[FuzzyRussianHat]

Defending West African Baseball champion Conakry and Bamako went down to the wire for the West League’s top seed in 2021. The Bullfrogs narrowly took it at 98-64, growing their playoff streak to seven years in the process; the longest active streak in WAB. Bamako guaranteed their fourth WLCS appearance of that run and their 11^th WLCS appearance overall.

The Coyotes, last year’s runner-up in the Baseball Grand Championship. finished one game behind Bamako at 97-65, growing their playoff streak to five. The Bullfrogs allowed the fewest runs (678) in the WL with Conakry second (693), while tied for second in runs scored at 860.

Nouakchott was the top scoring team at 868 with them and Abidjan finishing even at 93-69 for the remaining playoff spots. The tiebreaker formula officially gave third place and the home field advantage in the first round to the Athletes. The Night Riders’ playoff streak grew to three years and Abidjan got their third berth in four years. The only other teams remotely in the playoff race were Bouake (86-76) and Cape Verde (85-77).

Vulcans third baseman Okoro Yusuf repeated as Western League MVP. The 24-year old Nigerian led in the triple slash (.397/.456/.721), OPS (1.177), wRC+ (203), and WAR (9.7). His effort was a top ten all-time WAB season for batting average, OBP, and OPS to that point. Yusuf added 43 home runs, 117 RBI, and 106 runs, losing some tallies to a fractured thumb in the final month. His continued dominance opened up the checkbook for Cape Verde, signing Yusuf in the summer to an eight-year, $113,500,000 extension.

Bamako’s Theo Mauger earned Pitcher of the Year in his second season for the Bullfrogs. The 36-year old righty was the first notable baseball pro from Guernsey, a tiny British island territory south of the United Kingdom. Mauger’s first decade was as a respectable starter for MLB’s Nashville Knights. He came to WAB in 2017 with Kumasi, then joined with Bamako in a 2020 trade.

In 2021, Mauger led the WL in wins (19-6), strikeouts (300), innings (243.1), quality starts (21), complete games (7), and shutouts (3). One of the shutouts came on May 20 in a 16 strikeout, 1 walk no-hitter over Benin City. Mauger added a 3.29 ERA, 138 ERA+, and 6.7 WAR. He would spent four more seasons in WAB, signing with Abidjan in the offseason.

The Athletes topped Nouakchott 2-0 in the first round and gave Conakry a fight in round two. However, the reigning champ Coyotes prevailed 2-1 for their third straight Western League Championship Series, setting up a rematch of 2019 with Bamako. The series went all five games with the Bullfrogs again defeating Conakry, giving Bamako its fourth pennant in seven years (2015, 2017, 2019, 2021). It was the Bullfrogs’ eighth WL title overall, having also won in 1976, 1983, 1986, and 2003.



Defending Eastern League champ Yaounde finished first in the EL at 96-66, guaranteeing a fourth consecutive ELCS trip. The Yellow Birds again had WAB’s top offense, leading all teams with 949 runs scored. Three games back at 93-69 were both Kano and Libreville with the tiebreaker formula giving the Condors second place and the Lakers third. Kano’s playoff streak grew to six seasons while Libreville got repeat berths. The Lakers allowed the fewest runs in the EL at 708.

Six teams were within five games of the fourth and final playoff spot. Douala (88-74) finally got their first-ever playoff berth, edging out last year’s first place team Ouagadougou (87-75), Port Harcourt (85-77), Lome (84-78), Cotonou (83-79), and Niamey (83-79). The Dingos were the only WAB team including expansion teams that had never been in the playoffs over WAB’s first 46 seasons. By falling one game short, the Osprey’s playoff streak snapped at three seasons. Although they missed for the third year in a row, the Copperheads continued the longest active streak of winning seasons in WAB at 13 years.

Leading Douala’s turnaround was Eastern League MVP Rasaq Kadir. The 26-year old Nigerian center fielder led in triples (26) while adding 110 runs, 58 doubles, 30 home runs, 115 RBI, a 1.042 OPS, 161 wRC+, and 8.0 WAR. Kadir was the #4 draft pick in 2015 by the Dingos and would remain committed, inking an eight-year, $118 million extension in April 2022.

Niamey’s Sabado Balde won his second Pitcher of the Year in three years. The 29-year old Bissau-Guinean lefty led in strikeouts (335), K/BB (11.2), quality starts (21), FIP- (71), and WAR (7.4). Balde posted a 2.86 ERA over 251.1 innings, 18-11 record, and 162 ERA+. He was one point away from the ERA title and was second in wins.

Douala’s first-ever playoff wins would have to come another year, getting swept in the first round by Libreville. The Lakers kept the momentum going and won 2-1 at Kano, giving Libreville its second-ever ELCS try (2016). The magic quickly ran out with Yaounde rolling to a 3-0 sweep. The Yellow Birds repeated as EL champs and won their third pennant in four years.



In the 47^th West African Championship, Yaounde beat Bamako 4-2 to become two-time WAB champs, joining their 2018 trophy. The Bullfrogs remained seemingly cursed in the finale, falling to 0-8 all-time in the championship. The only team in all of pro baseball to have more runner-up finishes without winning once was MLB’s Indianapolis at 0-9. RF Shafiu Hassan was finals MVP in his ninth season for the Yellow Birds. In 9 playoff starts, Hassan had 11 hits, 8 runs, 6 homers, 1 double, and 9 RBI.



Other notes: Lawrence Nassif became WAB’s all-time hits king, passing Darwin Morris’s 3288 and finishing the season at 3390. Nassif also joined Morris as the only WAB sluggers with 2000 RBI. He ended the year at 2076, within striking distance of Morris’s 2129. Nassif also ended the season with 639 doubles, putting him close to Jack Kiadii’s WAB record 659. Fares Belaid became the third to 3000 career hits at only age 32, leading the league for the tenth time and for the eighth straight year.

Belaid’s 254 hits in 2021 were the 12^th most in a single-season by any player in world history to that point. Yet, it was a down year for him, as he’d topped that mark five times. Belaid did score a career best 148 runs in 2021, four behind Morris’s 152 from 2011 for the WAB single-second record. Belaid and Mandjou Adado became the 5^th and 6^th to reach 1500 runs scored. Belaid also won his seventh Silver Slugger (his 6^th as a DH).

Douala 3B Adrian Kollie set WAB’s single-season record for doubles with 70, beating Florencio Hernandez’ record of 68 from 1998. Kollie was only the third in world history to reach the mark, joining ABF’s Gokhan Karatas (72 in 1990) and AAB’s Stefan Cejka (71 in 1996). As of 2037, Kollie’s season is one of only eight in world history with 70+ doubles.

Abidjan’s Mokhtar Abdoulaye tossed WAB’s 19^th perfect game on September 28, striking out 15 against Kumasi. Aliassou Lankoande and Ibrahim Sani became the 11^th and 12^th members of the 500 home run club. Sani also won his eighth Silver Slugger in left field. Mohamed Traore became the 17^th to reach 2500 hits. Christopher Larbi became only the 6^th pitcher to 200 wins, finishing his career with 208. 3B Seidath Boni won his tenth consecutive Gold Glove, a position record.