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FuzzyRussianHat · 01-02-2025, 07:21 AM

The 2022 African Association of Baseball Hall of Fame ballot was unusual in having no debuts of any note with all five newcomers finishing below 9%. That opened up a chance for a few returners to breach the 66% threshold. Two long-standing candidates did just that. RP Abba Abdul on his ninth ballot led the way at 72.0%, while 1B Abebe Chekol got exactly enough with 66% on his tenth and final chance. 2B Gedeon Bukasa was the only other player above 50% with 51.3% for his fourth try. No players were cut after ten failed ballots.

Abba Abdul – Relief Pitcher – Kigali Guardians – 72.0% Ninth Ballot

Abba Abdul was a 6’0’’, 200 pound right-handed relief pitcher from Zanzibar, an island group off Tanzania’s eastern coast with 1.9 million people. Abdul had very good powerful stuff, although his movement and stuff both graded as above average at best. He had a 98-100 mph fastball and a nearly equally quick splitter for his one-two punch. Compared to most relievers, Abdul had excellent stamina and durability. Along with his strong work ethic, he was ready to step up in any situation. He was also a strong defensive pitcher when he needed to field the position.

Despite his stamina, Abdul didn’t have a diverse enough arsenal to be projected as more than a reliever. That was still good enough for Kigali to pick him 21^st overall in the 1995 AAB Draft. This was the inaugural rookie draft and that was the first pick of round two. The Guardians made him the full-time closer immediately, although he stunk in his debut with a 5.58 ERA as a rookie.

He fared better in the next four seasons, although saves were hard to come by as Kigali was firmly AAB’s worst team in the initial years. In his first five seasons, Abdul managed 145 saves over 416.1 innings, a 3.24 ERA, 498 strikeouts, and 12.5 WAR. After the 2000 season, the Guardians traded the 27-year old Abdul to Johannesburg for three prospects. The Jackalopes wanted to shore up the bullpen and had won three straight Southern Conference titles.

Johannesburg won the pennant again in 2001 at 108-54, but still couldn’t win the Africa Series with a loss to Lubumbashi. They would lose in the 2002 conference final and just miss the playoffs in 2003. Abdul was mostly in a setup role with respectable results, although his limited playoff sample size had 4 runs allowed in 9 innings. For the Jackalopes, Abdul had 53 saves, a 2.95 ERA, 165 innings, 255 strikeouts, 141 ERA+, and 5.7 WAR.

Abdul was a free agent for the first time at age 30 and returned to his home country of Tanzania with Dar es Salaam in 2004, posting a 1.52 ERA over 53.1 innings. He allowed 4 runs in 7 playoff innings, but the Sabercats were a powerhouse this year despite that, going 114-48 to dethrone Kinshasa in the Africa Series.

His time back in Tanzania lasted one year, but Abdul did regularly represent his nation in the World Baseball Championship. He pitched from 2001-09 and in 2012, splitting between starting and relief. Abdul had a 2.29 ERA over 106 innings, 8-5 record, 6 saves, 145 strikeouts, 37 walks, 156 ERA+, and 2.1 WAR.

Abdul signed with Addis Ababa in 2005, but was traded in late June to Ndjamena for four prospects. This would be his only season as the saves leader, combining for a career best 41. This was also Abdul’s only time as a Reliever of the Year finalist, taking second. He would get rocked in his one playoff relief appearance as the Magic fell in the conference final.

For 2006, Abdul returned where he started with Kigali giving him a three-year, $4,440,000 deal. He had three respectable years as the Guardians closer and helped them to a 2008 playoff berth, although they lost to Addis Ababa in the conference final. Between the Kigali stints, Abdul had a 3.33 ERA over 660.1 innings, 243 saves, 845 strikeouts, 123 ERA+, and 22.0 WAR. The Guardians appreciated him enough to retire his #32 uniform at the end of his playing career.

Abdul’s AAB career ended in spring training 2009, as he was traded to Cardiff of the European Second League. He bounced around in middle relief from here, going to Beisbol Sudamerica in 2010 with Bogota and with Callao in 2011. Abdul ended up in Russia with Irkutsk in 2012. He was under contract with the Ice Cats in 2013 but wasn’t used all season, retiring that winter at age 40.

