Baseball: The World's Game (OOTP 22 Fictional World)

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

2016 in SAB

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The battle for the Indian League’s top seed was centered in the Central Division as Jaipur (99-63) outraced Kanpur (98-64). The Jokers hadn’t posted a winning season since their 2009 pennant, while the Poison earned repeat playoff berths as the wild card. Kolkata had a solid 88-74, but that wasn’t enough to extend their playoff streak beyond eight seasons. It was still the tenth winning season in a row for the Cosmos.

Hyderabad ended a seven-year playoff drought by winning the South Division at 93-69, besting Nagpur by six games. Last year’s IL runner-up Chennai was a non-factor at 76-86. Visakhapatnam, the IL champ in 2012 and 2013, finished 75-87 for their first losing campaign since 2008. Meanwhile, reigning league champ Mumbai was the only team above .500 in the West Division at 90-72. The Meteors earned a third straight division title and their seventh playoff berth in nine years.

Mumbai right fielder Vicharleen Anasuri repeated as Indian League MVP, again continuing a remarkable late-career run. The 37-year old lefty had joined the Meteors in 2015 and set multiple career bests. He had similar numbers in 2016, leading the league in WAR (10.6), wRC+ (217), OPS (1.080), slugging (.694), and RBI (139). Anasuri added 110 runs, 58 home runs, and a .333 batting average, winning his eighth Silver Slugger. This was his last hurrah, as he’d deal with injuries for most of 2017 before regressing hard after.

The Meteors also had the Pitcher of the Year Gauresh Mendes in his third season in the rotation. The 25-year old Sri Lankan righty led in wins (21-10), complete games (12), and WAR (7.0). Mendes had a 3.30 ERA over 243.2 innings, 328 strikeouts, and 116 ERA+.

Because the wild card automatically faces the top division winner in South Asia Baseball, that pitted the top two records against each other in round one. Wild card Kanpur stunned Jaipur with a road sweep, earning their first Indian League Championship Series berth since their 2007 pennant. On the other side, defending champ Mumbai got the 3-1 road win over Hyderabad. The Meteors rolled to a 4-1 ILCS win over the Poison, earning their fourth pennant (2005, 2008, 2015, 2016).



The Southeast Asia League’s South Division saw six games separate the #1 seed from the second wild card. After missing the playoffs last year, Vientiane bounced back for first place at 100-62. Although this was the Vampires’ fourth playoff berth in five years, it was their first-ever division title and a franchise record.

Reigning SAB champ and two-time defending SEAL champ Yangon was close behind at 98-64, ending their division title streak at five seasons. It did grow the Green Dragons’ playoff streak to 22 years, only one short of the SAB record set by Ahmedabad (1985-2007) and Ho Chi Minh City (1987-2009) and two short of Minsk's world record. Phnom Penh was the second wild card at 94-68, which ended an 11-year run without a playoff berth or a winning record.

Hanoi’s own impressive North Division streak grew to five years at 98-64, the only winning team in the division. The Hounds’ own impressive playoff streak grew to 12 years. It was only the second time in that run that they didn’t win double-digits. Hanoi led all of SAB in runs scored (827). Last year’s wild cards Bangkok and Kathmandu both fell off to 72-90.

Hounds designated hitter Majed Darwish repeated as SEAL MVP and became SAB’s first-ever seven-time MVP. The 33-year old Bahraini switch hitter led the league in home runs (66), RBI (153), runs (136), total bases (403), walks (97), slugging (.673), OPS (1.058), wRC+ (183), and WAR (8.6). Darwish’s dominance continued with his 12^th straight season leading in runs scored, tenth straight in both RBI and total bases, and ninth in ten years leading in homers.

It was also Darwish’s tenth straight year with 150+ RBI and his ninth 60+ home run season. He had long blown by the world record for 150+ seasons, but was still one short of world home run king Nordine Soule for 60+ dinger seasons. In 2016, Darwish joined the 800 home run club (the fourth in SAB history), the 2000 RBI club (the third), and the 2500 hit club (the 13^th).

Vientiane’s Huynh Pham won his third Pitcher of the Year, joining his 2012 and 2013 wins. The 29-year old Vietnamese lefty led in wins (20-9), innings (252.1), and strikeouts (322). Pham had a 2.78 ERA and 137 ERA+ with 6.3 WAR. He continued also playing first base, posting 3.7 WAR with a .906 OPS over 92 games offensively.

Vientiane cruised to a first round sweep of Phnom Penh, earning their third-ever Southeast Asia League Championship Series appearance (1992, 2013, 2016). Another chapter in the great Yangon/Hanoi playoff rivalry took place in round one with the Hounds getting the 3-0 sweep. This denied the Green Dragons’ three-peat hopes and ended a four-season winning streak Yangon had over Hanoi. The Hounds reclaimed the lead 6-5 in their myriad playoff encounters since 2005.

For Hanoi, this also gave them a seventh straight SEAL finals berth and their tenth in 12 years. Vientiane was the favorite by seed, but the more experienced Hounds handled the Vampires 4-1. The Hounds earned their sixth SEAL pennant (1985, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2016).



The 37^th South Asia Baseball Championship was a rematch of the 2008 final, which saw a 120-win Hanoi defeat Mumbai. For the third straight year, the SAB finale came down literally to the final inning. In game seven, Hanoi ended it with a walk-off solo home run by 3B Avery Griner, winning the game 6-5 and the series 4-3.

Griner was an unexpected hero, having posted a .198 average and .543 OPS during the regular season. The 31-year old American ended up in SAB after going undrafted in MLB and had only 41 homers in his career, but he stepped up in the big spot. This was Griner’s final contribution to pro baseball, going unsigned the next two years before retiring.



Hanoi became four-time SAB champs, having also won in 2007, 2008, and 2013. Mumbai was the bridesmaid for back-to-back years and moved to 0-4 all-time in the finals. It was another heartbreaker for the Meteors, who lost 5-4 on a game seven walkoff the prior year to Yangon. 3B Yasir Malakawi was finals MVP even in defeat for Mumbai. The 29-year old Bangladeshi in 16 playoff starts had 22 hits, 15 runs, 5 doubles, 8 home runs, and 20 RBI.

Other notes: Hanoi’s Davavesman Toppo crossed 900 career home runs, finishing the year with 923. He’d get 30 more in the next two years to end at 953, falling just shy of Tirtha Upadhyaya’s SAB record 973. As of 2037, Toppo ranks 11^th in all of pro baseball history in homers.

He finished the year at 2127 RBI and would catch Upadhyaya’s 2160 record in 2017. His time as the leader would be short-lived as both Majed Darwish and Ratan Canduri were close behind, both crossing 2000 RBI in 2016. Canduri also became the third to reach 3000 hits. Jatinder Chowdhary and Sameer Sheikh both breached 1500 RBI, making 15 SAB batters to do so.

Vicharleen Anasur, Basava Sanjahay, and Asim Anuha each crossed 600 home runs, making that an 11-player club in SAB. Anasuri and Dhuna Itar both crossed 1500 runs scored, a mark reached by 12. Majed Darwish won his tenth Silver Slugger and C Lance Tong won his ninth. Anasuri won his eighth Silver Slugger and LF Lwin Swe Ko won his seventh.

In pitching milestones, Jay Singh became the third to 4000 career strikeouts and Viaan Ramakrishna became the fourth to 400 saves. Hanoi’s Dieu Anh threw SAB’s 12^th perfect game on July 17, striking out nine against Ho Chi Minh City. Chennai’s Arjay Mohan became the seventh pitcher with a 20 strikeout game, doing it against Delhi on May 1. SP Yar Mai Zaw won his ninth Gold Glove.

Hanoi manager Francisco Ayala won his fourth SAB Championship, becoming the third manager in SAB history to reach that mark. Sharafat Azam and Maruf Chowdhury both had him beat with five. Chowdhury won his in the front end of the great Ahmedabad dynasty with Azam winning on the back end.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

2016 in WAB

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Dakar dominated the competition in WAB’s Western League at 112-50, the second-best record in WL history. The Dukes earned their sixth straight playoff berth and guaranteed their fifth consecutive WLCS appearance. 13 games back in second was Banjul at 99-63, setting a franchise-best for the 2009 expansion squad. The Bucks had their second playoff berth in three years and led all of WAB with 962 runs scored. Banjul set new WL single-season team records for slugging (.529) and triples (114). Both rank third as of 2037.

Defending WL champ Bamako was a strong third place at 94-68 to earn repeat playoff berths. There was a steep drop to Kumasi at 85-77, taking the final wild card. It was their fourth wild card in five years, edging Nouakchott by one game. Abidjan missed the playoffs for only the second time in 12 years, taking sixth at 78-84. The Athletes allowed the fewest runs at 700, but poor offense and bad luck sank them, finishing ten wins below their expected W/L.

Western League MVP went to RF Clarence Cole. The 28-year old Sierra Leonean led in OBP (.436), wRC+ (183), and WAR (9.1). Cole added an 1.105 OPS, .369 average, 43 home runs, 52 stolen bases, and 130 runs. The following April, the Bullfrogs locked Cole up with a seven-year, $94,300,000 extension.

Dakar’s Redd Freeman earned Pitcher of the Year. The 24-year old Nigerian righty led in wins (21-2), quality starts (19), complete games (9), shutouts (4), and WAR (6.0). Freeman added a 2.91 ERA over 219.2 innings, 239 strikeouts, and 160 ERA+. Unfortunately, Freeman suffered a stretched elbow ligament the next season and never matched his 2016 production.

Bamako swept Kumasi in the first round, then got swept by Banjul in round two. The Bucks hoped to repeat the stunning Western League Championship Series upset win from two years prior against Dakar. The Dukes got revenge and won 3-1 for their third pennant in five years. Dakar became four time WL champs (1988, 2012, 2013, 2016).



Libreville became the first of the 2009 expansion teams to earn a first place finish in the standings. The Lakers’ 100-62 mark atop the Eastern League was also their first-ever winning season. Libreville led the league in both runs (895) and fewest allowed (741). The former powerhouse Kano was second at 96-66, ending their longest-ever playoff drought at seven seasons.

Lome and Cotonou took the remaining wild cards to extend their lengthy playoff streaks. The Lasers were third at 94-68 for their fifth straight berth and the 88-74 Copperheads earned their seventh in-a-row. Defending West African Baseball champ Port Harcourt missed out by taking fifth at 81-81, ending their playoff streak at three seasons. Also of note was Niamey’s collapse to 67-95 for their first losing season since 1997. Their 18-year run of winning seasons was a WAB record.

Cotonou designated hitter Fares Belaid won his third Eastern League MVP, having previously done it in 2014 and 2012. The 27-year old Tunisian tied his own single-season hits world record from the prior year (268) and became the third in WAB history to bat .400, hitting the mark exactly. Belaid also led in WAR (8.3), OBP (.415), total bases (445), and RBI (139). Belaid added a 1.080 OPS, 173 wRC+, 47 doubles, 20 triples, and 30 home runs.

Douala had the EL’s worst record at 63-99, but their ace Kadir Onyeali earned Pitcher of the Year anyway. The 29-year old Nigerian righty led in ERA (2.5), innings (247.1), and quality starts (21). Onyeali added a 14-14 record, 291 strikeouts, 188 ERA+, and 6.7 WAR. He stayed loyal to the Dingos and signed a six-year, $69,600,000 extension the following autumn.

Cotonou upset Lome 2-0 in the first round, then fell 2-1 in a tough round two match with Kano. The Condors hadn’t been to the Eastern League Championship Series since 2008, but this was Kano’s 20^th trip. The newcomer Libreville didn’t let that phase them at all, cruising to a 3-0 sweep. The Lakers became the second of the four 2009 expansion teams to win a pennant, as Banjul had done it in 2014. The new franchises had integrated impressively in a short time frame.



Libreville wouldn’t be the first of the expansion teams to win it all, as Dakar rolled 4-1 in the 42^nd West African Championship. The Dukes finally got over the hump, as they had gone 0-3 in their previous finals trips, becoming the 15^th WAB franchise to earn the title. This also snapped the six-year run of titles for Eastern League teams over the Western League.



At 112-50, Dakar had the fourth-best record in WAB history by a champion, behind only 1999 Kano (123-39), 1998 Kano (114-48), and 2011 Cotonou (114-48). Finals MVP was well-traveled 2B R.J. Olvera. The 35-year old Mexican had played in CABA and MLB previously and was in his fourth WAB season, although his first with Dakar. In 9 playoff starts, Olvera had 11 hits, 5 runs, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 2 homers, and 8 RBI.

