[FuzzyRussianHat]

No team in East Asia Baseball was better at the all-star break than Busan at 69-36. They had some competition in a top-heavy Korea League with Changwon (65-39), Cheongju (63-42), Daegu (63-40), and Yongin (62-42) each giving chase. The Checkers ended up with the top post-break record at 42-15 and finished even for the top seed with the Blue Jays at 105-57. Busan won the head-to-head tiebreaker 4-2 thanks to a home sweep in March.

It was back-to-back #1 seeds for the Blue Jays, who won their third straight Southeast Division title. It was their fourth consecutive playoff trip and they’ve only missed twice since 2020. Cheongju had its first 100+ win season since joining in the 2030 expansion. The Checkers made it three straight playoff trips with their second-ever Southwest Division crown. Cheongju led EAB in differential (+222) and runs scored (833) while Busan allowed Korea’s fewest runs at 511. The Blue Jays pitching had 1634 strikeouts and a 10.07 K/9, both the second-best in KL history.

The next best two records both had to settle for wild cards at 96-66 with Jeju and Changwon. Ulsan and Daegu tied for third in the Southeast and were the first teams out at 92-70. The Islanders secured their first playoff berth since joining in the 2030 expansion. The Crabs ended a 13-year playoff drought. The Swallows saw the end of their seven-year playoff streak, although their run of winning seasons stretched back to 2030. Gwangju notably finished 88-74 to end their nine-year playoff streak. Despite that run, the Grays failed to win a single pennant.

Defending Korea League champ Yongin narrowly took the Central Division at 93-69, holding off 91-71 Bucheon. The Gold Sox earned a fifth straight division title. Seoul repeated as the North Division champ at 91-71 with only Goyang (84-78) providing much of a challenge. Daejeon lost 100+ games for the third year running to grow their EAB-record playoff drought to 54 seasons.



Yongin LF Won-Bin Lee took MVP honors unanimously. It was his second in three years for the Gold Sox and his third overall, having also won with Changwon in 2036. The 30-year old righty led in runs (120), average (.366), slugging (.690), OPS (1.121), wRC+ (214), and WAR (11.4). Lee added 207 hits, 24 doubles, 18 triples, 41 home runs, and 117 RBI. One year remains on his original four-year, $104,300,000 contract with Yongin.

Wan Ahn earned his second Pitcher of the Year for Changwon, having previously won back in 2036. He had 33/40 first place votes and led in WHIP (0.86), complete games (18), and shutouts (6). The 29-year old righty had a 16-8 record, 2.03 ERA, 248.1 innings, 327 Ks, 185 ERA+, 54 FIP-, and 8.2 WAR.

Ahn also pitched a no-hitter on August 2 facing Bucheon that would’ve been a perfect game if not for a lone error at shortstop. He also had a no-hitter back in 2036. Ahn declined his contract option after the season, making him a highly touted free agent. Also of note, Jeju’s Dae-Jong Kim won his third Reliever of the Year award in four years.



Seoul had the one-game bonus in the wild card round as a division champ, although they were five wins beneath Jeju. A pair of 5-4 wins pushed the Seahawks forward, the latter with a walkoff solo homer by Jong-Chun Shin. Yongin had the advantage on the other side against Changwon, although the Crabs took the opener 3-2 in 10 innings. The Gold Sox fought back with 6-5 and 4-3 wins, both walkoffs, keeping their repeat bid intact.

Top seed Cheongju topped Yongin 6-2 in the divisional round opener, but took a 11-7 home loss in game two. The Checkers rebounded for 3-2 and 8-3 road wins, earning their first-ever trip to the Korea League Championship Series. On the other side, top seed Busan was shocked as they were swept by Seoul on 5-0, 1-0, and 8-7 scores. The Blue Jays went ahead in the top of the ninth on two runs in game three, but the Seahawks walked it off in the bottom half via error.

For back-to-back years, Busan had the top seed but failed to advance. Seoul earned repeat KLCS trips as they hoped to end a title drought back to their 2004-06 three-peat. In game one, three ninth inning singles pushed Cheongju to a 3-2 walkoff win. The Seahawks countered 3-0, tying the series as it shifted to the capital.



The Checkers impressively rattled off 5-2, 4-3, and 6-4 road wins to take the series in five games and earn their first pennant. Both game four and game five had go-ahead runs for Cheongju in the ninth inning. They’re the first of the four Korea League expansion teams from 2030 to win the title. LF Su-Yeon Chang won series MVP going 9-16 with three RBI and three runs. He was a four-time Gold Glover in his sixth season and was not known for his bat generally, but Chang stepped up when it matters.