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FuzzyRussianHat · 02-23-2025, 05:45 PM

Fani “Stretch” Ngambi – Second Base – Harare Hustlers – 98.2% First Ballot

Fani Ngambi was a 6’3’’, 195 pound right-handed second baseman from Somerset West, South Africa; a town of 55,000 within Cape Town’s metropolitan area. Nicknamed “stretch” for his ability beat foes to the bag, Ngambi was one of the all-time great leadoff men. He was a fantastic contact hitter that put the ball in play with excellent frequency, rarely striking out. Ngambi was also one of AAB’s best at drawing walks.

He was extremely dangerous from first base with stellar speed and base stealing ability in his prime. Ngambi’s gap power was good with 39 doubles and 7 triples per his 162 game average. He wasn’t going to hit many home runs, reaching double-digits in only one season.

Apart from playing designated hitter in his final three years, Ngambi was exclusively a second baseman. He won a Gold Glove in 2013, but on the whole graded out as reliably average defensively. Ngambi was incredibly scrappy and intelligent with an impressive work ethic. However, he wasn’t someone to take on a leadership role. Ngambi had some injuries here and there, but held up pretty well for a 22-year career.

In March 1997, Ngambi signed a developmental deal with Dar es Salaam. He became one of the very few in baseball history to make his pro debut at age 18, playing 38 games with 3 starts in 1999. He wasn’t ready for the full-time gig obviously, but saw 199 games and 66 starts from 1999-2001 for the Sabercats. They were a contender at this point, falling to Johannesburg in the Southern Conference Championship in both 2000 and 2001.

Ngambi became a full-time starter from 2002 onward and won his first Silver Slugger in 2003, his first of ten seasons worth 5+ WAR. Dar es Salaam missed the playoffs in 2002, then lost the 2003 conference final to Antananarivo. Ngambi was iffy in his 10 playoff games for Dar with -0.1 WAR and .506 OPS. In 2004, the Sabercats finally broke through with a then-league record tying 114-48 season, upending Kinshasa’s dynasty for their first Africa Series title. Unfortunately for Ngambi, he was out from early May onward with a broken bone in his elbow.

He stayed healthy the next three years for Dar with three straight Silver Sluggers. Ngambi led in steals and walks in 2005, then led in on-base percentage for the first time in 2007. The Sabercats couldn’t follow up their championship season and were down just below .500 by the end of Ngambi’s tenure. He left after the 2007 campaign at age 27 for free agency. With Dar es Salaam, he had 969 games, 959 hits, 569 runs, 211 doubles, 53 triples, 21 homers, 311 RBI, 464 walks, 452 steals, .299/.395/.418 slash, 125 wRC+, and 28.7 WAR.

Ngambi signed a three-year, $9,240,000 deal with Harare initially, starting what would be his signature run. He eventually signed a seven-year, $28 million extension in September 2010. Ngambi won Silver Sluggers with the Hustlers in 2008, 09, 10, 12, 13, 15, and 16. He led thrice in OBP, thrice in steals, and had two batting titles. Ngambi led in runs (135) and steals (139) in 2009, setting a steals record that held for a decade in AAB. It still ranks eighth best as of 2037 in AAB and 19^th on the world leaderboard.

2008 was Ngambi’s best WAR effort at 8.4 along with his best OPS (.939) and wRC+ (167). He is the only AAB player with multiple seasons above .450 OBP as his .453 from 2010 ranks sixth and his .450 from 2012 is 10^th as of 2037. Ngambi also stole 100+ bases in four different seasons. He and Hall of Fame classmate Jose Santarem were the first AAB players to steal 120+ bases in three seasons.

Ngambi helped Harare to their first-ever playoff berth and first place finish in 2010. The Hustlers beat Lusaka for the Southern Conference title, but ran into a 120-win Addis Ababa buzz saw in the Africa Series. After narrowly missing the playoffs in 2011-12, Harare was a wild card in both 2013 and 2014. In the latter, they upset Johannesburg for the conference pennant and downed Nairobi for the franchise’s first AAB title.

