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FuzzyRussianHat · 09-24-2025, 07:57 AM

Three teams battled for the Japan League’s top seed in 2035. Capital Division champ Kawasaki narrowly took it at 101-61 ahead of North Division winner Sendai (100-62) and the reigning East Asia Baseball champ and Central Division winner Hamamatsu (98-64). The Killer Whales allowed the fewest runs in EAB at 500 and the Samurai led the JL with 724 runs scored. This was the third straight 100+ win season for Kawasaki and Sendai. The Killer Whales’ playoff streak grew to five, while the Samurai and Chickenhawks both made it three straight.

Their divisions also featured the wild card fight with Saitama (92-70) and Sapporo (90-72) advancing ahead of Osaka (88-74) and Niigata (85-77). Both the Sting and Swordfish snapped six season playoff skids. The weakest playoff record came from Kitakyushu at 87-75, repeating as West Division champs. Fukuoka was their nearest foe at 82-80 and Hiroshima was 79-83.

Niigata’s Masanori Fukuoka made history, joining Hitoshi Kubota as the only EAB players with 6+ MVPs. The 33-year old LF had also taken the Japan League’s top honor in 2026, 28, 29, 31, and 33. Fukuoka picked up his ninth Silver Slugger as he led in home runs (53), total bases (382), slugging (.701), OPS (1.041), and wRC+ (205). He added 166 hits, 106 runs, 33 doubles, 12 triples, 109 RBI, .305 average, and 8.8 WAR. Fukuoka had been the Green Dragons’ superstar player since going #1 in the 2023 EAB Draft.

In his seventh-year starting for Kitakyushu, Ju-Won Hyun won Pitcher of the Year by leading in quality starts (28) and innings (278). The 28-year old South Korean lefty had a 21-11 record, 2.04 ERA, 169 ERA+, 274 strikeouts, and 7.1 WAR. In May 2036, the Kodiaks would keep Hyun via a six-year, $170,400,000 extension.

Hamamatsu swept Sapporo and Kitakyushu beat Saitama 3-1 in the wild card round. The Kodiaks shocked top seed Kawasaki with a divisional round 3-0 sweep, earning their first trip to the Japan League Championship Series since 2019. Kitakyushu was going for a Cinderella playoff run, trying to end a pennant drought back to their 1992-94 three-peat.

The Chickenhawks outlasted Sendai 3-2 to earn their third straight JCLS trip. Hamamatsu quickly snuffed out the Kodiaks’ upset attempt, winning 4-1 to repeat as Japan League champ. The Chickenhawks are the first repeat JL champ since Fukuoka in 2022-23.

Two teams jockeyed for the Korea League’s top seed with Busan (111-51) successfully defending that spot against Goyang (107-55). The Blue Jays took the Southeast Division for their 12^th straight division title while growing their EAB-record playoff streak to 16 seasons. The Green Sox won the North Division to extend their own impressive playoff streak to nine with seven division crowns. Goyang was EAB’s top scoring team with 884 runs.

Defending KL champ Suwon won the Central Division for the fifth time in six years with their 99-63 finish. In the Southwest, Gwangju at 90-72 made it three straight division wins and allowed the fewest runs in the KL at 563. The Grays had no one else in their division above .500, while the Snappers were six games better than Seongnam and nine ahead of Incheon.

The Southeast’s #2 Ulsan picked up the first wild card at 95-67. The Spiders at 93-69 got the second slot over the 90-72 Inferno and 89-73 Pyongyang. The Swallows earned a third playoff trip in four years, while Seongnam snapped a 10-year drought. The Spiders had won 90+ in four straight seasons, but had just missed the cut. The Pythons saw their own postseason streak snapped at five seasons.

Goyang swept the Korea League’s top awards, captained by LF Sung-Hoon Ma as MVP. In his eighth season starting, the 31-year old lefty led in home runs (55) and total bases (383). Ma had 183 hits, 118 runs, 29 doubles, 129 RBI, a .313/.362/.656 slash, 174 wRC+, and 7.9 WAR. He would opt out of his contract in the winter, but sign a new five-year, $177,500,000 extension with the Green Sox. Ma was drafted in 2025 by Gwangju but never played for them, getting traded to Goyang in December 2026.