For his AAB run, Abdul had 340 saves and 390 shutdowns, a 77-82 record, 3.05 ERA, 755 games, 966.1 innings, 1296 strikeouts, 337 walks, 135 ERA+, and 32.7 WAR. As of 2037, he ranks 6^th in saves and was the second to reach 300 saves. Abdul’s resume was highly predicated on the save tally, as his other stats were well below the other relievers that had already gotten in before him. Three of them had 50+ WAR and one had 40 by comparison.

AAB’s Hall of Fame voters were very pro reliever and more forgiving than most, but even many of them felt Abdul didn’t make the cut. He wasn’t particularly dominant, never won Reliever of the Year, and was underwhelming in the playoffs. He really was rarely even viewed as a top five closer in his prime, although in his defense he did have some strong contemporaries.

Abdul debuted at 47.8% in 2014 and held around there until getting to 57.2% in 2018. He bumped to 59.4% by 2020 and barely missed the cut in 2021 at 64.6%. With terrible debuts in 2022, Abdul got the bump he needed to 72.0% for a ninth ballot induction. Most scholars agree that he’s one of the weakest inductees in any world league, but Abdul has his spot in AAB’s 2022 class regardless.

Abebe Chekol – First Base – Lubumbashi Loggerheads – 66.0% Tenth Ballot

Abebe Chekol was a 6’4’’, 200 pound left-handed first baseman from Alem Maya, a town of 15,000 in eastern Ethiopia. At his prime, Chekol graded out as having very good contact and power skills along with a decent eye for drawing walks and avoiding strikeouts. He was especially stronger against right-handed pitching with a career 162 wRC+ and .971. Chekol was merely average versus lefties for his career with a 99 wRC+ and .721 OPS.

Chekol’s power extended to the gap and over the fence with 37 home runs and 39 doubles for his 162 game average. It was impressive he got as many doubles as he did considering his abysmal baserunning speed and instincts. Chekol was a career first baseman with occasional starts as a designated hitter. He was a firmly below average defender, but he wasn’t a total liability.

Another positive was ironman durability with Chekol spending a grand total of three days on the injured list in his career for illnesses. However, he would get benched at various points due to laziness. Chekol was selfish and unmotivated, traits that limited his final production notably. His personality also played a role in having to wait ten ballots to barely make the Hall of Fame cut.

As a prospect, teams were very interested in Chekol ahead of the 1997 AAB Draft. He was picked 7^th overall by Lubumbashi, who used him mostly as a backup in his debut 1998 season. Chekol was a full-time starter for eight years after that with the Loggerheads. He drew plenty of attention in his first year starting, leading the Central Conference with 52 doubles.

In 2000, Chekol posted the first-ever hitting Triple Crown season in AAB history with 60 home runs, 159 RBI, and a .352 average. His RBI mark briefly was the single-season league record, pushing him to the MVP and a Silver Slugger. Chekol also had career bests in runs (126), hits (210), total bases (431), OBP (.428), slugging (723), OPS (1.151), wRC+ (199), and WAR (8.7). Lubumbashi earned its first-ever playoff berth, but couldn’t get around Kinshasa in the conference finals as the Sun Cats rolled to a four-peat.

Chekol repeated as MVP and a Slugger winner, leading the conference in runs, average, slugging, OPS, and wRC+. Lubumbashi took the top seed at 105-57 and dethroned Kinshasa in the conference final, then won their first Africa Series over Johannesburg. Chekol was named finals MVP, getting 11 hits, 9 runs, 3 homers, 5 RBI, and .942 OPS in 11 playoff starts. His efforts here cemented him in Loggerheads lore and was the main reason Chekol’s #30 uniform was eventually retired.

In 2002, Chekol won a Slugger as a DH and took second in MVP voting, leading in hits and doubles. Lubumbashi rewarded him that winter with an eight-year, $11,420,000 extension. Chekol remained solid for the next few years, but was never again a league leader or award winner. Some argued that he stopped trying as hard once he secured the bag. The Loggerheads would lose to Kinshasa in the 2004 conference final, but wouldn’t be back in the playoffs until 2021.