Other notes: Freetown’s offense had 1829 hits and 11.63 H/9, which were the second-worst marks in Western League history. Both Akuneto Adeyemo and Lamin Sowe crossed 2500 hits, making nine WAB batters to do so. RF Jacob Jamil won his 11^th Gold Glove, becoming the first in WAB history to win that many. P Isaac Appiah and LF Julis Ayuba both won their ninth Gold Gloves. DH/2B Bright Abubakar won his eighth Silver Slugger.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

2016 in CLB

Chinese League Baseball had been considered a “dead ball” league compared to the rest of the pro baseball world. In the 2000s, CLB had the lowest offense of any world league with a league ERA around 2.48 and batting average around .212. 2015 had all-time lows in both the Northern League (.205) and Southern League (.203) for batting average. The NL’s 2.28 ERA was the lowest in any season in any league ever in 2015, while the SL was 2.34.

While CLB wasn’t trying to go to the other extreme, officials did want to up the offense and the perceived excitement. Thus, CLB instituted rules changes beginning in 2016. The league batting average jumped to around .223 with an ERA around 2.75 for 2016. These numbers were still very low on the historical world scale, but pushed CLB closer to the offensive environment it started with in the 1970s. It put them more in line with the neighboring Austronesia Professional Baseball as well.



The Northern League had four different playoff teams from the prior year. Changchun and Jinan tied for first at 95-67 with the Camels officially getting the #1 spot on the tiebreaker. Although there had already been 2009 expansion teams that had gotten to and won the China Series, Changchun was the first to earn a first place finish in the standings. It was only the second-ever winning season for the Camels. The Jumbos meanwhile ended a three-year playoff drought.

Shijiazhuang (91-71) and Qingdao (88-74) earned the other two playoff spots. The expansion Serpents also earned their first-ever berth, while the Devils had their third in five years. Missing the cut were Shenyang (85-77), last year’s top seed Beijing (84-78), defending Chinese League champ Xi’an (83-79), and Hangzhou (82-80). Shanghai was ninth at 79-83, ending their record eight-year playoff streak and their eight-year run of winning seasons.

Shijiazhuang LF Cheng Kang won his third Northern League MVP in five seasons with a truly historic effort. Considering he had 46.7 WAR in his first four seasons and led in the triple slash all four years, it was hard to believe he could do better. However, the 27-year old lefty set numerous career highs with an all-time season. Kang set the CLB total bases record at 433, a mark that still holds as of 2037.

Kang earned his third consecutive Triple Crown and is the only CLB player with three. He crushed 68 home runs, 30 more than second place in the NL. This fell two short of Peng Wang’s single-season record of 70 from 2011. Kang had a .349/.422/.758 slash and led in RBI (135), hits (199), runs (118), OPS (1.180), wRC+ (297), and WAR (14.9).

The slugging and OPS were both CLB records that were only bested in 2034 by Jinhao Lin. The WAR mark ranks third-best in CLB history for position players. The Serpents gave him the biggest extension in Chinese baseball history in the winter for eight-years and $114,400,000.

Amazingly, Kang didn’t have the best WAR in the NL in 2016, as two-way star Chuchuan Cao had 16.7 with 10.4 pitching and 6.3 offensively. The Shenyang star finished second in MVP voting, but topped 16+ combined WAR for the fourth straight year. Cao also made history on April 11 with CLB’s 49^th perfect game, striking out 14 against Xi’an. Through his first five seasons, Cao had an absurd 83.2 WAR.

Zhengzhou’s Yuandong Wang earned his fifth Pitcher of the Year (2009-11, 2014, 2016). The 29-year old lefty led in strikeouts (347), and shutouts (6). Wang added a 17-9 record, 1.38 ERA, 8.9 WAR, and 193 ERA+ over 254.1 innings. His ninth year with the Zips was his last, as he left in the offseason for Brazil with a six-year, $64,800,000 deal with Recife.

In the Northern League’s round robin, the top two seeds advanced with Changchun at 5-1 and Jinan at 3-3, while both Qingdao and Shijiazhuang finished at 2-4. It was the first-ever semifinal berth for the expansion Camels, while the Jumbos earned their third (2000, 2007). The series was a seven-game classic with Changchun prevailing, marking the third straight year that one of the expansion teams made it to the China Series.



Shenzhen had the Southern League’s best record and the top mark overall in CLB at 104-58. The Spartans earned their sixth consecutive playoff berth and finished first for the fourth time in that stretch. Shenzhen was the highest scoring team in CLB at 605. Defending SL champ Nanning was second at 97-65, followed by Kunming at 95-67. Both teams earned repeat wild card berths.

Shantou took the fourth and final spot at 91-71, led by a powerful offense with 228 home runs and a .436 slugging percentage. The homer mark remains the SL’s all-time best as of 2037 while the slugging ranks third. The 2014 champ Scorpions made it back by five games over Chengdu (86-76), six over Dongguan (85-77), and eight over Wenzhou (84-78). This ended the Clowns’ eight-year playoff streak, which was tied with Shanghai for the longest in CLB history. Shenzhen now had the longest active run at six seasons.

Shantou CF Zhenfeng Lu won the Southern League MVP in his sixth season for the Scorpions. The 27-year old righty led in hits (180), runs (113), total bases (373), slugging (.623), OPS (.972), wRC+ (213), and WAR (13.0). Liu added 47 home runs and 122 RBI. As of 2037, his WAR mark is the 11^th-best single season by a CLB position player.

Nanning lefty Liangyi Shi won Pitcher of the Year in his seventh season for the Nuts. The 28-year old posted only the fifth pitching Triple Crown in CLB history with a 21-9 record, 1.76 ERA, and 335 strikeouts. Shi was also the WARlord at 9.7 and posted a 155 ERA+ and seven shutouts over 255.2 innings. Shi signed a five-year, $44,800,000 extension with Nanning prior to the season.

While the top two advanced from the Northern League’s round robin, the opposite happened in the Southern League. Kunming and Shantou both advanced at 4-2 with Shenzhen at 3-3 and Nanning at 1-5. This was the first time in the semifinal since 2003 for the Muscle and the second in three years for the Scorpions. The series was uneventful with a Kunming sweep, sending them to the China Series for the seventh time (1977-79, 2000, 02-03, 16).



In the 47^th China Series, Changchun became the second of the 2009 expansion teams to win it all, defeating Kunming in a seven game thriller. The Camels became the 20^th of CLB’s 30 franchises to secure the title. 1B Tie Li was MVP of the finals and the semifinals in his fifth year with Changchun. In 20 playoff starts, he had 25 hits, 14 runs, 11 home runs, and 24 RBI. Li set new CLB playoff records for hits, homers, and RBI. The RBI mark still holds as the top spot in 2037, while the HR mark is second-best.



Other notes: CLB had two perfect games in 2016. Along with the previously mentioned one by Chuchuan Cao, Hangzhou’s Sen Guo tossed the 50^th CLB perfecto on August 14, striking out nine against Tianjin.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

2016 in APB

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Yet again, Taipei had the Taiwan-Philippine Association’s top seed, winning a fifth straight Taiwan League title at 103-59. It was their seventh TL title in eight years with 98 or more wins in all eight seasons. Their closest foe was Tainan at a distant 90-72.

The Philippine League had a shakeup with Davao back on top at 97-65. The Devil Rays were a dynasty from 2005-2011, but had bottomed out at 60-102 in 2015. They broke up Zamboanga’s four-peat dreams, as the Zebras were second at 88-74. Cebu, who won 100 games in 2015, fell off to 72-90. Zamboanga allowed the fewest runs in the TPA at 405, while Davao scored the most at 583. The Zebras under-performed their expected win/loss by nine games.

Taichung was just above .500, but they had the Taiwan-Philippine Association VP Buwono Gunawan. The 25-year old Indonesian second baseman was already in his seventh year, leading in the triple slash (.322/.366/.581), OPS (.946), wRC+ (198), WAR (11.0), hits (189), doubles (32), total bases (341), and runs (94). Gunawan added 30 home runs and 70 stolen bases. He beat out Tainan’s Yao Tsai for MVP despite the latter’s 52 home runs.

Zamboanga ace Ching-Chen Yao was also in the MVP mix, winning back-to-back Pitcher of the Year awards and the fourth of his career. He followed up his bonkers 17.2 WAR 2015 campaign by leading in WAR (14.8), strikeouts (384), ERA (0.80), WHIP (0.61), and shutouts (7). Yao had a 343 ERA+ over 247.1 innings and an 18-6 record, falling two wins short of a Triple Crown.

The 0.80 ERA was the second-lowest by a qualifying starter in APB history to that point, only behind his record-setting 0.73 in 2014. As of 2037, Yao’s 2016 still ranks third-best, while his opponent’s OPS (.371) ranks fourth and his WAR ranks 11^th. In the last five seasons, the 28-year old lefty had posted 70.8 WAR. On a scale from 1/10, many scouts graded his stuff as an 11 at this point.



For the first time since leaving South Asia Baseball for Austronesia Professional Baseball in 2008, Johor Bahru earned a playoff berth. The Blue Wings hadn’t even won more than 74 games in APB prior, but they had the top seed in the Sundlanad Association at 96-66 atop the Malacca League. Their Malaysian rival Kuala Lumpur had won their first division title the prior year, but fell off a cliff in 2016 at 63-99.

In a very competitive Java Sea League, Semarang and Palembang tied for the top spot at 91-71, while reigning APB champ Bandung finished third at 89-73 and Surabaya was 85-77. The Sliders won the one-game tiebreaker over the Panthers for their first playoff berth since winning it all in 2012. Semarang had the fewest runs allowed in the SA at 402. Palembang had the second most stolen bases in SA history at 402, but it wasn’t enough to advance.

Semarang secured the Sundaland Association’s top awards, led by MVP Terrence Kuike. The 31-year old center fielder was the WARlord (11.9) in his 12^th season for the Sliders. Kuike had a .293/.340/.487 slash, 195 wRC+, 28 home runs, and 168 hits with 56 stolen bases. He also posted a 13.4 zone rating and 1.047 EFF defensively.

Pitcher of the Year went to Benigno Espinoza. The 27-year old Filipino lefty led in K/BB (20.2) and quality starts (30). Espinoza tossed 270.1 innings with a 1.56 ERA, 17-8 record, 344 strikeouts, 17 walks, 159 ERA+, and 8.9 WAR. He signed a four-year extension before the season and had a few more solid seasons before regressing hard in his early 30s.

Taipei had become known for being a playoff choker in recent memory, going 0-6 in the Taiwan-Philippine Association Championship from 2009-2015. They had lost to Davao in 2009 and 2010 and the 2016 final seemed to be going in the same direction. The Devil Rays started up 3-0, but the Tigercats made the improbable comeback to win the series in seven games. Taipei finally won the big one for their first pennant since 1993 and their fifth overall.

The Sundaland Association Championship was far less dramatic as Semarang rolled Johor Bahru 4-1. The Sliders earned their eighth pennant with wins in 1975, 1980, 1988, 1990, 2001, 2002, 2012 and 2016. That gave them an impressive 8-2 record in their SA finals berths.



The 52^nd Austronesia Championship was an all-timer, needing all seven games and extra innings in the finale. Semarang went up 5-4 in the top of the 13^th inning and came away with the win over Taipei. Pitcher of the Year Benigno Espinoza was the finals MVP, posting a 1.05 ERA over three playoff starts with 27 strikeouts over 25.2 innings. He tossed a three-hit shutout in the series.



This was Semarang’s sixth APB title (1975, 1990, 2001, 2002, 2012, 2016), tying them with Jakarta and Taoyuan for the most. One of their two defeats had been Taipei’s last title when they met previously in 1988. The Sliders were the fourth different champ in four years, although they broke up the parity having won five years prior.

Other notes: APB’s 40^th perfect game came on June 18 from Singapore’s Rob Bruja, striking out 10 against Johor Bahru. Cebu’s Favian Frias had his third no-hitter in a 15-strikeout performance over Tainan. Singapore’s Wil Tabaldo hit 51 home runs in 2016, becoming the only player in APB history with four 50+ homer seasons. Tabaldo became the 20^th to reach 400 career home runs in 2016. Kyle Oliveira became the ninth reliever to 300 career saves. RF Shih-Chieh Tseng won his ninth Gold Glove and 3B Adalberto Salenda won his eighth.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

2016 in OBA



Christchurch earned a fourth straight Australasia League title and did it in historic fashion. The Chinooks finished a staggering 126-36, tying the world record for most wins in a season by any pro baseball team. The only other 126-36 team was 1993 Ho Chi Minh City, who famously lost in the first round of the South Asia Baseball playoffs to an 84-win Johor Bahru. The previous best in the Oceania Baseball Association was 1999 Oceania Champion Guam at 119-43. It was Christchurch’s 12^th pennant.

