Upper Midwest Division champ Cleveland at 93-69, which ended a 19-year playoff drought and 22-year division title drought. Chicago was a close second at 91-71 and earned the first wild card. The Cubs’ playoff streak grew to three years and was their eighth playoff berth of the decade.

The East Division had Raleigh (91-71) survive against Philadelphia (90-72), Washington (89-73), Virginia Beach (87-75), and Baltimore (85-77). The Raptors got their third berth in four years and second division title. Meanwhile the Lower Midwest Division went to 89-73 Indianapolis, topping Wichita by three and Louisville by seven. The Racers earned back-to-back playoff berths, but it was their first division crown since 2013.

The Phillies at 90-72 got the second wild card to end a three-year playoff drought. Washington and the Northeast’s Halifax were tied for the last spot at 89-73. The Hound Dogs won the tiebreaker game to secure repeat playoff trips. The Admirals’ playoff streak ended at five despite leading in scoring with 830 runs. Grand Rapids allowed the fewest runs at 86-76.

Toronto (87-75), Virginia Beach (87-75), Wichita (86-76), Grand Rapids (86-76), Baltimore (85-77), Buffalo (85-77), and defending National Association champ Montreal (85-77) were all right in the mix, but fell just short. The Maples notably saw a four-year playoff streak end. Meanwhile, Cincinnati’s eight-year streak snapped as the Reds fell to 79-83. That was their first losing season since 2017, which had been the longest active streak of winning campaigns. For the Blue Sox, they notably had their first winning season in a decade.

Indianapolis 1B Thomas Rich repeated as National Association MVP. The 29-year old lefty from Westlake, Ohio led in runs (120), total bases (410), OPS (1.088), and wRC+ (201). Rich had 211 hits, 34 doubles, 51 homers, 130 RBI, a .347/.414/.678 slash, and 9.2 WAR.

Pitcher of the Year also had a repeat with Grand Rapids ace Callum McGonagal. The 26-year old Irish righty led in ERA (2.33), WHIP (0.95), complete games (17), shutouts (7), FIP- (55), and WAR (10.3). McGonagal added a 20-9 record, 259.1 innings, 260 strikeouts, and 170 ERA+. He was only one win and six strikeouts short of a Triple Crown season. Among his shutouts was a no-hitter on September 1 with 11 Ks and two walks against Brooklyn.

Two division winners got first round sweeps with Indianapolis over Chicago and Cleveland over Halifax. Philadelphia meanwhile upset their divisional foe Raleigh 3-2. The Phillies gave top seeded Ottawa a fight in round two, but the Elks escaped with a 3-2 series win. The Racers then rolled to a sweep over the Cobras.

For Ottawa, it was their first National Association Champion ship Series trip since their 2003 pennant. Indianapolis hadn’t been there since their 1999 trophy. The Elks lived up to their top seed and cruised to a 4-1 NACS win over the Racers. Despite the drought, it was Ottawa’s 12^th pennant (1924, 25, 29, 38, 40, 56, 65, 75, 83, 86, 2003, 28). Philadelphia was the only NA squad with more at 14.

The two-time defending World Series and Baseball Grand Champion San Diego again led the American Association atop the Southwest Division at 108-54. The Seals led all of Major League Baseball in runs scored (927) and led the AA in fewest allowed (602). San Diego picked up its fifth playoff berth in six years. Southeast Division champ Charlotte gave them a run for the top seed at 104-58. The Canaries earned their second division crown in three seasons and their first 100+ win season since 2012. Last year’s division champ Nashville dropped from 100 wins down to 77-85.

Dallas took the South Central Division at 98-64 in an impressive rebound from a 100-loss 2027 campaign. It was the Dalmatians’ first playoff trip since 2022 and first division title since 1998. Last year’s division winner Houston was second at 93-69. Seattle (97-65) sneaked by Denver (96-66) for the Northwest Division title, growing the Grizzlies’ division title and playoff streak to six seasons.

The Dragons and Southwest runner-up Los Angeles were the first wild cards at 96-66. Denver snapped a five-year drought and the Angels earned their third berth in four years. The Hornets nabbed the final slot at 93-69 for repeat playoff trips and their fifth in seven years. The first teams out were Oakland (89-73), Oklahoma City (88-74), San Antonio (87-75), Tampa (87-75), Calgary (87-75), Atlanta (86-76), and Birmingham (85-77). The expansion Boomers had their first-ever winning season. Fellow expansion teams El Paso and Anchorage were wild cards in 2027, but fell to 81-81 and 75-89 in 2028, respectively.

Orlando had MLB’s worst record at 55-107 and set a new franchise worst. Despite that, it was Orcas DH Jackson Brafford that won American Association MVP. Even as a DH on a trash team, it was hard to ignore breaking MLB’s single season home run record. Brafford smacked a nice 69 dingers, passing the record of 67 set in 2012 by Killian Fruechte and matched in 2022 by Dean Ott.

The 27-year old lefty from Frederick, Maryland also led in total bases (461), slugging (.720), OPS (1.117), and WAR (8.3). Brafford’s total bags ranked second in MLB history behind Sebastian Lunde’s 476 from 1949. He added 215 hits, 134 runs, 35 doubles, 146 RBI, .336 average, .397 OBP, and 180 wRC+. Brafford had stayed committed to Orlando, signing an eight-year, $162 million extension before the 2027 season.

Pitcher of the Year went to ninth-year Charlotte righty Dylan Reed. The 29-yaer old from Cocoa, Florida won the ERA title (2.68) and led in wins (23-8) and quality starts (24). Reed struck out 200 over 268.2 innings with a 165 ERA+ and 6.7 WAR. In February, Reed inked a five-year, $111,600,000 extension with the Canaries.

Charlotte swept Houston, Dallas downed Denver 3-1, and Los Angeles upset Seattle 3-2 in the first round. The Dalmatians then outlasted the Canaries 3-2 in round two while San Diego dispatched the Angels 3-1. For Dallas, they earned their first trip to the American Association Championship Series since their 1980 World Series win. This was an incredible accomplishment considering the Dalmatians were a putrid 62-100 the prior year.

They were the feel good story, but Dallas ran into the historic juggernaut that was San Diego. The Seals rolled to a 4-1 victory for their third straight pennant and fourth in six years. San Diego now had 13 American Association pennants (1936, 55, 56, 58, 66, 67, 2007, 08, 10, 23, 26, 27, 28), tying them with Phoenix for the most. The Seals were the fourth in AA history to three-peat, joining Houston (1910-12), Memphis (1913-15), and New Orleans (1970-72).

The 128^th World Series had two of the most successful MLB franchises squaring off for the second time. Back in 1956, San Diego won a 4-3 classic over Ottawa to repeat as MLB champs. The Seals ended up winning three titles in four years having also won in 1958. SD now had another shot at the elusive three-peat, an incredibly tough feat considering the number of teams and talent level in MLB. The only previous three-peats came from Houston (1910-12), Philadelphia (the lone four-peat from 1941-44), and New Orleans (1970-72).

San Diego joined that exclusive list, defeating Ottawa in a 4-3 thriller. The Seals became the first ten-time World Series winner (1936, 55, 56, 58, 66, 2007, 10, 26, 27, 28). They had been tied with Denver for the most titles at nine. In his 13^th season catching for SD, Jim Fisher earned World Series MVP. The three-time Gold Glover in 16 playoff starts had 20 hits, 11 runs, 3 doubles, 7 homers, and 16 RBI.

San Diego became the sixth franchise in all of pro baseball history to win at least 10 overall league crowns. With them were Minsk (14 in EPB), Kano (12 in WAB), Ahmedabad (12 in SAB), Mexico City (11), and Kyiv (8 in EPB, 2 in EBF). It was already a historic dynasty with the 119-win 2027 squad considered by many as the best team in baseball history. The Seals now had a shot at an unthinkable accomplishment, a third straight Baseball Grand Championship.

Other notes: Ottawa reliever Lucas Oldham had an awesome playoff run, setting playoff records for WHIP (0.36), and opponent’s OBP (.109) with a minimum 15 innings required. Oldham was also only the 11^th qualifying pitcher in MLB playoff history to post an ERA of zero. The 24-year old Englishman tossed 16.2 scoreless innings over eight appearances with four saves and 23 strikeouts.

61-101 Milwaukee had historically bad pitching with a 5.03 team ERA and 801 earned runs allowed. The only National Association team worse over 128 seasons was the 1912 Baltimore Orioles with a 5.22 ERA and 834 earned runs allowed. Detroit’s offense had 85 triples, tying the NA team record set in 1991 by Buffalo.

Despite the feat’s rarity, four players had hitting streaks of 30+ games in 2028. Miami’s J.C Wener was the best at 35, tied for the 12^th-longest in MLB history. The record remained Jayden Gagnon’s 49 from 1930. MLB home run king Isaac Cox became the first to 900 dingers and the 13^th to 3500 career hits. Through 2028, Cox was one of 20 sluggers in baseball history with 900+ professional homers.

Cox still looked good at age 41 with 39 homers, 115 RBI, .922 OPS, and 4.1 WAR. He now had 2264 RBI and 6981 total bases, putting him in very close to the #1 spot held by Stan Provost of 2271 RBI and 6989 total bases. Cox’s 2198 runs were second, but still 150 short of Provost. Cox also got to 138.2 career WAR, passing Elijah Cashman’s 136.6 for 3^rd among MLB position players. #2 Graham Gregor would still be a tough chase at 147.95, while the leader Morgan Short was almost certainly unreachable at 170.47.

The 600 home run club also grew from 33 members to 38 in 2028 as Titan Gormley, Itumeleng Sagandira, Jason Perazzo, Fred Hynes, and Peter Schon all reached the mark. Perazzo and Sagandira also reached 1500 RBI, achieved by 125 MLB sluggers. 111 had now reached 500 homers with the additions of Gilbert Windemere, Dennis Peters, and Jeff Bonner to the list. Alberto Peron became the 67^th member of the 3000 hit club.

In pitching notables, Vincent Lepp became the 6^th to 4500 strikeouts, finishing the year at 4539. The 39-year old had 5.5 WAR, but a 4.35 ERA and 131 Ks with Houston in 2028. Lepp would keep pitching in 2029 with Calgary, but Julius Jordan’s top Ks mark of 4988 was still a long way away. Lepp’s 321 wins were also still 40 away from Parker Harpaz’s top mark. At 140.6 WAR, Lepp was just behind Harpaz (141.8) for third among MLB pitchers. Ned Giles (151.7) and Newton Persaud (145.8) were also ahead.

In other pitching notables, Storm de Ruyter was the 50^th to reach 250 wins. LF Max Baldwin won his 12^th and final Gold Glove. He was the position leader and one of only five at any spot in MLB to win the award 12+ times. 1B Jan Rychtr won his 8^th Gold Glove. Remarkably winning his first MLB Gold Glove at age 41 was the legendary shortstop Harvey Coyle. This gave him 14 Gold Gloves total when combined with his 13 in the European Baseball Federation.

Coyle was in his second MLB season with Ottawa, having missed half of 2027 to injury. In 148 games, the Englishman was good for an AA-best 10.1 WAR along with 47 home runs, 105 RBI, and .947 OPS. The professional baseball all-time WARlord now had amassed 227.1 career WAR.

Coyle now had a combined 1051 homers, moving past Ratan Canduri (1049) and Antonio Arceo (1043) on the all-time list. Only still ahead were Majed Darwish (1271) and Nordine Soule (1073). Another milestone reached by Coyle in 2028 was 2000+ combined professional runs, a mark shared with only 27 others. Coyle was also up to 2383 RBI which placed him 7^th in the world leaderboard.

FuzzyRussianHat · Yesterday, 07:27 PM

The 19^th Baseball Grand Championship was incidentally to be hosted in San Diego. The host sites had been bid on and years in advance, but it was remarkable that the Seals had a chance to make history at home. San Diego had become the first back-to-back Grand Champion and now could make it an improbable three-peat.

Joining the Seals in the field as auto-bids was World Series runner up Ottawa, CABA’s Honduras and Leon, EAB’s Goyang and Nagoya, BSA’s Lima and Buenos Aires, EBF’s Hanover and Munich, EPB’s Vladivostok, OBA’s Sydney, APB’s Cebu, CLB’s Xiamen, WAB’s Freetown, SAB’s Mandalay, ABF’s Tehran, ALB’s Algiers, and AAB’s Cape Town. SAB’s Ahmedabad was the at-large team as a 110-win runner up that lost to 124-win Mandalay.

Although San Diego had won its third straight World Series, it was the Fall Classic runner-up Ottawa that ended up with the last laugh. The Elks at 15-4 stood alone as the Baseball Grand Champion. Ottawa was the second World Series runner-up to win the BGC, joining Philadelphia in 2010 who also did it after losing the MLB title to the Seals. The Elks were the fourth to win the BGC without winning their league’s overall crown, joining 2015 Johannesburg and 2024 Dublin.

Ottawa was the ninth MLB team to win it all, but joined the Phillies as the only National Association squads. The Elks also were the first Canadian team to achieve the feat. Ottawa was third in runs (98) and fourth in runs allowed (68), but had the best run differential at +30.

There was a four-way tie for second at 13-6 with the tiebreakers officially putting Hanover second, Sydney third, Vladivostok fourth, and Mandalay fifth. Alone in sixth was San Diego at 12-7, who led all teams with 107 runs. The Seals also had the second-best run differential at +23.

The Hitmen became the third EBF team to finish in the top two, as Dublin and Chisinau were one-two in 2024. The Snakes were the third OBA team to crack the top three along with 2016 champ Guam and 2011 runner-up Tahiti. The Shibas were the first EPB team to earn a top four spot.

Although officially fifth, Mandalay felt vindicated as an all-time great team. The Mammoths won the SAB title at 124-38, tied for the best-ever season by a champ along with 1995 Ahmedabad. However, 120+ win seasons had been far more common in SAB and detractors had dismissed the league’s great teams as being overrated due to a lack of parity.

When you combined their regular season, playoffs, and BGC games, Mandalay finished with a 148-47 record. This gave the Mammoths the most professional wins ever in a season and the best win percentage at .759. 2027 San Diego had set the wins mark at 144-53 and still got the nod by many as the era’s GOAT team since they capped it off with a repeat Grand Championship win.

The CABA squads Honduras and Leon were both next at 11-8 with the Lions seventh and Horsemen eighth via the tiebreaker. Rounding out the top half at 10-9 were both Lima and Munich. The Mavericks allowed the fewest runs at 48 and were only the sixth team ever in the current format to give up less than 50. Five teams finished 8-11; Ahmedabad, Buenos Aires, Cebu, Nagoya, and Xiamen. Algiers was alone in 16^th place at 7-12. Freetown and Goyang were 6-13 and bringing up the rear at 5-14 were Cape Town and Tehran.

Leading Ottawa to the top spot was Tournament MVP Mathis Vezina. He joined unique company along with Rico Ortega and Ernst Scheuermann in having won MVP of the BGC and in the World Baseball Championship. The 30-year old Canadian 1B in 19 starts had 23 hits, 17 runs, 12 homers, 16 RBI, 1.204 OPS, and 1.7 WAR.

World WARlord Harvey Coyle also became a Grand Champion and was himself a beast for Ottawa with 15 hits, 11 runs, 11 homers, 24 RBI, and 1.2 WAR. San Diego’s Ben Conlee was perhaps the most impressive, setting BGC records for slugging (1.052) and OPS (1.566). The 34-year old LF had 24 hits, 17 runs, 4 doubles, 11 homers, 13 RBI, and 2.30 WAR. Conlee’s WAR was just behind 2020 Mike Rojas (2.31) for the BGC record by a position player. Conlee was also the third in event history with a four home run game, doing it against Freetown.

Also worth mentioning was Leon’s R.J. Zaragoza, who tied Ludevit Dano (2016) for the most BGC home runs with 17. Zaragoza had 21 hits, 20 runs, 22 RBI, 1.390 OPS, and 2.2 WAR. His WAR ranked third by a position player and his 74 total bases fell one short of Dano’s record of 75.

Best Pitcher went to Hanover lefty Lukasz Heneski. The 27-year old Pole had won Pitcher of the Year twice in the European Second League. He joined the EBF Elite Tier in 2028 on a seven-year, $146,600,000 deal with the Hitmen. Heneski’s BGC had a 1.07 ERA over 33.2 innings, 1-2 record, 48 strikeouts, and 2.1 WAR. Heneski, Munich’s Nejc Novak (2.23), and Honduras’s Max De Jesus (2.11) made it 22 pitchers with a 2+ WAR effort in BGC history.