Oniji Yamamoto won his third Pitcher of the Year, having done it in 2030 and 2033 with the Green Sox. The 30-year old lefty debuted in 2025 and had been in the rotation full-time since 2027 for Goyang. Yamamoto won his third ERA title (1.91) and led in strikeouts (328), WHIP (0.76), K/BB (19.3), shutouts (6), FIP- (46), and WAR (10.9). He had a 202 ERA+ over 249.2 innings and 20-4 record, missing the Triple Crown by three wins. Yamamoto got his big payday in February 2034 on a seven-year, $204 million extension.

The wild card round had two sweeps with Gwangju over Ulsan and Suwon over Seongnam. The defending champ Snappers easily secured a 3-0 road sweep over Goyang in the divisional round, earning their fifth Korea League Championship Series appearance in seven years. On the other side, Busan survived a fierce challenge 3-2 against the Grays. This was sweet revenge for the Blue Jays, who won 112 games in 2034 but had been upset by 85-win Gwangju.

Busan got their seventh KLCS trip of their playoff streak and were looking for their fifth pennant of the run. The Blue Jays’ most recent pennants were in 2029 and 2032, both featuring KCLS victories over Suwon. Busan continued that trend and dethroned the Snappers 4-2. With their 16^th Korea League pennant, the Blue Jays are tied with Daegu and the JL’s Sapporo for the most pennants amongst EAB teams.

The 115^th East Asian Championship was an all-timer and the first since 2024 to need all seven games. Like in 2024, game seven went extra innings. Hamamatsu went up 4-3 in the top of the tenth inning and held on from there to defeat Busan. The Chickenhawks claimed repeat titles, the 13^th repeat champ in EAB history. The Blue Jays are now 6-10 all-time in the finals and 1-4 in their trips since starting the playoff streak in 2020.

LF Tae-Gyeong Kee was finals MVP for Hamamatsu. In 19 playoff starts, he had 25 hits, 10 runs, 3 doubles, 2 homers, 12 RBI, and 0.7 WAR. Also worth mentioning was JLCS MVP Sang-Soo Lee, who set the EAB playoff record for pitching wins with six. In 40 innings, Lee went 6-1 with a 2.25 ERA, 46 strikeouts, and 1.4 WAR.

Other notes: Baseball had continued to thrive in East Asia with both leagues seeing new attendance records. Goyang sold 3,186,173 for the overall EAB and Korea League records, while Kawasaki set a Japanese high mark at 3,146,568. Prior to 2035, a team season attendance above three million had only happened in Major League Baseball.

EAB”s 47^th perfect game came on September 14 as Hamamatsu’s Naka Sakurai struck out five facing Kyoto. In other pitching notables, Byung-Cheol Ban and Takehiro Nakajima became the 73^rd and 74^th to 200 wins. Si-Won Joon was the 50^th ace to 3500 career strikeouts and Chae-Min Ryom was the 37^th closer to 300 saves.

Bucheon’s Ryun-Do Kok had the 20^th four home run game in EAB history on August 30 facing Incheon. Han Yi became the 38^th member of the 600 homer club, the 53^rd to 1500 RBI, and the 103^rd to 2500 hits. Yosai Ishizuka was the 82^nd to 500 homers. I-Sol Chang also reached 2500 hits and was the 37^th to score 1500 runs. SS Anh Vu Nguyen won his 9^th consecutive Silver Slugger.

Shortstop Jae-Won Park won a historic 16^th consecutive Gold Glove. He joined legendary OBA/MLB SS/2B Jimmy Caliw, BSA 1B D.J. Del Valle, and ABF C Ali Mahdian as the only 16-time Gold Glovers in all of pro baseball history. Caliw holds the world record as he made it to 17, but he was split between SS/2B. Park only has done it at shortstop.