The Chinooks outperformed their expected win/loss by nine games, tying the AL’s team saves record at 61. They allowed the fewest runs in the AL at 511 and scored the most at 857. They also set an OBA record for attendance with 2,112,858, a mark that held until 2026.

Poor Sydney couldn’t catch a break, taking second with a franchise-record 105-57. The Snakes remained the only original OBA team without a pennant. Perth was third at 97-65 while Hobart, one of the 2006 expansion teams, had their best-ever record at 87-75. Meanwhile Melbourne collapsed for an all-time franchise worst 59-103 season, ending a 13-year streak of winning seasons.

With their dominance, Christchurch had the incredibly rare sweep of all the top awards, taking Australasia League MVP, Pitcher of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Reliever of the Year. MVP went to designated hitter Roe Kaupa, making him a four-time winner overall and a three-time winner in his four years with the Chinooks.

The 29-year old Papuan scored 142 runs, breaking Kiryl Savchuk’s single-season OBA record of 136 from 2001. Kaupa’s record still holds as of 2037. He also led in home runs (62), total bases (447), and WAR (9.6), while posting a 1.147 OPS, 195 wRC+, and 128 RBI. He led in homers for the fourth straight year and topped 60 for the third time. Kaupa would play one more year for Christchurch before opting out of his deal, shocking the OBA world with a seven-year, $94,700,000 deal with Vanuatu.

Lyle Summer won his first Pitcher of the Year and his third Reliever of the Year. It was the fifth time a closer won POTY in OBA, last occurring in 1993. The 30-year old American righty was in his second year with Christchurch having been used in mid relief the prior year. Summer came to OBA in 2008 with Samoa after flaming out of MLB, winning Reliever of the Year in 2011 and 2012 with the Sun Sox.

In 2016, Summer pitched in 83 games with 52 saves and 56 shutdowns, a 13-2 record, 98 innings, 163 strikeouts, a 418 ERA+, and 6.2 WAR. He fell one short of OBA’s single-season saves record, but did set the record for appearances. Summer set a WAR record by an AL ROTY winner. He’d return to America in 2017, but quickly got the yips, falling out of pro baseball entirely after the 2018 season.



Guam returned to the Pacific League’s perch for the first time since 2009, winning their 15^th pennant, which leads all OBA teams. The Golden Eagles allowed 496 runs, fewer even than 126-win Christchurch. Reigning OBA champ Tahiti was a distant second at 94-68, ending their hopes for a PL three-peat. The Tropics still grew their streak of winning seasons to 14 years, finishing no worse than third in that run. Guadalcanal and Vanuatu were tied for third at 88-74, while Port Moresby was fifth at 87-75. New Caledonia was the worst at 49-113, posting the second-worst mark in PL history.

The top individual performances in the Pacific League came from two teams just below .500. MVP went to Samoa’s Gavino Cuoghi, a 37-year old Argentinian who had come over in 2015 after a 13-year run in his home country with Mendoza. Cuoghi had won a Southern Cone League MVP for the Mutants all the way back in 2007, joining the small list of guys with MVPs in two different world leagues.

For the Sun Sox, Cuoghi led in hits (193), runs (112), RBI (111), triple slash (.339/.387/.633), OPS (1.020), wRC+ (200), and WAR (8.4). He added 40 home runs, 33 doubles, and 50 stolen bases. Cuoghi played one more year for Samoa, then finished his pro career out with Guadalcanal.

After a two-year break, Fiji’s Akira Brady returned to the Pitcher of the Year spot. It was the fifth for the 29-year old New Zealander, who won four straight from 2010-2013. Brady led in ERA (1.73), strikeouts (455), WHIP (0.73), quality starts (33), complete games (26), shutouts (9), FIP- (52), and WAR (13.1). Brady had a 201 ERA+ over 328.1 innings and 23-10 record, falling one win short from his third Triple Crown.

Brady led in strikeouts for the seventh straight year, while leading in WAR for the sixth time and ERA for the fourth. It was his seventh time striking out 440+ batters in a season, tying him with Tarzan Rao for the most by an OBA ace. Brady also took second in MVP voting.



With the success of both franchises, the 57^th Oceania Championship was not the first finals meeting between Christchurch and Guam. The Golden Eagles were unbeaten, winning in 1980, 1992, and 1999 encounters with the Chinooks. The 1999 season was Guam’s historic 119-43 mark, which was the all-time best prior to Christchurch’s 2016.

The series lived up to the billing as a seven-game classic, but the Golden Eagles again played spoiler to the Chinooks, denying them the chance to be winningest league champ in pro baseball history. They still made it the farther than the only other 126-36 win team to that point and the mark did earn them the “wild card” slot into the Baseball Grand Championship.



Guam improved to 7-8 all-time in the finals while Christchurch lost back-to-back and dropped to 3-9 in the finals. This was the Golden Eagles first title since 2000. Although defeated, Christchurch had the finals MVP in 1B Naldo Soto. The 30-year old Filipino went 11-28 with 4 runs, 4 doubles, 2 homers, and 6 RBI.

Other notes: This was the final OBA season for five-time MVP Arjita Gabeja, retiring as the runs scored leader with 1683. As of 2037, he ranks fourth. Gabeja came close to Vavao Brighouse’s home run king crown of 804, but retired second at 786 and still ranks third as of 2037. Gabeja ended also with 1853 RBI, retiring second to Junia Lava and ranking fourth in modern times.

Lava became the second to 3000 career hits, finishing the season at 3042. He was in striking distance of OBA hit king Quentin Basa’s 3078. Lava also ended the year with 757 home runs, also still with a shot of catching Brighouse’s record of 804. Auckland’s Theo Merchant threw OBA’s 13^th perfect game, striking out seven against Gold Coast. It was the first perfecto since 2009. Akira Brady, Flynn Murphy, and Crow Xue each crossed 200 wins, making 21 OBA pitchers to do so.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

2016 in EPB

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Rostov dominated the EPB’s European League in 2016 at 104-58, taking first by 21.5 games. The Rhinos led in runs (719) and earned their fifth straight playoff berth. It was their third time in first place during that run. Defending EL champ Moscow vary narrowly took the wild card slot, extending their playoff streak to three years and their run of winning seasons to 18.

The Mules tied for the wild card at 82-80 with Kazan, needing a tiebreaker game to take the spot over the Crusaders. Only six wins separated second from seventh after the regular season with Minsk and Volgograd both two back at 80-82, Krasnodar three back at 79-83, and Voronezh four back at 78-84. Moscow’s 83-80 was the worst record by a playoff team in EPB history.

For the third time in four years, Rostov LF Igor Gorbatyuk earned European League MVP. The 31-year old Russian led in home runs (43), RBI (126), walks (81), total bases (358), OBP (.424), slugging (.643), OPS (1.067), wRC+ (216), and WAR (11.1). Gorbatyuk had a .339 batting average, taking second in the EL.

Second-year Minsk righty Rumyan Mardanyan earned Pitcher of the Year honors. The 23-year old Armenian led in ERA (1.74), strikeouts (342), and WAR (10.4), posting a 185 ERA+ and 47 FIP. Mardanyan had a 15-7 record over 253.2 innings and helped the Miners get back near .500 after three sub-70 win seasons.



The reigning Eurasian Professional Baseball champion Ufa took first again in the Asian League standings. Unlike last year when they tied at 95-67 with Omsk, the Fiends took it by 14 games at 105-57 for their third straight playoff berth. Ufa led the AL in both runs (713) and fewest allowed (539). Krasnoyarsk earned the wild card at 91-71, besting Ulaanbaatar by six games and Omsk by nine. This was the Cossacks’ first playoff berth since their 2009 pennant.

Asian League MVP went to Ufa DH Syarhey Prokhorov. The 28-year old Belarusian came to the Fiends in 2015 in a trade with Voronezh. He broke out in 2016, leading in hits (223), RBI (117), total bases (409), triple slash (.347/.382/.637), OPS (1.019), wRC+ (197), and WAR (8.9). He also added 44 home runs and 38 doubles. This earned Prokhorov a seven-year, $36,000,000 extension. Unfortunately for Ufa, he regressed hard by 2019.

Repeating as Pitcher of the Year was Vladivostok righty Kaysar Alkhasov. The 31-year old Kazakh won the ERA title (1.81) and led in quality starts (26), and WAR (7.3). Alkhasov also had a 15-11 record, 249 innings, 254 strikeouts, and 188 ERA+. He pitched one more year for the Shibas, then was traded to Krasnoyarsk, where he would post strong production for nine years.

Rostov was the heavy favorite in the European League Championship Series in the rubber match with Moscow. The Rhinos had won in 2014 and the Mules in 2015, both as the top seed. 83-win Moscow reversed that trend with a stunning 4-1 series victory over Rostov. The Mules earned back-to-back pennants and their seventh since 2005. The Russian capital had ten pennants overall to their name.

Ufa had earned their first-ever pennant and first EPB title in 2015. The Fiends repeated in the Asian League Championship Series 4-2 over Krasnoyarsk. This set up a rematch with Moscow, which was the first finals rematch since the Mules met Yekaterinburg in 2006-2007.



Like their 2015 encounter, the 62^nd EPB Championship needed all seven games. Moscow got revenge over Ufa and became five-time EPB champs (1974, 1975, 2006, 2009, 2016). The Mules set the EPB record for the worst record by a champion at 83-80 and were statistically among the weakest champs in any pro league. They also joined a very small group that won it all after needing a tiebreaker game just to make it into the postseason field.



Finals MVP was 2B Alberto Fernandez in his third year with Moscow. The 31-year old Mexican came to Russia after six seasons in CABA between Torreon and Haiti. In 12 playoff starts, Fernandez had 17 hits, 6 runs, 5 doubles, 2 triples, and 4 RBI. Although there had been repeat finals appearances, this was the sixth different champion in six years for EPB.

Other notes: Ivan Mushailov became the ninth to 600 home runs, the second to 1500 runs scored, and the 21^st to 2500 hits in 2016. He played one more year and fell short of the runs record by 58. Krasnodar’s offense had 104 triples, tying the European League record. This mark held until 2035. RF Elebyi Shevchenko won his ninth Gold Glove, SS Mehmet Ucar won his eighth, and 1B Artu Sagdatullin won his seventh. RF Nikolay Kargopolcev won his seventh Silver Slugger.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

2016 in EBF

The European Baseball Federation made the surprise decision to lower the active roster size from 24 to 23 for the 2016 season. This put them even with CABA for the lowest of any of the pro leagues at this point.



Reigning EBF champ Antwerp got even better in 2016 with a franchise record 112-50, leading the Northern Conference in runs scored (843) and taking third in runs allowed (625). The Airedales easily repeated as Northwest Division champs and earned a third straight playoff berth. The second best record in the conference came in the Northwest by 96-66 Amsterdam. The Anacondas easily got the first wild card, expanding their wild card streak to four seasons.

The #2 seed went to Cologne at 94-68 atop the Northwest Division at 94-68, giving the Copperheads their seventh straight playoff berth. Oslo earned the Baltic Sea Division title at 92-70, bouncing back after their six-year streak was ended the prior year. The battle for the British Isles Division and the second wild card ended up a complicated mess.

For the BI Division, Dublin and Birmingham tied for the top spot at 86-76 with both falling just short in the wild card race. The one-game playoff tiebreaker went to the Bees for their first division title since 2011. This also kept the Dinos just out, ending an impressive eight-year playoff run. Dublin still grew their stretch of winning seasons to 12 despite missing the postseason.

Nine teams finished within five games of the second wild card spot. There was a three-way tie at the top at 88-74 between Leipzig, Prague, and Stockholm. Brussels was one back at 87-75, while five teams (Birmingham, Dublin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Warsaw) were two away at 86-76. Even 84-78 Kyiv and 82-80 Brno were real threats entering September.

Two tiebreaker games were needed with the seeding pitting Stockholm versus Prague first. The Pilots prevailed there, but then lost a winner-take-all against Leipzig. This was the Lumberjacks’ first playoff berth or winning season since earning promotion as the 2009 Second League champ. The biggest disappointment of the chasing teams perhaps was Hamburg, as they had gone 109-53 the prior year. Also notable was Paris dropping to 79-83, ending their four-year playoff streak. The Poodles hadn’t finished below .500 since 2003.