Other notes: Sydney closer Jayden Owens had nine saves, tying Heihachiro Okasawa (2016) for the event record.

FuzzyRussianHat · Today, 06:18 AM

Major League Baseball’s 2029 Hall of Fame ballot nearly ended up empty, but one player got across the 66% requirement. That was 3B Jeanpaul Vick at 73.3%, finally making it on his tenth and final ballot. Two debuts came very close with closer Tyler Sattler at 63.5% and C Dominick Hennessy at 63.2%. Also above 60% was CL Etzel Urban with 62.3% on his second ballot and 3B Kieran Wilson at 60.2% in his tenth and last chance.

Four other players were above 50%, but below 60%. LF Lorenzen Campbell was at 56.5% in his debut, while CL Jeremy Dau had the same on his eighth go. CL Sebastian Gomez received 55.3% for his sixth ballot and 1B Colin Jordan had 53.5% on his tenth try.

For Kieran Wilson, his 60.2% was his peak ballot and he was never below 40%. He had a 20-year career with one MVP, three Silver Sluggers, and two World Series wins with San Diego. Wilson’s longest tenure was 12 years with Las Vegas, who later retired his #39 uniform. Injuries did limit his final tallies despite the length of his run.

Wilson played 2325 games with 2463 hits, 1223 runs, 425 doubles, 405 home runs, 1346 RBI, .291/.336/.498 slash, 131 wRC+, and 82.5 WAR. His resume was somewhat similar to 2029 inductee Jeanpaul Vick, but Vick had 700+ more games to raise his accumulations. Wilson ranks 17^th in WAR at 3B as of 2037, but he didn’t have prolific power and didn’t quite get to the benchmarks many voters wanted.

For Colin Jordan, he had a 19-year MLB run, then spent his final four seasons in the Arab League. He lacked big awards and black ink with only one Silver Slugger, but was a nine-time All-Star. Jordan was most notable as the 2001 World Series MVP with Nashville, where he spent his first nine seasons. His 53.5% mark in 2029 was his peak with a low of 34.9% in 2022.

Jordan in MLB had 2403 games, 2734 hits, 1338 runs, 535 doubles, 404 homers, 1446 RBI, .307/.356/.511 slash, 138 wRC+, and 75.2 WAR. First base has tough competition though and expects big time slugging stats. Had Jordan not left for his final four years, he might have gotten the benchmarks required. Adding his ALB years, he had 3285 hits, 1642 runs, 642 doubles, 543 homers, 1831 RBI, and 90.0 WAR; tallies that probably get you in. Jordan remains popular in Nashville for his role in their title, but is a Hall of Pretty Good type.

CF Damien Yang also fell off after ten failed ballots, peaking at 40.9% in 2021 and ending at a low of 14.6%. The Hong Kong native had an 18-year career between Phoenix and Quebec City and won 11 Gold Gloves, tied for the MLB position record. Yang won two World Series rings with the Firebirds and one Silver Slugger. Defensively, Yang ranks fourth among all MLB CFs in accumulated zone rating at 268.7.

Yang’s overall stats had 2627 games, 2694 hits, 1516 runs, 303 doubles, 89 triples, 123 homers, 721 RBI, 1282 walks, 746 stolen bases, .272/.357/.357 slash, 108 wRC+, and 95.9 WAR. Yang’s incredible defensive value got him to 66^th on the position player WAR list as of 2037 and tenth in WAR at CF. His bat was simply too weak though to resonate with most Hall of Fame voters, although he does deserve mention whenever you discuss MLB’s best-ever glovemen.

Jeanpaul Vick – Third Base – Seattle Grizzlies – 73.3% Tenth Ballot

Jeanpaul Vick was a 6’4’’, 200 pound right-handed corner infielder from Breckenridge, Colorado; a town of around 5,000 people. Vick had a well-rounded bat with good to occasionally great contact and power against both sides. He had a solid eye for drawing walks and was decent at avoiding strikeouts. Vick wasn’t going to provide overwhelming power, but his 162 game average still got you a respectable 25 home runs, 23 doubles, and 5 triples.

Vick’s speed and baserunning ability graded as delightfully average. He made around 80% of his starts at third base with consistently average to above average defensive production. Vick spent some time in his final years at first base and was rock solid there, even winning a Gold Glove in 2011 at age 39.

His durability was excellent in his 20s and mostly good in his 30s apart from a few small things here and there. Vick wasn’t disruptive by any means, but he was considered a bit of a loner. He just wanted to clock in, collect his paycheck, and clock out. Still, Vick’s remarkably steady and consistent production made him a popular and reliable player throughout a 21-year career.

Despite being the model of steady consistency in the end, Vick was a very highly touted prospect after four years at Alabama. He played 189 games with 212 hits, 158 runs, 33 doubles, 42 homers, 117 RBI, 143 walks, .313/.438/.551 slash, 182 wRC+, and 11.4 WAR. As of 2037, Vick is the all-time NCAA leader in runs scored and ranks third in walks. He won a Silver Slugger in 1991, helping the Crimson Tide to their first College World Series win against Illinois.

In the 1991 MLB Draft, Vick was the #1 overall pick by Salt Lake City. However, he couldn’t come to terms with the Loons and returned for his senior season. SLC had the #2 pick in the 1992 MLB Draft because Vick didn’t sign and chose him again. This time, they came to terms with a five-year, $10,850,000 deal to make Vick far richer than your typical entry level players.

Vick was a high level starter right away, taking second in 1993 Rookie of the Year voting. His two Silver Sluggers came with the Loons in 1994 and 1996. In 1996, Vick had his career bests in runs (110), hits (191), homers (36), RBI (116), batting average (.319), slugging (.569), OPS (.966), wRC+ (156), and WAR (9.1). All eight of his SLC seasons were worth 4.5+ WAR with five seasons above 6+ WAR. However, he was never a league leader or MVP candidate.

Salt Lake City was a 1982 expansion team and took a while to find success. With Vick, they started to hover more around .500 after being well below generally in the 1980s. In 2000, the Loons had their first-ever wild card, but went one-and-done. Vick was 0-9 in his lone playoff starts with Salt Lake City. They would see more regular contention in the 2000s, but Vick was gone after the 2000 campaign to seek out free agent money.

For the Loons, Vick had 1247 games, 1370 hits, 743 runs, 197 doubles, 40 triples, 220 home runs, 785 RBI, 542 walks, .292/.368/.492 slash, 133 wRC+, and 51.3 WAR. It was his most statistically impressive run, but Vick would become better known for his Seattle tenure. He played slightly more games with the Grizzlies and opted to be inducted in the green and gold despite having better metrics as a Loon.

The 29-year old Vick signed a five-year, $47 million deal with Seattle, who was coming off their first-ever American Association pennant. The Grizzlies hoped Vick could solidify their depth and deliver that first World Series ring. His first two years were his best with 7.0 WAR and 6.1 WAR. Vick was never above 5 WAR after that, but was usually around 3-4 WAR most seasons. You knew what you were going to get with him and could focus on plugging other holes in the lineup.

Seattle had the top seed from 2001-03, but couldn’t get over the hump despite winning 108, 104, and 113 games. The Grizzlies fell in the AACS in 2001 and 2003 with a second round exit in the middle. Vick’s playoff numbers were solid though as he handled his business as expected. Seattle fell two games short of the wild card in 2004, ending a six-year playoff streak.

In 2005, Seattle bounced back with the top seed at 105-57 and finally broke through, winning their first-ever World Series title over Philadelphia. Vick was MVP of the second round and over 15 playoff starts had 19 hits, 8 runs, 2 doubles, 4 home runs, 13 RBI, 10 walks, 1.122 OPS, and 0.7 WAR. This was the last year of his deal and the now 34-year old opted to try his hand again at free agency.

After testing the market for a month, Vick returned to the Grizzlies on a four-year, $38,400,000 deal. Seattle got the top seed in 2007 at 102-60, but was upset by San Diego in the AACS. They were out of the playoffs and mid for the other years of Vick’s deal. In total for the Grizzlies, Vick had 1312 games, 1314 hits, 717 runs, 189 doubles, 192 home runs, 690 RBI, 590 walks, .280/.364/.459 slash, 124 wRC+, and 38.4 WAR.

Vick was now 38 and a free agent again, signing a two-year, $23,100,000 deal with Los Angeles. He still provided positive value, but his bat had regressed to average at best marks by this point with 102 wRC+ and .700 OPS over 260 games with 3.6 WAR. Vick did win his lone Gold Glove in 2011 when moved to first base and passed the 1500 run and 1500 RBI milestones.

LA made the playoffs both years he was there, but fell in the first round both times. Vick’s playoff career stats were actually more statistically impressive than his regular season tallies with 53 games, 46 starts, 53 hits, 25 runs, 8 doubles, 10 home runs, 33 RBI, .325/.407/.558 slash, 154 wRC+, and 1.8 WAR. He was now 40-years old and signed a one-year deal for 2012 with Louisville.

A strained abdominal cost him close to two months, but Vick still had 1.8 WAR and .694 OPS over 112 games for the Lynx. He joined Boston in 2013 and again lost time to a strained abdominal. Vick had 111 games, .640 OPS, and 0.8 WAR for the Red Sox, but notably joined the 3000 hit club while there. Vick still wanted to play in 2014 but had limited utility at that point. He had a brief tryout in August 2014 with Las Vegas, but was cut after going 0-5 in two games. Vick retired that winter at age 43.

In total, Vick had 3044 games, 3071 hits, 1658 runs, 435 doubles, 89 triples, 470 home runs, 1666 RBI, 1321 walks, 1720 strikeouts, 178 steals, .277/.357/.460 slash, 125 wRC+, and 95.7 WAR. As of 2037, Vick ranks 16^th in games played and is one of only 20 guy with 3000+ MLB games. He’s also 59^th in hits, 65^th in runs, 69^th in RBI, 76^th in total bases (5094), 35^th in walks, and 68^th in WAR among position players.

Vick’s resume was a tough one for many Hall of Fame voters. Those who valued longevity and consistency felt he was an obvious pick, but many put far more emphasis on peaks. Vick didn’t have black ink and his awards were quite limited. Detractors felt he merely sustained above average-ness for 20 years and thus wasn’t at the Hall of Fame level.

Supporters noted his tenure and consistency, along with good playoff numbers and a key role in Seattle’s first World Series win. Detractors countered that a guy with 3000+ games should’ve finished with higher tallies. 3000+ hits, 1500+ runs, and 1500+ RBI were usually pretty strong benchmarks though. Vick also ranked 10^th in WAR specifically at third base despite having a lacking trophy shelf compared to those in similar company.

Vick debuted at a rock solid 57.3%, but hardly any voters changed their opinion over the coming years. From 2020-26, Vick was always between 54-60%. He finally cracked the 60% mark in 2027 at 63.2%, but fell back to 59.8% in 2028. 2029 was his tenth and final chance and Vick had the benefit of not having any slam dunk debutants to compete with. Some of the detractors finally budged and Vick got 73.3%, making him the lone inductee into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 2029. Vick became the fifth to make MLB’s HOF on their tenth and final ballot.

FuzzyRussianHat · Today, 06:44 PM

Two pitchers were added upon their ballot debut in 2029 into the Central American Baseball Association Hall of Fame. Reliever Wes Vargas led the way at 86.4% and was joined by starter Samuel Toledo at 75.0%. Two returners were above 50%, but short of the 66% requirement. 1B Hasan Alvizo got 54.4% for his fifth ballot and SP Montell Donald had 53.2% in his seventh try.

Dropped after ten ballots was closer Alejandro Valadez, who won five straight Reliever of the Year awards from 2002-06 with Haiti. He won three CABA Championships with the Herons, although his playoff stats were underwhelming with a 3.51 ERA over 56.1 innings and 14 saves. Valadez’s regular season stats were excellent, but brief. He left for MLB with mixed results at age 30, thus limiting his CABA stats to seven years for Haiti and one final return year with Havana.

Valadez in CABA had 192 saves, 1.49 ERA, 549 innings, 808 strikeouts, 267 ERA+, and 26.1 WAR. The pace was certainly there and he’s the only CABA closer to win five ROTY awards. However, many voters couldn’t justify inducting someone, especially a relief pitcher, on just essentially seven years of production. Valadez peaked at 44.2% in 2021 and ended at only 8.9%.

Dieudonne Guegan was also worth a brief mention despite falling below 5% on his eighth ballot. His career was split evenly between CABA and MLB and hurt his final tallies in either league. Combined, Guegan had a 220-169 record, 3.07 ERA, 3674.2 innings, 3752 strikeouts, 122 ERA+, and 84.9 WAR. He also played some outfield and won three Silver Sluggers with 13.8 WAR and .804 OPS offensively. Those stats in one league probably gets him in, but the even split kept his tallies too low.

Wes Vargas – Closer – Guatemala Ghosts – 86.4% First Ballot

Wes Vargas was a 5’10’’, 200 pound right-handed relief pitcher from Quetzaltenango, Guatemala; a city of 180,000 also known by the Maya name Xelaju. Vargas had strong stuff along with very good movement and control in his prime. His fastball peaked in the 96-98 mph range, but his sinker was similarly quick and looked the same out of his hand.

Especially compared to other relievers, Vargas had both excellent stamina and durability. He was always ready to go out of the bullpen and could even start in a pinch. Vargas had a good pickoff move, but graded as a weak defender. He wasn’t one to commit to one team, but was reliable at each of his stops.

Vargas wasn’t picked until early in the third round in the 2003 CABA Draft, in part because he graded out as a reliever and because he was fresh out of high school. He stayed in his home country with Guatemala grabbing him 71^st overall. Vargas spent three years in the Ghosts academy before debuting in 2007. He had a rough rookie year with a 5.12 ERA in 58 innings, but was moved into the closer role for 2008.

He held the closer role six years for Guatemala, leading the Caribbean League with 45 saves in 2013. Vargas twice led in games pitched and had his career best 4.5 WAR, 130.2 innings, and 163 strikeouts in 2009 to earn his first Reliever of the Year award. He won again in 2010 with 4.1 WAR, 1.95 ERA, and 135 Ks over 101.2 innings. The Ghosts ended a 16-year playoff drought that year, but lost in the first round. They were consistently middling for the rest of his run.

Vargas for Guatemala had 226 saves, 2.86 ERA, 658.2 innings, 778 strikeouts, 169 walks, 141 ERA+, and 17.3 WAR. It was by far his longest tenure with one team and thus the colors he was inducted with. Vargas was proud of his heritage and represented his country during and after his time with the Ghosts in the World Baseball Championship. He was often used as a starting pitcher in the WBC.

From 2008-23, Vargas had 167.1 WBC innings with a 13-8 record, 2.32 ERA, 9 saves, 4 complete games, 2 shutouts, 240 strikeouts, 61 walks, and 6.1 WAR. Guatemala finished fourth place in both 2009 and 2013. Vargas’ 2020 was notably as he gave up one run over two complete games with 30 strikeouts.

His CABA career took Vargas to the Mexican League in 2014 at age 28 on a three-year, $19,900,000 deal with Monterrey. He won Reliever of the Year in 2014 by leading with 40 saves and a career best to that point ERA of 1.94. For the Matadors, Vargas had 68 saves over 178.2 innings, 2.17 ERA, 238 strikeouts, and 6.0 WAR.

Vargas had one year left on his Monterrey deal for 2016, but was traded in the offseason for prospects to Leon. His ERA jumped to 3.38 for the Lions with 39 saves over 77.1 innings and 2.4 WAR. Vargas had a 1.69 ERA over 5.1 playoff innings with Leon falling in the MLCS to Juarez.

He went to Haiti for 2017 on a three-year, $17,400,000 deal but was relegated to the back of the bullpen with the Herons, posting 3 saves and a 3.28 ERA over 118 inning with 108 Ks and 1.4 WAR over two seasons. Now 34-years old, Vargas was traded for 2019 to Havana straight up for prospect SP Simon Bonnet. The Hurricanes moved Vargas back to the closer role with great success, leading with 33 saves and a career-best 1.24 ERA.

Vargas won his fourth Reliever of the Year, becoming the tenth in CABA history to do so. He also got saves in all five playoff appearances with 15 strikeouts and six hits allowed over 8.1 innings, helping Havana win the CABA Championship over Puebla. He had a 3.86 ERA over 9.1 innings in the Baseball Grand Championship as the Hurricanes finished 9-10. Vargas’ value was back up as he returned to free agency and signed a two-year, $12,800,000 deal with Hermosillo.

