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

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With the 2029 season complete, South Asia Baseball became the 11^th of the major pro baseball organizations to complete 50 seasons. SAB’s results were very top heavy, punctuated by multiple long playoff streaks and dynasties from the top teams.



Ahmedabad was the most successful team overall and dominated the Indian League. The Animals averaged an incredible 97.1 wins per season with 12 SAB Championships, 16 IL pennants, 25 LCS appearances, 37 playoff berths, and 32 division titles. By team score, Visakhapatnam was the next best in the Indian League. The Volts made the playoffs nearly half the time (24) as did Jaipur (23), although they had far fewer titles to show for it.

The Southeast Asia League’s Yangon actually had the most overall playoff berths at 39, thanks in part to their world record 29-year streak. Ho Chi Minh City’s dynasty gave them the most SAB titles (6) and pennants (15) of the SEAL teams compared to 5 and 12 for the Green Dragons. HCMC’s struggles post dynasty though had them tied with Dhaka at 28 playoff berths. Yangon had SEAL’s best team score and the most division titles at 27.

The Indian League beat 30-20 in the finals matchups. All of the original teams had made the playoffs once, although three (Surat, Phnom Penh, Chittagong) have never won a division title. Surat, Chittagong, and Chennai are the original teams to never win a pennant. 15 teams have won the SAB Championship. Of the non-expansion teams, Kathmandu had the worst average win total (72.5) but Chittagong and Surat both had the worst team score (6).

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West African Baseball increased its minimum service time requirement for free agency from six years to seven starting with the 2029 season. This puts WAB among the middle of the world leagues in terms of restrictiveness. WAB had used a six-year standard since its inaugural season in 1975.



Dakar took top honors in the Western League at 105-57, growing their playoff streak to six seasons. It was the third time in that run that the Dukes finished first. Dakar also allowed the WL’s fewest runs at 683. Reigning WAB champ Freetown was second at 97-65 for their third straight playoff berth and their seventh trip in eight years. Kumasi’s wild card streak moved to four seasons with a third place 94-68 finish. The Monkeys led all of WAB with 918 runs scored.

Abidjan earned the fourth and final playoff spot at 90-72, bouncing back after their seven-year streak was snapped after a rough 72-90 mark the prior year. There was a steep drop to fifth place Cape Verde at 81-81. Accra, a wild card last year, notably dropped to 75-87.

Western League MVP went to DH Cedric St-Pierre in his third season with Kumasi. The 29-year old Canadian came to WAB after six seasons as a backup in MLB for Virginia Beach despite being a first round draft pick in 2020. He was cut by the Vikings in June 2027, then opened his search aboard and found a spot with the Monkeys.

St-Pierre led in hits (256), runs (140), total bases (447), average (.394), slugging (.689) wRC+ (173), and WAR (7.7). He added 47 doubles, 21 triples, 34 home runs, 121 RBI, 61 stolen bases, and 1.103 OPS. St-Pierre had a six-hit game against Dakar in June and hit for the cycle in August against Banjul. This would earn the Quebecois slugger a big payday as it was a contract year. St-Pierre stayed in West Africa and inked a six-year, $206 million offseason deal with Dakar.

Dukes ace Chidozie Iyakson made history as the first in WAB to win five Pitcher of the Year awards. He amazingly pulled this off in only six seasons, winning the award from 2024-27 previously. The 28-year old Nigerian lefty won his fifth ERA title (2.31) and led in wins (19-3), WHIP (0.94), FIP- (49), and WAR (8.6). Iyakson tossed 202.1 innings with 199 ERA+ and 288 strikeouts, missing the Triple Crown by only six Ks.

Kumasi edged Abidjan 2-1 in the first round of the playoffs, then was ousted 2-1 by Freetown in round two. The defending champ Foresters earned their fifth Western League Championship Series trip in six years, facing Dakar for the fourth time in that stretch. The Dukes had won the 2025 and 2027 encounters, but fell in 2028. Dakar avenged that defeat in 2029 with a sweep for their seventh pennant. Six of their WL crowns have come since 2012.



Three-time defending Eastern League champ Cotonou took first place in the standings for the second time in their run. The 97-65 Copperheads also set a new WAB season attendance record with 21,112,923 tickets sold. Cotonou allowed the fewest runs in WAB at 626. There was a ten game drop to second place and a glut of teams fighting for the remaining three playoff spots.

Advancing were Port Harcourt (87-75), Benin City (85-77), and Niamey (83-79). Falling just short were Lome (82-80), Ouagadougou (82-80), Kano (80-82), and Yaounde (79-83). The Hillcats ended a three-year playoff drought, while the Atomics streak grew to six. The Blue Devils snapped a 19-year drought, which had been the longest active skid in WAB. Benin City was the EL’s top scoring team at 909 runs. The Osprey notably had taken first at 101-61 the prior year, but fell one shy in 2029.

2028 Eastern League Rookie of the Year Khadim Zahoui earned MVP in 2029 for Yaounde. The 24-year old Liberian 1B led in total bases (394), average (.369), slugging (.685), OPS (1.100), wRC+ (184), and WAR (7.0). Zahoui added 212 hits, 113 runs, 53 doubles, 37 home runs, and 123 RBI. The Yellow Birds had picked Zahoui seventh overall in the 2027 WAB Draft.

Cotonou’s Jose Balde won his second Pitcher of the Year, having also won in 2026. The 27-year old Bissau-Guinean had a 17-10 record, 3.46 ERA, 236.2 innings, 213 strikeouts, 133 ERA+, and 5.0 WAR. The #1 pick in the 2024 WAB Draft, Balde signed a five-year, $65 million extension prior to the 2029 campaign with the Copperheads.

Benin City swept Niamey in the first round and gave Port Harcourt a fight in round two, although the Hillcats survived 2-1. This was Port Harcourt’s first Eastern League Championship Series appearance since 2024. Cotonou had no interest in ceding the throne though, earning a fourth straight pennant with a 3-0 sweep. The Copperheads secured their seventh EL title and joined Kano as the only EL franchises to ever four-peat.



The 55^th West African Championship continued what had turned into a fun finals rivalry between Dakar and Cotonou. The Copperheads won the first encounter back in 2013 and took the 2027 rematch. The Dukes took round three by a 4-2 margin, leaving Cotonou as the runner-up for back-to-back seasons. Dakar became three-time WAB champs (2016, 2025, 2028).

Veteran 3B Umar Lalleshwari won finals MVP after switching sides. The 36-year old from Pakistani had played with Cotonou from 2022-28, but joined Dakar for 2029. His career had started in his home country with ABF’s Karachi. In nine playoff starts, Lalleshwari had 16 hits, 8 runs, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 2 homers, 1.250 OPS, and 0.7 WAR.



Other notes: WAB hit king Fares Belaid became only the third player in all of pro baseball history with 4500+ career hits. He finished the season at 4636, still behind Prometheo Garcia’s 4917. Belaid also became the 3^rd in WAB to 2000 career RBI. The 40-year old Tunisian started 2029 with Lagos and was traded in June to Abidjan. Belaid notably had his second six-hit game in September against Accra, making him the only WAB player to achieve the feat twice.

Accra’s Kwame Koranteng set a bad league record as he was caught stealing 69 times. Ouagadougou’s Adam Seaton had 33 triples, tying for the second-most in WAB history. Ahmed Kone had a 38-game hitting streak, the fourth-longest in WAB history. Kone posted a 41-game streak in 2022 and a 37-game streak in 2021, becoming the only player in all of pro baseball history to achieve three 35+ game hitting streaks in a career.

Clarence Cole became the 3^rd in WAB to reach 3500 career hits. Desmond Jaiyeola became WAB’s 4^th member of the 700 home run club and Sahfiu Hassan became the 5^th. Abdel Aziz Ashraf, Mohamed Khammas, and Okoro Yusuf each reached 1500 RBI, a mark achieved by 21 WAB sluggers. Yusuf, Rio Ogbonna, Donatien Nda, and El Hadj Sghair made the 500 homer club become 24 players strong.

Nda, Kone, and Hassan Amara all reached 1500 runs scored, now met by 14 players. Khammas, Yusuf, and Romuald Assane each reached 2500 career hits, achieved by 33 WAB batters. In pitching milestones, Nazifi Zakaria became the 9^th to 3500 strikeouts and the 9^th to 200 wins. SS Saturday Solomon won his 7^th straight Gold Glove.

For the 2020s, West African Baseball saw a marginal jump in offensive numbers compared to the 2010s. WAB remained the world’s highest scoring league with the highest offensive numbers in baseball history to that point of any league. The league ERA grew from 4.47 in the 2010s to 4.65 in the 2020s. The batting average went up from .272 to .276.

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For the second straight year, China’s Northern League had four different playoff teams than the prior season. Harbin finished first at 102-60 to snap a nine-year playoff drought. The Hellcats hadn’t finished first in the standings since 2003. Zhengzhou was second at 96-66 for their third playoff berth in four years, allowing the fewest runs in the NL at 514. Shenyang snagged third at 94-68 to end a three-year drought.

Tianjin took the fourth and final spot at 93-69, also getting their third berth in four years. The Jackrabbits also secured their sixth playoff trip in eight years. The first teams out were defending NL champ Qingdao (87-75), and Shijiazhuang (86-76). Hangzhou, last year’s semifinalist, plummeted to 67-95. Although the Devils and Serpents both missed the playoffs, they both had record-setting offensive stats.

Shijiazhuang’s .275 team batting average, 732 runs, and 1551 hits were each single-season records for all of Chinese League Baseball. Qingdao had a .270 average, 718 runs, and 1505 hits, which would’ve been records if not for the Serpents. Tianjin notably had 107 triples and 334 steals, ranking third and second in NL history, respectively.

Harbin’s Ming Li repeated as Northern League MVP and won his third in four years. The 27-year old CF set a new CLB single-season record for runs scored with 126, passing the previous best of 121 by Libo Li which had held since 1980. Ming Li also led in total bases (415), slugging (.709), OPS (1.106), wRC+ (215), and WAR (13.8). He added 208 hits, 26 doubles, 17 triples, 49 home runs, 101 RBI, 56 steals, and a .356 batting average.

Li’s season cracked CLB’s leaderboards in numerous stats. His WAR was the eighth-best by a CLB position player, his slugging was third-best, OPS was fourth-best, and total bases ranked third-best. Li’s dominance got him paid handsomely in the offseason with an eight-year, $107,900,000 extension with the Hellcats.

Fourth year Zhengzhou ace Qing Zhang won Pitcher of the Year, leading in ERA (1.50), wins (19-3), WHIP (0.89), quality starts (31), shutouts (5), FIP- (61), and WAR (8.6). The 26-year old lefty had 257 strikeouts in 251.2 innings, falling 19 Ks shy of a Triple Crown. Zhang missed much of 2030 to a ruptured finger tendon, but still earned a four-year, $19,260,000 extension that winter from the Zips.

Also of note, Tianjin closer Jinglong Yu won his third Reliever of the Year. He posted 42 saves, 79 games, 1.30 ERA, 111 innings, 164 strikeouts, and 5.5 WAR; all career bests. Yu was third in Pitcher of the Year voting and earned international attention with his dominance. He left in the offseason for Major League Baseball on a three-year, $28,900,000 deal with Houston.

Shenyang fared best in the double round robin at 4-2, returning to the semifinal for the first time since 2025. It was notably the seventh semifinal trip for the Swans since 2017, although 2020 had been their only success there. Tianjin and Harbin both finished 3-3 and Zhengzhou was 2-4. The tiebreaker moved the Jackrabbits forward, giving them a fourth semifinal trip in seven years. In a seven-game classic, Shenyang outlasted Tianjin for their second China Series trip of the decade and fourth overall (1998, 2002, 2020, 2029). The Northern League has had six different champions in as many years.



