Baseball: The World's Game - Page 54

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-14-2024, 05:38 PM

Defending National Association champ Boston set a franchise-best at 109-53, dominating a strong Northeast Division. The second and third best records in the NA were both in the Northeast and earned wild cards. Toronto finished 99-63 and Ottawa was 98-64. The Elks ended a three-year playoff drought and the Timberwolves ended a two-year one. Buffalo, who had made the playoffs the prior two seasons out of the Northeast, plummeted to only 69 wins.

The Lower Midwest Division saw a tie for first between Indianapolis and Columbus at 93-69, while St. Louis was one back at 92-70. The Racers won the tiebreaker game for their second playoff berth in three years and denied the Chargers’ bid for a division title three-peat. This was Indy’s first division title since 1988. The Racers also earned the #2 seed and the first round bye. Wichita, winners of 90 games last year and in the 1995 wild card hunt, collapsed and went 68-94.

New York secured the East Division title at 90-72 for their sixth playoff appearance in eight years. Philadelphia fell two games short, Brooklyn was six away, and last year’s National Association runner-up Washington dropped to 80-82. The Upper Midwest Division had Minneapolis on top at 88-74, ending a playoff drought taking back to 1982. Cleveland’s three year division title streak ended with the Cobras finishing at 79-83.

National Association MVP went to Indianapolis 1B Salvador Villasenor. The Racers gave him an eight-year, $24,000,000 extension the prior summer and were rewarded for their investment. The 29-year old Spaniard led in hits (221), RBI (138), total bases (402), average (.373), slugging (.678), OPS (1.101), wRC+ (228), and WAR (10.4). His 46 home runs left him four away from a Triple Crown. New York’s Pitcher Fahri Unal won Pitcher of the Year in his second MLB season. The 30-year old Turk had come to the Yankees on a six-year, $22,560,000 deal after winning two Pitcher of the Year awards with Bursa of the Asian Baseball Federation. Unal had a 17-7 record, 2.43 ERA, 274.1 innings, 217 strikeouts, and 7.2 WAR. He also had a no-hitter on September 27 with eight strikeouts and two walks against Winnipeg.

In the first round of the playoffs, Minneapolis beat Toronto 2-0 and New York topped Ottawa 2-1. Both second round series went all five games but had the favored squads advance. Boston edged the Moose and Indianapolis outlasted the Yankees. The Red Sox were looking for repeat pennants, while the Racers earned their first National Association Championship Series appearance from 1977. Boston was a heavy favorite, but Indy upset them 4-2 to earn their eighth pennant (1931, 36, 52, 57, 59, 74, 77, 96).

The American Association was guaranteed to see a new champ, as defending World Series champion Denver struggled to a 71-91 campaign. Edmonton ended a four-year playoff drought and posted the AA’s best record at 101-61 on top of the Northwest Division. The other bye went to San Francisco at 100-62 atop the Southwest Division, earning a fourth consecutive playoff berth. San Diego was close behind at 98-64, earning the first wild card and ending a playoff drought dating back to 1986. For the second wild card, Oakland (92-70) edged out Los Angeles (91-71) and Atlanta (90-72). The Owls had an even longer playoff drought back to 1981.

Nashville ended the longest drought of any team in 1996, winning the Southeast Division at 92-70. The Knights hadn’t been a playoff team since 1978 and hadn’t won a division title since all the way back in 1956. Atlanta at 90-72 fell two games short of both the division and the second wild card. Charlotte (87-75) was also in the mix. Last year’s division winner Tampa dropped to 71-91. The South Central Division had Dallas (88-74) squeak by defending winner Houston (87-75) and New Orleans (84-78). The Dalmatians snapped a four-year postseason skid.

Edmonton first baseman Isaac McKenna won American Association MVP in only his third season. The 23-year old Canadian lefty led in home runs (49), RBI (143), runs (112), OBP (.409), OPS (1.018), wRC+ (172) and WAR (9.1), while adding a .318 average and 193 hits. Pitcher of the Year was another upcoming star in San Diego’s Bradrabahu Abhimani. The 24-year old Indian lefty had a 20-8 record, 2.64 ERA, 272.2 innings, 234 strikeouts, and 6.7 WAR.

Dallas downed San Diego 2-1 and Nashville ousted Oakland 2-0 in the first round of the playoffs. The Knights went onto upset San Francisco 3-1 in the second round, while Edmonton dropped the Dalmatians 3-0. This was Nashville’s first American Association Championship Series appearance since 1956, long before the Eels franchise existed. It was Edmonton’s second AACS, having won the 1988 pennant. The Eels earned their second title 4-2 over Nashville.

In the 96^th World Series, Major League Baseball was guaranteed to have its 39^th unique franchise on top. Indianapolis had been there seven times previously, but took runner-up each time. Their curse continued as Edmonton rolled to the title in five games. Veteran LF Xavier Escobar won World Series MVP in his 11th season as an Eel. The 31-year old Brazilian had 21 hits, 15 runs, 5 home runs, and 13 RBI in 14 playoff starts. The Racers are now 0-8 in the World Series, which are the most finals defeats in any world league by a team without a title. Meanwhile between Edmonton and Calgary, four of the last 11 trophies ended up in Alberta.

Other notes: Brian Ostrovskaya became the 19^th member of the 600 home run club and also crossed 1500 RBI. Phil Sannes was the 51^st member of the 3000 hit club. T.J. Nakabayashi became the eighth pitcher to reach 4000 strikeouts.

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-15-2024, 03:40 AM

Two players picked up inductions into Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame class for 1997. 1B Joziah Perry was a no-doubter, getting 97.9% in his debut. Joining him was closer Devin Ivey, who barely crossed the 66% requirement with 68.2% for his third attempt. LF Aiden Hertlein missed out by about as thin of a margin possible at 65.8% in his third ballot. 1B Aranha Carlos also came very close at 64.3% for his second try. Three others were above 50% with 1B Kymani Massey at 59.5% in his fifth ballot, 2B Cade Parker at 57.7% for his debut, and 1B Jonah Mabile at 52.3% for his fourth attempt.

RF Bentlee Fleming was the lone player to fall off the ballot after ten tries, ending at 41.7%. The Winnipeg native stayed in the low 40% range consistently during his ballots. A 16-year veteran primarily with Vancouver, he won Silver Slugger once and posted 2559 hits, 1442 runs, 338 doubles, 471 home runs, 1427 RBI, a .282/.351/.485 slash, and 63.1 WAR. Fleming was never a top guy though and mostly played on weaker teams, thus the banishment to the Hall of Very Good.

Joziah “Mirror” Perry – First Base/Designated Hitter – San Francisco Gold Rush – 97.9% First Ballot

Joziah Perry was a 6’6’’, 200 pound left-handed first baseman from Hawthorne, California; a city of around 88,000 within the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Perry was one of the best pure hitters in his prime, combining great contract, power, and eye. He was great at avoiding strikeouts and always made very hard contact, averaging around 40 home runs and another 40 doubles/triples per year. Perry was faster than you’d think with his big frame, but he was a lackluster baserunner. His career was split almost evenly between first base and designated hitter, as he was a mediocre defender. Perry was very durable and stayed loyal to San Francisco in his career, becoming extremely popular in the Bay.

Perry stayed in California for his entire baseball career and attended college close to home at UCLA. As a Bruin in three seasons, he had 143 starts, 206 hits, 131 runs, 30 doubles, 71 home runs, 164 RBI, a .367/.439/.820 slash, and 14.7 WAR. Perry was the seventh player in college baseball history to win NCAA MVP twice, doing it as a freshman in 1972 and as a junior in 1974. He also won Silver Sluggers in both years. Naturally, this made Perry a big prize for the 1974 MLB Draft. With the ninth overall pick, San Francisco selected Perry and immediately gave him a four-year, $1,860,000 major league deal; a rare get for a prospect.

Perry was immediately a full-timer and started all 162 games in his rookie year of 1975, running away with Rookie of the Year and leading the American Association in total bases. He’d be a starter his entire run with the Gold Rush, only occasionally missing time to injury. Perry led the AA in runs scored thrice, hits four times, doubles twice, triples once, home runs thrice, RBI twice, total bases seven times, average once, slugging five times, OPS four times, wRC+ six times, and WAR thrice.

Perry also was a dominant force in the World Baseball Championship from 1977-86 for the United States team. He was the 1981 Tournament MVP with 25 runs, 29 hits, 12 home runs, and 28 RBI over 23 starts. Perry picked up five world title rings with the American team (1977, 81, 82, 84, 85), making him a very popular player throughout the country.

Although San Francisco was a weak team in the 1970s, Perry earned plenty of attention. 1976 saw his first Silver Slugger at DH and a third place finish in MVP voting. Then in 1978, he scored 147 runs, setting a single-season MLB record that stood until 1994. His 238 hits was also only four short of the single-season record, plus he added 45 doubles, 49 home runs, and a .372 average. With that, Perry was named AA MVP for the first time.

The next year, he led in home runs for the first time at 56, helping him to his second MVP and a third Silver Slugger. After the 1979 season, the Gold Rush gave Perry an eight-year, $7,570,000 contract extension. He won SS again in 1980, but was second in MVP voting. In 1981, Perry became a three-time MVP and five-time Slugger winner. He wouldn’t be an MVP finalist again, but one SS again in 1982 and 1989. Unlike the previous ones, those two came as a first baseman and not a DH.

As the 1980s dawned, San Francisco returned to relevance. In the decade, they had nine winning seasons and five playoff appearances. In 1984, the Gold Rush finally broke through and won the American Association pennant, falling in the World Series to Chicago. Sadly for Perry, he missed the entire postseason run and a good chunk of the season to a broken hand. SF never made it beyond the second round in his other playoff chances, leaving Perry with 14 starts, 19 hits, 10 runs, 3 home runs, and 9 RBI in his postseason career.

Perry’s stats were no longer world class in his 30s, but he was still a very good starter. The Gold Rush gave him a five-year, $7,900,000 extension in the spring of 1987. He struggled in 1988, but bounced back to lead in home runs in 1989 to win his final Silver Slugger. That season also saw Perry join the 600 home run club. 1990 was his last year as a starter, as San Francisco moved him to a bench role for most of 1991.

With one year left on his deal, the Gold Rush traded Perry after the 1991 season to Quebec City for LF Elroy Golub. Perry was unremarkable in spring training and was cut by the Nordiques before the regular season. He wanted to play still, but went unsigned that season and retired in the winter at age 38. San Francisco immediately brought him back to retire his #14 uniform as one of the franchise’s favorite icons.

Perry’s career stats saw 2885 hits, 1731 runs, 458 doubles, 141 triples, 660 home runs, 1830 RBI, a .306/.374/.594 slash, 156 wRC+, and 91.2 WAR. Not many had reached 1500+ runs, 1500+ RBI, and 650+ home runs in MLB history. At induction, Perry was tied for sixth all-time in homers, 16^th in RBI, and 27^th in runs scored. Few guys were more proficient with their bat in their prime than Perry, earning him the first ballot induction at 97.9%.

Devin Ivey – Closer – New York Yankees – 68.2% Third Ballot

Devin Ivey was a 6’6’’, 200 pound right-handed relief pitcher from Lochearn, Maryland; a small town of around 25,000 just west of Baltimore. Ivey had incredible stuff with a 99-101 mph fastball and a great slider which featured very good movement. He also had above average control along with excellent durability and good stamina for a relief pitcher. Ivey was very outspoken, which made him a polarizing figure with teammates and fans. His spicy hot takes were part of the reason he ended up bouncing between 11 teams in his career.

Ivey went west for his college days with Stanford. As a freshman, he took third in Reliever of the Year voting. The Cardinal moved him to the rotation and he won NCAA Pitcher of the Year as both a sophomore and junior. Ivey was only the third pitcher in college baseball history to win the award twice. Over 40 appearances and 24 starts in his college career, Ivey had a 1.08 ERA, 18-5 record, 7 saves, 209 innings, 252 strikeouts, and 11.3 WAR. With this dominance, many teams were interesting in Ivey, but some didn’t want to commit to a big deal. With only two (albeit great) pitches and lower stamina, scouts didn’t think he would be a starter and relievers had a much lower value. Still, New York would use the 12^th overall pick in the 1972 MLB Draft on Ivey, signing him to a four-year, $1,360,000 deal.

Ivey was thrown into the closer role as a rookie and held that role more often than not in his six years and change with the Yankees. In his second season, he won Reliever of the Year with 5.8 WAR, a 1.30 ERA, and 139 strikeouts over 97 innings. That was Ivey’s only time winning the top award, although he took second in 1977 with New York. He didn’t rack up big save totals, as the Yankees generally stunk in that era. With the Yankees, he had 187 saves and 231 shutdowns, 1.95 ERA, 521 innings, 687 strikeouts, and 22.4 WAR.

Ivey was set to enter free agency for the first time after the 1979 season. NY didn’t expect to keep him and traded him to Detroit at the deadline for two pitchers. He was outstanding with 24.1 scoreless innings and 14 saves with the Tigers, giving him a bump entering free agency at age 28. Even with his talent, some teams were leery of his obnoxious nature. He would get signed right at the end of free agency on a one year, $870,000 deal with Montreal, the defending National Association champ.

From the very end of his Yankees run in July 1979 to August 1980, Ivey had a 41 save streak. He took second in Reliever of the Year voting with the Maples, although he was iffy in the postseason with a 4.35 ERA in 10.1 innings. Montreal fell in the NACS to Chicago and Ivey became a free agent yet again. He signed a one-year deal with Calgary in early 1981. He was alright with the Cheetahs, who traded him to Las Vegas at the deadline for three pitchers. Ivey had a great postseason for the Vipers with a 0.93 ERA in 9.2 innings, although LV fell in the AACS.

Ivey signed with Oakland in 1982, but was used in only 21.1 innings despite being effective when he pitched. He went to Washington in 1983 and reclaimed the closer role, taking third in Reliever of the Year voting. Ivey had a 29 inning scoreless streak during his Admirals tenure. That run led to Montreal bringing Ivey back for an actual contract of length at three years, $3,300,000. He was a respectable closer in 1984, but was reduced to middle relief in 1985. Between three seasons with Montreal, he had 80 saves, a 2.16 ERA, 204.1 innings, 245 strikeouts, and 7.4 WAR.

Before the 1986 season, the 34-year old Ivey was cut by Montreal. Looking to find a home somewhere, Ivey ended up in West African Baseball and spent the season with Kumasi. He returned to MLB with Nashville in 1987 with limited use. The Knights traded him to Cincinnati for 1988, which was his last year as an actual closer. That got him to 350 career saves, the 16^th to do so. Ivey spent one final season with Omaha and struggled, opting to retire after the 1989 campaign at age 38.

For his MLB career, Ivey had 367 saves and 468 shutdowns, 2.25 ERA, 1098.1 innings, 1324 strikeouts, a 61 FIP-, and 39.6 WAR. His ERA, strikeout, and WAR totals were relatively in line with some other guys that had gotten the MLB Hall of Fame nod. It wasn’t easy to get big attention as a reliever and Ivey’s personality worked against him. Still, he got close at 62.2% and 61.5% on his first two ballots. The third attempt in 1997 got him just across the line at 68.2%, making Ivey the second member of the 1997 class.

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-15-2024, 11:28 AM

Pitcher Franklyn Maldonado was the lone member of the 1997 class for the Central American Baseball Association Hall of Fame. He was nearly unanimous at 99.7%, but it was a quiet ballot otherwise. The only other player who was even above 50% was catcher Hansel Morel at 52.8% in his seventh ballot. No one was dropped after ten ballots in 1997.

Franklyn Maldonado – Starting Pitcher – Guatemala Ghosts – 99.7% First Ballot

Franklyn Maldonado was a 6’1’’, 200 pound left-handed pitcher from Real del Puente, Honduras; a small town of around 4,000 people in the northwest of the country. Maldonado was a well-rounded pitcher with very good stuff, movement, and control. He had a 95-97 mph fastball that he mixed with a slider and changeup. Maldonado was one of the best at changing speeds and holding runners. He was considered an excellent defensive pitcher and had respectable stamina in his early days. Maldonado was a fan favorite and was a popular player despite a relatively short peak.

Despite coming from humble origins, Maldonado did get some attention as a prospect in the amateur ranks of Honduras. He was picked in the second round of the 1976 CABA Draft by Guatemala with the 47^th overall pick. The Ghosts wouldn’t bring him up for his first two seasons under contract. Maldonado debuted with seven starts in 1979 at age 23, but showed promise. Maldonado was good as a partial starter in 1980, then entered the rotation full-time from 1981 after.

From 1981-86, Maldonado led the Caribbean League in WAR five times. He led in ERA in 1982, earning Pitcher of the Year. He took second in 1983, then won the award again in 1984. Maldonado would be a regular finalist, taking second in 1986 and 1987 with Guatemala. With the Ghosts, he also led the league in wins twice, WHIP twice, innings once, and quality starts three times. Maldonado was also quite effective in the World Baseball Championship for his native Honduras. From 1979-91 with the national team, he had a 1.95 ERA over 175.1 innings, 10-11 record, 220 strikeouts, and 6.5 WAR.

From 1980-84, Guatemala had a five-year playoff streak. They got to the Caribbean League Championship Series in 1980, 81, and 83; winning the pennant in 1983. They would fall in the final to Hermosillo, but Maldonado gave them good playoff numbers. With the Ghosts in the playoffs, Maldonado had a 2.94 ERA, 64.1 innings, 89 strikeouts, 5-4 record, and 2.1 WAR. After the 1983 season, Guatemala locked him up with a five-year, $3,270,000 contract extension.

Guatemala was good, but just outside of the playoffs from 1985-87. It looked like a rebuild was in order and Maldonado had one year left on his deal at age 32. The Ghosts decided to trade him in late 1987 to Guadalajara for three prospects. For his time in Guatemala, Maldonado had a 145-68 record, 2.55 ERA, 2093.1 innings, 2307 strikeouts, and 69.0 WAR. He remained popular with Ghosts fans and did see his #38 uniform retired once his playing days were done.

Maldonado had a strong debut with the Hellhounds, leading in wins and quality starts with a third place finish in Pitcher of the Year voting. He also won his first Gold Glove with his second coming the next year. Guadalajara was happy with their acquisition and gave Maldonado a five-year, $4,750,000 extension in the summer of 1988. He pitched well the next two years as the Hellhounds made it to the Mexican League Championship Series both seasons, although they couldn’t claim the pennant.

Although he still had been effective in 1990, his velocity had suddenly plummeted without any major injury, going from 95-97 mph to 90-92 mph. In 1991, Maldonado’s fastball was in the 86-88 mph range. Although his control was still great, his stuff was now awful. He struggled in spring training and was only used for 24.2 innings. Maldonado retired that winter at age 36. With Guadalajara, he had a 56-32 record, 2.17 ERA, 787.2 innings, 804 strikeouts, and 20.2 WAR.

For his career, Maldonado posted a 201-100 record, 2.45 ERA, 2881 innings, 3111 strikeouts, 427 walks, 281/361 quality starts, a 66 FIP-, and 89.2 WAR. His rate stats were very impressive, although the grand totals were on the lower end with the quick end to his career. Before his sudden decline, many observers thought Maldonado would end up at the tip-top of the leaderboards. Regardless, even in only 11 full seasons, Maldonado’s resume was outstanding. He was nearly unanimously voted in at 99.7% as the lone member of CABA’s 1997 Hall of Fame class.

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-15-2024, 04:29 PM

East Asia Baseball’s 1997 Hall of Fame class was a very solid one with three inductees from their first ballot. CF Sosuke Hoshizawa was the star easily at 99.4%, but OF Ryota Shintani (87.8%) and LF Myeong-Won Song (84.1%) were no slouches by any stretch. A fourth outfielder almost joined them on his second ballot, but Jay-Hoon Cho missed the mark at 60.4%. Also above 50% were 2B Seong-Jae Kang at 55.2% and closer Dong-Myung Choy at 50.0%, both on their second ballots. No players were dropped after ten ballots.

Sosuke “Legend” Hoshizawa – Center Field – Sapporo Swordfish – 99.4% First Ballot

Sosuke Hoshizawa was a 6’0’’, 195 pound right-handed center fielder from Toyohashi, a city of 375,000 people in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture. He later earned the nickname “legend,” which was certainly fitting for someone of his stature as a genuine five-tool player. In his prime, Hoshizawa was an excellent contact and power hitter with a respectable eye. He ended up averaging around 45 home runs per 162 games with a career .300 average. Hoshizawa had great pop in his bat generally, also getting you around 25-35 doubles/triples per year.

Hoshizawa often stretched out extra bases with great speed and keen instincts. He played his entire career in center field and was an excellent defender. As of 2037, he’s EAB’s all-time leader in zone rating, putouts, and chances at the position. Despite a number of injury issues in the second half of his career, Hoshizawa always gave his all and provided excellent leadership as Sapporo’s captain. He was viewed as one of the greatest men to ever step on the diamond in Japan and is one of the most beloved icons and symbols of the sport.

Hoshizawa’s excellence was spotted as a teenager and many teams were interested in picking him straight out of Tokai High School. Sapporo was one of these squads and had the second pick in the 1967 EAB Draft. The Swordfish selected Hoshizawa, beginning a partnership that lasted 24 years. He made his official debut in 1968 at age 19, although he only had 12 plate appearances. The plan was to make him a full-time starter the next year, but a ruptured finger tendon at the end of spring training cost him four months. Still, Hoshizawa came back to finish the season and posted 27 home runs in only 58 games. It looked clear that this phenom was likely going to live up to the immense hype.

From 1970-76, Hoshizawa posted seven straight seasons worth 10+ WAR. Even more impressive was that he did it despite missing a month or more in three of those seasons. In his first full season as a starter in 1970, Hoshizawa led in runs, home runs, total bases, OPS, and wRC+ to win his first Japan League MVP. He won again in 1971, 72, and 74, while taking second in 1973. In 1972, he led with 129 runs and a 1.116 OPS with 56 home runs and 12.9 WAR. Hoshizawa had 12.6 WAR and a league-best 81 stolen bases in 1974 while adding 47 home runs. He also won all six of his Silver Sluggers consecutively from 1970-75.

Sapporo had fallen on hard times in the mid 1960s and hadn’t seen the playoffs since 1957, but Hoshizawa’s production brought them 100+ seasons and playoff spots in 1972 and 1974. Both seasons, they fell in the Japan League Championship Series. But the Swordfish were convinced he’d lead them to success, signing Hoshizawa to an eight-year, $2,790,000 extension after the 1972 campaign. Despite his historic production, Sapporo wouldn’t see consistent success until 1979.

As much as Hoshizawa tried to power through, he physically was often a wreck. Back spasms cost him more than half of 1977 with miscellaneous injuries knocking him out much of 1978. 1979 finally saw Hoshizawa’s first full season in a few years, getting the Swordfish back to the playoffs. Despite having the top seed, they were one-and-done. But this began a stretch of dominance atop the recently realigned North Division. Sapporo would make the playoffs ten times from 1979-89.

When healthy, Hoshizawa was still great. He’d win most of his six Gold Gloves in these later years (1974, 79, 83, 84, 85, 86). Sapporo signed him to a six-year, $2,328,000 extension just before the 1980 season. The Swordfish got to the JLCS, but a partially torn labrum kept Hoshizawa out of the playoff run. In 1981, Sapporo finally put together the championship run, taking the EAB title. Hoshizawa’s leadership was invaluable, even though he was iffy in limited playoff time with late season elbow inflammation. Regardless, he finally got Sapporo its first ring since the early 1950s.

Sapporo was ousted in the 1982 JLCS. They won the 1983 pennant, losing the EAB title to Seongnam. That was easily Hoshizawa‘s best playoff run with 18 starts, 22 hits, 15 runs, 8 home runs, and 18 RBI. The Swordfish would get ousted in the first round of their next five playoff appearances. Hoshizawa only played games in two of those five series due to injury. For his playoff career, he had 51 games, 56 hits, 31 runs, 13 home runs, 39 RBI, a .284/.308/.584 slash, and 2.1 WAR. He also rejoined Japan in the World Baseball Championship from 1982-89, having previously only played in 1970 and 1971. In 97 career WBC starts, he had 93 hits, 65 runs, 7 doubles, 36 home runs, 76 RBI, a .266/.343/.602 slash, and 4.1 WAR.

Hoshizawa was still excellent when healthy in his 30s, posting six seasons worth 6+ WAR despite missing notable time each year. 1982 had a broken kneecap and 1985 had a ruptured Achilles tendon. Multiple times he dealt with hamstring strains, partially torn labrums, and back stiffness. Hoshizawa was still a team captain and almost a second manager in the clubhouse, beloved by all. Even with the injuries, Sapporo gave him another three-year extension after the 1985 season at age 37.

In 1988, Hoshizawa managed to have his first full season in around a decade, but his power was no longer elite. Still, the Swordfish added another three year extension. Hoshizawa crossed the 700 career home run mark in 1989, but it was his last great moment. He was limited severely by his body in his final three seasons and finally was reduced to a bench role in 1991. Still, Hoshizawa was a beloved elder statesman to the end and a rare player to have played in four decades, having started in 1968 and ended in 1991. He finally retired at age 42 and saw his #28 uniform retired by Sapporo.

Hoshizawa’s final stats: 2772 hits, 1647 runs, 297 doubles, 220 triples, 718 home runs, 1746 RBI, 943 stolen bases, a .300/.341/.613 slash, 177 wRC+, and 156.9 WAR. Even with the injuries, Hoshizawa became EAB’s all-time WARlord, a distinction he still holds as of 2037. At induction, he was seventh all-time in home runs, 10^th in runs and 12^th in RBI. He was the only player with 700+ home runs and 900+ stolen bases. His hard work and dedication were incredible even as his body broke down, becoming a very rare example of someone who both debuted as a teenager and played into their 40s. Even rarer still and perhaps unique to Hoshizawa was doing that with one team. The nickname “legend” is incredibly fitting for this inner circle Hall of Famer, leading off the 1997 class at 99.4%.

