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The Arab League’s Western Conference had a competitive field with the five playoff teams separated by only seven wins. Beirut repeated as Levant Division champ and took the top seed for the first time in franchise history at 98-64. The Bluebirds’ pitching allowed the fewest runs at 595 and allowed only 243 walks with a 1.51 BB/9. Those two walk marks were the second-best in Arab League Baseball history.

Last year’s conference runner-up Khartoum was next at 96-66 in the Nile Division. The Cottonmouths repeated as division champs with their fourth playoff trip in five years. Khartoum was the conference’s top scoring team at 862. Only two back on Khartoum in the Nile Division was 94-68 Suez, who got the first wild card for repeat berths.

In the Mediterranean Division, Casablanca (91-71) dethroned defending Arab League Baseball champ Algiers (90-72). The Bruins had been on a franchise-worst 11-year playoff drought, while the Arsenal had been on an 11-year streak. That came to an end, as Algiers was also one game short of the second wild card.

Cairo and Damascus finished even for that last spot at 91-71 with Algiers 90-72, Giza 89-73, and Aleppo 86-76. The Pharaohs won the tiebreaker game over the Dusters to end a three-year playoff drought, while snapped a six-year streak for Damascus.

Western Conference MVP went to Casablanca LF Yasuo Shoji. The 31-year old Japanese righty came to Morocco in 2032 after playing in MLB in his first nine pro seasons. In 2034 for the Bruins, Shoji had 210 hits, 108 runs, 40 doubles, 31 homers, 110 RBI, .368/.402/.632 slash, and 7.1 WAR. Casablanca would trade him in the last year of his deal in 2035 to Aleppo, then Shoji signed at five years and $114 million with Giza.

Casablanca also had the Pitcher of the Year in Omar Ghaith in only his second season. The 22-year old Palestinian righty had a 16-7 record, 2.54 ERA, 212.1 innings, 238 strikeouts, 4 shutouts, 169 ERA+, and 5.4 WAR. Ghaith also tossed a no-hitter on September 2 with 11 strikeouts and one walk facing Muscat.

Suez edged Cairo 2-1 in the wild card round, but was swept 2-0 by top seed Beirut. Casablanca outlasted Khartoum 2-1 on the other side, giving the Bruins their first Western Conference Final trip since 2022. The Bluebirds had only been there twice before (2013, 2004). Beirut’s only pennant was their 2004 ALB title season, but they added 2034 to that trophy case with a 3-0 sweep over Casablanca.



Medina repeated as Arabia Division champ and took the Eastern Conference’s top seed at 103-59. This was the eighth playoff berth in a decade for the Mastodons and their seventh division title. Medina scored 975 runs, the third-best in ALB history. Their 298 homers was the second-most in conference history and their .541 team slugging was third-best in EC history.

Basra was the only winning team in the Mesopotamia Division at 98-64, repeating a division champs. In the Gulf Division, two-time defending conference champ Doha and Muscat both extended playoff streaks, although they switched places from the prior year. The Threshers won the division at 94-68, growing their playoff streak to eight seasons. The Dash were 93-69 for their fifth straight playoff berth, four of which were wild cards. Dubai, a wild card last year, fell to 72-90.

There was a steep drop to the second wild card, which went to the only other winning team Mecca at 84-78. Jeddah was the next closest at 80-82 with everyone else below 80 wins. The Marksmen ended a six-year playoff drought which had no winning seasons. Muscat allowed the conference’s fewest runs with 694.

Baghdad was a non-factor at 74-88, but they had Eastern Conference MVP Abdullah Al-Hafith. The 30-year old first baseman signed with his hometown club in 2034 for $194,800,000 over seven years. This came after a decade in Tunis, including an MVP win in 2031. Al-Hafith led in RBI (159), total bases (452), OPS (1.152), and wRC+ (192). He hit 56 homers with 232 hits, 112 runs, 42 doubles, .373 average, and 9.4 WAR.

Muscat’s Saleh Aljabry won Pitcher of the Year in only his second season, leading in wins (18-9), ERA (2.71), FIP- (67), and WAR (7.0). The 23-year old Saudi righty struck out 247 over 219.1 innings. Aljabry’s time with the Threshers would be short after dealing with shoulder inflammation for almost all of 2036. He would not get resigned and left for New Zealand with OBA’s Christchurch.

Doha downed Mecca 2-0 in the wild card round, but their three-peat bid was thwarted in round two by Medina 2-1. Muscat swept Basra on the other side 2-0, giving the Threshers their fifth Eastern Conference Final trip in seven years. It was the fourth in eight years for the Mastodons, who had lost in 2030 and 2031 against Muscat. The top seed Medina got revenge 3-2 over the Threshers and now lead the conference with eight pennants (1992-95, 2005, 07, 27, 34).



In the 45^th Arab League Championship, Medina seemed on their way to a sweep after winning the first three games. Beirut took games 4-6, but couldn’t complete the comeback as the Mastodons prevailed in game seven. Medina was now tied with Casablanca for the most ALB rings at six (1992, 1993, 2005, 2007, 2027, 2034).

CF Hussain bin Mogazi was finals MVP in his sixth season with Medina. He had been mediocre in the regular season with -0.1 WAR and .672 OPS in 93 games. The 29-year old Saudi in 15 playoff starts had 17 hits, 10 runs, 4 doubles, 5 home runs, and 13 RBI. He would leave for a free agent deal with Beisbol Sudamerica’s Salvador in the winter.



Other notes: Aligiers’ Zakaria Badwan stole 152 bases, tied for the fourth-best single season in world history. The top two spots belong to ALB rival Hassan Shanshol with 159 in 2030 and 157 in 2024. Shanshol signed with Aleppo in 2034 after previously being with Jerusalem and stole 113 bags, his 12^th straight year with 110+ steals. He was now at 1568 career steals, one of only 18 guys above 1500+ swipes through 2036. Aleppo’s Elnatan Gold set the ALB single-season record with 685 at-bats.

Riyadh’s pitching staff allowed 1701 hits, the worst in Eastern Conference history. Their 10.65 H/9 was the second-worst. Cairo’s Mokhtar Bouziane hit for the cycle on August 29 against Amman, then again on September 10 against Jeddah. He became the fourth ALB batter to hit for a cycle twice in one season and became the fourth to earn 3+ in a career, having also done it in 2029.

In hitting milestones, Abbas Hegazy, Abdulhalim Talukder, and Mohamed Neen all joined the 500 home run club, now 44-players strong. Khali Allawi and Walid Zaoui became the 26^th and 27^th to 1500 RBI and Azhar Eid was the 19^th to 1500 runs scored. Eid, Allawi, Talukder, Shanshol, Kamal Qasim, and Gilon Bassman all got to 2500 hits, met by 35 batters. RF Ahmed Yasser Basha won his 7^th Silver Slugger.

ALB saves leader Aaron Buber became the first in the league with 500 career saves and the 13^th in pro baseball history to reach the mark. Muhhamad Nour became only the 7^th to 4000 strikeouts and Bakr Mahdi was the 15^th to 3500 Ks. Mourad Atia became the 18^th ALB ace to 200 wins. RF Nathan Nasreddine won his 12^th consecutive Gold Glove, joining SS Amr Khatab as the only 12+ winners in ALB history. LF Karrar Mazloum won his 8^th Gold Glove.