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FuzzyRussianHat · 06-05-2024, 12:07 PM

Hong Quinonez – Relief Pitcher – Medan Marlins – 71.6% Ninth Ballot

Hong Quinonez was a 6’6’’, 200 pound right-handed relief pitcher from Tagum, a city of just under 300,000 inhabitants in the Davao Region of the Philippines. Quinonez had outstanding stuff with a tremendous 99-101 mph fastball and a great slider. He had good movement, but his control was often below average. Quinonez had excellent durability and thrice pitched more games than anyone else in the league. His power meant he racked up strikeouts at a high rate.

Having two pitches and generally low stamina meant teams knew Quinonez was only going to be a reliever. Thus, he wasn’t a top prospect despite his terrific fastball. In the 1977 APB Draft, Quinonez was picked with the 48^th overall pick early in the third round by Zamboanga. He couldn’t come to terms with the Zebras and played one more amateur season. Quinonez improved his draft stock and was picked 33^rd overall in 1978, the 11^th pick of the second round. It was Cebu who snagged Quinonez, who came to terms with the Crows.

Cebu immediately gave Quinonez the closer job and he held that role all six years of his first run. In his second year, the Crows made a surprise run and won the Austronesia Championship. Quinonez had a 0.84 ERA over 10.2 playoff innings with 11 strikeouts. They were a non-factor in his remaining years, but Quinonez was consistent. He took second in 1980’s Reliever of the Year voting, but otherwise wasn’t a finalist with the Crows.

Quinonez did also pitch for the Philippines in the World Baseball Championship from 1981-88. His stats were unremarkable with a 4.13 ERA over 32.2 innings, 13 saves, 47 strikeouts, 22 walks, and 90 ERA+. In 1984, Quinonez struggled to 3.49 ERA, easily his worst year as he had always kept his ERA below two previously. With that, Cebu decided to begin shopping Quinonez to other squads.

The 30-year old Quinonez was sent for 1985 to Medan with another reliever in exchange for four prospects. The Marlins had won the Sundaland Association title thrice in the 1980s thus far and hoped Quinonez could add depth. He was middle relief in 1985, but had a career-best 1.00 ERA in his limited innings. Medan moved him to the closer role for the next three years.

After missing the playoffs in 1985 and 1986, Medan earned three straight berths from 1987-89. The Marlins put together a dynasty, winning the APB title in 1987 and 1989. Quinonez was excellent in the playoffs, posting a 0.45 ERA over 12 appearances and 20 innings, strikeout out 31 with seven saves. Quinonez took second in Reliever of the Year voting in 1987, then won it for the only time in 1988. That season had career bests in games (78), innings (104.1), strikeouts (152), and WAR (5.4).

Quinonez’s role was diminished in 1989, but he still looked good in 60.1 innings. Medan fell to below .500 in 1990 and Quinonez was only used in 27.1 innings, missing some time to elbow inflammation. In total with Medan, he had 108 saves and 167 shutdowns, 1.60 ERA, 400.1 innings, 612 strikeouts, 155 ERA+, and 18.2 WAR. Now 36 years old, Quinonez was a free agent for the first time in 1991.

Cebu brought him back, but his stuff had started to weaken. Quinonez stunk with a 4.91 ERA in the 22 innings he saw. He wasn’t used in the playoffs, but Quinonez got his fourth APB championship ring as the Crows won the final over Batam. Quinonez retired with that at age 37. For his two Cebu stints, he had 199 saves and 243 shutdowns, a 2.08 ERA, 518.1 innings, 675 strikeouts, 136 ERA+, and 16.1 WAR.

Quinonez finished with 307 saves and 410 shutdowns, a 1.87 ERA, 918.2 innings, 1287 strikeouts, 210 walks, 144 ERA+, 51 FIP-, and 34.3 WAR. He was the fifth APB reliever to 300 career saves. Quinonez was in a weird spot compared to the other relievers that had gotten into APB’s Hall. There were guys with more longevity and less dominance, while there were those with less longevity but more dominance. Quinonez was in the middle of those two and spent a lot of time on the ballot with guys that had more accolades than him.

Quinonez debuted at 55.8% and dropped to 53.8% the next year, although he never was lower. He stayed in the mid-upper 50s until missing by a razor thin margin in 2003 at 65.8%. He slightly dropped in 64.3%. With his ninth try in 2005, Quinonez’s playoff successes helped win over just enough new voters. He received 71.6% for the ninth ballot add with the 2005 Austronesia Professional Baseball Hall of Fame class.