Ryota “Old School” Shintani – Center/Left Field – Sendai Samurai – 87.8% First Ballot

Ryota Shintani was a 6’3’’, 200 pound right-handed outfielder from Osaka, Japan. At his best, Shintani was a great power hitter with an excellent eye and solid contact ability. He averaged around 45 home runs per 162 games while also getting around 30-35 doubles/triples per season. Shintani had above average speed and baserunning chops in his prime. His career defensively was roughly split 50/50 between center and left field. He graded as slightly below average in center and pretty good in left. Shintani was a team leader and would become one of Japan’s favorite players. He earned the nickname “Old School” for his approach to the game.

Shintani attended Tokai University in Tokyo and excelled as an amateur, becoming the top prospect for the 1973 EAB Draft. Sendai selected him with the first overall pick and his entire 11-year run in the Japan League was with the Samurai. Shintani was a full-time starter for his entire tenure, although he did miss chunks of 1978, 1980, 1981, and 1984 to injuries. His debut was impressive with 5.1 WAR, taking the 1974 Rookie of the Year.

He had a very solid 1975 and 1976, which prompted Sendai to sign Shintani to an eight-year, $2,830,000 contract extension. Shintani emerged as truly elite with the 1977 campaign, leading in home runs, OPS, and WAR. This earned him his first MVP and Silver Slugger, plus his lone Gold Glove in left. His national popularity grew as a regular for Japan in the World Baseball Championship. Even after leaving for MLB, he came home for the WBC from 1975-95 with 196 games, 191 starts, 175 hits, 133 runs, 65 home runs, 116 RBI, a .261/.378/.604 slash, and 10.0 WAR.

A bruised kneecap cost Shintani close to half of the 1978 season, but Sendai still managed to win a weak North Division at 84-78. He returned for the postseason and led them to a stunning East Asian Championship run, the first (and as of 2037, only) title for the Samurai. In 14 playoff starts, Shintani had 13 hits, 11 runs, 4 home runs, and 11 RBI. Helping Sendai to its first time forever made Shintani a franchise icon. For the rest of his tenure, Sendai was above .500 but generally stuck behind Sapporo in the divisional race. Their only other playoff berth was a one-and-done in 1984 despite having the Japan League’s best record.

Shintani’s second MVP and Silver Slugger came in 1979. A severely strained hip muscle cost him the second half of 1980, 1982 saw a return to form with Shintani winning his third MVP and Silver Slugger. He won additional Sluggers in 1983 and 1984 and took third in 1983’s MVP voting. In his tenure, Shintani led in runs scored thrice, homers twice, RBI once, total bases thrice, OBP twice, slugging thrice, OPS thrice, wRC+ four times, and WAR four times.

1984 was on pace to perhaps be his best year yet, but a concussion knocked him out for a month. That would be his final season in Japan, as Shintani left for MLB soon after. Sendai would retire his #16 more than a decade later once his playing days were over and he remained one of the franchise’s favorites.

For his Sendai tenure, Shintani had 1606 hits, 1063 runs, 252 doubles, 461 home runs, 1089 RBI, a .301/.368/.639 slash, 191 wRC+, and 87.2 WAR. The grand totals aren’t high on the leaderboard since he left early with some wondering if he could’ve rivaled Sosuke Hoshizawa’s tallies had he stuck around. A few voters poo-poo’d him leaving, but that resume was still exemplary and earned Shintani a first ballot induction at 87.8%.

He would still have half of his playing career left though. At age 34, he joined MLB’s Houston Hornets on a four-year, $5,360,000 deal. Shintani won Silver Sluggers in CF for Houston in 1987 and 1988 and was third in 1987’s MVP voting. The Hornets made the playoffs twice in his tenure, but couldn’t get beyond the second round. Untimely injures kept Shintani from playing in either of those postseason runs. For his Houston time, he had a solid 612 hits, 412 runs, 144 home runs, 367 RBI, a .282/.359/.557 slash, and 26.5 WAR.

His contract expired and at age 38, he was a free agent again for 1989. Having looked very good in Houston, that compelled Indianapolis to sign Shintani on a three-year, $5,500,000 deal. He was good when healthy, but torn ankle ligaments and a fractured knee cost him big chunks of his two seasons with the Racers. Shintani still managed 7.7 WAR over 182 games for Indianapolis. He didn’t meet the vesting criteria in his contract and became a free agent again for 1991.

Despite being 40 years old, Denver gave Shintani a three-year, $6,020,000 deal. Again, injuries meant he only managed half seasons with the Dragons, but he was still good when healthy. Denver won the American Association pennant in 1991 with Shintani getting 8 hits, 5 runs, 3 home runs, and 7 RBI in 11 playoff starts. Over two seasons and 158 games with the Dragons, Shintani had 7.2 WAR, 40 home runs, 174 hits, 104 runs, and 90 RBI.

Shintani spent 1993-94 with Virginia Beach with the same story; good production but a lot of injuries. Philadelphia had Shintani for his final two seasons, but he only managed 88 games with the Phillies. The nickname “Old School” was especially poignant as the oldest player in the game. Shintani retired after the 1996 campaign at age 46.

For his MLB tenure, Shintani had 1199 hits, 779 runs, 185 doubles, 269 home runs, 690 RBI, a .284/.365/.543 slash, 152 wRC+, and 48.6 WAR. It is a very impressive roughly decade of production for someone who came over at age 34. For his entire pro career, Shintani had 2805 hits, 1842 runs, 437 doubles, 139 triples, 730 home runs, 1779 RBI, 1094 walks, a .293/.367/.597 slash, 173 wRC+, and 135.8 WAR. The grand totals make it clear that Shintani was one of the absolute finest outfielders in all of professional baseball for two decades.

Myeong-Won Song – Outfield/Designated Hitter – Suwon Snappers – 84.1% First Ballot

Myeong-Won Song was a 6’1’’, 200 pound left-handed outfielder from Bucheon, South Korea. Song had a great eye for the ball, allowing him to be one of the best at getting on base both from hits and walks. He also had a very solid pop in his bat, averaging around 35-40 home runs and around 25-30 doubles per season. Song had okay speed in his younger years and was a fairly smart baserunner. He was a lousy defender, thus making about half of his career starts as a designated hitter. Song split his time defensively between left and right field and was graded as mediocre in both spots. He was a durable and reliable bat, allowing him to help Suwon become a playoff contender.

Song didn’t have the traditional path to professional baseball, as he didn’t pick up the game until his 20s. He played within an independent league in South Korea, but dominated and caught the eye of a scout from Suwon. At age 25, Song signed his first big league contract to join the snappers in 1978. In his debut, he led the Korea League in OPS, picking up Rookie of the Year and his first of seven Silver Sluggers.

The ‘diamond in the rough’ signing would soon pay off for Suwon. The Snappers hadn’t made the playoffs since 1935, but they would earn five berths in six years from 1979-84. Four times they made it to the KLCS, winning the pennant in 1981. They lost to Sapporo in the EAB Championship, but they had their first sustained success. Song in 47 postseason games had 57 hits, 24 runs, 9 doubles, 11 home runs, 28 RBI, a .329/.410/.586 slash, and 2.4 WAR. He also made appearances in four World Baseball Championships from 1978-81 with South Korea, posting 61 hits, 45 runs, 20 home runs, and 47 RBI over 61 games.

Song’s second season saw him lead the KL in the triple slash, posting an impressive 1.136 OPS and career best 10.1 WAR with 43 home runs. That earned him league MVP and his second Silver Slugger. His additional Sluggers came in 1980, 84, 85, 86, and 89. He had two as a DH, three in LF, and two in RF. Song also won his second MVP in 1984, leading in WAR, OPS, and runs. He led in OBP four times in his career and OPS thrice.

In spring 1980, Song signed an eight-year, $3,714,000 contract extension. He was very popular with Suwon fans and continued to perform at a high level. However, the team began to rebuild as the 1980s came to a close, falling to 62-100 in 1988. As a Snapper, Song had 1777 hits, 1079 runs, 298 doubles, 377 home runs, 1020 RBI, a .312/.405/.574 slash, and 68.0 WAR. His #34 uniform would get retired a few years later.

His contract ended with the 1988 season, which had also been easily his worst statistically. At age 36, Seoul gave Song a chance on a three-year, $3,320,000 deal. He bounced back impressively in 1989, taking second in MVP voting and winning his last Silver Slugger. The Seahawks made it to the KLCS for the first time in a decade, but were bested by Daegu. Song had a good second year with Seoul as well, posting 11.2 WAR over two seasons with the squad.

However, just before the 1991 season, Song was sent to Jeonju in a four-player trade. He was a full-time starter with the Jethawks, but posted the weakest year of his career with a .240/.316/.407 slash and 1.2 WAR. Song decided to retire that winter at age 38 instead of trying to find a new home.

For his EAB career, Song had 2247 hits, 1342 runs, 365 doubles, 476 home runs, 1304 RBI, 1076 walks, a .304/.394/.558 slash, 159 wRC+, and 80.4 WAR. At induction, only two other Hall of Famers had a better career OBP. He was a very steady bat, although his stats weren’t quite as eye popping as his 1997 Hall of Fame classmates. They were still plenty good to get the first ballot selection at 84.1% to round out the 1997 trio.

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-16-2024, 04:32 AM

The 1997 Beisbol Sudamerica Hall of Fame ballot didn’t induct a single player, the first blank ballot for BSA since 1980. SP Rio Santiago finished less than a percentage point away from the mark at 65.3% on his debut. Fellow pitcher Robinson Moreira was at 62.7% for his eighth ballot. Also above 50% were RF Dani Manzanares at 57.9% on his second try and 3B Saul Puerta with 55.6% for his ninth go. No players were dropped after ten failed ballots.

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-16-2024, 11:13 AM

Two players were honored from the 1997 European Baseball Federation Hall of Fame voting. SP Jacky Muro was a no-doubter with 97.6% in his debut. He was joined by 1B Charles-Olivier Mallen with 71.3% for his second ballot. Three others were above 50%, but shy of the 66% needed. LF Husnija Kojic had 53.4% for his debut, SP Cornelius Danner got 52.0% on his fourth ballot, and SP Jose Calderon was at 51.0% in his seventh attempt. The EBF ballot didn’t have any players dropped following ten stays on the ballot.

Jacky Muro – Starting Pitcher – Madrid Conquistadors – 97.6% First Ballot

Jacky Muro was a 6’4’’, 190 pound right-handed pitcher from Palma, Spain; the capital and largest city of the Balearic Islands with around 400,000 inhabitants. Muro had filthy stuff with a dominant 99-101 mph fastball mixed with a slider, curveball, and splitter. His movement was merely average with below average control, but his 10/10 stuff made Muro difficult to solve as a hitter. He also had very solid stamina and durability, throwing 230+ innings in all but his final season. Muro was considered smart and loyal, two traits that served him well.

After an excellent college career, Muro was picked 14^th overall in the 1977 EBF Draft by Madrid. He spent his entire pro career in the Spanish capital, while also putting up great numbers for his home country in the World Baseball Championship. From 1978-91 with the Spanish national team, Muro had a 20-7 record, 2.72 ERA, 238.1 innings, 380 strikeouts, 77 walks, and 7.3 WAR. He even had a no-hitter in the 1987 WBC, striking out 13 with four walks in a game versus Ghana.

Muro was a full-time starter immediately and posted 6.4 WAR and 303 strikeouts as a rookie, taking third in Rookie of the Year voting. During his run, he was almost always a top ten level pitcher and at times in the top five. He took second in 1981 Pitcher of the Year voting, third in 1982, and second in 1983. Muro finally won the award in 1984, leading the Southern Conference that season in ERA and WHIP. He had led in strikeouts and wins the prior year. Those were his only times atop the leaderboards despite his consistent success.

In his third season, Muro tossed a no-hitter on 8/31/80, striking out 17 with three walks against Naples. Madrid was generally solid throughout Muro’s tenure despite sharing a division with some very good Marseille teams. The Conquistadors made the playoffs in 1979, 83, 84, 86, 87, and 90 during his run. Madrid went one-and-done in those early years, but was convinced Muro would be a part of a champion one day. The Conquistadors signed him to a four-year extension worth $3,550,000 after the 1983 season, then another five-year, $5,800,000 extension just before the 1987 season.

Madrid made it to the Southern Conference Final in 1986, but lost to the Musketeers. In 1987, the Conquistadors got over the hump and won their first European Championship since their 1950s dynasty. Muro had a great 1987 postseason, winning conference finals MVP with a 2.33 ERA and three complete game victories in the run. The Conquistadors missed the playoffs the next two years, but won it all in 1990. For his playoff career, Muro had a 3.58 ERA over 118 innings, 5-9 record, 129 strikeouts, 108 ERA+, and 2.0 WAR.

1990 would ultimately be his last good year. His production had dropped some at that point, but he was still a fine starter. Despite not having any major injuries, Muro’s velocity began to drop significantly as 1990 winded down. By 1991, he was merely in the 94-96 mph range and his once untouchable fastball became quite hittable. Muro was moved out of the rotation after posting middling numbers. He opted for retirement after the 1991 season at age 36. Madird would immediately retire his #19 uniform.

Muro’s career had a 230-130 record, 2.88 ERA, 3423.1 innings, 4375 strikeouts, 897 walks, 295/427 quality starts, 110 complete games, a .209 batting average against him, 74 FIP-, and 89.7 WAR. At induction, he was fourth all-time in strikeouts and still sits sixth as of 2037. He was also ninth in pitching WAR at induction and sits 15^th in 2037. Muro had an excellent career and played a big role in returning Madrid to relevance in the 1980s. He was an easy pick for the voters, getting 97.6% on his debut.

Charles-Olivier Mallen – First Base – Paris Poodles – 71.3% Second Ballot

Charles-Olivier Mallen was a 6’3’’, 200 pound switch-hitting first baseman from Saint-Jean-le-Branc, a commune of around 8,000 people in central France. Mallen was a solid contact hitter with sturdy power, averaging around 35-40 home runs and around 30 doubles/triples per year. Despite a good average, his ability to earn walks and avoid strikeouts was both subpar. Mallen had below average speed but was fairly intelligent on the basepaths. He was a career first baseman and a very good defender, winning four Gold Gloves in his career. Mallen was an ironman type, starting 130+ games each year of his pro career. He was very dedicated, hardworking, and loyal; making him one of the most beloved figures in French baseball.

Mallen quickly became viewed as a great prospect coming out of France ahead of the 1975 EBF Draft. Paris picked up its countryman with the 23^rd overall pick and he’d spend nearly his entire professional career in the capital. Mallen also played for the national team in ten editions of the World Baseball Championship from 1977-86 and 1990. In 80 games and 63 WBC starts, he had 61 hits, 32 runs, 23 home runs, 48 RBI, a .230/.269/.509 slash, and 1.6 WAR.

Paris made Mallen a full-time starter immediately and he posted 5.4 WAR in his rookie season, taking second in 1976 Rookie of the Year voting. The Poodles were a wild card that year as well, although they were ousted in the first round. Despite Mallen’s success, Paris wouldn’t make it back to the playoffs for nearly a decade. But in his second year, he emerged as an elite player with career bests in runs (110), hits (202), home runs (46), RBI (118), batting average (.316), and WAR (9.2). This was the closest Mallen got to the MVP, taking second in the voting. He did secure his first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger.

Mallen remained a solid and sturdy player, but he wasn’t a league leader or someone considered the absolute best of the best. He only won Silver Slugger once more in 1983 and had his four Gold Gloves in 1977, 78, 79, and 81. Mallen very much endeared himself to Parisian fans with his #4 jersey a regular sight. The Poodles would retire that uniform at the end of his career. Mallen would get his first contract extension after the 1979 season at five years, $2,330,000 dollars.

His second extension came after the 1984 campaign worth $4,700,000 over five years. 1984 saw the Poodles earn a wild card, but again they were eliminated in the first round. Paris had been generally in the mid-tier during Mallen’s tenure. They started to struggle towards the end of the 1980s, bottoming out at 60-102 in 1989. This was the final year of Mallen’s contract and the Poodles decided to look for trade value. They moved him and $2,060,000 to Dublin in exchange for three prospects.

In his short tenure in Ireland, Mallen earned his 2500^th career hit. The Dinos made it to the Northern Conference Championship and Mallen had a solid postseason, but they lost to conference powerhouse Amsterdam. Mallen had 11 hits, 6 runs, 4 home runs, and 11 RBI over 8 playoff starts. He was a free agent for the first time at age 37 before the 1990 season. The love was still strong between Mallen and Paris, and he signed a one year, $1,240,000 deal to return to the Poodles.

Mallen picked up his 500^th career home run and 1500^th RBI this season. His numbers were a bit down from previous highs, but still starter quality. However, Mallen suffered his first major injury with a fractured knee in September 1990. Paris didn’t re-sign him and Mallen was a free agent for 1991. He hoped to still play, but teams weren’t willing to pay for an aged slugger coming off a major injury. Mallen officially retired that winter at age 39.

Mallen’s stats had 2704 hits, 1312 runs, 395 doubles, 529 home runs, 1555 RBI, a .297/.323/.535 slash, 143 wRC+, and 76.0 WAR. He had a very steady career and was very well liked, but his tallies were still on the lower end of the Hall of Fame leaderboard. Mallen didn’t have the black ink many voters expected and his Paris teams weren’t contenders. His popularity and consistency were definite plusses. Mallen just missed the cut at 64.4% for his debut ballot, then got the bump to 71.3% on try #2 to secure his spot in the 1997 class.

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-16-2024, 03:32 PM

Eurasian Professional Baseball inducted two into the Hall of Fame for 1997 with both guys getting in easily. LF/1B Darian Tasos got 99.7% and SP Azer Sattrali received 98.5% in their debuts, easily making the cut. A third debutant came close to joining them, but 1B Vyacheslav Afonin’s 64.4% fell just short of the 66% requirement. Also above 50% was 1B Bartlomiej Tarka at 59.8% for his eighth ballot and SP Maxim Aivazyan at 52.0% on his second go.

One player was dropped after ten ballots in relief pitcher Iosif Kusainov, who had a 19-year career between 12 teams. He debuted at 45.8% in 1988, but was down to merely 6.2% at the end. Kusainov had 314 saves and 410 shutdowns, a 2.42 ERA, 1158.2 innings, 1308 strikeouts, 83 FIP-, and 19.7 WAR. Impressive longevity for a reliever, but he had no major awards and wasn’t nearly as dominant as other contemporary relievers.

Darian “Horseface” Tasos – Left Field/First Base – St. Petersburg Polar Bears – 99.7% First Ballot

Darian Tasos was a 6’0’’, 200 pound right-handed hitter from Bulqize, Albania; a small municipality of 32,000 people. Tasos was one of the top bats of his era with great power plus respectable contact ability. He had a solid eye for drawing walks, but did strike out a bit more than average. Tasos regularly averaged around 40 home runs per year while adding about 30 doubles/triples per 162 games. He had decent speed and base stealing ability, especially for a slugger. Tasos split his career nearly evenly between left field and first base. Defensively at both spots, he graded out as delightfully average. He was durable and reliable, becoming a fan favorite throughout his two decades of pro ball.

Despite being from humble beginnings in Albania, Tasos was able to get looks at various camps across the Eastern Bloc as a teenager. In May 1967, it would be St. Petersburg that noticed him, signing Tasos to a developmental contract at age 16. He made his official debut at age 20 in 1971 with a mere 24 plate appearances that year. Tasos also had three at bats in the postseason as the Polar Bears had a surprise playoff run as a wild card, winning the 1971 EPB Championship.

Tasos would be a full-time starter the next year and held a starting job for the next 19 years. Much to his chagrin, teammates and fans began calling him “horseface.” He eventually learned to take that moniker in stride. During his career in St. Petersburg, Tasos led the European League in runs scored thrice, hits once, home runs once, RBI thrice, total bases twice, OBP thrice, slugging thrice, OPS five times, and WAR three times. His biggest numbers would come in his 30s, but Tasos did start to win accolades in his 20s as well. 1973 was his first of six Silver Sluggers with the others in 1975, 76, 77, 82, and 84.

The Polar Bears missed the playoffs in 1972 and 1973, but finished out the 1970s with six consecutive playoff berths from 1974-79. St. Petersburg won the European League pennant in 1976 and 1977, taking the EPB title as well in 1977. Tasos was a big time player in the two pennant runs, posting 35 hits, 19 runs, 11 home runs, and 25 RBI between those 30 starts. In 54 playoff games for his career, Tasos had 56 hits, 26 runs, 5 doubles 16 home runs, 34 RBI, a .276/.310/.557 slash and 2.3 WAR.

In the fall of 1975, St. Petersburg locked up Tasos to an eight-year, $1,876,000 extension. He took second in MVP voting in 1975 and 1976. In 1977, Tasos won MVP for the first time, leading the EL in WAR at 8.9 and OPS at .998. 1978 would be his first setback in his career, suffering a torn ACL late in spring training. This knocked Tasos out 9-10 months, missing the entire 1978 season.

Tasos returned in 1979 and still looked good, taking third in 1979 MVP voting. But he wasn’t quite as dominant in the following two years. The Polar Bears retreated towards the middle of the standings in the 1980s. They were a wild card in 1983 and 1984, but were ousted in the first round both years. Tasos would see a resurgence though with the 1982 season, posting then-career bests in runs, home runs, RBI, OPS, and WAR. This earned him his second MVP and a payday. Early in the 1983 season, St. Petersburg signed Tasos to a five-year, $2,210,000 extension.

Tasos won his third MVP in 1984 with his best season and an all-timer. He posted 13.4 WAR, which set an EPB record by a position player that would only get topped once in the following 50 years. Tasos had career and European League bests in runs (107), hits (200), homers (58), RBI (125), total bases (419), OPS (1.098), and wRC+ (262). He also had a career best .340 average, falling 13 points short of a Triple Crown season.

The final three years of his run with the Polar Bears didn’t reach that obscene level, but were still very solid. With St. Petersburg, Tasos had 2278 hits, 1242 runs, 300 doubles, 127 triples, 570 home runs, 1409 RBI, a 281/.343/.560 slash, and 109.3 WAR. His #8 uniform would later get retired and he’d remain a beloved franchise icon for decades to come. But all good things do come to an end.

Tasos was 37 years old entering the final year of his contract in 1988. Hoping they could reload after being middling for a few years, St. Petersburg traded Tasos to Tashkent for three prospects. He picked up his 600^th home run in his first year with the Tomcats and posted similar production to what he had been doing. Tashkent decided to give Tasos a two-year contract extension worth $1,260,000.

He had a respectable 1989, but his tallies dropped a bit in 1990 while also missing a month to a strained oblique. The Tomcats extended Tasos again, but he would struggle in 1991 and eventually be used in a platoon role. Tasos opted to retire that winter at age 41. With Tashkent, he had 440 hits, 248 runs, 113 home runs, 251 RBI, a .240/.308/.467 slash, and 13.4 WAR.

Tasos’ final stats were 2718 hits, 1490 runs, 350 doubles, 141 triples, 683 home runs, 1660 RBI, a .273/.337/.543 slash, 174 wRC+, and 122.7 WAR. At induction, he was the EPB WARlord among position players and fourth all-time in home runs, third in RBI, fifth in hits, second in runs scored. Tasos still has the top WAR spot and remains in the top ten as of 2037 in all of the above mentioned stats minus hits. Few batters in EPB history can claim to be Tasos’ equal or superior, thus the obvious 99.7% first ballot induction into the 1997 Hall of Fame class.

Azer Sattarli – Starting Pitcher – Ulaanbaatar Boars – 98.5% First Ballot

Azer Sattarli was a 5’11’’, 200 pound right-handed pitcher from Bratsk, Russia, city of 220,000 people in the Irkutsk Oblast. Sattarli was known for having very good stuff with above average control and okay movement. His fastball hit the 97-99 mph range, while he could fool you with four other potent pitches; slider, forkball, sinker, and knuckle curve. Sattarli’s forkball was the most effective of the five, but none of his pitches were poor. His stamina was quite solid and he was known as a very durable and reliable arm.

It wasn’t easy as a prospect in Siberia to earn a ton of attention as a teenager. However, a scout from nearby Mongolia caught wind of Sattarli and signed him to a developmental deal in Ulaanbaatar in 1070. He made his debut for the Boars with four relief appearances in 1975 at age 21. Sattarli was a full-time starter the next year and looked promising. Sattarli had five relief appearances in the 1976 postseason as Ulaanbaatar won the Soviet Series over St. Petersburg. He also took second in Rookie of the Year voting, although he’d be reduced to an emergency starter type role in the following two seasons.

1979 saw Sattarli back in the rotation full-time, a spot he’d hold for the rest of his Ulaanbaatar tenure. He became the ace at this point and became a master at mixing his pitches, leading the Asian League in strikeouts four times from 1980-84. He also led in ERA in 1983, WHIP thrice, and WAR in 1983 and 1984. Sattarli was second in Pitcher of the Year voting in 1981, then won the award three straight seasons from 1982-84. He was also third in MVP voting in both 1983 and 1984. One highlight was a no-hitter with 15 strikeouts and one walk against Krasnoyarsk on 5/18/83. Later that year, Sattarli had a 41 inning scoreless streak from late July to mid August.

Ulaanbaatar made it back to the playoffs in 1982 and 1984, falling in the ALCS in the latter. The Boars signed him to a five-year, $3,450,000 extension during spring training 1985, seemingly locking Sattarli down for the long haul. The Boars surprised many though when they traded him near the deadline to Kyiv for four prospects. It frustrated many fans in Mongolia, as the Boars remained middling after he left and bottomed out in the 1990s. The franchise would later patch things up and retire his #31 uniform at the end of his career. For his Ulaanbaatar run, Sattarli had a 139-97 record, 2.14 ERA, 2305.1 innings, 2937 strikeouts, and 62.7 WAR.

The Kings were in an arms race against their European League foes and hoped Sattarli could give them the edge. Although not an award winner or league leader with Kyiv, Sattarli was a solid veteran arm. He posted a 3.69 ERA and 6-3 record over 90.1 playoff innings with the Kings, striking out 103. Sattarli earned two championship rings as Kyiv won it all in 1986 and 1987.

