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Zamboanga and Tainan both repeated as league champs in the Taiwan-Philippine Association in 2004, although both had competitive fights. The defending TPA champ Zebras took the Philippine League at 93-69, fending off Manila by three games and Davao by five. The Titans were 92-70 atop the Taiwan League, five games better than Kaohsiung. Tainan earned a third straight TL title.

TPA MVP was Zamboanga CF Paolo Baptista for the fourth time in five years. The 27-year old led in runs (90), triples (20), home runs (35), RBI (108), total bases (32), OPS (.914), and WAR (9.4). The Zebras soon locked in their star for one of the richest deals in Austronesia Professional Baseball history. They had signed Baptista for an eight-year extension after the 2001 season, but he would opt out after the 2005 campaign. Zamboanga would meet his high asking price on an eight-year, $73,700,000 deal.

Pitcher of the Year was Taichung’s Chia-Jung Huang. The 25-year old lefty led in wins (21-9), ERA (1.44), innings (293), quality starts (30), and shutouts (7). Huang also had 7.0 WAR and 294 strikeouts.



Although Jakarta has had multiple winning seasons in the last decade, they hadn’t won the Java League title since 1993. The Jaguars had the top mark in the entire Sundaland Association at 100-62. They had 246 doubles as a team, two short of the SA single-season record. Semarang was a distant second at 89-73 and defending APB champ Bandung was 86-76.

In the Malacca League, Palembang ended a 25-year playoff drought. The Panthers had a remarkable turnaround from only 69 wins in 2003, not having posted a winning season since 1997. Palembang took the title at 89-73, the only team above .500 in the ML. Last year’s winner Singapore dropped to 74-88, while perennial contender Medan also fell off to 77-85.

In his third season with Jakarta, veteran RF Basuki Susanti won Sundaland Association MVP. The 32-year old led in homers (33), total bases (299), OBP (.370), slugging (.565), OPS (.935), and wRC+ (235). He added 8.6 WAR and a .308 average. Susanti used this effort to cash in, opting out of his Jaguars deal and signing a four-year, $38,400,000 deal with MLB’s Houston in the offseason. Unfortunately for him, he would struggle in his final seasons outside APB.

Medan ace Afiq Parker won his sixth Pitcher of the Year, joining Kun-Sheng Lin and Sahid Fakhruddin as the only six-time winners in APB. Still only 30 years old, Parker led in strikeouts (351), FIP- (54), and WAR (9.7). He’s had the WARlord title in six of the last seven years, only missing in 2002 to injury. Parker also had a 1.69 ERA over 276.2 innings with a 16-9 record.

In a Taiwan-Philippine Association Championship rematch, Zamboanga was victorious 4-2 over Tainan. The Zebras earned back-to-back pennants and their third in four years. Jakarta clobbered Palembang with a sweep in the Sundaland Association Championship. It was the ninth pennant for the Jaguars and first since their 1992-93 repeat. Jakarta has been to the APB Championship more than any other team.



After 2004, the Jaguars also stood alone for the most Austronesian Championship wins of any franchise. They would outlast Zamboanga 4-3 in a classic for their sixth title (1969, 70, 85, 92, 93, 04) passing Kaohsiung and Taoyuan’s five titles. 2003 SA MVP Alif Aris was finals MVP, a 35-year old veteran shortstop who signed with Jakarta in the offseason after 13 seasons with Singapore. In 11 playoff starts, Aris had 17 hits, 10 runs, 3 doubles, 4 home runs, and 9 RBI.



Other notes: Two APB playoff records were set in 2004. Jakarta closer Sama Sitorus recorded eight saves. He tossed 12.2 scoreless innings in eight appearances with 13 strikeouts. Zamboanga’s Hector Constanza set the high mark for stolen bases with 15. Heng-Hsiao Liao became the 13^th pitcher to 4000 career strikeouts. Alif Aris won his ninth and final Silver Slugger.