Fajar “Soupy” Lastori – Center/Left Field – Bandung Blackhawks – 68.0% First Ballot

Fajor Lastori was a 6’2’’, 200 pound left-handed outfielder from Ciomas, a district of about 170,000 in Indonesia’s West Java province. Nicknamed “Soupy” for his love of soup, Lastori in his prime was a well-rounded bat statistically. However, he was far better though against righties (career 172 wRC+) compared to lefties (career 100 wRC+).

He graded out with good to great contact and power with an above average eye and below average strikeout rate. Lastori’s gap power was average at best with around 20-30 doubles/triples per year. He was a fairly smart and savvy baserunner, but his speed was merely above average in his prime years.

Lastori made about 2/3s of his career starts in center field and the rest in left. He graded out as a lousy CF as he lacked the range needed to succeed there. However, his arm and glovesmanship made him great defensively in left, even winning a Gold Glove in 1994. Small injuries sporadically cost Lastori time, but he managed to stick around for more than two decades.

Bandung spotted Lastori as a teenage amateur and signed him in February 1972. He became one of a select few in pro baseball history to debut at 18 years old, although he had one start and 21 games only in the 1974 season. Lastori made very limited appearances in the next three seasons with 104 games and 30 starts. In 1978, the now 22-year old Lastori earned a full-time starting role. Here, he posted easily the strongest season in his career.

Lastori won MVP and a Silver Slugger in center, leading the Sundaland Association in runs (103), home runs (51), RBI (108), total bases (.387), slugging (.664), OPS (1.051), wRC+ (259), and WAR (12.8). All of those were career bests and the 12.8 WAR was a single-season record for an APB position player. It remained the top mark until 1996, but still sits fourth best as of 2037. His .314 batting average also fell only eight points short of a Triple Crown season. Despite that, Bandung was second in the Java League standings.

Lastori remained a star for the Blackhawks, but the franchise was stuck in either the middle or bottom of the standings eternally. Their lone playoff appearance with him was 1981, but they lost the Sundaland Association Championship to Medan. Lastori never had a monster season quite like 1978 again, but he had 6.9 WAR or better each year from 1979-1984.

Lastori led with 7.8 WAR in 1982, then in 1983 was the leader in runs (85), homers (42), total bases (312), and slugging (.533). 1983 saw his second MVP, while he was third in 1979, second in 1981, and third in 1982. He won eight Silver Sluggers in total (1978-84, 1987). Bandung knew they had a superstar and signed Lastori to an eight-year, $4,456,000 contract extension after the 1981 campaign.

Lastori was still a strong starter from 1985-88, but had some minor injuries and saw his power numbers dwindle. He was still very popular with Bandung fans, but the Blackhawks weren’t expected to keep him once his deal was up with the 1989 season. They decided to trade the now 33-year old Lastori on the last year of the deal to Depok for two prospects. For the Bandung run, Lastori had 1573 hits, 801 runs, 214 doubles, 339 home runs, 790 RBI, a .260/.317/.492 slash, 184 wRC+, and 76.2 WAR.

Lastori was also a popular figure throughout all of Indonesian baseball from his efforts in the World Baseball Championship. He played in 11 WBCs from 1978-92 with 153 games, 149 starts, 130 hits, 96 runs, 18 doubles, 39 home runs, 82 RBI, 63 walks, a .254/.352/..530 slash, 144 wRC+, and 5.4 WAR.

Lastori was a good starter in his one year with Depok, posting 4.2 WAR and a 161 wRC+. He didn’t stick around and had free agency for the first time at age 34. His skills had garnered worldwide attention and it would be MLB’s Ottawa Elks that inked him. Lastori signed a five-year, $8,400,000 deal to bring him to the Canadian capital.

Lastori was a full-time starter all five years in Ottawa. He had spotty results in his first four years, but had an excellent fifth year in 1994 with 6.6 WAR and a 150 wRC+. The move to left field helped him bump his value, as he won his lone Gold Glove. Ottawa made playoff appearances in 1991 and 1992 but had no luck. In total for the Elks, Lastori had 624 hits, 364 runs, 119 home runs, 363 RBI, a .248/.308/.443 slash, 120 wRC+, and 18.0 WAR. A very fine tenure for a guy in his 30s.

