[FuzzyRussianHat]

In the Arab League’s Western Conference, seven wins separated the five playoff teams. The Mediterranean Division was particularly loaded with Algiers on top for the fourth straight year. The Arsenal earned the top overall seed at 97-65, surviving against 95-67 Tripoli and 94-68 Tunis. Those teams got the wild card spots, ending a five-year playoff drought for the Privateers.

The Thunder Cats had been the only original team without a playoff berth since ALB’s founding in 1990. Tunis and Amman tied for the most runs in the conference at 850 while Tripoli allowed the fewest at 666. The three-time defending conference champ Aviators had their four-year playoff streak snapped. Jerusalem won the Levant Division at 94-68 followed by Amman at 86-76. The Jets grew their playoff streak to three, although it was their first division title since 2021.

A competitive Nile Division finished tied at 89-73 between Alexandria and Cairo. The Astronauts won the tiebreaker game to snap the nine-year reign of the Pharaohs. It was a speedy division as Khartoum (494) and Cairo (485) set the highest marks for stolen bases in Western Conference history. The Pharaohs also set a conference record with 87 triples.

In his fourth year with Alexandria, first baseman Gilon Bassman won Western Conference MVP. The 23-year old Israeli righty led in hits (230) and total bases (471). Bassman added 127 runs, 50 doubles, 63 home runs, 153 RBI, 55 steals, a .372/.393/.761 slash, 192 wRC+, and 9.6 WAR. His more complete season landed him the MVP despite historic power from Algiers left fielder Wissam Magdy.

Magdy smacked 82 home runs, tying Mohamed Ali Mansour’s ALB record from 2023. He became the third player in world history with an 80+ dinger season, joining world home run king Majed Darwish of SAB who did it thrice. The 27-year old Libyan also led with 158 RBI, but he didn’t even win a Silver Slugger thanks to Suez LF Mohamed Neen. He and Bassman both were better than Magdy in WAR, as was the leader CF Kamal Qasim of Amman with 10.4.

Pitcher of the Year went to veteran journeyman Muhammad Fadel at age 39. He signed with Tripoli for 2026 after a 17-year run between Mosul, Sulaymaniyah, Algiers, and Casablanca. The Iraqi righty had posted some decent seasons in the past, but his main notoriety had been becoming the first ALB pitcher with 200+ career losses.

In 2026, Fadel led in quality starts (23) while posting a 2.99 ERA over 237.2 innings, 17-7 record, 228 strikeouts, 151 ERA+, and 7.4 WAR. He was one of the oldest players in any world league’s history to win a major award. Fadel became the ninth to reach 3500 career strikeouts and the 13^th to 200 wins in 2026. Fadel pitched two more solid seasons for the Privateers before retiring.

Also notable was Jerusalem’s Aaron Buber winning his fourth Reliever of the Year in five seasons. He became the fourth in ALB history to win the award four times, posting 42 saves and a 2.74 ERA over 95.1 innings with 133 strikeouts. Buber joined Khemais Khalid as the only ALB closers to record 40+ saves in four seasons.

Tripoli swept Tunis in the wild card round, leaving the Thunder Cats without their first playoff win. The Privateers were then edged 2-1 by top seed Algiers in the second round, sending the Arsenal to their fourth consecutive Western Conference Final. Jerusalem swept Alexandria on the other side for their first conference finals trip since 2021.

After losing in three straight seasons, Algiers finally earned their first pennant by sweeping the Jets 3-0 in the WCF. This left Tunis as the only original team in the Western Conference without a pennant through ALB’s first 37 seasons. Baghdad, Riyadh, and Mecca had also never done it over in the Eastern Conference.



Bahrain surprised many by posting the Arab League’s best record at 104-58, taking the Eastern Conference’s top seed and the Gulf Division crown. This was the first-ever playoff berth for the Blitz, who joined ALB in the 2016 expansion. Bahrain also outperformed their expected win/loss by 12 games.