Sattarli started to fade as his contract ran out and was only used as a part-time starter in 1990. For his Kyiv tenure, he had a 72-63 record, 2.60 ERA, 1315 innings, 1595 strikeouts, 29.3 WAR. A free agent for the first time at age 37, he signed a one-year deal with Dushanbe. He provided a lot of innings in his one year with the Dynamo, but his production was average at best. Sattarli decided to retire after the 1991 campaign at age 38.

For his career, Sattarli had a 228-172 record, 2.37 ERA, 3907.1 innings, 4817 strikeouts, 632 walks, 345/452 quality starts, 234 complete games, 123 ERA+, 76 FIP-, and 97.7 WAR. He was seventh all-time in strikeouts at induction and still sits tenth as of 2037. Sattarli doesn’t sit at the tip-top of the leaderboard for EPB Hall of Fame pitchers, but he’s definitely not at the bottom either. The voters didn’t hesitate to put him in at 98.5% as the second member of the 1997 class.

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-17-2024, 04:22 AM

Pitcher Thomas Harrison was the lone inductee for 1997 into the Oceania Baseball Association Hall of Fame at a strong 98.1%. Two others crossed the midway mark, but fell short of the 66% requirement. RF Dede Hayati had 58.6% on his sixth ballot and closer Lorenzo Amaru got 52.1% for his second attempt.

Thomas Harrison – Starting Pitcher – Guam Golden Eagles – 98.1% First Ballot

Thomas Harrison was a 6’0’’, 190 pound right-handed pitcher from Newcastle, Australia; a city of roughly 350,000 inhabitants in the Sydney Basin. Harrison was a well-rounded pitcher with solid stuff, movement, and control. His fastball hit around 97-99 mph and was his strongest pitch. Harrison mixed in a sinker and changeup to fool hitters. Compared to his contemporaries, his stamina was low and he didn’t toss many complete games.

Harrison was noticed as a teenage amateur by a scout for Guam, who signed him to a developmental deal in spring 1974. He officially debuted with one relief appearance in 1977 at age 21. Harrison was moved into the rotation full-time in 1978, although a strained oblique cost him two months. Still, he had enough innings to qualify for an ERA title at 1.58. This season, Guam fell two games short of the Pacific League title behind Port Moresby.

The next two seasons, the Golden Eagles won the Oceania Championship. They won 112-50 games in 1979, setting the top mark at the time for wins in a season. Harrison was second in Pitcher of the Year voting in 1979, then won the award in 1980. He missed the 1979 finals to a sprained elbow, but was a big part of their 1980 finals run, tossing 16 scoreless innings in his two starts. Guam remained solid for the next few years, but wouldn’t make it back to the final in the 1980s as Honolulu’s dynasty dawned. Harrison also started pitching for Australia in the World Baseball Championship, playing eight WBCs from 1981-91. He was mostly a reliever in the WBC, posting a 1.93 ERA over 56 innings with 87 strikeouts and 2.2 WAR.

Harrison signed a six-year, $3,016,000 extension in the spring of 1983. That season, he picked up his second Pitcher of the Year award, leading in ERA, wins, and WAR. Harrison led in wins thrice, WHIP thrice, K/BB twice, quality starts four times, and FIP- three times. He stayed solid over these next few years, although elbow and forearm inflammation cost Harrison a number of starts in this stretch. Guam finally bottomed out in 1987 at 64-98, needing to rebuild after having posted nine straight winning seasons. However, the Golden Eagles decided to keep Harrison around, adding a three-year extension for the 33-year old just before the 1989 season.

Sadly, 1988 was Harrison’s final full season. Elbow issues cost him much of early 1988, then he suffered a torn UCL in August 1989 to put him out 11 months. Harrison made it back for a few starts in late 1990, although his production was average at best. He looked good to start 1991, but had another torn UCL that ultimately ended his career. The Golden Eagles won the PL pennant in 1991, but Harrison was watching in a sling. He retired that winter at age 35. Guam retired his #12 uniform soon after.

Harrison’s stats saw a 203-108 record, 2.22 ERA, 3067 innings, 3030 strikeouts, 520 walks, 346/431 quality starts, 82 FIP-, 132 ERA+, and 67.3 WAR. He was the seventh pitcher to reach 200 wins and the 11^th to 3000 strikeouts. Harrison’s overall accumulations are a bit low compared to some others due to his injury issues, but his ERA and rate stats hold up very well against the best of the best. He was a big reason Guam was a consistent contender in the 1980s. The voters recognized this and gave Harrison the slam dunk first ballot induction at 98.1% as the lone member of OBA’s 1997 class.

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-17-2024, 10:07 AM

Two pitchers made it into the Austronesia Professional Baseball Hall of Fame for the 1997 class. Both guys were first ballot selections, but both only narrowly breached the 66% requirement for induction. Ed Arua had 71.3% and Eka Mattalatta received 67.9%. Also above 50% on their debuts were three closers; Ting-Wei Ping (57.4%), Hong Quinonez (55.8%), and Afriza Bachdim (55.1%).

Dropped after ten ballots was designated hitter Po-Yu Shao, who played 14 years with his hometown Kaohsiung. Shao came very close, reaching 60.7% in his debut and in 1995. He ended at 53.2% and had a low at 45.9%. Shao won six Silver Sluggers, was finals MVP twice, and won four titles with the Steelheads. Shao led in home runs seven times and posted 1556 hits, 1015 runs, 592 home runs, 1160 RBI, 2304 strikeouts, a .218/.297/.497 slash, 154 wRC+, and 61.8 WAR. He was very much a “three true outcomes” type and there were enough voters who dinged Shao for being a DH and for his deficiencies. Still, it is surprising someone with his power was left out, especially considering his prominent role in Kaohsiung’s dynasty.

Also dropped from the ballot was closer Lee Tira, who bounced around between APB, MLB, and EPB in his career. In APB, he had 315 saves, 1.69 ERA, 859.1 innings, 1128 strikeouts, and 29.1 WAR. His stats were comparable to some others who got into the APB Hall, but Tira didn’t have any Reliever of the Year awards. He came close with 57.3% in his debut, but eventually ended at 37.0%.

Ed Arua – Starting Pitcher – Batam Blue Raiders – 71.3% First Ballot

Ed Arua was a 5’9’’, 195 pound right-handed pitcher from Surabaya, Indonesia. He was known for having very good control with solid movement and respectable stuff. His 94-96 mph cut fastball was his top pitch, although Arua also fooled batters with a strong screwball, good sinker, and okay changeup. He had solid stamina and was considered great at holding runners and a good defensive pitcher. However, Arua was very outspoken and controversial, known for his many inflammatory hot takes. Even with his talent, a lot of teammates and fans didn’t think Arua was worth the hassle.

Arua’s potential was evident as a teenager with Batam signing him in late 1972 as an amateur free agent. He spent just over five years in their developmental system, making his debut in 1978 at age 21 with 59 innings. The plan was to put Arua full-time in the 1979 rotation, but he suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in May. Some worried that this could derail his career, but Arua returned from the injury as a legitimate ace.

In 1981, Arua took second in Pitcher of the Year by leading in wins, ERA, and WHIP. He never won the top award, but placed third in 1983, second again in 1984, and third in 1985. Arua led in wins twice and ERA twice and posted six straight seasons worth 6.5+ WAR. He also pitched for the Indonesian national team from 1981-88 in the World Baseball Championship, posting a 13-4 record, 3.01 ERA, 140.2 innings, 155 strikeouts, and 2.7 WAR.

On April 1, 1982, Arua tossed a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts and one walk against Pekanbaru. He one-upped himself on September 4, tossing a perfect game against his hometown team Surabaya with 14 strikeouts. Despite being a strong ace, Batam was middling in his run. Arua only had one playoff start in his career, getting rocked in 1985 with six earned runs against him in 2.2 innings. In total with Batam, Arua had a 112-81 record, 1.80 ERA, 1970.2 innings, 2166 strikeouts, and 52.1 WAR.

The Blue Raiders weren’t sure what to do with Arua. His talent was undeniable, but his outspoken nature was starting to cause trouble. In March 1986, Batam committed long-term to the 29-year old with a seven-year, $6,300,000 extension. The Blue Raiders dropped to 75-87 and started to have buyers’ remorse. They ultimately decided to go with a full rebuild, which did pay off as they would contend in the 1990s. Batam traded Arua after the 1986 season to Tainan for five prospects.

Arua was never nearly as dominant in his time with the Titans. He was average to below average in his first three seasons, allowing the most home runs in 1989. He flat out stunk in 1990 and was moved out of the rotation full-time. In early 1991, shoulder inflammation required surgery and effectively ended Arua’s career at age 35. With Tainan, he had a 46-57 record, 3.18 ERA, 894.2 innings, 830 strikeouts, 166 walks, and 8.7 WAR.

For his career, Arua had a 158-138 record, 2.23 ERA, 2865.1 innings, 2996 strikeouts, 438 walks, 266/346 quality starts, 126 complete games, 115 ERA+, 82 FIP-, and 60.8 WAR. Batam would later retire his #20 uniform and he was a legit ace during his Blue Raiders run. Still, Arua’s tallies are among the lower end of the APB Hall of Fame leaderboard, plus he lacked awards or playoff accolades. He definitely was a borderline choice, but the 1997 ballot didn’t have any no-doubt guys or strong returners. There were enough voters sold and those who didn’t want to leave the ballot blank, giving Arua the first ballot induction at 71.3%.

Eka Mattalatta - Starting Pitcher – Medan Marlins – 67.9% First Ballot

Eka Mattalatta was a 5’11’’, 195 pound right-handed pitcher from from Surabaya, Indonesia. Mattalatta wasn’t dominant at any facet, but gave you above average control and movement with decent stuff. He had 94-96 mph velocity on his fastball, but countered it with very good changeup. Mattalatta also had a forkball and slider in his arsenal. He had great stamina and was considered a good defensive pitcher that knew how to hold runners. Mattalatta also was a good hitter by pitcher standards with a .194/.208/.235 slash and 2.3 WAR in his career, winning Silver Sluggers in 1981, 82, and 83. He would clash with teammates though, considered thick-headed and greedy.

Mattalatta emerged as a top-end Indonesian prospect coming out of the amateur ranks. With the third pick of the 1975 APB Draft, Medan selected Mattalatta. They didn’t use him at all in 1976 though and only gave him four relief appearances in 1977. Mattalatta became a full-time starter from 1978 onward. His debut in the rotation was strong, leading the Sundaland Association in wins and quality starts. Mattalatta won Rookie of the Year and was second in Pitcher of the Year voting.

Mattalatta was third in Pitcher of the Year voting in 1980, but wouldn’t ever win the award or be a finalist again. He had steady production with the Marlins, but wasn’t a league leader. It was Mattalatta’s playoff success that earned him acclaim. Medan made the playoffs four times from 1980-84 and won the Sundaland Association pennant in 1981, 83, and 84. The Marlins were unable to win the APB title, but it certainly wasn’t Mattalatta’s fault. In nine playoff starts for Medan, he had a 1.32 ERA, 75 innings, 57 strikeouts, and 2.0 WAR. That effort was a big reason his #48 would be retired eventually by the Marlins.

For his Medan tenure, Mattalatta had a 119-98 record, 2.14 ERA, 2138 innings, 1984 strikeouts, 401 walks, 212/254 quality starts, and 38.1 WAR. He became a free agent after the 1985 season at age 32 and inked a six-year, $5,170,000 contract with Semarang. Mattalatta’s stats declined a bit with age, posting very average stats with the Sliders.

They would win two pennants in his tenure, 1988 and 1990. Mattalatta missed the 1988 postseason to injury, but was there to earn his first APB ring in 1990 as Semarang beat Cebu in the final. For his Sliders tenure, Mattalatta had a 65-49 record, 2.36 ERA, 1100.2 innings, 1013 strikeouts, and 7.2 WAR. Semarang would trade him in 1991, oddly enough to the team they beat in the championship. The Sliders sent him and 1B Dan Ong to Cebu for 3B Raymond Jo.

Mattalatta pitched one year with the Crows and posted 5.2 WAR, his highest since his Medan days. The Crows won the Taiwan-Philippine Association title again and bested Batam for the APB title. Mattalatta posted a 2.60 ERA over 27.2 playoff innings in the run, earning his second APB ring and sixth Association pennant. Mattalatta decided to retire with the title in winter 1991 at age 37.

Mattalatta had a 196-158 record, 2.25 ERA, 3490.2 innings, 3234 strikeouts, 632 walks, 329/412 quality starts, 190 complete games, 109 ERA+, FIP- of 96, and 50.7 WAR. His rate stats and WAR were very much among the weakest of those who made the APB Hall of Fame. Mattalatta’s playoff successes though won over many voters that were skeptical of his resume. He had more longevity than his HOF classmate Ed Arua, but was less efficient. A case could be made that the 1997 was an all-time weak class for the APB HOF, but APB voters a very pitcher-centric and were loath to leave a blank ballot. Mattalatta just narrowly crossed the 66% requirement at 67.9% to earn a first ballot induction.

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-17-2024, 04:20 PM

Center fielder Libo Li received an induction into the Chinese League Baseball as the lone member of the 1997 Hall of Fame class. Li was a first ballot selection at 83.7%. The next closest to making it was closer Huyi Gao at 59.3% for his fourth try. Two others were above 50% with RF Zhengyu Peng at 54.8% and SP Xiabin Chen at 52.1%; both on their first ballots. No players were dumped from the ballot after ten failed tries.

Libo Li – Center Field – Qingdao Devils – 83.7% First Ballot

Libo Li was a 6’2’’, 200 pound right-handed center fielder from Huaibei, a city of just under two million people in east China’s Anhui province. Li was a solid contact hitter with a terrific pop in his bat. He wasn’t a prolific home run hitter, but he added around 25 per 162 games. Li’s ability to find the gap made him very dangerous, posting upwards of 40-50 doubles/triples in his best seasons. He had a respectable eye for drawing walks with an average strikeout rate.

Li was also incredibly fast and was a terrific baserunner, adept at steals and stretching out for extra bags. He was a career center fielder and an excellent defender, winning six Gold Gloves in his career. Despite the physical demands of the position, Li rarely missed time to injury in his prime seasons. Although he started to break down some as he aged, Li had the very rare distinction as someone still capable of playing center effectively into his 40s. Li also was occasionally used as a pitcher, although he wasn’t a true two-way guy. He had a fastball and circle change combo, posting a 2.82 career ERA with 16 saves over 76.2 innings.

Li seemed to have all of the tools, making him the top prospect ahead of the 1974 Chinese League Baseball Draft. Qingdao had the first overall pick and used it on Li. He was a full-time starter immediately and posted an impressive 8.6 WAR in his debut, taking the 1975 Rookie of the Year. That year, he also became the third CLB hitter to have a six hit game. His great defense gave him impressive WAR totals with 11 consecutive seasons worth 8+ WAR to start his career. Li’s Gold Gloves were six straight from 1976-81.

Li very quickly added offensive excellence to his defensive greatness. He would lead the Northern League in runs scored twice, triples five times, home runs once, RBI twice, total bases twice, stolen bases twice, batting average once, OBP twice, slugging twice, OPS twice, wRC+ twice, and WAR five times. Li won eight Silver Sluggers (1977, 79-85).

These dynamic performances made him one of the most beloved figures in Chinese baseball. He also was a regular for the Chinese team in the World Baseball Championship. Li played in 18 editions of the event from 1977-96, playing 248 games and starting 247. He had 208 hits, 158 runs, 32 doubles, 13 triples, 53 home runs, 124 RBI, a .237/.331/.484 slash, 133 wRC+, and 8.5 WAR. Li was second in WBC MVP voting in 1979, helping China take the World Championship. He got a second world title with the 1994 team.

Li was a regular MVP finalist with Qingdao. He won the award in 1980 and 1985. Li took second in 1977, third in 1978, third in 1982, second in 1983, and third in 1984. In 1980, his staggering 15.8 WAR set the CLB record for the most in a season, a mark that still stands as the all-time best in 2037. Li scored 121 runs, which held as the CLB record until 2029. He also posted career bests in home runs (41), total bases (386), average (.311), OPS (1.020), and wRC+ (244).

He was beloved by Qingdao, but he couldn’t turn the Devils into a winner. 1982 would be their only playoff appearance in his entire run, falling in the semifinal to Hong Kong. Qingdao was usually just above .500 during Li’s run, but couldn’t get over the hump. Still, Devils crowds were full of #20 jerseys. They would eventually retire the #20 once Li’s impressive run was done. In the summer of 1982, he would sign a seven-year, $4,830,000 extension to stay in Qingdao.

In 1986, things would trend downward for the Devils. They finished at 66-96, their worst season in a decade. Li missed the second half of the season with a broken bone in his elbow. It didn’t look like Qingdao would be competitive in the coming years. Li disappointed many fans by opting out of the remainder of his contract, becoming a free agent for the first time at age 35. This would also end his time playing in China, although he still remained nationally popular as he left for the United States.

With Qingdao, Li had 1841 hits, 1002 runs, 239 doubles, 270 triples, 248 home runs, 841 RBI, 771 stolen bases, a .278/.334/.509 slash, 180 wRC+, and 130.6 WAR. As of 2037, he’s still fifth all-time in batting WAR. He was the all-time triples leader until 2035. Had his last decade of stats been still in China, Li might have totals atop the leaderboards to put him in the GOAT conversations. It was still more than enough to get him the first ballot induction, although some voters were against him for leaving and for his lack of playoff success with Qingdao. Li ended up at 83.7% as the lone inductee into CLB’s Hall of Fame in 1997.

He had another decade of baseball ahead, signing a four-year, $6,780,000 with MLB’s San Francisco. Li never was an award winner in MLB, but he still provided strong value, especially with his great defense. With the Gold Rush, he had 15.8 WAR, 441 hits, 251 runs, and a .270/.329/.497 slash. He struggled a bit offensively in 1989 with the Gold Rush and the team traded him early in the 1990 season. Li was traded to Tampa for two pitchers. His Thunderbirds season was plagued by injury, putting his future in doubt after the campaign. Li was a free agent at age 39, signing a one-year deal with Portland.

Li spend three season ultimately with the Pacifics, posting 6.3 WAR, 294 hits, 156 runs, 53 home runs, and a .233/.294/.418 average. In 1994, the now 42-year old signed with Washington and saw a resurgence, as he had been subpar offensively in the prior couple seasons. Li posted 5.1 WAR and 33 home runs in his one year with the Admirals. Toronto signed him for 1995 and he looked decent, but missed time to injury. Li ended up in Tampa in 1996 and finally looked cooked that season. He retired that winter at age 44.

For his MLB career, Li had 1077 hits, 610 runs, 149 doubles, 58 triples, 204 home runs, 593 RBI, a .248/.309/.451 slash, 111 wRC+, and 29.7 WAR. A pretty solid decade for a guy on the back end of his career. He didn’t have any better luck being on playoff teams in MLB, only seeing two playoff games in 1987 with San Francisco. For his entire pro run, Li had 2918 hits, 1612 runs, 388 doubles, 328 triples, 452 home runs, 1434 RBI, 994 stolen bases, a .266/.324/.486 slash, 152 wRC+, and 160.3 WAR. Li was one of the finest center fielders of his era and one of the absolute best players of any era to come out of China.

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-18-2024, 03:28 AM

For the first time since 1989, West African Baseball didn’t add a player into its Hall of Fame. Two debuting players led the 1997 ballot, but fell short of the 66% requirement. SP Moussa Sidi ended up with 57.4% and SP Issaka Camara had 56.6%. The top returner was CF Stephen Tshukudu at 56.6% on his eight try. That was the highest mark yet for Tshukudu, whose previous best was 52.4% in 1994. No one else was above 50% and no players were dropped after making it on ten ballots.

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-18-2024, 10:54 AM

For the second time in three years, no players made the cut into the South Asia Baseball Hall of Fame. Only one player was above 50% in 1997 as SP Ramesh Kohinoor received 59.5% on his fourth try. Interestingly enough, no new players qualified for the ballot in 1997. Closer Jason Mayekar was the only other player above ¼, getting 49.0% for his sixth ballot.

The Asian Baseball Federation seemed no closer to getting its first Hall of Famer. The top vote getter in 1997 was SP Abbas Nadim at only 24.1% for his fourth try. The best debut was SP Ali Dahir at a mere 13.5%

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-18-2024, 05:14 PM

The 1997 World Baseball Championship was the 51^st edition of the event and was hosted in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Division 1 had Colombia and Costa Rica tie for first at 7-2, while Burkina Faso was close behind at 6-3. The tiebreaker went to the Colombians, denying the Costa Ricans what would’ve been their first division title. It was the 14^th time Colombia advanced, but the first since 1993. The defending world champion United States crushed the Division 2 field and were the only 9-0 in divisional play. The Americans advanced for the 43^rd time in WBC history.

Turkey claimed Division 3 at 7-2, beating out Australia and Denmark. This was only the second division title for the Turks, who were runner-up in 1985. China, who had been in the championship in the prior four seasons, limped to 4-5. D4 had Peru and Japan tied for first at 7-2, while Iran and the Dominican Republic were both 6-3. The Peruvians had the head-to-head tiebreaker to win their third-ever division title with the other two coming way back in the 1960s. Division 5 saw Panama prevail at 7-2, edging four 6-3 teams (Canada, Haiti, India, Portugal). This was the third time advancing for the Panamanians (1992, 1965).

Division 6 went to 7-2 England, besting 6-3 efforts by Argentina, Brazil, and the Czech Republic. This was the fourth division title for the English, who last pulled it off in 1975. Division 7 was claimed by Mexico at 8-1, who topped Bolivia and the Netherlands by two games. The Mexicans advanced for the 21^st time. D8 featured 7-2 Indonesia outlasting 6-3 runs by Germany, Greece, and Nigeria. The Indonesians impressively earned a fifth consecutive division title, the longest active streak. It was their 14^th division title overall.

Indonesia took top marks in Round Robin Group A at 5-1, becoming a semifinalist for the eighth time and first time since 1993. The United States also advanced at 4-2, while Peru was 2-4 and England finished 1-5. The Americans earned a 37^th final four berth. Group B saw Mexico on top at 5-1, moving forward along with 3-3 Colombia. Panama and Turkey both ended at 2-4. It was the 11^th final four appearance for the Mexicans, although they hadn’t gotten that far since 1981. It was the eighth semifinal for the Colombians, whose own drought dated to 1982.

In the semifinals, Indonesia downed Colombia 3-1 and the United States swept Mexico 3-0. This earned the Indonesians only their second-ever championship appearance, as they fell to Canada in the 1986 final. The Americans earned a 33^rd finals berth. The Colombians were officially third, matching their best effort. Six times, Colombia has ended up as the third place team. Mexico placed fourth for the second time.

The 51^st World Championship was unique as it was the first sweep since 1974. The United States rolled over Indonesia to earn back-to-back world titles, making the Americans 29-4 all-time in the final. Indonesia’s Nerius Senaen would earn tournament MVP despite the runner-up finish. The 31-year old three-time MVP left fielder with Batam had 32 hits, 18 runs, 7 doubles, 10 home runs, 19 RBI, a .372/.460/.802 slash, and 2.4 WAR over 23 WBC starts. Dominican pitcher Marco Del Valle was named Top Pitcher. The 27-year old closer tossed 10 scoreless innings with four hits and three walks allowed and 14 strikeouts.

Other notes: Burkina Faso’s Paul Zorome tossed the fifth perfect game in WBC history, striking out 17 against Nicaragua. That set a record for most Ks in a perfecto, although that would be beaten when the next one occurred in 2004. Bangladesh’s Budail bin Hafiz posted the WBC’s first-ever six hit game, going 6-7 against the Philippines. As of 2037, no other player has gotten six hits in a WBC game. Below are the updated all-time tournament stats for the WBC. Mexico became the fifth nation to reach 100 points.

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-19-2024, 03:50 AM

The Southern Conference saw defending AAB champion Cape Town and Dar es Salaam finish tied for first at 95-67. The tiebreaker gave the Sabercats the top seed with their first-ever winning season. Dar es Salaam allowed 1132 hits as a pitching staff, which sits third best in conference history as of 2037. The Cowboys earned repeat playoff berths as the wild card. Johannesburg was third at 87-75, eight games back. Luanda, last year’s wild card, dropped to fifth at 80-82.

Southern Conference MVP was Sabercats 1B Boubacar Mavinga. The 30-year old Congolese righty led in hits (163) and total bases (339). He added 51 home runs, 125 RBI, a .281/.362/.584 slash, and 6.0 WAR. Cape Town’s Ahmed Hussen Rooble was the Pitcher of the Year. The 30-year old Somali righty led in wins (20-9), innings (277.2), WHIP (1.02), quality starts (25), FIP- (66), and WAR (8.9). He added 281 strikeouts and 2.85 ERA.

The Central Conference also had two teams well above the rest. Bujumbura took first at 104-58 for their first-ever playoff berth. They were one game ahead of wild card Kinshasa, who is the only team to make playoffs in all three years of AAB. The Sun Cats allowed 1109 hits as a pitching staff, which is still second-best in conference history as of 2037. Defending conference champ Ndjamena was a solid third at 93-69, but still ten games shy of the wild card. No other teams in the conference were above .500.

Bujumbura’s Stijn Steeneveld repeated as Central Conference MVP. The 32-year old Dutch right fielder led in hits (185), RBI (131), total bases (381), and WAR (8.0). He added 56 home runs and a .312 average, finishing second in both stats. His Bighorns teammate Henry Kibirige won Pitcher of the Year in only his second season. The 22-year old Ugandan righty led in wins (23-6), ERA (2.60), innings (266.2), WHIP (0.97), K/BB (4.2), quality starts (26), FIP- (58), and WAR (10.0). Kibirige added 242 strikeouts.

In the Southern Conference Championship, Dar es Salaam knocked out defending champ Cape Town 4-2. The Central Conference Championship had Kinshasa upset Bujumbura 4-1. The Sun Cats were the first team to make the Africa Series twice, having taken runner-up in 1995. The second try was the charm for Kinshasa, who cruised to a 5-0 Africa Series sweep over the Sabercats. CF Bawaka Ngoie was MVP of the Africa Series and the conference finals. The Congolese righty had 11 hits, 13 runs, 9 home runs, and 15 RBI in 9 playoff starts. 9 homers was a playoff record in AAB until passed in 2008.