In 2020, Vargas was second in Reliever of the Year voting and became the fourth CABA closer to 400 career saves. He led in games with 76 and had 39 saves and a 1.90 ERA over 75.2 innings. Hermosillo was defeated in the MLCS with Vargas getting a 3.27 ERA over 11 innings and two saves. Despite that effort, the Hyenas voided the option year of his deal, sending Vargas back into free agency at age 35.

Instead of chasing the CABA saves record of 430 by Feliz Fuentes, Vargas opted to give Major League Baseball a look. New Orleans signed him for two years and $14,800,000. Vargas was good in his limited middle relief use with a 1.38 ERA over 45.2 innings, but the Mudcats needed to make up roster room somewhere and cut him in July. He finished the year with Baltimore with a 3.75 ERA over 12 innings. Although he was off the roster, Vargas did receive a World Series ring in 2021 as New Orleans won it all, joining the short list of guys with both a World Series and CABA Championship ring.

Vargas came back to CABA in 2022 on a two-year, $12,800,000 deal with Juarez. He saw limited use though and only had two saves over 69.1 innings with 2.86 ERA, 71 Ks, and 1.0 WAR. Vargas had a 2.61 ERA in 10.1 playoff innings in the run as the Jesters were amidst a lengthy playoff streak. Juarez won the Mexican League in 2022, but lost the CABA finale to Vargas’ former Guatemala squad. The Jesters dropped the 2023 MLCS to 117-win Mexico City. Vargas had a 3.14 ERA over 14.1 innings in the 2022 BGC as Juarez finished 11-8 in a five-way tie for fourth.

This marked the end of Vargas’ CABA career. He signed back in MLB for 2024 with Virginia Beach, but was cut after spring training. Vargas ended up in Ukraine with Odesa of the European Second League, pitching 37.2 innings with a 2.63 ERA. The Drifters did notably earn promotion and won the E2L title. Vargas spent 2025 in the minor leagues with Raleigh’s affiliate Greensboro. He retired that winter shortly after his 40^th birthday.

In CABA, Vargas finished with 962 games, 97-95 record, 410 saves, 444 shutdowns, 2.69 ERA, 1243 innings, 1476 strikeouts, 286 walks, 147 ERA+, and 33.6 WAR. As of 2037, Vargas is tied for 2^nd in CABA saves. However, he’s only 11^th in WAR among CABA Hall of Fame closers despite having the 4^th-most innings of that group. Vargas also is third in games pitched in CABA.

He doesn’t rank among the all-time most dominant relievers in world history, but 400 saves and four Reliever of the Year wins gets you in even with many voters who are iffy on inducting closers. The title with Havana and his role in that brief stint also boosted his resume. Vargas got 86.4% for a first ballot induction to headline the 2029 class for the Central American Baseball Association.

Samuel Toledo – Starting Pitcher – Puebla Pumas – 75.0% First Ballot

Samuel Toledo was a 6’4’’, 195 pound right-handed pitcher from Nicolas Romero, Mexico; a city with 366,000 people just northwest of Mexico City. Toledo had fantastic stuff along with great movement and rock solid control. His 98-100 mph fastball was top tier and he also had a very good changeup and splitter. Toledo also had a weak curveball as a fourth option.

Toledo’s stamina and durability were merely average compared to your typical CABA ace. He graded as a good defensive pitcher, but did have a weak pickoff move and struggled holding runners. Toledo was well liked amongst his peers and was a very quiet and humble man. He wasn’t one to care about personal glory or accolades.

Despite not drawing attention to himself, scouts certainly noticed Toledo as he came up the amateur ranks. He was the #1 overall pick in the 2010 CABA Draft by Puebla and was used mostly in the bullpen as a rookie with okay results. Toledo was moved to the rotation full-time in year two and by year three was a regular 6+ WAR pitcher. The Pumas quickly gave Toledo a six-year, $64,600,000 extension after the 2013 season.

Puebla a bottom-tier team most of Toledo’s run, as they didn’t make the playoffs from 1996-2018. By his late 20s, Toledo was becoming more effective. He won his lone ERA title in 2016 at 2.43 and had a career best 0.82 WHIP. Toledo’s best ERA came in 2017 at 2.23 along with a league-best 21-7 record, taking second in Pitcher of the Year voting.

Toledo was second again in 2018, leading in strikeouts (294), and WAR (8.9) for the first time. Puebla had hovered around .500 in the last few years, but fell off to 67-95 in 2018. The Pumas thought a rebuild might be in order and Toledo was entering the final year of his deal. In the offseason, Toledo was traded to Tijuana for four hitting prospects. Incidentally, Puebla had a shocking Mexican League title win in 2019 after Toledo left, although they reverted soon back to the mid-tier.

For Puebla, Toledo had a 115-76 record, 2.79 ERA, 1669.1 innings, 1992 strikeouts, 286 walks, 135 ERA+, and 49.6 WAR. The Pumas retired Toledo’s #30 once his career was over. He had gotten some notice domestically as a regular for Mexico in the World Baseball Championship. From 2012-23, Toledo had a 13-12 record, 3.86 ERA, 205.1 innings, 314 strikeouts, 94 ERA+, and 4.8 WAR. Toledo did struggle in the 2015 WBC, although Mexico took second despite his 8.22 ERA over 30.2 innings and -0.5 WAR. He was better in later runs including a third place in 2018 and fourth place in 2020.

In his one year with Tijuana in 2019, Toledo was again second in Pitcher of the Year voting. He had a 12-12 record, 2.67 ERA, and led in strikeouts (301), WHIP (0.90), FIP- (56), and WAR (8.6). The K mark would be Toledo’s career best, but the Toros missed the playoffs at 85-77. Toledo was now set for free agency for the first time at age 31. He signed a five-year, $68 million deal to join Leon.

Toledo had a good debut in 2020 and the Lions won the South Division at 105-57. They lost in the first round, although Toledo gave up only one run over 9.1 innings in his lone playoff appearances. Leon struggled the next four years and Toledo lost a chunk of 2021 to bone chips in his elbow. Toledo then posted a 4.01 ERA in 2022, his worst of his career.

In 2023, Toledo bounced back with a 2.81 ERA over 234 innings, 249 strikeouts, and 5.1 WAR. However, Leon was an abysmal 57-105 to tie a franchise worst. Toledo had one year left and could certainly still go, but he decided to retire that winter at only age 35. For the Lions, Toledo had a 38-45 record, 3.25 ERA, 744 innings, 848 strikeouts, 115 ERA+, and 19.9 WAR.

Toledo finished with a 165-133 record, 2.91 ERA, 2642.1 innings, 3141 strikeouts, 513 walks, 233/329 quality starts, 71 complete games, 15 shutouts, 129 ERA+, 67 FIP-, and 78.1 WAR. As of 2037, Toledo ranks 65^th in strikeouts and 40^th in pitching WAR despite missing the top 100 in either innings or wins. His 10.70 K/9 was 53^rd among all pitchers with 1000+ innings.

Partly because of the early end to his career, Toledo’s accumulations are definitely on the low end compared to other Hall of Famers. His rate stats certainly looked worthy though and every eligible CABA pitcher with more WAR had gotten in. Most (but not all) that had gotten to 70+ WAR had made it in. Most of the guys above 3000+ strikeouts had made it too, although the misses were generally near the bottom end like Toledo.

He also had the misfortune on being on mostly forgettable teams. Toledo never won Pitcher of the Year, but taking second thrice does resonate with voters. Toledo also had an ERA title and led in both strikeouts and WAR twice. He didn’t get headliner numbers, but 75.0% was plenty for Toledo to make it into the HOF on the first ballot with the 2029 class for the Central American Baseball Association.

03-31-2025, 05:24 PM	#2181
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,570	2028 in WAB The Western League’s four playoff teams were obvious as they each had 90+ wins while the rest of the league was below .500. The positioning wasn’t clear until the final weeks though. Freetown ended up first at 97-65, leading the WL in both runs scored (940) and fewest allowed (705). It was the sixth playoff berth in seven years for the Foresters, but it was their first time atop the standings since 1999. Defending WL champ Dakar was next at 93-69, growing their playoff streak to five. Tied for the final two spots at 92-70 were both Kumasi and Accra. The Monkeys’ playoff streak moved to three and the Alligators ended a two-year drought. Of note was Abidjan’s fall to 72-90, ending their seven-year playoff streak. The Athletes have been so successful that this tied their franchise worst mark from 1984. Dakar 3B Junior Jose won back-to-back Western League MVPs and his third overall. The 28-year old Mozambican led in home runs (71), total bases (452), slugging (.764), and WAR (9.6). Jose became only the third in WAB history with a 70+ homer season, falling seven short of Desmond Jaiyeola’s record of 78. He also had 125 runs, 204 hits, 156 RBI, .344 average, and 1.179 OPS. Prior to the season, the Dukes extended Jose at $142,700,000 over eight years. Pitcher of the Year was Freetown’s Mahamoud Sy, who led in wins (19-5), ERA (2.84), innings (231), quality starts (21), and WAR (7.8). The 27-year old Mauritanian lefty had 247 strikeouts and 168 ERA+. Sy also earned a Gold Glove for his defensive efforts. He signed a six-year, $185,600,000 extension after the season. Surprisingly after a weaker 2029, the Foresters wouldn’t protect Sy and he’d end up taken in an expansion draft by Abuja. Accra swept Kumasi in the first round, then got swept in round two by Dakar. This set up a Western League Championship Series rematch between the defending champ Dukes and Freetown. The series needed all five games, but the Foresters would have their revenge 3-2 over Dakar. It was the fourth pennant for Freetown (1977, 2011, 2024, 2028). Ouagadougou at 101-61 just fended off two-time defending West African Baseball champ Cotonou (100-62) for the top spot in the Eastern League. The Osprey ended a seven-year playoff drought and tied the EL team record with 300 home runs. Ouagadougou led all of WAB in runs scored (961) while the Copperheads allowed the fewest (689). The remaining playoff spots went to Lome (94-68) and Niamey (90-72) with a steep drop to fifth place Yaounde (81-81). The Lasers snapped a five-year playoff drought and the Atomics grew their streak to five. Last year’s first place finisher Ibadan fell to 79-83. Ouagadougou 1B Youssouf N’Ko won Eastern League MVP by leading in batting average (.358), OBP (.415), wRC+ (167), and WAR (7.6). The 27-year old Guinean lefty added 215 hits, 114 runs, 38 doubles, 43 homers, 139 RBI, and 1.062 OPS. N’Ko took the honor despite Lagos DH Desmond Jaiyeola getting 74 home runs. Jaiyeola has the top three homer season in WAB history with 78 in 2024 and 76 in 2025. He’s only the seventh in all of baseball history with three 70+ homer seasons. Port Harcourt’s Ngalle Eto’o won his second Pitcher of the Year, having also gotten it in 2024. The 29-year old Cameroonian lefty led in ERA (2.75), strikeouts (308), K/BB (17.1), FIP- (55), and WAR (8.0). He had a 14-7 record over 206 innings, falling two wins short of a Triple Crown. Niamey edged Lome 2-1 in the first round of the playoffs, but promptly got swept in round two by Cotonou. The Copperheads were going for the EL three-peat, while top seed Ouagadougou was in the Eastern League Championship Series for the first time since 2020. Cotonou successfully defended their throne in a 3-2 battle with the Osprey, becoming six-time EL champs (2010, 11, 13, 26, 27, 28). Cotonou was going for the third-ever three-peat in the 54^th West African Championship. Only Kano had done it in 1997-99 and again from 2001-03 with their historic dynasty. The Copperheads search for history was abruptly squashed as Freetown not only won, but got the emphatic sweep. It was the second title for the Foresters, joining their 1977 win. Veteran LF Edward Mumini was the star of the playoffs, winning ELCS and finals MVP. The 31-year old Nigerian in 9 starts had 13 hits, 7 runs, 2 doubles, 6 homers, and 12 RBI. Other notes: Ouagadougou’s Justin Karefa-Smart set a single-season world record for at-bats at 709. Previously WAB hit king Fares Belaid held the record at 704 from 2020, which was the only other season in world history of 700+ ABs. Desmond Jaiyeola had a four home run game, the 7^th in WAB history. In milestones, Abdel Aziz Ashraf and Clarence Cole became the 7^th and 8^th members of the 600 home run club. Youssoupha Diop and Jonah Moiseiwitsch became the 18^th and 19^th to 500 homers. Moiseiwitsch also became the 6^th to 3000 hits while Hassan Amara became the 7^th. Werzeg and Hassan both got to 2500 hits, now a 30-man club. Jaiyeola, Diop, and Kerim Werzeg all reached 1500 RBI in 2028, a mark now reached by 18 sluggers. Mohamed Khammas and Shafiu Hassan became the 10^th and 11^th to score 1500 runs. Dagobert Mekongo became the 8^th pitcher to 200 wins and the 3^rd to 4000 strikeouts. He would finish with 4099 Ks, 3^rd behind Xavi Leko (5032) and Addise Assefa (4147). Rene Zossou was the 25^th pitcher to 3000 strikeouts. LF Didier Loubaki won his eighth Gold Glove. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

04-01-2025, 06:35 AM	#2182
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,570	2028 in CLB Chinese League Baseball made two significant changes prior to the 2028 season. The first was increasing the active roster size from 25 to 26 players. The only other world league at 26 was South Asia Baseball, who had only made the move in 2026. 25 was the “default” but many of the world leagues had lowered their active roster sizes over the years. The other changes were made to increase offensive numbers league wide. CLB had been an extremely low offense environment, usually battling with Austronesia Professional Baseball for which had the least scoring. The changes weren’t so extreme to turn CLB into a high-scoring league, but officials felt the environment was possibly stunting league growth. The league average ERA in the 1970s was around 2.80 and had fallen towards around the 2.30 mark when CLB first made changes to spark offense in 2016. It had hovered back around the 2.80 region since, but the changes would boost the league ERA to around the 3.20s. The batting average also grew from around .230 to around .245. CLB was still a low offense league on the global scale, but would now have some distance from APB’s bottom ranked stats. The Northern League’s four playoff teams were completely different from the prior year. Hangzhou took first at 92-70 to notably earn their third playoff berth in four years, leading all of CLB with 652 runs scored. It was the second-time ever that the Hens finished first in the standings (1979). Beijing was one back in second at 91-71 and allowed the NL’s fewest runs at 538. This ended a 12-year playoff drought for the Bears, which had been the longest active drought in China. It was a crowded mess for the final two playoff spots. Qingdao took third at 87-75 to end their four-year playoff drought. Urumqi and Harbin tied at 86-76, but the Unicorns advanced by winning the tiebreaker game. The Unicorns ended a three-year playoff drought. Just missing the cut were Shijiazhuang (83-79), Tianjin (82-80), Nanjing (81-81), and Xi’an (80-82). Defending China Series winner Zhengzhou shockingly fell to last place at 70-92. Last year’s first place finisher Jinan fell to 77-85. Harbin’s Ming Li won his second Northern League MVP in three seasons. The 26-year old CF led in runs (114), total bases (373), and WAR (11.0). Li had 182 hits, 27 doubles, 13 triples, 46 homers, 109 RBI, 53 steals, and a .304/.352/.624 slash. Beijing’s Kai-Wen Hung was Pitcher of the Year as the 30-year old Taiwanese lefty led in wins at 19-6. Hung had a 2.49 ERA, 263.1 innings, 221 strikeouts, 134 ERA+, and 4.4 WAR. The pitching WAR total was notably the second-lowest by a CLB POTY winner to date. Hung was notably a regular pinch hitter and had 1.5 WAR offensively with 12 homers, 23 RBI, .845 OPS, and 140 wRC+ over 153 at-bats. Qingdao (5-1) and Hangzhou (3-3) advanced out of the round robin while Urumqi and Beijing were both eliminated at 2-4. The Hens earned their second semifinal trip in three years, while the Devils hadn’t gotten there since 2012. Qingdao rolled 4-1 over Hangzhou in the semi to earn only their third-ever trip to the China Series (1992, 2008, 2028). In the Southern League, Changsha (99-63) edged out last year’s runner up Xiamen (98-64) for the top spot. The Cannons led the SL in scoring (639) and ended a five-year playoff drought. It was only their third time atop the standings (1997, 2004). The Mutts would end up as the only 2027 playoff team to make it back in 2028. Last year’s top seed, Xiamen picked up a fifth playoff berth in six years. Shenzhen (92-70) and Dongguan (90-72) took the remaining spots. Wenzhou (88-74) was the first team out despite allowing the fewest runs (469). The Spartans snapped a decade-long playoff drought and the Donkeys ended a five-year skid. Chongqing, Kunming, and Nanning each finished 84-78, which ended three-year playoff streaks for both the Cavaliers and Muscle. Changsha’s Tao Cai won his third Southern League MVP, returning to the perch after winning way back in 2021-22. The 31-year old LF led in OBP (.421) and OPS (1.062). Cai had 206 hits, 105 runs, 31 doubles, 40 home runs, 105 RBI, .352 average, and 11.2 WAR. There was tough competition, including Shenzhen’s Faqing Zhang and Chongqing’s Aniwa Xirzat. Zhang was the WARlord at 12.0, while Xirzat set new CLB single-season records for batting average (.392) and hits (235). Both of those marks still hold as of 2037. Guangzhou’s Kamesh Sajeev won his third Pitcher of the Year, having previously won in 2022-23. The 29-year old Indian righty led in WHIP (0.78) complete games (20), and shutouts (6). Sajeev had a 17-6 record and 11 saves, 1.96 ERA, 234 innings, 256 strikeouts, 154 ERA+, and 6.4 WAR. The Gamecocks would trade him to Xiamen for five prospects in the offseason as a long-term deal wasn’t coming together. Sajeev spent one year with the Mutts, then departed for MLB and a six-year, $160,800,000 deal with Ottawa. Shenzhen was the top team in the round robin at 5-1, their first semifinal trip since 2015. Changsha and Xiamen were both 3-3 and Dongguan finished 1-5. The tiebreaker pushed the Mutts ahead for their fifth semi in six years. Although Xiamen barely got out of the round robin, they cruised to a semifinal sweep over the Spartans to earn back-to-back China Series trips. The Mutts earned their fifth finals appearance (1981, 2006, 09, 27, 28). In the 59^th China Series, Xiamen defeated Qingdao 4-2 to break up the Northern League’s five-year run of titles. The Mutts earned their third ring, having also won it all in 2006 and 2009. Second year LF Shubin Liu was finals MVP, getting 16 hits, 8 runs, 3 doubles, 2 triples, 3 homers, 7 RBI, 5 steals, and 1.306 OPS over 10 playoff starts. Other notes: Tianjin set a league team record with 117 triples. Beijing’s .314 team OBP was the second-best in NL history. Shantou’s Feng Smith had a 32-game hitting streak, breaking the previous CLB record of only 27. Lung Ding set a bad record by getting caught stealing 85 times. Tao Cai became the 14^th member of the 400 home run club and Kenny Sang became the 17^th to score 1000 runs. Yihai Wu became the 10^th to 300 saves. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

