[FuzzyRussianHat]

Four teams in the Arab League’s Western Conference fought over two playoff spots and the top overall seed. Cairo and Alexandria tied at 99-63 atop the Nile Division for the best overall record. In a one-game playoff, the Pharaohs defeated the Astronauts, giving Cairo repeat division titles and sending Alexandria home. The Pharaohs guaranteed a repeat conference finals berth. With only division winners advancing in ALB, strong teams can miss the playoffs as the Astronauts tied the ALB record for the most wins by a team that missed the cut. 2007 Riyadh had also fallen short despite 99 wins.

The Mediterranean Division was also tight with Tripoli at 97-65 finishing two games short of the top seed, but one game ahead of reigning Arab League champ Casablanca. The Privateers ended a three-year playoff drought and snapped the Bruins’ three-year streak. The Levant Division meanwhile wasn’t competitive with Damascus dominating at 95-67. The Dusters secured their first division win in a row.

Western Conference MVP was Cairo designated hitter Hazen Ibrahim. The 25-year old Egyptian led in hits (222), runs (127), total bases (433), OBP (.418), OPS (1.104), wRC+ (204), and WAR (10.4). Ibrahim added 51 doubles, 50 home runs, and 125 RBI. The Pharaohs gave him a five-year, $36,000,000 extension before the season.

Ibrahim beat out Khartoum’s Ali Jassem for MVP despite Jassem’s 70 home runs. It was the fifth 70+ homer season in ALB history and Jassem’s second. He became the ninth player in pro baseball history with multiple 70 dinger seasons. It was also the sixth time Jassem smacked 60+ homers in a season, earning his seventh Silver Slugger at first base. The 30-year old Kuwaiti would opt out of his Cottonmouths deal in the offseason and sign a massive six-year, $87,600,000 deal with Oran.

Casablanca’s Fawaz Hussein repeated as Pitcher of the Year and won his third in four years. The 31-year old Yemeni righty led in wins (22-7), strikeouts (339), WHIP (0.92), quality starts (27), FIP- (49), and WAR (10.5). Hussein had a 2.49 ERA over 249 innings with a 152 ERA+. It was his fourth straight year leading the conference in WAR.

Tripoli edged Damascus 2-1 in the first round, sending the Privateers to their first Western Conference Final since 2014. It was a repeat appearance for Cairo, but this time they had home field advantage. That ultimately didn’t matter, as Tripoli took it 3-1 over the Pharaohs. The Privateers earned their third pennant, joining the 1991 and 2012 campaigns.



The Eastern Conference meanwhile had lopsided divisions decided by double-digit margins. Jeddah had the #1 seed at 105-57, winning an eighth consecutive Saudi Division. The Jackals earned their third straight 100+ win season and their fourth in five years, allowing the fewest runs in ALB at 510. Jeddah also guaranteed their fourth conference final berth in six years. They had decent competition in the division, but 88-74 Riyadh and 87-75 Mecca were still distant foes.

Basra dominated the Mesopotamia Division at 98-64, ending a five-year playoff drought. Last year’s conference runner-up Mosul fell to 80-82. The Gulf Division saw the biggest surprise with Doha at 90-72, ending a 19-year playoff drought. It was only the third-ever division title for the Dash. Abu Dhabi, the two-time defending conference champ, struggled to 71-91. This ended a six-year playoff streak for the Destroyers and was only their second losing season since 2003.

Eastern Conference MVP went to Mecca DH Omar Abdel Rahman. The 23-year old Egyptian lefty was in his fourth season already, but it was his first as a full-time starter. Rahman led in home runs (62), RBI (131), slugging (.717), OPS (1.074), wRC+ (207), and WAR (8.6). He added 178 hits, 102 runs, and a .321 average. The Marksmen anticipated this growth, giving Rahman a five-year, $11,860,000 extension before the season.

Basra’s Ahmed Hussain won Pitcher of the Year in his seventh season. The 26-year old Qatari lefty led in wins (21-6), quality starts (26), and WAR (8.6). Hussain had a 2.04 ERA over 246.2 innings, 304 strikeouts, and 182 ERA+. He committed for the long haul with the Bulldogs in the offseason on a six-year, $93,200,000 extension.

Doha upset Basra 2-1 in the first round on the road, sending the Dash to their third-ever Eastern Conference Final (1997-98). They couldn’t keep the road magic going as Jeddah dominated Doha for a 3-0 sweep. The Jackals earned their third pennant, having also won it all back in 2013 and 2014.



In the 29^th Arab League Championship, Jeddah rolled Tripoli 4-1 to become three-time ALB champs. The Jackals became the fifth team with three titles and became the third to win three titles in a six-year run, joining Basra (2006-2011) and Mosul (1998-01).

Winning MVP of both the ALB Championship and conference finals was 1B Zach Aubin. The 32-year old Canadian had come to ALB in 2015 after eight seasons in MLB with Oakland. After a run with Kuwait, he got traded to Jeddah at the 2018 deadline for prospects. Aubin was a beast in 8 playoff starts with 15 hits, 11 runs, 6 home runs, and 10 RBI.



Other notes: Khartoum’s Amar Rasmi broke the ALB single season record for stolen bases with 143, besting Hassan El Zamek’s 141 from 2010. To this point, it was the second-most in world history behind only Pascal Garcia’s 152 in the 1996 Beisbol Sudamerica season. Rasmi also had 62 doubles, which was the fifth-best ALB season to that point.

Farouk Adam became the second ALB batter to 3000 hits. He finished the season at 3144, in striking distance of former teammate Nordine Soule’s top mark of 3339. Tark Abdel Rahman and Mohamed Mustafa became the eighth and ninth to 1500 RBI. Mohamed Mansour, Raed Falahen, and Ali Jassem all joined the 500 homer club, making that group 17 strong. Fawaz Hussein became the 12^th pitcher to 3000 strikeouts. Winning their eighth Silver Sluggers were 2B Hamdan Fahed, 1B Yahya bin Hakam, and LF Mohamed Hassan. SS/2B Ahmed Musa won his seventh Gold Glove.