Other notes: Bujumbura’s Jose Elias became the first hitter in AAB to smack 60 homers in a season. He’d only hold the home run record for one year.

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-19-2024, 10:07 AM

Reigning Arab League Baseball champion Cairo was a solid 95-67, but that wasn’t enough to win a strong Nile Division. At 105-57, Khartoum took the top seed in the Western Conference for their first-ever playoff berth. It was only the second time in ALB’s eight seasons to date that the Pharaohs missed the playoffs. Casablanca, who had won five straight Mediterranean Division titles and three conference pennants in that stretch, dropped to 76-86. Tripoli would roll to the Mediterranean crown at 99-63 to get their second division title along with the 1991 campaign. Jerusalem took the Levant Division at 84-78, beating defending division winner Amman by four games. The Jets snapped a four-year playoff drought.

Western Conference MVP went to Jerusalem 2B Mustafa bin Nazim. In his first full-time season as a starter, the 22-year old Omani switch hitter led in total bases (385), slugging (.675), OPS (1.071), wRC+ (187), and WAR (10.1). He added a .319 average, 50 home runs, and 112 RBI. Khartoum’s Mohamed Wael became a two-time Pitcher of the Year winner. The 26-year old Egyptian lefty led in ERA (2.36), strikeouts (329), WHIP (0.79), K/BB (9.7), FIP- (57), and WAR (8.7). Wael added a 16-9 record over 233 innings.

Tripoli rolled to a 2-0 first round series win over Jerusalem, earning their second-ever Western Conference Final appearance. They proved no match for Khartoum, who became a first-time pennant winner by sweeping the WCF 3-0.

The only repeat playoff team in all of ALB was reigning Eastern Conference champion Mosul. The Muskies earned a third Iraq Division title in a row at 107-55. They led all ALB teams in both runs scored (820) and fewest allowed (557). Doha had a remarkable turnaround to win the Gulf Division at 95-67. The Dash hadn’t won more than 65 games in any season prior and had an ALB-worst 58 wins in 1996. Dubai, who had won three straight Gulf Divisions, was a distant second at 85-77. The Saudi Division needed a tiebreaker game as both Medina and Jeddah tied at 88-74. The Mastodons prevailed for their seventh division title in eight years. Riyadh was a competitive third at 83-79, while last year’s winner Mecca fell to 76-86.

Mosul SS Mohammed Mohamed won a third consecutive Eastern Conference MVP. He didn’t reach his record-setting 16.0 WAR for the prior year, but his 14.5 WAR still stands as the second-best ever in 2037 by a position player. At only 23 years old, the Saudi righty repeated as a Triple Crown winner and won his third Gold Glove at shortstop. Mohamed led the EC in runs (124), hits (198), home runs (51), RBI (141), triple slash (.390/.453/.776), OPS (1.229), and wRC+ (242). His runs, batting average, and OPS set single season ALB records. As of 2037, he’s the only ALB batter to earn multiple Triple Crown seasons.

Muskies ace Rashiq Tariq was also dominant again, taking his third straight Pitcher of the Year and the fourth of his career. The 28-year old Iraqi righty led in wins (27-4), ERA (1.72), innings (293.2), WHIP (0.85), quality starts (29), complete games (15), shutouts (5), FIP- (53), and WAR (11.9). The 27 wins remains the ALB single-season record as of 2037. Tariq also struck out 365, second to a record-setting 410 Ks from Jeddah’s Ahmad Abu Kabeer. Abu Kabeer, a fourth-year Palestinian righty, was the first ALB pitcher to fan 400+ in a season. Only two others would eventually join him with only one passing him in 2013.

Doha downed Medina 2-0 in the first round of the playoffs. The Dash were a major underdog against a loaded Mosul squad for the Eastern Conference Final, as the Muskies looked for a repeat pennant. However, Doha pulled off the stunning upset 3-1 to take the title.

Doha’s improbable run continued into the eighth Arab League Championship. The Dash were the underdog to 105-win Khartoum, but swept the Cottonmouths 4-0. Doha completed one of the finest bounce-back stories in pro baseball history, going from a 58-win stinker the prior year that had never posted a winning season to the champion of the Arab world. 2B Ammar Mohammed was finals MVP as the 28-year old Yemeni had 16 hits, 6 runs, 2 doubles, 2 home runs, and 5 RBI in 10 playoff starts.

Other notes; Doha’s Jassem Al-Yamahi threw ALB’s second perfect game on September 14, striking out 13 against Baghdad. In addition to setting the single-season strikeout record, Jeddah’s Ahmad Abu Kabeer became the first ALB pitcher to strike out 20 in a game. He did it against Doha on May 8 while walking two. Alexandria’s Alfons Brandstetter set a bad record as a pitcher, walking 127 batters. This remains ALB’s all-time worst as of 2037. Casablanca’s Mamadou Bassirou had a 26-game hit streak, which set the ALB record that held until 2002. Abdullah Al-Muhafazat became the first pitcher to 2500 career strikeouts.

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-19-2024, 05:15 PM

Hyderabad had the top record in the Pakistan League for the third successive season and earned a fourth straight playoff berth. The Horned Frogs ran away with first at 104-58 and set a still-standing PL record with 438 stolen bases as a team. The battle for second place was tight as Faisalabad took it at 88-74. It was the second-ever playoff berth for the Fire, who were wild card in 1992. Lahore was four games back while two-time defending PL champ Karachi was six behind.

Peshawar was sixth at 77-85, but they had the Pakistan League MVP in veteran RF Hakim As-Salam. It was the second MVP for the 33-year old, who also won it back in 1992. In his 11^th season with the Predators, As-Salam led in the triple slash (.312/.388/.616), OPS (1.004), wRC+ (241), total bases (343), and hits (174). He added 43 home runs and 8.8 WAR. Hyderabad’s Ahmad Oorzhak repeated as Pitcher of the Year. The 24-year old ace led in wins (17-3), ERA (1.54), and FIP- (59). He added 265 strikeouts and 6.3 WAR over 186.2 innings.

For the first time in franchise history, Bursa had the top record in the Turkish League. The Blue Claws took the top seed in the West Asia Association at 102-60, outracing Istanbul by six games. With their berth, Shiraz is now the only ABF team without a single playoff berth through the first 13 seasons of the Asian Baseball Federation. Adana, the two-time defending ABF champs, took third in the TL at 88-74. The Persian League had Isfahan on top again at 94-68, earning a third consecutive title. Tehran was their closest competitor at a distant ten games back.

West Asia Association MVP went to Tabriz LF Vahid Hadadi, making him a three-time MVP. It was his first MVP since earning back-to-back honors in his first two seasons. Hadadi earned the award despite the Tiger Sharks being an atrocious 58-104 in 1997. The 30-year old Iranian led in slugging (.678), OPS (1.083), and wRC+ (202), while adding a .322 average, 8.1 WAR, 50 home runs, and 99 RBI. Isfahan’s Yazeed Anwari won a third straight Pitcher of the Year and set the ABF wins record at 27-6. As of 2037, no other pitcher has won 27 in ABF. The 24-year old Pakistani righty also led in strikeouts (401), WHIP (0.83), K/BB (16.0), innings (280.1), complete games (22), FIP- (42), and WAR (13.1). Anwari’s WAR total remains the second best season by an ABF pitcher as of 2037. He also had a 2.05 ERA, falling five points shy of a Triple Crown.

After dropping three straight Pakistan League Championship Series appearances, Hyderabad ended up on top as the Horned Frogs bested Faisalabad 4-2. Isfahan also snapped their own recent finals woes, upsetting Bursa 4-2 in the West Asia Association Championship. It was the third pennant for both the Imperials and the Horned Frogs. Oddly enough, both teams won their prior titles in 1986 and 1987, setting up a third finals battle between the two.

Hyderabad had beaten Isfahan in their earlier two meetings in the ABF Championship. In the 13^th final, the Imperials flipped the script and won their first title in six games. 2B Hayadeh Taraghijah led the win, winning WAA MVP. The 27-year old played 11 playoff games with 9 hits, 8 runs, 3 doubles, 4 home runs, and 12 RBI.

Other notes: Tehran’s Hasballah Kadoor set the ABF batting average record at .383. This held as the single-season best until 2016 and remains fourth as of 2037. Kadoor also had 171 singles, which remains the ABF record. Bursa’s Shahnawaz Ikram had 677 at-bats, the ABF record as of 2037. Faisalabad’s Hasan Acar set playoff records for lowest WHIP (0.19), opponent OBP (.080) and OPS (.163). He allowed three hits and one run over 15.2 innings with 19 strikeouts. Lahore’s Hasan Afshin twice had games with 20+ strikeouts. He fanned 21 against Rawalpindi on 7/9 and 20 versus Multan in his next start over 10 innings. Although he was one short of the ABF single-game record of 22, no pitcher in any pro league had ever struck out 41 batters between back-to-back starts. Vahid Hadadi became the first slugger to 400 career home runs. RF Yakup Gunduz won his seventh Gold Glove.

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-20-2024, 04:02 AM

Ahmedabad’s remarkable dominance of the Indian League continued in 1997. The three-time defending South Asia Baseball champs were 120-42, the second-best mark in IL history behind their own 124-38 two years earlier. The Animals in 1997 allowed 410 runs, which is the lowest by any team in SAB history as of 2037. Their 0.911 WHIP set a new IL record, while the 2.33 team ERA was second to their own 2.23 from 1995. Ahmedabad’s postseason streak extended to 13 seasons, while their West Division title streak and streak of 100+ win seasons both moved to ten.

Despite their dominance, the wild card race was also in the West Division. Pune took the spot at 90-72, edging out Mumbai by two games. It was the Purple Knights first playoff berth and winning season since 1987. Jaipur repeated in the Central Division at 96-66. Kanpur was a distant second at 83-79 and saw their seven season playoff streak snapped. The South Division was abysmal, but 76-86 Hyderabad was the best of the bad to earn their first playoff spot in a decade. Visakhapatnam had won 101 games in 1996, but collapsed to a 73-89 finish. The Hippos were only two games better than 1995 Tokyo, who holds the record for worst mark by a division champ in any pro league.

It was a bad year for Bengaluru with only 68 wins, but another great year for Blazers 2B Tirtha Upadhyaya. The 23-year old Nepali lefty won his third consecutive Indian League MVP, leading in runs (104), home runs (60), RBI (116), total bases (383), slugging (.696), OPS (1.075), wRC+ (247), and WAR (12.9). It was the third straight 60+ homer season for Upadhyaya. He also became the second SAB batter to have a four home run game, smacking them against Kanpur on July 3.

Pitcher of the Year was 29-year old Burmese righty Na Thinn. After six solid seasons with Bangkok, he joined the evil empire of Ahmedabad for 1997 on a five-year, $5,800,000 deal. Thinn led in strikeouts (344), WHIP (0.81), FIP- (58), and WAR (8.1). He added an 18-4 record over 234.2 innings with a 1.73 ERA. Thinn also won a Silver Slugger with a .278/.303/.319 slash in his starts on the mound.

Ahmedabad bounced divisional foe 3-0 in the first round, while Jaipur had no trouble sweeping Hyderabad. This set up a rematch in the Indian League Championship Series and gave the Animals their 12^th straight ILCS berth. The dynasty rolled forward as Ahmedabad won the pennant 4-1. This gave the Animals four straight Indian League titles, eight in nine years, and ten in twelve years.

Ho Chi Minh City maintained its dominance of the Southeast Asia League, taking top marks in the South Division at 119-43. This was the third-best season in SEAL history, behind the Hedgehogs’ 126 wins in 1993 and 124 in 1995. HCMC’s playoff streak extended to 11 seasons and the division title run grew to nine years. The Hedgehogs had the most runs (853) and fewest allowed (481) by a considerable margin in SEAL.

Reigning SEAL champ Yangon was an impressive 103-59 atop the North Division, tying a franchise best. This made back-to-back-to-back division titles for the Green Dragons. There was a steep drop to the wild card race. Phnom Penh (84-78) ended up with the first spot while Bangkok (82-80) took the second. Mandalay (81-81) was right behind with a few others not far from that. The Pandas ended a five-year stretch without a playoff spot or a winning season. The Bobcats grabbed a third wild card in four years.

The big offseason change was veteran slugger K.C. Choudhury ending up with Ho Chi Minh City. He had been a beast for a decade plus within Ahmedabad’s dynasty, but he sat out the 1996 season as no one matched his price. The Hedgehogs were the only other team willing and able to spend on the level required and got the 37-year old legend on a one-year deal. Choudhury won his third MVP award and led in runs (120), walks (106), OPS (1.030), wRC+ (189), and WAR (9.7). He added 44 home runs and 110 RBI. It would be his only season in Vietnam, as Choudhury went back to the Animals the next year.

Pitcher of the Year also went to a HCMC player as Ansin “Godzilla” Mohammad was a repeat winner. He became the third SAB pitcher to earn a Triple Crown season in his second year as a Hedgehog. The 30-year old righty had a 25-5 record, 1.97 ERA, and 356 strikeouts over 273.2 innings. He also led in quality starts (27), shutouts (6), FIP- (61), and WAR (9.3). Mohammad also had a 20 strikeout game versus Bangkok on April 13, putting him one short of the SAB single-game record. He was only the third SAB pitcher to fan 20+.

In the first round of the playoffs, Phnom Penh stunned Yangon 3-1. This was the third-ever Southeast Asia League Championship Series for the Pandas, joining the 1988 and 1989 campaigns. Ho Chi Minh City would best Bangkok 3-1 for a fourth straight SEALCS berth. The Hedgehogs rolled their divisional rival 4-1 to earn a third pennant in four years. It was HCMC’s seventh SEAL title in eleven years.

The 18^th South Asia Baseball Championship was yet another battle between Ahmedabad and Ho Chi Minh City. The Animals were looking to four-peat for the second time and had a 6-0 record against the Hedgehogs in the final. The 239 combined wins between the two was the second most ever for a final in any world league, only behind the 248 wins from their 1995 battle. This time, HCMC finally slayed the great dragon to win their first SAB title. Not only did the Hedgehogs win, but they swept Ahmedabad. Veteran 3B Thang Huynh, who played with the Animals in the 1995 championship, was finals MVP in 1997 for the Hedgehogs. The 35-year old had 20 hits, 11 runs, 4 doubles, 3 home runs, and 10 RBI in 13 playoff starts.

Other notes: For the third time in SAB history, there were zero no hitters thrown. Janapati Sara became the second pitcher to 3500 career strikeouts. Dhavalapaksa Dattatreya was the seventh member of the 400 home run club. 3B Manju Abbas won his eighth straight Gold Glove; the first player in SAB history to win the award eight or more times. 2B Abdul Deepkaran won his ninth Silver Slugger and 3B Thang Huynh won his seventh.

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-20-2024, 09:43 AM

Four teams battled intensely for the three playoff spots in WAB’s Western League in 1997. Nouakchott took first at 98-64 to get back to the playoffs after a two-year absence. Freetown was one behind at 97-65, taking second for back-to-back seasons. The third spot saw a tie between defending West African Baseball champion Accra and Abidjan, both at 95-67. In a one-game tiebreaker, the Alligators prevailed to extend their playoff streak to three seasons. The Athletes had their own streak ended at five.

Western League MVP went to Nouakchott third baseman Yakubu Odiye. The 28-year old Nigerian led in wRC+ (172) and added 7.9 WAR, 208 hits, 29 home runs, and a .350/.392/.574 slash. Accra’s Antonio Akinyemi secured Pitcher of the Year, surprising many. He had a 2.36 ERA, 258 strikeouts, and 11-9 record over 224.2 innings with 4.4 WAR. Akinyemi did lead in complete games with 24.

In the wild card round, Freetown topped Accra 2-0 to oust the reigning champs. The Foresters earned back-to-back Western League Championship Series berths, while Nouakchott hadn’t been there since taking their lone title in 1984. The WLCS went all five games as the Night Riders edged Freetown to take the crown.

Kano clobbered the competition in the Eastern League at an impressive 111-51. It was the third straight playoff berth for the Condors, but their first time taking the top spot in the standings since 1984. 15 games separated them from second place Lagos at 96-66, who ended a two-year playoff drought. Ibadan was third at 91-71 to extend the Iguanas playoff streak to eight seasons, the longest active streak in WAB. Port Harcourt’s bid for nine in-a-row was thwarted with the Hillcats falling to a sixth place 77-85.

Kano shortstop Darwin Morris won his third Eastern League MVP in four seasons. He posted an incredible 14.7 WAR, the second most ever in a WAB season behind his own 15.1 from two years prior. The 25-year old Liberian also broke his own runs scored record from 1995 (142), coming home 146 times in 1997. Morris also led the league in home runs (59), RBI (129), total bases (421), stolen bases (82), OBP (.432), slugging (.761), OPS (1.194), and wRC+ (231). His .354 batting average was three points shy of a Triple Crown.

Pitcher of the Year went to Kano’s Pomeyie Mensah, his second in three years. It was a record-setting campaign for the 28-year old Ghanaian lefty, who broke the WAB single-season ERA record at 1.32. That and his opponent’s slugging percentage of .248 remain WAB records as of 2037. This great season also featured WAB’s 11th perfect game, as Mensah struck out 11 against Port Harcourt on May 6. Mensah also led in wins (24-7), WHIP (0.79), FIP- (50), and WAR (9.6). He struck out 322 over 237 innings.

In the wild card round, Lagos edged Ibadan 2-1. For the Lizards, this was their first Eastern League Championship Series since 1994. Kano was entering their third straight, having fallen in the prior two. The Condors got over that hump, besting Lagos 3-1. It was the fifth EL pennant for Kano (1975, 76, 84, 86, 97).

The 23rd West African Championship was the second time that Kano and Nouakchott had met for the title. Back in 1984, the Night Riders won their only title over the Condors. Kano claimed revenge in 1997 and won the series 4-2. DH Revelation Maseko was finals MVP with the 30-year old South African proving a key addition. The Condors had signed him to a seven-year, $10,740,000 deal following a solid prior run with Port Harcourt. In 10 playoff starts, Maseko had 17 hits, 4 runs, 4 doubles, 2 triples, and 5 RBI.

It was the Condors’ fourth WAB ring (1975, 76, 86). Kano made WAB history as the winningest team to take the title at 111-51, beating the previous high mark of 110-52 by Ibadan in 1993. This would mark the beginning of a prolific decade of dominance for the Condors.

Other notes: Abidjan’s Benedict Collins broke his own single season stolen base record of 136, swiping 139 bags in 1997. This remains the WAB record as of 2037. SS Jorginho Fonseca won his eighth Gold Glove and LF Jake Pourchet won his seventh.

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-20-2024, 05:20 PM

For the 1997 season, Chinese League Baseball expanded its postseason by one team in each league. Now, the top three teams from each team advance with the first place team getting a bye into the semifinal. CLB did maintain its unique structure of having playoff interleague play and still allowing the possibility of a championship between two teams from the same league. The first round matchups would see the second place finisher from one league hosting the third place team of the other league in a best of three. The winners move onto the best-of-seven semifinal, followed by the best-of-seven China Series. The #2 NL vs. #3 SL winner faced the SL #1, while the #3 NL vs. #2 SL winner met the NL #1 in the semi. This remained the CLB playoff format until 2009.

Reigning CLB champ Nanjing finished atop the Northern League standings for back-to-back seasons with a 95-67 mark. The Nuggets were one game better than 1995 champ Xi’an at 94-68, giving the Attack their third playoff berth in four years. For the new third place playoff spot, Jinan (85-77) edged out Beijing (82-80), Dalian (82-80), and Zhengzhou (81-81). This was the first time in a decade that the Jumbos earned a postseason berth. Harbin, the CLB runner-up last year, dropped to ninth place at 76-86.

Leading the Nuggets was Northern League MVP Hao Wu. The 27-uear old shortstop was the WARlord at 8.2, posting a .281/.355/.458 slash with 53 extra base hits. Xi’an’s Momota Oichi won his third straight Pitcher of the Year, becoming the second in CLB history to win three in a row. The 26-year old Japanese righty led in strikeouts (375), quality starts (28), FIP- (53), and WAR (9.0). Oichi added a 1.70 ERA and 18-8 record and 1.70 ERA.

Changsha bounced back from their 79-win 1996 and dominated the Southern League at 109-53. This was a franchise-best for the Cannons, who had only made the playoffs twice before and never had finished first in the standings. There was a 16-game drop to 93-69 Hong Kong, who placed second for back-to-back seasons. Foshan, the first place squad the prior year, grabbed third at 91-71. The Flyers were seven games ahead of Chongqing and nine ahead of Chengdu.

Guangzhou was tied for tenth at 70-92, but they had Southern League MVP Xiaotian Xu. The 25-year old center fielder was the WARlord (9.1) and leader in total bases (305), OPS (.857), and wRC+ (211). He added 22 home runs and a .296 average. Foshan’s Jinlong Han repeated as Pitcher of the Year, leading in ERA (1.45), shutouts (12), FIP- (42), and WAR (10.7). The 27-year old Han added 371 strikeouts over 260.2 innings for a 15-11 record. The big highlight was a 20 strikeout, one walk no-hitter on June 18 against Hong Kong. This set the CLB record for most strikeouts in a no-hitter and would only get matched once in 2025.

While the Northern League had recently dominated the Southern League in the crossover playoff games, the SL reversed the trend in 1997. In the first round, Hong Kong edged Jinan 2-1 and Foshan upset Xi’an with a road sweep. The Champions then upset NL #1 Nanjing 4-3 in a semifinal classic. Changsha downed the Flyers 4-2 in the other semi, There hadn’t been an all-Southern League final since 1978, while there had been eight all-NL finals since then, including the last three.

Hong Kong had lost to Kunming in that 1978 final, while winning the 1982 title over Nanjing in their other China Series berth. That 1982 season was the last time any SL team had won it all. For Changsha, their only other China Series appearance was in 1977, losing an also all-SL final to Kunming. In the 28^th China Series, the Cannons claimed the cup in a seven game classic over the Champions. Fourth year shortstop Dalun Lou was finals MVP, getting 14 hits, 3 runs, 3 doubles, and 5 RBI over 13 playoff starts. With Changsha’s title, 13 of CLB’s 24 teams have claimed the cup.

Other notes: CLB had three perfect games thrown in 1997, making it 26 perfectos in CLB history. The first was Dongguan’s Xin Ruan on April 17 with 12 strikeouts against Ghangzhou. Next was Hong Kong’s Gen Tu on July 1, fanning 15 versus Wuhan. The third was August 26 by Qindgao’s Manuel De La Cruz, who struck out six. Two way P/1B Wei Qin won his 12^th and final Silver Slugger. As of 2037, no other CLB player at any position has won the award 12 times.

FuzzyRussianHat · 03-21-2024, 03:42 AM

Manila dominated the Philippine League at 103-59, getting their first playoff berth since their 1986 title. The Manatees were the only PL team above .500 and had the top seed in the Taiwan-Philippine Association. Cebu, last year’s winner, struggled to 68-94. In the Taiwan League, defending Austronesia Champion Taoyuan took the TL title for the fourth successive season. The Tsunami was 93-69, edging out Taipei (90-72) and Kaohsiung (89-73).

TPA MVP was Taoyuan’s Ting-Jen Hsu for the second time in three years. The two-way 27-year old lefty had a 2.26 ERA over 299.1 innings with 319 strikeouts and 6.5 WAR. In the outfield, he had 94 games with 6.3 WAR, a .298 average, and 11 home runs. Pitcher of the Year was Manila’s Kan-Lin Ching, who led in wins at 21-6 and quality starts in 31. The 28-yaer old righty had a 1.61 ERA over 285.2 innings with 313 strikeouts and 6.9 WAR.

After missing the playoffs last year, Batam was back atop the Malacca League standings for the sixth time in eight years. The Blue Raiders were 99-63 for the top record in the Sundaland Association. Defending SA champ Singapore was a distant second at 82-80. Depok ended an impressive Java League title drought at 96-66. The Demons hadn’t been in the postseason since 1978. Depok was two games ahead of Jakarta. Bandung, who had taken the JL three straight years, fell to 76-86.

Batam’s Wisnu Mahmudiana won his fifth straight Pitcher of the Year while also winning Sundaland Association MVP. The 30-year old Indonesian righty led in wins (21-8), ERA (1.05), WHIP (0.65), quality starts (32), shutouts (6), FIP- (31), and WAR (13.2). Mahmudiana was second in strikeouts with 407 over 273.1 innings. He became the third APB pitcher to win POTY five times.

Taoyuan took out Manila 4-2 in the Taiwan-Philippine Association Championship. For the Tsunami, this was their third pennant in four years and their seventh overall. The Sundaland Association Championship had Batam sweep Depok for their first pennant since 1991. It was the fourth title for the Blue Raiders (1972, 73, 91, 97).

In the 33^rd Austronesia Championship, Taoyuan outlasted Batam in a seven game thriller. RF Fernando Reyes was a postseason beast, winning MVP of both playoff series. The 30-year old had missed half the season to a sprained knee. In 13 playoff starts, Reyes had 16 hits, 11 runs, 4 doubles, 5 home runs, and 12 RBI. The Tsunami became the third franchise to repeat as APB champs, doing it for the second time (1982-83). Taoyuan is now tied with Jakarta for the most APB titles with five apiece.

Other notes: Manila’s Dedi Dewi set a playoff record for K/9 at 19.8. He fanned 33 over 15 innings, although still struggled to a 4.20 ERA. Dewi also had other notable strikeout efforts, fanning 21 against Taichung on March 31. He also had two 20 strikeout games later in the season. Dewi also tossed one of the season’s seven no-hitters, striking out 14 with one walk against Zamboanga on June 5. Three pitchers (Ricky Jungao, Ronald Purnomo, Mulya Dayanti) crossed 4500 career strikeouts, making seven players to reach the mark. Dayanti and Jungao both crossed 200 wins, making 10 to do so. Chang-Rong Chang was the fourth batter to 500 home runs. 1B Akbar Fatchurohman won his tenth Gold Glove. Fransisco Hartati won his eighth Silver Slugger. It was his second at 2B with the others at CF. 3B Gede Manuaya grabbed his seventh Silver Slugger.