Three of the Southern League’s playoff teams from 2028 made it back in 2029. Dongguan was among them atop the standings at 105-57. The Donkeys hadn’t finished first since 2022 and allowed the fewest runs in CLB at 471. Chongqing was a firm at second at 99-63. Although they missed the playoffs last year, the Cavaliers did secure a fourth berth in five years.

There was an eight game drop to reigning CLB champ Xiamen in third at 91-71, giving the Mutts their sixth playoff trip in seven years. Changsha narrowly took the fourth and final spot at 88-74, edging out 87-75 Guangzhou despite the Gamecocks leading the SL with 653 runs. Wuhan was a distant sixth at 81-81.

Changsha LF Tao Cai repeated as Southern League MVP and won the award for the fourth time, having also taken it in 2021 and 2022. He became the sixth in CLB history to win 4+ MVPs. The 32-year old nicknamed “Gonzo” led in home runs (50), RBI (114), total bases (392), slugging (.666), OPS (1.042), wRC+ (223), and WAR (9.8). Cai got 191 hits, 89 runs, and 25 doubles.

Dongguan’s Erkin Mammdov won Pitcher of the Year in his sixth season. The 26-year old Kazakh righty led in WAR (7.7) and quality starts (27). Mammadov had a 19-7 record, 1.99 ERA, 261.2 innings, and 286 strikeouts. He finished second in ERA, second in wins, and fifth in strikeouts.

The top spot in the double round robin was Dongguan at 4-2, earning their first semifinal appearance since 2009. Changsha and Xiamen were 3-3 and Chongqing was 2-4. The tiebreaker sent the Cannons forward for the first time since their 2011 CLB title and snapped the Mutts’ bid for a third straight finals trip. Changsha clobbered the Donkeys 4-0 in the semi for their seventh China Series appearance (1977, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2029).



The 60^th China Series saw Shenyang defeat Changsha 4-1 to give the Swans their second title, joining the 2020 win. 2B Luca Ruiz won finals MVP in his fifth season with Shenyang. The 30-year old Honduran came to China after failing to catch on in CABA. In 18 playoff starts, Ruiz had 17 hits, 12 runs, 1 double, 2 triples, 1 homer, 6 RBI, and 6 steals.



Other notes: Urumqi’s pitching staff allowed 1537 hits with a 9.44 H/9, both were all-time worsts for the Northern League. Xiku Yan and Tao Cai became the 14^th and 15^th in CLB to reach 1000 career RBI.

Chinese League Baseball’s rule changes did make the 2020s its highest scoring decade, although the stats still were very low relative to other world leagues. CLB’s league ERA was around 2.87 after being at 2.54 for the 2010s. The league batting average grew to .230 after being around .215 previously. This left Austronesia Professional Baseball firmly as the world’s lowest scoring league, although CLB was second.

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It had been just over 20 years for Austronesia Professional Baseball’s last expansions. The Taiwan-Philippine Association introduced Hsinchu and Cagayan de Oro in 2007, while 2008 saw Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur leave South Asia Baseball and join the Sundaland Association. The game had continued to grow in the region along with the population, leading officials to work on the next expansion plans.

The decision was made to add one team to each of APB’s existing leagues, which would give both associations’ two leagues with seven teams each. Joining the Taiwan League was the Chiayi City Hawks while the Philippine League picked up the Batangas Beach Bums. The Java Sea League added an Indonesian team with the Makassar Maroon Giants, while the Malacca League introduced the Malaysia-based Penang Possums.



The other big change that came with this was a playoff expansion. Previously, only the first place teams advanced to the best-of-seven association championship. Both second place finishers would now advance as well with a division round pitting one league’s #1 against the other league’s #2. The top seed would host all games of the best-of-five series and had a one game advantage. The first place team would only need to win two of four games to advance, while the second place team would need to win three.

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Taoyuan took the Taiwan League title for the first time since 2022 and had the Taiwan-Philippine Association’s top seed at 98-64. The Tsunami led Austronesia Professional Baseball with 649 runs, beating out Taichung by five games. The Toucans advanced to the expanded playoffs at 93-69, taking second by seven over last year’s TL winner Tainan. This ended what was the longest playoff drought in APB history at 41 seasons for Taichung dating back to 1987.

There was a shakeup in the Philippine League with reigning Austronesia Champion and four-time defending PL champ Cebu dethroned by Quezon. The Zombies won it at 95-67 for their first playoff berth and winning season since 2022. The Crows were a close second at 93-69 to keep their playoff streak intact, holding off 90-72 efforts by Cagayan de Oro and Davao. Cebu gave up the TPA’s fewest runs at 437.

While Hsinchu struggled to 74-88, Binh Tang continued to roll with his ninth Taiwan-Philippine Association MVP. “The King” became the ninth player across all of pro baseball history with 9+ MVPs and the first in APB. Tang also won his ninth Silver Slugger and sixth playing first base. The amazing thing was he was still only 29-years old.

The Vietnamese lefty led in doubles (39), home runs (43), total bases (373), slugging (.619), OPS (.992), wRC+ (206), and WAR (11.4). Tang also had 199 hits, 94 runs, 103 RBI, and a .330 average. He was only three average points and six RBI from another Triple Crown. It was the seventh time Tang led the TPA in WAR and the ninth time he had the best OPS. He reached the 2000 hit, 1000 RBI, and 1000 runs scored milestones in 2029.

Davao’s Jah Manorek won his second Pitcher of the Year award, having also won in 2025. He had found his footing again after dealing with a 2026 torn rotator cuff and 2027 partially torn labrum. The 25-year old Indonesian righty led in wins (25-3), strikeouts (374), and shutouts (7). Manorek had a 1.65 ERA over 261.2 innings, 175 ERA+, and 9.9 WAR. He finished second in ERA behind Tainan’s Yi-Hsiang Chang at 1.47. Sadly, more injuries meant Manorek wouldn’t pitch another full season again and he’d be out of the game after the 2033 season.

Both league champs advanced out of the new divisional round. Taoyuan survived 3-2 over Cebu to deny the Crows’ pennant five-peat bid, while Quezon topped Taichung 3-1. Both the Zombies and Tsunami last made the Taiwan-Philippine Association Championship in 2022, which Quezon won. Taoyuan got their revenge 4-1 to end a 20-year pennant drought. The Tsunami became nine-time TPA champs (1971, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2008, 2029), which was tied with Cebu and Zamboanga for the most.



Semarang narrowly took the Sundaland Association’s top seed, winning the Java Sea League at 91-71. This ended an 11-year playoff drought for the Sliders, who led all of APB with only 372 runs allowed. Jakarta took second at 85-77 and Bandung was third at 81-81. With the playoff expansion, the Jaguars were able to extend their playoff streak to five seasons.

The Malacca League had new blood at the top with Batam first at 90-72 and expansion Penang second at 88-74. The Blue Raiders ended a 29-year playoff drought and led the SA with 491 runs scored. The Possums joined CABA’s Guyana and SAB’s Da Nang as the only expansion teams in any pro league to earn a playoff spot in their debut season. Penang did it with impressive speed, setting a new APB team record for 487 stolen bases. Medan was a close third at 87-75, while reigning SA champ Johor Bahru fell to 78-84 to end their four-year run atop the Malacca League.

Pekanbaru was 80-82 despite repeat Sundaland Association MVP wins for LF James Yuwono. It was his fourth MVP, also winning in 2024 and 2025. The 30-year old Indonesian lefty led in runs (92), home runs (51), RBI (104), total bases (373), OBP (.382), slugging (.671), OPS (1.053), wRC+ (272), and WAR (12.7). Yuwono’s WAR was the fifth-best by an APB position player and his .309 average left him seven points shy of a Triple Crown. Yuwon earned his seventh Silver Slugger.

Medan lefty Pao-Huang Lin won Pitcher of the Year in his third season. The 22-year old from Taiwan led in ERA (1.19), WHIP (0.66), and FIP- (38). Lin only tossed 188.2 innings in a split starter/bullpen role, but had 300 strikeouts, 7.5 WAR, a 16-2 record, and 11 saves.

Both top seeds got first round sweeps with Batam over Jakarta and Semarang over Penang. The Sliders had home field advantage, but the Blue Raiders won the Sundaland Association 4-2 to end a 30-year pennant drought. Batam became six-time SA champs (1972, 1973, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2029).



The 65^th Austronesia Championship was the second finals encounter between Taoyuan and Batam, as the Tsunami had won over the Blue Raiders in 1997. 2029 had the same end result with Taoyuan winning 4-1 to become seven-time APB champs (1978, 1982, 1983, 1996, 1997, 2008, 2029). This was the most titles by a TPA team and was second in all of APB only behind Jakarta’s eight.

Rookie of the Year winner Chun-Hsiang Lin added finals MVP to his mantle as well. The 22-year old had also won a Gold Glove in left field in his debut season. In 14 playoff games, Lin had 20 hits, 12 runs, 4 doubles, 2 triples, 3 homers, 8 RBI, and 1.1 WAR. Taoyuan’s Muhammad Wahid set a bad playoff record with 16 walks, although he was still strong in the title run with a 1.45 ERA and 43 Ks over 31 innings.



Other notes: Jakarta’s Rahmadi Wahid became the first player in APB history with a seven hit game, going 7-9 against Johor Bahru on August 9. Through the 2029 season, a seven-hit game has happened only 18 times in all of pro baseball history. APB’s 52^nd perfect game came from Depok’s Muhammad Haziq Izzuddin on June 8 with 11 Ks against Jakarta. The 53^rd happened on July 30 by Batam’s Timotius Kabagaimu with 4 Ks facing Singapore.

In milestones, Nazer Fairusshi became the 29^th member of the 400 home run club and the 39^th to 1000 RBI. Yee Husin was the 36^th pitcher to 3500 strikeouts. Ming-Hsuan Deng was the 30^th to 1000 runs scored. C Yi-Hsiang Chang won his 12^th and final Silver Slugger, becoming the first in APB at any position with 12. 1B Robert Corrado and 3B Rory Suiza both won their 8^th Gold Glove.

Austronesia Professional Baseball remained a very low scoring league for the 2020, although it was very slightly up from the prior decade. The Taiwan-Philippine Association (with the DH) saw its league ERA go from 2.74 in the 2010s to 2.83 in the 2020s, while the Sundaland Association (sans DH) went from 2.50 to 2.53. The TPA’s batting average went from .222 to .223, while the SA actually dropped from .215 to .212. With Chinese League Baseball’s bump up, APB was firmly the lowest scoring of the world leagues for the 2020s.

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Reigning Oceania Champion Sydney repeated as Australasia League champ, winning their seventh pennant since 2018. The Snakes finished 98-64 and led the Oceania Baseball Association with 790 runs. It was their 15^th consecutive winning season, becoming a powerhouse after struggling in the 20^th Century.

Perth was second at 93-69 and Melbourne was third at 92-70. The Penguins ended a seven season run of losing campaigns. Canberra notably plunged to 66-96, their first losing season since 2021. Christchurch allowed the AL’s fewest runs at 595, but only scored 593 for a seventh place 77-85 finish.

In his 15^th season with Sydney, 2B Trey Cruz won his second Australasia League MVP. The 32-year old Guamanian had also won back in 2021. 2029 was Cruz’s 12^th Silver Slugger, becoming the third in OBA history to win 12+ Sluggers. Cruz led with 105 runs, 26 triples, 76 stolen bases, and 7.5 WAR. He added 193 hits, 30 doubles, 18 home runs, 94 RBI, and .930 OPS. Cruz also became the 26^th in OBA to reach 2500 career hits.

Christchurch ace Quinn Burry won his third Pitcher of the Year in four seasons. The 29-year old Australian righty led in wins (21-13), strikeouts (408), WHIP (0.90), quality starts (29), FIP- (65), and WAR (9.1). Burry had a 2.81 ERA over 301 innings with 135 ERA+. It was his fourth straight year as the AL strikeout leader, topping 400+ each time.



