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The top two teams in the Asian Baseball Federation’s East League fought for the North Division title with reigning ABF champ Bishkek (103-59) beating out Almaty (99-63). Both teams earned their fourth consecutive playoff berth with the result. The Assassins notably were the EL’s top scoring team at 740 runs. Last year’s top seed Dushanbe fell to 79-73, ending their ABF-record playoff streak at ten seasons. It was the first time since 2011 that the Dynamo were below .500.

Faisalabad (94-68) edged out Multan (93-69), Karachi (91-71), and Rawalpindi (86-76) in the South Division. The Fire secured a fifth consecutive division title with the result. The Mighty Cocks narrowly got the second wild card to end a three-year playoff drought. Faisalabad allowed the fewest runs in all of ABF at 520.

Multan 2B Ismail Akbar won East League MVP with remarkable power, leading in home runs (66), RBI (156), total bases (409), slugging (.713), OPS (1.082), and wRC+ (223). This was tied for the 6^th-most homers and was the 2^nd-most RBI, falling two short of Fakhri Rajavi’s 158. Akbar had 104 runs, .300 average, and 10.3 WAR. The Mighty Cocks wouldn’t be able to lock up the 29-year old Akbar beyond 2024, as he’d sign a seven-year, $147.6 million deal with Lahore.

Karachi veteran Qabir Sabiha won his first Pitcher of the Year in his tenth season. The 31-year old Pakistani lefty led in strikeouts (352) and shutouts (7). Sabiha had a 2.41 ERA in 242.2 innings, 21-7 record, 145 ERA+, and 7.3 WAR. The Carp rewarded him with a hefty five-year, $100 million extension in the summer, although he’d only pitch three more seasons.

Also of note, Faisalabad closer Raghid Yazdani won his fourth Reliever of the Year, becoming the third in ABF history to win the award 4+ times. His previous wins had been 2016-18 with Gujranwala. He came to the Fire in 2023 after three years for Kabul, posting an 0.66 ERA over 81.1 innings, 35 saves, 148 strikeouts, and 4.9 WAR. Yazdani also became the third to reach 300 saves in ABF.

Bishkek survived 3-2 over Multan in the first round and Faisalabad bested Almaty 3-1. This set up Black Sox versus Fire for the third consecutive season in the East League Championship Series. Bishkek prevailed 4-2 over Faisalabad to repeat and to earn their third pennant in four years. The Black Sox secured their fourth ABF pennant and 13^th overall when adding in their Eurasian Professional Baseball days.



The West League was very competitive in 2023 with eight teams within seven games of the top seed. Defending EL champ Baku got the top seed at 95-67 to repeat as West Division champs. Mashhad got their third straight playoff berth at 93-69 atop the Central Division. The Mercury hadn’t won a division crown since 1994. Tabriz was one back in the division at 92-70, which earned the first wild card. Their playoff streak grew to eight seasons.

For the second wild card, Bursa (91-71) edged out Izmir (90-72), Shiraz (90-72), Istanbul (89-73), and Adana (88-74). The Blue Claws got their second berth in four years and set a new ABF team record with 460 stolen bases. Bursa was the WL’s top scoring team at 817 while Tabriz allowed the fewest at 586. Notably Ankara (65-97), Isfahan (65-97), and Asgabat (68-94) all fell hard after winning seasons the prior year. The Alphas had their first losing campaign since 2015.

West League MVP went to Istanbul RF Khalaf bin Abdullah in his third season. The 22-year old Kuwaiti switch hitter led in RBI (145), total bases (429), slugging (.693), and WAR (9.7). He added 120 runs, 58 home runs, 1.060 OPS, and 177 wRC+.

Shiraz righty Elnur Hasanov won Pitcher of the Year, leading in wins (21-9), complete games (16), and shutouts (5). The 28-year old Kazakh righty had a 2.51 ERA over 258 innings, 359 strikeouts, and 7.0 WAR. Hasanov beat out reigning POTY Temuri Omarov from Istanbul despite Omarov’s 2.42 ERA, 365 strikeouts, and 10.2 WAR; all league bests.

Baku swept Bursa in the first round while Tabriz got the 3-1 road win over Mashhad, setting up a rematch in the West League Championship Series. It was the fifth time in six years that the Tiger Sharks made it and the first time as the road underdog. Despite their previous top seeds, the Tiger Sharks had gone 1-3 in the previous tries. Tabriz was successful this time though, denying the Blackbirds’ repeat bid 4-1. It was their second pennant, joining their 2019 Baseball Grand Championship campaign.



Tabriz also secured their second ABF Championship win, upsetting the defending champ Bishkek 4-2 in the 39^th ABF finale. Veteran 2B Maksat Musienko was finals MVP in his fifth season for the Tiger Sharks. The 34-year old Kyrgyz righty started 15 playoff games with 22 hits, 11 runs, 3 doubles, 4 homers, and 9 RBI.



Other notes: Petri Viskari’s brief run as ABF’s all-time leader in runs scored (1446) ended in 2023. Tabriz’s Shadi Alam capped off his 16-year run with a title and with the top mark in runs scored at 1491. Mehmet Fatih Canaydin also passed Viskari’s mark to end 2023 with 1481. Canaydin would easily usurp Alam for the top mark in early 2024. Fakhri Rajavi became the 4^th to reach 1500 RBI and Golshifteh Shirazinia was the 13^th to 500 home runs.

In pitching milestones, Hossein Hatami became the 4^th to reach 4500 strikeouts, finishing his final season at 4566. Hatami also was the 11^th to 200 wins, retiring at 204. Hamat Soomro became the 9^th to 4000 strikeouts while both Mukhtar Makhmudov and Sijad Khaleel reached 3500 Ks, making that a 15-player club.

Mashhad’s Ahour Sabbari threw ABF’s 16^th perfect game on August 29, striking out ten versus Ankara. Dushanbe’s Mubariz Isaev threw his second no-hitter, having tossed one way back in 2014 with Baku. RF Hana Zuhair won his 11^th consecutive Gold Glove, becoming the third in ABF at any position with 11+ GGs. SS Nizami Aghazade won his tenth Silver Slugger. ABF’s all-time WARlord Aghazade had 141.8 at the end of the 2023 campaign at only age 35.