03-14-2024, 05:38 PM	#1061
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1996 in MLB Defending National Association champ Boston set a franchise-best at 109-53, dominating a strong Northeast Division. The second and third best records in the NA were both in the Northeast and earned wild cards. Toronto finished 99-63 and Ottawa was 98-64. The Elks ended a three-year playoff drought and the Timberwolves ended a two-year one. Buffalo, who had made the playoffs the prior two seasons out of the Northeast, plummeted to only 69 wins. The Lower Midwest Division saw a tie for first between Indianapolis and Columbus at 93-69, while St. Louis was one back at 92-70. The Racers won the tiebreaker game for their second playoff berth in three years and denied the Chargers’ bid for a division title three-peat. This was Indy’s first division title since 1988. The Racers also earned the #2 seed and the first round bye. Wichita, winners of 90 games last year and in the 1995 wild card hunt, collapsed and went 68-94. New York secured the East Division title at 90-72 for their sixth playoff appearance in eight years. Philadelphia fell two games short, Brooklyn was six away, and last year’s National Association runner-up Washington dropped to 80-82. The Upper Midwest Division had Minneapolis on top at 88-74, ending a playoff drought taking back to 1982. Cleveland’s three year division title streak ended with the Cobras finishing at 79-83. National Association MVP went to Indianapolis 1B Salvador Villasenor. The Racers gave him an eight-year, $24,000,000 extension the prior summer and were rewarded for their investment. The 29-year old Spaniard led in hits (221), RBI (138), total bases (402), average (.373), slugging (.678), OPS (1.101), wRC+ (228), and WAR (10.4). His 46 home runs left him four away from a Triple Crown. New York’s Pitcher Fahri Unal won Pitcher of the Year in his second MLB season. The 30-year old Turk had come to the Yankees on a six-year, $22,560,000 deal after winning two Pitcher of the Year awards with Bursa of the Asian Baseball Federation. Unal had a 17-7 record, 2.43 ERA, 274.1 innings, 217 strikeouts, and 7.2 WAR. He also had a no-hitter on September 27 with eight strikeouts and two walks against Winnipeg. In the first round of the playoffs, Minneapolis beat Toronto 2-0 and New York topped Ottawa 2-1. Both second round series went all five games but had the favored squads advance. Boston edged the Moose and Indianapolis outlasted the Yankees. The Red Sox were looking for repeat pennants, while the Racers earned their first National Association Championship Series appearance from 1977. Boston was a heavy favorite, but Indy upset them 4-2 to earn their eighth pennant (1931, 36, 52, 57, 59, 74, 77, 96). The American Association was guaranteed to see a new champ, as defending World Series champion Denver struggled to a 71-91 campaign. Edmonton ended a four-year playoff drought and posted the AA’s best record at 101-61 on top of the Northwest Division. The other bye went to San Francisco at 100-62 atop the Southwest Division, earning a fourth consecutive playoff berth. San Diego was close behind at 98-64, earning the first wild card and ending a playoff drought dating back to 1986. For the second wild card, Oakland (92-70) edged out Los Angeles (91-71) and Atlanta (90-72). The Owls had an even longer playoff drought back to 1981. Nashville ended the longest drought of any team in 1996, winning the Southeast Division at 92-70. The Knights hadn’t been a playoff team since 1978 and hadn’t won a division title since all the way back in 1956. Atlanta at 90-72 fell two games short of both the division and the second wild card. Charlotte (87-75) was also in the mix. Last year’s division winner Tampa dropped to 71-91. The South Central Division had Dallas (88-74) squeak by defending winner Houston (87-75) and New Orleans (84-78). The Dalmatians snapped a four-year postseason skid. Edmonton first baseman Isaac McKenna won American Association MVP in only his third season. The 23-year old Canadian lefty led in home runs (49), RBI (143), runs (112), OBP (.409), OPS (1.018), wRC+ (172) and WAR (9.1), while adding a .318 average and 193 hits. Pitcher of the Year was another upcoming star in San Diego’s Bradrabahu Abhimani. The 24-year old Indian lefty had a 20-8 record, 2.64 ERA, 272.2 innings, 234 strikeouts, and 6.7 WAR. Dallas downed San Diego 2-1 and Nashville ousted Oakland 2-0 in the first round of the playoffs. The Knights went onto upset San Francisco 3-1 in the second round, while Edmonton dropped the Dalmatians 3-0. This was Nashville’s first American Association Championship Series appearance since 1956, long before the Eels franchise existed. It was Edmonton’s second AACS, having won the 1988 pennant. The Eels earned their second title 4-2 over Nashville. In the 96^th World Series, Major League Baseball was guaranteed to have its 39^th unique franchise on top. Indianapolis had been there seven times previously, but took runner-up each time. Their curse continued as Edmonton rolled to the title in five games. Veteran LF Xavier Escobar won World Series MVP in his 11th season as an Eel. The 31-year old Brazilian had 21 hits, 15 runs, 5 home runs, and 13 RBI in 14 playoff starts. The Racers are now 0-8 in the World Series, which are the most finals defeats in any world league by a team without a title. Meanwhile between Edmonton and Calgary, four of the last 11 trophies ended up in Alberta. Other notes: Brian Ostrovskaya became the 19^th member of the 600 home run club and also crossed 1500 RBI. Phil Sannes was the 51^st member of the 3000 hit club. T.J. Nakabayashi became the eighth pitcher to reach 4000 strikeouts. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-15-2024, 03:40 AM	#1062
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 MLB Hall of Fame Two players picked up inductions into Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame class for 1997. 1B Joziah Perry was a no-doubter, getting 97.9% in his debut. Joining him was closer Devin Ivey, who barely crossed the 66% requirement with 68.2% for his third attempt. LF Aiden Hertlein missed out by about as thin of a margin possible at 65.8% in his third ballot. 1B Aranha Carlos also came very close at 64.3% for his second try. Three others were above 50% with 1B Kymani Massey at 59.5% in his fifth ballot, 2B Cade Parker at 57.7% for his debut, and 1B Jonah Mabile at 52.3% for his fourth attempt. RF Bentlee Fleming was the lone player to fall off the ballot after ten tries, ending at 41.7%. The Winnipeg native stayed in the low 40% range consistently during his ballots. A 16-year veteran primarily with Vancouver, he won Silver Slugger once and posted 2559 hits, 1442 runs, 338 doubles, 471 home runs, 1427 RBI, a .282/.351/.485 slash, and 63.1 WAR. Fleming was never a top guy though and mostly played on weaker teams, thus the banishment to the Hall of Very Good. Joziah “Mirror” Perry – First Base/Designated Hitter – San Francisco Gold Rush – 97.9% First Ballot Joziah Perry was a 6’6’’, 200 pound left-handed first baseman from Hawthorne, California; a city of around 88,000 within the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Perry was one of the best pure hitters in his prime, combining great contract, power, and eye. He was great at avoiding strikeouts and always made very hard contact, averaging around 40 home runs and another 40 doubles/triples per year. Perry was faster than you’d think with his big frame, but he was a lackluster baserunner. His career was split almost evenly between first base and designated hitter, as he was a mediocre defender. Perry was very durable and stayed loyal to San Francisco in his career, becoming extremely popular in the Bay. Perry stayed in California for his entire baseball career and attended college close to home at UCLA. As a Bruin in three seasons, he had 143 starts, 206 hits, 131 runs, 30 doubles, 71 home runs, 164 RBI, a .367/.439/.820 slash, and 14.7 WAR. Perry was the seventh player in college baseball history to win NCAA MVP twice, doing it as a freshman in 1972 and as a junior in 1974. He also won Silver Sluggers in both years. Naturally, this made Perry a big prize for the 1974 MLB Draft. With the ninth overall pick, San Francisco selected Perry and immediately gave him a four-year, $1,860,000 major league deal; a rare get for a prospect. Perry was immediately a full-timer and started all 162 games in his rookie year of 1975, running away with Rookie of the Year and leading the American Association in total bases. He’d be a starter his entire run with the Gold Rush, only occasionally missing time to injury. Perry led the AA in runs scored thrice, hits four times, doubles twice, triples once, home runs thrice, RBI twice, total bases seven times, average once, slugging five times, OPS four times, wRC+ six times, and WAR thrice. Perry also was a dominant force in the World Baseball Championship from 1977-86 for the United States team. He was the 1981 Tournament MVP with 25 runs, 29 hits, 12 home runs, and 28 RBI over 23 starts. Perry picked up five world title rings with the American team (1977, 81, 82, 84, 85), making him a very popular player throughout the country. Although San Francisco was a weak team in the 1970s, Perry earned plenty of attention. 1976 saw his first Silver Slugger at DH and a third place finish in MVP voting. Then in 1978, he scored 147 runs, setting a single-season MLB record that stood until 1994. His 238 hits was also only four short of the single-season record, plus he added 45 doubles, 49 home runs, and a .372 average. With that, Perry was named AA MVP for the first time. The next year, he led in home runs for the first time at 56, helping him to his second MVP and a third Silver Slugger. After the 1979 season, the Gold Rush gave Perry an eight-year, $7,570,000 contract extension. He won SS again in 1980, but was second in MVP voting. In 1981, Perry became a three-time MVP and five-time Slugger winner. He wouldn’t be an MVP finalist again, but one SS again in 1982 and 1989. Unlike the previous ones, those two came as a first baseman and not a DH. As the 1980s dawned, San Francisco returned to relevance. In the decade, they had nine winning seasons and five playoff appearances. In 1984, the Gold Rush finally broke through and won the American Association pennant, falling in the World Series to Chicago. Sadly for Perry, he missed the entire postseason run and a good chunk of the season to a broken hand. SF never made it beyond the second round in his other playoff chances, leaving Perry with 14 starts, 19 hits, 10 runs, 3 home runs, and 9 RBI in his postseason career. Perry’s stats were no longer world class in his 30s, but he was still a very good starter. The Gold Rush gave him a five-year, $7,900,000 extension in the spring of 1987. He struggled in 1988, but bounced back to lead in home runs in 1989 to win his final Silver Slugger. That season also saw Perry join the 600 home run club. 1990 was his last year as a starter, as San Francisco moved him to a bench role for most of 1991. With one year left on his deal, the Gold Rush traded Perry after the 1991 season to Quebec City for LF Elroy Golub. Perry was unremarkable in spring training and was cut by the Nordiques before the regular season. He wanted to play still, but went unsigned that season and retired in the winter at age 38. San Francisco immediately brought him back to retire his #14 uniform as one of the franchise’s favorite icons. Perry’s career stats saw 2885 hits, 1731 runs, 458 doubles, 141 triples, 660 home runs, 1830 RBI, a .306/.374/.594 slash, 156 wRC+, and 91.2 WAR. Not many had reached 1500+ runs, 1500+ RBI, and 650+ home runs in MLB history. At induction, Perry was tied for sixth all-time in homers, 16^th in RBI, and 27^th in runs scored. Few guys were more proficient with their bat in their prime than Perry, earning him the first ballot induction at 97.9%. Devin Ivey – Closer – New York Yankees – 68.2% Third Ballot Devin Ivey was a 6’6’’, 200 pound right-handed relief pitcher from Lochearn, Maryland; a small town of around 25,000 just west of Baltimore. Ivey had incredible stuff with a 99-101 mph fastball and a great slider which featured very good movement. He also had above average control along with excellent durability and good stamina for a relief pitcher. Ivey was very outspoken, which made him a polarizing figure with teammates and fans. His spicy hot takes were part of the reason he ended up bouncing between 11 teams in his career. Ivey went west for his college days with Stanford. As a freshman, he took third in Reliever of the Year voting. The Cardinal moved him to the rotation and he won NCAA Pitcher of the Year as both a sophomore and junior. Ivey was only the third pitcher in college baseball history to win the award twice. Over 40 appearances and 24 starts in his college career, Ivey had a 1.08 ERA, 18-5 record, 7 saves, 209 innings, 252 strikeouts, and 11.3 WAR. With this dominance, many teams were interesting in Ivey, but some didn’t want to commit to a big deal. With only two (albeit great) pitches and lower stamina, scouts didn’t think he would be a starter and relievers had a much lower value. Still, New York would use the 12^th overall pick in the 1972 MLB Draft on Ivey, signing him to a four-year, $1,360,000 deal. Ivey was thrown into the closer role as a rookie and held that role more often than not in his six years and change with the Yankees. In his second season, he won Reliever of the Year with 5.8 WAR, a 1.30 ERA, and 139 strikeouts over 97 innings. That was Ivey’s only time winning the top award, although he took second in 1977 with New York. He didn’t rack up big save totals, as the Yankees generally stunk in that era. With the Yankees, he had 187 saves and 231 shutdowns, 1.95 ERA, 521 innings, 687 strikeouts, and 22.4 WAR. Ivey was set to enter free agency for the first time after the 1979 season. NY didn’t expect to keep him and traded him to Detroit at the deadline for two pitchers. He was outstanding with 24.1 scoreless innings and 14 saves with the Tigers, giving him a bump entering free agency at age 28. Even with his talent, some teams were leery of his obnoxious nature. He would get signed right at the end of free agency on a one year, $870,000 deal with Montreal, the defending National Association champ. From the very end of his Yankees run in July 1979 to August 1980, Ivey had a 41 save streak. He took second in Reliever of the Year voting with the Maples, although he was iffy in the postseason with a 4.35 ERA in 10.1 innings. Montreal fell in the NACS to Chicago and Ivey became a free agent yet again. He signed a one-year deal with Calgary in early 1981. He was alright with the Cheetahs, who traded him to Las Vegas at the deadline for three pitchers. Ivey had a great postseason for the Vipers with a 0.93 ERA in 9.2 innings, although LV fell in the AACS. Ivey signed with Oakland in 1982, but was used in only 21.1 innings despite being effective when he pitched. He went to Washington in 1983 and reclaimed the closer role, taking third in Reliever of the Year voting. Ivey had a 29 inning scoreless streak during his Admirals tenure. That run led to Montreal bringing Ivey back for an actual contract of length at three years, $3,300,000. He was a respectable closer in 1984, but was reduced to middle relief in 1985. Between three seasons with Montreal, he had 80 saves, a 2.16 ERA, 204.1 innings, 245 strikeouts, and 7.4 WAR. Before the 1986 season, the 34-year old Ivey was cut by Montreal. Looking to find a home somewhere, Ivey ended up in West African Baseball and spent the season with Kumasi. He returned to MLB with Nashville in 1987 with limited use. The Knights traded him to Cincinnati for 1988, which was his last year as an actual closer. That got him to 350 career saves, the 16^th to do so. Ivey spent one final season with Omaha and struggled, opting to retire after the 1989 campaign at age 38. For his MLB career, Ivey had 367 saves and 468 shutdowns, 2.25 ERA, 1098.1 innings, 1324 strikeouts, a 61 FIP-, and 39.6 WAR. His ERA, strikeout, and WAR totals were relatively in line with some other guys that had gotten the MLB Hall of Fame nod. It wasn’t easy to get big attention as a reliever and Ivey’s personality worked against him. Still, he got close at 62.2% and 61.5% on his first two ballots. The third attempt in 1997 got him just across the line at 68.2%, making Ivey the second member of the 1997 class. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-15-2024, 11:28 AM	#1063
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 CABA Hall of Fame Pitcher Franklyn Maldonado was the lone member of the 1997 class for the Central American Baseball Association Hall of Fame. He was nearly unanimous at 99.7%, but it was a quiet ballot otherwise. The only other player who was even above 50% was catcher Hansel Morel at 52.8% in his seventh ballot. No one was dropped after ten ballots in 1997. Franklyn Maldonado – Starting Pitcher – Guatemala Ghosts – 99.7% First Ballot Franklyn Maldonado was a 6’1’’, 200 pound left-handed pitcher from Real del Puente, Honduras; a small town of around 4,000 people in the northwest of the country. Maldonado was a well-rounded pitcher with very good stuff, movement, and control. He had a 95-97 mph fastball that he mixed with a slider and changeup. Maldonado was one of the best at changing speeds and holding runners. He was considered an excellent defensive pitcher and had respectable stamina in his early days. Maldonado was a fan favorite and was a popular player despite a relatively short peak. Despite coming from humble origins, Maldonado did get some attention as a prospect in the amateur ranks of Honduras. He was picked in the second round of the 1976 CABA Draft by Guatemala with the 47^th overall pick. The Ghosts wouldn’t bring him up for his first two seasons under contract. Maldonado debuted with seven starts in 1979 at age 23, but showed promise. Maldonado was good as a partial starter in 1980, then entered the rotation full-time from 1981 after. From 1981-86, Maldonado led the Caribbean League in WAR five times. He led in ERA in 1982, earning Pitcher of the Year. He took second in 1983, then won the award again in 1984. Maldonado would be a regular finalist, taking second in 1986 and 1987 with Guatemala. With the Ghosts, he also led the league in wins twice, WHIP twice, innings once, and quality starts three times. Maldonado was also quite effective in the World Baseball Championship for his native Honduras. From 1979-91 with the national team, he had a 1.95 ERA over 175.1 innings, 10-11 record, 220 strikeouts, and 6.5 WAR. From 1980-84, Guatemala had a five-year playoff streak. They got to the Caribbean League Championship Series in 1980, 81, and 83; winning the pennant in 1983. They would fall in the final to Hermosillo, but Maldonado gave them good playoff numbers. With the Ghosts in the playoffs, Maldonado had a 2.94 ERA, 64.1 innings, 89 strikeouts, 5-4 record, and 2.1 WAR. After the 1983 season, Guatemala locked him up with a five-year, $3,270,000 contract extension. Guatemala was good, but just outside of the playoffs from 1985-87. It looked like a rebuild was in order and Maldonado had one year left on his deal at age 32. The Ghosts decided to trade him in late 1987 to Guadalajara for three prospects. For his time in Guatemala, Maldonado had a 145-68 record, 2.55 ERA, 2093.1 innings, 2307 strikeouts, and 69.0 WAR. He remained popular with Ghosts fans and did see his #38 uniform retired once his playing days were done. Maldonado had a strong debut with the Hellhounds, leading in wins and quality starts with a third place finish in Pitcher of the Year voting. He also won his first Gold Glove with his second coming the next year. Guadalajara was happy with their acquisition and gave Maldonado a five-year, $4,750,000 extension in the summer of 1988. He pitched well the next two years as the Hellhounds made it to the Mexican League Championship Series both seasons, although they couldn’t claim the pennant. Although he still had been effective in 1990, his velocity had suddenly plummeted without any major injury, going from 95-97 mph to 90-92 mph. In 1991, Maldonado’s fastball was in the 86-88 mph range. Although his control was still great, his stuff was now awful. He struggled in spring training and was only used for 24.2 innings. Maldonado retired that winter at age 36. With Guadalajara, he had a 56-32 record, 2.17 ERA, 787.2 innings, 804 strikeouts, and 20.2 WAR. For his career, Maldonado posted a 201-100 record, 2.45 ERA, 2881 innings, 3111 strikeouts, 427 walks, 281/361 quality starts, a 66 FIP-, and 89.2 WAR. His rate stats were very impressive, although the grand totals were on the lower end with the quick end to his career. Before his sudden decline, many observers thought Maldonado would end up at the tip-top of the leaderboards. Regardless, even in only 11 full seasons, Maldonado’s resume was outstanding. He was nearly unanimously voted in at 99.7% as the lone member of CABA’s 1997 Hall of Fame class. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-15-2024, 04:29 PM	#1064
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 EAB Hall of Fame East Asia Baseball’s 1997 Hall of Fame class was a very solid one with three inductees from their first ballot. CF Sosuke Hoshizawa was the star easily at 99.4%, but OF Ryota Shintani (87.8%) and LF Myeong-Won Song (84.1%) were no slouches by any stretch. A fourth outfielder almost joined them on his second ballot, but Jay-Hoon Cho missed the mark at 60.4%. Also above 50% were 2B Seong-Jae Kang at 55.2% and closer Dong-Myung Choy at 50.0%, both on their second ballots. No players were dropped after ten ballots. Sosuke “Legend” Hoshizawa – Center Field – Sapporo Swordfish – 99.4% First Ballot Sosuke Hoshizawa was a 6’0’’, 195 pound right-handed center fielder from Toyohashi, a city of 375,000 people in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture. He later earned the nickname “legend,” which was certainly fitting for someone of his stature as a genuine five-tool player. In his prime, Hoshizawa was an excellent contact and power hitter with a respectable eye. He ended up averaging around 45 home runs per 162 games with a career .300 average. Hoshizawa had great pop in his bat generally, also getting you around 25-35 doubles/triples per year. Hoshizawa often stretched out extra bases with great speed and keen instincts. He played his entire career in center field and was an excellent defender. As of 2037, he’s EAB’s all-time leader in zone rating, putouts, and chances at the position. Despite a number of injury issues in the second half of his career, Hoshizawa always gave his all and provided excellent leadership as Sapporo’s captain. He was viewed as one of the greatest men to ever step on the diamond in Japan and is one of the most beloved icons and symbols of the sport. Hoshizawa’s excellence was spotted as a teenager and many teams were interested in picking him straight out of Tokai High School. Sapporo was one of these squads and had the second pick in the 1967 EAB Draft. The Swordfish selected Hoshizawa, beginning a partnership that lasted 24 years. He made his official debut in 1968 at age 19, although he only had 12 plate appearances. The plan was to make him a full-time starter the next year, but a ruptured finger tendon at the end of spring training cost him four months. Still, Hoshizawa came back to finish the season and posted 27 home runs in only 58 games. It looked clear that this phenom was likely going to live up to the immense hype. From 1970-76, Hoshizawa posted seven straight seasons worth 10+ WAR. Even more impressive was that he did it despite missing a month or more in three of those seasons. In his first full season as a starter in 1970, Hoshizawa led in runs, home runs, total bases, OPS, and wRC+ to win his first Japan League MVP. He won again in 1971, 72, and 74, while taking second in 1973. In 1972, he led with 129 runs and a 1.116 OPS with 56 home runs and 12.9 WAR. Hoshizawa had 12.6 WAR and a league-best 81 stolen bases in 1974 while adding 47 home runs. He also won all six of his Silver Sluggers consecutively from 1970-75. Sapporo had fallen on hard times in the mid 1960s and hadn’t seen the playoffs since 1957, but Hoshizawa’s production brought them 100+ seasons and playoff spots in 1972 and 1974. Both seasons, they fell in the Japan League Championship Series. But the Swordfish were convinced he’d lead them to success, signing Hoshizawa to an eight-year, $2,790,000 extension after the 1972 campaign. Despite his historic production, Sapporo wouldn’t see consistent success until 1979. As much as Hoshizawa tried to power through, he physically was often a wreck. Back spasms cost him more than half of 1977 with miscellaneous injuries knocking him out much of 1978. 1979 finally saw Hoshizawa’s first full season in a few years, getting the Swordfish back to the playoffs. Despite having the top seed, they were one-and-done. But this began a stretch of dominance atop the recently realigned North Division. Sapporo would make the playoffs ten times from 1979-89. When healthy, Hoshizawa was still great. He’d win most of his six Gold Gloves in these later years (1974, 79, 83, 84, 85, 86). Sapporo signed him to a six-year, $2,328,000 extension just before the 1980 season. The Swordfish got to the JLCS, but a partially torn labrum kept Hoshizawa out of the playoff run. In 1981, Sapporo finally put together the championship run, taking the EAB title. Hoshizawa’s leadership was invaluable, even though he was iffy in limited playoff time with late season elbow inflammation. Regardless, he finally got Sapporo its first ring since the early 1950s. Sapporo was ousted in the 1982 JLCS. They won the 1983 pennant, losing the EAB title to Seongnam. That was easily Hoshizawa‘s best playoff run with 18 starts, 22 hits, 15 runs, 8 home runs, and 18 RBI. The Swordfish would get ousted in the first round of their next five playoff appearances. Hoshizawa only played games in two of those five series due to injury. For his playoff career, he had 51 games, 56 hits, 31 runs, 13 home runs, 39 RBI, a .284/.308/.584 slash, and 2.1 WAR. He also rejoined Japan in the World Baseball Championship from 1982-89, having previously only played in 1970 and 1971. In 97 career WBC starts, he had 93 hits, 65 runs, 7 doubles, 36 home runs, 76 RBI, a .266/.343/.602 slash, and 4.1 WAR. Hoshizawa was still excellent when healthy in his 30s, posting six seasons worth 6+ WAR despite missing notable time each year. 1982 had a broken kneecap and 1985 had a ruptured Achilles tendon. Multiple times he dealt with hamstring strains, partially torn labrums, and back stiffness. Hoshizawa was still a team captain and almost a second manager in the clubhouse, beloved by all. Even with the injuries, Sapporo gave him another three-year extension after the 1985 season at age 37. In 1988, Hoshizawa managed to have his first full season in around a decade, but his power was no longer elite. Still, the Swordfish added another three year extension. Hoshizawa crossed the 700 career home run mark in 1989, but it was his last great moment. He was limited severely by his body in his final three seasons and finally was reduced to a bench role in 1991. Still, Hoshizawa was a beloved elder statesman to the end and a rare player to have played in four decades, having started in 1968 and ended in 1991. He finally retired at age 42 and saw his #28 uniform retired by Sapporo. Hoshizawa’s final stats: 2772 hits, 1647 runs, 297 doubles, 220 triples, 718 home runs, 1746 RBI, 943 stolen bases, a .300/.341/.613 slash, 177 wRC+, and 156.9 WAR. Even with the injuries, Hoshizawa became EAB’s all-time WARlord, a distinction he still holds as of 2037. At induction, he was seventh all-time in home runs, 10^th in runs and 12^th in RBI. He was the only player with 700+ home runs and 900+ stolen bases. His hard work and dedication were incredible even as his body broke down, becoming a very rare example of someone who both debuted as a teenager and played into their 40s. Even rarer still and perhaps unique to Hoshizawa was doing that with one team. The nickname “legend” is incredibly fitting for this inner circle Hall of Famer, leading off the 1997 class at 99.4%. Ryota “Old School” Shintani – Center/Left Field – Sendai Samurai – 87.8% First Ballot Ryota Shintani was a 6’3’’, 200 pound right-handed outfielder from Osaka, Japan. At his best, Shintani was a great power hitter with an excellent eye and solid contact ability. He averaged around 45 home runs per 162 games while also getting around 30-35 doubles/triples per season. Shintani had above average speed and baserunning chops in his prime. His career defensively was roughly split 50/50 between center and left field. He graded as slightly below average in center and pretty good in left. Shintani was a team leader and would become one of Japan’s favorite players. He earned the nickname “Old School” for his approach to the game. Shintani attended Tokai University in Tokyo and excelled as an amateur, becoming the top prospect for the 1973 EAB Draft. Sendai selected him with the first overall pick and his entire 11-year run in the Japan League was with the Samurai. Shintani was a full-time starter for his entire tenure, although he did miss chunks of 1978, 1980, 1981, and 1984 to injuries. His debut was impressive with 5.1 WAR, taking the 1974 Rookie of the Year. He had a very solid 1975 and 1976, which prompted Sendai to sign Shintani to an eight-year, $2,830,000 contract extension. Shintani emerged as truly elite with the 1977 campaign, leading in home runs, OPS, and WAR. This earned him his first MVP and Silver Slugger, plus his lone Gold Glove in left. His national popularity grew as a regular for Japan in the World Baseball Championship. Even after leaving for MLB, he came home for the WBC from 1975-95 with 196 games, 191 starts, 175 hits, 133 runs, 65 home runs, 116 RBI, a .261/.378/.604 slash, and 10.0 WAR. A bruised kneecap cost Shintani close to half of the 1978 season, but Sendai still managed to win a weak North Division at 84-78. He returned for the postseason and led them to a stunning East Asian Championship run, the first (and as of 2037, only) title for the Samurai. In 14 playoff starts, Shintani had 13 hits, 11 runs, 4 home runs, and 11 RBI. Helping Sendai to its first time forever made Shintani a franchise icon. For the rest of his tenure, Sendai was above .500 but generally stuck behind Sapporo in the divisional race. Their only other playoff berth was a one-and-done in 1984 despite having the Japan League’s best record. Shintani’s second MVP and Silver Slugger came in 1979. A severely strained hip muscle cost him the second half of 1980, 1982 saw a return to form with Shintani winning his third MVP and Silver Slugger. He won additional Sluggers in 1983 and 1984 and took third in 1983’s MVP voting. In his tenure, Shintani led in runs scored thrice, homers twice, RBI once, total bases thrice, OBP twice, slugging thrice, OPS thrice, wRC+ four times, and WAR four times. 1984 was on pace to perhaps be his best year yet, but a concussion knocked him out for a month. That would be his final season in Japan, as Shintani left for MLB soon after. Sendai would retire his #16 more than a decade later once his playing days were over and he remained one of the franchise’s favorites. For his Sendai tenure, Shintani had 1606 hits, 1063 runs, 252 doubles, 461 home runs, 1089 RBI, a .301/.368/.639 slash, 191 wRC+, and 87.2 WAR. The grand totals aren’t high on the leaderboard since he left early with some wondering if he could’ve rivaled Sosuke Hoshizawa’s tallies had he stuck around. A few voters poo-poo’d him leaving, but that resume was still exemplary and earned Shintani a first ballot induction at 87.8%. He would still have half of his playing career left though. At age 34, he joined MLB’s Houston Hornets on a four-year, $5,360,000 deal. Shintani won Silver Sluggers in CF for Houston in 1987 and 1988 and was third in 1987’s MVP voting. The Hornets made the playoffs twice in his tenure, but couldn’t get beyond the second round. Untimely injures kept Shintani from playing in either of those postseason runs. For his Houston time, he had a solid 612 hits, 412 runs, 144 home runs, 367 RBI, a .282/.359/.557 slash, and 26.5 WAR. His contract expired and at age 38, he was a free agent again for 1989. Having looked very good in Houston, that compelled Indianapolis to sign Shintani on a three-year, $5,500,000 deal. He was good when healthy, but torn ankle ligaments and a fractured knee cost him big chunks of his two seasons with the Racers. Shintani still managed 7.7 WAR over 182 games for Indianapolis. He didn’t meet the vesting criteria in his contract and became a free agent again for 1991. Despite being 40 years old, Denver gave Shintani a three-year, $6,020,000 deal. Again, injuries meant he only managed half seasons with the Dragons, but he was still good when healthy. Denver won the American Association pennant in 1991 with Shintani getting 8 hits, 5 runs, 3 home runs, and 7 RBI in 11 playoff starts. Over two seasons and 158 games with the Dragons, Shintani had 7.2 WAR, 40 home runs, 174 hits, 104 runs, and 90 RBI. Shintani spent 1993-94 with Virginia Beach with the same story; good production but a lot of injuries. Philadelphia had Shintani for his final two seasons, but he only managed 88 games with the Phillies. The nickname “Old School” was especially poignant as the oldest player in the game. Shintani retired after the 1996 campaign at age 46. For his MLB tenure, Shintani had 1199 hits, 779 runs, 185 doubles, 269 home runs, 690 RBI, a .284/.365/.543 slash, 152 wRC+, and 48.6 WAR. It is a very impressive roughly decade of production for someone who came over at age 34. For his entire pro career, Shintani had 2805 hits, 1842 runs, 437 doubles, 139 triples, 730 home runs, 1779 RBI, 1094 walks, a .293/.367/.597 slash, 173 wRC+, and 135.8 WAR. The grand totals make it clear that Shintani was one of the absolute finest outfielders in all of professional baseball for two decades. Myeong-Won Song – Outfield/Designated Hitter – Suwon Snappers – 84.1% First Ballot Myeong-Won Song was a 6’1’’, 200 pound left-handed outfielder from Bucheon, South Korea. Song had a great eye for the ball, allowing him to be one of the best at getting on base both from hits and walks. He also had a very solid pop in his bat, averaging around 35-40 home runs and around 25-30 doubles per season. Song had okay speed in his younger years and was a fairly smart baserunner. He was a lousy defender, thus making about half of his career starts as a designated hitter. Song split his time defensively between left and right field and was graded as mediocre in both spots. He was a durable and reliable bat, allowing him to help Suwon become a playoff contender. Song didn’t have the traditional path to professional baseball, as he didn’t pick up the game until his 20s. He played within an independent league in South Korea, but dominated and caught the eye of a scout from Suwon. At age 25, Song signed his first big league contract to join the snappers in 1978. In his debut, he led the Korea League in OPS, picking up Rookie of the Year and his first of seven Silver Sluggers. The ‘diamond in the rough’ signing would soon pay off for Suwon. The Snappers hadn’t made the playoffs since 1935, but they would earn five berths in six years from 1979-84. Four times they made it to the KLCS, winning the pennant in 1981. They lost to Sapporo in the EAB Championship, but they had their first sustained success. Song in 47 postseason games had 57 hits, 24 runs, 9 doubles, 11 home runs, 28 RBI, a .329/.410/.586 slash, and 2.4 WAR. He also made appearances in four World Baseball Championships from 1978-81 with South Korea, posting 61 hits, 45 runs, 20 home runs, and 47 RBI over 61 games. Song’s second season saw him lead the KL in the triple slash, posting an impressive 1.136 OPS and career best 10.1 WAR with 43 home runs. That earned him league MVP and his second Silver Slugger. His additional Sluggers came in 1980, 84, 85, 86, and 89. He had two as a DH, three in LF, and two in RF. Song also won his second MVP in 1984, leading in WAR, OPS, and runs. He led in OBP four times in his career and OPS thrice. In spring 1980, Song signed an eight-year, $3,714,000 contract extension. He was very popular with Suwon fans and continued to perform at a high level. However, the team began to rebuild as the 1980s came to a close, falling to 62-100 in 1988. As a Snapper, Song had 1777 hits, 1079 runs, 298 doubles, 377 home runs, 1020 RBI, a .312/.405/.574 slash, and 68.0 WAR. His #34 uniform would get retired a few years later. His contract ended with the 1988 season, which had also been easily his worst statistically. At age 36, Seoul gave Song a chance on a three-year, $3,320,000 deal. He bounced back impressively in 1989, taking second in MVP voting and winning his last Silver Slugger. The Seahawks made it to the KLCS for the first time in a decade, but were bested by Daegu. Song had a good second year with Seoul as well, posting 11.2 WAR over two seasons with the squad. However, just before the 1991 season, Song was sent to Jeonju in a four-player trade. He was a full-time starter with the Jethawks, but posted the weakest year of his career with a .240/.316/.407 slash and 1.2 WAR. Song decided to retire that winter at age 38 instead of trying to find a new home. For his EAB career, Song had 2247 hits, 1342 runs, 365 doubles, 476 home runs, 1304 RBI, 1076 walks, a .304/.394/.558 slash, 159 wRC+, and 80.4 WAR. At induction, only two other Hall of Famers had a better career OBP. He was a very steady bat, although his stats weren’t quite as eye popping as his 1997 Hall of Fame classmates. They were still plenty good to get the first ballot selection at 84.1% to round out the 1997 trio. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-16-2024, 04:32 AM	#1065