Two teams lost 100+ games and thus both were relegated as both Glasgow and Reykjavik were a lousy 56-106. Sheffield (65-97), Copenhagen (66-96), and Edinburgh (67-95) narrowly escaped demotion. The Raccoons had won 82 games the prior year, but collapsed in their fourth year in the top tier. The Highlanders had slowly plummeted in the last decade, but it again showed how fortunes can change. It wasn’t that long ago that Glasgow had their nine-year playoff streak from 1996-2004.

Oslo SS Harvey Coyle had his Northern Conference MVP streak ended at six in 2015, but returned to the pole position in 2016. He joined Sean Houston as the only seven-time MVPs in EBF history. The 29-year old English switch hitter led in home runs (61), RBI (136), runs (117), total bases (414), slugging (.706), and WAR (12.9). Coyle also had a 1.069 OPS and 191 wRC+.

Coyle also won his ninth Gold Glove, posting a 22.7 zone rating and 1.104 EFF. He also took home his ninth Silver Slugger with a remarkable 125.8 WAR accumulated before turning 30. He had nine seasons as the WARlord with 12+ each year and earned his seventh season of 50+ homers. Coyle crossed 1000 runs scored and 500 home runs in 2016.

Warsaw’s Rory Moriarty earned Pitcher of the Year at only age 22. The English/Irish dual national led in ERA (2.40), strikeouts (367), WHIP (0.91), K/BB (11.1), and WAR (9.4). He had a 156 ERA+ over 255.1 innings and a 17-8 record, falling two wins short of a Triple Crown. This was Moriarty’s first full season in the rotation, although he had pitched in the prior three years in some capacity for the Wildcats.

Both wild cards advanced with 2-0 sweeps in the first round with Amsterdam over Birmingham and Leipzig over Oslo. Cologne clobbered the Lumberjacks 3-0 with a sweep, while the Anacondas shocked top seed Antwerp. Amsterdam not only beat their top-ranked division rival, but swept the defending European champs.

The Anacondas hadn’t been in the Northern Conference Championship since 2007 and hadn’t won it since their 1980s dynasty. Despite their playoff streak, this was the Copperheads’ third berth and first since their lone pennant in 2012. Amsterdam ended 26-year pennant drought, defeating Cologne 4-2. This was the Anacondas’ ninth conference title, leading all teams in the Northern Conference.



The Southern Conference also saw its top two records come from the same division. That was the East Central Division, led by 103-59 Bucharest for their first playoff berth since 2009. It was the best record they had posted since joining EBF. Chisinau gave them a fight at 98-64 in their fifth season since getting promoted for 2012. The Counts hadn’t won more than 70 games prior to 2016, stunning observers with their sudden emergence. Chisinau out-performed their expected win/loss by ten games and did it with EBF’s second-lowest payroll at $108.5 million.

The #2 seed went to Marseille at 95-67, but they only narrowly won the Southwest Division with Madrid close behind at 93-69. The Musketeers got their third division title in five years. The Conquistadors earned the second wild card to end a seven-year playoff drought. East Central teams Tirana (91-71) and Belgrade (90-72) were their closest foes. Zaragoza (89-73) and Valencia (85-77) were both in the mix, but had their playoff streaks thwarted at three and two years, respectively. Defending conference champ Barcelona meanwhile plummeted to 71-91.

Zurich was the only team above .500 in the South Central Division at 93-69. It ended a two-year playoff skid for the Mountaineers and was their first division title since their 2010 pennant. In a lousy Southeast Division, 82-80 was enough for Yerevan to take it over 79-83 Thessaloniki. It was the first playoff berth for the Valiants since 2007.

Vienna historically had been one of EBF’s more successful franchises and been a conference champ as recently as 2012. However, a terrible 59-103 in 2016 doomed them to demotion. Every other team sans Tbilisi won at least 70 games, but the Trains’ 68-94 kept them safe from the 100+ loss relegation threshold.

Belgrade LF Danijel Rajovic was Southern Conference MVP for the second time in three years. Still in only his fourth season, the 26-year old Serbian led in home runs (51), total bases (379), slugging (.663), OPS (1.056), and wRC+ (195). Rajovic added 8.3 WAR, a .332 average, and 114 RBI. The Bruisers eventually gave him a seven-year, $101,100,000 expansion after the 2019 season, but he’d decline quickly into his 30s.

Pitcher of the Year was Zaragoza’s Dani Redondo. The 28-year old Portuguese lefty won the ERA title at 2.21. Redondo added a 22-8 record over 269.1 innings, 232 strikeouts, 7.4 WAR, and 169 ERA+. He also won his second Silver Slugger. Redondo pitched one more year with the Gold Hawks, then earned a six-year, $100,200,000 MLB payday with Las Vegas.

Both first round playoff matchups went 2-1 with Chisinau over Yerevan and Zurich over Madrid. The Counts took their divisional foe Bucharest to the limit, but the top-seeded Broncos survived 3-2. Meanwhile, Zurich got the 3-1 upset over Marseille in a renewal of a classic playoff rivalry.

This was the second Southern Conference Championship appearance for the Broncos since joining EBF along with their 2008 pennant. It was the first since 2012 for the Mountaineers. Zurich earned the road upset 4-2 for their first pennant since 2010. The Mountaineers became ten-time Southern Conference champs, tying them with Barcelona for the most.



The 67^th European Championship was the third finals meeting between the historically successful Amsterdam and Zurich franchises. They met back-to-back in 1983-1984 with the Anacondas winning both times. In 1983, the series went all seven games with the finale ending 6-5 in 12 innings. Despite both franchise’s prestige, Zurich hadn’t won it all since 1993 and Amsterdam hadn’t since 1989. The matchup also guaranteed the fifth different champ in five years.

There had also been a six-year streak of wins by the Northern Conference. Zurich snapped that and got some revenge for the 1980s, beating Amsterdam 4-2 for their third cup (1965, 1993, 2016). 3B Ludevit Dano was a playoff stud, winning MVP of the conference finals and the European Championship. The 27-year old Slovak in 19 playoff starts had 29 hits, 15 runs, 4 doubles, 3 triples, 5 homers, 14 RBI, and 11 stolen bases.



Other notes: Munich’s offense drew only 219 walks all season, which were the fewest in EBF history. This remained the all-time low until 2030. Amsterdam’s Josiah Navarro had a 34-game hit streak in the early spring. Blazej Swierczewski became the ninth to 3000 hits and the 15^th to reach 600 career home runs.

Ben Springer and Jiri Lebr became the 22^nd and 23^rd to 1500 career RBI. Gianfranco Marinis was the 35^th pitcher to 200 wins and Herbert Knoop was the 11^th reliever to 300 saves. 1B Francisco Cruz and SS Billy Wishart won their seventh Gold Gloves.

Promotion/Relegation: Glasgow, Reykjavik, and Vienna were the relegated teams while Ljubljana, Palermo, and Hanover were promoted. Glasgow’s drop left five teams for the six-team British Isles Division with no logical replacement, so Hanover ended there despite it not making immediate sense geographically.

Likewise, Ljubljana didn’t make a ton of sense for “Northwest,” but they were slotted straight up in Reykjavik’s spot for simplicities’ sake, avoiding shifting a bunch of teams around.

Palermo was placed in the South Central Division along with the other Italian teams. This did require one other shift for balance, moving Zagreb to the East Central to take Vienna’s old slot. In the Second League, Glasgow and Reykjavik easily slotted into the Western Conference and Vienna into the Eastern Conference.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

2016 in BSA

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Four of the five playoff teams from the prior year in the Bolivar League made it back with the same teams winning each division. Medellin again won the Colombia-Ecuador Division, but this time earned the #1 seed at 102-60. The Mutiny grew their playoff streak to six seasons, the longest active one in Beisbol Sudamerica. Callao earned a third straight playoff berth at 98-64 in the Peru-Bolivia Division for the #2 seed. The Mutiny led the league in scoring (841) while the Cats allowed the fewest runs (550).

Last year’s BL champ Maracaibo again was the Venezuela Division winner, although they had the tightest competition. The Mariners were 94-68, finishing two games ahead of Barquisimeto and five ahead of Ciudad Guayana. The Black Cats earned the first wild card, returning to the playoffs after their seven-year streak was broken in 2016. The Giants repeated with the second wild card spot at 89-73, fending off Caracas and Quito by two games, Guayaquil and La Paz by three, and Cali by six. Although the Golds missed out, they notably had their 13^th consecutive winning season. The Pump Jacks also notably had their first winning season since 2004.

The Bolivar League had its seventh different MVP in as many seasons. This time it went to second-year Maracaibo RF Francisco Serrata, who led the league in runs (126), OBP (.433), slugging (.697), OPS (1.131), wRC+ (189), and WAR (8.9). The 24-year old Venezuelan lefty added 42 home runs, 107 RBI, 37 doubles, 58 stolen bases, and a .370 average. Serrata beat out Guayaquil’s Rodrigo Aguilar despite the latter leading with 62home runs and 139 RBI.

Meanwhile, Pitcher of the Year went to Sebastian Marquez for the fifth straight year and the seventh time in eight years. The Barquisimeto ace became the fourth pitcher in BSA history to win the award seven times, joining legends Mohamed Ramos, Lazaro Rodriguez, and Laurenco Cedillo.

The 30-year old Venezuelan won his fourth ERA title (2.40) and posted an 18-8 record over 206.1 innings, 237 strikeouts, 7.4 WAR, and 165 ERA+. This would be Marquez’s last POTY, although he’d have two more solid years for the Black Cats. Marquez would leave for a MLB payday in 2019 worth $105,000,000 over five years with Columbus.

Ciudad Guayana beat division rival 2-1 in the first round of the playoffs, but promptly got swept by Medellin in the divisional series. With that, the Mutiny earned their fifth consecutive appearance in the Bolivar League Championship Series. They’re the first team to earn five straight BLCS bids since the 1974-78 Valencia dynasty.

On the other side, Callao ousted defending BL champ Maracaibo 3-1, giving the Cats their first BLCS since winning Copa Sudamerica in 2012. Medellin was the top seed, but Callao clobbered them with an unexpected 4-0 sweep. This is the Cats’ fourth-pennant, as they also won in 1954 and 1957. The Mutiny are 2-3 during their BLCS streak with back-to-back defeats.



The Southern Cone League was amazingly balanced as the best record was only 93-69 and the worst was 70-92. Sao Paulo earned the #1 seed atop the Southeast Division, but only beat Rio de Janeiro by one game. The Padres are back in the playoffs after having their five-year streak ended the prior year. For the Redbirds, they ended a six-year drought by getting the first wild card. Last year’s #1 seed Montevideo was a non-factor in the division at 79-83.

Concepcion won the South Central Division at 92-70 and only missed the top seed by a game. Like Sao Paulo, the Chiefs are back after having a playoff streak (four for them) ended in 2015. Last year’s division champ Santiago got the second wild card at 87-75, edging Cordoba by one game and both Asuncion and Rosario by six.

Reigning Copa Sudamerica winner Recife grabbed a weak North Division at 86-76, beating Brasilia by six games. The Retrievers extended their playoff streak to four and got their seventh berth in eight years. Since BSA doesn’t give division winners preference in seeding, Recife had the #5 and lowest seed. Also of note, Fortaleza’s playoff streak ended at four with a 74-88 finish. The Foxes hadn’t posted a losing season since 2003.

Recife 3B Niccolo Coelho won his third Southern Cone League MVP, having also won in 2011 and 2014. The 33-year old Brazilian led in RBI (139) and added 49 home runs, 101 runs, a .349/.404/.682 slash, 1.085 OPS, 200 wRC+, and 10.4 WAR. Coelho won his seventh Silver Slugger in his 11^th season with the Retrievers.

Although Montevideo missed the playoffs, their ace Ivan “Dragon” Sandoval won Pitcher of the Year. The 29-year old Paraguayan righty led in WAR (8.1) and wins (17-10). Sandoval added a 2.19 ERA over 234.1 innings, 246 strikeouts, and 170 ERA+. He was the fifth different winner of the award in five years.

Santiago eliminated the defending champ Recife 2-1 in the first round, then gave the top seed Sao Paulo a fierce challenge. The Padres held on 3-2 to advance to the Southern Cone League Championship. Despite their six playoff berths in seven years, this was SP’s first time getting to the LCS since 1996.

On the other side, Rio de Janeiro downed Concepcion 3-1, giving the Redbirds their first LCS bid since winning the 2008 pennant. The series was a seven game classic with Rio outlasting Sao Paulo 4-3, continuing the Padres’ drought. The Redbirds became four-time Southern Cone champs (1970, 2003, 2008, 2016).



