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FuzzyRussianHat · 01-24-2025, 05:18 AM

Jonathon Reilly – Left Field – Christchurch Chinooks – 97.0% First Ballot

Jonathon Reilly was a 6’2’’, 200 pound right-handed left fielder from Sunshine Coast, Australia; a city of 311,000 in Queensland. Reilly was a solid contact hitter with excellent gap power and steady home run power. His 162 game average got you 23 doubles, 22 triples, and 34 home runs, making him an extra base machine. Reilly was a fantastic baserunner and base stealer, becoming a menace for defenses despite having merely good to occasionally great speed. One downside is that Reilly was subpar at drawing walks, although his strikeout rate wasn’t bad.

Reilly spent his entire career in left field and provided reliably above average defense. He never won a Gold Glove, but he generally gave you a positive defensive grade. Reilly’s durability was excellent, playing 140+ games in all but the first and final seasons of his career. Some thought he was a bit greedy and dumb, which may have been why he bounced around a bit in his career. His skillset though made him one of the better known faces for Australian baseball in his era despite playing most of his career elsewhere.

In the 2001 OBA Draft, Reilly was picked seventh overall by Sydney. He didn’t like their terms though and returned to college. Reilly dropped to ninth in the 2002 draft by Auckland, but opted to sign and move to New Zealand. He only played 15 games in 2003, then was a full-time starter from 2004 onward. Reilly earned 2004’s Rookie of the Year honors, then put together his finest effort in his sophomore campaign.

In 2005, Reilly led the Australasia League in runs (124), hits (196), triples (27), RBI (117), total bases (387), steals (85), slugging (.655), OPS (1.031), wRC+ (174), and WAR (9.2). It would be his only time leading in any of those stats sans runs, hits, and triples. Reilly had his career best WAR, OPS, and triple slash, winning his lone MVP and a Silver Slugger. It ended a four-year stretch of losing seasons for Auckland at 88-74.

The Avengers were good for the next few years, but were at best second behind Melbourne’s dynasty run. Reilly led in runs again in 2006 and 2007 and was a great starter, but couldn’t replicate the MVP season. He made it fairly clear to Auckland that he wanted to test out free agency after the 2009 season and get a big payday. Thus, they traded him for three prospects before spring training to Honolulu. With Auckland, Reilly had 932 hits, 532 runs, 113 doubles, 118 triples, 144 homers, 489 RBI, 335 steals, a .302/.338/.554 slash, 137 wRC+, and 30.6 WAR.

Reilly won his second Silver Slugger in his lone season for the Hnou, who were fourth in the Pacific League in 2009 at 92-70. After the nice 6.9 WAR effort, Reilly was a 30-year old free agent and got his big deal for five years and $29,800,000 with Canberra. The Centurions were a 2006 expansion team who struggled early. Reilly helped get them their first-ever winning seasons in 2010 and 2011, although they were still far away from dethroning Melbourne. He won Silver Sluggers both years.

For Canberra, Reilly had 343 hits, 205 runs, 38 doubles, 36 triples, 81 home runs, 193 RBI, 119 steals, .290/.333/.589 slash, 150 wRC+, and 11.7 WAR. The Centurions thought they had a good thing going, but Reilly frustrated them by opting out of his deal after only two years, returning to free agency at age 32. This would be his only time playing for an Australia-based team.

Despite that, Reilly did regularly represent Australia in the World Baseball Championship throughout his career. From 2006-18, he played 81 games with 55 hits, 32 runs, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 12 homers, 40 RBI, 24 stolen bases, a .223/.278/.417 slash, and 1.5 WAR. Their deepest run with Reilly was an elite eight in 2008.

He went back to New Zealand for 2012 on a five-year, $35,500,000 deal with Christchurch, starting his longest and most famous tenure. Reilly had reliably strong production, helping the Chinooks take over atop the AL as Melbourne’s reign ended. In 2014, Reilly was second in MVP voting and earned his fifth Silver Slugger, leading with career highs in runs (130) and hits (205). This also had his best WAR mark at 9.5. Reilly would be above 5.5 WAR in each of his first five years for Christchurch.

The Chinooks four-peated as Australasia League champ from 2013-16. They beat Guadalcanal in the 2013 Oceania Championship and topped Tahiti in 2014. Christchurch fell in their 2015 rematch with the Tropics. They finished 8-11 in the 2013 Baseball Grand Championship and took third in 2014 at 13-6. Reilly’s production would be a mixed bag these years.

