[FuzzyRussianHat]

Two-time defending Austronesia Champion Kaohsiung improved to a 113-49 mark atop the Taiwan League, the most wins in a season for a Taiwanese team. The Steelheads won their third straight league title and smacked 240 home runs as a team, which remains the Taiwan-Philippine Association single-season record as of 2037. The Philippine League was very competitive with Davao (88-74) edging out Cebu (86-76), Manila (83-79), and Quezon (82-80). Last year’s winner Zamboanga was last but still decent ag 78-84. For the Devil Rays, they won their second league title, having also taken first in 1972.

The Steelheads had both the association MVP and Pitcher of the Year. RF Chun-Chia Lan won back-to-back MVPs, leading in RBI (102) and adding 52 home runs, a .937 OPS, and 7.9 WAR. Pitcher of the Year was Aminuddin Wahi with the 27-year old Malaysian leading in complete games (18), and shutouts (8)), adding 6.2 WAR and a 1.89 ERA with a 21-7 record. Many felt Manila’s Wisnu Dharmayuman got robbed of the award by being on a weaker team. He had a 1.57 ERA, 406 strikeouts, and 10.9 WAR; but the 16-10 record sunk him with some traditionalists.



The Sundaland Association’s Java League required a tiebreaker game for the title after Semarang and Surabaya tied at 100-62. The Sliders won the tiebreaker for their first league title, leaving Singapore as the only team in the association without a playoff berth. After a weak 71-win season in 1974, Batam bounced back to take the Malacca League at 92-70; their fifth playoff berth in six years. Defending association champ Palembang was second at 87-75.

Panthers LF Abracham Gumelar won his fourth MVP award with the 28-year old lefty getting the first ever APB Triple Crown for a hitter. He had a .297 average, 46 home runs, and 104 RBI. He also led in runs (90), total bases (327), OBP (.362), slugging (.599), OPS (.961), and wRC+ (253), with 10.0 WAR. Meanwhile, Semarang’s Sahid Fakhruddin won his third straight Pitcher of the Year. He also had a Triple Crown season, becoming the second APB pitcher to do so (Kun-Sheng Lin did it four times). Fakhruddin had a 23-5 record, 1.06 ERA, and 388 strikeouts over 272.1 innings with a 0.74 WHIP and 9.6 WAR.

Kaohsiung was the heavy favorite for the Taiwan-Philippine Association Championship, but they were stunned with the 113-win Steelheads getting swept by the 88-win Devil Rays. The Sundaland Association Championship had excitement by going seven games. Semarang defeated Batam in the end for their first title.



The 11^th Austronesia Championship had two first-time finals participants. Semarang defeated Davao 4-2 with finals MVP going to pitcher Alfin Surdani. He pitched 8.2 scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts in a key start and also had an eight-inning relief appearance in the postseason. He had a 0.00 ERA with just an unearned run against him and 22 strikeouts for the playoff run.



Other notes: Wisnu Dharmayuman tied the single-game strikeout record with 21 Ks in ten innings against Taichung on May 30. Batam’s Gita Hermawan had a 28-game hit streak to set a new APB record. SS Hadi Yahya won his eighth Silver Slugger, the most for any APB player to date. MVP Abracham Gumelar won his seventh in LF.