Both teams in the 86^th Copa Sudamerica were making their fourth finals appearance. Callao improved to 4-0 all-time in the finals, besting Rio de Janeiro 4-2 for their second title in five years. In his second year with the Cats, 3B Jesus Gueret was finals MVP. He had taken an odd path there, having grown up in the Central African Republic, followed by an eight-year run in Europe with Helsinki In the 2016 playoffs, Gueret had 14 starts with 14 hits, 8 runs, 3 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers, and 5 RBI.



Other notes: Callao’s Arsenio Araujo became only the fifth in BSA history to reach 700 career home runs. He played three more years and finished with 765, which ranks fifth as of 2037. Araujo and Hector Correa both joined the 3000 hit club in 2037, marking 11 players to reach that club. As of 2037, Araujo’s 3349 hits rank sixth and Correa’s 3005 is 20^th.

Fernan Murillo crossed 5000 career strikeouts, becoming only the seventh pitcher to reach that in BSA. He retired after 2018 with 5344, which ranks 7^th in 2016. SS Merkin Najera and CF Dominic Solano won their seventh Gold Gloves. C Cicero Lugo won his ninth straight Silver Slugger. 1B Rodrigo Aguilar and 2B Antonio Arceo won their seventh Silver Slugger.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

2016 in EAB

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The 2016 Japan League saw all four division winners repeat from the prior year. The longest playoff streak was Hiroshima at five years with the Hammerheads earning the #1 seed at 96-66 atop the West Division. Hiroshima led the league in scoring with 706 runs. Their playoff streak was the longest active one in EAB.

Reigning East Asia Baseball champ Yokohama won a third straight Capital Division at 94-68. The Yellow Jackets did have to fend off 87-75 efforts by both Kawasaki and Chiba. Sendai secured the North Division four years running with a 92-70 finish. The closest battle was the Central Division, which saw Osaka repeat at 89-73, just edging out 89-74 Kobe and 88-75 Kyoto.

Japan League MVP went to Kobe 1B Masaru Ochiai in his fifth season as a starter. The 27-year old led in home runs (56), RBI (133), total bases (413), OBP (.391), slugging (.685), OPS (1.076), wRC+ (215), and WAR (10.5). Ochiai’s .335 batting average fell four points short of a Triple Crown. He stayed with the Blaze for one more year before joining Kyoto as a free agent on a six-year, $66,000,000 deal.

Third-year Fukuoka lefty Toshikuni Naikai earned Pitcher of the Year with an all-time great season. The 23-year old broke the EAB ERA record for a starter at 1.10, topping Kazuhiro Kobayashi’s 1.31 that had held since 1924. Naikai also broke the WAR record for a pitcher at 14.3, besting another nearly century-old record of 12.7 by Chikara Ohkubo in 1923.

Naikai also led in strikeouts (386), WHIP (0.70), K/BB (16.8), ERA+ (310), and FIP- (17). His 18-4 record over 230 innings fell one shy of his own Triple Crown. The WHIP mark tied the single-season by from 1953 by Yeon-U Cho and his .434 opponent’s OPS was second only to Ju-An Kim’s .426 in 1924. This was just the beginning for Naikai, who amazingly would best these efforts. He would see a setback though in 2017 with a torn meniscus costing him most of the year.

Hiroshima beat Osaka 3-1 in the first round, sending the Hammerheads to their fifth straight Japan League Championship Series. Defending champ Yokohama survived in five against Sendai, making the Samurai one-and-done for the fourth straight season. In the JLCS rematch, the Yellow Jackets won 4-1 to repeat and earn their ninth pennant overall. The Hammerheads fell for the third straight year in the JLCS.



While the Japan League had the same playoff field as the prior year, only one made it back in the Korea League. Seoul took the top seed at 94-68 atop the North Division, ending an eight-year playoff drought. Changwon claimed the South Division at 92-70, which ended their own nine year skid. The Crabs hadn’t been a division champ since 1965. Changwon led the KL in scoring (780). The Crabs won their division by five games and the Seahawks took theirs by six.

It was a very tight wild card race with seven teams within six games of each other. Pyongyang was the only repeat playoff team, getting the first slot at 88-74. Jeonju tied with last year’s KLCS runner-up Seongnam at 87-75 with the Jethawks advancing on the tiebreaker. This snapped a 16-year playoff drought for Jeonju going back to 1999.

Falling just short were Daejeon (86-76), Gwangju (84-78), Incheon (83-79), and Yongin (82-80). The biggest surprise was defending Korea League champ Ulsan collapsing down to 70-92. That ended a four-year playoff run for the Swallows and was their first losing season since 2009.

Gwangju DH Kunihiko Ishiguro won his second Korea League MVP in three years. In his third year starting, Ishiguro led in runs (138), homers (64), RBI (143), total bases (450), slugging (.738), OPS (1.113), and wRC+ (200). The 138 runs scored was the fifth most in EAB history at that point. Ishiguro added 9.8 WAR, a .331 average, and 46 stolen bases.

Seoul’s Do-Kyun Lee won his third Pitcher of the Year in four years and repeated as a Triple Crown winner with a 21-7 record, 2.06 ERA, and 420 strikeouts. Lee joined Soo Moon as the only repeat TC winners by an EAB pitcher (2000-01). The 420 Ks was second-most in EAB history only behind Lee’s own 447 from the prior year. The 27-year old also led in WHIP (0.77), K/BB (14.5), quality starts (25), complete games (21), FIP- (42), and WAR (12.3). Lee also made world history in the playoffs against Jeonju.

In an extra-innings performance, Lee set a world record for strikeouts with 26 over 11.2 innings. The previous pro record was 24 by Hyderabad’s Rami Naqvi in the 1999 ABF season. Lee also broke Nick Hedrick’s 25 strikeouts over 9 innings in the 1957 World Baseball Championship for the United States. Lee still holds the record as of a 2037, an especially remarkable feat in a playoff game.

That effort helped Seoul win 3-1 over Jeonju in the first round, while Changwon topped Pyongyang 3-1 on the other side. The Seahawks hadn’t gotten to the Korea League Championship Series since 2007, while the Crabs’ last berth was 2006. In 2006, Seoul claimed their last pennant by beating Changwon. The Crabs got revenge in 2016 for the upset in a seven-game classic. Changwon became six-time Korea League champs, ending a 51-year pennant drought back to 1964.



Changwon ended a 52-year drought for the overall East Asian Championship, rolling to a sweep of the defending champ Yokohama in the 96^th finale. The EAB final hadn’t seen a sweep since 1996. The Crabs became three-time champs (1945, 1963, 2016) and were the fifth different champ in five years.

The playoff star was 1B Yeo-San Park, who won MVP of the finals and the KLCS. The third-year slugger had 15 playoff starts with 20 hits, 9 runs, 3 doubles, 2 triples, 5 home runs, 10 RBI, and a 1.073 OPS. In the last decade, there had been nine different EAB champs crowned in 10 years with only Kyoto repeating.



Other notes: RF Soo-Geun Lim became the EAB RBI leader in 2016, finishing the season at 2154 to pass Hyeog-Jun Wi’s 2097. Lim played two more seasons and finished at 2279 RBI, which remains the EAB record as of 2037 and ranks 19^th in all of pro baseball history. He ended 2016 at 876 home runs, passing Hyeog-Jun Wi for second on the EAB chart (873). He was still 21 away from the leader Lei Meng’s 897.

Yoo Sen finished the season having drawn 1665 career walks as the EAB all-time leader. He played three more years to get to 1841, which ranks fourth in all of pro baseball history. Sen and Seung-U Lee both crossed 1500 RBI, making 41 EAB hitters to have reached that mark. Hamhung’s Kwang-Sik Oh had a 31-game hit streak, the first player to reach 30+ since 2000.

Sendai’s Edham Shirmemet threw EAB’s 35^th perfect game on June 10, striking out 10 against Hiroshima. Sekien Ida became the 16^th pitcher to 4000 career strikeouts, ending his final season with 4012 Ks. SS Do-Hyeon Ju won his tenth consecutive Gold Glove. LF Hitoshi Kubota won his tenth Silver Slugger and 3B Chul Park won his seventh.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

2016 in CABA

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Defending Mexican League champ Juarez again had the top overall seed, this time at 103-59. The Jesters repeated as North Division champs and earned their fifth playoff berth in six years. Juarez impressively led in both runs scored (810) and fewest allowed (584) in the ML. They won the division by seven over Torreon, who took the first wild card at 96-66. That gave the Tomahawks their fourth playoff berth in a row.

Leon snagged the South Division for the fourth straight season at 99-63. Queretaro was their closest foe at 93-69. The Terriers tied with San Luis Potosi for the second wild card, while Ecatepec (92-70) finished one game short. Queretaro bested the Potros in the tiebreaker game to end a 32-year playoff drought back to 1983. That was the longest active skid in CABA and the Terriers hadn’t even finished above .500 back to 2003. The new longest active drought falls to Mexico City (since 1985), who had the ML’s worst record in 2016 at 63-99.

Leon’s Max Valentin became a two-time Mexican League MVP, having previously won in 2013. The 32-year old right fielder led in home runs (66), RBI (135), slugging (.748), OPS (1.124), and wRC+ (206). The 66 homers fell six short of the CABA single-season record. Valentin also had 8.3 WAR, 121 runs, and a .341 average. In the prior March, the Lions locked him up for good at six years and $79,200,000.

Juarez’s Gibson Nieto earned Pitcher of the Year as the WARlord at 8.4. The 25-year old Puerto Rican had a 2.60 ERA over 240.1 innings, 17-8 record, 303 strikeouts, and 152 ERA+. Nieto signed a four-year, $49,200,000 extension after the 2015 season, but ended up falling towards below average production by 2019.

The division champs won in the first round of the playoffs with Juarez over Queretaro 3-1 and Leon over Torreon 3-0, setting up a rematch in the Mexican League Championship Series. The Jesters again prevailed over the Lions, although they needed all seven games to do it. Juarez earned their third pennant in five years and their 14^th overall, tying them with Ecatepec for the second-most in the ML.



Salvador surprised many by not only winning the Continental Division, but earning the Caribbean League’s #1 seed at 96-66. The Stallions ended a seven-year playoff drought and took the division crown by seven games over Suriname. Last year’s division winner Honduras was a non-factor at 75-87, while Panama couldn’t repeat as a wild card with their fall to 82-80. Both wild cards came out of a very competitive Island Division.

Jamaica took it at 95-67, falling one short of the top seed. The Jazz earned their third straight playoff berth, taking the division by three over Havana and four over reigning CABA champ Haiti. Suriname at 89-73 fell two short of the second wild card, while the next closest was Guatemala at 85-77.

The Hurricanes ended a six-year playoff drought, while the Herons grew their streak to five. In the last 20 years, Haiti has a remarkable 19 playoff berths, the most by a CABA team in such a stretch. That was the most in CABA history for a 20-year stretch, besting out 18/20 runs by both Monterrey and Ecatepec during their prime runs.

Costa Rica was just above .500, but they had the Caribbean League MVP in 1B Tomas Sesura. The 27-year old Honduran lefty led in total bases at 370. Sesura had 38 home runs, 105 RBI, a .338/.381/.593 slash, 160 wRC+, and 7.1 WAR. That effort earned Sesura a seven-year, $103,000,000 extension the following fall. However, he would opt out early and leave for MLB.

Havana’s Adrian Estrella won his third Pitcher of the Year, having won back in 2008 and 2013 with Panama. He joined the Hurricanes in 2015 on a five-year, $33,500,000 free agent deal. The 33-year old Salvadoran righty led in WAR (7.3), and quality starts (24). Estrella had a 2.77 ERA over 247 innings, 16-8 record, 276 strikeouts, and 145 ERA+.

Haiti upset top seed Salvador 3-2 in the first round, while Havana upset #2 seed Jamaica 3-1. The Herons were looking for the repeat, while the Hurricanes hadn’t been in the Caribbean League Championship Series since their 2009 title. Havana had home field advantage and dethroned Haiti 4-2 to become seven-time Caribbean champs.



In the 106^th Central American Baseball Association Championship, Juarez cruised to a 4-1 victory over Havana. The Jesters became a four-time CABA champ, having also won in 1977, 78, and 81. This continued an impressive run of parity with nine different CABA champs in nine years. Finals MVP was CF Gangzhun Peng, who joined Juarez in 2014 after a decade with Hong Kong. The 33-year old Chinese lefty had 15 playoff starts with 19 hits, 8 runs, 3 doubles, 2 homers, and 7 RBI.



