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West African Baseball had a three-player Hall of Fame class in 2011, led by 3B Arnaud Aho at 96.4%. The other two additions made it on their third ballot and only scraped by the 66% requirement. Still, pitcher Angelo Costa at 70.5% and 2B Hamza Seidu at 66.5% secured their spots among the honored greats. No one else was above 50% and no players fell off the ballot from ten failed tries.



Arnaud Aho – Third Base/Designated Hitter – Port Harcourt Hillcats – 96.4% First Ballot

Arnaud Aho was a 6’0’’, 205 pound left-handed hitting third baseman from Abomey-Calavi, Benin; a city of around 655,000 just outside of Cotonou. Aho was a very good contact hitter with a decent eye and strikeout rate. Most importantly, he hit the ball very hard when making contact. Aho topped 35 home runs nine times and topped 35 doubles nine times. He breached both marks together in five seasons.

Aho was notably stronger against right-handed pitching (.921 OPS, 152 wRC+) but wasn’t bad at all against lefties (.783 OPS, 120 wRC+). He was a very smart baserunner and could sneakily steal the occasional base despite having lousy speed. He was not quick on his feet at all, which hurt him defensively.

Aho made about half of his career starts at third base. He had a very strong arm, but still graded as a terrible defender with poor glove work. Aho wasn’t much better with his final two seasons at first base. He would make roughly 1/3 of his starts as a designated hitter.

Regardless of those flaws, Aho hit the ball very hard, which made him one of WAB’s most popular players of the 1990s and early 2000s. He was also considered an ironman that almost never missed a start. He played 140+ games each year from 1991-2005 and started 145+ each year from 1993 onward.

Aho was spotted and signed as a teenage amateur on Christmas Day 1984 by Port Harcourt. He spent most of six years in development, officially debuting in 1990 at age 22 with 18 at-bats in eight games. Aho would see 24 at-bats in the 1990 postseason as the Hillcats made it to the WAB Championship in back-to-back seasons. This time, they were defeated in a rematch with Conakry.

Aho was a full-time roster guy in 1991 and 1992. He didn’t start every game those years, but posted 118 and 113 starts, respectively. His bat was immediately strong, earning Rookie of the Year in 1991 and a Silver Slugger in 1992 as a DH. Port Harcourt won 106 games both seasons, but lost in the Eastern League Championship Series in 1991 and wild card round in 1992.

In 1993, Aho led the EL with 52 home runs to get his second Silver Slugger as a DH and a third place in MVP voting. The Hillcats continued their postseason streak, but again fell in the ELCS. The following May, Port Harcourt gave him a five-year, $6,880,000 contract extension. Aho won a third Slugger that year as a DH, but PH again suffered an early playoff exit.

Aho won his fourth Slugger in 1995 and earned ELCS MVP as Port Harcourt ended their playoff woes. They won it all that year, topping Abidjan in the WAB Championship. In that run, Aho had 13 hits, 13 runs, 6 home runs, and 15 RBI over 11 starts. In 38 playoff games total for the Hillcats, he had a .272/.311/.584 slash, 149 wRC+, and 1.3 WAR.

Port Harcourt lost in the wild card round in 1996, then fell into the middle tier for the next decade-plus. Still, Aho helped them to the 1995 title and would be a beloved fan favorite. The Hillcats later retired his #13 uniform. PH moved him to third base in 1996 and he won three straight Silver Sluggers for them there.

In total for Port Harcourt, Aho had 1387 hits, 762 runs, 290 doubles, 287 home runs, 807 RBI, a .299/.349/.554 slash, 150 wRC+, and 41.9 WAR. As the Hillcats weren’t a contender by the end of 1998, Aho declined his contract option. He was a free agent for the first time heading into his age 31 season.

Aho had plenty of suitors, including the two-time defending WAB champion Kano. The Condors signed Aho to a seven-year, $17,720,000 deal and he helped push Kano to an all-time dynasty run. In his debut season, the Condors set an all-time wins record at 123-39. They completed the three-peat with Aho getting 14 hits, 8 runs, 4 doubles, 4 homers, and 10 RBI in 10 playoff starts.

Kano broke their wins record in 2000 at 125-37, one win short of the all-time record in any world league. They suffered a stunning WAB Championship defeat in a rematch with Abidjan. The Condors bounced back from that with WAB titles in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005 with a runner-up finish in 2004. Aho was the finals MVP in both 2001 and 2002.

In the playoffs for Kano, Aho had 71 starts, 73 hits, 43 runs, 13 doubles, 19 home runs, 52 RBI, a .267/.311/.524 slash, 129 wRC+, and 2.3 WAR. For his entire career, he had 109 games, 107 hits, 69 runs, 21 doubles, 28 home runs, 75 RBI, a .269/.311/.543 slash, 135 wRC+, and 3.5 WAR.

At retirement, Aho was the all-time playoff leader in games, hits, runs, homers, and RBI. He has still played more games than anyone as of 2037 and still ranks fourth in hits, fourth in runs, second in doubles, third in home runs, and second in RBI.

In 2000, Aho led the league with 152 RBI, two short of the league record at the time. He won his eighth Silver Slugger and fifth as a DH. Aho won his ninth and final Slugger in 2001 (his fourth at third base) and took second in MVP voting. He led in both home runs (51) and RBI (141) and had a career best 6.8 WAR to that point. Aho beat the career best with 7.1 WAR in 2002.

Aho’s power and contact diminished in his final three seasons, but he still provided some positive value. In 2004, he became the fifth WAB slugger to reach 500 career home runs. Aho was the first to 1500 RBI, although Darwin Morris quickly passed him for the all-time lead. He was also the second to 2500 hits.

His deal expired after the 2005 championship win, getting his sixth ring overall. Aho decided to retire with that at age 37. With Kano, he had 1145 hits, 630 runs, 233 doubles, 262 home runs, 747 RBI, a .281/.331/.539 slash, 138 wRC+, and 31.7 WAR. Aho would be extremely popular with Kano fans as well for his role in their historic dynasty.

Aho’s final stats saw 2532 hits, 1392 runs, 523 doubles, 549 home runs, 1564 RBI, 643 walks, .291/.341/.547 slash, 144 wRC+, and 73.7 WAR. As of 2037, he ranks 20^th in WAR among position players, losing some ground due to his time as a DH and bad defense. Later higher offense eras in WAB pushed Aho out of the top 20 in the major statistical categories.

That said, he still remains high on the playoff leaderboards and played a big role both in Kano’s all-time dynasty and a 1995 title for Port Harcourt. Aho was a beloved superstar and an easy headliner for the 2011 Hall of Fame class at 96.4%.