Port Moresby’s epic reign atop the Pacific League had ended in 2028 thanks to a 110-win effort by Honolulu. However, the Mud Hens reclaimed the throne in 2029 at 93-69 for their sixth pennant in seven years. Port Moresby became eight-time champs and led the PL with 743 runs scored. Fiji and Honolulu tied for second at 89-73 and Timor was fourth at 88-74. Vanuatu notably dropped to 74-88, their first losing season since 2013.

Pacific League MVP went to Port Moresby veteran LF Garia Sakail in his 12^th year on roster. The 32-year old hometown favorite led in hits (196), triples (23), RBI (117), total bases (385), average (.333), slugging (.655), wRC+ (188), and WAR (8.2). Those were all career bests by far, as was his 42 home runs, 101 runs scored, and 1.021 OPS. The Mud Hens gave Sakail a five-year, $153 million extension in the offseason thanks to this effort. He never matched this production again, but remained a respectable starter for his hometown squad.

In only his second season, Fiji lefty Clement Alu won Pitcher of the Year. The 25-year old Papuan led in quality starts (29), complete games (16), and shutouts (4). Alu had a 22-10 record, 2.87 ERA, 304.1 innings, 246 strikeouts, 127 ERA+, and 7.3 WAR. The Freedom had picked Alu sixth in the 2026 OBA Draft.



The 70^th Oceania Championship looked to be a rubber match in the finals rivalry between Sydney and Port Moresby. The Mud Hens won round one in 2024, followed by a Snakes win in 2025. Round three was a 4-1 Sydney win, giving the Snakes the repeat and their sixth OBA title (2018, 2019, 2022, 2025, 2028, 2029). 3B Colin Schindler repeated as finals MVP as the 27-year old hometown kid went 7-20 with 2 runs, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homer, 5 RBI, and 3 steals.



Other notes: Canberra’s Jordy Vincent in the fall had a 35-game hitting streak, breaking the OBA record of 34 set in 2004 by Kiryl Savchuk. Vincent also became the 71^st player to 1000 career RBI. CF Pouvalu Manu won his 14^th Gold Glove and joined Beisbol Sudamerica’s Loury Nova as the only 14-time winners in center field across all of baseball history. Manu is the only 14-time winner in OBA at any spot and one of 16 at any position across all leagues.

The Oceania Baseball Association’s scoring in the 2020s was considered average when compared to the historical scale and against other world leagues. Stats stayed roughly the same as they were in the 2010s and 2000s. The Australasia League had more scoring with a 3.87 ERA and .258 batting average for the 2020s compared to a .251 average and 3.69 ERA in the Pacific League. The PL had a 3.80 ERA in 2025 specifically to set a new single-season high.

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The European League had repeat division winners with Gomel atop the North and Volgograd atop the South, both finishing 97-65. The defending EL champ Voyagers officially were the #1 seed by tiebreaker, although they only won the division by two games over 95-67 Samara. The Griffins’ division title came by only three games over 94-68 Moscow. The Steelers and Mules got the wild cards with Kazan (90-72) and Tel Aviv (87-75) the first teams out.

Volgograd led the EL in scoring with 657 runs and Gomel allowed the fewest at 483. For the Voyagers, they’ve made the playoffs nine out of ten seasons in the 2020s. Samara was a wild card for the third straight year and Moscow ended a three-year drought. Minsk, who had a three year playoff streak, plummeted to 68-94. St. Petersburg also notably dropped to 66-86 for their first losing campaign since 2019.

Krasnodar was a non-factor at 76-86, but they had the European League MVP with DH Anar Arzhanov. In his second year starting, the 25-year old Uzbek lefty led in WAR (8.2), runs (98), and total bases (368). Arzhanov had 191 hits, 32 doubles, 45 home runs, 94 RBI, and a .307/.364/.591 slash. He was living up to the billing for the Steamers, who got him with the #1 overall pick in the 2026 Eurasian Professional Baseball Draft.

Moscow’s Tagir Jumayev picked up Pitcher of the Year in his 11^th season on roster for the Mules. The 32-year old Azeri righty led in wins (19-4) and WHIP (0.82). Jumayev had a 1.82 ERA over 217 innings, 256 strikeouts, 172 ERA+, and 7.9 WAR. He missed the playoffs though to a ruptured disc in early September. Jamayev’s effort was strong enough to earn a five-year, $74,800,000 extension in May 2030 with Moscow.

Volgograd survived 3-2 over Moscow in the first round to keep their repeat hope intact. Samara upset Gomel 3-2 in a classic, giving the Steelers their second European League Championship Series trip in three years. Both Samara and Volgograd had come into EPB with the 2000 season, but the Steelers were still searching for their first pennant. The Voyagers denied Samara in a seven-game thriller, earning an impressive fifth title of the decade (2020, 22, 23, 28, 29).



The Asian League’s four playoff teams were separated by only two wins. Both division champs finished 92-70 with Nur-Sultan again atop the West and defending EPB champ Vladivostok atop the East. The Setters had the #1 seed by the tiebreaker and earned a third straight division title. Although the Shibas won it all last year, this was their first-ever division title.

Vladivostok had fierce competition in the East Division with Khabarovsk at 91-71 and Novosibirsk at 90-72, both securing wild cards. The Nitros ended the longest-active playoff drought in EPB at 32 seasons going back to 1996. The 2020 expansion Rockets picked up their first-ever playoff berth. Ufa at 85-77 was the first team out, followed by 82-80 Perm. The Shibas allowed the fewest runs in the AL at 487. Krasnoyarsk scored the most at 650, but also allowed the most at 658. The Cossacks struggled to 77-85, ending an 11-year playoff streak.

Nur-Sultan CF Khazbulat Dukhu won Asian League MVP in a rare win by a leadoff man. The 30-year old Russian nicknamed “Claw” led in hits (187), OBP (.395), and WAR (8.5). Dukhu had 72 runs, 31 doubles, 9 triples, 8 homers, 76 RBI, 66 stolen bases, .325 average, .846 OPS, and 155 wRC+. Dukhu is only the second non-pitcher to win MVP in EPB with fewer than 10 home runs, joining 2004 Hall of Famer Nikolay Denisov. The Setters had given Dukhu an eight-year, $72,400,000 extension back in November 2027.

In his Vladivostok debut, Nehor Pomerantz became a three-time Pitcher of the Year. It was his first in the Asian League, having won previously in the EL for Minsk in 2022 and 2027. Pomerantz had also won MVP with his 2022 effort. The 31-year old Israeli lefty was traded to the Shibas in the offseason for three prospects. Pomerantz led in strikeouts (331), shutouts (5), and FIP- (65). He had a 20-9 record, 2.40 ERA, 247.2 innings, 132 ERA+, and 7.7 WAR. Vladivostok would sign Pomerantz to a five-year, $105 million extension in September 2030.

Nur-Sultan outlasted Novosibirsk 3-2 and Vladivostok topped Khabarovsk 3-1 in the first round of the playoffs. This pitted the 2028 Asian League Championship Series winning Shibas against the 2027 winning Setters. The battle of the dogs went to Vladivostok 4-2 for the repeat.



The 75^th Eurasian Professional Baseball Championship was the first finals rematch since Moscow versus Yekaterinburg in 2006-07. Vladivostok won 4-2 over Volgograd in 2028, but the Voyagers got revenge 4-1 in 2029. It was Volgograd’s second EPB title, having also won in 2023. 2B Jan Cieslak was finals MVP in his second season, posting 22 hits, 12 runs,6 doubles, 1 homer, and 6 RBI over 17 playoff starts.



Other notes: Ivan Nikolin became the 15^th pitcher to 4500 career strikeouts. He pitched two more years and ended with 4962, retiring 8^th on the leaderboard. Nikolin also became the 61^st to 200 wins in 2029. Vitali Kolyayev became the 20^th closer to 300 saves. CF Robert Albrecht won his 8^th consecutive Gold Glove.

Timofei Averkin became the 31^st batter to 2500 hits. He won his 11^th Silver Slugger and 10^th in right field, becoming only the sixth at any position with 11+ Sluggers in EPB. Averkin, Timofei Kalinin, and Marat Kazimov also reached 400 home runs, making that club 76 players strong.

Eurasian Professional Baseball was one of the only world leagues to see scoring dip from the 2010s to the 2020s. The drop was slight, going from a 3.26 league ERA in the 2010s to around 3.15 in 2020s. The batting average went from around .245 to around .242. This put EPB into below average to low scoring on the historical scale and had them among the lower scoring leagues in the 2020s.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

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2029 marked the beginning of an expanded European Baseball Federation Elite Tier with the conferences shifted into two 13-team divisions. Three teams were within two games of the top seed for the Northern Conference. Defending European Champion Hanover took the top spot at 108-54 to win the new East Division. Rotterdam at 106-56 was the West Division champ. Both extended lengthy playoff streaks with the Ravens mark growing to nine seasons and the Hitmen to seven.

Hanover needed historic offensive output to fend off 106-56 Kharkiv for the division crown. The Hitmen set new EBF team records for slugging percentage (.529), on-base percentage (.351). and triples (143). Hanover’s 955 runs scored were a Northern Conference best and behind only 1951 Madrid’s 958 runs for the EBF overall record. Their .306 batting average was second-best in EBF history behind Amsterdam’s .308 from 1986. Hanover also had 1715 hits, which ranked fourth in EBF’s annals.

As the first wild card, Kharkiv grew their playoff streak to six seasons. Antwerp was four behind Rotterdam in the West at 102-60, earning their first wild card since 2021. The Airedales allowed the NC’s fewest runs at 590. The remaining two wild cards came from the West with Manchester at 98-64 and Nantes at 96-66. The Crushers earned repeat playoff trips and the Trappers got their third straight.

The first teams out in the wild card race were Berlin (93-69), London (91-71), and Frankfurt (88-74). Other notables included Dublin at 73-89, posting back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 2002-03. They were still plenty safe from relegation, which would now go to the worst team in each division. Helsinki was the clear last place in the East at 58-104, getting sent right back down after escaping the European Second League the prior year.

In the West, Amsterdam had the bottom slot at 55-107, finishing one worse than 56-106 Luxembourg. This was the first-ever demotion for the Anacondas, who had historically been one of EBF’s strongest franchises. They hadn’t lost 100+ games in a season since 1976 and had been a playoff regular earlier in the decade. One other note from the NC, Hamburg set a conference attendance record at 2,781,931 despite struggling to 67-95. The Hammers would’ve been relegated the prior year had the expansion not saved them.

Northern Conference MVP went to Hanover 1B Jacinto Calvillo, the 2026 Rookie of the Year. The 24-year old Spanish lefty led in the triple slash (.379/.446/.721), OPS (1.168), wRC+ (206), WAR (10.9), and RBI (151). Cavillo added 222 hits, 134 runs, 32 doubles, and 52 home runs. He finished only seven homers shy of a Triple Crown. The following winter, the Hitmen signed Calvillo to an eight-year, $216 million extension.

Manchester’s David Ruiz repeated as Pitcher of the Year, leading in both ERA (2.31) and FIP- (59). The 28-year old Spanish lefty had an 18-6 record, 225.2 innings, 257 strikeouts, 172 ERA+, and 7.9 WAR. Prior to the 2029 campaign, the Crushers gave Ruiz a four-year, $62 million extension.

Both wild card round matchups saw 2-0 sweeps with Manchester over Antwerp and Kharkiv over Nantes. The Killer Bees upset Rotterdam 3-2 in round two, while the Crushers shocked reigning champ Hanover 3-1. Kharkiv earned its second Northern Conference Championship trip in four years, while it was the first ever for Manchester.

In a seven game classic, Kharkiv outlasted Manchester to earn their third EBF pennant (2000, 2002, 2029). The Killer Bees had six overall when including their Eurasian Professional Baseball successes. Kharkiv also became the first Ukrainian team to make it to the European Championship since Kyiv’s 2006-08 run.