Chekol did also play for his native Ethiopia from 1999-2010 in the World Baseball Championship. In 86 games, he had 70 hits, 38 runs, 17 doubles, 17 homers, 38 RBI, 29 walks, a .236/.306/.465 slash, 120 wRC+, and 1.9 WAR. In 2006, Chekol helped the Ethiopians to their first-ever division title. He’d be on the 2008 squad that finished fourth as a reserve with only two pinch hit at-bats.

After the 2006 season, Chekol opted out of his remaining Lubumbashi contract, becoming a free agent at age 31. With the Loggerheads, he had 1461 hits, 796 runs, 364 doubles, 343 home runs, 1007 RBI, 534 walks, a .306/.377/.602 slash, 161 wRC+, and 47.2 WAR. Chekol had a complicated legacy as some criticized his effort, but others praised him for two MVPs and his role in their title win.

Chekol wanted to find big money, but teams weren’t willing to give him the long-term deal he wanted. He settled on a two-year, $4,480,000 deal with Johannesburg but immediately clashed with Jackalopes officials. By August 2007, they traded him away to Thessaloniki of the European Second League. Back then, AAB had trade agreements possible with the E2L and EBF. Johannesburg got three prospects and sent over $4,750,000 along with Chekol.

He wasn’t pleased to be traded to a ‘”second-rate” league, but Chekol stepped up in the 2007 playoffs, helping Thessaloniki win the championship and earn promotion to the European Baseball Federation’s Elite tier. In 17 playoff starts, Chekol had 24 hits, 11 runs, 4 doubles, 6 home runs, 16 RBI, and 1.036 OPS. He had a respectable 2008 season for the Tritons, finishing with 4.8 WAR over 187 games in Greece.

That effort got the attention of other European clubs, leading to a one-year, $3,960,000 deal for 2009 with Hamburg. Chekol had 5.0 WAR, 38 home runs, 110 RBI, and .929 OPS for a solid effort with the Hammers. He returned to free agency for 2010, but couldn’t find the money he wanted from big league teams. Chekol settled for an E2L deal with Toulouse, but got $10,080,000 over four years.

Chekol stunk as a part-time starter with the Toads, posting -0.4 WAR and a .580 OPS. In the offseason, Toulouse sent him back to Hamburg in a three-player deal. He was an okay starter in 2011 for the Hammers, finishing with 6.1 WAR, .841 OPS, and 137 wRC+ between the two stints in Germany. Chekol went unsigned in 2012 and retired that winter at age 37.

For his combined career, Chekol had 2117 hits, 1114 runs, 497 doubles, 467 home runs, 1374 RBI, a .294/.359/.566 slash, 151 wRC+, and 60.4 WAR. Those tallies are admittedly borderline and Chekol was to be mostly graded just on the AAB stint. That saw 1581 hits, 861 runs, 395 doubles, 367 home runs, 1063 RBI, 563 walks, .304/.374/.598 slash, 160 wRC+, and 49.8 WAR.

As of 2037, Chekol ranks 95^th in hits, 64^th in doubles, 69^th in homers, 55^th in RBI, and 55^th in WAR among position players. Among batters with 3000+ plate appearances, his .972 OPS ranks 28^th. His triple slash ranks 32^nd/46^th/28^th. Chekol was certainly a very efficient batter in his prime, but many voters couldn’t get over the lower totals. Making it in with only a decade of play would require dominance more extreme than Chekol posted. Plus, some voters held a grudge over perceived attitude issues.

Supporters pointed out that Chekol had two MVPs, the first-ever Triple Crown for an AAB hitter, and was finals MVP for Lubumbashi’s first title. His rate stats also were clearly elite, but that wasn’t enough to get voters to budge for a long time. Chekol debuted at 60.7% and never fell below 52%, but he stayed stubbornly short of the 66% requirement.

In 2021, Chekol missed by one point at 65.0% for his penultimate try. 2022 was wide open with no notable debuts, but still almost all voters had their minds made up on Chekol. However, a tiny fraction changed their mind to get him to exactly 66.0%. It was the bare minimum, but it secured Chekol his Hall of Fame spot in the 2022 class. He joined Boubacar Mavinga from the prior year as the only tenth ballot inductees ever into AAB’s HOF.