09-24-2025, 07:57 AM	#2464
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 3,224	2035 in EAB Three teams battled for the Japan League’s top seed in 2035. Capital Division champ Kawasaki narrowly took it at 101-61 ahead of North Division winner Sendai (100-62) and the reigning East Asia Baseball champ and Central Division winner Hamamatsu (98-64). The Killer Whales allowed the fewest runs in EAB at 500 and the Samurai led the JL with 724 runs scored. This was the third straight 100+ win season for Kawasaki and Sendai. The Killer Whales’ playoff streak grew to five, while the Samurai and Chickenhawks both made it three straight. Their divisions also featured the wild card fight with Saitama (92-70) and Sapporo (90-72) advancing ahead of Osaka (88-74) and Niigata (85-77). Both the Sting and Swordfish snapped six season playoff skids. The weakest playoff record came from Kitakyushu at 87-75, repeating as West Division champs. Fukuoka was their nearest foe at 82-80 and Hiroshima was 79-83. Niigata’s Masanori Fukuoka made history, joining Hitoshi Kubota as the only EAB players with 6+ MVPs. The 33-year old LF had also taken the Japan League’s top honor in 2026, 28, 29, 31, and 33. Fukuoka picked up his ninth Silver Slugger as he led in home runs (53), total bases (382), slugging (.701), OPS (1.041), and wRC+ (205). He added 166 hits, 106 runs, 33 doubles, 12 triples, 109 RBI, .305 average, and 8.8 WAR. Fukuoka had been the Green Dragons’ superstar player since going #1 in the 2023 EAB Draft. In his seventh-year starting for Kitakyushu, Ju-Won Hyun won Pitcher of the Year by leading in quality starts (28) and innings (278). The 28-year old South Korean lefty had a 21-11 record, 2.04 ERA, 169 ERA+, 274 strikeouts, and 7.1 WAR. In May 2036, the Kodiaks would keep Hyun via a six-year, $170,400,000 extension. Hamamatsu swept Sapporo and Kitakyushu beat Saitama 3-1 in the wild card round. The Kodiaks shocked top seed Kawasaki with a divisional round 3-0 sweep, earning their first trip to the Japan League Championship Series since 2019. Kitakyushu was going for a Cinderella playoff run, trying to end a pennant drought back to their 1992-94 three-peat. The Chickenhawks outlasted Sendai 3-2 to earn their third straight JCLS trip. Hamamatsu quickly snuffed out the Kodiaks’ upset attempt, winning 4-1 to repeat as Japan League champ. The Chickenhawks are the first repeat JL champ since Fukuoka in 2022-23. Two teams jockeyed for the Korea League’s top seed with Busan (111-51) successfully defending that spot against Goyang (107-55). The Blue Jays took the Southeast Division for their 12^th straight division title while growing their EAB-record playoff streak to 16 seasons. The Green Sox won the North Division to extend their own impressive playoff streak to nine with seven division crowns. Goyang was EAB’s top scoring team with 884 runs. Defending KL champ Suwon won the Central Division for the fifth time in six years with their 99-63 finish. In the Southwest, Gwangju at 90-72 made it three straight division wins and allowed the fewest runs in the KL at 563. The Grays had no one else in their division above .500, while the Snappers were six games better than Seongnam and nine ahead of Incheon. The Southeast’s #2 Ulsan picked up the first wild card at 95-67. The Spiders at 93-69 got the second slot over the 90-72 Inferno and 89-73 Pyongyang. The Swallows earned a third playoff trip in four years, while Seongnam snapped a 10-year drought. The Spiders had won 90+ in four straight seasons, but had just missed the cut. The Pythons saw their own postseason streak snapped at five seasons. Goyang swept the Korea League’s top awards, captained by LF Sung-Hoon Ma as MVP. In his eighth season starting, the 31-year old lefty led in home runs (55) and total bases (383). Ma had 183 hits, 118 runs, 29 doubles, 