Defending Southern Conference champ Munich took the top seed at 103-59 to win the new West Division, giving the Mavericks their ninth consecutive division title. It was their tenth straight playoff berth as they led the SC with 794 runs scored. Munich had to fend of 100-62 Barcelona for first place, who allowed the fewest runs at 587. The Bengals earned their third straight playoff trip and had their first 100+ win season since 2011.

In 2028, Zagreb missed the playoffs for the only time in the decade. The Gulls were back in 2029 atop the East Division at 98-64. Next were Odesa (95-67) and Ljubljana (93-69), who both picked up wild cards for repeat playoff berths. The final wild card went to Zurich (89-73), who held off Madrid (87-75), Seville (86-76), Milan (85-77), Chisinau (84-78), Tirana (84-78), and Marseille (83-79). The Mountaineers got their 11^th playoff berth since 2016.

Vienna had the worst record in the conference at 59-103 and was relegated out of the East Division. Yerevan had been close at 62-100, but survived another year. Zaragoza meanwhile was the clear worst in the West at 60-102. It was the second demotion for the Vultures, who had made it back to the EBF Elite in 2027. The Valiants had only been back two years after their last E2L stint.

Munich veteran 1B Vince Corapi won Southern Conference MVP. The 34-year old Italian was in his sixth season for the Mavericks and led in hits (211) and RBI (127). Corapi had 110 runs, 35 doubles, 15 triples, 35 home runs, .350/.392/.633 slash, 189 wRC+, and 8.5 WAR. He inked a new three-year, $85,200,000 extension with Munich the following autumn.

Mavericks ace Nejc Novak repeated as Pitcher of the Year and became a four-time winner (2022, 24, 28, 29). He was only the eighth in EBF to win POTY 4+ times. The 33-year old Slovene righty led in wins (21-5) and WHIP (0.99). Novak posted a 2.80 ERA over 228.1 innings with 211 strikeouts, 138 ERA+, and 7.0 WAR. He had a late August shutout against Seville to become EBF’s 41^st pitcher with 200 wins. In the offseason, Novak committed further to Munich with a four-year, $106,400,000 extension.

Ljubljana swept Odesa and Barcelona edged Zurich 2-1 in the wild card round. Both division champs held in round two with Munich defeating the Juggernauts 3-1 and Zagreb besting Barcelona 3-1. This continued the Southern Conference Championship rivalry between the Gulls and Mavericks. Munich had beaten Zagreb in 2021, 2023, and 2026 en route to pennants.

The Gulls got the edge in 2027, their lone pennant of the decade to that point despite five conference finals trip. Zagreb not only got one back in 2029, but they surprisingly swept the defending Southern Conference champ. It was the fourth pennant for the Gulls (1960, 1975, 2027, 2029).



The 80^th European Championship featured two teams from Eastern Europe for the first time since Kyiv versus Bucharest in 2008. In a seven game classic, Kharkiv claimed the gold over Zagreb. It was the Killer Bees’ third EBF title (2000, 2002, 2029) and sixth overall crown when adding their 1980, 1998, and 1999 EPB wins.



Gulls LF Luka Muller was finals MVP in defeat, posting 25 hits, 11 runs, 2 doubles, 3 triples, 5 homers, 16 RBI, 8 steals, and 1.3 WAR over 15 playoff starts. That earned the 29-year old Frenchman a big payday in a contract year, as he left for Major League Baseball and signed a five-year, $151,300,000 deal with Charlotte.

Other notes: EBF’s 41^st perfect game came on March 30 from Veinna’s Thorleifur Gunnarsson with 8 strikeouts against Brno. The 42^nd perfect came on August 10 as Odesa’s Sid James fanned seven facing Yerevan. Notably, Tirana’s Jan Mulder also had a no hitter on 8/10, making it the third day in EBF history with multiple no-hitters along with 9/14/1971 and 5/1/1956. Despite their 71-91 finish, Skopje set a new EBF season attendance record with 2,964,553 tickets sold.

In milestones, Theofilos Psarras became the 14^th member of the 3000 hit club. Psarras won his 13^th Silver Slugger split between RF/LF, joining the legendary Harvey Coyle and Jacob Ronnberg as EBF’s only 13+ Slugger winners. 3B Stefanos Emmanoulidis won his 8^th Silver Slugger. Aleksandr Parts became the 27^th to reach 1500 runs scored and also won his 7^th Gold Glove at first base. Andrea Tonetti won his 8^th Gold Glove, splitting them evenly between 2B/SS. Edoardo Manni was the 60^th pitcher to get 3000 strikeouts.

Kharkiv’s Danut Alecsandrescu had a four home run game facing Madrid on July 26, the 19^th such game in EBF history. Alecsandrescu also did it the prior year, becoming only the fourth in all of pro baseball history to achieve multiple four home run games. Prior to 2029, only SAB legend Tirtha Upadhyaya (1997, 1998, 2005) and AAB’s Timeo Kahudi (1997, 2000) had done it. Earlier in 2029, MLB’s Khalaf bin Abdullah remarkably did it twice in the same season.

The European Baseball Federation’s scoring numbers remained mostly consistent overall with what they had been since the 1990s. The Northern Conference did see its highest-ever league ERA, going from 3.76 in the 2010s to 3.92 in the 2020s. However, the Southern Conference dropped from 3.82 to 3.80. Both graded as above average on the historical scale relative to other leagues. The conferences had a batting average around .261 for the 2020s to stay in essentially the same range.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

Baseball’s popularity in South America continued to go up at a seemingly exponential rate, leading Beisbol Sudamerica officials to plan the fourth expansion by the end of the 2020s. BSA’s previous expansions had come in 1974, 1987, and 2009. The 2029 plan kept the format of three divisions per league, but added a new team to each division. Thus, both leagues would have three divisions of seven teams for 42 total squads in South America.



The Bolivar League added the Maracay Misfits to the Venezuela Division. The Colombia-Ecuador Division finally got a second Ecuadoran team with the Bucaramanga Battalion. Meanwhile, the Peru-Bolivia Division welcomed its third Bolivian team with the Cochabamba Bashers.

Two new Brazilian teams entered the Southern Cone League with the Belem Blue Crabs for the North Division and the Curitiba Carnivores for the Southeast Division. The South Central Division introduced the Valparaiso Voodoo for a third Chilean team. BSA now had 11 Brazilian teams, five from Argentina, three from Chile, four from Peru, three from Bolivia, seven from Venezuela, five from Colombia, two from Ecuador, one from Uruguay, and one from Paraguay.



The playoff structure was unchanged with the three division champs and two wild cards advancing from each league. Seeding remained based on record and not based on position, meaning wild cards could be ranked higher than weaker division champs.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

Barranquilla’s playoff streak grew to eight years with their sixth Colombia-Ecuador Division title of the run. The Blues had the Bolivar League’s best record at 104-58, their sixth time above 100 wins in the decade. Barranquilla led the BL with 883 runs scored. The #2 seed was defending BL champ Lima at 95-67, atop the Peru-Bolivia Division for the third straight year.

Arequipa (92-70) and La Paz (90-72) both gave the Lobos chase, earning the two wild card spots. The Pump Jacks ended a 23-year playoff drought, while the Arrows ended a two-year skid. The first teams out came from Colombia with Medellin at 89-73 and Bogota at 87-75. The Bats allowed the Bolivar League’s fewest runs at 627.

Maracaibo claimed the last spot by winning the Venezuela Division at 88-74, ending a 12-year postseason drought. Caracas was second at 85-77, followed by Barquisimeto at 83-79. The Colts have posted 14 straight winning seasons, although this was only the third time in that run without a division crown. The Black Cats notably had their first winning season since 2016. Also of note was Bolivia’s Santa Cruz at 79-83, ending their five year playoff streak. It was the first losing season for the Crawfish since 2018.

Lima RF Marc Melgar repeated as Bolivar League MVP with one of the all-time great seasons. He had the first hitting Triple Crown in Beisbol Sudamerica since 2009 and only the 12^th ever. Melgar also set new BSA single-season records for slugging percentage (.811) and OPS (1.281). His .419 batting average nearly set the world record, behind only Francisco Magellan’s .420 from the 2010 BSA season. As of 2037, Melgar’s average remains the second-best qualifying single-season in world history while his OPS ranks 15^th, slugging is 23^rd, and OBP (.470) is 21^st. The OBP was the sixth-best within BSA.

On top of Melgar’s .420/.470/.811 slash, he led with 253 hits, 61 home runs, 143 RBI, 489 total bases, 219 wRC+, and 11.1 WAR. The 27-year old hometown hero’s hits were third-most in BSA history and his total bases were four short of Juan Suarez’s 493 from 2022. This also ranked as the 15^th-most total bases and 28^th most hits in world history as of 2037. Melgar also scored 131 runs with 29 doubles, 12 triples, and 75 stolen bases. The former #1 overall draft pick inked an eight-year, $160,500,000 extension with the Lobos prior to the 2029 campaign.

Barquisimeto’s Jorge Fred won Pitcher of the Year, leading in ERA (1.61) and FIP- (67). The 27-year old Venezuelan lefty had a 12-9 record, 196 innings, 177 strikeouts, 245 ERA+, and 6.1 WAR. Fred also was a two-way player who had an impressive 66 games in the outfield worth 3.7 WAR with a 1.008 OPS, 14 home runs, 87 hits, and 39 runs. He posted those stats despite being out from August 4 onward with a ruptured finger tendon. The Black Cats gave Fred a five-year, $58,100,000 extension after the 2030 season.

Maracaibo swept La Paz in the first round, then was ousted 3-1 by Barranquilla in the divisional series. The Blues earned their fifth trip to the Bolivar League Championship Series in six years. Arequipa upset Lima 3-1 on the other side to earn their first-ever BLCS trip. The upstart Arrows then shocked Barranquilla 4-1 in the BLCS to earn their first pennant. With that, every Bolivar League team had now won at least one pennant apart from the brand new expansion teams. Arequipa had entered BSA in 1987 along with Mendoza.



Brasilia repeated as the Southern Cone League’s top seed and the North Division champ at 107-55. The Bearcats set a new league record with a team .495 slugging percentage and led with 813 runs scored. It was an eight game drop to the #2 seed Santiago, who claimed the South Central Division at 99-63. The Saints allowed the fewest runs at 528 and grew their playoff streak to 10 seasons. Since 2015, Santiago has missed the playoffs only once and has 11 division titles.

The closest division was the Southeast with Sao Paulo (94-68) edging out Rosario (93-69), and defending Copa Sudamerica champ Buenos Aires (92-70). The Padres extended their playoff streak to six years. The North Division meanwhile had Belo Horizonte at 93-69 and Manaus at 92-70. With that, the Robins and Hogs earned wild cards while the Atlantics and Magpies missed the cut. Rosario earned its second trip in three years and BH ended a four-year drought. Also notably was Concepcion at 82-80, only their third playoff miss since 2011.

Salta finished 84-78 and had the Southern Cone League MVP Antonio Coria. The 27-year old Argentinian LF led in hits (251), doubles (41), RBI (120), total bases (427), triple slash (.405/.430/.690), OPS (1.120), wRC+ (222), and WAR (9.8). With Coria and Melgar’s efforts, BSA has seen nine seasons with a qualifying hitter at or above .400. Coria added 109 runs, 15 triples, 35 homers and hit for the cycle in August. This was already the third cycle of his career, becoming the sixth in BSA history to achieve the feat thrice.

Although Concepcion missed the playoffs, they had reason for optimism with Luis Enrique De La Cruz winning both Pitcher of the Year and Rookie of the Year. He was picked 14^th overall in the 2026 BSA Draft and earned a full-time slot for 2029. De La Cruz led in ERA (2.12), innings (280), quality starts (29), and complete games (19). The 23-year old Chilean righty had a 17-10 record, 249 strikeouts, and 8.1 WAR.