He was unremarkable in the first two runs, but Ngambi was the hero in 2014. He won MVP of the Africa Series and the conference final, starting 15 games with 25 hits, 15 runs, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 1 homer, 14 RBI, 7 walks, 18 steals, .424/.471/.678 slash, 191 wRC+, and 1.2 WAR. Ngambi tied the world record for postseason steals, which remains 18 as of 2037. He also set the AAB playoff hits record with 25 which would only be passed once in the following season.

In the Baseball Grand Championship, Ngambi had 18 hits, 8 runs, 5 extra base hits, 9 steals, 119 wRC+, and 0.6 WAR over 18 games. Harare shocked the field with a 14-5 finish, tying for first with MLB’s Phoenix. The Hustlers officially were second as they had lost a 17 inning battle to the Firebirds 6-4. To that point, an African franchise hadn’t finished in the top two.

Ngambi never played for one of the teams in his native South Africa, but he was a regular for them in the World Baseball Championship from 2001-19. He played 132 games with 116 hits, 73 runs, 25 doubles, 52 steals, 75 walks, .250/.368/.360 slash, and 2.7 WAR. In 2005, Ngambi helped South Africa to its first-ever elite eight finish.

Harare just missed the playoffs in 2015, then plummeted to 62-100 the next year to start a six-year stretch of losing seasons. With a rebuild looming, Ngambi was traded after the 2016 season straight up to Maputo for prospect 1B Luzayadio Kalumba. Kalumba notably would be a strong starter for the Hustlers in the early 2020s and won an MVP in 2022.

Ngambi finished with 1264 games, 1406 hits, 841 runs, 337 doubles, 51 triples, 36 home runs, 461 RBI, 762 walks, 909 steals, .318/.426/.442 slash, 136 wRC+, and 51.9 WAR for Harare. Between nine years of solid service and a key role in their lone championship, Ngambi’s #15 uniform would later be retired.

The Piranhas had finished second in the Southern Conference the prior year. In 2017 with Ngambi, they took first in the standings for the first time and won their second pennant. Maputo was ultimately beaten by Mogadishu in the Africa Series with Ngambi struggling in the playoffs to -0.1 WAR in 13 starts. Apart from his awesome 2014 run, Ngambi struggled in the playoffs with a career .255/.353/.385 slash, 100 wRC+, and 1.2 WAR in 54 games.

Maputo would ultimately sign Ngambi to a three-year, $28,500,000 extension after the 2017 season. He was never elite with the Piranhas, but Ngambi was a passable starter four years. He did lose a chunk of 2017 to an elbow strain and more than two months in 2019 to a torn groin muscle. Ngambi was in a DH role in his final seasons and was competing for the top spot on the AAB leaderboards in hits, steals, doubles, and walks.

Ngambi did retire as AAB’s doubles leader at 655, passing Negue Rouillard’s 625 for the top spot. Ngambi also retired with the best on-base percentage at .4125, just ahead of Felix Chaula’s .4122. He ultimately retired second in hits to Mwarami Tale, second in steals to Jose Santarem, and third in walks behind Luke Tembo and Chaula. He retired after the 2020 campaign at age 39. In four seasons for Maputo, Ngambi had 480 games, 459 hits, 225 runs, 107 doubles, 21 triples, 191 RBI, 330 walks, 214 steals .283/.410/.378 slash, 126 wRC+, and 6.7 WAR.

The final tallies had 2713 games, 2824 hits, 1635 runs, 655 doubles, 125 triples, 59 home runs, 963 RBI, 1556 walks, 1162 strikeouts, 1575 stolen bases, 611 caught stealing, .305/.412/.422 slash, 131 wRC+, and 87.3 WAR. As of 2037, Ngambi ranks 4^th in games, 4^th in hits, 7^th in runs, 3^rd in doubles, 8^th in triples, 80^th in RBI, 3^rd in steals, 3^rd in walks, and 8^th in WAR among position players. Ngambi also was caught stealing more than anyone in AAB. Among batters with 3000+ plate appearances, Ngambi is 30^th in batting average and still 3^rd in OBP.

The argument is usually between Ngambi and Santarem for AAB’s top leadoff guy. Santarem had him just beat in contact, power, and speed, but Ngambi’s penchant for walks gave him a much better OBP. Ngambi also ended up with far more WAR with longevity and as a reliable defender at second, while Santarem was a lackluster defensive first baseman. Both earned spots in the impressive 2026 Hall of Fame class for the African Association of Baseball, but most do give the edge to Ngambi.