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 BSA Hall of Fame The 1997 Beisbol Sudamerica Hall of Fame ballot didn’t induct a single player, the first blank ballot for BSA since 1980. SP Rio Santiago finished less than a percentage point away from the mark at 65.3% on his debut. Fellow pitcher Robinson Moreira was at 62.7% for his eighth ballot. Also above 50% were RF Dani Manzanares at 57.9% on his second try and 3B Saul Puerta with 55.6% for his ninth go. No players were dropped after ten failed ballots. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-16-2024, 11:13 AM	#1066
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 EBF Hall of Fame Two players were honored from the 1997 European Baseball Federation Hall of Fame voting. SP Jacky Muro was a no-doubter with 97.6% in his debut. He was joined by 1B Charles-Olivier Mallen with 71.3% for his second ballot. Three others were above 50%, but shy of the 66% needed. LF Husnija Kojic had 53.4% for his debut, SP Cornelius Danner got 52.0% on his fourth ballot, and SP Jose Calderon was at 51.0% in his seventh attempt. The EBF ballot didn’t have any players dropped following ten stays on the ballot. Jacky Muro – Starting Pitcher – Madrid Conquistadors – 97.6% First Ballot Jacky Muro was a 6’4’’, 190 pound right-handed pitcher from Palma, Spain; the capital and largest city of the Balearic Islands with around 400,000 inhabitants. Muro had filthy stuff with a dominant 99-101 mph fastball mixed with a slider, curveball, and splitter. His movement was merely average with below average control, but his 10/10 stuff made Muro difficult to solve as a hitter. He also had very solid stamina and durability, throwing 230+ innings in all but his final season. Muro was considered smart and loyal, two traits that served him well. After an excellent college career, Muro was picked 14^th overall in the 1977 EBF Draft by Madrid. He spent his entire pro career in the Spanish capital, while also putting up great numbers for his home country in the World Baseball Championship. From 1978-91 with the Spanish national team, Muro had a 20-7 record, 2.72 ERA, 238.1 innings, 380 strikeouts, 77 walks, and 7.3 WAR. He even had a no-hitter in the 1987 WBC, striking out 13 with four walks in a game versus Ghana. Muro was a full-time starter immediately and posted 6.4 WAR and 303 strikeouts as a rookie, taking third in Rookie of the Year voting. During his run, he was almost always a top ten level pitcher and at times in the top five. He took second in 1981 Pitcher of the Year voting, third in 1982, and second in 1983. Muro finally won the award in 1984, leading the Southern Conference that season in ERA and WHIP. He had led in strikeouts and wins the prior year. Those were his only times atop the leaderboards despite his consistent success. In his third season, Muro tossed a no-hitter on 8/31/80, striking out 17 with three walks against Naples. Madrid was generally solid throughout Muro’s tenure despite sharing a division with some very good Marseille teams. The Conquistadors made the playoffs in 1979, 83, 84, 86, 87, and 90 during his run. Madrid went one-and-done in those early years, but was convinced Muro would be a part of a champion one day. The Conquistadors signed him to a four-year extension worth $3,550,000 after the 1983 season, then another five-year, $5,800,000 extension just before the 1987 season. Madrid made it to the Southern Conference Final in 1986, but lost to the Musketeers. In 1987, the Conquistadors got over the hump and won their first European Championship since their 1950s dynasty. Muro had a great 1987 postseason, winning conference finals MVP with a 2.33 ERA and three complete game victories in the run. The Conquistadors missed the playoffs the next two years, but won it all in 1990. For his playoff career, Muro had a 3.58 ERA over 118 innings, 5-9 record, 129 strikeouts, 108 ERA+, and 2.0 WAR. 1990 would ultimately be his last good year. His production had dropped some at that point, but he was still a fine starter. Despite not having any major injuries, Muro’s velocity began to drop significantly as 1990 winded down. By 1991, he was merely in the 94-96 mph range and his once untouchable fastball became quite hittable. Muro was moved out of the rotation after posting middling numbers. He opted for retirement after the 1991 season at age 36. Madird would immediately retire his #19 uniform. Muro’s career had a 230-130 record, 2.88 ERA, 3423.1 innings, 4375 strikeouts, 897 walks, 295/427 quality starts, 110 complete games, a .209 batting average against him, 74 FIP-, and 89.7 WAR. At induction, he was fourth all-time in strikeouts and still sits sixth as of 2037. He was also ninth in pitching WAR at induction and sits 15^th in 2037. Muro had an excellent career and played a big role in returning Madrid to relevance in the 1980s. He was an easy pick for the voters, getting 97.6% on his debut. Charles-Olivier Mallen – First Base – Paris Poodles – 71.3% Second Ballot Charles-Olivier Mallen was a 6’3’’, 200 pound switch-hitting first baseman from Saint-Jean-le-Branc, a commune of around 8,000 people in central France. Mallen was a solid contact hitter with sturdy power, averaging around 35-40 home runs and around 30 doubles/triples per year. Despite a good average, his ability to earn walks and avoid strikeouts was both subpar. Mallen had below average speed but was fairly intelligent on the basepaths. He was a career first baseman and a very good defender, winning four Gold Gloves in his career. Mallen was an ironman type, starting 130+ games each year of his pro career. He was very dedicated, hardworking, and loyal; making him one of the most beloved figures in French baseball. Mallen quickly became viewed as a great prospect coming out of France ahead of the 1975 EBF Draft. Paris picked up its countryman with the 23^rd overall pick and he’d spend nearly his entire professional career in the capital. Mallen also played for the national team in ten editions of the World Baseball Championship from 1977-86 and 1990. In 80 games and 63 WBC starts, he had 61 hits, 32 runs, 23 home runs, 48 RBI, a .230/.269/.509 slash, and 1.6 WAR. Paris made Mallen a full-time starter immediately and he posted 5.4 WAR in his rookie season, taking second in 1976 Rookie of the Year voting. The Poodles were a wild card that year as well, although they were ousted in the first round. Despite Mallen’s success, Paris wouldn’t make it back to the playoffs for nearly a decade. But in his second year, he emerged as an elite player with career bests in runs (110), hits (202), home runs (46), RBI (118), batting average (.316), and WAR (9.2). This was the closest Mallen got to the MVP, taking second in the voting. He did secure his first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger. Mallen remained a solid and sturdy player, but he wasn’t a league leader or someone considered the absolute best of the best. He only won Silver Slugger once more in 1983 and had his four Gold Gloves in 1977, 78, 79, and 81. Mallen very much endeared himself to Parisian fans with his #4 jersey a regular sight. The Poodles would retire that uniform at the end of his career. Mallen would get his first contract extension after the 1979 season at five years, $2,330,000 dollars. His second extension came after the 1984 campaign worth $4,700,000 over five years. 1984 saw the Poodles earn a wild card, but again they were eliminated in the first round. Paris had been generally in the mid-tier during Mallen’s tenure. They started to struggle towards the end of the 1980s, bottoming out at 60-102 in 1989. This was the final year of Mallen’s contract and the Poodles decided to look for trade value. They moved him and $2,060,000 to Dublin in exchange for three prospects. In his short tenure in Ireland, Mallen earned his 2500^th career hit. The Dinos made it to the Northern Conference Championship and Mallen had a solid postseason, but they lost to conference powerhouse Amsterdam. Mallen had 11 hits, 6 runs, 4 home runs, and 11 RBI over 8 playoff starts. He was a free agent for the first time at age 37 before the 1990 season. The love was still strong between Mallen and Paris, and he signed a one year, $1,240,000 deal to return to the Poodles. Mallen picked up his 500^th career home run and 1500^th RBI this season. His numbers were a bit down from previous highs, but still starter quality. However, Mallen suffered his first major injury with a fractured knee in September 1990. Paris didn’t re-sign him and Mallen was a free agent for 1991. He hoped to still play, but teams weren’t willing to pay for an aged slugger coming off a major injury. Mallen officially retired that winter at age 39. Mallen’s stats had 2704 hits, 1312 runs, 395 doubles, 529 home runs, 1555 RBI, a .297/.323/.535 slash, 143 wRC+, and 76.0 WAR. He had a very steady career and was very well liked, but his tallies were still on the lower end of the Hall of Fame leaderboard. Mallen didn’t have the black ink many voters expected and his Paris teams weren’t contenders. His popularity and consistency were definite plusses. Mallen just missed the cut at 64.4% for his debut ballot, then got the bump to 71.3% on try #2 to secure his spot in the 1997 class. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-16-2024, 03:32 PM	#1067
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 EPB Hall of Fame Eurasian Professional Baseball inducted two into the Hall of Fame for 1997 with both guys getting in easily. LF/1B Darian Tasos got 99.7% and SP Azer Sattrali received 98.5% in their debuts, easily making the cut. A third debutant came close to joining them, but 1B Vyacheslav Afonin’s 64.4% fell just short of the 66% requirement. Also above 50% was 1B Bartlomiej Tarka at 59.8% for his eighth ballot and SP Maxim Aivazyan at 52.0% on his second go. One player was dropped after ten ballots in relief pitcher Iosif Kusainov, who had a 19-year career between 12 teams. He debuted at 45.8% in 1988, but was down to merely 6.2% at the end. Kusainov had 314 saves and 410 shutdowns, a 2.42 ERA, 1158.2 innings, 1308 strikeouts, 83 FIP-, and 19.7 WAR. Impressive longevity for a reliever, but he had no major awards and wasn’t nearly as dominant as other contemporary relievers. Darian “Horseface” Tasos – Left Field/First Base – St. Petersburg Polar Bears – 99.7% First Ballot Darian Tasos was a 6’0’’, 200 pound right-handed hitter from Bulqize, Albania; a small municipality of 32,000 people. Tasos was one of the top bats of his era with great power plus respectable contact ability. He had a solid eye for drawing walks, but did strike out a bit more than average. Tasos regularly averaged around 40 home runs per year while adding about 30 doubles/triples per 162 games. He had decent speed and base stealing ability, especially for a slugger. Tasos split his career nearly evenly between left field and first base. Defensively at both spots, he graded out as delightfully average. He was durable and reliable, becoming a fan favorite throughout his two decades of pro ball. Despite being from humble beginnings in Albania, Tasos was able to get looks at various camps across the Eastern Bloc as a teenager. In May 1967, it would be St. Petersburg that noticed him, signing Tasos to a developmental contract at age 16. He made his official debut at age 20 in 1971 with a mere 24 plate appearances that year. Tasos also had three at bats in the postseason as the Polar Bears had a surprise playoff run as a wild card, winning the 1971 EPB Championship. Tasos would be a full-time starter the next year and held a starting job for the next 19 years. Much to his chagrin, teammates and fans began calling him “horseface.” He eventually learned to take that moniker in stride. During his career in St. Petersburg, Tasos led the European League in runs scored thrice, hits once, home runs once, RBI thrice, total bases twice, OBP thrice, slugging thrice, OPS five times, and WAR three times. His biggest numbers would come in his 30s, but Tasos did start to win accolades in his 20s as well. 1973 was his first of six Silver Sluggers with the others in 1975, 76, 77, 82, and 84. The Polar Bears missed the playoffs in 1972 and 1973, but finished out the 1970s with six consecutive playoff berths from 1974-79. St. Petersburg won the European League pennant in 1976 and 1977, taking the EPB title as well in 1977. Tasos was a big time player in the two pennant runs, posting 35 hits, 19 runs, 11 home runs, and 25 RBI between those 30 starts. In 54 playoff games for his career, Tasos had 56 hits, 26 runs, 5 doubles 16 home runs, 34 RBI, a .276/.310/.557 slash and 2.3 WAR. In the fall of 1975, St. Petersburg locked up Tasos to an eight-year, $1,876,000 extension. He took second in MVP voting in 1975 and 1976. In 1977, Tasos won MVP for the first time, leading the EL in WAR at 8.9 and OPS at .998. 1978 would be his first setback in his career, suffering a torn ACL late in spring training. This knocked Tasos out 9-10 months, missing the entire 1978 season. Tasos returned in 1979 and still looked good, taking third in 1979 MVP voting. But he wasn’t quite as dominant in the following two years. The Polar Bears retreated towards the middle of the standings in the 1980s. They were a wild card in 1983 and 1984, but were ousted in the first round both years. Tasos would see a resurgence though with the 1982 season, posting then-career bests in runs, home runs, RBI, OPS, and WAR. This earned him his second MVP and a payday. Early in the 1983 season, St. Petersburg signed Tasos to a five-year, $2,210,000 extension. Tasos won his third MVP in 1984 with his best season and an all-timer. He posted 13.4 WAR, which set an EPB record by a position player that would only get topped once in the following 50 years. Tasos had career and European League bests in runs (107), hits (200), homers (58), RBI (125), total bases (419), OPS (1.098), and wRC+ (262). He also had a career best .340 average, falling 13 points short of a Triple Crown season. The final three years of his run with the Polar Bears didn’t reach that obscene level, but were still very solid. With St. Petersburg, Tasos had 2278 hits, 1242 runs, 300 doubles, 127 triples, 570 home runs, 1409 RBI, a 281/.343/.560 slash, and 109.3 WAR. His #8 uniform would later get retired and he’d remain a beloved franchise icon for decades to come. But all good things do come to an end. Tasos was 37 years old entering the final year of his contract in 1988. Hoping they could reload after being middling for a few years, St. Petersburg traded Tasos to Tashkent for three prospects. He picked up his 600^th home run in his first year with the Tomcats and posted similar production to what he had been doing. Tashkent decided to give Tasos a two-year contract extension worth $1,260,000. He had a respectable 1989, but his tallies dropped a bit in 1990 while also missing a month to a strained oblique. The Tomcats extended Tasos again, but he would struggle in 1991 and eventually be used in a platoon role. Tasos opted to retire that winter at age 41. With Tashkent, he had 440 hits, 248 runs, 113 home runs, 251 RBI, a .240/.308/.467 slash, and 13.4 WAR. Tasos’ final stats were 2718 hits, 1490 runs, 350 doubles, 141 triples, 683 home runs, 1660 RBI, a .273/.337/.543 slash, 174 wRC+, and 122.7 WAR. At induction, he was the EPB WARlord among position players and fourth all-time in home runs, third in RBI, fifth in hits, second in runs scored. Tasos still has the top WAR spot and remains in the top ten as of 2037 in all of the above mentioned stats minus hits. Few batters in EPB history can claim to be Tasos’ equal or superior, thus the obvious 99.7% first ballot induction into the 1997 Hall of Fame class. Azer Sattarli – Starting Pitcher – Ulaanbaatar Boars – 98.5% First Ballot Azer Sattarli was a 5’11’’, 200 pound right-handed pitcher from Bratsk, Russia, city of 220,000 people in the Irkutsk Oblast. Sattarli was known for having very good stuff with above average control and okay movement. His fastball hit the 97-99 mph range, while he could fool you with four other potent pitches; slider, forkball, sinker, and knuckle curve. Sattarli’s forkball was the most effective of the five, but none of his pitches were poor. His stamina was quite solid and he was known as a very durable and reliable arm. It wasn’t easy as a prospect in Siberia to earn a ton of attention as a teenager. However, a scout from nearby Mongolia caught wind of Sattarli and signed him to a developmental deal in Ulaanbaatar in 1070. He made his debut for the Boars with four relief appearances in 1975 at age 21. Sattarli was a full-time starter the next year and looked promising. Sattarli had five relief appearances in the 1976 postseason as Ulaanbaatar won the Soviet Series over St. Petersburg. He also took second in Rookie of the Year voting, although he’d be reduced to an emergency starter type role in the following two seasons. 1979 saw Sattarli back in the rotation full-time, a spot he’d hold for the rest of his Ulaanbaatar tenure. He became the ace at this point and became a master at mixing his pitches, leading the Asian League in strikeouts four times from 1980-84. He also led in ERA in 1983, WHIP thrice, and WAR in 1983 and 1984. Sattarli was second in Pitcher of the Year voting in 1981, then won the award three straight seasons from 1982-84. He was also third in MVP voting in both 1983 and 1984. One highlight was a no-hitter with 15 strikeouts and one walk against Krasnoyarsk on 5/18/83. Later that year, Sattarli had a 41 inning scoreless streak from late July to mid August. Ulaanbaatar made it back to the playoffs in 1982 and 1984, falling in the ALCS in the latter. The Boars signed him to a five-year, $3,450,000 extension during spring training 1985, seemingly locking Sattarli down for the long haul. The Boars surprised many though when they traded him near the deadline to Kyiv for four prospects. It frustrated many fans in Mongolia, as the Boars remained middling after he left and bottomed out in the 1990s. The franchise would later patch things up and retire his #31 uniform at the end of his career. For his Ulaanbaatar run, Sattarli had a 139-97 record, 2.14 ERA, 2305.1 innings, 2937 strikeouts, and 62.7 WAR. The Kings were in an arms race against their European League foes and hoped Sattarli could give them the edge. Although not an award winner or league leader with Kyiv, Sattarli was a solid veteran arm. He posted a 3.69 ERA and 6-3 record over 90.1 playoff innings with the Kings, striking out 103. Sattarli earned two championship rings as Kyiv won it all in 1986 and 1987. Sattarli started to fade as his contract ran out and was only used as a part-time starter in 1990. For his Kyiv tenure, he had a 72-63 record, 2.60 ERA, 1315 innings, 1595 strikeouts, 29.3 WAR. A free agent for the first time at age 37, he signed a one-year deal with Dushanbe. He provided a lot of innings in his one year with the Dynamo, but his production was average at best. Sattarli decided to retire after the 1991 campaign at age 38. For his career, Sattarli had a 228-172 record, 2.37 ERA, 3907.1 innings, 4817 strikeouts, 632 walks, 345/452 quality starts, 234 complete games, 123 ERA+, 76 FIP-, and 97.7 WAR. He was seventh all-time in strikeouts at induction and still sits tenth as of 2037. Sattarli doesn’t sit at the tip-top of the leaderboard for EPB Hall of Fame pitchers, but he’s definitely not at the bottom either. The voters didn’t hesitate to put him in at 98.5% as the second member of the 1997 class. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-17-2024, 04:22 AM	#1068
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 OBA Hall of Fame Pitcher Thomas Harrison was the lone inductee for 1997 into the Oceania Baseball Association Hall of Fame at a strong 98.1%. Two others crossed the midway mark, but fell short of the 66% requirement. RF Dede Hayati had 58.6% on his sixth ballot and closer Lorenzo Amaru got 52.1% for his second attempt. Thomas Harrison – Starting Pitcher – Guam Golden Eagles – 98.1% First Ballot Thomas Harrison was a 6’0’’, 190 pound right-handed pitcher from Newcastle, Australia; a city of roughly 350,000 inhabitants in the Sydney Basin. Harrison was a well-rounded pitcher with solid stuff, movement, and control. His fastball hit around 97-99 mph and was his strongest pitch. Harrison mixed in a sinker and changeup to fool hitters. Compared to his contemporaries, his stamina was low and he didn’t toss many complete games. Harrison was noticed as a teenage amateur by a scout for Guam, who signed him to a developmental deal in spring 1974. He officially debuted with one relief appearance in 1977 at age 21. Harrison was moved into the rotation full-time in 1978, although a strained oblique cost him two months. Still, he had enough innings to qualify for an ERA title at 1.58. This season, Guam fell two games short of the Pacific League title behind Port Moresby. The next two seasons, the Golden Eagles won the Oceania Championship. They won 112-50 games in 1979, setting the top mark at the time for wins in a season. Harrison was second in Pitcher of the Year voting in 1979, then won the award in 1980. He missed the 1979 finals to a sprained elbow, but was a big part of their 1980 finals run, tossing 16 scoreless innings in his two starts. Guam remained solid for the next few years, but wouldn’t make it back to the final in the 1980s as Honolulu’s dynasty dawned. Harrison also started pitching for Australia in the World Baseball Championship, playing eight WBCs from 1981-91. He was mostly a reliever in the WBC, posting a 1.93 ERA over 56 innings with 87 strikeouts and 2.2 WAR. Harrison signed a six-year, $3,016,000 extension in the spring of 1983. That season, he picked up his second Pitcher of the Year award, leading in ERA, wins, and WAR. Harrison led in wins thrice, WHIP thrice, K/BB twice, quality starts four times, and FIP- three times. He stayed solid over these next few years, although elbow and forearm inflammation cost Harrison a number of starts in this stretch. Guam finally bottomed out in 1987 at 64-98, needing to rebuild after having posted nine straight winning seasons. However, the Golden Eagles decided to keep Harrison around, adding a three-year extension for the 33-year old just before the 1989 season. Sadly, 1988 was Harrison’s final full season. Elbow issues cost him much of early 1988, then he suffered a torn UCL in August 1989 to put him out 11 months. Harrison made it back for a few starts in late 1990, although his production was average at best. He looked good to start 1991, but had another torn UCL that ultimately ended his career. The Golden Eagles won the PL pennant in 1991, but Harrison was watching in a sling. He retired that winter at age 35. Guam retired his #12 uniform soon after. Harrison’s stats saw a 203-108 record, 2.22 ERA, 3067 innings, 3030 strikeouts, 520 walks, 346/431 quality starts, 82 FIP-, 132 ERA+, and 67.3 WAR. He was the seventh pitcher to reach 200 wins and the 11^th to 3000 strikeouts. Harrison’s overall accumulations are a bit low compared to some others due to his injury issues, but his ERA and rate stats hold up very well against the best of the best. He was a big reason Guam was a consistent contender in the 1980s. The voters recognized this and gave Harrison the slam dunk first ballot induction at 98.1% as the lone member of OBA’s 1997 class. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-17-2024, 10:07 AM	#1069
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 APB Hall of Fame Two pitchers made it into the Austronesia Professional Baseball Hall of Fame for the 1997 class. Both guys were first ballot selections, but both only narrowly breached the 66% requirement for induction. Ed Arua had 71.3% and Eka Mattalatta received 67.9%. Also above 50% on their debuts were three closers; Ting-Wei Ping (57.4%), Hong Quinonez (55.8%), and Afriza Bachdim (55.1%). Dropped after ten ballots was designated hitter Po-Yu Shao, who played 14 years with his hometown Kaohsiung. Shao came very close, reaching 60.7% in his debut and in 1995. He ended at 53.2% and had a low at 45.9%. Shao won six Silver Sluggers, was finals MVP twice, and won four titles with the Steelheads. Shao led in home runs seven times and posted 1556 hits, 1015 runs, 592 home runs, 1160 RBI, 2304 strikeouts, a .218/.297/.497 slash, 154 wRC+, and 61.8 WAR. He was very much a “three true outcomes” type and there were enough voters who dinged Shao for being a DH and for his deficiencies. Still, it is surprising someone with his power was left out, especially considering his prominent role in Kaohsiung’s dynasty. Also dropped from the ballot was closer Lee Tira, who bounced around between APB, MLB, and EPB in his career. In APB, he had 315 saves, 1.69 ERA, 859.1 innings, 1128 strikeouts, and 29.1 WAR. His stats were comparable to some others who got into the APB Hall, but Tira didn’t have any Reliever of the Year awards. He came close with 57.3% in his debut, but eventually ended at 37.0%. Ed Arua – Starting Pitcher – Batam Blue Raiders – 71.3% First Ballot Ed Arua was a 5’9’’, 195 pound right-handed pitcher from Surabaya, Indonesia. He was known for having very good control with solid movement and respectable stuff. His 94-96 mph cut fastball was his top pitch, although Arua also fooled batters with a strong screwball, good sinker, and okay changeup. He had solid stamina and was considered great at holding runners and a good defensive pitcher. However, Arua was very outspoken and controversial, known for his many inflammatory hot takes. Even with his talent, a lot of teammates and fans didn’t think Arua was worth the hassle. Arua’s potential was evident as a teenager with Batam signing him in late 1972 as an amateur free agent. He spent just over five years in their developmental system, making his debut in 1978 at age 21 with 59 innings. The plan was to put Arua full-time in the 1979 rotation, but he suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in May. Some worried that this could derail his career, but Arua returned from the injury as a legitimate ace. In 1981, Arua took second in Pitcher of the Year by leading in wins, ERA, and WHIP. He never won the top award, but placed third in 1983, second again in 1984, and third in 1985. Arua led in wins twice and ERA twice and posted six straight seasons worth 6.5+ WAR. He also pitched for the Indonesian national team from 1981-88 in the World Baseball Championship, posting a 13-4 record, 3.01 ERA, 140.2 innings, 155 strikeouts, and 2.7 WAR. On April 1, 1982, Arua tossed a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts and one walk against Pekanbaru. He one-upped himself on September 4, tossing a perfect game against his hometown team Surabaya with 14 strikeouts. Despite being a strong ace, Batam was middling in his run. Arua only had one playoff start in his career, getting rocked in 1985 with six earned runs against him in 2.2 innings. In total with Batam, Arua had a 112-81 record, 1.80 ERA, 1970.2 innings, 2166 strikeouts, and 52.1 WAR. The Blue Raiders weren’t sure what to do with Arua. His talent was undeniable, but his outspoken nature was starting to cause trouble. In March 1986, Batam committed long-term to the 29-year old with a seven-year, $6,300,000 extension. The Blue Raiders dropped to 75-87 and started to have buyers’ remorse. They ultimately decided to go with a full rebuild, which did pay off as they would contend in the 1990s. Batam traded Arua after the 1986 season to Tainan for five prospects. Arua was never nearly as dominant in his time with the Titans. He was average to below average in his first three seasons, allowing the most home runs in 1989. He flat out stunk in 1990 and was moved out of the rotation full-time. In early 1991, shoulder inflammation required surgery and effectively ended Arua’s career at age 35. With Tainan, he had a 46-57 record, 3.18 ERA, 894.2 innings, 830 strikeouts, 166 walks, and 8.7 WAR. For his career, Arua had a 158-138 record, 2.23 ERA, 2865.1 innings, 2996 strikeouts, 438 walks, 266/346 quality starts, 126 complete games, 115 ERA+, 82 FIP-, and 60.8 WAR. Batam would later retire his #20 uniform and he was a legit ace during his Blue Raiders run. Still, Arua’s tallies are among the lower end of the APB Hall of Fame leaderboard, plus he lacked awards or playoff accolades. He definitely was a borderline choice, but the 1997 ballot didn’t have any no-doubt guys or strong returners. There were enough voters sold and those who didn’t want to leave the ballot blank, giving Arua the first ballot induction at 71.3%. Eka Mattalatta - Starting Pitcher – Medan Marlins – 67.9% First Ballot Eka Mattalatta was a 5’11’’, 195 pound right-handed pitcher from from Surabaya, Indonesia. Mattalatta wasn’t dominant at any facet, but gave you above average control and movement with decent stuff. He had 94-96 mph velocity on his fastball, but countered it with very good changeup. Mattalatta also had a forkball and slider in his arsenal. He had great stamina and was considered a good defensive pitcher that knew how to hold runners. Mattalatta also was a good hitter by pitcher standards with a .194/.208/.235 slash and 2.3 WAR in his career, winning Silver Sluggers in 1981, 82, and 83. He would clash with teammates though, considered thick-headed and greedy. Mattalatta emerged as a top-end Indonesian prospect coming out of the amateur ranks. With the third pick of the 1975 APB Draft, Medan selected Mattalatta. They didn’t use him at all in 1976 though and only gave him four relief appearances in 1977. Mattalatta became a full-time starter from 1978 onward. His debut in the rotation was strong, leading the Sundaland Association in wins and quality starts. Mattalatta won Rookie of the Year and was second in Pitcher of the Year voting. Mattalatta was third in Pitcher of the Year voting in 1980, but wouldn’t ever win the award or be a finalist again. He had steady production with the Marlins, but wasn’t a league leader. It was Mattalatta’s playoff success that earned him acclaim. Medan made the playoffs four times from 1980-84 and won the Sundaland Association pennant in 1981, 83, and 84. The Marlins were unable to win the APB title, but it certainly wasn’t Mattalatta’s fault. In nine playoff starts for Medan, he had a 1.32 ERA, 75 innings, 57 strikeouts, and 2.0 WAR. That effort was a big reason his #48 would be retired eventually by the Marlins. For his Medan tenure, Mattalatta had a 119-98 record, 2.14 ERA, 2138 innings, 1984 strikeouts, 401 walks, 212/254 quality starts, and 38.1 WAR. He became a free agent after the 1985 season at age 32 and inked a six-year, $5,170,000 contract with Semarang. Mattalatta’s stats declined a bit with age, posting very average stats with the Sliders. They would win two pennants in his tenure, 1988 and 1990. Mattalatta missed the 1988 postseason to injury, but was there to earn his first APB ring in 1990 as Semarang beat Cebu in the final. For his Sliders tenure, Mattalatta had a 65-49 record, 2.36 ERA, 1100.2 innings, 1013 strikeouts, and 7.2 WAR. Semarang would trade him in 1991, oddly enough to the team they beat in the championship. The Sliders sent him and 1B Dan Ong to Cebu for 3B Raymond Jo. Mattalatta pitched one year with the Crows and posted 5.2 WAR, his highest since his Medan days. The Crows won the Taiwan-Philippine Association title again and bested Batam for the APB title. Mattalatta posted a 2.60 ERA over 27.2 playoff innings in the run, earning his second APB ring and sixth Association pennant. Mattalatta decided to retire with the title in winter 1991 at age 37. Mattalatta had a 196-158 record, 2.25 ERA, 3490.2 innings, 3234 strikeouts, 632 walks, 329/412 quality starts, 190 complete games, 109 ERA+, FIP- of 96, and 50.7 WAR. His rate stats and WAR were very much among the weakest of those who made the APB Hall of Fame. Mattalatta’s playoff successes though won over many voters that were skeptical of his resume. He had more longevity than his HOF classmate Ed Arua, but was less efficient. A case could be made that the 1997 was an all-time weak class for the APB HOF, but APB voters a very pitcher-centric and were loath to leave a blank ballot. Mattalatta just narrowly crossed the 66% requirement at 67.9% to earn a first ballot induction. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-17-2024, 04:20 PM	#1070