Also notable was Buenos Aires’ Igor Vigil winning his fourth Reliever of the Year. He became the ninth in BSA history to win the award 4+ times with wins from 2024-26 with Porto Alegre. Vigil had been with Buenos Aires since a 2027 trade and in 2029 had 33 saves, 1.54 ERA, 133 strikeouts, 82 innings, and 4.0 WAR. He would try his hand at MLB in 2030 with Washington.

Belo Horizonte edged Rosario 2-1 in the first round, then upset Brasilia 3-1 in the divisional series. It was back-to-back one-and-dones for the Bearcats, while the Hogs secured their first trip to the Southern Cone Championship since 2001. Sao Paulo outlasted Santiago 3-2 on the other side, giving the Padres their fifth LCS trip in six years.

For the fourth straight appearance, Sao Paulo was ousted in the Southern Cone Championship. Belo Horizonte got the firm 4-1 victory to end a 37-year pennant drought for the Hogs. Belo Horizonte became six-time league champs (1939, 1948, 1950, 1952, 1991, 2029). The Hogs had lost their first Copa Sudamerica, but had won four straight since.



The 99^th Copa Sudamerica was an all-timer that wasn’t decided until the final pitch of game seven. The finale was an all-time pitcher’s duel with no score entering the ninth inning. On top of that, Belo Horizonte hadn’t even gotten a hit off Arequipa through eight innings. The Hogs only got one hit for the entire game, but it proved to be decisive and from an unlikely source.

35-year old catcher Junior Perdomo had joined Belo Horizonte in 2029 after 13 years with Caracas. He was known as a defense-first catcher and definitely wasn’t known as a home run hitter. For his entire 15-year career, Perdomo would hit only 51 dingers. However, in game seven of the 99^th Copa Sudamerica, Perdomo sent a solo shot over the fence for the 1-0 walk-off victory. It was one of only three career playoff homers for Perdomo.

With that, Belo Horizonte became five-time cup winners. Despite Brazilian teams making up a plurality in Beisbol Sudamerica, the Hogs were the only Brazilian team to claim the Cup in the 2020s. Two-time league MVP Paco Amorim had a big postseason for Arequipa, winning finals MVP in defeat and BLCS MVP. In 16 playoff starts, the 29-year old Brazilian 1B had 29 hits, 15 runs, 5 doubles, 7 home runs, 19 RBI, 1.478 OPS, and 2.0 WAR.



Other notes: BSA’s 51^st perfect game came on August 16 from Fortaleza’s Alex Pederneiras with six strikeouts against Montevideo. Expansion Curitiba had a rough debut at 52-110, setting new Southern Cone League all-time pitching worsts for team ERA (5.01), hits (1774), runs (871), earned runs (794), H/9 (11.19), and WHIP (1.517).

In milestones, Pablo Amor became the 26^th batter to 1500 career runs scored. Amor and Michael Escalante became the 37^th and 38^th to reach 1500 RBI. Benjamim Pinheiro and Jeffry Lucero were the 82^nd and 83^rd to 2500 hits. Pinheiro joined the 500 home run club along with Eddy Corunha, Emmanuel Angel, and Juan Rizo. This made the club 62 players strong. Corunha also won his 8^th Silver Slugger at shortstop. Agostino Cortez was the 69^th pitcher to 200 wins and Antonio Kercado became the 39^th to 300 saves. LF Feliz Zaldivar won his 7^th Gold Glove.

Beisbol Sudamerica’s scoring was similar in the 2020s to the prior three decades since instituting rule changes. BSA had been a low scoring league when it founded in the 1930s, but had been considered an above average scoring league since the 2000s.

With the DH, the Bolivar League had a 4.08 ERA for the 2020s while the Southern Cone League was at 3.67. However, the BL had a .278 batting average, the highest of any world league in the 2020s. The Southern Cone was at .266 for the decade. Although BSA had among the most hits of any league, the scoring wasn’t nearly as inflated as the African leagues were in the 2020s.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

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The Japan League’s Central Division was incredibly top heavy with Kobe (109-53) outlasting Kyoto (101-61) for first place and the top seed. The Blaze allowed the league’s fewest runs (516) while the Kamikaze scored the most (729). Both wild cards came from the Central with defending JL champ Nagoya next at 94-68. Kobe’s playoff streak grew to seven years. Kyoto had their second berth in three years and the Nightowls had their third in four.

Niigata dominated the North Division at 97-65 for the #2 seed, growing their playoff streak to three. Tokyo (93-69) took the Capital Division over Saitama (88-74) to end a five-year playoff drought. Hiroshima was the only team above .500 in the West Division at 90-72 to grow their division title streak to four. Okayama was notably second at 81-81, becoming the first of the 2025 expansion teams to get to .500. Fukuoka was notable at 79-83, their first losing campaign since 2017.

Niigata RF Masanori Fukuoka won his third Japan League MVP in four years, although he didn’t replicate his record-setting 2028. Still, the 27-year old lefty led in runs (117), triples (23), home runs (53), RBI (129), total bases (404), slugging (.682), OPS (1.039), and wRC+ (194). Fukuoka added 182 hits, .307 average, and 9.2 WAR.

The Green Dragons also had Takehiro Nakajima repeat as Pitcher of the Year. The 30-year old lefty led in WAR (11.5), and quality starts (28). Nakajima had a 1.98 ERA over 268.2 innings, 17-6 record, 301 strikeouts, and 177 ERA+.

In the wild card round, Kyoto edged Hiroshima 2-1 and Tokyo topped Nagoya 2-0. The top seeds prevailed in the divisional series with Kobe outlasting the Kamikaze 3-2 and Niigata downing Tokyo 3-1. The Blaze got their second Japan League Championship Series berth in five years, while the Green Dragons made it three straight. Kobe was the favorite at 109-55, but Niigata crushed them with a road sweep. The Green Dragons won their second pennant in three years and their eighth overall (1990, 1991, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2027, 2029).



Busan was again the Korea League’s top seed with their sixth straight South Division title at 105-57. The Blue Jays playoff streak grew to ten seasons, standing alone as the longest streak in East Asia Baseball history. Busan allowed the fewest runs in the KL at 530. Over in the North Division, reigning EAB champ Goyang made it a division title three-peat at 98-64.

Next behind the Green Sox in the North were Suwon (95-67) and Incheon (91-71), taking the first two wild cards. The Snappers ended a seven-year playoff drought and the Inferno grew their streak to four. The third wild card narrowly went to Yongin (86-76) for their second berth in three years. Changwon (85-77), Pyongyang (83-79), and Seongnam (83-79) missed the cut. Ulsan notably fell to 75-87 to prevent a fourth straight playoff trip.

Hamhung led the KL with 800 runs, but struggled to 76-86 by allowing the most at 837. 1B Toichi Kimura again powered the Heat’s offense and repeated as Korea League MVP. The 24-year old lefty led in runs scored (121), home runs (66), total bases (440), slugging (.710), OPS (1.069), and wRC+ (190). Kimura added 201 hits, 39 doubles, 145 RBI, and 9.1 WAR. He was already living up to the eight-year, $167,600,000 extension he got the prior November.

Ulsan’s Jin-Yu Jun won his third Pitcher of the Year in four seasons. In only his fifth year with the Swallows, Jun led in strikeouts (326), K/BB (13.6), FIP- (42), and WAR (11.1). He had a 2.55 ERA, 11-13 record, and 150 ERA+ over 240 innings.

In March, Jun signed a world record seven-year, $385 million extension with Ulsan. The later years of the deal were set to pay Jun $58 million annually. The Swallows appreciated Jun, but quickly realized they couldn’t afford that monster deal. Ulsan traded Jun in the offseason to Kobe for two prospects.

Yongin swept Incheon in the wild card round and gave top seed Busan a challenge, although the Blue Jays escaped with a 3-2 divisional series win. Suwon swept Goyang on the other side, giving the Snappers their first Korea League Championship Series trip since 2009. It was the fifth of the decade for Busan, who earned their third title of the 2020s with a 4-2 win over Suwon. The Blue Jays now had 14 KL pennants, second only to Daegu’s 16.



Despite their record playoff streak, the EAB title had eluded Busan with a drought going back to 1971. The losing streak continued as Niigata won the 109^th East Asian Championship 4-1 over the Blue Jays. The Green Dragons won their second title in three years and fifth overall (1991, 2006, 2008, 2027, 2029). 1B Ichiro Kojo was finals MVP, posting 22 hits, 8 runs, 6 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homer, and 9 RBI over 13 playoff starts.



Other notes: Hiroshima’s offense struck out 976 times all season, a new Japan League team best. Ga-On Kwan became the 8^th reliever to earn 400 career saves. Shin-Nin Ikegami was the 48^th pitcher to 3500 career strikeouts and the 70^th to 200 wins. Both SS Jae-Won Park and RF Chae-Yun Choi won their 10^th consecutive Gold Glove. They are among 13 players in EAB history with 10+ Gold Glove wins.

East Asia Baseball’s scoring environment remained remarkably steady with similar totals in the 2020s as they’ve had since the 1950s. The Japan League (sans DH) had a 3.37 ERA and .246 average for the decade, while the Korea League (with DH) had a 3.76 ERA and .257 average. The JL graded as below average for scoring on the historical scale while the KL was merely average. While EAB’s scoring was a bit lower in its first few decades, it hadn’t seen the major jumps that some of the other world leagues had seen.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

The Central American Baseball Association surprised many by lowering their active roster size to only 22 players beginning with 2029. CABA had begun with 25, but lowered to 24 in 1973 and 23 in 1998. While teams had their reserve roster to keep inactive players, a 22-man active roster made every spot precious. While a few leagues had gone as low as 23, CABA was the only world league to try out a 22-man roster.



Defending Mexican League champ Leon took the South Division and the top seed at 104-58. It was the third consecutive division title for the Lions and grew their playoff streak to five seasons. Leon allowed the ML’s fewest runs at 484. The division was top heavy with Ecatepec (100-62) and Puebla (99-63) close behind. The rest of the division finished below .500, including Cancun who went from back-to-back playoff berths down to a last place 65-97.

As wild cards, the Explosion ended a six-year playoff drought and the Pumas snapped a three-year skid. Ecatepec was the top scoring team with 711 runs and since division champs didn’t get seeding preference, they the Explosion had the #2 seed and a bye. Tijuana won their third North Division title in four years at 95-67, but was the #4 seed.

The remaining two wild cards went to Culiacan (91-71) and Monterrey (87-75). The Cocks were the first of the 2025 expansion teams to make the playoffs. The Matadors earned their second berth in four years. San Luis Potosi (85-77) and Juarez (83-79) were the first teams out. Last year’s MLCS runner-up Mexicali notably dropped to 75-89 and 2027 league champ Guadalajara fell to 71-91. Leon was the only Mexican League team to make it back from the 2028 playoff field.

Monterrey LF Julio Ortega won Mexican League MVP in his first full-time season as a starter. The 22-year old lefty led in doubles (41), triple slash (.367/.425/.686), OPS (1.112), and wRC+ (231). Ortega had 8.7 WAR, 179 hits, 85 runs, 37 home runs, and 94 RBI. The Matadors had picked Ortega #6 in the 2025 CABA Draft. He suffered a fractured knee in 2030 and would be plagued with major injuries for much of his 20s.

Tijuana’s Richard Wright joined the legendary Junior Vergara as the only nine-time Pitcher of the Year winners in CABA history. Only three other pitchers in all of pro baseball history had won the honor 9+ times. All of Wrights wins came in the 2020s with his lone miss in 2023, despite still leading in ERA that year. In 2029, the 31-year old posted a 1.44 ERA for an unprecedented ninth ERA title.