01-02-2025, 07:21 AM	#1939
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,895	2022 AAB Hall of Fame The 2022 African Association of Baseball Hall of Fame ballot was unusual in having no debuts of any note with all five newcomers finishing below 9%. That opened up a chance for a few returners to breach the 66% threshold. Two long-standing candidates did just that. RP Abba Abdul on his ninth ballot led the way at 72.0%, while 1B Abebe Chekol got exactly enough with 66% on his tenth and final chance. 2B Gedeon Bukasa was the only other player above 50% with 51.3% for his fourth try. No players were cut after ten failed ballots. Abba Abdul – Relief Pitcher – Kigali Guardians – 72.0% Ninth Ballot Abba Abdul was a 6’0’’, 200 pound right-handed relief pitcher from Zanzibar, an island group off Tanzania’s eastern coast with 1.9 million people. Abdul had very good powerful stuff, although his movement and stuff both graded as above average at best. He had a 98-100 mph fastball and a nearly equally quick splitter for his one-two punch. Compared to most relievers, Abdul had excellent stamina and durability. Along with his strong work ethic, he was ready to step up in any situation. He was also a strong defensive pitcher when he needed to field the position. Despite his stamina, Abdul didn’t have a diverse enough arsenal to be projected as more than a reliever. That was still good enough for Kigali to pick him 21^st overall in the 1995 AAB Draft. This was the inaugural rookie draft and that was the first pick of round two. The Guardians made him the full-time closer immediately, although he stunk in his debut with a 5.58 ERA as a rookie. He fared better in the next four seasons, although saves were hard to come by as Kigali was firmly AAB’s worst team in the initial years. In his first five seasons, Abdul managed 145 saves over 416.1 innings, a 3.24 ERA, 498 strikeouts, and 12.5 WAR. After the 2000 season, the Guardians traded the 27-year old Abdul to Johannesburg for three prospects. The Jackalopes wanted to shore up the bullpen and had won three straight Southern Conference titles. Johannesburg won the pennant again in 2001 at 108-54, but still couldn’t win the Africa Series with a loss to Lubumbashi. They would lose in the 2002 conference final and just miss the playoffs in 2003. Abdul was mostly in a setup role with respectable results, although his limited playoff sample size had 4 runs allowed in 9 innings. For the Jackalopes, Abdul had 53 saves, a 2.95 ERA, 165 innings, 255 strikeouts, 141 ERA+, and 5.7 WAR. Abdul was a free agent for the first time at age 30 and returned to his home country of Tanzania with Dar es Salaam in 2004, posting a 1.52 ERA over 53.1 innings. He allowed 4 runs in 7 playoff innings, but the Sabercats were a powerhouse this year despite that, going 114-48 to dethrone Kinshasa in the Africa Series. His time back in Tanzania lasted one year, but Abdul did regularly represent his nation in the World Baseball Championship. He pitched from 2001-09 and in 2012, splitting between starting and relief. Abdul had a 2.29 ERA over 106 innings, 8-5 record, 6 saves, 145 strikeouts, 37 walks, 156 ERA+, and 2.1 WAR. Abdul signed with Addis Ababa in 2005, but was traded in late June to Ndjamena for four prospects. This would be his only season as the saves leader, combining for a career best 41. This was also Abdul’s only time as a Reliever of the Year finalist, taking second. He would get rocked in his one playoff relief appearance as the Magic fell in the conference final. For 2006, Abdul returned where he started with Kigali giving him a three-year, $4,440,000 deal. He had three respectable years as the Guardians closer and helped them to a 2008 playoff berth, although they lost to Addis Ababa in the conference final. Between the Kigali stints, Abdul had a 3.33 ERA over 660.1 innings, 243 saves, 845 strikeouts, 123 ERA+, and 22.0 WAR. The Guardians appreciated him enough to retire his #32 uniform at the end of his playing career. Abdul’s AAB career ended in spring training 2009, as he was traded to Cardiff of the European Second League. He bounced around in middle relief from here, going to Beisbol Sudamerica in 2010 with Bogota and with Callao in 2011. Abdul ended up in Russia