Ngambi notably ranks 33^rd in walks drawn and 16^th in steals among all players in world history as of 2037. Among all Hall of Famers, he has the 12^th best on-base percentage. Ngambi is widely considered AAB’s best-ever second baseman, leading in WAR, games, hits, runs, singles, doubles, steals, and walks as of 2037. His 12 Silver Sluggers also lead all 2B in AAB. He’d be a clear headliner in almost any other class, but of course he’s in the 2026 group with the GOAT Mwarami Tale. Ngambi ‘s 98.2% certainly solidified his status though as an inner circle pick.

Steven “Pop” Isaac – Catcher – Nairobi Night Hawks – 85.5% First Ballot

Steven Isaac was a 6’3’’, 185 pound right-handed catcher from Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Nicknamed “Pop” in his later years as an elder statesman, Isaac was a great contract hitter with strong power, especially for a catcher. His 162 game average got you 38 home runs and 40 doubles, making Isaac a legit threat in any lineup. He was below average tough when it came to drawing walks and avoiding strikeouts. As you might expect from a catcher, Isaac was painfully slow and sluggish as a baserunner.

Isaac had pretty strong durability at a very demanding position, playing 129+ games in all but one year from 2009-22. The downside is that he was a mediocre defensive catcher. Although longevity was part of this, Isaac did retire with the most errors and passed balls of any AAB catcher. It was worth it though to have a legit force and not a liability at the plate. Isaac also was one of the hardest working guys in the game, becoming a beloved figure in Nairobi.

His entire African career came with the Night Hawks, who picked him fourth overall in the 2003 AAB Draft with little college experience. Isaac spent a lot of time training at their academy in Kenya with limited action in his first five years. From 2004-08, he played 218 games and started 145 with unremarkable results. Nairobi decided Isaac was ready for the full-time gig in 2009 and he’d hold the job for more than a decade.

2009 started a seven-year streak of Silver Sluggers for Isaac. He missed it in 2016, but won four more from 2017-20 to finish with 11, an AAB position record. In 2010, Isaac won a batting title with a .348 average and had his career best OPS (1.061). His second batting title came in 2012 at .327 along with his career best OBP at .401. Isaac was above a one OPS four times, hit 40+ homers thrice, and had eight seasons above 6+ WAR.

In 2013, Isaac posted his career best WAR (8.6), wRC+ (196), and runs scored (104), taking second in MVP voting. In the midst of that season, Nairobi signed Isaac to a historic eight-year, $100,200,000 extension. They earned their first-ever playoff berth that year, falling in the Central Conference Championship to the Addis Ababa dynasty.

Isaac was the WARlord at 7.4 in 2014 and this time won MVP, pushing Nairobi to repeat playoff berths. They ended the Brahmas’ six-year reign as AAB champ and eight-year reign as Central Conference champ with Isaac taking series MVP. The Night Hawks were denied in the Africa Series by Harare. In 15 playoff starts, Isaac had 19 hits, 9 runs, 4 doubles, 3 homers, 7 RBI, .921 OPS, 162 wRC+, and 0.7 WAR.

It was a one-off success for Nairobi, who wouldn’t post another winning season until 2021. Isaac carried on though and took third in 2017’s MVP voting and second in 2018. In 2020, he missed six weeks to a strained PCL. Isaac ultimately declined the option year of his contract and entered free agency at age 36. That marked the end of his playing career in Africa, although he’d be forever loved in Kenya for his 17-year run and role in Nairobi’s first-ever pennant. Isaac’s #24 uniform would later be retired.

Although he left for the European Baseball Federation, Isaac would represent his native Uganda from 2021-24 in the World Baseball Championship. Before that, he had only played one game for them back in 2007. Isaac played 45 games with 32 hits, 17 runs, 6 doubles, 8 home runs, 20 RBI, .203/.259/.392 slash, 86 wRC+, and 0.4 WAR.

