
The Chinese Northern League had Nanjing on top for their third playoff berth in CLB’s first four seasons. The Nuggets took first place for the first time with a 108-54 record. Harbin took second for their first-ever playoff spot or winning record, finishing 96-66. Jinan was three games behind them. Defending China Series champ Tianjin dropped down to sixth place at 84-78.
Leading Nanjing’s effort was 2B Zhangsung Long, winning his second league MVP. The 31-year old didn’t lead any stats, but had 8.4 WAR, 31 home runs, and a wRC+ of 188. Xi’An’s Chiming Chen won Pitcher of the Year in only his second season. The 22-year old lefty led in wins at 23-5 and quality starts with 32, adding 7.4 WAR and a 1.57 ERA over 263 innings with 266 strikeouts.

In the Southern League, Guangzhou (103-59) earned a third straight playoff berth with their second time finishing in first. Last year’s CLB runner-up Dongguan narrowly took the second playoff spot at 94-68. They were only one game better than both Chengdu and Wuhan.
Hong Kong LF Jun Zong won his second MVP in three years. The 30-year old in his last year with the Champions led in the triple slash (.298/.385/.576), OPS (.961), wRC+ (228), and runs (86), adding 42 home runs and 9.6 WAR. Chengdu’s Chun Lin won back-to-back Pitcher of the Year with another outstanding season. The 30-year old righty led in WAR (13.4), ERA (1.20), WHIP (0.65), K/BB (12.5), and FIP- (29), while all 34 of his starts were quality ones. He had a 19-8 record and 312 strikeouts in 262.1 innings in his last year with the Clowns, as he’d join Wuhan as a free agent in the offseason.
Both semifinals saw upsets with the second place finishing teams winning both series. Dongguan stunned Nanjing in only five games, while Harbin outlasted Guangzhou in a seven game thriller. After falling in the China Series last year, the Donkeys took him the title in 1973, besting the Hellcats in five games. 1B Zhaotong Huang was the finals MVP with the 35-year old getting five hits, two runs, three doubles, one homer, and five RBI in 7 playoff starts.


Other notes: Dalian’s Xianjie Ren threw China’s third Perfect Game and the most dominant one to date on September 4 against Jinan. Ren struck out 17 batters in his perfecto, which would remain the CLB record for strikeouts in a perfect game and/or no-hitter until 1981. 1B Shenchao An and LF Ruilong Yuan are the only players to win Gold Gloves in each of CLB’s first four seasons. C Chenglin Meng, SS Ling Zheng, and LF Jun Zong each have won four Silver Sluggers.
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