Now 39 years old, Lastori had bumped his value back up entering free agency for 1995 as he was fresh off his most impressive MLB season. Detroit gave him a two-year, $6,080,000 deal. He was merely decent with 2.3 WAR and a 126 wRC+ for the Tigers, which wasn’t enough to reach the vesting criteria for the second year. With that, Lastori decided it was time to return home to Indonesia.

Lastori joined Surabaya in 1996 and missed about half the year to back problems. He could still hit alright against righties, but was struggling against lefties. The Sunbirds brought him back for 1997, but traded him at the deadline to Taoyuan for prospects. He would only play 37 games with unremarkable results in the regular season for the Tsunami.

However, Lastori stepped up in the playoffs with 8 hits, 8 runs, 2 doubles, 3 home runs, and 9 RBI over 11 games. This helped Taoyuan repeat as the APB champion and extended Lastori’s career. Surabaya gave him another look in 1998 and at age 42, he posted a very solid campaign worth 4.0 WAR and 142 wRC+. In total with the Sunbirds between the stints, Lastori had 8.8 WAR and 137 wRC+.

In 1999, Lastori’s final season would be with Depok. He struggled and quickly was benched with a -0.4 WAR and .165 effort over 27 starts and 82 games. Lastori finally retired that winter at age 43. His former squad Bandung, where he still had a huge following, was happy to bring Lastori home to retire his #29 uniform.

For his entire pro career, Lastori had 2673 hits, 1397 runs, 365 doubles, 135 triples, 543 home runs, 1370 RBI, 557 stolen bases, a .251/.308/.463 slash, 159 wRC+, and 109.4 WAR. For just the APB run, he had 1970 hits, 993 runs, 277 doubles, 103 triples, 409 home runs, 972 RBI, 489 stolen bases, a .252/.308/.471 slash, 173 wRC+, and 89.1 WAR. As of 2037, he’s 29^th in WAR among all APB position players.

APB voters are notably stingy though for batters in the very low offense league. Some felt that Bandung’s lack of team success in his prime was a mark against him. It seems surprising that Lastori only got 68.0%, but it was enough to make him a first ballot inductee regardless to close out the 2005 Hall of Fame class.