In 2016, Christchurch shocked the world with an incredible 126-36 season, joining 1993 Ho Chi Minh City from South Asia Baseball as the only teams ever to win that many games. Like the Hedgehogs, the Chinooks failed to win it all, getting upset by Guam 4-3 in the Oceania Championship. Christchurch did earn the at-large for the 2016 BGC and finished 11-8 in a five-way tie for fifth place.

In the Oceania Championship, Reilly had 24 starts with 25 hits, 10 runs, 2 doubles, 2 triples, 1 homer, 11 RBI, 9 steals, a .284/.319/.386 slash, 100 wRC+, and 0.3 WAR. Reilly’s Baseball Grand Championship starts were a bit better with 54 games, 48 hits, 34 runs, 4 doubles, 3 triples, 18 homers, 39 RBI, 13 steals, a .229/.284/.533 slash, and 1.7 WAR. He would be popular with Chinooks fans for these efforts, but he wouldn’t get his #44 uniform retired.

Reilly signed a three-year, $36,300,000 extension after the 2015 season with Christchurch. His production dropped off noticeably and they finished one win behind Brisbane in the 2017 season. Reilly was reduced to a backup role in 2018 and the Chinooks again missed the pennant. He retired that winter at age 39, finishing the Christchurch run with 1102 hits, 649 runs, 145 doubles, 128 triples, 207 home runs, 647 RBI, 370 stolen bases, a .295/.326/.568 slash, 147 wRC+, and 38.4 WAR.

In total, Reilly had 2235 games, 2551 hits, 1485 runs, 318 doubles, 299 triples, 467 homers, 1405 RBI, 411 walks, 895 steals, .298/.333/.568 slash, 145 wRC+, and 87.6 WAR. As of 2037, Reilly 27^th in hits, 10^th in runs, 16^th in total bases (4868), 91^st in doubles, 9^th in triples, 30^th in home runs, 22^nd in RBI, 20^th in steals, and 17^th in WAR among position players. He ranks 17^th in slugging among those with 3000+ plate appearances and his .901 OPS is 25^th.

Reilly won’t be in too many conversations for the top 10 position players in OBA history, but he makes most top 20 lists. Few outfielders were as reliably productive in his era and he was a key piece of Christchurch’s mid 2010s dynasty run. Reilly would be an easy headliner most years, but his 97.0% makes him second of three in a strong 2024 Hall of Fame class for the Oceania Baseball Association.

Kevin Coan – Designated Hitter/Right Field/First Base – Gold Coast Kangaroos – 80.1% First Ballot

Kevin Coan was a 6’3’’, 200 pound right-handed hitting slugger from Melbourne, Australia. Coan was a great contact hitter with reliably strong home run power. He was average to just above average in terms of walks and strikeouts. Coan’s 162 game average got you 36 home runs, 26 doubles, and 7 triples. He was only okay as a baserunner, but wasn’t actively awful like many sluggers of his vintage tended to be.

Unfortunately, Coan was an absolutely atrocious defender. He played some right field in his mid 20s and got a look at first base in his mid 30s, but was abysmal at both spots. Coan was a designated hitter in the middle, making around 40% of his starts there. He had around 1/3 of his starts in right and most of the rest at first. Despite that, Coan worked hard and stayed durable enough for a 17-year career. When you sock dingers, you’ll be quite popular even if you don’t know how to use a glove.

Many fans might not realize that Coan started his career with Brisbane, getting picked fifth overall by the Black Bears in the 2000 OBA Draft. He played only one game in 2001 and only 36 in 2002, starting eight. Brisbane was very underwhelmed by his development and thought he might be a bust. Coan was traded after the 2002 campaign in a four player deal to Gold Coast.

Coan only saw 77 games and 48 starts in his Kangaroos debut, as he still hadn’t fully developed his home run power. He earned a full-time spot in 2004 and found his footing by 2005 with his first of four straight 40+ homer seasons. Coan won Silver Sluggers as a DH in 2004 and 2005 and as a right fielder in 2006 and 2008. In 2006, Coan led the Australasia League in both OBP (.394) and OPS (1.044), both career bests. Gold Coast gave him a six-year, $35,340,000 extension in August 2007.

2008 was his strongest effort by many metrics, leading in home runs (47), slugging (.642), and wRC+ (169). Coan had his career bests in homers, RBI (123), runs (107), average (.341), and WAR (7.5), placing second in MVP voting. He never quite replicated that, but was still a strong bat into his early 30s. Coan did miss much of 2011 to radial nerve compression in his elbow.