129 RBI, a .313/.362/.656 slash, 174 wRC+, and 7.9 WAR. He would opt out of his contract in the winter, but sign a new five-year, $177,500,000 extension with the Green Sox. Ma was drafted in 2025 by Gwangju but never played for them, getting traded to Goyang in December 2026. Oniji Yamamoto won his third Pitcher of the Year, having done it in 2030 and 2033 with the Green Sox. The 30-year old lefty debuted in 2025 and had been in the rotation full-time since 2027 for Goyang. Yamamoto won his third ERA title (1.91) and led in strikeouts (328), WHIP (0.76), K/BB (19.3), shutouts (6), FIP- (46), and WAR (10.9). He had a 202 ERA+ over 249.2 innings and 20-4 record, missing the Triple Crown by three wins. Yamamoto got his big payday in February 2034 on a seven-year, $204 million extension. The wild card round had two sweeps with Gwangju over Ulsan and Suwon over Seongnam. The defending champ Snappers easily secured a 3-0 road sweep over Goyang in the divisional round, earning their fifth Korea League Championship Series appearance in seven years. On the other side, Busan survived a fierce challenge 3-2 against the Grays. This was sweet revenge for the Blue Jays, who won 112 games in 2034 but had been upset by 85-win Gwangju. Busan got their seventh KLCS trip of their playoff streak and were looking for their fifth pennant of the run. The Blue Jays’ most recent pennants were in 2029 and 2032, both featuring KCLS victories over Suwon. Busan continued that trend and dethroned the Snappers 4-2. With their 16^th Korea League pennant, the Blue Jays are tied with Daegu and the JL’s Sapporo for the most pennants amongst EAB teams. The 115^th East Asian Championship was an all-timer and the first since 2024 to need all seven games. Like in 2024, game seven went extra innings. Hamamatsu went up 4-3 in the top of the tenth inning and held on from there to defeat Busan. The Chickenhawks claimed repeat titles, the 13^th repeat champ in EAB history. The Blue Jays are now 6-10 all-time in the finals and 1-4 in their trips since starting the playoff streak in 2020. LF Tae-Gyeong Kee was finals MVP for Hamamatsu. In 19 playoff starts, he had 25 hits, 10 runs, 3 doubles, 2 homers, 12 RBI, and 0.7 WAR. Also worth mentioning was JLCS MVP Sang-Soo Lee, who set the EAB playoff record for pitching wins with six. In 40 innings, Lee went 6-1 with a 2.25 ERA, 46 strikeouts, and 1.4 WAR. Other notes: Baseball had continued to thrive in East Asia with both leagues seeing new attendance records. Goyang sold 3,186,173 for the overall EAB and Korea League records, while Kawasaki set a Japanese high mark at 3,146,568. Prior to 2035, a team season attendance above three million had only happened in Major League Baseball. EAB”s 47^th perfect game came on September 14 as Hamamatsu’s Naka Sakurai struck out five facing Kyoto. In other pitching notables, Byung-Cheol Ban and Takehiro Nakajima became the 73^rd and 74^th to 200 wins. Si-Won Joon was the 50^th ace to 3500 career strikeouts and Chae-Min Ryom was the 37^th closer to 300 saves. Bucheon’s Ryun-Do Kok had the 20^th four home run game in EAB history on August 30 facing Incheon. Han Yi became the 38^th member of the 600 homer club, the 53^rd to 1500 RBI, and the 103^rd to 2500 hits. Yosai Ishizuka was the 82^nd to 500 homers. I-Sol Chang also reached 2500 hits and was the 37^th to score 1500 runs. SS Anh Vu Nguyen won his 9^th consecutive Silver Slugger. Shortstop Jae-Won Park won a historic 16^th consecutive Gold Glove. He joined legendary OBA/MLB SS/2B Jimmy Caliw, BSA 1B D.J. Del Valle, and ABF C Ali Mahdian as the only 16-time Gold Glovers in all of pro baseball history. Caliw holds the world record as he made it to 17, but he was split between SS/2B. Park only has done it at shortstop. __________________ 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)