06-05-2024, 12:07 PM	#1309
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 3,104	2005 APB Hall of Fame (Part 2) Hong Quinonez – Relief Pitcher – Medan Marlins – 71.6% Ninth Ballot Hong Quinonez was a 6’6’’, 200 pound right-handed relief pitcher from Tagum, a city of just under 300,000 inhabitants in the Davao Region of the Philippines. Quinonez had outstanding stuff with a tremendous 99-101 mph fastball and a great slider. He had good movement, but his control was often below average. Quinonez had excellent durability and thrice pitched more games than anyone else in the league. His power meant he racked up strikeouts at a high rate. Having two pitches and generally low stamina meant teams knew Quinonez was only going to be a reliever. Thus, he wasn’t a top prospect despite his terrific fastball. In the 1977 APB Draft, Quinonez was picked with the 48^th overall pick early in the third round by Zamboanga. He couldn’t come to terms with the Zebras and played one more amateur season. Quinonez improved his draft stock and was picked 33^rd overall in 1978, the 11^th pick of the second round. It was Cebu who snagged Quinonez, who came to terms with the Crows. Cebu immediately gave Quinonez the closer job and he held that role all six years of his first run. In his second year, the Crows made a surprise run and won the Austronesia Championship. Quinonez had a 0.84 ERA over 10.2 playoff innings with 11 strikeouts. They were a non-factor in his remaining years, but Quinonez was consistent. He took second in 1980’s Reliever of the Year voting, but otherwise wasn’t a finalist with the Crows. Quinonez did also pitch for the Philippines in the World Baseball Championship from 1981-88. His stats were unremarkable with a 4.13 ERA over 32.2 innings, 13 saves, 47 strikeouts, 22 walks, and 90 ERA+. In 1984, Quinonez struggled to 3.49 ERA, easily his worst year as he had always kept his ERA below two previously. With that, Cebu decided to begin shopping Quinonez to other squads. The 30-year old Quinonez was sent for 1985 to Medan with another reliever in exchange for four prospects. The Marlins had won the Sundaland Association title thrice in the 1980s thus far and hoped Quinonez could add depth. He was middle relief in 1985, but had a career-best 1.00 ERA in his limited innings. Medan moved him to the closer role for the next three years. After missing the playoffs in 1985 and 1986, Medan earned three straight berths from 1987-89. The Marlins put together a dynasty, winning the APB title in 1987 and 1989. Quinonez was excellent in the playoffs, posting a 0.45 ERA over 12 appearances and 20 innings, strikeout out 31 with seven saves. Quinonez took second in Reliever of the Year voting in 1987, then won it for the only time in 1988. That season had career bests in games (78), innings (104.1), strikeouts (152), and WAR (5.4). Quinonez’s role was diminished in 1989, but he still looked good in 60.1 innings. Medan fell to below .500 in 1990 and Quinonez was only used in 27.1 innings, missing some time to elbow inflammation. In total with Medan, he had 108 saves and 167 shutdowns, 1.60 ERA, 400.1 innings, 612 strikeouts, 155 ERA+, and 18.2 WAR. Now 36 years old, Quinonez was a free agent for the first time in 1991. Cebu brought him back, but his stuff had started to weaken. Quinonez stunk with a 4.91 ERA in the 22 innings he saw. He wasn’t used in the playoffs, but Quinonez got his fourth APB championship ring as the Crows won the final over Batam. Quinonez retired with that at age 37. For his two Cebu stints, he had 199 saves and 243 shutdowns, a 2.08 ERA, 518.1 innings, 675 strikeouts, 136 ERA+, and 16.1 WAR. Quinonez finished with 307 saves and 410 shutdowns, a 1.87 ERA, 918.2 innings, 1287 strikeouts, 210 walks, 144 ERA+, 51 FIP-, and 34.3 WAR. He was the fifth APB reliever to 300 career saves. Quinonez was in a weird spot compared to the other relievers that had gotten into APB’s Hall. There were guys with more longevity and less dominance, while there were those with less longevity but more dominance. Quinonez was in the middle of those two and spent a lot of time on the ballot with guys that had more accolades than him. Quinonez debuted at 55.8% and dropped to 53.8% the next year, although he never was lower. He stayed in the mid-upper 50s until missing by a razor thin margin in 2003 at 65.8%. He slightly dropped in 64.3%. With his ninth try in 2005, Quinonez’s playoff successes helped win over just enough new voters. He received 71.6% for the ninth ballot add with the 2005 Austronesia Professional Baseball Hall of Fame class. Fajar “Soupy” Lastori – Center/Left Field – Bandung Blackhawks – 68.0% First Ballot Fajor Lastori was a 6’2’’, 200 pound left-handed outfielder from Ciomas, a district of about 170,000 in Indonesia’s West Java province. Nicknamed “Soupy” for his love of soup, Lastori in his prime was a well-rounded bat statistically. However, he was far better though against righties (career 172 wRC+) compared to lefties (career 100 wRC+). He graded out with good to great contact and power with an above average eye and below average strikeout rate. Lastori’s gap power was average at best with around 20-30 doubles/triples per year. He was a fairly smart and savvy baserunner, but his speed was merely above average in his prime years. Lastori made about 2/3s of his career starts in center field and the rest in left. He graded out as a lousy CF as he lacked the range needed to succeed there. However, his arm and glovesmanship made him great defensively in left, even winning a Gold Glove in 1994. Small injuries sporadically cost Lastori time, but he managed to stick around for more than two