Gold Coast was consistently mid-tier in his tenure, averaging 78.75 wins per season with no hope of competing with Melbourne’s dynasty. Still, he was a very popular figure for the Kangaroos and saw his #26 uniform eventually retired. Coan also represented Australia from 2005-17 in the World Baseball Championship. His results were mostly underwhelming with 111 games, 98 starts, 73 hits, 49 runs, 11 doubles, 24 homers, 40 RBI, .203/.294/.439 slash, 106 wRC+, and 1.6 WAR. Coan did notably post a 1.635 OPS in 2013, going 9-25 with 6 homers in 8 starts.

With the Kangaroos, Coan had 1748 hits, 884 runs, 230 doubles, 72 triples, 367 home runs, 1033 RBI, .311/.359/.574 slash, 150 wRC+, and 46.9 WAR. His deal expired after the 2013 campaign, heading to free agency for the first time with his 33^rd birthday looming next May. Coan inked a five-year, $50,300,000 deal with Guadalcanal, who had won back-to-back Pacific League titles.

The Green Jackets remained in the top half of the standings with Coan, but couldn’t finish higher than second. He won his fifth Silver Slugger in 2014, leading the year in hits and doubles. Coan had strong paces in 2015 and 2016, but lost around two months both years to knee injuries. His production stayed steady until 2018 with only 1.7 WAR and .762, both career full-season lows.

For Guadalcanal, Coan had 804 hits, 365 runs, 128 doubles, 26 triples, 127 home runs, 409 RBI, a .310/.360/.527 slash, 158 wRC+, and 20.6 WAR. He still wanted to play in 2019, but his bat was no longer good enough to justify a spot for a guy with negative defensive value. Coan retired in the winter of 2019 at age 38.

In total, Coan had 2567 hits, 1261 runs, 359 doubles, 99 triples, 496 home runs, 1456 RBI, 585 walks, 149 steals, .311/.359/.558 slash, 152 wRC+, and 67.5 WAR. As of 2037, Coan is 24^th in hits, 30^th in runs, 54^th in doubles, 23^rd in home runs, 19^th in RBI, and 44^th in WAR for position players. Against batters with 3000+ plate appearances, Coan’s .917 OPS ranks 16^th and his triple slash is 29^th/22^nd/25^th.

While not an inner-circle level guy, Coan easily was one of the most reliably effective hitters of his era. A few voters dinged him for being a DH and/or not having big team success, but that group was definitely the minority. Coan received 80.1% for a first ballot induction to round off an impressive three-player Hall of Fame class for the Oceania Baseball Association in 2024.