Other notes: CABA’s 35^th Perfect Game came on August 7 by Monterrey’s Jimeno Calleros, who struck out 10 against Mexicali. Juan Castro and David Jack became the 17^th and 18^th members of the 600 home run club. Castro also became the 44^th to reach 1500 runs scored. CF Santiago Flores won his ninth straight Gold Glove. C Luis Moran won his eighth Silver Slugger.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

2016 in MLB

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Three teams in the National Association had 100+ wins in 2016, led by top seed Kansas City at 104-58. This was a franchise record for the Cougars, who earned their second playoff berth in three years. They hadn’t taken the Lower Midwest Division since back in 1991. Two-time defending NA champ St. Louis was a close second in the division at 99-63. The Cardinals were down from their impressive 112-wins the prior year, but still grew their playoff streak to four as the first wild card.

The second bye was East Division champ Philadelphia at 102-60. The Phillies got a third division title in a row and their fifth straight playoff berth. The fight for the second wild card was centered in the East with Baltimore (94-68) getting it by one game over Brooklyn (93-69), ending a four-year drought for the Orioles. The next closest were Boston (91-71) and Indianapolis (87-73).

Toronto repeated atop the Northeast Division at 100-62, nine ahead of the Red Sox. Both Montreal and Hartford had playoff streaks ended as they were around .500. In the Upper Midwest, Chicago (87-75) ended a 17-year playoff drought. The Cubs were six ahead of both Minneapolis and Omaha and seven better than defending division champ Detroit. At 80-82, the Tigers’ run of winning seasons ended at 19 years. Chicago scored the most runs in the NA at 756, while St. Louis allowed the fewest at 484.

In his MLB debut, RF Ching-Hui Lin won National Association MVP. The 32-year old Taiwanese lefty had been a four-time Taiwan-Philippine Association MVP with Taipei. Lin signed with Toronto in 2016 for four-years and $87,200,000 and immediately delivered, leading in home runs (51), RBI (143), runs (122), and total bases (388) Linn also had a .325 average, 1.035 OPS, 215 wRC+, and 9.1 WAR

Pitcher of the Year was veteran Easton MacGregor in his third year with Philadelphia. The 33-year old Michigander had played the first decade of his career with Memphis before getting traded to the Phillies in 2014. MacGregor led in wins at 21-7 and posted a 2.16 ERA, 250.1 innings, 214 strikeouts, 163 ERA+, and 7.4 WAR.

Also worth a mention was Rookie of the Year Mike Rojas, who was picked third overall by Cincinnati out of Kansas. He broke the record for the most WAR by an MLB ROTY winner at 9.4, beating B.J. Scott’s 9.1 from 1925. Scott won MVP that year as well, while Rojas finished second with an NA best .343/.418/.705 slash, 1.123 OPS, and 228 wRC+. Rojas would become an all-timer over the next two decades for the Reds.

St. Louis’s three-peat hopes ended quickly as Chicago swept them in the first round of the playoffs. Toronto edged Baltimore 2-1 on the other side, then upset Philadelphia 3-2 in round two. Top seed Kansas City held on 3-2 in their own second round battle with the Cubs. The Timberwolves earned back-to-back appearances in the National Association Championship Series, while the Cougars got their second in three years.

Toronto seemed on their way to the road upset with a 3-0 start to the series. However, Kansas City completed the rally to win 4-3, becoming the first team in MLB’s 116-year history to pull off the comeback from down 3-0. KC got its sixth pennant and ended a 24-year drought with their prior wins in 1937, 61, 62, 76, and 91.



The top two records in the American Association battled for both the #1 seed and the Southwest Division title. Phoenix and San Francisco tied for both at 100-62, requiring a one-game tiebreaker won by the Firebirds. Phoenix grew their playoff streak to five with their third division title in that run, while the Gold Rush ended a 16-year playoff drought. The Firebirds allowed the fewest runs in the AA at 529.

Las Vegas (91-71), Albuquerque (90-72), and Oakland (89-73) each had solid years, but all just missed out on the second wild card. Despite going 80-82, San Diego scored the most runs in the AA at 802. Meanwhile Los Angeles’ playoff streak ended at six as the Angels took last in the Southwest at 70-93.

Charlotte very nearly got the #1 seed at 99-63, falling one short, but they still easily nabbed the second bye as Southeast Division champ. The Canaries ended a three-year playoff drought, beating Nashville (95-67) and Tampa (90-72). The Knights got the second wild card by four games to end a six-year playoff drought, while the Thunderbirds’ six-year streak ended.

The longest active playoff streak went to reigning World Series champ Denver, who won their seventh straight Northwest Division at 93-69. This tied the MLB record for consecutive division titles with Ottawa’s 1932-38 run. Salt Lake City was the Dragons’ closest foe at 85-77. New Orleans ended San Antonio’s three-year reign atop the South Central with an 87-75 mark, ending a 15-year playoff drought for the Mudcats. Dallas was second at 82-80, followed by the 80-82 Oilers.

DH Killian Fruechte had won MVPs in 2009 and 2012 in the National Association for Onaha. He joined San Diego in 2015 on a mammoth seven-year, $179,400,000 deal, but missed half the year to a torn labrum. Healthy in 2016, the 32-year old lefty earned American Association MVP for the Seals. Fruetche led in runs (138), homers (55), total bases (383), and slugging (.621). He added 8.2 WAR, a 1.020 OPS, and 180 wRC+. Fruechte also became an eight-time Silver Slugger winner, although it was his first as a DH.

Pitcher of the Year went to Charlotte’s J.J. Grove, who led in wins (23-8), ERA (2.45), and quality starts (23). Grove added 191 strikeouts over 260.2 innings, a 160 ERA+, and 6.5 WAR. This got him his big payday, but Grove shocked many by leaving for Mexico on a seven-year $64,800,000 deal with Ciudad Guayana in a rare case of a prime player leaving MLB. Sadly, Grove blew out his elbow in spring training 2017 and only posted average stats when then onward.

Both first round matchups went 2-1 to the wild cards with San Francisco over New Orleans and Nashville over Denver, ending the Dragons’ hope of a repeat title. Charlotte surprisingly swept the Gold Rush in round two, while the Knights upset Phoenix 3-1. The Canaries earned their first American Association Championship Series berth since 2012, while it was Nashville’s first since their 2009 title. That year also saw two Southeast Division teams collide as the Knights beat Jacksonville.

In a seven-game classic, Charlotte defeated Nashville 4-3 for the Canaries’ fourth-ever pennant. Not many were alive from the last once 75 years prior, as Charlotte’s pennants had come in 1923, 1937, and 1941. The Canaries’ only prior World Series win came in 1937 sweep of Kansas City; coincidentally the team they’d meet in the 116^th World Series.



The 2016 World Series rematch also went to Charlotte, although this time it was more competitive with a 4-2 result over Kansas City. The 79-year gap between titles was among the largest in pro baseball history. In his third year starting, 3B Ethan Harrington earned World Series MVP. The 26-year old Kentuckian in 16 playoff starts had 15 hits, 7 runs, 2 doubles, 4 home runs, and 9 RBI.



Other notes: CF Morgan Short became MLB’s new WARlord among position players in 2016, dethroning Elijah Cashman’s nearly century-long reign with 136.6. The 35-year old Short got 9.1 in 2016 with Brooklyn to get to 140.6. Short finished 2016 at 4^th in WAR among all-players with three pitchers ahead of him, led by Ned Giles at 151.7.

Short also grew his MLB-record for Silver Sluggers with 14, ultimately his final one. No other player in world history had 14 in center to this point and only AAB’s Mwarami Tale would later achieve that feat. Short also won his sixth Gold Glove. Cody Lim became the 23^rd member of the 600 home run club.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

2016 Baseball Grand Championship

The seventh Baseball Grand Championship was held in Rio de Janeiro with the automatic bids going to MLB’s Kansas City and Charlotte, CABA’s Havana and Juarez, EAB’s Changwon and Yokohama, BSA’s Rio de Janeiro and Callao, EBF’s Amsterdam and Zurich, EPB’s Moscow, OBA’s Guam, APB’s Semarang, CLB’s Changwon, WAB’s Dakar, SAB’s Hanoi, ABF’s Tehran, ALB’s Damascus, and AAB’s Brazzaville.

The wild card slot went to OBA runner-up Christchurch, who had tied the world record for wins in a regular season at 126-36. Guam denied them the Oceania Championship and carried that momentum into an ultra-competitive BGC. Only two wins separated first from ninth and three wins separated first from 12^th. However, Golden Eagles managed to emerge from the chaos as the Grand Champion.



Despite only a +1 run differential, Guam managed to win the tight games to prevail and like against the Chinooks in the OBA final, came through in the clutch. It was a massive celebration for one of pro baseball’s smallest markets by population with only around 168,000 people living in the unincorporated territory of the United States. At 13-6, the Golden Eagles were the first-ever Oceania Baseball Association team to claim the Grand Championship, giving four leagues a title thus far (four by MLB, one each to OBA, EAB, and AAB).

Three teams were one back on Guam at 12-7; Hanoi, Kansas City, and Zurich. Officially based on tiebreakers, the Cougars took second place, the Hounds third, and Mountaineers fourth. Hanoi’s finish was the highest to that point by a South Asia Baseball team. Zurich scored the most runs of any team at 93, followed by Kansas City (89) and Tehran (88). The Mountaineers had the best run differential at +25, followed by the Hounds (+23) and KC (+20).



Five teams finished tied for fifth at 11-8; Christchurch, Havana, Juarez, Tehran, and Yokohama. The Hurricanes allowed the fewest runs at 55, followed by Hanoi (57) and Semarang (60). Next were three teams at 10-9; Amsterdam, Charlotte, and Semarang.

Alone in 13^th was Moscow at 9-10, followed by 8-11 efforts by Callao, Changchun, and Rio de Janeiro. Damascus was 17^th at 7-12, then at 6-13 were Brazzaville and Changwon at 6-13. Dakar was alone in the last place spot at 4-15 and had the worst run differential at -34.

Tournament MVP went to Changchun’s Tie Li. The fifth-year 1B in 19 starts had 24 hits, 11 runs, 2 doubles, 11 home runs, and 21 RBI with a 1.148 OPS and 1.6 WAR. He beat out Zurich 3B Ludevit Dano, who smacked 17 home runs with 23 RBI, 23 hits, and 21 runs. Dano set a new record for homers in the BGC that would only finally be matched in 2028. Best Pitcher was Moscow’s Andrei Linev with the 25-year old Russian posting a 0.67 ERA over 26.2 innings, a 2-0 record and 20 saves, 41 strikeouts, and 1.9 WAR.

Other notes: Amsterdam’s Luther Bowness set a new single-game strikeout record for the BGC, fanning 20 over 10 innings against Tehran.

Editor’s note: For whatever reason, some individual stats for players won’t show up on the season’s leaderboard, but they show up in the all-time records (like Dano’s 17 HR doesn’t show up on the season leaderboard, but it is confirmed in his player stats). This seems to just be a BGC issue, I caught it in previous editions as well.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

2017 MLB Hall of Fame (Part 1)

Major League Baseball had a three-player Hall of Fame class for 2017. SP Udugama Bandara was the headliner with a first-ballot 94.4% mark. Fellow pitcher Daniel Grondin also got in on the first ballot with an 83.7% debut. 2B Elias Wilson on his tenth and final opportunity made it in at a nice 69.0%, just crossing the 66% requirement.

SP Keifer Bobbins and SS Robert Hightower both earned 61.4% on their fourth ballots. Also crossing 50% was C Brayan Varela at 56.7% for his second try, C Elliott McKay at 54.9% for his tenth and final ballot, and C Sebastian Van Velzen debuted at 53.6%.



For Elliott McKay, he debuted at 51.0% and never fell below 50%. He got as high as 62.0% in 2015, but couldn’t cross the line. The anti-catcher bias with the lower offensive stats that come with the position hurt him. McKay had a 19-year career mostly with Toronto, winning five Silver Sluggers and one MVP.

McKay had 2380 hits, 1145 runs, 355 doubles, 340 home runs, 1113 RBI, 979 walks, a .277/.350/.441 slash, 140 wRC+, and 95.7 WAR. As of 2037, he has the third-most WAR at catcher, only behind Mason Wilkinson (103.8) and Luca Adams (96.8). McKay likely is one of the most egregious snubs for MLB’s HOF, but such is the life as a catcher.

Also dropped was 3B Elmeri Paavolainen, who had an 18-year career with Edmonton, Denver, and Austin. The Finnish righty debuted with a peak at 28.1% and fell to 10.3% at the end. Paavolainen won a Silver Slugger with 2796 hits, 1439 runs, 340 doubles, 214 triples, 146 home runs, 891 RBI, 848 stolen bases, a .300/.367/.430 slash, 116 wRC+, and 62.2 WAR. He ranks 14^th in stolen bases as of 2037, but didn’t have the power or accolades to stand out.