Wright also led in strikeouts (376) and WAR (12.4) for the eighth time. The Jamaican lefty also led again in K/BB (12.1), shutouts (8), FIP- (34), and WHIP (0.74). Wright had a 19-4 record and 10 saves over 243 innings, missing a Triple Crown by two wins. His strikeout tally, WHIP, and WAR were career bests to that point, placing Wright second in MVP voting as well. In 2029, Wright became CABA’s 56^th pitcher with 200 wins, the 30^th with 3500 strikeouts, and the 9^th with 100+ WAR.

In the first round of the playoffs, Tijuana ousted Culiacan and Puebla topped Monterrey, both 2-0. Leon rolled Tijuana 3-0 to keep their repeat hope alive, while Ecatepec outlasted Puebla 3-2. The Explosion made the Mexican League Championship Series in 2022, but their most recent pennant was back in 2010. Ecatepec ended that 18-year drought and upset the defending champ Lions in a seven-game thriller. The Explosion became 15-time Mexican League champions, third most behind Monterrey and Juarez at 18 apiece.



Reigning CABA champ Honduras took the Caribbean League’s top seed at 107-55 atop the Central Division. It was their seventh consecutive playoff berth and third division title. Bahamas won the West Division and the #2 seed at 100-62 to grow the Buccaneers’ playoff streak to five. Trinidad took the East Division at 96-66, which was their first postseason berth or winning season since 2020. The Trail Blazers allowed the fewest runs at 524.

Salvador was 12 back in the Central at 95-67, but got the first wild card to end an 11-year playoff drought. Haiti was seven back in the West at 93-69 and got the second wild card and their third in-a-row. Guatemala at 89-73 got the final spot to extend their streak to nine years. Missing the cut were Puerto Rico (88-74), Curacao (87-75), Santiago (84-78), and Santo Domingo (84-78).

It was only the second playoff miss in eight years for the Dolphins, but they did post a winning season each year of the 2020s. The Sailfish led in scoring with 862 runs, but also allowed the most at 829. The Chaos were the first of the 2025 expansion teams in the Caribbean League with a winning season.

Salvador 1B Fernando Silva won his second MVP in three years. The 26-year old Guatemalan lefty led in runs (119), hits (223), home runs (55), RBI (147), and total bases (431). Silva had a .359/.384/.694 slash, falling only two points short of a Triple Crown. He also had 8.6 WAR and 188 wRC+. The Stallions eventually signed Silva to a seven-year, $244,100,000 extension in July 2031.

Bahamas ace Carlos Montes won his second Pitcher of the Year, having also taken it in 2026. The 28-year old Puerto Rican righty led in wins (20-8), ERA (2.20), FIP- (50), and WAR (10.0). Montes struck out 324 over 245.1 innings with 181 ERA+. He was 26 Ks shy of a Triple Crown behind Israel Montague’s 350 strikeouts. Prior to the 2029 campaign, the Buccaneers gave Montes a seven-year, $186,700,000 extension.

The first round saw Salvador over Haiti 2-0 and Guatemala over Trinidad 2-1. The Stallions stunned Bahamas 3-2 in the second round for their first Caribbean League Championship Series trip since their 2017 pennant. Reigning champ Honduras survived a five-game war with the Ghosts. The Horsemen successfully repeated with a 4-2 CLCS victory over Salvador, leading all teams as 19-time Caribbean champs.



The 119^th CABA Championship was the third time that Honduras and Ecatepec met in the finals. The Horsemen got a sweep in the first meeting in 2003, followed by a 4-3 Explosion win the following year. The rubber match was a 4-1 Ecatepec win in 2029, denying Honduras’ repeat hope. It was the seventh different champ in as many years for CABA.

Ecatepec ended an 18-year title drought and became nine-time CABA champs (1929, 31, 32, 43, 99, 2000, 04, 10, 29), tying with the Horsemen for the second-most. Only Mexico City has more with 11 rings. Finals MVP was RF Alfredo Escobedo, who only played 38 games in the regular season and started 16. The 25-year old started 17 playoff games with 15 hits, 8 runs, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 3 homers, and 9 RBI.



Other notes: Guadeloupe’s Cristiano Rizo had 37 triples, tying the CABA single-season record set by Iwan Valen in 2001 and Altificio Hernandez in 2029. Barbados struck out 1586 times as a team, setting a new Caribbean League worst. Voodoo Leyva was the 63^rd batter to 2500 hits. Ruben Cabrera became the 65^th member of the 500 home run club,

Quirino Brito became the 13^th pitcher to reach 4000 strikeouts and Angel Brea was the 31^st to 3500 Ks. Brea and Rodney Louis both got to 200 wins, making 56 pitchers to reach the mark in CABA through 2029. SS Ferdinand Varela won his 8^th Silver Slugger.

The Central American Baseball Association’s scoring environment stayed roughly in the same range in the 2020s as it has been since the 1990s. The Mexican League’s ERA went down slightly from 3.83 in the 2010s to 3.67 in the 2020s. The Caribbean League was higher as usual with the DH and actually went up from 3.96 to 4.01.

For batting averages, the ML dropped from .262 to .259, while the CL went up from .265 to .267. The Caribbean League graded as above average scoring on the historical scale and relative to other leagues in the 2020s, while the ML was in the average range.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

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The reigning Baseball Grand Champion and National Association champ Ottawa repeated as the NA’s top seed at 104-58 atop the Northeast Division. The Elks allowed the fewest runs in Major League Baseball at 626 and grew their playoff streak to three seasons. Ottawa had a season attendance of 3,390,390, second-best in NA history behind their 3,431,240 from the prior year. Montreal was a strong second in the Northeast at 98-64 to earn the first wild card. The Maples picked up their fifth playoff trip in six years.

Tulsa took the #2 seed at 99-63, winning the Lower Midwest Division in the first-ever playoff berth for the 2021 expansion squad. The Tornado had a team .484 slugging percentage, setting a new National Association record. Indianapolis was a close second at 96-66 to earn the second wild card. The Racers grew their playoff streak to three seasons and led the NA with 860 runs.

The other division winners were Chicago (95-67) in the Upper Midwest and Washington (93-69) in the East. The Cubs picked up their ninth playoff berth of the 2020s and fourth straight, while the Admirals got their seventh berth of the decade. At 92-70, Omaha was just behind Chicago and Baltimore was just behind Washington. The Orioles won plenty of close games, setting a new MLB team record with 53 saves.

The Hawks, Orioles, and Kansas City each tied for the final wild card at 92-70, requiring a pair of tiebreaker games. Omaha defeated Baltimore, but was ousted by the Cougars to give the spot to KC. Kansas City ended an eight-year playoff drought. The next closest teams were both Cincinnati and Columbus at 88-74. Philadelphia, Halifax, and Cleveland were 2028 playoff teams that were just below .500 in 2029.

Chicago RF Milton Ramirez won National Association MVP with a record breaking campaign. The 28-year old Filipino lefty led in batting average, on-base percentage, and hits for the seventh time each. Ramirez’s .410 average broke the MLB record set two years prior of .405 by Hunter Morissey. He became the third in MLB history to bat above .400 and was one of only 10 across all of pro baseball history with a qualifying season above .410.

Ramirez also broke MLB’s hits record with 249, passing Sebastian Lunde’s 242 which had held since 1949. It was the fifth season in MLB history at or above 240 hits. Ramirez’s .460 OBP was the fourth-best in MLB to that point. He also led in stolen bases (63) and WAR (10.3) while adding 118 runs, 35 doubles, 19 triples, 16 home runs, 93 RBI, 1.069 OPS, and 195 wRC+. Ramirez also breached the 2000 hit and 1000 run career milestones in 2029, marks almost never reached by someone still in their 20s. He had debuted at age 19 in 2020 for the Cubs.

Wichita was a non-factor at 73-89, but they had the Pitcher of the Year John Ziocha in only his second season. The 22-year old Zimbabwean lefty led in ERA (1.86), WHIP (0.98), and quality starts (27). His ERA was the 22^nd-best qualifying season in MLB to that point. Ziocha also had 6.3 WAR over 242 innings, 185 strikeouts, 15-7 record, and 204 ERA+.

Also worth noting, Vic McCallister became only the fourth in MLB history to win Reliever of the Year four times. He won it in 2029 with Washington, having previously won in 2020, 2024, and 2025 with Memphis. McCallister was traded to DC in the summer of 2027. For 2029, he had a 1.76 ERA over 81.2 innings, 27 saves, 106 strikeouts, and 3.1 WAR. The 31-year old Louisianan would sign with Houston for 2030.

Indianapolis was the lone wild card to advance out of the first round, edging Chicago 3-2. Tulsa outlasted Kansas City 3-2 and Washington topped Montreal 3-1. The Racers took top seed Ottawa to the limit, but the Elks survived 3-2 in the second round. Ottawa advanced to the National Association Championship Series for the 18^th time in franchise history, second only to Philadelphia’s 22 trips.

The Tornado swept the Admirals 3-0 on the other side, becoming the first of the 2021 expansion teams to earn an association championship appearance. Tulsa gave the reigning Grand Champion a valiant fight, but Ottawa earned the repeat with a 4-2 victory. Canada’s capital won its 13^th National Association pennant (1924-25, 29, 38, 40, 56, 65, 75, 83, 86, 2003, 28-29)., also second only to the Phillies’ 14.



Three-time defending World Series champ San Diego was the American Association’s top seed for the third year in a row. It didn’t come easy with the AA’s seven playoff teams separated by only seven wins. Still, 99-63 earned the Seals another Southwest Division title and their sixth playoff trip in seven seasons. San Diego’s 638 runs allowed were the fewest in the AA. Oakland was second in the Southwest at 94-68, giving the Owls their third wild card in five years.

At 98-64, Nashville was the #2 seed atop the Southeast Division. The Knights earned their third division title in five years and fifth of the decade. Last year’s division champ Charlotte was a close second at 96-66, nabbing the first wild card. The Canaries grabbed their third playoff appearance in four years.

Seattle secured the Northwest Division for the seventh year running with a 95-67 finish. Anchorage was next at 92-70 to get the final wild card. It was the third wild card berth for the Avalanche since joining in the 2021 expansion. The weakest division winner was Houston at 94-68 atop the South Central. The Hornets picked up their sixth playoff trip in eight years. Houston by far led MLB in scoring with 967 runs.

Last year’s AACS runner-up Dallas was second to the Hornets at 89-73. The Dalmatians and San Francisco were also the first teams out in the wild card race at three games back on Anchorage. The next closest were Sacramento (88-74), San Antonio (86-76), Los Angeles (84-78), and Salt Lake City (84-78).

Although Oklahoma City was 77-85, their RF Neil Hollinger won his third American Association MVP. The 27-year old Canadian had also won in 2025 and 2027. Hollinger led in homers (62), total bases (418), slugging (.736), OPS (1.142), and wRC+ (192). He also had 195 hits, 125 runs, 33 doubles, 132 RBI, .343 average, and 8.4 WAR. Hollinger had one year left with OKC, then signed a seven-year, $248 million deal with Columbus.

Veteran righty Riley Morales won his second Pitcher of the Year in his third season with San Diego. The Shorewood, Minnesota native won his first way back in 2020 for Cincinnati. The 32-year old righty led in ERA (2.95), and quality starts (24). Morales also had a 19-10 record, 278 innings, 218 strikeouts, 147 ERA+, and 5.8 WAR. He had signed a six-year deal with the Seals and gave them three excellent seasons, but he would surprise many by opting out in the winter. Morales inked a new five-year, $195 million deal with Houston in the offseason.

Charlotte upset Houston in the first round 3-2 and was the only wild card to advance to round two. Seattle swept Oakland and Nashville swept Anchorage on the other side. The Canaries almost dethroned San Diego, but the Seals survived 3-2 to earn a fourth straight trip to the American Association Championship Series. On the other side, the Grizzlies edged the Knights 3-2.