decades. Bandung spotted Lastori as a teenage amateur and signed him in February 1972. He became one of a select few in pro baseball history to debut at 18 years old, although he had one start and 21 games only in the 1974 season. Lastori made very limited appearances in the next three seasons with 104 games and 30 starts. In 1978, the now 22-year old Lastori earned a full-time starting role. Here, he posted easily the strongest season in his career. Lastori won MVP and a Silver Slugger in center, leading the Sundaland Association in runs (103), home runs (51), RBI (108), total bases (.387), slugging (.664), OPS (1.051), wRC+ (259), and WAR (12.8). All of those were career bests and the 12.8 WAR was a single-season record for an APB position player. It remained the top mark until 1996, but still sits fourth best as of 2037. His .314 batting average also fell only eight points short of a Triple Crown season. Despite that, Bandung was second in the Java League standings. Lastori remained a star for the Blackhawks, but the franchise was stuck in either the middle or bottom of the standings eternally. Their lone playoff appearance with him was 1981, but they lost the Sundaland Association Championship to Medan. Lastori never had a monster season quite like 1978 again, but he had 6.9 WAR or better each year from 1979-1984. Lastori led with 7.8 WAR in 1982, then in 1983 was the leader in runs (85), homers (42), total bases (312), and slugging (.533). 1983 saw his second MVP, while he was third in 1979, second in 1981, and third in 1982. He won eight Silver Sluggers in total (1978-84, 1987). Bandung knew they had a superstar and signed Lastori to an eight-year, $4,456,000 contract extension after the 1981 campaign. Lastori was still a strong starter from 1985-88, but had some minor injuries and saw his power numbers dwindle. He was still very popular with Bandung fans, but the Blackhawks weren’t expected to keep him once his deal was up with the 1989 season. They decided to trade the now 33-year old Lastori on the last year of the deal to Depok for two prospects. For the Bandung run, Lastori had 1573 hits, 801 runs, 214 doubles, 339 home runs, 790 RBI, a .260/.317/.492 slash, 184 wRC+, and 76.2 WAR. Lastori was also a popular figure throughout all of Indonesian baseball from his efforts in the World Baseball Championship. He played in 11 WBCs from 1978-92 with 153 games, 149 starts, 130 hits, 96 runs, 18 doubles, 39 home runs, 82 RBI, 63 walks, a .254/.352/..530 slash, 144 wRC+, and 5.4 WAR. Lastori was a good starter in his one year with Depok, posting 4.2 WAR and a 161 wRC+. He didn’t stick around and had free agency for the first time at age 34. His skills had garnered worldwide attention and it would be MLB’s Ottawa Elks that inked him. Lastori signed a five-year, $8,400,000 deal to bring him to the Canadian capital. Lastori was a full-time starter all five years in Ottawa. He had spotty results in his first four years, but had an excellent fifth year in 1994 with 6.6 WAR and a 150 wRC+. The move to left field helped him bump his value, as he won his lone Gold Glove. Ottawa made playoff appearances in 1991 and 1992 but had no luck. In total for the Elks, Lastori had 624 hits, 364 runs, 119 home runs, 363 RBI, a .248/.308/.443 slash, 120 wRC+, and 18.0 WAR. A very fine tenure for a guy in his 30s. Now 39 years old, Lastori had bumped his value back up entering free agency for 1995 as he was fresh off his most impressive MLB season. Detroit gave him a two-year, $6,080,000 deal. He was merely decent with 2.3 WAR and a 126 wRC+ for the Tigers, which wasn’t enough to reach the vesting criteria for the second year. With that, Lastori decided it was time to return home to Indonesia. Lastori joined Surabaya in 1996 and missed about half the year to back problems. He could still hit alright against righties, but was struggling against lefties. The Sunbirds brought him back for 1997, but traded him at the deadline to Taoyuan for prospects. He would only play 37 games with unremarkable results in the regular season for the Tsunami. However, Lastori stepped up in the playoffs with 8 hits, 8 runs, 2 doubles, 3 home runs, and 9 RBI over 11 games. This helped Taoyuan repeat as the APB champion and extended Lastori’s career. Surabaya gave him another look in 1998 and at age 42, he posted a very solid campaign worth 4.0 WAR and 142 wRC+. In total with the Sunbirds between the stints, Lastori had 8.8 WAR and 137 wRC+. In 1999, Lastori’s final season would be with Depok. He struggled and quickly was benched with a -0.4 WAR and .165 effort over 27 starts and 82 games. Lastori finally retired that winter at age 43. His former squad Bandung, where he still had a huge following, was happy to bring Lastori home to retire his #29 uniform. For his entire pro career, Lastori had 2673 hits, 1397 runs, 365 doubles, 135 triples, 543 home runs, 1370 RBI, 557 stolen bases, a .251/.308/.463 slash, 159 wRC+, and 109.4 WAR. For just the APB run, he had 1970 hits, 993 runs, 277 doubles, 103 triples, 409 home runs, 972 RBI, 489 stolen bases, a .252/.308/.471 slash, 173 wRC+, and 89.1 WAR. As of 2037, he’s 29^th in WAR among all APB position players. APB voters are notably stingy though for batters in the very low offense league. Some felt that Bandung’s lack of team success in his prime was a mark against him. It seems surprising that Lastori only got 68.0%, but it was enough to make him a first ballot inductee regardless to close out the 2005 Hall of Fame class. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports The Level Playing Field: Alternate MLB History From 1884-Onward Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)