SP Stan Sentido was also dropped after ten ballots, debuting and peaking at 26.8% and ending at 7.2%. Sentido pitched 20 years with seven teams and posted a 225-218 record, 3.39 ERA, 4222 innings, 3387 strikeouts, 909 walks, 105 ERA+, 84 FIP-, and 90.9 WAR. As of 2037, he ranks 53^rd in pitching WAR. However, Sentido was dismissed as a compiler who lacked accolades and black ink. He was notable though for having a 2.00 ERA in his 94.2 playoff innings, playing a big role in Virginia Beach’s 1988 and 1990 World Series wins.



Udugama Bandara – Starting Pitcher – Columbus Chargers – 94.4% First Ballot

Udugama Bandara was a 6’4’’, 195 pound right-handed pitcher from Daluguma, Sri Lanka; a suburb of the capital Colombo with around 74,000 people. Bandara was known for having incredible movement on his pitches, rated as a 10/10 at his peak. He also had strong stuff and above average to good control. Bandara’s fastball hit the 97-99 mph mark, but his curveball and splitter were often his most dangerous pitches, leading to an extreme groundball tendency. He also had a rarely used changeup for a fourth pitch.

Bandara’s stamina was respectable and he was a good defensive pitcher. He also had excellent durability, making 32+ starts each year from 1993-2006. Bandara also brought a tremendous work ethic, allowing him to become one of MLB’s top pitchers of the 1990s and 2000s.

When Bandara was coming up, his native Sri Lanka had a very limited baseball scene. The country wouldn’t get a pro team in South Asia Baseball until 2008. Although Bandara dominated Sri Lanka’s limited amateur talent pool, it didn’t draw the attention of SAB teams. Despite being eligible multiple years, he wasn’t drafted into SAB. But he had managed to catch the attention of the Columbus Chargers, who gave him a sizeable $2,280,000 for one year to bring him to the United States.

The Chargers’ bet paid off with Bandara posting 4.4 in his debut, taking third in 1993’s Rookie of the Year voting. He was Columbus’ ace soon after, finishing above 6 WAR nine times in his run there. Bandara’s arm helped the Chargers become a contender with six playoff berths and four Lower Midwest Division titles from 1994-2001.

1994 saw an appearance in the National Association Championship Series for the first time since 1969, but Columbus lost to Cleveland. Unfortunately for the Chargers, they went 0-5 in their next five playoff series. In 1998, Columbus had the #1 seed at 100-62, but suffered an upset defeat to Toronto. You couldn’t blame Bandara though, as he had a 2.87 ERA over 47 playoff innings with 39 strikeouts and a 120 ERA+.

1996 saw Bandara toss a no-hitter on September 28 against Hartford, striking out 11 with one walk. After the 1997 season, Columbus gave him a six-year, $21,520,000 extension. In 1998, Bandara won Pitcher of the Year, leading in wins at 20-9. He finished with nine shutouts in 1999, earning third in POTY voting. As of 2037, Bandara is one of only 10 pitchers in MLB history to have nine or more shutouts in a season.

Bandara won his second Pitcher of the Year in 2000, which had his career-best ERA+ of 167. He led in wins in 2001, then took his lone ERA title in 2002 at 2.36 for a second in POTY voting. Bandara was a groundball and ‘pitch-to-contact’ type arm, so he didn’t get the big strikeout tallies. His black ink was surprisingly limited considering his overall run.

After 2002, Bandara declined the contract option, but re-signed shortly after on a five-year, $51,000,000 deal. He became less dominant as his velocity dwindled, but Bandara still was solid and reliable. By this point, Columbus had fallen towards the bottom of the standings mostly. After an ironman run to that point, Bandara had his first major injury in late June 2007 as a torn meniscus in his right knee knocked him out five months.

Columbus had bounced back to just above .500 at this point, but decided not to re-sign the soon-to-be 39-year old Bandara coming off injury. In total with the Chargers, he had a 239-171 record, 2.74 ERA, 3846.1 innings, 2743 strikeouts, 1088 walks, 345/516 quality starts, 126 ERA+, and 82.4 WAR. A few years later, Bandara’s #15 uniform would be retired in Columbus.

Plenty of teams still were interested and Bandara signed a three-year, $25,900,000 deal with Austin. He had a solid 2008 and helped the Amigos to a division title and the #2 seed, although they went one-and-done. They went .500 in 2009 as Bandara tore his meniscus again, missing the second half. In two years for Austin, he had a 27-14 record, 2.99 ERA, 364.1 innings, 211 strikeouts, 127 ERA+, and 7.5 WAR.

Bandara didn’t meet the vesting criteria for the third year, becoming a free agent again heading towards age 41. Kansas City gave him a three-year, $18,300,000 deal, but age started to catch up. Bandara missed a chunk of 2010 to rotator cuff inflammation and much of 2011 to an arthritic elbow. He was below average in his 314 innings for the Cougars with a 3.64 ERA, 93 ERA+, and 3.8 WAR. Bandara opted to retire after the 2011 campaign at age 42.

In total, Bandara had a 280-202 record, 2.82 ERA, 4524.2 innings, 3128 strikeouts, 1294 walks, 1.15 WHIP, 402/606 quality starts, 194 complete games, 69 shutouts, 123 ERA+, and 93.7 WAR. As of 2037, Bandara ranks 16^th in wins, 42^nd in WAR for pitchers, 23^rd in innings pitched, second in shutouts, and 85^th in strikeouts.

He retired as the leader in shutouts and would only later be passed by Vincent Lepp. This was especially interesting since Bandara didn’t crack the top 100 in complete games. Among all pitchers with 1000+ innings, his ERA ranks 61^st. Bandara didn’t have the raw dominance like some other greats, but he knew how to get outs and was as steady as they come. Thus, he received 94.4% to headline MLB’s three-player 2017 Hall of Fame class.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

2017 MLB Hall of Fame (Part 2)

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Daniel Grondin – Starting Pitcher – Calgary Cheetahs – 83.7% First Ballot

Daniel Grondin was a 6’4’’, 200 pound right-handed pitcher from Abbotsford, British Columbia; a city of 153,000 just outside of the Greater Vancouver area. Grondin was a fireballer with absolutely incredible stuff which some scouts rated an 11/10 at his peak. He also had fantastic movement and above average control. Grondin’s 99-101 mph cutter was an all-timer, but his sinker was a strong counter pitch. He also had a curveball in the arsenal.

Grondin was a good defensive pitcher, but was terrible at holding runners. He had strong stamina in his prime with good durability, but his body broke down into his 30s. Grondin was loyal and generally kept to himself, but his pitching dominance made him a popular player for the Canadian baseball fan.

He left Canada for the much warmer University of Miami, posting a 24-7 record, 2.29 ERA, 295 innings, 349 strikeouts, 151 ERA+, and 12.2 WAR in three years for the Hurricanes. In his junior season, he earned his first spot on Canada’s team for the World Baseball Championship. Grondin dominated in the WBC from 1997-2010 with an 18-8 record, 1.74 ERA, 223 innings, 394 strikeouts, 64 walks, 204 ERA+, and 9.7 WAR.

Among all WBC pitchers as of 2037, Grondin ranks 21^st in WAR and 28^th in strikeouts. He won Best Pitcher in 1998, going 4-0 over 19.2 innings with a 0.46 ERA, 44 strikeouts, and 790 ERA+. Grondin also had 69 strikeouts and a 1.03 ERA over 43.2 innings in 2004, helping the Canadians to the world title over Taiwan.

Grondin’s MLB career as the 26^th pick by Calgary in the 1997 draft. He had an impressive debut with 8.1 WAR, which began a streak of 12 seasons worth 7+ WAR or better. In his second year, Grondin led the American Association and had career highs in WAR (12.6), quality starts (26), and complete games (24), winning Pitcher of the Year. The WAR mark was the second-best ever by an MLB pitcher, only behind T.J. Nakabayashi’s 12.6 from 1991.

The first setback came in the 2000 WBC as Grondin suffered a bone spur in his elbow. This kept him out for spring training and the first half of 2000, but he looked strong in his return. Grondin followed that up with 12.4 and 12.5 WAR seasons in 2001-2002, leading both years in strikeouts as well at 342 and 335. Stunningly, Grondin wasn’t even a finalist for Pitcher of the Year in either season.

His 342 strikeouts was the seventh-most in a season to that point and ranks 12^th as of 2037. The advanced stats loved Grondin as he holds the 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th best seasons by WAR for a MLB pitcher. Perhaps being in Calgary was part of the reason he was overlooked as the Cheetahs were terrible in this era, averaging 76.8 wins per season during his tenure. Grondin stayed loyal though and signed a five-year, $49,600,000 extension after the 2003 season.

Grondin led in strikeouts again in 2003 and 2007 and was the WARlord from 2005-2007. He also led in FIP- ten times from 1998-2008, which suggested his traditional metrics were somewhat weakened due to poor defense by Calgary. Grondin would win a second Pitcher of the Year in 2007 with a 10.2 WAR effort. That would prove to be his final year with the Cheetahs.

For Calgary, Grondin had a 162-107 record, 3.03 ERA, 2607.2 innings, 2811 strikeouts, 694 walks, 132 ERA+, and 101.6 WAR. Getting above 100 WAR in his first decade put Grondin in rare territory. His efforts didn’t make the Cheetahs a winner though and they opted to trade him after the 2007 campaign to Boston for five prospects. The Cheetahs would later retire Grondin’s #46 uniform.

The Red Sox wanted him for the long haul, giving Grondin a six-year, $86,700,000 extension in spring training. Grondin was solid in his first two years for Boston, who won back-to-back Northeast Division titles. He got to see his first playoff action, posting a quality start in 2008 but struggling in two 2009 outings, finishing with a 5.30 ERA over 18.2 playoff innings. The Red Sox lost in the first round in 2008, then went one-and-done in 2009 despite having the #1 seed at 107-55.

In 2010, Grondin’s velocity started to drop and to overcompensate he tore his flexor tendon in August. When he came back in 2011 for Boston, he was terrible out of the bullpen with -0.8 WAR and a 4.66 ERA over 77.1 innings. The Red Sox cut their losses and released Grondin near the trade deadline. In total for Boston, he had a 41-22 record, 3.08 ERA, 650.2 innings, 601 strikeouts, 208 walks, 114 ERA+, and 15.3 WAR.

Grondin couldn’t overpower hitters any more, but he still wanted to pitch somewhere. A week after being released, he packed his bags for Iran as ABF’s Shiraz signed him for $2,000,000. In only his second appearance for the Suns, Grondin tore his UCL. Instead of trying to rehab that, Grondin retired in the winter at age 35.

For his MLB career, Grondin had a 203-129 record, 3.04 ERA, 3258.1 innings, 3412 strikeouts, 902 walks, 265/401 quality starts, 128 ERA+, 60 FIP-, and 116.9 WAR. As of 2037, he ranks ninth in pitching WAR and 44^th in strikeouts. Grondin’s K/9 of 9.42 is 38^th among all pitchers with 1000+ innings and his .630 opponent’s OPS ranks 92^nd.

Of the pitchers with 100+ career WAR, Grondin did it in 600 fewer innings than the next lowest. Sabermetrics suggested he was far better than a lot of people gave him credit for. Grondin only received 83.7% in his Hall of Fame ballot debut, hurt also by a shorter career. However, his raw dominance was certainly HOF worthy, earning the first ballot induction with the 2017 class.



Elias Wilson – Second Base – Ottawa Elks – 69.0% Tenth Ballot

Elias Wilson was a 5’9’’, 170 pound left-handed hitting second baseman from Port Colborne, Ontario; a small city of 20,000 located on Lake Erie. Wilson was an excellent contact hitter that was fantastic at avoiding strikeouts, although he was merely average at drawing walks. He had nice gap power with 24 doubles and 13 triples per his 162 game average. Wilson also got you 15 home runs per 162 games.

Despite being a leadoff type guy, Wilson was average at best as a baserunner. He played some shortstop at the very start of his career, but didn’t have the range to make that work. Wilson made about 4/5 of his starts at second base where he thrived, winning three Gold Gloves. He had recurring knee injuries and other issues that cost him chunks of many seasons, but still managed to play into his mid 40s thanks to his adaptability and intelligence.

Wilson left Canada to attend college for Miami University in Ohio. As a junior, he won a Silver Slugger as a shortstop and took second in NCAA MVP voting. In 142 games over three years, Wilson had 169 hits, 86 runs, 23 doubles, 22 home runs, 92 RBI, a .294/.347/.463 slash, and 5.4 WAR. In the 1979 MLB Draft, Wilson went eighth overall to Ottawa, where he’d spend the next 18 years.

