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The Asian Baseball Federation added its first two Hall of Famers with the 2003 voting. Uniquely enough, both additions were catchers, led by Erhan Buyukdemir with 90.9% in his debut. Razak Mohiyoudeen joined him at 79.8% on his third ballot. Only one other was above 50% with 1B Hazan Sheikh getting 50.2% for his second try. RF Hakim Baig was close behind with 49.4% for his second try.



SP Abbas Nadim became the first player to last ten ballots without an induction for ABF. He only pitched four official seasons but had ten years major service from his previous semi-pro stints. He won Pitcher of the Year and MVP for Izmir in 1985 and had a 76-45 record, 2.43 ERA, 1101.2 innings, 1443 strikeouts, and 33.7 WAR. It is a remarkable four year stretch, but four years simply isn’t enough to get in. He surprised many by retiring at only age 31 while being healthy. Nadim was never below 20% but peaked with 30.4% in 2001.



Erhan Buyukdemir – Catcher – Adana Axemen – 90.9% First Ballot

Erhan Buyukdemir was a 5’11’’, 200 pound left-handed hitting catcher from Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city. Buyukdemir was an excellent contact hitter with a good eye and solid knack for avoiding strikeouts. He wasn’t a big home run guy, peaking with 16 in a season. However, Buyukdemir had excellent gap power, averaging 42 doubles per his 162 game average. The doubles were extra impressive considering his speed and baserunning were both mediocre.

Buyukdemir was a career catcher that was pretty good at calling games, but around average in terms of his blocking and arm. He was considered quite durable in his prime years and became a popular figure in the early days of Turkish baseball.

The timing worked out for Buyukdemir that he was in ABF’s inaugural first-year player draft in 1985. He would be the ninth overall pick to Adana, where he’d spend his entire ABF career. Buyukdemir was used as a backup and pinch hitter in his rookie year, but firmly held the starting gig for the next decade. Buyukdemir had an impressive 55 doubles in his first full season in a designated hitter role.

He took over the catcher job after that and won eight straight Silver Sluggers in the West Asia Association from 1988-95. Buyukdemir led the WAA in both batting average and OBP in 1988, 1990, and 1991. 1990 also had the WAA lead in hits (188) with a tremendous 11.2 WAR. Buyukdemir was second in MVP voting, losing out to a 67 home run effort by Tabriz’s Vahid Hadadi. The Axemen certainly were happy with their investment, having given Buyukdemir an eight-year, $5,332,000 extension after the 1989 season.

Adana was usually above .500 in the 1980s, but just short of the playoffs. They won their first Turkish League title in 1992, but lost to Mashhad in the association final. The Axemen would then won the WAA in 1995 and 1996, beating Karachi in both years’ ABF Championship for a mini dynasty run. Buyukdemir’s playoff stats were lousy though with a .189/.281/.292 slash, 74 wRC+, and -0.2 WAR. Still, he was a big reason they got that far in the first place.

Buyukdemir’s stats weren’t better in the World Baseball Championship, playing from 1987-2001 for Turkey. In 103 games and 97 starts, he had 74 hits, 36 runs, 18 doubles, 3 home runs, 25 RBI, a .217/.319/.296 slash, 75 wRC+, and 0.1 WAR.

He was still hitting for a high average for the entirety of the Adana run. In his last year under contract in 1997, a strained groin muscle cost him three months. Adana didn’t re-up Buyukdemir, ending his ABF career. He would remain very popular though among Axemen and Turkish fans with the franchise retiring his #24 uniform eventually.

Now 33-years old heading into 1998, Buyukdemir found a hefty five-year, $20,600,000 MLB deal with Las Vegas. It was snake-bitten from the start as a broken bone in his elbow cost him almost the entire 1998 campaign. Buyukdemir was used in a platoon role the next three years as he still hit decently against righties but poorly against lefties.

For his Las Vegas tenure, Buyukdemir had 224 games and 190 starts with a .276/.328/.367 slash, 96 wRC+, 3.5 WAR, 194 hits, and 73 runs. He saw very little action in 2001 and in spring training 2002 was cut in the last year of his deal. Buyukdemir was unsigned in 2002 and retired that winter at age 37.

For his ABF/Adana tenure, Buyukdemir had 1697 hits, 692 runs, 441 doubles, 115 home runs, 715 RBI, a .323/.402/.482 slash, 158 wRC+, and 75.9 WAR. As of 2037, he still has the most WAR at catcher in ABF history. It is hard to judge totals for a new Hall of Fame, but as of 2037, he still has the fourth best batting average among inductees. His popularity and winning two titles with Adana certainly helped, making Buyukdemir a first-ballot nod at 90.9%. He was the first-ever first ballot inductee and headliner for the 2003 ABF class.



Razak “Jet” Mohiyoudeen – Catcher – Gujranwala Grasshoppers – 79.8% Third Ballot

Razak Mohiyoudeen was a 6’3’’, 205 pound right-handed catcher from Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city. Mohiyoudeen was known for being a solid contract hitter with an above average eye for walks and average strikeout rate. Especially for a catcher, he had nice home run power and could get you 25-35 home runs in good years. Mohiyoudeen also had sturdy gap power and averaged around 25-35 doubles per year as well.