04-01-2025, 04:50 PM	#2183
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,570	2028 in APB Three-time defending Taiwan-Philippine Association champ Cebu again took the top seed and the Philippine League crown. The Crows were 97-65 and allowed the fewest runs in the TPA at 449, finishing eight games ahead of Davao. Cebu also set a new Austronesia Professional Baseball single-season attendance record with 2,378,383 tickets sold. The Devil Rays had the previous record at 2,373,133 in 2011. The Taiwan League was more competitive with Tainan (90-72) edging out Taipei (89-73), and Taoyuan (85-77). The Titans ended a 21-year playoff drought going back to 2006. The defending TL winner Hsinchu fell to last place at 73-89. Although the Sweathogs fell off, that didn’t stop 1B Binh Tang from his record eighth Taiwan-Philippine Association MVP. “The King” had won MVP from 2020-25, then again in 2027 and now 2028. Still only 28-years old, The Vietnamese lefty led in OBP (.373), slugging (.585), OPS (.957), wRC+ (188), and WAR (10.4). Tang had 187 hits, 91 runs, 39 doubles, 37 homers, 98 RBI, 30 steals, and a .318 batting average. He also became the 28^th APB slugger to 400 career home runs. Tainan’s Kuan-Yang Kang repeated as Pitcher of the Year with the 27-year old Taiwanese lefty leading in strikeouts (402), FIP- (39), and WAR (10.9). His season was the 37^th in APB history with 400+ Ks. Kang added a 14-12 record, 1.89 ERA, 243.1 innings, and 154 ERA+. The Titans finally gave him a five-year, $189,300,000 extension in September 2029. Defending APB champ Jakarta took the Sundaland Association’s top seed at 96-66 and won the Java Sea League for the fourth year running. The Jaguars had to fend off fierce challenges from Depok (91-71), Surabaya (90-72), and Palembang (87-75). Jakarta also broke their own SA attendance record set the prior year by selling 2,333,657 seats. Johor Bahru again won the Malacca League at 90-72 with no one else above .500. This set up Blue Wings versus Jaguars for the fourth straight year in the Sundaland Association Championship. Interestingly, the top scoring team was Surabaya at 551 runs while Semarang allowed the fewest at 362. Although Pekanbaru stunk at 73-89, they had the Sundaland Association MVP in LF James Yuwono. It was his third MVP, having also gotten it in 2024 and 2025. The 29-year old Indonesian lefty led in runs (96), homers (46), total bases (332), slugging (.606), OPS (.956), wRC+ (242), and WAR (9.6). Yuwono added 159 hits, 88 RBI, and a .290 average. Jakarta’s Muhammad Danial Ismail won Pitcher of the Year in only his third season. The 23-year old Malaysian righty led in wins (23-4), strikeouts (327), and quality starts (31). Ismail also had a 1.69 ERA over 256 innings, 144 ERA+, and 7.3 WAR. His ERA was third with Semarang’s Yuchi Jiang first at 1.40. Ismail also had the second no-hitter of his career on April 14 with 4 Ks and 2 BBs facing Bandung. Also worth a mention was Johor Bahru’s Normeezan Hasrin, who won his fourth Reliever of the Year. He repeated in his second year with the Blue Wings and had previously won in 2022 with Bandung and 2026 with Hsinchu. The 31-year old hometown favorite had one of the greatest relief seasons ever and had the very rare feat of leading all pitchers in WAR. Hasrin posted 8.1 WAR over 109 innings, also leading in games (82) and saves (52) while posting a 0.50 ERA, 193 strikeouts, and 485 ERA+. He was one short of APB’s saves record of 53 set in 2013 by Metta Adam. The WAR total was the second highest in pro baseball history by any ROTY winner, behind only Maksym Badlo’s 8.3 in the 1983 Eurasian Professional Baseball season. Hasrin was second in Pitcher of the Year voting and had a 44 inning and 34 game scoreless streak during the season. Cebu claimed a fourth consecutive Taiwan-Philippine Association Championship by defeating Tainan 4-2. The Crows were now nine-time TPA champs (1980, 90-92, 2012, 25-28), tying them with Zamboanga for the most. Meanwhile, Johor Bahru and Jakarta continued to trade Sundaland Association Championship wins. The Jaguars had won in 2025 and 2027, while the Blue Wings had taken it in 2026. Johor Bahru returned to the perch in 2028 by winning the series 4-1. JB earned their fourth pennant (2017, 18, 26, 28). Cebu had failed against Jakarta in their recent Austronesia Championship meetings, but had beaten Johor Bahru in 2026. The Crows again got the better of the Blue Wings, taking the 64^th APB finale 4-2. Cebu was now a four-time APB champ (1980, 1991, 2026, 2028). CF Chas Galindo was finals MVP in his ninth season for the Crows. In 12 playoff starts, the 31-year old Filipino had 14 hits, 6 runs, 1 triple, 2 homers, 6 RBI, 6 steals, and 0.7 WAR. Pitcher Hakimi Aziz also had a notable postseason, setting records for WHIP (0.29) and opponent’s OBP (.090). The 24-year old Malaysian won his three starts with a 0.38 ERA over 24 innings with 41 strikeouts and 1.7 WAR. Aziz tossed a shutout against both Tainan and Johor Bahru. Other notes: In an opener role, Fitri Izwan set the APB single-season record with 67 starts as a pitcher. Both 1B Robert Corrado and 3B Rory Suiza won their 7^th Gold Gloves. Catcher Yi-Hsiang Chang won his 11^th straight Silver Slugger. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

04-02-2025, 05:45 AM	#2184
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,570	2028 in OBA In the Australasia League, Sydney at 105-57 outraced 101-61 Brisbane to return to the top spot. After going title-less in their first 58 seasons, the Snakes have now earned six pennants in 11 years (2018-19, 22, 24-25, 28). For the Black Bears, they notably had their first winning season since 2023 and their second-ever 100+ win season. Adelaide was third at 94-68, followed by Melbourne at 88-74 and last year’s champ Canberra at 87-75. Christchurch notably dropped to 78-84 for their first losing campaign since 2010. Their 17-year streak fell one short of the OBA record set by Honolulu (1981-97). Sydney 1B David Odom won Australasia League MVP, bouncing back after missing all of 2027 to a torn PCL. Only two days prior to the injury, Odom had signed an eight-year, $176 million extension with the Snakes. The 28-year old New Zealander returned and led in hits (225), doubles (37), stolen bases (91), average (.359), OBP (.396), and WAR (9.6). Odom also won his fifth Gold Glove and added 111 runs, 25 homers, 20 triples, 114 RBI, and .999 IPS. He beat out teammate Lewis Sundstrom for the honor despite Sundstrom’s 64 homers and 139 RBI. Gold Coast’s Charlie Ornelas won Pitcher of the Year in only his third season. The 22-year old Filipino righty led in wins (22-13), ERA (2.28), innings (327.2), K/BB (8.1), quality starts (30), and shutouts (5). Ornelas added 372 strikeouts, 162 ERA+, and 10.6 WAR. He had tough competition from Christchurch’s Quinn Burry, who led in WAR (11.4) and strikeouts (436). Honolulu crushed the Pacific League competition at 110-52 to end an eight-year pennant drought. It was their 15^th pennant, second behind Guam’s 17. The Honu led the league in both runs scored (725) and fewest allowed (514). It was a steep drop to Fiji in second at 95-67 and both Port Moresby and Vanuatu in third at 94-68. This ended the five-year reign atop the PL by the Mud Hens, who won the Oceania Championship in 2023, 24, 26, and 27. Notably for the Freedom, they had a remarkable bounce back after an abysmal 53-109 in 2027. It was Fiji’s first winning season since 2020. In his Vanuatu debut, RF Vic Ahn won Pacific League MVP. The 27-year old Australian lefty started with Hobart, then spent two years with Canberra after a trade. He joined the Wizards for 2028 on a five-year, $75,200,000 free agent deal. Ahn led in runs (101), and homers (45), while adding 185 hits, 108 RBI, .934 OPS, and 6.2 WAR. Ahn also became the seventh OBA slugger with a four home run game, doing it on August 9 against Honolulu. Pitcher of the Year was Ellis Byron, who split the season between Timor and Fiji. The 28-year old Australian righty debuted with the Tapirs in 2021, but was traded at the deadline to the Freedom in the last year of his deal. Byron’s combined effort saw an ERA title (2.22) as well as league bests in quality starts (33), FIP- (74), and WAR (8.5). He added a 16-13 record over 312.2 innings with 327 strikeouts. Byron left for MLB in the offseason on a six-year, $128,400,000 deal with Ottawa, but sadly suffered a stretched elbow ligament in his first spring training. He did rehab back and looked strong in a full 2030 for the Elks. Unfortunately, Byron had another elbow tear in 2031 and only managed sporadic relief appearances for the rest of his career. The 69^th Oceania Championship was the second finals meeting between Sydney and Honolulu, as the Snakes had won 4-3 back in 2019. The end result was the same in 2028, but this time Sydney routed the Honu with a sweep. The Snakes became five-time OBA champs (2018, 2019, 2022, 2025, 2028). Finals MVP was 3B Colin Schindler, who was only a part-time starter in the regular season. The hometown boy went 10-19 in the series with 4 runs, 1 triple, 1 homer, 5 RBI, and 5 stolen bases. Other notes: OBA saves leader Jayden Owens became the first in OBA history to reach 500 career saves, a mark only met by 11 others thus far. Owens finished the year with 514, which would be his final tally as he saw limited use in his final two years. As of 2037, Owens ranks 11^th in world history in saves. Samoa’s pitching staff set bad OBA records by allowing 1579 hits with a 9.87 H/9. In other pitching milestones, Stef Page became the 10^th to 250 wins and the 9^th to 4500 strikeouts. It was his final year, finishing with 250 wins exactly and 4543 Ks. Sigfred Vela became the 15^th to 4000 Ks. Vela and Colton Stark became the 33^rd and 34^th to 200 wins. Willy Waldron was the 25^th batter to 2500 career hits. CF Pouvalu Manu won his 13^th Gold Glove, tying Ashton Hughes for the position record. LF Martin Topio was the only other 13-time winner in within OBA. The OBA WARlord Jimmy Caliw notably won a world record 17 between SS/2B, but 11 were in OBA and six were in MLB. C Dan Bais won his 8^th Silver Slugger, setting a position record. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

04-02-2025, 06:00 PM	#2185
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,570	2028 in EPB No one was dominant in the European League as 92-70 earned the top seed for Volgograd atop the South Division. It was a nice rebound for the Voyagers, whose seven-year playoff streak was snapped in 2027 at 75-87. Volgograd has won the division seven times in the decade. Samara was second in the division at 86-76, which earned the second wild card for repeat playoff trips. 2020 expansion squad Gomel earned its first playoff berth and won its first North Division title at 90-72. The Griffins edged out defending Eurasian Professional Baseball champ Minsk by one. The 89-73 Miners got the first wild card for their third straight playoff berth. St. Petersburg (83-79) and Kazan (82-70) were the first teams out; both having won wild cards last year. The Polar Bears saw a four-year playoff streak ended despite leading the EL with 641 runs. Gomel allowed the fewest at 492. Volgograd LF Seriozhenka Gusarov repeated as European League MVP as the 28-year old Russian led in hits (200), total bases (345), average (.328), slugging (.566), OPS (.926), and wRC+ (180). Gusarov added 79 runs, 32 doubles, 13 triples, 29 homers, 78 RBI, and 7.3 WAR. He also hit for the cycle in July against Krasnodar. Prior to the season, the Voyagers extended Gusarov at eight years and $101,300,000. Gomel’s Araz Aliev won his second Pitcher of the Year in three seasons. The 29-year old Uzebk righty led in strikeouts (397), innings (277.1), K/BB (16.5), complete games (22), shutouts (6), FIP- (34), and WAR (13.98). Aliev added a 22-6 record, 1.98 ERA, and 160 ERA+. He missed the Triple Crown by eight ERA points and one win. Aliev’s WAR ranked as the fourth-best single-season by an EPB pitcher, just shy of the record 14.17 by Taleh Ismailov from 1956. As of 2037, Aliev’s effort is the 46^th-best season by pitching WAR in all of pro baseball history. He also took second in MVP voting, more than living up to the seven-year, $77,100,000 extension he had received the prior winter. Gomel ousted the reigning champ Minsk 3-1 in the first round while Volgograd swept Samara. The Griffins were making their first-ever European League Championship Series appearance, while the Voyagers were making their fourth of the decade. Just like in 2020, 22, and 23, Volgograd came away with the pennant. The Voyagers rolled to a 4-1 victory over the Griffins. Defending Asian League champ Nur-Sultan repeated atop the West Division and took the top seed at 98-64. Perm was five back in the division at 93-69 and got the first wild card, ending a two-year playoff drought. The Setters allowed the fewest runs in the AL at 481. Krasnoyarsk’s impressive East Division title streak grew to 10 years and their playoff streak went to 11. The 95-67 Cossacks fell three wins short of the top seed, but only won the division by three over Vladivostok. The 92-70 Shibas led in scoring at 654 and got the second wild card for their first-ever playoff trip. It was a nine game drop to the next wild card contenders with Omsk and Novosibirsk both 83-79. Vladivostok was the last of the 2008 expansion teams to make it to the postseason. With Gomel’s berth in 2028, that left Khabarovsk as the only expansion team of any year yet to advance to the playoffs. The Rockets finished 82-80 in 2028, their first winning season in nine tries. Yekaterinburg notably struggled to 71-91, their first losing campaign since 2020. The Yaks had been to the ALCS four times in the prior five years. Repeating as Asian League MVP was Vladivostok 1B Erik Farkas. The 29-year old Hungarian lefty led in runs (100), total bases (348), slugging (.576), OPS (.945), wRC+ (182), and WAR (8.2). Farkas added 189 hits, 42 homers, 99 RBI, and a .313 average. The Shibas locked him up prior to the season on an eight-year, $96,500,000 extension. Pitcher of the Year was Nur-Sultan’s Vardan Aslan, who led in WHIP (0.86), and complete games (20). The 24-year old Uzbek righty had an 18-8 record, 2.00 ERA, 269.2 innings, 301 strikeouts, 153 ERA+, and 7.5 WAR. He was now living up to the #2 overall pick in the 2023 EPB Draft by the Setters. Vladivostok defeated Nur-Sultan 3-1 in the first round and Perm outlasted Krasnoyarsk 3-2. For the Pitbulls, it was their third Asian League Championship Series of the decade (2021, 2025). However, the Shibas prevailed 4-1 over Perm in their first ALCS trip. In the 74^th EPB Championship, Vladivostok defeated Volgograd 4-2 to become the 24^th different franchise to win an EPB title. Parity continued for the top spot with nine different champs throughout the 2020s. 1B Nikolai Karjakin was Vladivostok’s top playoff performer and won ALCS MVP. In 15 playoff starts, the 28-year old Russian had 20 hits, 12 runs, 5 doubles, 1 triple, 2 homers, and 10 RBI. Other notes: In pitching milestones, Ivan Nikolin became the 31^st to 4000 career strikeouts. Svyatoslav Tyahnybok and Yevgeni Lyubimov were the 59^th and 60^th to 3500 Ks. Lyubimov also became the 60^th to 200 wins. Dimo Antonov became the 19^th reliever to 300 saves. In hitting milestones, Afzal Koveshnikov and Gleb Korelin became the 29^th and 30^th to reach 2500 hits. Korelin also won his 7^th Silver Slugger at second base. Timofei Averkin won his 10^th Silver Slugger. It was his first as a DH, having won nine in right field previously. LF Brandon Chunchignorov won his 13^th and final Gold Glove, becoming the 3^rd in EPB history to win 13+. CF Robert Albrecht 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)