Isaac’s next home was Switzerland on a three-year, $40,300,000 deal with EBF’s Zurich. He won a Silver Slugger in his debut season, giving him 12 for his career. As of 2037, Isaac is one of only four catchers in baseball history to win the honor 12 or more times. He was a solid starter in 2022 as well for the Mountaineers, posting a two-year total of 11.5 WAR over 261 games, 278 hits, 117 runs, 52 doubles, 48 home runs, 146 RBI, .320/.365/.556 slash, and 158 wRC+. Isaac didn’t meet the vesting criteria for the third year and was back to free agency in 2023 at age 38.

He still showed he had plenty of value and was signed by Ljubljana for three years and $60,800,000. He was an all-star once more, an honor he received 14 times in his career. Isaac had a good 2003 despite losing two months to injury. Age caught up and he was reduced to a part-time role in 2024. For the Juggernauts, Isaac had 166 games, 3.8 WAR, and .815 OPS.

Isaac felt he could still contribute somewhere, but he went unsigned in 2025 and retired that winter at age 41. For his four year EBF tenure, Isaac played 427 games with 421 hits, 183 runs, 77 doubles, 75 home runs, 231 RBI, .304/.348/.534 slash, 146 wRC+, and 15.3 WAR.

With Nairobi, Isaac finished with 1770 games, 1889 hits, 984 runs, 432 doubles, 15 triples, 421 home runs, 1131 RBI, 512 walks, 1497 strikeouts, .299/.359/.572 slash, .931 OPS, 151 wRC+, and 76.3 WAR. Being a catcher limits accumulations, but as of 2037 Isaac still ranks 16^th in WAR among position players. He’s also 53^rd in hits, 73^rd in runs, 52^nd in doubles, 45^th in homers, and 42^nd in RBI. Among batters with 3000+ plate appearances, Isaac is 49^th in OPS and his triple slash ranks 52^nd/99^th/49^th.

Among AAB catchers, Isaac is the career leader in batting average, slugging, OPS, at-bats, hits, runs, total bases, singles, homers, RBI, and WAR. He’s considered AAB’s best hitting catcher by a good margin and usually is cited as the best to play the spot when factoring in total value. Isaac would be the first catcher into the African Association of Baseball’s Hall of Fame and is still the only one as of 2037. He was a first ballot pick at 85.5%, the third-highest mark among the loaded five-player 2026 class.