01-24-2025, 05:18 AM	#2005
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,889	2024 OBA Hall of Fame (Part 2) Jonathon Reilly – Left Field – Christchurch Chinooks – 97.0% First Ballot Jonathon Reilly was a 6’2’’, 200 pound right-handed left fielder from Sunshine Coast, Australia; a city of 311,000 in Queensland. Reilly was a solid contact hitter with excellent gap power and steady home run power. His 162 game average got you 23 doubles, 22 triples, and 34 home runs, making him an extra base machine. Reilly was a fantastic baserunner and base stealer, becoming a menace for defenses despite having merely good to occasionally great speed. One downside is that Reilly was subpar at drawing walks, although his strikeout rate wasn’t bad. Reilly spent his entire career in left field and provided reliably above average defense. He never won a Gold Glove, but he generally gave you a positive defensive grade. Reilly’s durability was excellent, playing 140+ games in all but the first and final seasons of his career. Some thought he was a bit greedy and dumb, which may have been why he bounced around a bit in his career. His skillset though made him one of the better known faces for Australian baseball in his era despite playing most of his career elsewhere. In the 2001 OBA Draft, Reilly was picked seventh overall by Sydney. He didn’t like their terms though and returned to college. Reilly dropped to ninth in the 2002 draft by Auckland, but opted to sign and move to New Zealand. He only played 15 games in 2003, then was a full-time starter from 2004 onward. Reilly earned 2004’s Rookie of the Year honors, then put together his finest effort in his sophomore campaign. In 2005, Reilly led the Australasia League in runs (124), hits (196), triples (27), RBI (117), total bases (387), steals (85), slugging (.655), OPS (1.031), wRC+ (174), and WAR (9.2). It would be his only time leading in any of those stats sans runs, hits, and triples. Reilly had his career best WAR, OPS, and triple slash, winning his lone MVP and a Silver Slugger. It ended a four-year stretch of losing seasons for Auckland at 88-74. The Avengers were good for the next few years, but were at best second behind Melbourne’s dynasty run. Reilly led in runs again in 2006 and 2007 and was a great starter, but couldn’t replicate the MVP season. He made it fairly clear to Auckland that he wanted to test out free agency after the 2009 season and get a big payday. Thus, they traded him for three prospects before spring training to Honolulu. With Auckland, Reilly had 932 hits, 532 runs, 113 doubles, 118 triples, 144 homers, 489 RBI, 335 steals, a .302/.338/.554 slash, 137 wRC+, and 30.6 WAR. Reilly won his second Silver Slugger in his lone season for the Hnou, who were fourth in the Pacific League in 2009 at 92-70. After the nice 6.9 WAR effort, Reilly was a 30-year old free agent and got his big deal for five years and $29,800,000 with Canberra. The Centurions were a 2006 expansion team who struggled early. Reilly helped get them their first-ever winning seasons in 2010 and 2011, although they were still far away from dethroning Melbourne. He won Silver Sluggers both years. For Canberra, Reilly had 343 hits, 205 runs, 38 doubles, 36 triples, 81 home runs, 193 RBI, 119 steals, .290/.333/.589 slash, 150 wRC+, and 11.7 WAR. The Centurions thought they had a good thing going, but Reilly frustrated them by opting out of his deal after only two years, returning to free agency at age 32. This would be his only time playing for an Australia-based team. Despite that, Reilly did regularly represent Australia in the World Baseball Championship throughout his career. From 2006-18, he played 81 games with 55 hits, 32 runs, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 12 homers, 40 RBI, 24 stolen bases, a .223/.278/.417 slash, and 1.5 WAR. Their deepest run with Reilly was an elite eight in 2008. He went back to New Zealand for 2012 on a five-year, $35,500,000 deal with Christchurch, starting his longest and most famous tenure. Reilly had reliably strong production, helping the Chinooks take over atop the AL as Melbourne’s reign ended. In 2014, Reilly was second in MVP voting and earned his fifth Silver Slugger, leading with career highs in runs (130) and hits (205). This also had his best WAR mark at 9.5. Reilly would be above 5.5 WAR in each of his first five years for Christchurch. The Chinooks four-peated as Australasia League champ from 2013-16. They beat Guadalcanal in the 2013 Oceania Championship and topped Tahiti in 2014. Christchurch fell in their 2015 rematch with the Tropics. They finished 8-11 in the 2013 Baseball Grand Championship and took third in 2014 at 13-6. Reilly’s production would be a mixed bag these years. In 2016, Christchurch shocked the world with an incredible 126-36 season, joining 1993 Ho Chi Minh City from South Asia Baseball as the only teams ever to win that many games. Like the Hedgehogs, the Chinooks failed to win it all, getting upset by Guam 4-3 in the Oceania Championship. Christchurch did earn the at-large for the 2016 BGC and finished 11-8 in a five-way tie for fifth place. In the Oceania Championship, Reilly had 24 starts with 25 hits, 10 runs, 2 doubles, 2 triples, 1 homer, 11 RBI, 9 steals, a .284/.319/.386 slash, 100 wRC+, and 0.3 WAR. Reilly’s Baseball Grand Championship starts were a bit better with 54 games, 48 hits, 34 runs, 4 doubles, 3 triples, 18 homers, 39 RBI, 13 steals, a .229/.284/.533 slash, and 1.7 WAR. He would be popular with Chinooks fans for these efforts, but he wouldn’t get his #44 uniform retired. Reilly signed a three-year, $36,300,000 extension after the 2015 season with Christchurch. His production dropped off noticeably and they finished one win behind Brisbane in the 2017 season. Reilly was reduced to a backup role in 2018 and the