04-03-2025, 06:43 AM	#2186
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,570	2028 in EBF Four teams fought for the Northern Conference’s top seed across two divisions and were separated by only two wins. Nantes, who debuted in the European Baseball Federation’s Elite Tier with a wild card in 2027, secured the West Division and top spot at 105-57. Hanover at 104-58 won the Central Division to grow their playoff streak to six. It was their first-ever division title in the top tier. The second place finishers both were 103-59 with Manchester in the West and three-time defending EBF champ Rotterdam in the Central. The Crushers led the entire EBF with 840 runs scored while the Ravens allowed the fewest in the NC at 575. It was Manchester’s second-ever playoff berth (2020), while Rotterdam grew their streak to eight years. It was the seventh year running that the Ravens won 100+ games. Glasgow at 98-64 in the West got the third wild card for back-to-back berths. Kharkiv and Stockholm tied at 93-69 atop the East Division with the Killer Bees winning the tiebreaker game to advance. This grew Kharkiv’s playoff streak to five and was their fourth division title of the run. The Swordsmen were five wins short in the wild card race. The next closest teams were Cologne (91-71) and Frankfurt (89-73). Notably Dublin fell to 75-87, their first losing season since 2017 and only their second losing campaign since 2004. Northern Conference MVP went to Nantes LF Freddie Iwan, who was the WARlord at with 9.6. The 25-year old Welsh lefty had 221 hits, 107 runs, 35 doubles, 10 triples, 30 homers, 90 RBI, 50 stolen bases, a .376/.413/.624 slash, 1.036 OPS, and 180 wRC+. He also hit for the cycle in June against Glasgow. The Trappers gave Iwan a five-year, $118,400,000 extension in the offseason, although he ultimately opted out and left for Munich in 2031. Pitcher of the Year went to Manchester’s David Ruiz, who led in WAR (8.0), WHIP (0.94), K/BB (12.8), quality starts (27), and FIP- (61). The 27-year old Spaniard had a 18-6 record in 231 innings, 261 ERA, 269 strikeouts, and 151 ERA+. The Crushers gave Ruiz a four-year, $62 million extension in the offseason. Also notable was closer Edward Slomka winning his third Reliever of the Year with Nantes, leading with 45 saves. The 34-year old Pole made his EBF return after a three-year MLB excursion. Slomka’s previous ROTY wins came in 2019 and 2021 for Thessaloniki. In the first round, Kharkiv edged Glasgow 2-1 and Rotterdam outlasted Manchester 2-1. Both top seeds held in round two with Hanover surviving in five against the Killer Bees and Nantes sweeping the Ravens. This ended Rotterdam’s four-peat bids and marked the first time since 2022 that they didn’t make the Northern Conference Championship. Both Hanover and Nantes earned their first-ever NCC appearance. The Hitmen would pull off the 4-2 road victory over the Trappers and became the sixth original E2L team to make it to the final. The Southern Conference wasn’t nearly as top heavy with only 104-58 Munich with triple-digit wins. The Mavericks won a loaded Central Division to grow their division title streak to eight seasons and playoff streak to nine. Munich won 100+ games for the sixth time in that run and allowed the fewest runs in EBF at 554. Their offense also set a new conference team record with 297 doubles. All three wild cards came from the Central with Ljubljana (96-66), Palermo (95-67), and Bratislava (92-70) advancing. Defending conference champ Zagreb was fifth in the division at 84-78, ending their playoff streak at eight seasons. The Gulls did still extend their streak of winning seasons to 11 years. Both Munich and Rotterdam are tied for the longest active such streak at 12. For the Juggernauts, this was their first-ever playoff berth in their 12 seasons in the EBF Elite. Ljubljana had only just posted their first winning season in 2027 at 83-79. The Priests picked up their third wild card in five years. The Blue Falcons had just made it back to the EBF Elite, having won the Second League Championship in 2027. It was Bratislava’s first playoff berth in the top tier since 2007. The #2 seed went to West Division champ Barcelona at 95-67, earning back-to-back division crowns. Marseille led in scoring at 782 runs, but their 90-72 record was five short in the division race and two away for the third wild card. In the East Division, Odesa (87-75) outlasted Chisinau (85-77) to end the Counts’ five-year hold on the division crown. This was the first-ever playoff trip for the Drifters, who joined EBF in a 2000 expansion. Repeating as MVP was 1B Matt Gomez, although he was now with Marseille. He won in 2027 with Zaragoza, but left the Gold Hawks for free agency and got eight years and $204,800,000 from the Musketeers. The 27-year old Spaniard led in runs (121), OBP (.434), and WAR (10.3). Gomez had 201 hits, 41 doubles, 33 homers, 111 RBI, and 1.037 OPS. Munich’s Nejc Novak won his third Pitcher of the Year, having previously won in 2022 and 2024. The 32-year old Slovene righty led in ERA (1.66), quality starts (23), and FIP- (61). It was only the third time in the 2000s that a qualifying pitcher had an ERA below 1.70. Novak’s mark ranks 29^th as of 2037. He also had a 20-4 record, 10 saves, 233 innings, 244 strikeouts, 224 ERA+, and 7.6 WAR. The first round had Bratislava over Odesa 2-1 and Ljubljana over Palermo 2-0. Top seed Munich bested the Blue Falcons 3-1 to earn their fourth straight trip to the Southern Conference Championship. Perhaps even more impressive, it was the ninth time in eleven years that the Mavericks were playing for the pennant; a run only rivaled by Zurich during their record 21-year playoff streak. A newcomer approached though as Ljubljana shocked Barcelona 3-2 in the second round for a conference finals trip in their first-ever playoff appearance. The Juggernauts gave a valiant effort, but couldn’t keep the magic going as Munich prevailed 4-2. The Mavericks won their sixth pennant since 2018 and their 12^th overall, now tied with the Mountaineers for the most finals trips. The 79^th European Championship was the second all-German matchup, joining Munich’s 2021 win over Hamburg. For the first time since 2015, the finale needed all seven games. Hanover won the war of attrition over the Mavericks, becoming the 30^th different franchise to win it all. The Hitmen joined Antwerp (2015) and Chisinau (2024) as the only champs that began as European Second League teams back in 2005. Finals MVP went to LF Felix Timm in his seventh year with Hanover. The 28-year old Austrian and 2024 conference MVP had 17 playoff starts with 18 hits, 12 runs, 2 doubles, 2 triples, 5 homers, and 19 RBI. He had committed the prior spring to an eight-year, $200 million extension with the Hitmen. Five different teams from Germany now have a European Championship as Hanover joined Munich, Berlin, Cologne, and Hamburg. Other notes: Kharkiv’s Danut Alecandrescu had the 17^th four home run game in EBF history versus Brno on September 13. Max Gerlach, Stefanos Emmanoulidis, and Zeljko Siladjdzic each reached 1500 runs scored, a mark now met by 26 in EBF. Gerlach and Theofilos Psarras became the 31^st and 32^nd to 1500 RBI. Siladjdzic became the 46^th to reach 2500 hits. Christian Brunner became the 40^th member of the 500 home run club and won his 7^th Silver Slugger at 3B. Slawomir Boguski became the 28^th pitcher to 3500 strikeouts, Promotion/Relegation: In a normal season, Hamburg (57-105), Krakow (60-102), and Wroclaw (62-100) would’ve been relegated from the Northern Conference for losing 100+ games and Skopje (65-97) would’ve been demoted with the lowest Southern Conference record. Those teams caught a lucky break as the European Baseball Federation would choose to expand and realign in 2029. More details on that to come in a later post. The EBF Elite Tier conferences would shift from three divisions of eight teams (24 total) to two large 13 team divisions (26 total). To facilitate this growth, no teams would be relegated based on 2028 results. Meanwhile the top four from the 2028 European Second League season (Lodz, Lyon, Helsinki, and Sheffield) were promoted to fill the four new spots. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

04-03-2025, 06:59 PM	#2187
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,570	2028 in BSA The Bolivar League’s power was concentrated in the Peru-Bolivia Division with Lima earning repeat titles and the top seed at 109-53. Close behind was Santa Cruz at 102-60 for the first wild card, giving the Crawfish their fifth consecutive playoff berth and fourth straight 100+ win season. The Lobos led all of Beisbol Sudamerica with 903 runs and had a .520 team slugging percentage; the second-best mark in BSA history behind their own .523 from the prior year. Santa Cruz allowed the fewest runs in the league at 611. The next best two records came from the Colombia-Ecuador Division with Medellin on top at 99-63, ending an eight-year playoff drought for the Mutiny. Three-time defending BL champ Barranquilla was second at 93-69 and grew their playoff streak to seven seasons as the second wild card. Quito was third at 88-74, five short in the wild card race. Three teams fought in a weaker Venezuela Division with Caracas again coming out on top. The 85-77 Colts fended off 83-79 efforts by both Maracaibo and Valencia. Caracas claimed the division for the fourth straight season and for the 11^th time in 12 years. The Colts also posted their 13^th consecutive winning season. The Mariners notably had their first winning season since 2019. Bolivar League MVP went to Lima RF Marc Melgar in his fifth season for his hometown squad. Nicknamed “Alley Cat,” Melgar led in runs (134), total bases (426), batting average (.404), slugging (.754), OPS (1.210), and WAR (9.9). He became the seventh qualifying hitter in BSA history to hit above .400. Melgar also had only the eighth ever BSA season of an OPS above 1.200. He was also only seven short of the single-season runs record. The 26-year old Peruvian added 228 hits, 43 doubles, 13 triples, 43 home runs, 128 RBI, 65 stolen bases, .456 OBP, and 194 wRC+. Melgar was the #1 pick in the 2022 BSA Draft and the Lobos locked him up after the 2028 season with an eight-year, $160,500,000 extension. He had emerged as an absolute megastar both in his hometown of Lima and throughout all of Peru. The Lobos also had the Pitcher of the Year Santino Condori. The 28-year old Peruvian led in wins (23-8) and posted a 2.93 ERA over 255.1 innings, 246 strikeouts, 142 ERA+, and 5.8 WAR. Lima also had the #3 pick in 2022’s draft and used it for Condori. Caracas upset Barranquilla 2-0 in the first round to end the Blues’ four-peat hopes. The Colts gave top seed Lima a fight in the divisional series, but the Lobos escaped with a 3-2 win. This secured repeat trips to the Bolivar League Championship Series for Lima. Santa Cruz swept Medellin on the other side for their second BLCS in three years. The Lobos rolled to a sweep over the Crawfish to end a 26-year pennant drought. Lima became nine-time Bolivar League champs (1935, 1968, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2028). Brasilia dominated the Southern Cone League field at 111-51, becoming the league’s first 110+ win team since Fortaleza in 2009. The Bearcats got their second playoff trip in three years, but it was their first North Division title since 2012. Brasilia led the league in runs scored (747) and led all of BSA with 500 runs allowed. 2026 Copa Sudamerica champ Buenos Aires bounced back after just missing the 2027 playoff field. The Atlantics at 100-62 claimed their first Southeast Division title since 2019. Sao Paulo’s four-year division title streak ended, but the 92-70 Padres extended their playoff steak to five seasons. They were the second wild card, beating out defending league champ Manaus by four games (88-74) and Rosario by five (87-75). In a tight South Central Division, Concepcion (97-65) squeaked by Santiago (96-66). The Chiefs finally ended what was an eight-year division title streak for the Saints. Concepcion had their sixth playoff trip in seven years and their 15^th since 2011. Santiago was the first wild card and grew their postseason run to nine years. Like the Chiefs, the Saints have only missed the playoffs thrice over the last 18 seasons. Both Chilean teams had come to expect regular postseason trips. Santiago two-way star Will Arocha repeated as both Southern Cone League MVP and Pitcher of the Year. It was the third MVP win for the 27-year old Chilean in only his fifth season. On the mound, Arocha led in WAR (9.3), quality starts (27), complete games (19), and shutouts (7). He also had a 17-9 record, 2.36 ERA, 267 innings, 286 strikeouts, 152 ERA+, and a Gold Glove as a pitcher. Arocha also played 88 games at second base and had 126 games total offensively, posting 6.3 WAR, 149 hits, 70 runs, 24 doubles, 15 triples, 21 homers, 82 RBI, 43 stolen bases, .338/.372/.603 slash, and 185 wRC+. Arocha’s combined 15.6 WAR broke his own two-way record in BSA and was the 11^th-best two-way WAR in world baseball history. His season was the 4^th-best WAR by any BSA player, behind only pitchers Mohamed Ramos (17.94 in 1936, 17.65 in 1938) and Timoteo Caruso (16.03 in 1942). Arocha again won MVP, Pitcher of the Year, a Gold Glove, and Silver Slugger. Prior to Arocha, that sweep had only been done once in all of professional baseball history; now he had done it back-to-back years. Sao Paulo ousted Santiago 2-0 in the first round, then stunned top seed Brasilia 3-1 in the divisional series. The Padres earned their fourth Southern Cone Championship trip in five years. Buenos Aires swept Concepcion to set up a rematch of the 2026 league final. The Atlantics again prevailed over Sao Paulo, winning this time 4-2. Buenos Aires became 11-time Southern Cone champs (1941-42, 1945-47, 1963, 1975, 1980, 1982, 2026, 2028). Despite the general successes of both teams, the 98^th Copa Sudamerica was the first finals battle between Lima and Buenos Aires. The series ended up relatively uneventful with the Atlantics defeating the Lobos 4-1. BA won its second Cup in three years and led all teams with eight overall (1941, 1942, 1945, 1963, 1975, 1980, 2026, 2028). Finals MVP was 1B Sedat Erdogan, who had an unusual path to Beisbol Sudamerica. The 28-year old Turk had flamed out as a prospect in the Asian Baseball Federatio. Valencia gave him a shot in BSA in 2024 and he spent part of four years there as a backup. He was cut in early 2027 by the Velocity and grabbed shortly thereafter by Buenos Aires. Erdogan barely played in 2027, but became a starter for the first time in his career for 2028. In 14 playoff starts, Erdogan had 16 hits, 14 runs, 4 homers, and 10 RBI. He’d get taken in the offseason by Cochabamba in an expansion draft, where he spent three unremarkable seasons before retiring. Erdogan finished with only 6.5 WAR for his career, but earned a spot in history with his playoff performance. Other notes: Cordoba’s Hernan Bautista tossed BSA’s 50^th Perfect Game on May 19 with seven strikeouts facing Porto Alegre. Maturin’s Caleb van Noord had 38 triples, tied for the 4^th-best single season in BSA history and three short of the BSA record. In an opener role, Asa McLennan set a league record for pitching starts at 60. In batting milestones, Juan Rizo and Benjamim Pinheiro became the 24^th and 25^th to reach 1500 runs scored. Jeffry Lucero became the 58^th member of the 500 home run club. Pablo Amor became the 80^th to 2500 career hits. SS Eddy Corunha won his 7^th straight Silver Slugger. In pitching, Igor Vigil was the 38^th to 300 career saves. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