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 CLB Hall of Fame Center fielder Libo Li received an induction into the Chinese League Baseball as the lone member of the 1997 Hall of Fame class. Li was a first ballot selection at 83.7%. The next closest to making it was closer Huyi Gao at 59.3% for his fourth try. Two others were above 50% with RF Zhengyu Peng at 54.8% and SP Xiabin Chen at 52.1%; both on their first ballots. No players were dumped from the ballot after ten failed tries. Libo Li – Center Field – Qingdao Devils – 83.7% First Ballot Libo Li was a 6’2’’, 200 pound right-handed center fielder from Huaibei, a city of just under two million people in east China’s Anhui province. Li was a solid contact hitter with a terrific pop in his bat. He wasn’t a prolific home run hitter, but he added around 25 per 162 games. Li’s ability to find the gap made him very dangerous, posting upwards of 40-50 doubles/triples in his best seasons. He had a respectable eye for drawing walks with an average strikeout rate. Li was also incredibly fast and was a terrific baserunner, adept at steals and stretching out for extra bags. He was a career center fielder and an excellent defender, winning six Gold Gloves in his career. Despite the physical demands of the position, Li rarely missed time to injury in his prime seasons. Although he started to break down some as he aged, Li had the very rare distinction as someone still capable of playing center effectively into his 40s. Li also was occasionally used as a pitcher, although he wasn’t a true two-way guy. He had a fastball and circle change combo, posting a 2.82 career ERA with 16 saves over 76.2 innings. Li seemed to have all of the tools, making him the top prospect ahead of the 1974 Chinese League Baseball Draft. Qingdao had the first overall pick and used it on Li. He was a full-time starter immediately and posted an impressive 8.6 WAR in his debut, taking the 1975 Rookie of the Year. That year, he also became the third CLB hitter to have a six hit game. His great defense gave him impressive WAR totals with 11 consecutive seasons worth 8+ WAR to start his career. Li’s Gold Gloves were six straight from 1976-81. Li very quickly added offensive excellence to his defensive greatness. He would lead the Northern League in runs scored twice, triples five times, home runs once, RBI twice, total bases twice, stolen bases twice, batting average once, OBP twice, slugging twice, OPS twice, wRC+ twice, and WAR five times. Li won eight Silver Sluggers (1977, 79-85). These dynamic performances made him one of the most beloved figures in Chinese baseball. He also was a regular for the Chinese team in the World Baseball Championship. Li played in 18 editions of the event from 1977-96, playing 248 games and starting 247. He had 208 hits, 158 runs, 32 doubles, 13 triples, 53 home runs, 124 RBI, a .237/.331/.484 slash, 133 wRC+, and 8.5 WAR. Li was second in WBC MVP voting in 1979, helping China take the World Championship. He got a second world title with the 1994 team. Li was a regular MVP finalist with Qingdao. He won the award in 1980 and 1985. Li took second in 1977, third in 1978, third in 1982, second in 1983, and third in 1984. In 1980, his staggering 15.8 WAR set the CLB record for the most in a season, a mark that still stands as the all-time best in 2037. Li scored 121 runs, which held as the CLB record until 2029. He also posted career bests in home runs (41), total bases (386), average (.311), OPS (1.020), and wRC+ (244). He was beloved by Qingdao, but he couldn’t turn the Devils into a winner. 1982 would be their only playoff appearance in his entire run, falling in the semifinal to Hong Kong. Qingdao was usually just above .500 during Li’s run, but couldn’t get over the hump. Still, Devils crowds were full of #20 jerseys. They would eventually retire the #20 once Li’s impressive run was done. In the summer of 1982, he would sign a seven-year, $4,830,000 extension to stay in Qingdao. In 1986, things would trend downward for the Devils. They finished at 66-96, their worst season in a decade. Li missed the second half of the season with a broken bone in his elbow. It didn’t look like Qingdao would be competitive in the coming years. Li disappointed many fans by opting out of the remainder of his contract, becoming a free agent for the first time at age 35. This would also end his time playing in China, although he still remained nationally popular as he left for the United States. With Qingdao, Li had 1841 hits, 1002 runs, 239 doubles, 270 triples, 248 home runs, 841 RBI, 771 stolen bases, a .278/.334/.509 slash, 180 wRC+, and 130.6 WAR. As of 2037, he’s still fifth all-time in batting WAR. He was the all-time triples leader until 2035. Had his last decade of stats been still in China, Li might have totals atop the leaderboards to put him in the GOAT conversations. It was still more than enough to get him the first ballot induction, although some voters were against him for leaving and for his lack of playoff success with Qingdao. Li ended up at 83.7% as the lone inductee into CLB’s Hall of Fame in 1997. He had another decade of baseball ahead, signing a four-year, $6,780,000 with MLB’s San Francisco. Li never was an award winner in MLB, but he still provided strong value, especially with his great defense. With the Gold Rush, he had 15.8 WAR, 441 hits, 251 runs, and a .270/.329/.497 slash. He struggled a bit offensively in 1989 with the Gold Rush and the team traded him early in the 1990 season. Li was traded to Tampa for two pitchers. His Thunderbirds season was plagued by injury, putting his future in doubt after the campaign. Li was a free agent at age 39, signing a one-year deal with Portland. Li spend three season ultimately with the Pacifics, posting 6.3 WAR, 294 hits, 156 runs, 53 home runs, and a .233/.294/.418 average. In 1994, the now 42-year old signed with Washington and saw a resurgence, as he had been subpar offensively in the prior couple seasons. Li posted 5.1 WAR and 33 home runs in his one year with the Admirals. Toronto signed him for 1995 and he looked decent, but missed time to injury. Li ended up in Tampa in 1996 and finally looked cooked that season. He retired that winter at age 44. For his MLB career, Li had 1077 hits, 610 runs, 149 doubles, 58 triples, 204 home runs, 593 RBI, a .248/.309/.451 slash, 111 wRC+, and 29.7 WAR. A pretty solid decade for a guy on the back end of his career. He didn’t have any better luck being on playoff teams in MLB, only seeing two playoff games in 1987 with San Francisco. For his entire pro run, Li had 2918 hits, 1612 runs, 388 doubles, 328 triples, 452 home runs, 1434 RBI, 994 stolen bases, a .266/.324/.486 slash, 152 wRC+, and 160.3 WAR. Li was one of the finest center fielders of his era and one of the absolute best players of any era to come out of China. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-18-2024, 03:28 AM	#1071
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 WAB Hall of Fame For the first time since 1989, West African Baseball didn’t add a player into its Hall of Fame. Two debuting players led the 1997 ballot, but fell short of the 66% requirement. SP Moussa Sidi ended up with 57.4% and SP Issaka Camara had 56.6%. The top returner was CF Stephen Tshukudu at 56.6% on his eight try. That was the highest mark yet for Tshukudu, whose previous best was 52.4% in 1994. No one else was above 50% and no players were dropped after making it on ten ballots. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-18-2024, 10:54 AM	#1072
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 SAB & ABF Hall of Fame For the second time in three years, no players made the cut into the South Asia Baseball Hall of Fame. Only one player was above 50% in 1997 as SP Ramesh Kohinoor received 59.5% on his fourth try. Interestingly enough, no new players qualified for the ballot in 1997. Closer Jason Mayekar was the only other player above ¼, getting 49.0% for his sixth ballot. The Asian Baseball Federation seemed no closer to getting its first Hall of Famer. The top vote getter in 1997 was SP Abbas Nadim at only 24.1% for his fourth try. The best debut was SP Ali Dahir at a mere 13.5% __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-18-2024, 05:14 PM	#1073
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 World Baseball Championship The 1997 World Baseball Championship was the 51^st edition of the event and was hosted in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Division 1 had Colombia and Costa Rica tie for first at 7-2, while Burkina Faso was close behind at 6-3. The tiebreaker went to the Colombians, denying the Costa Ricans what would’ve been their first division title. It was the 14^th time Colombia advanced, but the first since 1993. The defending world champion United States crushed the Division 2 field and were the only 9-0 in divisional play. The Americans advanced for the 43^rd time in WBC history. Turkey claimed Division 3 at 7-2, beating out Australia and Denmark. This was only the second division title for the Turks, who were runner-up in 1985. China, who had been in the championship in the prior four seasons, limped to 4-5. D4 had Peru and Japan tied for first at 7-2, while Iran and the Dominican Republic were both 6-3. The Peruvians had the head-to-head tiebreaker to win their third-ever division title with the other two coming way back in the 1960s. Division 5 saw Panama prevail at 7-2, edging four 6-3 teams (Canada, Haiti, India, Portugal). This was the third time advancing for the Panamanians (1992, 1965). Division 6 went to 7-2 England, besting 6-3 efforts by Argentina, Brazil, and the Czech Republic. This was the fourth division title for the English, who last pulled it off in 1975. Division 7 was claimed by Mexico at 8-1, who topped Bolivia and the Netherlands by two games. The Mexicans advanced for the 21^st time. D8 featured 7-2 Indonesia outlasting 6-3 runs by Germany, Greece, and Nigeria. The Indonesians impressively earned a fifth consecutive division title, the longest active streak. It was their 14^th division title overall. Indonesia took top marks in Round Robin Group A at 5-1, becoming a semifinalist for the eighth time and first time since 1993. The United States also advanced at 4-2, while Peru was 2-4 and England finished 1-5. The Americans earned a 37^th final four berth. Group B saw Mexico on top at 5-1, moving forward along with 3-3 Colombia. Panama and Turkey both ended at 2-4. It was the 11^th final four appearance for the Mexicans, although they hadn’t gotten that far since 1981. It was the eighth semifinal for the Colombians, whose own drought dated to 1982. In the semifinals, Indonesia downed Colombia 3-1 and the United States swept Mexico 3-0. This earned the Indonesians only their second-ever championship appearance, as they fell to Canada in the 1986 final. The Americans earned a 33^rd finals berth. The Colombians were officially third, matching their best effort. Six times, Colombia has ended up as the third place team. Mexico placed fourth for the second time. The 51^st World Championship was unique as it was the first sweep since 1974. The United States rolled over Indonesia to earn back-to-back world titles, making the Americans 29-4 all-time in the final. Indonesia’s Nerius Senaen would earn tournament MVP despite the runner-up finish. The 31-year old three-time MVP left fielder with Batam had 32 hits, 18 runs, 7 doubles, 10 home runs, 19 RBI, a .372/.460/.802 slash, and 2.4 WAR over 23 WBC starts. Dominican pitcher Marco Del Valle was named Top Pitcher. The 27-year old closer tossed 10 scoreless innings with four hits and three walks allowed and 14 strikeouts. Other notes: Burkina Faso’s Paul Zorome tossed the fifth perfect game in WBC history, striking out 17 against Nicaragua. That set a record for most Ks in a perfecto, although that would be beaten when the next one occurred in 2004. Bangladesh’s Budail bin Hafiz posted the WBC’s first-ever six hit game, going 6-7 against the Philippines. As of 2037, no other player has gotten six hits in a WBC game. Below are the updated all-time tournament stats for the WBC. Mexico became the fifth nation to reach 100 points. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-19-2024, 03:50 AM	#1074
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 in AAB The Southern Conference saw defending AAB champion Cape Town and Dar es Salaam finish tied for first at 95-67. The tiebreaker gave the Sabercats the top seed with their first-ever winning season. Dar es Salaam allowed 1132 hits as a pitching staff, which sits third best in conference history as of 2037. The Cowboys earned repeat playoff berths as the wild card. Johannesburg was third at 87-75, eight games back. Luanda, last year’s wild card, dropped to fifth at 80-82. Southern Conference MVP was Sabercats 1B Boubacar Mavinga. The 30-year old Congolese righty led in hits (163) and total bases (339). He added 51 home runs, 125 RBI, a .281/.362/.584 slash, and 6.0 WAR. Cape Town’s Ahmed Hussen Rooble was the Pitcher of the Year. The 30-year old Somali righty led in wins (20-9), innings (277.2), WHIP (1.02), quality starts (25), FIP- (66), and WAR (8.9). He added 281 strikeouts and 2.85 ERA. The Central Conference also had two teams well above the rest. Bujumbura took first at 104-58 for their first-ever playoff berth. They were one game ahead of wild card Kinshasa, who is the only team to make playoffs in all three years of AAB. The Sun Cats allowed 1109 hits as a pitching staff, which is still second-best in conference history as of 2037. Defending conference champ Ndjamena was a solid third at 93-69, but still ten games shy of the wild card. No other teams in the conference were above .500. Bujumbura’s Stijn Steeneveld repeated as Central Conference MVP. The 32-year old Dutch right fielder led in hits (185), RBI (131), total bases (381), and WAR (8.0). He added 56 home runs and a .312 average, finishing second in both stats. His Bighorns teammate Henry Kibirige won Pitcher of the Year in only his second season. The 22-year old Ugandan righty led in wins (23-6), ERA (2.60), innings (266.2), WHIP (0.97), K/BB (4.2), quality starts (26), FIP- (58), and WAR (10.0). Kibirige added 242 strikeouts. In the Southern Conference Championship, Dar es Salaam knocked out defending champ Cape Town 4-2. The Central Conference Championship had Kinshasa upset Bujumbura 4-1. The Sun Cats were the first team to make the Africa Series twice, having taken runner-up in 1995. The second try was the charm for Kinshasa, who cruised to a 5-0 Africa Series sweep over the Sabercats. CF Bawaka Ngoie was MVP of the Africa Series and the conference finals. The Congolese righty had 11 hits, 13 runs, 9 home runs, and 15 RBI in 9 playoff starts. 9 homers was a playoff record in AAB until passed in 2008. Other notes: Bujumbura’s Jose Elias became the first hitter in AAB to smack 60 homers in a season. He’d only hold the home run record for one year. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-19-2024, 10:07 AM	#1075
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 in ALB Reigning Arab League Baseball champion Cairo was a solid 95-67, but that wasn’t enough to win a strong Nile Division. At 105-57, Khartoum took the top seed in the Western Conference for their first-ever playoff berth. It was only the second time in ALB’s eight seasons to date that the Pharaohs missed the playoffs. Casablanca, who had won five straight Mediterranean Division titles and three conference pennants in that stretch, dropped to 76-86. Tripoli would roll to the Mediterranean crown at 99-63 to get their second division title along with the 1991 campaign. Jerusalem took the Levant Division at 84-78, beating defending division winner Amman by four games. The Jets snapped a four-year playoff drought. Western Conference MVP went to Jerusalem 2B Mustafa bin Nazim. In his first full-time season as a starter, the 22-year old Omani switch hitter led in total bases (385), slugging (.675), OPS (1.071), wRC+ (187), and WAR (10.1). He added a .319 average, 50 home runs, and 112 RBI. Khartoum’s Mohamed Wael became a two-time Pitcher of the Year winner. The 26-year old Egyptian lefty led in ERA (2.36), strikeouts (329), WHIP (0.79), K/BB (9.7), FIP- (57), and WAR (8.7). Wael added a 16-9 record over 233 innings. Tripoli rolled to a 2-0 first round series win over Jerusalem, earning their second-ever Western Conference Final appearance. They proved no match for Khartoum, who became a first-time pennant winner by sweeping the WCF 3-0. The only repeat playoff team in all of ALB was reigning Eastern Conference champion Mosul. The Muskies earned a third Iraq Division title in a row at 107-55. They led all ALB teams in both runs scored (820) and fewest allowed (557). Doha had a remarkable turnaround to win the Gulf Division at 95-67. The Dash hadn’t won more than 65 games in any season prior and had an ALB-worst 58 wins in 1996. Dubai, who had won three straight Gulf Divisions, was a distant second at 85-77. The Saudi Division needed a tiebreaker game as both Medina and Jeddah tied at 88-74. The Mastodons prevailed for their seventh division title in eight years. Riyadh was a competitive third at 83-79, while last year’s winner Mecca fell to 76-86. Mosul SS Mohammed Mohamed won a third consecutive Eastern Conference MVP. He didn’t reach his record-setting 16.0 WAR for the prior year, but his 14.5 WAR still stands as the second-best ever in 2037 by a position player. At only 23 years old, the Saudi righty repeated as a Triple Crown winner and won his third Gold Glove at shortstop. Mohamed led the EC in runs (124), hits (198), home runs (51), RBI (141), triple slash (.390/.453/.776), OPS (1.229), and wRC+ (242). His runs, batting average, and OPS set single season ALB records. As of 2037, he’s the only ALB batter to earn multiple Triple Crown seasons. Muskies ace Rashiq Tariq was also dominant again, taking his third straight Pitcher of the Year and the fourth of his career. The 28-year old Iraqi righty led in wins (27-4), ERA (1.72), innings (293.2), WHIP (0.85), quality starts (29), complete games (15), shutouts (5), FIP- (53), and WAR (11.9). The 27 wins remains the ALB single-season record as of 2037. Tariq also struck out 365, second to a record-setting 410 Ks from Jeddah’s Ahmad Abu Kabeer. Abu Kabeer, a fourth-year Palestinian righty, was the first ALB pitcher to fan 400+ in a season. Only two others would eventually join him with only one passing him in 2013. Doha downed Medina 2-0 in the first round of the playoffs. The Dash were a major underdog against a loaded Mosul squad for the Eastern Conference Final, as the Muskies looked for a repeat pennant. However, Doha pulled off the stunning upset 3-1 to take the title. Doha’s improbable run continued into the eighth Arab League Championship. The Dash were the underdog to 105-win Khartoum, but swept the Cottonmouths 4-0. Doha completed one of the finest bounce-back stories in pro baseball history, going from a 58-win stinker the prior year that had never posted a winning season to the champion of the Arab world. 2B Ammar Mohammed was finals MVP as the 28-year old Yemeni had 16 hits, 6 runs, 2 doubles, 2 home runs, and 5 RBI in 10 playoff starts. Other notes; Doha’s Jassem Al-Yamahi threw ALB’s second perfect game on September 14, striking out 13 against Baghdad. In addition to setting the single-season strikeout record, Jeddah’s Ahmad Abu Kabeer became the first ALB pitcher to strike out 20 in a game. He did it against Doha on May 8 while walking two. Alexandria’s Alfons Brandstetter set a bad record as a pitcher, walking 127 batters. This remains ALB’s all-time worst as of 2037. Casablanca’s Mamadou Bassirou had a 26-game hit streak, which set the ALB record that held until 2002. Abdullah Al-Muhafazat became the first pitcher to 2500 career strikeouts. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-19-2024, 05:15 PM	#1076
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 in ABF Hyderabad had the top record in the Pakistan League for the third successive season and earned a fourth straight playoff berth. The Horned Frogs ran away with first at 104-58 and set a still-standing PL record with 438 stolen bases as a team. The battle for second place was tight as Faisalabad took it at 88-74. It was the second-ever playoff berth for the Fire, who were wild card in 1992. Lahore was four games back while two-time defending PL champ Karachi was six behind. Peshawar was sixth at 77-85, but they had the Pakistan League MVP in veteran RF Hakim As-Salam. It was the second MVP for the 33-year old, who also won it back in 1992. In his 11^th season with the Predators, As-Salam led in the triple slash (.312/.388/.616), OPS (1.004), wRC+ (241), total bases (343), and hits (174). He added 43 home runs and 8.8 WAR. Hyderabad’s Ahmad Oorzhak repeated as Pitcher of the Year. The 24-year old ace led in wins (17-3), ERA (1.54), and FIP- (59). He added 265 strikeouts and 6.3 WAR over 186.2 innings. For the first time in franchise history, Bursa had the top record in the Turkish League. The Blue Claws took the top seed in the West Asia Association at 102-60, outracing Istanbul by six games. With their berth, Shiraz is now the only ABF team without a single playoff berth through the first 13 seasons of the Asian Baseball Federation. Adana, the two-time defending ABF champs, took third in the TL at 88-74. The Persian League had Isfahan on top again at 94-68, earning a third consecutive title. Tehran was their closest competitor at a distant ten games back. West Asia Association MVP went to Tabriz LF Vahid Hadadi, making him a three-time MVP. It was his first MVP since earning back-to-back honors in his first two seasons. Hadadi earned the award despite the Tiger Sharks being an atrocious 58-104 in 1997. The 30-year old Iranian led in slugging (.678), OPS (1.083), and wRC+ (202), while adding a .322 average, 8.1 WAR, 50 home runs, and 99 RBI. Isfahan’s Yazeed Anwari won a third straight Pitcher of the Year and set the ABF wins record at 27-6. As of 2037, no other pitcher has won 27 in ABF. The 24-year old Pakistani righty also led in strikeouts (401), WHIP (0.83), K/BB (16.0), innings (280.1), complete games (22), FIP- (42), and WAR (13.1). Anwari’s WAR total remains the second best season by an ABF pitcher as of 2037. He also had a 2.05 ERA, falling five points shy of a Triple Crown. After dropping three straight Pakistan League Championship Series appearances, Hyderabad ended up on top as the Horned Frogs bested Faisalabad 4-2. Isfahan also snapped their own recent finals woes, upsetting Bursa 4-2 in the West Asia Association Championship. It was the third pennant for both the Imperials and the Horned Frogs. Oddly enough, both teams won their prior titles in 1986 and 1987, setting up a third finals battle between the two. Hyderabad had beaten Isfahan in their earlier two meetings in the ABF Championship. In the 13^th final, the Imperials flipped the script and won their first title in six games. 2B Hayadeh Taraghijah led the win, winning WAA MVP. The 27-year old played 11 playoff games with 9 hits, 8 runs, 3 doubles, 4 home runs, and 12 RBI. Other notes: Tehran’s Hasballah Kadoor set the ABF batting average record at .383. This held as the single-season best until 2016 and remains fourth as of 2037. Kadoor also had 171 singles, which remains the ABF record. Bursa’s Shahnawaz Ikram had 677 at-bats, the ABF record as of 2037. Faisalabad’s Hasan Acar set playoff records for lowest WHIP (0.19), opponent OBP (.080) and OPS (.163). He allowed three hits and one run over 15.2 innings with 19 strikeouts. Lahore’s Hasan Afshin twice had games with 20+ strikeouts. He fanned 21 against Rawalpindi on 7/9 and 20 versus Multan in his next start over 10 innings. Although he was one short of the ABF single-game record of 22, no pitcher in any pro league had ever struck out 41 batters between back-to-back starts. Vahid Hadadi became the first slugger to 400 career home runs. RF Yakup Gunduz won his seventh Gold Glove. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-20-2024, 04:02 AM	#1077
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 in SAB Ahmedabad’s remarkable dominance of the Indian League continued in 1997. The three-time defending South Asia Baseball champs were 120-42, the second-best mark in IL history behind their own 124-38 two years earlier. The Animals in 1997 allowed 410 runs, which is the lowest by any team in SAB history as of 2037. Their 0.911 WHIP set a new IL record, while the 2.33 team ERA was second to their own 2.23 from 1995. Ahmedabad’s postseason streak extended to 13 seasons, while their West Division title streak and streak of 100+ win seasons both moved to ten. Despite their dominance, the wild card race was also in the West Division. Pune took the spot at 90-72, edging out Mumbai by two games. It was the Purple Knights first playoff berth and winning season since 1987. Jaipur repeated in the Central Division at 96-66. Kanpur was a distant second at 83-79 and saw their seven season playoff streak snapped. The South Division was abysmal, but 76-86 Hyderabad was the best of the bad to earn their first playoff spot in a decade. Visakhapatnam had won 101 games in 1996, but collapsed to a 73-89 finish. The Hippos were only two games better than 1995 Tokyo, who holds the record for worst mark by a division champ in any pro league. It was a bad year for Bengaluru with only 68 wins, but another great year for Blazers 2B Tirtha Upadhyaya. The 23-year old Nepali lefty won his third consecutive Indian League MVP, leading in runs (104), home runs (60), RBI (116), total bases (383), slugging (.696), OPS (1.075), wRC+ (247), and WAR (12.9). It was the third straight 60+ homer season for Upadhyaya. He also became the second SAB batter to have a four home run game, smacking them against Kanpur on July 3. Pitcher of the Year was 29-year old Burmese righty Na Thinn. After six solid seasons with Bangkok, he joined the evil empire of Ahmedabad for 1997 on a five-year, $5,800,000 deal. Thinn led in strikeouts (344), WHIP (0.81), FIP- (58), and WAR (8.1). He added an 18-4 record over 234.2 innings with a 1.73 ERA. Thinn also won a Silver Slugger with a .278/.303/.319 slash in his starts on the mound. Ahmedabad bounced divisional foe 3-0 in the first round, while Jaipur had no trouble sweeping Hyderabad. This set up a rematch in the Indian League Championship Series and gave the Animals their 12^th straight ILCS berth. The dynasty rolled forward as Ahmedabad won the pennant 4-1. This gave the Animals four straight Indian League titles, eight in nine years, and ten in twelve years. Ho Chi Minh City maintained its dominance of the Southeast Asia League, taking top marks in the South Division at 119-43. This was the third-best season in SEAL history, behind the Hedgehogs’ 126 wins in 1993 and 124 in 1995. HCMC’s playoff streak extended to 11 seasons and the division title run grew to nine years. The Hedgehogs had the most runs (853) and fewest allowed (481) by a considerable margin in SEAL. Reigning SEAL champ Yangon was an impressive 103-59 atop the North Division, tying a franchise best. This made back-to-back-to-back division titles for the Green Dragons. There was a steep drop to the wild card race. Phnom Penh (84-78) ended up with the first spot while Bangkok (82-80) took the second. Mandalay (81-81) was right behind with a few others not far from that. The Pandas ended a five-year stretch without a playoff spot or a winning season. The Bobcats grabbed a third wild card in four years. The big offseason change was veteran slugger K.C. Choudhury ending up with Ho Chi Minh City. He had been a beast for a decade plus within Ahmedabad’s dynasty, but he sat out the 1996 season as no one matched his price. The Hedgehogs were the only other team willing and able to spend on the level required and got the 37-year old legend on a one-year deal. Choudhury won his third MVP award and led in runs (120), walks (106), OPS (1.030), wRC+ (189), and WAR (9.7). He added 44 home runs and 110 RBI. It would be his only season in Vietnam, as Choudhury went back to the Animals the next year. Pitcher of the Year also went to a HCMC player as Ansin “Godzilla” Mohammad was a repeat winner. He became the third SAB pitcher to earn a Triple Crown season in his second year as a Hedgehog. The 30-year old righty had a 25-5 record, 1.97 ERA, and 356 strikeouts over 273.2 innings. He also led in quality starts (27), shutouts (6), FIP- (61), and WAR (9.3). Mohammad also had a 20 strikeout game versus Bangkok on April 13, putting him one short of the SAB single-game record. He was only the third SAB pitcher to fan 20+. In the first round of the playoffs, Phnom Penh stunned Yangon 3-1. This was the third-ever Southeast Asia League Championship Series for the Pandas, joining the 1988 and 1989 campaigns. Ho Chi Minh City would best Bangkok 3-1 for a fourth straight SEALCS berth. The Hedgehogs rolled their divisional rival 4-1 to earn a third pennant in four years. It was HCMC’s seventh SEAL title in eleven years. The 18^th South Asia Baseball Championship was yet another battle between Ahmedabad and Ho Chi Minh City. The Animals were looking to four-peat for the second time and had a 6-0 record against the Hedgehogs in the final. The 239 combined wins between the two was the second most ever for a final in any world league, only behind the 248 wins from their 1995 battle. This time, HCMC finally slayed the great dragon to win their first SAB title. Not only did the Hedgehogs win, but they swept Ahmedabad. Veteran 3B Thang Huynh, who played with the Animals in the 1995 championship, was finals MVP in 1997 for the Hedgehogs. The 35-year old had 20 hits, 11 runs, 4 doubles, 3 home runs, and 10 RBI in 13 playoff starts. Other notes: For the third time in SAB history, there were zero no hitters thrown. Janapati Sara became the second pitcher to 3500 career strikeouts. Dhavalapaksa Dattatreya was the seventh member of the 400 home run club. 3B Manju Abbas won his eighth straight Gold Glove; the first player in SAB history to win the award eight or more times. 2B Abdul Deepkaran won his ninth Silver Slugger and 3B Thang Huynh won his seventh. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-20-2024, 09:43 AM	#1078
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 in WAB Four teams battled intensely for the three playoff spots in WAB’s Western League in 1997. Nouakchott took first at 98-64 to get back to the playoffs after a two-year absence. Freetown was one behind at 97-65, taking second for back-to-back seasons. The third spot saw a tie between defending West African Baseball champion Accra and Abidjan, both at 95-67. In a one-game tiebreaker, the Alligators prevailed to extend their playoff streak to three seasons. The Athletes had their own streak ended at five. Western League MVP went to Nouakchott third baseman Yakubu Odiye. The 28-year old Nigerian led in wRC+ (172) and added 7.9 WAR, 208 hits, 29 home runs, and a .350/.392/.574 slash. Accra’s Antonio Akinyemi secured Pitcher of the Year, surprising many. He had a 2.36 ERA, 258 strikeouts, and 11-9 record over 224.2 innings with 4.4 WAR. Akinyemi did lead in complete games with 24. In the wild card round, Freetown topped Accra 2-0 to oust the reigning champs. The Foresters earned back-to-back Western League Championship Series berths, while Nouakchott hadn’t been there since taking their lone title in 1984. The WLCS went all five games as the Night Riders edged Freetown to take the crown. Kano clobbered the competition in the Eastern League at an impressive 111-51. It was the third straight playoff berth for the Condors, but their first time taking the top spot in the standings since 1984. 15 games separated them from second place Lagos at 96-66, who ended a two-year playoff drought. Ibadan was third at 91-71 to extend the Iguanas playoff streak to eight seasons, the longest active streak in WAB. Port Harcourt’s bid for nine in-a-row was thwarted with the Hillcats falling to a sixth place 77-85. Kano shortstop Darwin Morris won his third Eastern League MVP in four seasons. He posted an incredible 14.7 WAR, the second most ever in a WAB season behind his own 15.1 from two years prior. The 25-year old Liberian also broke his own runs scored record from 1995 (142), coming home 146 times in 1997. Morris also led the league in home runs (59), RBI (129), total bases (421), stolen bases (82), OBP (.432), slugging (.761), OPS (1.194), and wRC+ (231). His .354 batting average was three points shy of a Triple Crown. Pitcher of the Year went to Kano’s Pomeyie Mensah, his second in three years. It was a record-setting campaign for the 28-year old Ghanaian lefty, who broke the WAB single-season ERA record at 1.32. That and his opponent’s slugging percentage of .248 remain WAB records as of 2037. This great season also featured WAB’s 11th perfect game, as Mensah struck out 11 against Port Harcourt on May 6. Mensah also led in wins (24-7), WHIP (0.79), FIP- (50), and WAR (9.6). He struck out 322 over 237 innings. In the wild card round, Lagos edged Ibadan 2-1. For the Lizards, this was their first Eastern League Championship Series since 1994. Kano was entering their third straight, having fallen in the prior two. The Condors got over that hump, besting Lagos 3-1. It was the fifth EL pennant for Kano (1975, 76, 84, 86, 97). The 23rd West African Championship was the second time that Kano and Nouakchott had met for the title. Back in 1984, the Night Riders won their only title over the Condors. Kano claimed revenge in 1997 and won the series 4-2. DH Revelation Maseko was finals MVP with the 30-year old South African proving a key addition. The Condors had signed him to a seven-year, $10,740,000 deal following a solid prior run with Port Harcourt. In 10 playoff starts, Maseko had 17 hits, 4 runs, 4 doubles, 2 triples, and 5 RBI. It was the Condors’ fourth WAB ring (1975, 76, 86). Kano made WAB history as the winningest team to take the title at 111-51, beating the previous high mark of 110-52 by Ibadan in 1993. This would mark the beginning of a prolific decade of dominance for the Condors. Other notes: Abidjan’s Benedict Collins broke his own single season stolen base record of 136, swiping 139 bags in 1997. This remains the WAB record as of 2037. SS Jorginho Fonseca won his eighth Gold Glove and LF Jake Pourchet won his seventh. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-20-2024, 05:20 PM	#1079
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 in CLB For the 1997 season, Chinese League Baseball expanded its postseason by one team in each league. Now, the top three teams from each team advance with the first place team getting a bye into the semifinal. CLB did maintain its unique structure of having playoff interleague play and still allowing the possibility of a championship between two teams from the same league. The first round matchups would see the second place finisher from one league hosting the third place team of the other league in a best of three. The winners move onto the best-of-seven semifinal, followed by the best-of-seven China Series. The #2 NL vs. #3 SL winner faced the SL #1, while the #3 NL vs. #2 SL winner met the NL #1 in the semi. This remained the CLB playoff format until 2009. Reigning CLB champ Nanjing finished atop the Northern League standings for back-to-back seasons with a 95-67 mark. The Nuggets were one game better than 1995 champ Xi’an at 94-68, giving the Attack their third playoff berth in four years. For the new third place playoff spot, Jinan (85-77) edged out Beijing (82-80), Dalian (82-80), and Zhengzhou (81-81). This was the first time in a decade that the Jumbos earned a postseason berth. Harbin, the CLB runner-up last year, dropped to ninth place at 76-86. Leading the Nuggets was Northern League MVP Hao Wu. The 27-uear old shortstop was the WARlord at 8.2, posting a .281/.355/.458 slash with 53 extra base hits. Xi’an’s Momota Oichi won his third straight Pitcher of the Year, becoming the second in CLB history to win three in a row. The 26-year old Japanese righty led in strikeouts (375), quality starts (28), FIP- (53), and WAR (9.0). Oichi added a 1.70 ERA and 18-8 record and 1.70 ERA. Changsha bounced back from their 79-win 1996 and dominated the Southern League at 109-53. This was a franchise-best for the Cannons, who had only made the playoffs twice before and never had finished first in the standings. There was a 16-game drop to 93-69 Hong Kong, who placed second for back-to-back seasons. Foshan, the first place squad the prior year, grabbed third at 91-71. The Flyers were seven games ahead of Chongqing and nine ahead of Chengdu. Guangzhou was tied for tenth at 70-92, but they had Southern League MVP Xiaotian Xu. The 25-year old center fielder was the WARlord (9.1) and leader in total bases (305), OPS (.857), and wRC+ (211). He added 22 home runs and a .296 average. Foshan’s Jinlong Han repeated as Pitcher of the Year, leading in ERA (1.45), shutouts (12), FIP- (42), and WAR (10.7). The 27-year old Han added 371 strikeouts over 260.2 innings for a 15-11 record. The big highlight was a 20 strikeout, one walk no-hitter on June 18 against Hong Kong. This set the CLB record for most strikeouts in a no-hitter and would only get matched once in 2025. While the Northern League had recently dominated the Southern League in the crossover playoff games, the SL reversed the trend in 1997. In the first round, Hong Kong edged Jinan 2-1 and Foshan upset Xi’an with a road sweep. The Champions then upset NL #1 Nanjing 4-3 in a semifinal classic. Changsha downed the Flyers 4-2 in the other semi, There hadn’t been an all-Southern League final since 1978, while there had been eight all-NL finals since then, including the last three. Hong Kong had lost to Kunming in that 1978 final, while winning the 1982 title over Nanjing in their other China Series berth. That 1982 season was the last time any SL team had won it all. For Changsha, their only other China Series appearance was in 1977, losing an also all-SL final to Kunming. In the 28^th China Series, the Cannons claimed the cup in a seven game classic over the Champions. Fourth year shortstop Dalun Lou was finals MVP, getting 14 hits, 3 runs, 3 doubles, and 5 RBI over 13 playoff starts. With Changsha’s title, 13 of CLB’s 24 teams have claimed the cup. Other notes: CLB had three perfect games thrown in 1997, making it 26 perfectos in CLB history. The first was Dongguan’s Xin Ruan on April 17 with 12 strikeouts against Ghangzhou. Next was Hong Kong’s Gen Tu on July 1, fanning 15 versus Wuhan. The third was August 26 by Qindgao’s Manuel De La Cruz, who struck out six. Two way P/1B Wei Qin won his 12^th and final Silver Slugger. As of 2037, no other CLB player at any position has won the award 12 times. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)