Chinooks again missed the pennant. He retired that winter at age 39, finishing the Christchurch run with 1102 hits, 649 runs, 145 doubles, 128 triples, 207 home runs, 647 RBI, 370 stolen bases, a .295/.326/.568 slash, 147 wRC+, and 38.4 WAR. In total, Reilly had 2235 games, 2551 hits, 1485 runs, 318 doubles, 299 triples, 467 homers, 1405 RBI, 411 walks, 895 steals, .298/.333/.568 slash, 145 wRC+, and 87.6 WAR. As of 2037, Reilly 27^th in hits, 10^th in runs, 16^th in total bases (4868), 91^st in doubles, 9^th in triples, 30^th in home runs, 22^nd in RBI, 20^th in steals, and 17^th in WAR among position players. He ranks 17^th in slugging among those with 3000+ plate appearances and his .901 OPS is 25^th. Reilly won’t be in too many conversations for the top 10 position players in OBA history, but he makes most top 20 lists. Few outfielders were as reliably productive in his era and he was a key piece of Christchurch’s mid 2010s dynasty run. Reilly would be an easy headliner most years, but his 97.0% makes him second of three in a strong 2024 Hall of Fame class for the Oceania Baseball Association. Kevin Coan – Designated Hitter/Right Field/First Base – Gold Coast Kangaroos – 80.1% First Ballot Kevin Coan was a 6’3’’, 200 pound right-handed hitting slugger from Melbourne, Australia. Coan was a great contact hitter with reliably strong home run power. He was average to just above average in terms of walks and strikeouts. Coan’s 162 game average got you 36 home runs, 26 doubles, and 7 triples. He was only okay as a baserunner, but wasn’t actively awful like many sluggers of his vintage tended to be. Unfortunately, Coan was an absolutely atrocious defender. He played some right field in his mid 20s and got a look at first base in his mid 30s, but was abysmal at both spots. Coan was a designated hitter in the middle, making around 40% of his starts there. He had around 1/3 of his starts in right and most of the rest at first. Despite that, Coan worked hard and stayed durable enough for a 17-year career. When you sock dingers, you’ll be quite popular even if you don’t know how to use a glove. Many fans might not realize that Coan started his career with Brisbane, getting picked fifth overall by the Black Bears in the 2000 OBA Draft. He played only one game in 2001 and only 36 in 2002, starting eight. Brisbane was very underwhelmed by his development and thought he might be a bust. Coan was traded after the 2002 campaign in a four player deal to Gold Coast. Coan only saw 77 games and 48 starts in his Kangaroos debut, as he still hadn’t fully developed his home run power. He earned a full-time spot in 2004 and found his footing by 2005 with his first of four straight 40+ homer seasons. Coan won Silver Sluggers as a DH in 2004 and 2005 and as a right fielder in 2006 and 2008. In 2006, Coan led the Australasia League in both OBP (.394) and OPS (1.044), both career bests. Gold Coast gave him a six-year, $35,340,000 extension in August 2007. 2008 was his strongest effort by many metrics, leading in home runs (47), slugging (.642), and wRC+ (169). Coan had his career bests in homers, RBI (123), runs (107), average (.341), and WAR (7.5), placing second in MVP voting. He never quite replicated that, but was still a strong bat into his early 30s. Coan did miss much of 2011 to radial nerve compression in his elbow. Gold Coast was consistently mid-tier in his tenure, averaging 78.75 wins per season with no hope of competing with Melbourne’s dynasty. Still, he was a very popular figure for the Kangaroos and saw his #26 uniform eventually retired. Coan also represented Australia from 2005-17 in the World Baseball Championship. His results were mostly underwhelming with 111 games, 98 starts, 73 hits, 49 runs, 11 doubles, 24 homers, 40 RBI, .203/.294/.439 slash, 106 wRC+, and 1.6 WAR. Coan did notably post a 1.635 OPS in 2013, going 9-25 with 6 homers in 8 starts. With the Kangaroos, Coan had 1748 hits, 884 runs, 230 doubles, 72 triples, 367 home runs, 1033 RBI, .311/.359/.574 slash, 150 wRC+, and 46.9 WAR. His deal expired after the 2013 campaign, heading to free agency for the first time with his 33^rd birthday looming next May. Coan inked a five-year, $50,300,000 deal with Guadalcanal, who had won back-to-back Pacific League titles. The Green Jackets remained in the top half of the standings with Coan, but couldn’t finish higher than second. He won his fifth Silver Slugger in 2014, leading the year in hits and doubles. Coan had strong paces in 2015 and 2016, but lost around two months both years to knee injuries. His production stayed steady until 2018 with only 1.7 WAR and .762, both career full-season lows. For Guadalcanal, Coan had 804 hits, 365 runs, 128 doubles, 26 triples, 127 home runs, 409 RBI, a .310/.360/.527 slash, 158 wRC+, and 20.6 WAR. He still wanted to play in 2019, but his bat was no longer good enough to justify a spot for a guy with negative defensive value. Coan retired in the winter of 2019 at age 38. In total, Coan had 2567 hits, 1261 runs, 359 doubles, 99 triples, 496 home runs, 1456 RBI, 585 walks, 149 steals, .311/.359/.558 slash, 152 wRC+, and 67.5 WAR. As of 2037, Coan is 24^th in hits, 30^th in runs, 54^th in doubles, 23^rd in home runs, 19^th in RBI, and 44^th in WAR for position players. Against batters with 3000+ plate appearances, Coan’s .917 OPS ranks 16^th and his triple slash is 29^th/22^nd/25^th. While not an inner-circle level guy, Coan easily was one of the most reliably effective hitters of his era. A few voters dinged him for being a DH and/or not having big team success, but that group was definitely the minority. Coan received 80.1% for a first ballot induction to round off an impressive three-player Hall of Fame class for the Oceania Baseball Association in 2024. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)