04-04-2025, 05:55 AM	#2188
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,570	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)

04-04-2025, 09:35 PM	#2189
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,570	2028 in CABA Leon ran away with the Mexican League’s top seed at 108-54, repeating as South Division champ. The Lions’ playoff streak grew to four seasons as they allowed the fewest runs in the Central American Baseball Association at 534. Leon was also tied for the most scored in the ML at 719 along with Torreon. Mexicali won the North Division at 96-66. Although the Maroons got a repeat playoff berth, this was their first division title since 2007. The four wild cards went to Cancun (92-70), San Luis Potosi (91-71), Torreon (90-72) and defending ML champ Guadalajara (86-76). Missing the cut was Mexico City (84-78), Monterrey (83-79), Ecatepec (82-80), and Puebla (81-81). The Captains and Hellhounds both earned repeat playoff trips. The Tomahawks ended a three-year drought and the Potros snapped a nine-year skid. Despite being the last team in, Guadalajara’s pitching staff notably had 1718 strikeouts and a 10.67 K/9. Those ranked as the fifth-most Ks and second-best K/9 in CABA history. The Aztecs as the first team out saw their playoff streak ended at seven years. Last year’s top seed Tijuana notably fell from 104 wins to a lackluster 77-85. It was the first losing campaign since 2013 by the Toros. Meanwhile Juarez dropped to 71-91, their first losing season since 2013. The Jesters had won at least 80 games each season back to 2011. The last time that Tijuana and Juarez were concurrently below 80 wins was 1990. The playoff miss didn’t stop Mexico City 2B Leonardo Martinez from repeating as Mexican League MVP. The 28-year old righty again led in home runs (56), RBI (124), total bases (395), and WAR (9.3). Martinez added 104 runs, 184 hits, a .308/.343/.661 slash, 1.004 OPS, and 201 wRC+. He stayed one more year with the Aztecs before getting a seven-year, $219,600,000 free agent deal in 2030 with Haiti. Tijuana’s struggles didn’t hinder ace Richard Wright, who joined Junior Vergara as CABA’s only eight-time Pitcher of the Year winners. It was the fifth straight for Wright, who was in his tenth season for the Toros. The 30-year old Jamaican lefty led in wins (22-8), strikeouts (375), quality starts (24), complete games (15), shutouts (4), FIP- (39), and WAR (11.6). Wright led in both Ks and WAR for the eighth time in his career. It was actually the first time since his rookie season that he DIDN’T win the ERA title. His 1.97 ranked third with Mexicali’s Stinky Pasillas taking first at 1.59. Wright notably had his fifth sub-two ERA season, posting 176 ERA+ over 247 innings. In 2028, Wright became, the 81^st CABA pitcher to 3000 career strikeouts. The first round of the playoffs saw San Luis Potosi over Torreon and Guadalajara over Cancun, both 2-1. The division champs held firm in round two as Mexicali won 3-1 against the Potros and Leon swept the defending champ Hellhounds. The Lions made their first Mexican League Championship Series trip since their 2018 pennant. For the Maroons, they last made it with their 2007 title. Top-seeded Leon continued their overall dominance and took the MLCS 4-1 against Mexicali. The Lions secured their tenth Mexican League title, having also won in 1927, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1986, and 2018. Last year, only one team in the Caribbean League won 100+ games. In 2028, four achieved that mark with a fierce battle for the top seed and two of the division titles. Guatemala ended up the #1 seed narrowly at 108-54 atop the Central Division, while West Division champ Santo Domingo was 107-55. The Ghosts grew their playoff streak to eight, while the defending CL winner Dolphins’ streak grew to four. Both teams had historic offensive seasons. Santo Domingo scored the most runs in CABA history at 938. The excitement from that led to a new CABA attendance record as well at 2,868,844. Although Guatemala had only 850 runs by comparison, they set new CABA team records for batting average (.299), on-base percentage (.345), and hits (1712). Even with these offenses, both only won their division titles by six games. In the Central, Honduras was 102-60 to grow their playoff streak to six. Bahamas went 101-61 in the West to extend their streak to four. It was the Buccaneers who allowed the fewest runs at 556. Those teams also had tough battles for the three wild card slots. Haiti at 99-63 got the remaining spot while Nicaragua (97-65) and Havana (90-72) missed the cut. With that, five of the six playoff teams were repeats. The lone difference was Puerto Rico won a terrible East Division at 82-80, two games ahead of last year’s winner Suriname (80-82) and four better than Trinidad. Santo Domingo 3B Jamel Forsyth won his second Caribbean League MVP, having previously won in 2024. The 31-year old Grenadan lefty led in the triple slash (.381/.428/.706), OPS (1.135), wRC+ (192), WAR (10.9), runs (131), and RBI (147). Forsyth also had 214 hits and 50 homers, falling eight short of a Triple Crown. The Dolphins gave their superstar a new four-year, $122 million extension the following spring. Guatemala’s Israel Montague remained a force with his seventh Pitcher of the Year win of his nine-year career. The 31-year old Panamanian lefty earned his second Triple Crown with a 22-6 record, 1.96 ERA, and 398 strikeouts. It was Montague’s seventh ERA title and his fifth time with the most Ks. He also led in WHIP (0.74), and K/BB (15.3) over 243 innings with a 204 ERA+. Surprisingly, Montague’s 10.5 WAR was second in the league. Bahamas ace Carlos Montes had 11.0 WAR, but comparatively had a 2.52 ERA and 324 Ks. Montague posted his sixth sub-two ERA season. Bahamas edged Haiti 2-1 and Honduras swept Puerto Rico in the first round. Both wild cards then swept their high-powered foes in round two. The Buccaneers downed Guatemala 3-1 and the Horsemen survived 3-2 against defending champ Santo Domingo. After many years of mediocrity, Bahamas earned its third straight appearance in the Caribbean League Championship Series. Their lone title came against Honduras in 2026. The Horsemen got their revenge over the Buccaneers 4-2 to end a 16-year pennant drought. Honduras was now 18-time Caribbean champs (1919, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1953, 1958, 1959, 1963, 1991, 1993, 2003, 2004, 2011, 2028). The Horsemen led all Caribbean teams and were now tied with Juarez for the most finals appearances. Honduras has been to the CLCS a staggering 44 times, which is the most LCS trips by any team in any world league. With both teams successes, it was unsurprisingly not the first time that Honduras and Leon had met for the Central American Baseball Association Championship. That said, a few generations had passed since the three previous battles. In 1939, the Lions won their first-ever title in a seven-game classic. In 1942, the Horsemen got their revenge in another seven-game showdown. Round three came in 1959 with Leon surviving yet another seven-game thriller. Round four in 2028 lived up to the historic billing with the 118^th CABA Championship also going the distance. Honduras evened things up against Leon to become nine-time CABA kings. (1926, 1940, 1942, 1958, 1963, 1993, 2003, 2011, 2028). This tied the Horsemen for the second-most with Santo Domingo, while Mexico City’s 11 held the top spot. Finals MVP went to 1B Grady Hall in his fifth season with Honduras. It was the first as a full-time starter for the 26-year old Jamaican. In 19 playoff starts, Hall had 26 hits, 11 runs, 4 doubles, 2 homers, 5 RBI, and 10 stolen bases. Other notes: CABA’s 37^th perfect game came on May 31 from Guadalajara’s Vicente Perez with 16 strikeouts against Chihuahua. Noah Breton became the first with 900 CABA home runs. He was one of 20 players with 900+ professional homers through the 2028 campaign. Marcelo Campa became only the 26^th member of CABA’s 600 homer club and the 23^rd to 1500 runs scored. Luis Moran was the 64^th to reach 500 homers and Jonas Pimentel was the 63^rd to 2500 hits. Amauris Huerta was the 53^rd pitcher to 200 wins. SS Ferdinand Varela won his 7^th Silver Slugger. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

Yesterday, 06:58 AM	#2190
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,570	2028 in MLB Ottawa ran away with the National Association’s top seed in 2028 at 105-57, finishing 12 games better than the next team. The Elks were second in both runs scored (818) and fewest allowed (618). The Canadian capital also set a new world season attendance record at 3,431,240, besting the previous high of 3,426,361 by Los Angeles in 2013. Although Ottawa earned repeat playoff berths, it was their first Northeast Division title since 2022. The #2 seed was Upper Midwest Division champ Cleveland at 93-69, which ended a 19-year playoff drought and 22-year division title drought. Chicago was a close second at 91-71 and earned the first wild card. The Cubs’ playoff streak grew to three years and was their eighth playoff berth of the decade. The East Division had Raleigh (91-71) survive against Philadelphia (90-72), Washington (89-73), Virginia Beach (87-75), and Baltimore (85-77). The Raptors got their third berth in four years and second division title. Meanwhile the Lower Midwest Division went to 89-73 Indianapolis, topping Wichita by three and Louisville by seven. The Racers earned back-to-back playoff berths, but it was their first division crown since 2013. The Phillies at 90-72 got the second wild card to end a three-year playoff drought. Washington and the Northeast’s Halifax were tied for the last spot at 89-73. The Hound Dogs won the tiebreaker game to secure repeat playoff trips. The Admirals’ playoff streak ended at five despite leading in scoring with 830 runs. Grand Rapids allowed the fewest runs at 86-76. Toronto (87-75), Virginia Beach (87-75), Wichita (86-76), Grand Rapids (86-76), Baltimore (85-77), Buffalo (85-77), and defending National Association champ Montreal (85-77) were all right in the mix, but fell just short. The Maples notably saw a four-year playoff streak end. Meanwhile, Cincinnati’s eight-year streak snapped as the Reds fell to 79-83. That was their first losing season since 2017, which had been the longest active streak of winning campaigns. For the Blue Sox, they notably had their first winning season in a decade. Indianapolis 1B Thomas Rich repeated as National Association MVP. The 29-year old lefty from Westlake, Ohio led in runs (120), total bases (410), OPS (1.088), and wRC+ (201). Rich had 211 hits, 34 doubles, 51 homers, 130 RBI, a .347/.414/.678 slash, and 9.2 WAR. Pitcher of the Year also had a repeat with Grand Rapids ace Callum McGonagal. The 26-year old Irish righty led in ERA (2.33), WHIP (0.95), complete games (17), shutouts (7), FIP- (55), and WAR (10.3). McGonagal added a 20-9 record, 259.1 innings, 260 strikeouts, and 170 ERA+. He was only one win and six strikeouts short of a Triple Crown season. Among his shutouts was a no-hitter on September 1 with 11 Ks and two walks against Brooklyn. Two division winners got first round sweeps with Indianapolis over Chicago and Cleveland over Halifax. Philadelphia meanwhile upset their divisional foe Raleigh 3-2. The Phillies gave top seeded Ottawa a fight in round two, but the Elks escaped with a 3-2 series win. The Racers then rolled to a sweep over the Cobras. For Ottawa, it was their first National Association Champion ship Series trip since their 2003 pennant. Indianapolis hadn’t been there since their 1999 trophy. The Elks lived up to their top seed and cruised to a 4-1 NACS win over the Racers. Despite the drought, it was Ottawa’s 12^th pennant (1924, 25, 29, 38, 40, 56, 65, 75, 83, 86, 2003, 28). Philadelphia was the only NA squad with more at 14. The two-time defending World Series and Baseball Grand Champion San Diego again led the American Association atop the Southwest Division at 108-54. The Seals led all of Major League Baseball in runs scored (927) and led the AA in fewest allowed (602). San Diego picked up its fifth playoff berth in six years. Southeast Division champ Charlotte gave them a run for the top seed at 104-58. The Canaries earned their second division crown in three seasons and their first 100+ win season since 2012. Last year’s division champ Nashville dropped from 100 wins down to 77-85. Dallas took the South Central Division at 98-64 in an impressive rebound from a 100-loss 2027 campaign. It was the Dalmatians’ first playoff trip since 2022 and first division title since 1998. Last year’s division winner Houston was second at 93-69. Seattle (97-65) sneaked by Denver (96-66) for the Northwest Division title, growing the Grizzlies’ division title and playoff streak to six seasons. The Dragons and Southwest runner-up Los Angeles were the first wild cards at 96-66. Denver snapped a five-year drought and the Angels earned their third berth in four years. The Hornets nabbed the final slot at 93-69 for repeat playoff trips and their fifth in seven years. The first teams out were Oakland (89-73), Oklahoma City (88-74), San Antonio (87-75), Tampa (87-75), Calgary (87-75), Atlanta (86-76), and Birmingham (85-77). The expansion Boomers had their first-ever winning season. Fellow expansion teams El Paso and Anchorage were wild cards in 2027, but fell to 81-81 and 75-89 in 2028, respectively. Orlando had MLB’s worst record at 55-107 and set a new franchise worst. Despite that, it was Orcas DH Jackson Brafford that won American Association MVP. Even as a DH on a trash team, it was hard to ignore breaking MLB’s single season home run record. Brafford smacked a nice 69 dingers, passing the record of 67 set in 2012 by Killian Fruechte and matched in 2022 by Dean Ott. The 27-year old lefty from Frederick, Maryland also led in total bases (461), slugging (.720), OPS (1.117), and WAR (8.3). Brafford’s total bags ranked second in MLB history behind Sebastian Lunde’s 476 from 1949. He added 215 hits, 134 runs, 35 doubles, 146 RBI, .336 average, .397 OBP, and 180 wRC+. Brafford had stayed committed to Orlando, signing an eight-year, $162 million extension before the 2027 season. Pitcher of the Year went to ninth-year Charlotte righty Dylan Reed. The 29-yaer old from Cocoa, Florida won the ERA title (2.68) and led in wins (23-8) and quality starts (24). Reed struck out 200 over 268.2 innings with a 165 ERA+ and 6.7 WAR. In February, Reed inked a five-year, $111,600,000 extension with the Canaries. Charlotte swept Houston, Dallas downed Denver 3-1, and Los Angeles upset Seattle 3-2 in the first round. The Dalmatians then outlasted the Canaries 3-2 in round two while San Diego dispatched the Angels 3-1. For Dallas, they earned their first trip to the American Association Championship Series since their 1980 World Series win. This was an incredible accomplishment considering the Dalmatians were a putrid 62-100 the prior year. They were the feel good story, but Dallas ran into the historic juggernaut that was San Diego. The Seals rolled to a 4-1 victory for their third straight pennant and fourth in six years. San Diego now had 13 American Association pennants (1936, 55, 56, 58, 66, 67, 2007, 08, 10, 23, 26, 27, 28), tying them with Phoenix for the most. The Seals were the fourth in AA history to three-peat, joining Houston (1910-12), Memphis (1913-15), and New Orleans (1970-72). The 128^th World Series had two of the most successful MLB franchises squaring off for the second time. Back in 1956, San Diego won a 4-3 classic over Ottawa to repeat as MLB champs. The Seals ended up winning three titles in four years having also won in 1958. SD now had another shot at the elusive three-peat, an incredibly tough feat considering the number of teams and talent level in MLB. The only previous three-peats came from Houston (1910-12), Philadelphia (the lone four-peat from 1941-44), and New Orleans (1970-72). San Diego joined that exclusive list, defeating Ottawa in a 4-3 thriller. The Seals became the first ten-time World Series winner (1936, 55, 56, 58, 66, 2007, 10, 26, 27, 28). They had been tied with Denver for the most titles at nine. In his 13^th season catching for SD, Jim Fisher earned World Series MVP. The three-time Gold Glover in 16 playoff starts had 20 hits, 11 runs, 3 doubles, 7 homers, and 16 RBI. San Diego became the sixth franchise in all of pro baseball history to win at least 10 overall league crowns. With them were Minsk (14 in EPB), Kano (12 in WAB), Ahmedabad (12 in SAB), Mexico City (11), and Kyiv (8 in EPB, 2 in EBF). It was already a historic dynasty with the 119-win 2027 squad considered by many as the best team in baseball history. The Seals now had a shot at an unthinkable accomplishment, a third straight Baseball Grand Championship. Other notes: Ottawa reliever Lucas Oldham had an awesome playoff run, setting playoff records for WHIP (0.36), and opponent’s OBP (.109) with a minimum 15 innings required. Oldham was also only the 11^th qualifying pitcher in MLB playoff history to post an ERA of zero. The 24-year old Englishman tossed 16.2 scoreless innings over eight appearances with four saves and 23 strikeouts. 61-101 Milwaukee had historically bad pitching with a 5.03 team ERA and 801 earned runs allowed. The only National Association team worse over 128 seasons was the 1912 Baltimore Orioles with a 5.22 ERA and 834 earned runs allowed. Detroit’s offense had 85 triples, tying the NA team record set in 1991 by Buffalo. Despite the feat’s rarity, four players had hitting streaks of 30+ games in 2028. Miami’s J.C Wener was the best at 35, tied for the 12^th-longest in MLB history. The record remained Jayden Gagnon’s 49 from 1930. MLB home run king Isaac Cox became the first to 900 dingers and the 13^th to 3500 career hits. Through 2028, Cox was one of 20 sluggers in baseball history with 900+ professional homers. Cox still looked good at age 41 with 39 homers, 115 RBI, .922 OPS, and 4.1 WAR. He now had 2264 RBI and 6981 total bases, putting him in very close to the #1 spot held by Stan Provost of 2271 RBI and 6989 total bases. Cox’s 2198 runs were second, but still 150 short of Provost. Cox also got to 138.2 career WAR, passing Elijah Cashman’s 136.6 for 3^rd among MLB position players. #2 Graham Gregor would still be a tough chase at 147.95, while the leader Morgan Short was almost certainly unreachable at 170.47. The 600 home run club also grew from 33 members to 38 in 2028 as Titan Gormley, Itumeleng Sagandira, Jason Perazzo, Fred Hynes, and Peter Schon all reached the mark. Perazzo and Sagandira also reached 1500 RBI, achieved by 125 MLB sluggers. 111 had now reached 500 homers with the additions of Gilbert Windemere, Dennis Peters, and Jeff Bonner to the list. Alberto Peron became the 67^th member of the 3000 hit club. In pitching notables, Vincent Lepp became the 6^th to 4500 strikeouts, finishing the year at 4539. The 39-year old had 5.5 WAR, but a 4.35 ERA and 131 Ks with Houston in 2028. Lepp would keep pitching in 2029 with Calgary, but Julius Jordan’s top Ks mark of 4988 was still a long way away. Lepp’s 321 wins were also still 40 away from Parker Harpaz’s top mark. At 140.6 WAR, Lepp was just behind Harpaz (141.8) for third among MLB pitchers. Ned Giles (151.7) and Newton Persaud (145.8) were also ahead. In other pitching notables, Storm de Ruyter was the 50^th to reach 250 wins. LF Max Baldwin won his 12^th and final Gold Glove. He was the position leader and one of only five at any spot in MLB to win the award 12+ times. 1B Jan Rychtr won his 8^th Gold Glove. Remarkably winning his first MLB Gold Glove at age 41 was the legendary shortstop Harvey Coyle. This gave him 14 Gold Gloves total when combined with his 13 in the European Baseball Federation. Coyle was in his second MLB season with Ottawa, having missed half of 2027 to injury. In 148 games, the Englishman was good for an AA-best 10.1 WAR along with 47 home runs, 105 RBI, and .947 OPS. The professional baseball all-time WARlord now had amassed 227.1 career WAR. Coyle now had a combined 1051 homers, moving past Ratan Canduri (1049) and Antonio Arceo (1043) on the all-time list. Only still ahead were Majed Darwish (1271) and Nordine Soule (1073). Another milestone reached by Coyle in 2028 was 2000+ combined professional runs, a mark shared with only 27 others. Coyle was also up to 2383 RBI which placed him 7^th in the world leaderboard. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