He occasionally could leg out an extra base, but his speed was firmly mediocre. The nickname “Jet” was one used ironically regarding his quickness. Mohiyoudeen was a career catcher and considered very good defensively. He would pick up four Gold Gloves in his career (1988, 90, 92, 93). Mohiyoudeen also showed good durability in his 20s and could reliably handle the workload. Thus, he became one of Pakistan’s first popular baseball stars.

In the 1986 ABF Draft, the second such draft, Mohiyoudeen was viewed by some as the top prospect coming out of Pakistan. As noted earlier, catchers that could both hit well and defend well were hard to find. Mohiyoudeen was picked second overall by Gujranwala, who made him a full-time starter immediately. He held that role for all seven seasons with the Grasshoppers, taking third in Rookie of the Year voting in 1987.

After missing it as a rookie, Mohiyoudeen won six consecutive Silver Sluggers for Gujranwala along with four Gold Gloves. In his fourth season of 1990, Mohiyoudeen had an all-time great season, leading the Pakistan League in batting average (.376), on-base percentage (.457), wRC+ (231), and WAR (13.0). He also had 32 home runs, 111 RBI, and a 1.111 OPS; unheard of numbers for a catcher. This earned Mohiyoudeen Pakistan League MVP.

It also put him in the historic territory. As of 2037 is it still the 13^th most WAR in a season for an ABF position player. On top of that, no catcher in any pro league ever has put up a higher WAR season. Mohiyoudeen followed that up with 10.6 WAR, 8.0 WAR, and 9.8 WAR seasons. He led with 220 wRC+ in 1993, earning a second in MVP voting.

Gujranwala stunk in its first few years, but earned three straight playoff appearances from 1989-91. Although second in the 1991 standings, they knocked off Peshawar in the PLCS and topped Izmir in the ABF Championship. As of 2037, this is still the only ABF title for the Grasshoppers. In 25 playoff starts, Mohiyoudeen had 26 hits, 14 runs, 4 doubles, 5 home runs, 16 RBI, a .286/.362/.495 slash, 172 wRC+, and 1.3 WAR.

His role in the title made Mohiyoudeen very popular in Gujranwala. He also gained national notice for Pakistan in the World Baseball Championship from 1988-98. His WBC numbers were less amazing with 105 games, 84 hits, 44 runs, 16 doubles, 12 home runs, 29 RBI, a .220/.281/.361 slash, 89 wRC+, and 0.8 WAR. Mohiyoudeen did still come home for the WBC, although his time in the Pakistan League only lasted seven years.

Free agency arrived after the 1993 season and the Grasshoppers had regressed, falling to 66-96 that year. Coming up on 29 years old, Mohiyoudeen went to free agency. He had earned international attention and the still new ABF definitely couldn’t compete with MLB money. Mohiyoudeen ended up signing with defending World Series champ Calgary on a seven-year, $22,400,000 dea.

Mohiyoudeen played great with 6.0 WAR and 6.6 WAR in his first two seasons with the Cheetahs, earning two Silver Sluggers. That gave him eight for his whole career. Calgary won 106 games in 1994, but suffered a one-and-done in the playoffs. They fell to the mid-tier after that, while Mohiyoudeen’s bat declined as well. In his third season, his average dipped to .249 with an 89 wRC+, although his defense still gave him positive value. That would be his last year as a full-time starter.

Mohiyoudeen did well in a part-time role in 1997, but struggled in 1998 and 1999 as his time got reduced more. With another year left on his contract, Calgary cut Mohiyoudeen on August 1, 1999. Baltimore signed him to finish the year, although he only played four games.

In his MLB run, Mohiyoudeen had 642 hits, 335 runs, 132 doubles, 87 home runs, 324 RBI, a .277/.330/.458 slash, 116 wRC+, and 18.4 WAR. He had hoped to still play in 2000, but couldn’t find a suitor. That winter, Mohiyoudeen retired at age 36. For his combined pro career, Mohiyoudeen had 1653 hits, 829 runs, 326 doubles, 260 home runs, 884 RBI, a .288/.358/.490 slash, 156 wRC+, and 78.5 WAR.

In ABF with Gujranwala, Mohiyoudeen had 1011 hits, 494 runs, 194 doubles, 173 home runs, 560 RBI, a .295/.375/.512 slash, 182 wRC+, and 60.1 WAR. It would be hard for a catcher to have a better seven years, but many voters felt seven years couldn’t be enough. His accumulations are certainly on the bottom of later leaderboards as a result, but his peak was historically good.

Mohiyoudeen came closer than anyone to being the first ABF Hall of Famer with a 63.2% debut and 59.9% second ballot. Erhan Buyukdemir coming on the ballot made voters re-evaluate Mohiyoudeen. Most figured Buyukdemir was a slam dunk and only longevity hurt Mohiyoudeen, who some argued was a better player. He got the bump up to 79.8% to join his fellow catcher as ABF’s first Hall of Famers in 2003.