[FuzzyRussianHat]

The African Association of Baseball finally inducted its first Hall of Famer with the 2014 ballot. On his fifth try, CF Bawaka Ngoie squeaked past the 66% requirement at 67.3% to cement his spot as the first inductee. RP Jaures Ibara barely missed joining him at 63.3% in his fourth ballot. Two other returners cracked the 50% mark with SP Hendrik Jongman at 55.0% in his seventh go and 1B Abebe Chekol with a 52.2% second ballot. The top debut was RP Abba Abdul at 47.8%. No players were dropped after ten ballots.



Bawaka “Flounder” Ngoie – Center Field – Kinshasa Sun Cats – 67.3% Fifth Ballot

Bawaka Ngoie was a 5’11’’, 180 pound right-handed center fielder from Kolwezi, a city of around 573,000 in the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ngoie was a very powerful hitter that averaged 41 home runs, 30 doubles, and 6 triples per his 162 game average. He was also much quicker than your typical slugger and could cause plenty of damage as a baserunner.

Ngoie’s downside was that he was merely an average contact hitter. However, he was great at drawing and was decent at avoiding strikeouts. Ngoie’s speed gave him great range in center field, although his arm strength wasn’t the best. Still, he graded out as a reliably good-to-great defender. Ngoie had nice durability and became one of the first popular stars in the region.

Although he grew up on the other side of the country from his later playing home Kinshasa, Ngoie quickly was well known amongst baseball fans in the Congo’s limited baseball scene in the early 1990s. When AAB officially was formed for the 1995 season, Ngoie was already 25-years old with some experience in the semi-pro ranks. It’s no surprise that his nation’s capital squad wanted him to star for the new Sun Cats franchise, signing Ngoie to a four-year, $4,040,000 deal.

Ngoie certainly delivered as the Central Conference’s first-ever MVP, leading in WAR at 8.6. It was the first of four straight Silver Sluggers as well. Kinshasa would be the first great AAB dynasty, taking first in the standings in 1995 at 100-62. They won the conference final, but lost the inaugural Africa Series to Johannesburg.

Kinshasa started an 11-year playoff streak, although they were second in 1996 with a conference finals loss to Ndjamena. Ngoie was iffy in the first two postseason runs, but he would be a beast in 1997. The Sun Cats took second in the standings to Bujumbura, but bested them for the conference final. Kinshasa then won its first AAB title with an Africa Series victory against Dar es Salaam.

Ngoie was MVP of both playoff series and in nine starts had 11 hits, 9 home runs, 11 runs, 2 doubles, 15 RBI, and a 1.633 OPS. The nine homers were a AAB playoff record that would only be topped once and only matched once in the following 40 years. This also started a run of four straight Africa Series wins for Kinshasa from 1997-2000.

Most fans remember that they won and Ngoie’s 1997 excellence. However, he was actually subpar in their other playoff runs. Over 63 games total for Kinshasa, Ngoie had 53 hits, 39 runs, 15 doubles, 22 home runs, 60 RBI, 15 stolen bases, .217/.290/557 slash, 126 wRC+, and 1.6 WAR. The amazing 1997 run accounted for 3/4s of his playoff WAR with the Sun Cats.

Ngoie was third in 1997 MVP voting and second in both 1999 and 2000. The 2000 season saw conference and career bests in WAR (9.9) and doubles (42) as well as career highs in hits (171), runs (124), homers (53), RBI (148), triple slash (.304/.398/680), and OPS (1.078). In total over six seasons for Kinshasa, Ngoie had 885 hits, 619 runs, 170 doubles, 248 home runs, 691 RBI, 268 stolen bases, a .277/.372/.582 slash, 158 wRC+, and 46.5 WAR.

Now 31-years old, Ngoie became a free agent after the 2000 season and switched sides in the great early Africa Series battles, signing six-years and $11,640,000 with Johannesburg. The Jackalopes had beaten the Sun Cats in the 1995 Africa Series, followed by Kinshasa wins over Johannesburg in 1998, 1999, and 2000.

Although Ngoie finished his career in South Africa, he still played a few more times for the DR Congo in the World Baseball Championship. In total from 1995-2004, he had 76 games and 72 starts with 66 hits, 46 runs, 11 doubles, 26 home runs, 49 RBI, a .249/.332/.600 slash, 168 wRC+, and 3.1 WAR.

Ngoie won a Silver Slugger in 2001 for Johannesburg despite missing six weeks to a fractured wrist. The Jackalopes won their fourth straight conference title, but again lost the Africa Series to Kinshasa. Ngoie had a good showing in 12 playoff games going 13-45 with 4 homers, 8 RBI, and 7 runs.

The first seven years of Ngoie’s career had 5+ WAR each year. He still managed 4.7 in 2002 largely thanks to great defense, as his batting power dropped a bit. Johannesburg took first in the standings again, but lost to Antananarivo in the conference final. The Jackalopes missed the playoffs by four games in 2003, then posted five straight losing seasons after that.

Ngoie was still a good starter in 2003 with 3.5 WAR, but he became actively bad at the plate in 2004. He would eventually be benched after posting -1.1 WAR and 76 wRC+ over 88 games. The quick decline led Ngoie to retire that winter at only age 35. With Johannesburg, he had 413 hits, 302 runs, 82 doubles, 18 triples, 97 home runs, 302 RBI, 266 walks, a .242/.346/.482 slash, 126 wRC+, and 12.8 WAR.

The final tallies had 1298 hits, 921 runs, 252 doubles, 48 triples, 345 home runs, 993 RBI, 749 walks, 385 stolen bases, a .265/.363/.548 slash, 147 wRC+, and 59.3 WAR. Like many early-era guys, he was hurt by starting officially at age 25, losing a couple potentially great early 20s seasons. Ngoie’s sudden decline in his mid 30s also gave him low grand totals. It was also tough to evaluate for a new league trying to figure out its identity compared to other leagues.

Some voters felt Ngoie just didn’t play long enough as the first Hall of Fame candidates came up. But he had a lot working in his favor, including seven Silver Sluggers in eight years and a starring role in AAB’s first great dynasty. Ngoie would’ve made many top ten and top five lists during his prime years with the Sun Cats. Ngoie’s exploits and Kinshasa’s run played a huge role in growing baseball’s popularity throughout the Congo Basin region.

Ngoie debuted at 53.6% in 2010 and made little ground to 54.0% in 2011. He jumped to 62.0% in 2012, then was at 61.3% in 2013. In 2014, he just crossed the 66% line at 67.3% for the fifth ballot induction. With that, Ngoie was a fine choice to end up as the African Association’s first-ever Hall of Fame player.