Yesterday, 07:27 PM	#2191
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,570	2028 Baseball Grand Championship The 19^th Baseball Grand Championship was incidentally to be hosted in San Diego. The host sites had been bid on and years in advance, but it was remarkable that the Seals had a chance to make history at home. San Diego had become the first back-to-back Grand Champion and now could make it an improbable three-peat. Joining the Seals in the field as auto-bids was World Series runner up Ottawa, CABA’s Honduras and Leon, EAB’s Goyang and Nagoya, BSA’s Lima and Buenos Aires, EBF’s Hanover and Munich, EPB’s Vladivostok, OBA’s Sydney, APB’s Cebu, CLB’s Xiamen, WAB’s Freetown, SAB’s Mandalay, ABF’s Tehran, ALB’s Algiers, and AAB’s Cape Town. SAB’s Ahmedabad was the at-large team as a 110-win runner up that lost to 124-win Mandalay. Although San Diego had won its third straight World Series, it was the Fall Classic runner-up Ottawa that ended up with the last laugh. The Elks at 15-4 stood alone as the Baseball Grand Champion. Ottawa was the second World Series runner-up to win the BGC, joining Philadelphia in 2010 who also did it after losing the MLB title to the Seals. The Elks were the fourth to win the BGC without winning their league’s overall crown, joining 2015 Johannesburg and 2024 Dublin. Ottawa was the ninth MLB team to win it all, but joined the Phillies as the only National Association squads. The Elks also were the first Canadian team to achieve the feat. Ottawa was third in runs (98) and fourth in runs allowed (68), but had the best run differential at +30. There was a four-way tie for second at 13-6 with the tiebreakers officially putting Hanover second, Sydney third, Vladivostok fourth, and Mandalay fifth. Alone in sixth was San Diego at 12-7, who led all teams with 107 runs. The Seals also had the second-best run differential at +23. The Hitmen became the third EBF team to finish in the top two, as Dublin and Chisinau were one-two in 2024. The Snakes were the third OBA team to crack the top three along with 2016 champ Guam and 2011 runner-up Tahiti. The Shibas were the first EPB team to earn a top four spot. Although officially fifth, Mandalay felt vindicated as an all-time great team. The Mammoths won the SAB title at 124-38, tied for the best-ever season by a champ along with 1995 Ahmedabad. However, 120+ win seasons had been far more common in SAB and detractors had dismissed the league’s great teams as being overrated due to a lack of parity. When you combined their regular season, playoffs, and BGC games, Mandalay finished with a 148-47 record. This gave the Mammoths the most professional wins ever in a season and the best win percentage at .759. 2027 San Diego had set the wins mark at 144-53 and still got the nod by many as the era’s GOAT team since they capped it off with a repeat Grand Championship win. The CABA squads Honduras and Leon were both next at 11-8 with the Lions seventh and Horsemen eighth via the tiebreaker. Rounding out the top half at 10-9 were both Lima and Munich. The Mavericks allowed the fewest runs at 48 and were only the sixth team ever in the current format to give up less than 50. Five teams finished 8-11; Ahmedabad, Buenos Aires, Cebu, Nagoya, and Xiamen. Algiers was alone in 16^th place at 7-12. Freetown and Goyang were 6-13 and bringing up the rear at 5-14 were Cape Town and Tehran. Leading Ottawa to the top spot was Tournament MVP Mathis Vezina. He joined unique company along with Rico Ortega and Ernst Scheuermann in having won MVP of the BGC and in the World Baseball Championship. The 30-year old Canadian 1B in 19 starts had 23 hits, 17 runs, 12 homers, 16 RBI, 1.204 OPS, and 1.7 WAR. World WARlord Harvey Coyle also became a Grand Champion and was himself a beast for Ottawa with 15 hits, 11 runs, 11 homers, 24 RBI, and 1.2 WAR. San Diego’s Ben Conlee was perhaps the most impressive, setting BGC records for slugging (1.052) and OPS (1.566). The 34-year old LF had 24 hits, 17 runs, 4 doubles, 11 homers, 13 RBI, and 2.30 WAR. Conlee’s WAR was just behind 2020 Mike Rojas (2.31) for the BGC record by a position player. Conlee was also the third in event history with a four home run game, doing it against Freetown. Also worth mentioning was Leon’s R.J. Zaragoza, who tied Ludevit Dano (2016) for the most BGC home runs with 17. Zaragoza had 21 hits, 20 runs, 22 RBI, 1.390 OPS, and 2.2 WAR. His WAR ranked third by a position player and his 74 total bases fell one short of Dano’s record of 75. Best Pitcher went to Hanover lefty Lukasz Heneski. The 27-year old Pole had won Pitcher of the Year twice in the European Second League. He joined the EBF Elite Tier in 2028 on a seven-year, $146,600,000 deal with the Hitmen. Heneski’s BGC had a 1.07 ERA over 33.2 innings, 1-2 record, 48 strikeouts, and 2.1 WAR. Heneski, Munich’s Nejc Novak (2.23), and Honduras’s Max De Jesus (2.11) made it 22 pitchers with a 2+ WAR effort in BGC history. Other notes: Sydney closer Jayden Owens had nine saves, tying Heihachiro Okasawa (2016) for the event record. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

Today, 06:18 AM	#2192
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,570	2029 MLB Hall of Fame Major League Baseball’s 2029 Hall of Fame ballot nearly ended up empty, but one player got across the 66% requirement. That was 3B Jeanpaul Vick at 73.3%, finally making it on his tenth and final ballot. Two debuts came very close with closer Tyler Sattler at 63.5% and C Dominick Hennessy at 63.2%. Also above 60% was CL Etzel Urban with 62.3% on his second ballot and 3B Kieran Wilson at 60.2% in his tenth and last chance. Four other players were above 50%, but below 60%. LF Lorenzen Campbell was at 56.5% in his debut, while CL Jeremy Dau had the same on his eighth go. CL Sebastian Gomez received 55.3% for his sixth ballot and 1B Colin Jordan had 53.5% on his tenth try. For Kieran Wilson, his 60.2% was his peak ballot and he was never below 40%. He had a 20-year career with one MVP, three Silver Sluggers, and two World Series wins with San Diego. Wilson’s longest tenure was 12 years with Las Vegas, who later retired his #39 uniform. Injuries did limit his final tallies despite the length of his run. Wilson played 2325 games with 2463 hits, 1223 runs, 425 doubles, 405 home runs, 1346 RBI, .291/.336/.498 slash, 131 wRC+, and 82.5 WAR. His resume was somewhat similar to 2029 inductee Jeanpaul Vick, but Vick had 700+ more games to raise his accumulations. Wilson ranks 17^th in WAR at 3B as of 2037, but he didn’t have prolific power and didn’t quite get to the benchmarks many voters wanted. For Colin Jordan, he had a 19-year MLB run, then spent his final four seasons in the Arab League. He lacked big awards and black ink with only one Silver Slugger, but was a nine-time All-Star. Jordan was most notable as the 2001 World Series MVP with Nashville, where he spent his first nine seasons. His 53.5% mark in 2029 was his peak with a low of 34.9% in 2022. Jordan in MLB had 2403 games, 2734 hits, 1338 runs, 535 doubles, 404 homers, 1446 RBI, .307/.356/.511 slash, 138 wRC+, and 75.2 WAR. First base has tough competition though and expects big time slugging stats. Had Jordan not left for his final four years, he might have gotten the benchmarks required. Adding his ALB years, he had 3285 hits, 1642 runs, 642 doubles, 543 homers, 1831 RBI, and 90.0 WAR; tallies that probably get you in. Jordan remains popular in Nashville for his role in their title, but is a Hall of Pretty Good type. CF Damien Yang also fell off after ten failed ballots, peaking at 40.9% in 2021 and ending at a low of 14.6%. The Hong Kong native had an 18-year career between Phoenix and Quebec City and won 11 Gold Gloves, tied for the MLB position record. Yang won two World Series rings with the Firebirds and one Silver Slugger. Defensively, Yang ranks fourth among all MLB CFs in accumulated zone rating at 268.7. Yang’s overall stats had 2627 games, 2694 hits, 1516 runs, 303 doubles, 89 triples, 123 homers, 721 RBI, 1282 walks, 746 stolen bases, .272/.357/.357 slash, 108 wRC+, and 95.9 WAR. Yang’s incredible defensive value got him to 66^th on the position player WAR list as of 2037 and tenth in WAR at CF. His bat was simply too weak though to resonate with most Hall of Fame voters, although he does deserve mention whenever you discuss MLB’s best-ever glovemen. Jeanpaul Vick – Third Base – Seattle Grizzlies – 73.3% Tenth Ballot Jeanpaul Vick was a 6’4’’, 200 pound right-handed corner infielder from Breckenridge, Colorado; a town of around 5,000 people. Vick had a well-rounded bat with good to occasionally great contact and power against both sides. He had a solid eye for drawing walks and was decent at avoiding strikeouts. Vick wasn’t going to provide overwhelming power, but his 162 game average still got you a respectable 25 home runs, 23 doubles, and 5 triples. Vick’s speed and baserunning ability graded as delightfully average. He made around 80% of his starts at third base with consistently average to above average defensive production. Vick spent some time in his final years at first base and was rock solid there, even winning a Gold Glove in 2011 at age 39. His durability was excellent in his 20s and mostly good in his 30s apart from a few small things here and there. Vick wasn’t disruptive by any means, but he was considered a bit of a loner. He just wanted to clock in, collect his paycheck, and clock out. Still, Vick’s remarkably steady and consistent production made him a popular and reliable player throughout a 21-year career. Despite being the model of steady consistency in the end, Vick was a very highly touted prospect after four years at Alabama. He played 189 games with 212 hits, 158 runs, 33 doubles, 42 homers, 117 RBI, 143 walks, .313/.438/.551 slash, 182 wRC+, and 11.4 WAR. As of 2037, Vick is the all-time NCAA leader in runs scored and ranks third in walks. He won a Silver Slugger in 1991, helping the Crimson Tide to their first College World Series win against Illinois. In the 1991 MLB Draft, Vick was the #1 overall pick by Salt Lake City. However, he couldn’t come to terms with the Loons and returned for his senior season. SLC had the #2 pick in the 1992 MLB Draft because Vick didn’t sign and chose him again. This time, they came to terms with a five-year, $10,850,000 deal to make Vick far richer than your typical entry level players. Vick was a high level starter right away, taking second in 1993 Rookie of the Year voting. His two Silver Sluggers came with the Loons in 1994 and 1996. In 1996, Vick had his career bests in runs (110), hits (191), homers (36), RBI (116), batting average (.319), slugging (.569), OPS (.966), wRC+ (156), and WAR (9.1). All eight of his SLC seasons were worth 4.5+ WAR with five seasons above 6+ WAR. However, he was never a league leader or MVP candidate. Salt Lake City was a 1982 expansion team and took a while to find success. With Vick, they started to hover more around .500 after being well below generally in the 1980s. In 2000, the Loons had their first-ever wild card, but went one-and-done. Vick was 0-9 in his lone playoff starts with Salt Lake City. They would see more regular contention in the 2000s, but Vick was gone after the 2000 campaign to seek out free agent money. For the Loons, Vick had 1247 games, 1370 hits, 743 runs, 197 doubles, 40 triples, 220 home runs, 785 RBI, 542 walks, .292/.368/.492 slash, 133 wRC+, and 51.3 WAR. It was his most statistically impressive run, but Vick would become better known for his Seattle tenure. He played slightly more games with the Grizzlies and opted to be inducted in the green and gold despite having better metrics as a Loon. The 29-year old Vick signed a five-year, $47 million deal with Seattle, who was coming off their first-ever American Association pennant. The Grizzlies hoped Vick could solidify their depth and deliver that first World Series ring. His first two years were his best with 7.0 WAR and 6.1 WAR. Vick was never above 5 WAR after that, but was usually around 3-4 WAR most seasons. You knew what you were going to get with him and could focus on plugging other holes in the lineup. Seattle had the top seed from 2001-03, but couldn’t get over the hump despite winning 108, 104, and 113 games. The Grizzlies fell in the AACS in 2001 and 2003 with a second round exit in the middle. Vick’s playoff numbers were solid though as he handled his business as expected. Seattle fell two games short of the wild card in 2004, ending a six-year playoff streak. In 2005, Seattle bounced back with the top seed at 105-57 and finally broke through, winning their first-ever World Series title over Philadelphia. Vick was MVP of the second round and over 15 playoff starts had 19 hits, 8 runs, 2 doubles, 4 home runs, 13 RBI, 10 walks, 1.122 OPS, and 0.7 WAR. This was the last year of his deal and the now 34-year old opted to try his hand again at free agency. After testing the market for a month, Vick returned to the Grizzlies on a four-year, $38,400,000 deal. Seattle got the top seed in 2007 at 102-60, but was upset by San Diego in the AACS. They were out of the playoffs and mid for the other years of Vick’s deal. In total for the Grizzlies, Vick had 1312 games, 1314 hits, 717 runs, 189 doubles, 192 home runs, 690 RBI, 590 walks, .280/.364/.459 slash, 124 wRC+, and 38.4 WAR. Vick was now 38 and a free agent again, signing a two-year, $23,100,000 deal with Los Angeles. He still provided positive value, but his bat had regressed to average at best marks by this point with 102 wRC+ and .700 OPS over 260 games with 3.6 WAR. Vick did win his lone Gold Glove in 2011 when moved to first base and passed the 1500 run and 1500 RBI milestones. LA made the playoffs both years he was there, but fell in the first round both times. Vick’s playoff career stats were actually more statistically impressive than his regular season tallies with 53 games, 46 starts, 53 hits, 25 runs, 8 doubles, 10 home runs, 33 RBI, .325/.407/.558 slash, 154 wRC+, and 1.8 WAR. He was now 40-years old and signed a one-year deal for 2012 with Louisville. A strained abdominal cost him close to two months, but Vick still had 1.8 WAR and .694 OPS over 112 games for the Lynx. He joined Boston in 2013 and again lost time to a strained abdominal. Vick had 111 games, .640 OPS, and 0.8 WAR for the Red Sox, but notably joined the 3000 hit club while there. Vick still wanted to play in 2014 but had limited utility at that point. He had a brief tryout in August 2014 with Las Vegas, but was cut after going 0-5 in two games. Vick retired that winter at age 43. In total, Vick had 3044 games, 3071 hits, 1658 runs, 435 doubles, 89 triples, 470 home runs, 1666 RBI, 1321 walks, 1720 strikeouts, 178 steals, .277/.357/.460 slash, 125 wRC+, and 95.7 WAR. As of 2037, Vick ranks 16^th in games played and is one of only 20 guy with 3000+ MLB games. He’s also 59^th in hits, 65^th in runs, 69^th in RBI, 76^th in total bases (5094), 35^th in walks, and 68^th in WAR among position players. Vick’s resume was a tough one for many Hall of Fame voters. Those who valued longevity and consistency felt he was an obvious pick, but many put far more emphasis on peaks. Vick didn’t have black ink and his awards were quite limited. Detractors felt he merely sustained above average-ness for 20 years and thus wasn’t at the Hall of Fame level. Supporters noted his tenure and consistency, along with good playoff numbers and a key role in Seattle’s first World Series win. Detractors countered that a guy with 3000+ games should’ve finished with higher tallies. 3000+ hits, 1500+ runs, and 1500+ RBI were usually pretty strong benchmarks though. Vick also ranked 10^th in WAR specifically at third base despite having a lacking trophy shelf compared to those in similar company. Vick debuted at a rock solid 57.3%, but hardly any voters changed their opinion over the coming years. From 2020-26, Vick was always between 54-60%. He finally cracked the 60% mark in 2027 at 63.2%, but fell back to 59.8% in 2028. 2029 was his tenth and final chance and Vick had the benefit of not having any slam dunk debutants to compete with. Some of the detractors finally budged and Vick got 73.3%, making him the lone inductee into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 2029. Vick became the fifth to make MLB’s HOF on their tenth and final ballot. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