02-23-2025, 05:45 PM	#2098
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,788	2026 AAB Hall of Fame (Part 2) Fani “Stretch” Ngambi – Second Base – Harare Hustlers – 98.2% First Ballot Fani Ngambi was a 6’3’’, 195 pound right-handed second baseman from Somerset West, South Africa; a town of 55,000 within Cape Town’s metropolitan area. Nicknamed “stretch” for his ability beat foes to the bag, Ngambi was one of the all-time great leadoff men. He was a fantastic contact hitter that put the ball in play with excellent frequency, rarely striking out. Ngambi was also one of AAB’s best at drawing walks. He was extremely dangerous from first base with stellar speed and base stealing ability in his prime. Ngambi’s gap power was good with 39 doubles and 7 triples per his 162 game average. He wasn’t going to hit many home runs, reaching double-digits in only one season. Apart from playing designated hitter in his final three years, Ngambi was exclusively a second baseman. He won a Gold Glove in 2013, but on the whole graded out as reliably average defensively. Ngambi was incredibly scrappy and intelligent with an impressive work ethic. However, he wasn’t someone to take on a leadership role. Ngambi had some injuries here and there, but held up pretty well for a 22-year career. In March 1997, Ngambi signed a developmental deal with Dar es Salaam. He became one of the very few in baseball history to make his pro debut at age 18, playing 38 games with 3 starts in 1999. He wasn’t ready for the full-time gig obviously, but saw 199 games and 66 starts from 1999-2001 for the Sabercats. They were a contender at this point, falling to Johannesburg in the Southern Conference Championship in both 2000 and 2001. Ngambi became a full-time starter from 2002 onward and won his first Silver Slugger in 2003, his first of ten seasons worth 5+ WAR. Dar es Salaam missed the playoffs in 2002, then lost the 2003 conference final to Antananarivo. Ngambi was iffy in his 10 playoff games for Dar with -0.1 WAR and .506 OPS. In 2004, the Sabercats finally broke through with a then-league record tying 114-48 season, upending Kinshasa’s dynasty for their first Africa Series title. Unfortunately for Ngambi, he was out from early May onward with a broken bone in his elbow. He stayed healthy the next three years for Dar with three straight Silver Sluggers. Ngambi led in steals and walks in 2005, then led in on-base percentage for the first time in 2007. The Sabercats couldn’t follow up their championship season and were down just below .500 by the end of Ngambi’s tenure. He left after the 2007 campaign at age 27 for free agency. With Dar es Salaam, he had 969 games, 959 hits, 569 runs, 211 doubles, 53 triples, 21 homers, 311 RBI, 464 walks, 452 steals, .299/.395/.418 slash, 125 wRC+, and 28.7 WAR. Ngambi signed a three-year, $9,240,000 deal with Harare initially, starting what would be his signature run. He eventually signed a seven-year, $28 million extension in September 2010. Ngambi won Silver Sluggers with the Hustlers in 2008, 09, 10, 12, 13, 15, and 16. He led thrice in OBP, thrice in steals, and had two batting titles. Ngambi led in runs (135) and steals (139) in 2009, setting a steals record that held for a decade in AAB. It still ranks eighth best as of 2037 in AAB and 19^th on the world leaderboard. 2008 was Ngambi’s best WAR effort at 8.4 along with his best OPS (.939) and wRC+ (167). He is the only AAB player with multiple seasons above .450 OBP as his .453 from 2010 ranks sixth and his .450 from 2012 is 10^th as of 2037. Ngambi also stole 100+ bases in four different seasons. He and Hall of Fame classmate Jose Santarem were the first AAB players to steal 120+ bases in three seasons. Ngambi helped Harare to their first-ever playoff berth and first place finish in 2010. The Hustlers beat Lusaka for the Southern Conference title, but ran into a 120-win Addis Ababa buzz saw in the Africa Series. After narrowly missing the playoffs in 2011-12, Harare was a wild card in both 2013 and 2014. In the latter, they upset Johannesburg for the conference pennant and downed Nairobi for the franchise’s first AAB title. He was unremarkable in the first two runs, but Ngambi was the hero in 2014. He won MVP of the Africa Series and the conference final, starting 15 games with 25 hits, 15 runs, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 1 homer, 14 RBI, 7 walks, 18 steals, .424/.471/.678 slash, 191 wRC+, and 1.2 WAR. Ngambi tied the world record for postseason steals, which remains 18 as of 2037. He also set the AAB playoff hits record with 25 which would only be passed once in the following season. In the Baseball Grand Championship, Ngambi had 18 hits, 8 runs, 5 extra base hits, 9 steals, 119 wRC+, and 0.6 WAR over 18 games. Harare shocked the field with a 14-5 finish, tying for first with MLB’s Phoenix. The Hustlers officially were second as they had lost a 17 inning battle to the Firebirds 