In 1980, Wilson looked promising in limited use with 64 games. He started much of 1981, but struggled immensely with -1.8 WAR. The Elks didn’t give up on his and Wilson posted the best year of his career by WAR at 9.0. He also led the National Association with a career-best 19 triples and had his career best 20 home runs. Ottawa had a historic 115-47 season, but suffered an upset second round loss to St. Louis.

In 1983, Wilson won his first Gold Glove and led again in triples with 17. Ottawa again was the top seed at 105-57 and this time got the job done in the playoffs, winning the World Series. Wilson sealed his popularity in the Canadian capital, posting 27 hits, 13 runs, 3 homers, and 11 RBI in 17 playoff starts. Ottawa would be a regular playoff team during his career with ten playoff berths and five division titles.

One knock against Wilson was that his 1983 playoff run made up 1.0 of his 1.1 career playoff WAR. Over 66 playoff starts, he had a middling 97 wRC+ with 68 hits, 27 runs, 8 doubles, 8 home runs, 29 RBI, and a .686 OPS. The Elks won the NACS in 1986, but lost the World Series to Calgary. The eight other playoff appearances for Wilson ended in either a first or second round exit.

1985 was Wilson’s lone season as an MVP finalist, taking third with 8.3 WAR and a career best 104 runs scored. That effort led Ottawa to sign Wilson to an eight-year, $12,320,000 extension that winter. Injuries would plague him the next few years with a fractured finger in 1986, a broken kneecap in 1987, and a sprained knee in 1988. 1988 was on pace to be his best to date with 7.7 WAR and a .855 OPS over 126 games.

Around this time, Wilson started playing for Canada in the World Baseball Championship as well. From 1986-2002, he had 234 games and 227 starts with 219 hits, 109 runs, 49 doubles, 21 home runs, 101 RBI, a .268/.343/.427 slash, 119 wRC+, and 5.7 WAR. In 1995, he took second in WBC MVP voting with 37 hits, 19 runs, and 10 doubles over 26 starts with a 1.102 OPS and 2.0 WAR. Canada won the world title that year, plus Wilson helped them to titles in 1986 and 1991.

Wilson finally was healthy in 1989, but missed much of 1990 between a sprained wrist and elbow inflammation. Still, his 108 game effort earned him his second Gold Glove. Wilson played only 11 games at the end of the 1991 season with a torn ACL suffered in the WBC. He had a three-year run staying healthy though from 1992-1994, including an 8.6 WAR season in 1994 at age 35 for his lone Silver Slugger. Wilson topped 6+ WAR in ten seasons for his career.

Ottawa gave him a four-year, $9,280,000 extension before the 1993 season. He won his third and final Gold Glove in 1995 and his career 140.9 zone rating ranks 13^th among MLB second basemen as of 2037. Sadly, 1995 was his last full season as a starter due to more injuries. Knee and hamstring troubles plagued him in 1996, followed by rib issues in 1997. Now 39-years old, Ottawa and Wilson amicably parted ways here.

In total with the Elks, Wilson had 2510 hits, 1191 runs, 330 doubles, 183 triples, 207 home runs, 984 RBI, a .299/.348/.456 slash, 138 wRC+, and 92.2 WAR. He remains a very popular player with Ottawa fans, but surprisingly Wilson’s #33 uniform was never retired. He still wanted to play and inked a three-year, $11,040,000 deal with Portland.

That was snake-bitten right away with a torn meniscus in 1998 spring training and a ruptured Achilles tendon in late May 1999. With the Pacifics, Wilson had 99 games with 2.5 WAR. Portland traded him in January 2000 to San Francisco for two prospects and a draft pick. Rib issues cost him some time, but with 2.3 WAR over 105 games in 2000, Wilson seemed to still have some juice left in his 40s. The Gold Rush signed him that winter to a three-year, $17,400,000 deal.

Knee issues really popped up from here onward. Wilson had 105 games in 2001, but with below average production. He didn’t look better in 2002 with only 29 games, although it was injury keeping him out and not benching. Wilson had 239 games with 2.7 WAR for San Francisco. Wrecked physically, Wilson retired after the 2002 season at age 44.

Wilson ended with 2839 hits, 1336 runs, 374 doubles, 198 triples, 240 home runs, 1121 RBI, 113 stolen bases, a .295/.344/.450 slash, 133 wRC+, and 97.4 WAR. As of 2037, he ranks 61th in WAR for position players and fourth for WAR accrued at second base. Wilson is 25^th in triples, but doesn’t crack the top 100 in any other counting stats. His tallies weren’t amazing and many thought they were low considering Wilson played until his mid 40s. He lacked black ink or big accolades as well.

Second base wasn’t the easiest position to get noticed to begin with, plus a lot of Wilson’s value came from defense rather than hitting. Thus, many voters pegged him as a “Hall of Pretty Good” level guy, debuting on the 2008 ballot at 34.1%. He hovered around there for a few years before jumping to 52.4% in 2013. Wilson fell back to 38.1% in 2014, but barely missed the 66% requirement in 2015 at 63.7%.

Wilson fell back to 44.7% in his penultimate try and he was resigned to not getting in. With his tenth and final chance in 2017, supporters were able to convince enough skeptics that he deserved his spot. Wilson barely made it, but a nice 69.0% got him across the line to cap the 2017 MLB Hall of Fame class. He became the fourth guy to make it on his tenth ballot in MLB, joining 1B Tiger Novak (1973), SP Richard Thieman (1983), and CF Will Kemme (2014).

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

2017 CABA Hall of Fame (Part 1)

The Central American Baseball Association saw a mammoth five-player Hall of Fame class in 2017, matching the record classes from 2012 and 2010. This group was a winner with all five earning first ballot nods. LF Luis Fernandez (99.0%) and SP Dario Becker (97.8%) were no-doubt headliners, while SP Aitor Moran (87.3%) and SP Yusmani Rodriguez (83.4%) got in with limited opposition. 1B/DH Alphanso Keyes was the closest to the 66% threshold, making it at 73.9%. No other players were above 50% with the top returner being SP Angel Tobar with a 47.8% ninth ballot effort.



3B Stanley Vil fell off the ballot after ten failed tries, ending at only 7.3% after debuting at 39.1%. He played 16 years with Haiti, winning two Silver Sluggers, one Gold Glove, and two CABA Championships. Vil had 2338 hits, 1044 runs, 398 doubles, 165 triples, 237 home runs, 1009 RBI, 495 stolen bases, a .310/.337/.501 slash, 129 wRC+, and 65.8 WAR. He won a batting title in 1991, but his lack of black ink otherwise and low power kept him on the outside.

1B Nicolas Ortiz fell below 5% and was dropped after eight ballots, but he was notable for winning three batting titles and leading in hits thrice. Ortiz also lacked power which sank him, but his .345 career batting average ranks 23^rd as of 2037 among all hitters with 3000+ plate appearances.



Luis Fernandez – Left Field – Trinidad Trail Blazers – 99.0% First Ballot

Luis Fernandez was a 6’1’’, 200 pound left-handed outfielder from Bonao, a city of 158,000 people in the central Dominican Republic. Fernandez simply socked dingers, topping 50 home runs in ten different seasons. He was also outstanding at drawing walks and was a deceptively crafty and skilled baserunner despite merely average speed.

However, Fernandez was merely an average to above average contact hitter. He also struck out a ton and was a ‘three-true outcomes’ type batter as more than 47% of his plate appearances ended in a homer, walk, or strikeout. Fernandez didn’t have a ton of gap power with 19 doubles and 7 triples per his 162 game average, focusing his efforts on towering homers. But that and his ability to draw walks made him a very dangerous and extremely popular player.

Defensively, Fernandez was hot garbage at any spot. He had a cannon arm, but had trouble aiming it along with poor glove work and range. He made the majority of his starts in left field, but saw the second most time as a designated hitter. Fernandez also had stints at right field and first base, struggling at each spot. However, you had to find a spot for the big bat. Fernandez was fiercely loyal and
generally fairly durable.

A visiting scout from Trinidad noticed Fernandez’s power potential as a teenager, signing him away from the DR in July 1990. He officially debuted with two at-bats in 1994 at age 20. Fernandez saw 197 games and 120 starts from 1995-1996 with unremarkable results. He became a full-time starter in 1997 and notably led the Caribbean League in walks (100), OBP (.435), and wRC+ (175). It was a career-best OBP and the only time he led despite his high walk tally, since his batting average was never great.

Fernandez would lead the league seven times in walks drawn and is one of only three CABA players to breach 100 walks in three seasons. 1997 was his first of 12 seasons worth 6+ WAR. He only hit 30 home runs that year, but then really found his power with 56 in 1998, winning his first Silver Slugger. Fernandez got additional Sluggers in 1999-2002, 2004-2005, 2007, and 2009.

1999 saw a 62 home run effort and a third place finish in MVP voting for Fernandez. Trinidad gave him a five-year, $18,400,000 extension with that effort. He was beloved by Trail Blazers fans, but they were stuck in the middle of the standings consistently in his tenure. Over Fernandez’s 18-year run in Trinidad, they averaged 81.1 wins per season; the definition of mid. Sadly, they also never made the playoffs in that entire run. The best effort was 95 wins in 2000, falling one game short of a division title.

Fernandez still thrilled the fans, leading in homers six times from 2000 onward. In 2001, he was second in MVP voting as he also led in runs (123), slugging (.653), OPS (1.039), and wRC+ (180). Fernandez led in OPS and wRC+ again in 2003 and 2004, peaking with a 1.118 OPS in 2003. In 11 seasons, Fernandez finished with an OPS above one. He also led in WAR with a career-best 8.0 in 2003 despite missing a month to a sprained knee. That surge gave him another five-year, $35,400,000 extension the following spring.

Unfortunately for Fernandez, he never won MVP. He took second again in 2004 and 2007, third in 2008, and second in 2009. In 2007, Fernandez smacked 71 home runs, falling one short of Yohnny Galaz’s 1988 record. Trinidad gave him another three years and $31,500,000 in April 2009. 2009 saw his career best in RBI at 139, runs at 124, total bases at 396, and slugging at .701. Fernandez also had 63 home runs, topping 60 for the fourth time. He was only the second in CABA history to achieve that feat.

Fernandez was beloved on Trinidad, but also a hero back home in the Dominican Republic. He played for the DR from 1997-2005 in the World Baseball Championship, posting 80 games and 74 starts, 61 hits, 56 runs, 35 home runs, 69 RBI, a .248/.388/.699 slash, 1.087 OPS, 206 wRC+, and 5.1 WAR. Among all WBC players with 250+ plate appearances, Fernandez’s OPS ranks 34^th.

2009 had seen Fernandez cross 700 career home runs, 1500 runs, and 2000 hits. He was the seventh member of the 700 homer club and still playing at a high level in his age 35 season. Some thought he could challenge the recently retired Hugh Boerboom’s home run record of 866. Unfortunately, that was not to be as the decline came quickly and suddenly.

The next year in 2010, Fernandez only managed 31 homers, a .776 OPS, and 1.9 WAR despite being healthy. He fared even worse the next year with -0.5 WAR, a .634 OPS, 77 wRC+, and league worst 204 strikeouts. Fernandez had another year on his contract and Trinidad had kept starting him out of respect, but he decided to call it quits at age 37. The Trail Blazers immediately retired his #27 uniform and he’d be a popular icon for the franchise for many years after.

Fernandez ended with 2310 hits, 1678 runs, 292 doubles, 103 triples, 762 home runs, 1651 RBI, 1318 walks, 2614 strikeouts, 521 stolen bases, a .272/.371/.601 slash, 157 wRC+, and 90.5 WAR. At retirement, he was third all-time in homers and second in walks drawn. As of 2037, Fernandez ranks fourth in dingers and third in walks. He did also retire with the most strikeouts by one, but would eventually surrender that unfortunate sombrero to Matias Esquilin.

Additionally, he ranks 12^th in runs scored, 22^nd in RBI, and 48^th in WAR among position players. Among all CABA batters with 3000+ plate appearances, Fernandez’s .973 OPS ranks 36^th and his slugging ranks 39^th. Few batters commanded more attention in the ballpark at the plate, as you knew a towering shot was a strong possibility.

The lack of team success, the terrible strikeout rate, and poor defense gave Fernandez a relatively low WAR mark despite his power. That keeps him out of any GOAT-level conversations, but you couldn’t argue against him as a Hall of Fame headliner. Even in a loaded five-player 2017 class, Fernandez led the way at a nearly unanimous 99.0%.