Today, 06:44 PM	#2193
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,570	2029 CABA Hall of Fame Two pitchers were added upon their ballot debut in 2029 into the Central American Baseball Association Hall of Fame. Reliever Wes Vargas led the way at 86.4% and was joined by starter Samuel Toledo at 75.0%. Two returners were above 50%, but short of the 66% requirement. 1B Hasan Alvizo got 54.4% for his fifth ballot and SP Montell Donald had 53.2% in his seventh try. Dropped after ten ballots was closer Alejandro Valadez, who won five straight Reliever of the Year awards from 2002-06 with Haiti. He won three CABA Championships with the Herons, although his playoff stats were underwhelming with a 3.51 ERA over 56.1 innings and 14 saves. Valadez’s regular season stats were excellent, but brief. He left for MLB with mixed results at age 30, thus limiting his CABA stats to seven years for Haiti and one final return year with Havana. Valadez in CABA had 192 saves, 1.49 ERA, 549 innings, 808 strikeouts, 267 ERA+, and 26.1 WAR. The pace was certainly there and he’s the only CABA closer to win five ROTY awards. However, many voters couldn’t justify inducting someone, especially a relief pitcher, on just essentially seven years of production. Valadez peaked at 44.2% in 2021 and ended at only 8.9%. Dieudonne Guegan was also worth a brief mention despite falling below 5% on his eighth ballot. His career was split evenly between CABA and MLB and hurt his final tallies in either league. Combined, Guegan had a 220-169 record, 3.07 ERA, 3674.2 innings, 3752 strikeouts, 122 ERA+, and 84.9 WAR. He also played some outfield and won three Silver Sluggers with 13.8 WAR and .804 OPS offensively. Those stats in one league probably gets him in, but the even split kept his tallies too low. Wes Vargas – Closer – Guatemala Ghosts – 86.4% First Ballot Wes Vargas was a 5’10’’, 200 pound right-handed relief pitcher from Quetzaltenango, Guatemala; a city of 180,000 also known by the Maya name Xelaju. Vargas had strong stuff along with very good movement and control in his prime. His fastball peaked in the 96-98 mph range, but his sinker was similarly quick and looked the same out of his hand. Especially compared to other relievers, Vargas had both excellent stamina and durability. He was always ready to go out of the bullpen and could even start in a pinch. Vargas had a good pickoff move, but graded as a weak defender. He wasn’t one to commit to one team, but was reliable at each of his stops. Vargas wasn’t picked until early in the third round in the 2003 CABA Draft, in part because he graded out as a reliever and because he was fresh out of high school. He stayed in his home country with Guatemala grabbing him 71^st overall. Vargas spent three years in the Ghosts academy before debuting in 2007. He had a rough rookie year with a 5.12 ERA in 58 innings, but was moved into the closer role for 2008. He held the closer role six years for Guatemala, leading the Caribbean League with 45 saves in 2013. Vargas twice led in games pitched and had his career best 4.5 WAR, 130.2 innings, and 163 strikeouts in 2009 to earn his first Reliever of the Year award. He won again in 2010 with 4.1 WAR, 1.95 ERA, and 135 Ks over 101.2 innings. The Ghosts ended a 16-year playoff drought that year, but lost in the first round. They were consistently middling for the rest of his run. Vargas for Guatemala had 226 saves, 2.86 ERA, 658.2 innings, 778 strikeouts, 169 walks, 141 ERA+, and 17.3 WAR. It was by far his longest tenure with one team and thus the colors he was inducted with. Vargas was proud of his heritage and represented his country during and after his time with the Ghosts in the World Baseball Championship. He was often used as a starting pitcher in the WBC. From 2008-23, Vargas had 167.1 WBC innings with a 13-8 record, 2.32 ERA, 9 saves, 4 complete games, 2 shutouts, 240 strikeouts, 61 walks, and 6.1 WAR. Guatemala finished fourth place in both 2009 and 2013. Vargas’ 2020 was notably as he gave up one run over two complete games with 30 strikeouts. His CABA career took Vargas to the Mexican League in 2014 at age 28 on a three-year, $19,900,000 deal with Monterrey. He won Reliever of the Year in 2014 by leading with 40 saves and a career best to that point ERA of 1.94. For the Matadors, Vargas had 68 saves over 178.2 innings, 2.17 ERA, 238 strikeouts, and 6.0 WAR. Vargas had one year left on his Monterrey deal for 2016, but was traded in the offseason for prospects to Leon. His ERA jumped to 3.38 for the Lions with 39 saves over 77.1 innings and 2.4 WAR. Vargas had a 1.69 ERA over 5.1 playoff innings with Leon falling in the MLCS to Juarez. He went to Haiti for 2017 on a three-year, $17,400,000 deal but was relegated to the back of the bullpen with the Herons, posting 3 saves and a 3.28 ERA over 118 inning with 108 Ks and 1.4 WAR over two seasons. Now 34-years old, Vargas was traded for 2019 to Havana straight up for prospect SP Simon Bonnet. The Hurricanes moved Vargas back to the closer role with great success, leading with 33 saves and a career-best 1.24 ERA. Vargas won his fourth Reliever of the Year, becoming the tenth in CABA history to do so. He also got saves in all five playoff appearances with 15 strikeouts and six hits allowed over 8.1 innings, helping Havana win the CABA Championship over Puebla. He had a 3.86 ERA over 9.1 innings in the Baseball Grand Championship as the Hurricanes finished 9-10. Vargas’ value was back up as he returned to free agency and signed a two-year, $12,800,000 deal with Hermosillo. In 2020, Vargas was second in Reliever of the Year voting and became the fourth CABA closer to 400 career saves. He led in games with 76 and had 39 saves and a 1.90 ERA over 75.2 innings. Hermosillo was defeated in the MLCS with Vargas getting a 3.27 ERA over 11 innings and two saves. Despite that effort, the Hyenas voided the option year of his deal, sending Vargas back into free agency at age 35. Instead of chasing the CABA saves record of 430 by Feliz Fuentes, Vargas opted to give Major League Baseball a look. New Orleans signed him for two years and $14,800,000. Vargas was good in his limited middle relief use with a 1.38 ERA over 45.2 innings, but the Mudcats needed to make up roster room somewhere and cut him in July. He finished the year with Baltimore with a 3.75 ERA over 12 innings. Although he was off the roster, Vargas did receive a World Series ring in 2021 as New Orleans won it all, joining the short list of guys with both a World Series and CABA Championship ring. Vargas came back to CABA in 2022 on a two-year, $12,800,000 deal with Juarez. He saw limited use though and only had two saves over 69.1 innings with 2.86 ERA, 71 Ks, and 1.0 WAR. Vargas had a 2.61 ERA in 10.1 playoff innings in the run as the Jesters were amidst a lengthy playoff streak. Juarez won the Mexican League in 2022, but lost the CABA finale to Vargas’ former Guatemala squad. The Jesters dropped the 2023 MLCS to 117-win Mexico City. Vargas had a 3.14 ERA over 14.1 innings in the 2022 BGC as Juarez finished 11-8 in a five-way tie for fourth. This marked the end of Vargas’ CABA career. He signed back in MLB for 2024 with Virginia Beach, but was cut after spring training. Vargas ended up in Ukraine with Odesa of the European Second League, pitching 37.2 innings with a 2.63 ERA. The Drifters did notably earn promotion and won the E2L title. Vargas spent 2025 in the minor leagues with Raleigh’s affiliate Greensboro. He retired that winter shortly after his 40^th birthday. In CABA, Vargas finished with 962 games, 97-95 record, 410 saves, 444 shutdowns, 2.69 ERA, 1243 innings, 1476 strikeouts, 286 walks, 147 ERA+, and 33.6 WAR. As of 2037, Vargas is tied for 2^nd in CABA saves. However, he’s only 11^th in WAR among CABA Hall of Fame closers despite having the 4^th-most innings of that group. Vargas also is third in games pitched in CABA. He doesn’t rank among the all-time most dominant relievers in world history, but 400 saves and four Reliever of the Year wins gets you in even with many voters who are iffy on inducting closers. The title with Havana and his role in that brief stint also boosted his resume. Vargas got 86.4% for a first ballot induction to headline the 2029 class for the Central American Baseball Association. Samuel Toledo – Starting Pitcher – Puebla Pumas – 75.0% First Ballot Samuel Toledo was a 6’4’’, 195 pound right-handed pitcher from Nicolas Romero, Mexico; a city with 366,000 people just northwest of Mexico City. Toledo had fantastic stuff along with great movement and rock solid control. His 98-100 mph fastball was top tier and he also had a very good changeup and splitter. Toledo also had a weak curveball as a fourth option. Toledo’s stamina and durability were merely average compared to your typical CABA ace. He graded as a good defensive pitcher, but did have a weak pickoff move and struggled holding runners. Toledo was well liked amongst his peers and was a very quiet and humble man. He wasn’t one to care about personal glory or accolades. Despite not drawing attention to himself, scouts certainly noticed Toledo as he came up the amateur ranks. He was the #1 overall pick in the 2010 CABA Draft by Puebla and was used mostly in the bullpen as a rookie with okay results. Toledo was moved to the rotation full-time in year two and by year three was a regular 6+ WAR pitcher. The Pumas quickly gave Toledo a six-year, $64,600,000 extension after the 2013 season. Puebla a bottom-tier team most of Toledo’s run, as they didn’t make the playoffs from 1996-2018. By his late 20s, Toledo was becoming more effective. He won his lone ERA title in 2016 at 2.43 and had a career best 0.82 WHIP. Toledo’s best ERA came in 2017 at 2.23 along with a league-best 21-7 record, taking second in Pitcher of the Year voting. Toledo was second again in 2018, leading in strikeouts (294), and WAR (8.9) for the first time. Puebla had hovered around .500 in the last few years, but fell off to 67-95 in 2018. The Pumas thought a rebuild might be in order and Toledo was entering the final year of his deal. In the offseason, Toledo was traded to Tijuana for four hitting prospects. Incidentally, Puebla had a shocking Mexican League title win in 2019 after Toledo left, although they reverted soon back to the mid-tier. For Puebla, Toledo had a 115-76 record, 2.79 ERA, 1669.1 innings, 1992 strikeouts, 286 walks, 135 ERA+, and 49.6 WAR. The Pumas retired Toledo’s #30 once his career was over. He had gotten some notice domestically as a regular for Mexico in the World Baseball Championship. From 2012-23, Toledo had a 13-12 record, 3.86 ERA, 205.1 innings, 314 strikeouts, 94 ERA+, and 4.8 WAR. Toledo did struggle in the 2015 WBC, although Mexico took second despite his 8.22 ERA over 30.2 innings and -0.5 WAR. He was better in later runs including a third place in 2018 and fourth place in 2020. In his one year with Tijuana in 2019, Toledo was again second in Pitcher of the Year voting. He had a 12-12 record, 2.67 ERA, and led in strikeouts (301), WHIP (0.90), FIP- (56), and WAR (8.6). The K mark would be Toledo’s career best, but the Toros missed the playoffs at 85-77. Toledo was now set for free agency for the first time at age 31. He signed a five-year, $68 million deal to join Leon. Toledo had a good debut in 2020 and the Lions won the South Division at 105-57. They lost in the first round, although Toledo gave up only one run over 9.1 innings in his lone playoff appearances. Leon struggled the next four years and Toledo lost a chunk of 2021 to bone chips in his elbow. Toledo then posted a 4.01 ERA in 2022, his worst of his career. In 2023, Toledo bounced back with a 2.81 ERA over 234 innings, 249 strikeouts, and 5.1 WAR. However, Leon was an abysmal 57-105 to tie a franchise worst. Toledo had one year left and could certainly still go, but he decided to retire that winter at only age 35. For the Lions, Toledo had a 38-45 record, 3.25 ERA, 744 innings, 848 strikeouts, 115 ERA+, and 19.9 WAR. Toledo finished with a 165-133 record, 2.91 ERA, 2642.1 innings, 3141 strikeouts, 513 walks, 233/329 quality starts, 71 complete games, 15 shutouts, 129 ERA+, 67 FIP-, and 78.1 WAR. As of 2037, Toledo ranks 65^th in strikeouts and 40^th in pitching WAR despite missing the top 100 in either innings or wins. His 10.70 K/9 was 53^rd among all pitchers with 1000+ innings. Partly because of the early end to his career, Toledo’s accumulations are definitely on the low end compared to other Hall of Famers. His rate stats certainly looked worthy though and every eligible CABA pitcher with more WAR had gotten in. Most (but not all) that had gotten to 70+ WAR had made it in. Most of the guys above 3000+ strikeouts had made it too, although the misses were generally near the bottom end like Toledo. He also had the misfortune on being on mostly forgettable teams. Toledo never won Pitcher of the Year, but taking second thrice does resonate with voters. Toledo also had an ERA title and led in both strikeouts and WAR twice. He didn’t get headliner numbers, but 75.0% was plenty for Toledo to make it into the HOF on the first ballot with the 2029 class for the Central American Baseball Association. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)