6-4. To that point, an African franchise hadn’t finished in the top two. Ngambi never played for one of the teams in his native South Africa, but he was a regular for them in the World Baseball Championship from 2001-19. He played 132 games with 116 hits, 73 runs, 25 doubles, 52 steals, 75 walks, .250/.368/.360 slash, and 2.7 WAR. In 2005, Ngambi helped South Africa to its first-ever elite eight finish. Harare just missed the playoffs in 2015, then plummeted to 62-100 the next year to start a six-year stretch of losing seasons. With a rebuild looming, Ngambi was traded after the 2016 season straight up to Maputo for prospect 1B Luzayadio Kalumba. Kalumba notably would be a strong starter for the Hustlers in the early 2020s and won an MVP in 2022. Ngambi finished with 1264 games, 1406 hits, 841 runs, 337 doubles, 51 triples, 36 home runs, 461 RBI, 762 walks, 909 steals, .318/.426/.442 slash, 136 wRC+, and 51.9 WAR for Harare. Between nine years of solid service and a key role in their lone championship, Ngambi’s #15 uniform would later be retired. The Piranhas had finished second in the Southern Conference the prior year. In 2017 with Ngambi, they took first in the standings for the first time and won their second pennant. Maputo was ultimately beaten by Mogadishu in the Africa Series with Ngambi struggling in the playoffs to -0.1 WAR in 13 starts. Apart from his awesome 2014 run, Ngambi struggled in the playoffs with a career .255/.353/.385 slash, 100 wRC+, and 1.2 WAR in 54 games. Maputo would ultimately sign Ngambi to a three-year, $28,500,000 extension after the 2017 season. He was never elite with the Piranhas, but Ngambi was a passable starter four years. He did lose a chunk of 2017 to an elbow strain and more than two months in 2019 to a torn groin muscle. Ngambi was in a DH role in his final seasons and was competing for the top spot on the AAB leaderboards in hits, steals, doubles, and walks. Ngambi did retire as AAB’s doubles leader at 655, passing Negue Rouillard’s 625 for the top spot. Ngambi also retired with the best on-base percentage at .4125, just ahead of Felix Chaula’s .4122. He ultimately retired second in hits to Mwarami Tale, second in steals to Jose Santarem, and third in walks behind Luke Tembo and Chaula. He retired after the 2020 campaign at age 39. In four seasons for Maputo, Ngambi had 480 games, 459 hits, 225 runs, 107 doubles, 21 triples, 191 RBI, 330 walks, 214 steals .283/.410/.378 slash, 126 wRC+, and 6.7 WAR. The final tallies had 2713 games, 2824 hits, 1635 runs, 655 doubles, 125 triples, 59 home runs, 963 RBI, 1556 walks, 1162 strikeouts, 1575 stolen bases, 611 caught stealing, .305/.412/.422 slash, 131 wRC+, and 87.3 WAR. As of 2037, Ngambi ranks 4^th in games, 4^th in hits, 7^th in runs, 3^rd in doubles, 8^th in triples, 80^th in RBI, 3^rd in steals, 3^rd in walks, and 8^th in WAR among position players. Ngambi also was caught stealing more than anyone in AAB. Among batters with 3000+ plate appearances, Ngambi is 30^th in batting average and still 3^rd in OBP. The argument is usually between Ngambi and Santarem for AAB’s top leadoff guy. Santarem had him just beat in contact, power, and speed, but Ngambi’s penchant for walks gave him a much better OBP. Ngambi also ended up with far more WAR with longevity and as a reliable defender at second, while Santarem was a lackluster defensive first baseman. Both earned spots in the impressive 2026 Hall of Fame class for the African Association of Baseball, but most do give the edge to Ngambi. Ngambi notably ranks 33^rd in walks drawn and 16^th in steals among all players in world history as of 2037. Among all Hall of Famers, he has the 12^th best on-base percentage. Ngambi is widely considered AAB’s best-ever second baseman, leading in WAR, games, hits, runs, singles, doubles, steals, and walks as of 2037. His 12 Silver Sluggers also lead all 2B in AAB. He’d be a clear headliner in almost any other class, but of course he’s in the 2026 group with the GOAT Mwarami Tale. Ngambi ‘s 98.2% certainly solidified his status though as an inner circle pick. Steven “Pop” Isaac – Catcher – Nairobi Night Hawks – 85.5% First Ballot Steven Isaac was a 6’3’’, 185 pound right-handed catcher from Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Nicknamed “Pop” in his later years as an elder statesman, Isaac was a great contract hitter with strong power, especially for a catcher. His 162 game average got you 38 home runs and 40 doubles, making Isaac a legit threat in any lineup. He was below average tough when it came to drawing walks and avoiding strikeouts. As you might expect from a catcher, Isaac was painfully slow and sluggish as a baserunner. Isaac had pretty strong durability at a very demanding position, playing 129+ games in all but one year from 2009-22. The downside is that he was a mediocre defensive catcher. Although longevity was part of this, Isaac did retire with the most errors and passed balls of any AAB catcher. It was worth it though to have a legit force and not a liability at the plate. Isaac also was one of the hardest working guys in the game, becoming a beloved figure in Nairobi. His entire African career came with the Night Hawks, who picked him fourth overall in the 2003 AAB Draft with little college experience. Isaac spent a lot of time training at their academy in Kenya with limited action in his first five years. From 2004-08, he played 218 games and started 145 with unremarkable results. Nairobi decided Isaac was ready for the full-time gig in 2009 and he’d hold the job for more than a decade. 