03-21-2024, 03:42 AM	#1080
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,021	1997 in APB Manila dominated the Philippine League at 103-59, getting their first playoff berth since their 1986 title. The Manatees were the only PL team above .500 and had the top seed in the Taiwan-Philippine Association. Cebu, last year’s winner, struggled to 68-94. In the Taiwan League, defending Austronesia Champion Taoyuan took the TL title for the fourth successive season. The Tsunami was 93-69, edging out Taipei (90-72) and Kaohsiung (89-73). TPA MVP was Taoyuan’s Ting-Jen Hsu for the second time in three years. The two-way 27-year old lefty had a 2.26 ERA over 299.1 innings with 319 strikeouts and 6.5 WAR. In the outfield, he had 94 games with 6.3 WAR, a .298 average, and 11 home runs. Pitcher of the Year was Manila’s Kan-Lin Ching, who led in wins at 21-6 and quality starts in 31. The 28-yaer old righty had a 1.61 ERA over 285.2 innings with 313 strikeouts and 6.9 WAR. After missing the playoffs last year, Batam was back atop the Malacca League standings for the sixth time in eight years. The Blue Raiders were 99-63 for the top record in the Sundaland Association. Defending SA champ Singapore was a distant second at 82-80. Depok ended an impressive Java League title drought at 96-66. The Demons hadn’t been in the postseason since 1978. Depok was two games ahead of Jakarta. Bandung, who had taken the JL three straight years, fell to 76-86. Batam’s Wisnu Mahmudiana won his fifth straight Pitcher of the Year while also winning Sundaland Association MVP. The 30-year old Indonesian righty led in wins (21-8), ERA (1.05), WHIP (0.65), quality starts (32), shutouts (6), FIP- (31), and WAR (13.2). Mahmudiana was second in strikeouts with 407 over 273.1 innings. He became the third APB pitcher to win POTY five times. Taoyuan took out Manila 4-2 in the Taiwan-Philippine Association Championship. For the Tsunami, this was their third pennant in four years and their seventh overall. The Sundaland Association Championship had Batam sweep Depok for their first pennant since 1991. It was the fourth title for the Blue Raiders (1972, 73, 91, 97). In the 33^rd Austronesia Championship, Taoyuan outlasted Batam in a seven game thriller. RF Fernando Reyes was a postseason beast, winning MVP of both playoff series. The 30-year old had missed half the season to a sprained knee. In 13 playoff starts, Reyes had 16 hits, 11 runs, 4 doubles, 5 home runs, and 12 RBI. The Tsunami became the third franchise to repeat as APB champs, doing it for the second time (1982-83). Taoyuan is now tied with Jakarta for the most APB titles with five apiece. Other notes: Manila’s Dedi Dewi set a playoff record for K/9 at 19.8. He fanned 33 over 15 innings, although still struggled to a 4.20 ERA. Dewi also had other notable strikeout efforts, fanning 21 against Taichung on March 31. He also had two 20 strikeout games later in the season. Dewi also tossed one of the season’s seven no-hitters, striking out 14 with one walk against Zamboanga on June 5. Three pitchers (Ricky Jungao, Ronald Purnomo, Mulya Dayanti) crossed 4500 career strikeouts, making seven players to reach the mark. Dayanti and Jungao both crossed 200 wins, making 10 to do so. Chang-Rong Chang was the fourth batter to 500 home runs. 1B Akbar Fatchurohman won his tenth Gold Glove. Fransisco Hartati won his eighth Silver Slugger. It was his second at 2B with the others at CF. 3B Gede Manuaya grabbed his seventh Silver Slugger. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)