It was yet another AACS battle between Seattle and San Diego. The Grizzlies had seen terrible luck with AACS losses from 2023-27. The 2023, 2026, and 2027 defeats had come to the Seals. San Diego also had a 2007 AACS victory against Seattle. The trends didn’t change in 2029 with the Seals winning 4-2 for the first four-peat in American Association history. The only other four-peat in MLB was Philadelphia’s epic seven-year reign atop the National Association from 1941-47.

San Diego won their fifth pennant in seven years, a feat only matched in AA history by Houston more than a century prior (six from 1905-12). The Seals now had an AA-best 14 pennants (1936, 55, 56, 58, 66, 67, 2007, 08, 10, 23, 26-29). As for Seattle, they were now 2-12 all-time in their AACS trips.
The 129^th World Series would be only the third-ever rematch from the prior year. Both previous ones came during Philadelphia’s seven straight trips in the 1940s, meeting Dallas in 1942-43 and Los Angeles in 1945-46. The Phillies had the only World Series four-peat ever from 1941-44; a feat San Diego was hoping to replicate. The 2028 battle had been a classic with the Seals surviving 4-3 over Ottawa. The Elks had arguably gotten the last laugh by winning the Baseball Grand Championship, which ended SD’s bid for a historic third straight BGC win.



Despite the anticipation for the rematch, the series was a dud as San Diego rolled to a sweep over Ottawa. Veteran 3B Artem Huseinov was finals MVP in his 17^th pro season and third with the Seals. He had made his biggest mark in Europe with Warsaw in the 2010s. The 37-year old Ukrainian in 15 playoff starts had 16 hits, 7 runs, 5 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, and 6 RBI.



The Seals were the first 11-time World Series winner (1936, 55, 56, 58, 66, 2007, 10, 26, 27, 28, 29). The only teams in world history with 11+ overall titles in their league were Minsk (14 in EPB), Kano (12 in WAB), Ahmedabad (12 in SAB), and Mexico City (11 in CABA). Getting four straight is tough in any league, but doing it in the hypercompetitive world of 2020s MLB (and winning two Grand Championships) certainly has to place San Diego’s effort in the conversation for the best dynasty in pro baseball history.

This was also the capper for manager Dian Gesang, who retired with the win at age 71. The Indonesian had played only 77 total games in Austronesia Professional Baseball in the 1990s. Gesang’s managing career began with San Diego in 2022, but was an all-timer going 782-514 for a .603 win percentage, six playoff trips, five pennants, four World Series rings, and two Grand Championships. Gesang became the second MLB manager with four WS titles along with Eric Stockman, who led Houston from 1901-15.

Other notes: 2029 was the final year for MLB home run and RBI king Isaac Cox, struggling at age 42 to -0.3 WAR over 111 games with El Paso. Cox was able to finish with 7156 total bases, passing Stan Provost’s 6989 which had held since 1956. Cox retired with 929 homers and 2333 RBI, which as of 2037 ranks 17^th and 14^th among all players in pro baseball history.

Cox’s 2251 runs fell second on the MLB list to Provost’s 2348, but ranks 7^th on the world ranks as of 2037. Cox also got to 3607 hits, 7^th in MLB history and 36^th in the world. His 137.9 WAR sits 3rd among MLB position players and 9th among everybody. On the WAR board for all players ever in baseball history, Cox is 87^th as of 2037 and 6^th among American-born players.

One of those Americans ahead of him was pitcher Vincent Lepp, who also wrapped his career in 2029. He pitched one year for Calgary at age 40 with 3.8 WAR and a 4.64 ERA over 254 innings. Lepp retired with a 334-194 record, 2.87 ERA, 5085 innings, 4652 strikeouts, and 144.4 WAR.

On the MLB leaderboard, Lepp finished 4^th in wins, 11^th in innings, 4^th in strikeouts, and 1^st with 73 shutouts. He was 3^rd in WAR among MLB pitchers and 5^th among everyone. On the world leaderboard as of 2037, Lepp is 62^nd in WAR among all players ever, 17^th in wins, 23^rd in innings, and 11^th in shutouts.

Baseball’s all-time WARlord Harvey Coyle remained timeless in his third MLB season with Ottawa. The 42-year old English shortstop posted 6.4 WAR over 130 games to grow his world record WAR total to 233.5. Combined with his European Baseball Federation stats, Coyle now had 3615 hits, 2137 runs, 1083 home runs, and 2461 RBI. He had 32 homers in 2029, passing Nordine Soule (1073) for second on the world leaderboard.

Philadelphia’s Khalaf bin Abdullah twice hit four home runs in a game in 2029, doing it on May 13 against New York and June 17 against Brooklyn. To that point, only SAB legend Tirtha Upadhyaya (1997, 1998, 2005) and AAB’s Timeo Kahudi (1997, 2000) had done it multiple times in a career. EBF’s Danut Alecsandrescu joined this group with his second four homer game in July 2029. As of 2037, bin Abdullah is still the only player ever to smack four homers twice in the same season.

El Paso’s Harry Marx went 7-7 on July 12 against Houston, becoming the fifth in MLB history with a seven-hit game. Through the 2029 season, a seven-hit game has happened only 18 times in all of pro baseball history. El Paso finished 63-99 and had an all-time awful pitching staff. The Prairie Dogs set MLB all-time worsts in team ERA (5.98) and earned runs allowed (950). Their 1026 runs given up ranked second worst behind 1921 San Antonio at 1033. El Paso also had a 10.98 H/9, ranking third worst in MLB’s 129 year history.

MLB’s 34^th Perfect Game came on August 31 from Oakland’s Ronaldo Zellweger with six strikeouts against Las Vegas. In other pitching milestones, Adrian Coe, Austin Bradley, and Rowney Simpson all reached 3000 career strikeouts. 99 MLB aces have reached the mark.

Mike Rojas became the 39^th member of the 600 home run club. Mathis Vezina, Jan Rychtr, and Ben Conlee made the 500 home run club grow to 114 members. Rojas, Ric Ransom, Sam Harpster, and Fred Hynes reached 1500 career RBI, a mark met by 129 MLB sluggers. Peter Schon became the 119^th to 1500 runs scored. C Gavin Jacobs won his 7^th Silver Slugger.

Major League Baseball’s scoring was up in the 2020s from the prior three decades, but was more in-line to what it had been for most of its history prior. The National Association (sans DH) had its league ERA grow from 3.41 in the 2010s to 3.74 in the 2020s. The batting average went up from .240 to .251 for the decade. The American Association (with DH) had the ERA increase from 3.84 to 4.15 and batting average from .251 to .259.

Worth noting that the rule changes to increase scoring came mid-decade. Both set single-season highs for ERA with the AA at 4.46 in 2027 and NA at 4.07 in 2029. For the decade, the National Association graded as an average scoring league on the historical scale and the American Association was above average to high.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

The 2029 Baseball Grand Championship was the 20^th edition of the event and was hosted in Marseille, France. The defending Grand Champion Ottawa and the 2026-27 champ San Diego returned to the field representing MLB. The 2029 BGC also saw an expansion from 20 teams to 22 teams, meaning each squad would play 21 games.

Previously, the leagues with two auto-bids were MLB, CABA, EAB, BSA, and EBF. The other leagues would get one auto-bid, leaving one at-large spot going to the best runner-up from the one-bid leagues. The expansion made it so there were now three at-large spots.

For 2029, the auto-bids had CABA’s Ecatepec and Honduras, EAB’s Busan and Niigata, BSA’s Belo Horizonte and Arequipa, EBF’s Kharkiv and Zagreb, EPB’s Volgograd, OBA’s Sydney, APB’s Taoyuan, CLB’s Shenyang, WAB’s Dakar, SAB’s Delhi, ABF’s Baku, ALB’s Damascus, and AAB’s Brazzaville. Getting the at-large spots were AAB’s Cape Town, ALB’s Muscat, and SAB’s Mandalay.

The 2029 event was one of the most competitive to date with three teams tied for first at 14-7. Three others were only one back at 13-8 and another three teams went 12-9. At the top was reigning champ Ottawa, Kharkiv, and Cape Town. The Cowboys had defeated Ottawa 4-3 on November 7 and topped Kharkiv 9-2 on November 16, giving Cape Town the tiebreaker for the #1 spot.



Cape Town was the second African Association of Baseball team to win, joining Johannesburg from 2015. Like the Jackalopes, the Cowboys did it as an at-large team. This also made South Africa the second country to have multiple Grand Champions along with the United States. Cape Town only had a +12 run differential, but got by on winning low scoring games. Their pitching staff set an event record with 5.26 hits per nine innings. Cowboys ace Bekele Ayalew led the staff with 1.9 WAR, posting a 1.43 ERA and 47 Ks over 37.2 innings.



Kharkiv had defeated Ottawa 5-4 on 11/5, giving the Killer Bees second place and the Elks third. For back-to-back seasons, an EBF team took second place. Kharkiv was the top scoring team with 115 runs, although Ottawa narrowly had a better run differential (+39 versus +38). The Killer Bees’ mark was the second-most runs in BGC history behind Lusaka’s 116 from 2025. The Elks allowed the fewest runs in the event at 62.

Arequipa, Muscat, and Sydney were each at 13-8 with the tiebreakers placing the Snakes fourth, Arrows fifth, and Threshers sixth. Sydney earned repeat top four finishes, having gotten third in 2028. Of the 12-9 teams, the tiebreakers placed Baku seventh, Honduras eighth, and San Diego ninth. Rounding off the teams with winning records were Damascus and Niigata at 11-10.

Five teams finished 10-11; Belo Horizonte, Mandalay, Shenyang, Taoyuan, and Volgograd. Ecatepec was alone in 17^th at 9-12 and Delhi was 18^th at 8-13. Busan and Zagreb both were 7-14, Dakar was 6-15, and Brazzaville brought up the rear at 5-16.

Taking Tournament MVP was Taoyuan’s Wei-Yin Wang, the 2026 Taiwan-Philippine Association MVP. The 29-year old Taiwanese first baseman had 18 hits, 16 runs, 4 doubles, 8 home runs, 16 RBI, and 0.9 WAR. He was a somewhat odd choice considering there were others with seemingly more impressive statistics.

Among them was Kharkiv’s Yevgeni Gromov, who tied the BGC record for runs scored with 22. He also tied the record for WAR by a position player with 2.31, previously hit by Mike Rojas in 2020. Gromov and Baku’s Artyom Masharipov both had 15 home runs, a mark only hit previously by five others. Masharipov also had 29 RBI, tied for the second-most in BGC history.

Best Pitcher went to Ottawa’s Mbongeni Smith, a 31-year old South African who came to the Elks in 2029 after eight years with AAB’s Kinshasa. Smith was 3-0 in four starts with a 0.76 ERA over 23.2 innings, 29 strikeouts, and 1.2 WAR. The two extra games allowed Sydney’s Max Forrester to set a record for innings with 51.1. Muscat’s Younis Nouri struck out 64 batters, tying the mark set by Israel Montague in 2025. Relievers Ju-Hwan Kang and Jong-Hwan Park set the record with 14 appearances each.

Other notes: BGC’s 11^th no-hitter came from Mandalay’s Zahir Saleem on November 19 with 14 strikeouts and three walks against Busan. Shenyang’s pitching set a record with 1.65 BB/9.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

Major League Baseball’s 2030 Hall of Fame class had three first ballot selections, co-headlined by former Omaha stars IF Graham Gregor (98.8%) and LF/DH Killian Fruechte (98.4%). SP Sunny Williams joined them at a rock solid 77.8%. CL Tyler Sattler was the best returner at 63.0% on his second ballot, just missing the 66% requirement. Fellow CL Etzel Urban got 60.7% for his third try. Also above 50% was C Dominick Hennessy with 57.2% for his second ballot, LF Lorenzen Campbell at 54.1% in his second attempt, and CL Stevie Ray Thornton debuting at 52.5%.