2009 started a seven-year streak of Silver Sluggers for Isaac. He missed it in 2016, but won four more from 2017-20 to finish with 11, an AAB position record. In 2010, Isaac won a batting title with a .348 average and had his career best OPS (1.061). His second batting title came in 2012 at .327 along with his career best OBP at .401. Isaac was above a one OPS four times, hit 40+ homers thrice, and had eight seasons above 6+ WAR. In 2013, Isaac posted his career best WAR (8.6), wRC+ (196), and runs scored (104), taking second in MVP voting. In the midst of that season, Nairobi signed Isaac to a historic eight-year, $100,200,000 extension. They earned their first-ever playoff berth that year, falling in the Central Conference Championship to the Addis Ababa dynasty. Isaac was the WARlord at 7.4 in 2014 and this time won MVP, pushing Nairobi to repeat playoff berths. They ended the Brahmas’ six-year reign as AAB champ and eight-year reign as Central Conference champ with Isaac taking series MVP. The Night Hawks were denied in the Africa Series by Harare. In 15 playoff starts, Isaac had 19 hits, 9 runs, 4 doubles, 3 homers, 7 RBI, .921 OPS, 162 wRC+, and 0.7 WAR. It was a one-off success for Nairobi, who wouldn’t post another winning season until 2021. Isaac carried on though and took third in 2017’s MVP voting and second in 2018. In 2020, he missed six weeks to a strained PCL. Isaac ultimately declined the option year of his contract and entered free agency at age 36. That marked the end of his playing career in Africa, although he’d be forever loved in Kenya for his 17-year run and role in Nairobi’s first-ever pennant. Isaac’s #24 uniform would later be retired. Although he left for the European Baseball Federation, Isaac would represent his native Uganda from 2021-24 in the World Baseball Championship. Before that, he had only played one game for them back in 2007. Isaac played 45 games with 32 hits, 17 runs, 6 doubles, 8 home runs, 20 RBI, .203/.259/.392 slash, 86 wRC+, and 0.4 WAR. Isaac’s next home was Switzerland on a three-year, $40,300,000 deal with EBF’s Zurich. He won a Silver Slugger in his debut season, giving him 12 for his career. As of 2037, Isaac is one of only four catchers in baseball history to win the honor 12 or more times. He was a solid starter in 2022 as well for the Mountaineers, posting a two-year total of 11.5 WAR over 261 games, 278 hits, 117 runs, 52 doubles, 48 home runs, 146 RBI, .320/.365/.556 slash, and 158 wRC+. Isaac didn’t meet the vesting criteria for the third year and was back to free agency in 2023 at age 38. He still showed he had plenty of value and was signed by Ljubljana for three years and $60,800,000. He was an all-star once more, an honor he received 14 times in his career. Isaac had a good 2003 despite losing two months to injury. Age caught up and he was reduced to a part-time role in 2024. For the Juggernauts, Isaac had 166 games, 3.8 WAR, and .815 OPS. Isaac felt he could still contribute somewhere, but he went unsigned in 2025 and retired that winter at age 41. For his four year EBF tenure, Isaac played 427 games with 421 hits, 183 runs, 77 doubles, 75 home runs, 231 RBI, .304/.348/.534 slash, 146 wRC+, and 15.3 WAR. With Nairobi, Isaac finished with 1770 games, 1889 hits, 984 runs, 432 doubles, 15 triples, 421 home runs, 1131 RBI, 512 walks, 1497 strikeouts, .299/.359/.572 slash, .931 OPS, 151 wRC+, and 76.3 WAR. Being a catcher limits accumulations, but as of 2037 Isaac still ranks 16^th in WAR among position players. He’s also 53^rd in hits, 73^rd in runs, 52^nd in doubles, 45^th in homers, and 42^nd in RBI. Among batters with 3000+ plate appearances, Isaac is 49^th in OPS and his triple slash ranks 52^nd/99^th/49^th. Among AAB catchers, Isaac is the career leader in batting average, slugging, OPS, at-bats, hits, runs, total bases, singles, homers, RBI, and WAR. He’s considered AAB’s best hitting catcher by a good margin and usually is cited as the best to play the spot when factoring in total value. Isaac would be the first catcher into the African Association of Baseball’s Hall of Fame and is still the only one as of 2037. He was a first ballot pick at 85.5%, the third-highest mark among the loaded five-player 2026 class. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)