[FuzzyRussianHat]

In the third season for Arab League Baseball, the best record in the Western Conference went to Cairo at 99-63. The Pharaohs won the Nile Division for the third straight year, this time needing to fend off a strong 93-65 Alexandria squad. Jerusalem was Levant Division champ for the third successive year. The Jets were 92-70, beating Damascus by eight games. Defending ALB champ Tripoli fell to 77-85, allowing Casablanca to reclaim the Mediterranean Division. The Bruins took the title at 85-77 for their second berth in three years.

Taking Western Conference MVP was Cairo DH Niral Sharett. The 27-year old Israeli lefty led in walks (100), OPS (.932), and wRC+ (176). He had a .293/.406/.525 slash with 4.6 WAR and 23 home runs. Casablanca’s Mohamed Abdelhafeed was the Pitcher of the Year. The 29-year old righty from Morocco led in wins at 22-7 and won the ERA title at 2.03. Abdelhafeed added 233 strikeouts and 7.0 WAR over 244.1 innings.

Jerusalem had home field advantage for the first round playoff matchup, but Casablanca upset them 2-1. This set up a rematch of the 1990 Western Conference final between the Bruins and Cairo, which saw the Pharaohs win in a five game thriller with the finale going extras. The 1992 edition was eerily similar, also going five games and also seeing Cairo win over Casablanca. The Pharaohs again won game five in extras, this time taking it on a walkoff 4-3 in 11 innings.



In the Eastern Conference, the Iraq Division was intense with arguably the best three teams in the conference fighting for one spot. Two-time defending EC champ Sulaymaniya prevailed again, although their 96-66 was only one better than Baghdad and five ahead of Basra. The Saudi Division was also competitive, but Medina claimed a third consecutive title. The Mastodons were 91-71, edging Jeddah by two games. Although they missed the playoffs, the Jackals’ 1082 hits allowed as a pitching staff is still the EC’s all-time best mark as of 2037. The Gulf Division was weak with 81-81 Dubai winning the crown for back-to-back seasons. The Diamonds were three ahead of their in-country rival Abu Dhabi.

Medina 1B Bilal Hamdan won the Eastern Conference MVP. The 31-year old Lebanese slugger led in home runs (52), RBI (109), total bases (.641), OPS (1.017), wRC+ (200), and WAR (9.4). Pitcher of the Year went to Basra’s Abdullah Al-Muhafazat. The 31-year old Saudi lefty was nine ERA points short of a Triple Crown, posting a 21-11 record, 2.06 ERA, and 386 strikeouts. He also led in WAR (10.0), innings (279.2), quality starts (29), and shutouts (6). Also of note was Sulaymaniya’s Paul Arfaouri, who won his third straight Reliever of the Year. This was the finest season for the 29-year old Moroccan, who had 43 saves, a 0.76 ERA, 7.1 ERA and 192 strikeouts over 106.2 innings.



Medina swept Dubai in the first round to set up a 1990 rematch in the Eastern Conference Championship. The Mastodons prevented Sulaymaniya from their three-peat, taking the series 3-1. Medina kept rolling into the third Arab League Championship, downing Cairo 4-1 to send the title to Saudi Arabia for the first time. SS Tarek Soliman was the finals MVP with the 31-year old Egyptian shortstop posting 11 hits, 6 runs, 4 home runs, and 7 RBI over 11 playoff starts.



Other notes: Ilwad Maxamed of Casablanca had 17 complete games, which stands as of 2037 as the ALB single season record.