with Irkutsk in 2012. He was under contract with the Ice Cats in 2013 but wasn’t used all season, retiring that winter at age 40. For his AAB run, Abdul had 340 saves and 390 shutdowns, a 77-82 record, 3.05 ERA, 755 games, 966.1 innings, 1296 strikeouts, 337 walks, 135 ERA+, and 32.7 WAR. As of 2037, he ranks 6^th in saves and was the second to reach 300 saves. Abdul’s resume was highly predicated on the save tally, as his other stats were well below the other relievers that had already gotten in before him. Three of them had 50+ WAR and one had 40 by comparison. AAB’s Hall of Fame voters were very pro reliever and more forgiving than most, but even many of them felt Abdul didn’t make the cut. He wasn’t particularly dominant, never won Reliever of the Year, and was underwhelming in the playoffs. He really was rarely even viewed as a top five closer in his prime, although in his defense he did have some strong contemporaries. Abdul debuted at 47.8% in 2014 and held around there until getting to 57.2% in 2018. He bumped to 59.4% by 2020 and barely missed the cut in 2021 at 64.6%. With terrible debuts in 2022, Abdul got the bump he needed to 72.0% for a ninth ballot induction. Most scholars agree that he’s one of the weakest inductees in any world league, but Abdul has his spot in AAB’s 2022 class regardless. Abebe Chekol – First Base – Lubumbashi Loggerheads – 66.0% Tenth Ballot Abebe Chekol was a 6’4’’, 200 pound left-handed first baseman from Alem Maya, a town of 15,000 in eastern Ethiopia. At his prime, Chekol graded out as having very good contact and power skills along with a decent eye for drawing walks and avoiding strikeouts. He was especially stronger against right-handed pitching with a career 162 wRC+ and .971. Chekol was merely average versus lefties for his career with a 99 wRC+ and .721 OPS. Chekol’s power extended to the gap and over the fence with 37 home runs and 39 doubles for his 162 game average. It was impressive he got as many doubles as he did considering his abysmal baserunning speed and instincts. Chekol was a career first baseman with occasional starts as a designated hitter. He was a firmly below average defender, but he wasn’t a total liability. Another positive was ironman durability with Chekol spending a grand total of three days on the injured list in his career for illnesses. However, he would get benched at various points due to laziness. Chekol was selfish and unmotivated, traits that limited his final production notably. His personality also played a role in having to wait ten ballots to barely make the Hall of Fame cut. As a prospect, teams were very interested in Chekol ahead of the 1997 AAB Draft. He was picked 7^th overall by Lubumbashi, who used him mostly as a backup in his debut 1998 season. Chekol was a full-time starter for eight years after that with the Loggerheads. He drew plenty of attention in his first year starting, leading the Central Conference with 52 doubles. In 2000, Chekol posted the first-ever hitting Triple Crown season in AAB history with 60 home runs, 159 RBI, and a .352 average. His RBI mark briefly was the single-season league record, pushing him to the MVP and a Silver Slugger. Chekol also had career bests in runs (126), hits (210), total bases (431), OBP (.428), slugging (723), OPS (1.151), wRC+ (199), and WAR (8.7). Lubumbashi earned its first-ever playoff berth, but couldn’t get around Kinshasa in the conference finals as the Sun Cats rolled to a four-peat. Chekol repeated as MVP and a Slugger winner, leading the conference in runs, average, slugging, OPS, and wRC+. Lubumbashi took the top seed at 105-57 and dethroned Kinshasa in the conference final, then won their first Africa Series over Johannesburg. Chekol was named finals MVP, getting 11 hits, 9 runs, 3 homers, 5 RBI, and .942 OPS in 11 playoff starts. His efforts here cemented him in Loggerheads lore and was the main reason Chekol’s #30 uniform was eventually retired. In 2002, Chekol won a Slugger as a DH and took second in MVP voting, leading in hits and doubles. Lubumbashi rewarded him that winter with an eight-year, $11,420,000 extension. Chekol remained solid for the next few years, but was never again a league leader or award winner. Some argued that he