Dropped after ten failed ballots was OF Errol Jordan, who had a 16-year career between Cincinnati and San Diego. He peaked at 39.2% in his penultimate ballot before ending at a low of 13.2%. Jordan was a master at drawing walks, leading the league seven times and eight times in OBP. He had 2443 hits, 1410 runs, 343 doubles, 183 triples, 128 home runs, 841 RBI, 1574 walks, 717 strikeouts, 719 steals, .305/.419/.442 slash, 150 wRC+, and 66.6 WAR.

As of 2037, Jordan ranks 11^th in walks and 4^th in OBP among qualifying players, but it was always tough for leadoff guys to get noticed with voters loving power stats. Jordan was also a terrible fielder and didn’t have any Silver Sluggers. Still, he was one of MLB’s better leadoff guys and a big part of San Diego’s playoff success, including winning World Series MVP in 2007.

SP Archer Calloway fell off the ballot, debuting at 21.9% and ending with only 5.1%. He had a 14-year career almost exclusively with Austin and won Pitcher of the Year in both 2006 and 2011. Big injuries ultimately limited his longevity, finishing with a 169-118 record, 3.23 ERA, 2637 innings, 2439 strikeouts, 608 walks, 118 ERA+, and 59.1 WAR. Calloway needed a few more years to get the accumulations up and was perhaps overlooked being on some weaker Amigos teams. Still, few guys can say they won POTY twice.



Graham “Handyman” Gregor – Infield – Omaha Hawks – 98.8% First Ballot

Graham Gregor was a 6’2’’, 200 pound right-handed infielder from Grand Forks, North Dakota; the state’s third-largest city with around 59,000 inhabitants. Gregor became best known for his remarkable longevity, playing 25 seasons and remaining a strong contributor into his 40s. He played for seven teams in his lengthy run and became beloved by the fans at each stop. The nickname “Handyman” came from his steady contributions.

Gregor was a five-star rated player in his prime and was a fantastic contact hitter against both sides. He also had a rock solid eye for drawing walks and avoiding strikeouts. Gregor had reliable power in his bat with 35 home runs, 25 doubles, and 8 triples across his 162 game average. His power was never league leading, but he still smacked 40+ home runs in four seasons. Gregor also graded as a reliably average baserunner.

Defensively, Gregor bounced around the infield throughout his career and could go wherever needed. About half of his starts came at third base, where he graded as below average but passable. Gregor started around 30% of his games at first and was excellent there, winning two Gold Gloves. He also played some second base, but struggled in that spot. That versatility though helped prolong Gregor’s career despite dealing with recurring back and knee troubles.

Gregor attended Arizona State, playing 146 games in three years with 168 hits, 102 runs, 24 doubles, 41 home runs, 99 RBI, 64 walks, .302/.381/.577 slash, and 8.1 WAR. He won a Silver Slugger as a sophomore and was third in NCAA MVP voting. Gregor was a hot prospect for the 1999 MLB Draft and was picked #3 overall by Omaha. He was a full-time starter and a stud right away, winning 2000 Rookie of the Year.

In 2011, Gregor won his first Silver Slugger and Gold Glove at first base and took second in MVP voting, leading the National Association with 213 hits. He also had 9.6 WAR, 106 runs, 43 home runs, and 1.018 OPS. It was one of four seasons with an OPS above one and one of three with 100+ runs scored. Gregor won his second Slugger in 2003 at third base and his second Gold Glove at 1B in 2007.

Gregor’s stats were impressive, but not jaw dropping. It was also hard to earn attention as Omaha was a bottom-tier franchise during his tenure, averaging 73.3 wins per season. Gregor committed after the 2004 season to the Hawks with an eight-year, $79 million extension. 2005 would be his lone setback in Omaha as a torn meniscus knocked him out nearly the entire season.

In January 2005, Gregor had one of his career highlights as MVP of the World Baseball Championship for the United States, who swept Italy in the finale. For the event, Gregor had 22 starts, 28 hits, 19 runs, 6 doubles, 10 home runs, 27 RBI, 1.158 OPS, and 1.8 WAR. His run with the American squad helped make Gregor a beloved superstar nationwide despite starting in the small market of Omaha.

Gregor was also second in 2007’s WBC MVP voting and helped lead the US to world titles in 2003, 05, 07, 08, 10, 11, and 14. He played 229 WBC games from 2002-14 and posted 252 hits, 159 runs, 32 doubles, 6 triples, 67 home runs, 179 RBI, 100 walks, .283/.370/.558 slash, and 9.8 WAR. As of 2037, Gregor ranks 14^th in hits, 17^th in runs, 32^nd in homers, 12^th in RBI, and 43^rd in WAR among position players in the WBC.

With the arrival of Gregor’s Hall of Fame classmate Killian Fruechte, Omaha seemed to possibly be on the way up. In 2008, the Hawks were 82-80, their first winning season since 1992. To their disappointment though, Gregor opted out of his contract that winter, becoming a free agent for the first time at age 29. Certainly fans were sad to see him go, but he remained a beloved figure for years to come across Nebraska.

For Omaha, Gregor had 1280 games, 1480 hits, 735 runs, 206 doubles, 58 triples, 260 home runs, 737 RBI, 481 walks, 141 steals, .314/.383/.547 slash, 182 wRC+, and 60.4 WAR. It was his longest tenure by a good margin and he would be inducted in Hawks red. Omaha also eventually retired his #11 uniform for his efforts over nine years.

Gregor signed an eight-year, $144,800,000 deal with Las Vegas. His Vipers debut was his finest season, winning his lone MVP and third Silver Slugger. Gregor led the American Association in the triple slash (.361/.416/.707), OPS (1.123), wRC+ (204), WAR (10.2), total bases (429), and hits (219). His hits, average, wRC+, total bases, and WAR would be career bests as would his 119 runs, 50 homers, 128 RBI, 30 doubles, and 15 triples. Las Vegas ended an eight-year playoff drought and won the Southwest Division, but was ousted in the second round of the playoffs.

The Vipers had another round two exit in 2010, then spent the next few years above .500 but just outside of the playoffs. Gregor missed the 2010 playoff run and much of the season with strained abdominal muscles. A strained oblique kept him out much of 2011. Gregor was healthy in 2012 and won his fourth Silver Slugger, his only one as a second baseman.

With Las Vegas, Gregor played 526 games with 612 hits, 318 runs, 83 doubles, 128 homers, 352 RBI, .309/.370/.581 slash, 162 wRC+, and 23.6 WAR. He opted out of his deal after the fourth season, heading back to free agency for 2013 at age 33. Gregor inked a five-year, $128 million deal with San Francisco. After a respectable 2013, Gregor returned to the national conversation with a strong 2014.

Despite missing part of the spring to a fractured fibula, Gregor posted 47 home runs, 110 RBI, and 9.9 WAR. He led in the triple slash (.345/.424/.728) with career bests in OBP, slugging, OPS (1.154), and wRC+ (200). Gregor again led in slugging, OPS, and wRC+ in 2015. The Gold Rush were still just outside of the playoffs at this point, missing out by one win in 2015 at 96-66. That gave them a 16-year drought, one of the longer ones in franchise history.

San Francisco broke through at 100-62 in 2016, but lost in the second round. In 2017, the Gold Rush took the top seed at 107-55 and won their first pennant since 1994, falling in the World Series to Boston. Elbow issues kept Gregor out much of the regular season. In the playoff run, he was unremarkable with 15 hits, 7 runs, .749 OPS, and 0.3 WAR over 14 starts.

However, the 38-year old Gregor had one of his finest efforts in the Baseball Grand Championship. In 19 starts, he had 23 hits, 19 runs, 15 home runs, 23 RBI, .329/.427/.986 slash, 1.413 OPS, 281 wRC+, and 2.2 WAR. San Francisco finished 11-8, one of five teams tied for fourth and one game off the first place slot. As of 2037, Gregor is one of only 10 to hit 15+ homers in the event and one of 16 qualifiers with an OPS above 1.400.

That also capped his five year run in San Francisco on a positive note. Over 646 games, Gregor had 715 hits, 387 runs, 105 doubles, 34 triples, 168 home runs, 439 RBI, .306/.386/.595 slash, 163 wRC+, and 32.3 WAR. The next stop was a two-year deal at $43,200,000 with Detroit. He had just one year with the Tigers, who lost in the second round of the playoffs. In 128 games, Gregor at age 39 still posted 6.5 WAR and .905 OPS.

Gregor signed for two years and $41,200,000 with Austin and won a Silver Slugger in 2020 at third base. In 258 games, Gregor had 272 hits, 184 runs, 42 doubles, 65 homers, 174 RBI, 120 walks, .306/.396/.594 slash, 169 wRC+, and 13.8 WAR. The Amigos remained in the middle tier during his tenure. Those were strong numbers for anyone though and were especially impressive from a guy now in his 40s.

The longevity also placed Gregor into the 3000 hit and 600 home run clubs with Austin. For 2021, he signed a one-year, $20,400,000 deal with Chicago and won his seventh Silver Slugger, an award rarely given to a 42-year old. Gregor had 36 homers, 119 RBI, .949 OPS, and 7.3 WAR. The Cubs were a wild card, but lost in the first round.

For 2022, Gregor inked a one-year, $22 million deal with St. Louis. Numerous injuries limited him to only 67 games and 2.1 WAR. The final stop was Atlanta with a three-year, $60,000,000 deal. Gregor stayed largely healthy in two seasons with the Aces, but his production was merely average by this point. In 276 games, he had 236 hits, 136 runs, 28 homers, 105 RBI, .245/.333/.385 slash, 100 wRC+, and 1.8 WAR.

2023 was his last playoff trip, going 0-5 as a pinch hitter as Atlanta lost in the second round. Gregor’s playoff numbers were underwhelming but over a limited sample size with 33 games, 30 hits, 16 runs, 6 doubles, 4 home runs, 11 RBI, .270/.357/.450 slash, 126 wRC+, and 0.8 WAR. Any critic who tries to downplay Gregor for playoff results usually gets shouted down with his Baseball Grand Championship and World Baseball Championship stats.

Gregor in his final years became the 12^th MLB batter to 3500 hits, the 9^th to 700 home runs, and the 6^th to 2000 RBI. Some thought he might chase all-time marks, but age had finally caught up to him by his Atlanta run. Gregor retired after the 2024 season as one of the very few to play in MLB at age 45.

The final tallies had 3328 games, 3666 hits, 1956 runs, 507 doubles, 159 triples, 718 home runs, 2007 RBI, 1310 walks, 1660 strikeouts, 297 steals, .304/.378/.551 slash, 166 wRC+, and 148.0 WAR. As of 2037, Gregor is 3^rd in games played, 7^th in runs, 4^th in hits, 4^th in total bases (6645), 29^th in singles (2282), 33^rd in doubles, 12^th in home runs, 10^th in RBI, 36^th in walks, and 2^nd in WAR among position players. Among all MLB players, Gregor is third in WAR behind CF Morgan Short (170.5) and SP Ned Giles (151.7). His .929 OPS is 71^st among MLB batters with 3000+ plate appearances.

On the world leaderboards, Gregor is 22^nd in games, 48^th in runs, 30^th in hits, and 55^th in WAR among all players ever. He has the second-most WAR of any American behind only Short. Gregor certainly is an inner-circle level Hall of Famer and one of the true beloved immortals of the game.

However, it is a fierce debate as to how high you’d rank Gregor among MLB’s top position players. His tallies are outstanding with stellar longevity, but he didn’t have the huge dominance or playoff runs of some of the other legends. It comes down to how much one values peak and accolades compared to longevity and consistency. Many would place Gregor in the top five, but some slide him out of the top ten. In any event, Gregor co-headlined the three-player 2030 class for Major League Baseball at 98.8%.