The #2 seed went to reigning ALB champ Basra at 98-64 atop the Mesopotamia Division, extending their division title streak to nine years. Kuwait was a close second at 95-67, earning a wild card for the third straight year. Medina rolled to the Arabia Division at 97-65, finishing 14 games ahead of second place Mecca. The Mastodons earned repeat playoff trips, but their first division title since 2010. Last year’s top seed Riyadh was third in the division at 82-80. Medina and Basra were tied for the fewest runs allowed in the conference at 674.

The race for the second card was in the Gulf Division with Abu Dhabi (91-71) beating Muscat (89-73). The Destroyers earned their fourth playoff trip in five years with the result. The Threshers were the highest scoring team at 888 runs and set a new ALB single-season record with a team .356 on-base percentage.

Abu Dhabi 3B Khali Allawi repeated as Eastern Conference MVP in his fifth year starting for the Destroyers. The 25-year old Yemeni lefty had 223 hits, 124 runs, 50 homers, 50 doubles, 137 RBI, a .369/.412/.706 slash, and 8.7 WAR. Allawi was a rare MVP winner not to lead in a single stat, although he was second in WAR, wRC+ (189), OPS, slugging, hits, and total bases (427).

Riyadh’s Diyar Abbas won his second Pitcher of the Year, having previously done it back in 2020. The 31-year old Iraqi righty posted the ninth pitching Triple Crown in ALB history with a 22-9 record, 2.82 ERA, and 305 strikeouts. Abbas also led in innings (265.1), WHIP (0.93), quality starts (25), complete games (12), shutouts (3), FIP- (61), and WAR (9.6). He had remained committed to the Rats by signing a seven-year, $180 million extension back in June 2023.

Abu Dhabi edged Kuwait 2-1 in the wild card round, then was ousted 2-1 in round two by top seed Bahrain. Basra outlasted Medina 2-1 to earn an eight consecutive Eastern Conference Final appearance. Their repeat bid was dashed by Bahrain 3-2, making the Blitz the first expansion team to win a pennant. This also guaranteed a first-time winner in the 37^th Arab League Championship.



The finale was anticlimactic as Algiers swept Bahrain 4-0 to become the 16^th franchise to win the Arab League Championship. LF Mohammad al-Imad was finals MVP in his fourth season with the Arsenal. It was his first as a starter, although he did lose time to a hamstring injury. In 10 playoff starts, al-Imad had 12 hits, 2 runs, 6 doubles, 1 homer, and 5 RBI.



Other notes: Ahmed Hussain became the 4^th pitcher to 4000 strikeouts and passed the other three to become ALB’s new strikeout king at 4228. Abdullah Al-Tamtami previously had the high mark at 4035, which held for a decade. Hussain also became the 2^nd to 250 wins, finishing the year at 251. The top mark to chase was Rashid Tariq’s 285 and Hussain had a shot having just turned 35. Hussain also joined Tariq (125.5) and Mohamed Wael (101.9) as the only pitchers with 100+ WAR in ALB history, getting to 106.4 in 2026.

Mohamed Hassan became the 4^th member of the 800 home run club. Omar Abdel Rahman was the 29^th to reach 500 homers. Omar Azim became the 16^th to 1500 RBI and Amar Rasmi became the 11^th to 1500 runs scored. Tzidkiel Monnish was the 20^th to 2500 hits. Khamis Sheik was the 12^th pitcher to 200 wins.

SS Ayoub El Taib won his 11^th Silver Slugger, becoming the third at any position in ALB with 11. 3B Makik Zouaoui and DH Omar Abdel Rahman both won their 7^th Silver Slugger. Abu Dhabi 2B Younis Ahmed set a playoff record .714 OBP over 21 plate appearances (20 required to qualify). Oran’s Faysel Najem had a 31-game hitting streak, the third-longest in ALB history.