stopped trying as hard once he secured the bag. The Loggerheads would lose to Kinshasa in the 2004 conference final, but wouldn’t be back in the playoffs until 2021. Chekol did also play for his native Ethiopia from 1999-2010 in the World Baseball Championship. In 86 games, he had 70 hits, 38 runs, 17 doubles, 17 homers, 38 RBI, 29 walks, a .236/.306/.465 slash, 120 wRC+, and 1.9 WAR. In 2006, Chekol helped the Ethiopians to their first-ever division title. He’d be on the 2008 squad that finished fourth as a reserve with only two pinch hit at-bats. After the 2006 season, Chekol opted out of his remaining Lubumbashi contract, becoming a free agent at age 31. With the Loggerheads, he had 1461 hits, 796 runs, 364 doubles, 343 home runs, 1007 RBI, 534 walks, a .306/.377/.602 slash, 161 wRC+, and 47.2 WAR. Chekol had a complicated legacy as some criticized his effort, but others praised him for two MVPs and his role in their title win. Chekol wanted to find big money, but teams weren’t willing to give him the long-term deal he wanted. He settled on a two-year, $4,480,000 deal with Johannesburg but immediately clashed with Jackalopes officials. By August 2007, they traded him away to Thessaloniki of the European Second League. Back then, AAB had trade agreements possible with the E2L and EBF. Johannesburg got three prospects and sent over $4,750,000 along with Chekol. He wasn’t pleased to be traded to a ‘”second-rate” league, but Chekol stepped up in the 2007 playoffs, helping Thessaloniki win the championship and earn promotion to the European Baseball Federation’s Elite tier. In 17 playoff starts, Chekol had 24 hits, 11 runs, 4 doubles, 6 home runs, 16 RBI, and 1.036 OPS. He had a respectable 2008 season for the Tritons, finishing with 4.8 WAR over 187 games in Greece. That effort got the attention of other European clubs, leading to a one-year, $3,960,000 deal for 2009 with Hamburg. Chekol had 5.0 WAR, 38 home runs, 110 RBI, and .929 OPS for a solid effort with the Hammers. He returned to free agency for 2010, but couldn’t find the money he wanted from big league teams. Chekol settled for an E2L deal with Toulouse, but got $10,080,000 over four years. Chekol stunk as a part-time starter with the Toads, posting -0.4 WAR and a .580 OPS. In the offseason, Toulouse sent him back to Hamburg in a three-player deal. He was an okay starter in 2011 for the Hammers, finishing with 6.1 WAR, .841 OPS, and 137 wRC+ between the two stints in Germany. Chekol went unsigned in 2012 and retired that winter at age 37. For his combined career, Chekol had 2117 hits, 1114 runs, 497 doubles, 467 home runs, 1374 RBI, a .294/.359/.566 slash, 151 wRC+, and 60.4 WAR. Those tallies are admittedly borderline and Chekol was to be mostly graded just on the AAB stint. That saw 1581 hits, 861 runs, 395 doubles, 367 home runs, 1063 RBI, 563 walks, .304/.374/.598 slash, 160 wRC+, and 49.8 WAR. As of 2037, Chekol ranks 95^th in hits, 64^th in doubles, 69^th in homers, 55^th in RBI, and 55^th in WAR among position players. Among batters with 3000+ plate appearances, his .972 OPS ranks 28^th. His triple slash ranks 32^nd/46^th/28^th. Chekol was certainly a very efficient batter in his prime, but many voters couldn’t get over the lower totals. Making it in with only a decade of play would require dominance more extreme than Chekol posted. Plus, some voters held a grudge over perceived attitude issues. Supporters pointed out that Chekol had two MVPs, the first-ever Triple Crown for an AAB hitter, and was finals MVP for Lubumbashi’s first title. His rate stats also were clearly elite, but that wasn’t enough to get voters to budge for a long time. Chekol debuted at 60.7% and never fell below 52%, but he stayed stubbornly short of the 66% requirement. In 2021, Chekol missed by one point at 65.0% for his penultimate try. 2022 was wide open with no notable debuts, but still almost all voters had their minds made up on Chekol. However, a tiny fraction changed their mind to get him to exactly 66.0%. It was the bare minimum, but it secured Chekol his Hall of Fame spot in the 2022 class. He joined Boubacar Mavinga from the prior year as the only tenth ballot inductees ever into AAB’s HOF. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)