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WAB’s Western League saw the same playoff field as the prior year with both Bamako and Kumasi earning a third straight playoff berth. Positions were swapped though as Nouakchott took the top honor at 100-62. It was only the third time the Night Riders had finished first, joining their 1984 and 1997 pennant wins. Last year’s first place and WLCS winner Bamako was second at 96-66. Kumasi was third at 94-68 with a steep 13 game drop to fourth place.

Although third place, the Monkeys set some single-season records. They had a .308 team batting average, 1786 hits, and only 964 strikeouts; each of which remain WL all-time records as of 2037. Kumasi also only drew 270 walks all season, which is the third lowest mark in Western League history. Their 881 runs scored were the best in West Africa Baseball, but their awful 768 runs allowed was ahead of only 67-95 Freetown’s 771.

Despite being below .500, the Western League MVP came from Conakry. LF Odinaka Eke led the league in home runs (60), walks (88), slugging (.706), OPS (1.109), and wRC+ (194). The 27-year old Nigerian added a .311 average, 123 RBI, and 9.3 WAR. He had tough competition, including three-time defending MVP Mo Reda. With 154 RBI, he became the first player in world history with four consecutive seasons with 150+ RBI.

Third in MVP voting was LF Kely Ballard, who was traded from Douala to Noukachott for 2004. Ballard left for free agency in 2005 and signed a seven-year, $27,720,000 deal with Abidjan. He had 258 hits, a .412 average, and .459 OBP; each of which were new WAB records. Ballard was the first .400 hitter in WAB and his .412 was the second best in world history at that point, behind only CABA’s Jagger Sweebe Jr. at .415 in 1986.

258 hits was a world record to that point and amazingly, Ballard wasn’t the only player to reach it in 2004. Kumasi’s Ibrahima Bah also had 258 hits while setting his own world record with 196 singles. That is still the WAB singles record as of 2037 and would only get topped once in any other league.

Pitcher of the Year in the Western League was second-year Dakar righty Rashid Habimana. The Rwandan was the leader in ERA (2.27), WHIP (0.90), quality starts (25), complete games (8), and WAR (5.8). Habimana added a 16-11 record and 274 strikeouts in 246.1 innings. Also of note, Cape Verde’s Jimmy Freeman won a third consecutive Reliever of the Year.

Kumasi upset Bamako 2-0 in the wild card round to earn a repeat appearance in the Western League Championship Series. For Nouakchott, it was their first since 1997. The series had incredible offensive numbers and came down to the fifth and final game. In 10 innings, Kumasi edged the Night Riders 12-10 to earn their sixth pennant (1979, 85, 87, 91, 98, 04)



The Eastern League had a surprise as Ibadan returned to form. The Iguanas had posted back-to-back losing seasons since their 12-year playoff streak ended. In 2004, Ibadan led the EL standings at 100-62. They had 416 stolen bases as a team, setting a new EL record that they’d break two years later. This was also the first time since 1996 that Kano didn’t lead the standings, incidentally also done by the Iguanas.

The three-time defending WAB champs and seven-time reigning EL champion Condors still were able to extend their playoff streak to ten years. Kano was 96-66, while last year’s ELCS runner-up Lagos was third at 92-70. The Lizards were three games better than Niamey to take the final playoff spot.

Kano SS Darwin Morris won his historic ninth Eastern League MVP despite seven weeks to injury. In 111 games, the 32-year old Liberian still led in WAR at 8.9 while posting 39 home runs, a .322/.403/.701 slash, and 203 wRC+. He joined OBA’s Sione Hala and Jimmy Caliw, CABAs Kiko Velazquez, and CABA/MLB’s Prometheo Garcia as the only players with nine or more MVPs to that point. The Condors signed their legendary star to a five-year, $14,160,000 extension the following March.

Pitcher of the Year was Lome’s Zachary Owusu. The 29-year old Ghanaian lefty led with 331 strikeouts. He added a 2.99 ERA over 247 innings, 15-12 record, and 4.9 WAR. He pitched one more season with the Lasers, then signed a six-year, $25,440,000 for 2006 with Abidjan.

Kano swept Lagos in the wild card round to give the Condors a tenth straight Eastern League Championship Series appearance. They had met Ibadan five times prior in that stretch, losing in 1996 but winning four straight from 1998-01. Although they were the road underdog, Kano kept its claim to the throne by beating Ibadan 3-1 in the ELCS. The Condors earned an eight pennant in a row, becoming only the second team in world history with eight straight subleague titles (Ahmedabad had nine in the Indian League from 1994-02).



Kano was going for a fourth straight West African Championship ring and a seventh in eight years. However, they couldn’t figure out how to slow Kumasi’s record-setting offense. The Monkeys stunned them by winning 4-1, becoming the 11^th WAB franchise with an overall title. Kumasi “got the monkey off their back,” as they were 0-5 in their prior finals berths.



Multiple playoff records that still stand were set in 2037 by Kumasi players. Ibrahima Bah and Enrique Mendoza each scored 19 runs. Mendoza also set the record for singles with 20. Both Mo Reda and Richard Olagunju had 22 RBI, tying the mark set two years earlier by Ifeanyi Adeleke. The 2004 Kumasi Monkeys certainly go down as one of the most unique champs in baseball history with one of most impressive all-time offenses mixed with a near league-worst pitching staff and defense.

Other notes: Ibrahima Bah had a 33 game hit streak, which fell two short of the record set by teammate Kely Ballard in 2001 with Douala. Darwin Morris became the seventh to 2000 hits and the fourth to 500 home runs. Arnaud Aho joined him in the homer club and Ajiboye Okemmiri also crossed the 2K hit mark. Morris also won an 11^th straight Silver Slugger at shortstop.