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Davao remained the dominant Taiwan-Philippine Association squad in the regular season, taking the top record for the fifth consecutive year. The Devil Rays won the Philippine League at 109-53, their best record in franchise history. In the Taiwan League, Taipei earned its first title since 1998. The Tigercats finished 99-63, edging out reigning Austronesian Champion Taoyuan (96-66) and Taichung (94-70).

Although Zamboanga struggled to 70 wins, star outfielder Paolo Baptista won Taiwan-Philippine Association MVP. It was his fifth with the most recent in 2004, making him the third APB player to win five or more MVPs. The 32-year old Filipino led in home runs (42), slugging (.602), OPS (.960), wRC+ (198), and WAR (9.5). Baptista also had a .292 average and 92 RBI, winning his ninth Silver Slugger. He would have one more great season, but lose a lot of his spark due to multiple Achilles ruptures in his later seasons.

Manila’s Dedi Dewi won his second Pitcher of the Year award, coming more than a decade since his 1998 win. The 34-year old Indonesian righty led in WAR (10.7) and FIP- (40). Dewi added a 16-10 record over 238.1 innings, 1.66 ERA, 352 strikeouts, and 167 ERA+.



Defending Sundaland Association champion Singapore dominated the Malacca League at 107-55, taking the title by 27 games. Surabaya was similarly dominant in the Java Sea League at 102-60, although Palembang (91-71) and Depok (90-72) at least gave them some competition. The Sunbirds earned a fourth straight playoff berth. The Sharks set an SA record with 431 stolen bases which held until 2029.

Singapore CF Edmund Quan won Sundaland Association MVP. The 25-year old Filipino switch hitter led in hits (207), doubles (46), stolen bases (106), batting average (.344), and WAR (12.5). Quan also had a 220 wRC+ and .927 OPS. The Sharks locked him up the prior winter with an eight-year, $49,620,000 extension.

Pitcher of the Year also came from Singapore with Dwi Kurnia. The 26-year old fourth-year righty led in wins at 26-4, falling one win shy of the single-season record. Kurnia added a 1.72 ERA over 267.1 innings, 309 strikeouts, 147 ERA+, and 6.7 WAR.

Davao won the Taiwan-Philippine Association Championship 4-2 over Taipei, giving the Devil Rays their third pennant in five years and their sixth overall. Singapore won again in a Sundaland Association rematch with Surabaya. The 4-2 Sharks victory gave them their third pennant, having also won in 1996.



Singapore wouldn’t earn their first-ever Austronesia Championship. Davao downed them in a seven-game classic for their third title in five years, having also won in 2005 and 2006. At 109-53, the Devil Rays set an APB record for the best record by a team that won it all, putting them into the all-time team conversations with their dynasty run.

Leading the playoff effort was CF Alvin Sumantri, who won finals MVP. The 26-year old in 13 playoff starts had 14 hits, 6 runs, 2 doubles, 3 home runs, 8 RBI, and 3 stolen bases.



Other notes: 2009 saw APB’s 31^st and 32^nd perfect games. On April 5, I Komang Ainaga of Semarang struck out 12 against Bandung. Then on September 9, his Sliders teammate Fatchul Makrufan did it with 13 Ks over Kuala Lumpur. It is believed this is the first time in world history that two different players on the same team had a perfect game in the same campaign.

SS Chi-Chao Shih won his eighth Silver Slugger. Hsinchu scored only 362 runs, setting a TPA all-time worst that still holds as of 2037. Kuala Lumpur’s offense struck out 1811 times, which still stands as the most whiffs of any APB team in a season.

In the 2000s, the Sundaland Association had extremely low offensive numbers with a .217 batting average and 2.57 ERA. With the DH, the Taiwan-Philippine Association were merely at very low levels with a 2.80 ERA and .225 batting average. These were the lowest in the world thanks to Chinese League Baseball, but were close to it. The numbers were remarkably similar to prior decades for APB and it would remain consistent into the 2010s and 2020s.