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FuzzyRussianHat · 07-03-2025, 05:03 AM

For the fifth consecutive season, Hyderabad earned the East League’s top seed as the Pakistan Division champ. The Horned Frogs finished 103-59 to grow their playoff streak to eight seasons. Rawalpindi was second in the division at 94-68, earning the first wild card. The Red Wings used impressive power, setting an EL record for team home runs at 295. It was an impressive turnaround for Rawalpindi, whose last playoff trip was 2017 and last winning season was 2023.

Tashkent ended an even longer playoff drought going back to 2013 and posted their first winning campaign since 2020. At 92-70, the Tomcats were one win ahead of Almaty for the North Division title. 91-71 was enough to get the second wild card for the Assassins over defending EL champ Lahore (90-72), Bishkek (87-75), and Peshawar (85-77). Almaty earned its 11^th playoff trip in the last 12 years.

The Longhorns had their postseason streak ended at three seasons and the Predators had theirs snapped at four years. Peshawar had been in the ELCS all four of those years. The EL’s top scoring team was the Predators with 752 runs, while the Black Sox allowed the fewest at 529; both missed the playoffs. Faisalabad at 82-80 notably improved after five straight sub-70 win seasons. Namangan, who debuted in 2030 at 86-76, fell back to earth at 69-93.

Almaty LF Youssouf Raza won East League MVP for the fourth time in five years, becoming the fourth four-time MVP in Asian Baseball Federation history The 30-year old Pakistani righty led in WAR (9.4), slugging (.698), and RBI (137). Raza smacked 55 home runs with 182 hits, 120 runs, 30 doubles, 1.106 OPS, and 219 wRC+.

Rookie of the Year Dzhurakon Asadullayev notably was third in MVP voting in his debut for Osh, who picked him second in the 2030 ABF Draft. The Kazakh first baseman led in OPS (1.108), doubles (49), walks (100), total bases (387), OBP (.423), and wRC+ (221). Asadullayev also had 101 runs, 182 hits, 50 homers, 126 RBI, and 9.3 WAR.

Tashkent righty Ashat Ryskulov secured Pitcher of the Year, leading in ERA (2.28), wins (18-10), WHIP (0.83), quality starts (27), and WAR (7.6). The 28-year old Uzbek struck out 281 over 248.1 innings with 160 ERA+ and 67 FIP-. The Tomcats would be unable to extend Ryskulov after the 2032 season, as he left for a six-year, $124,800,000 deal with Dushanbe.

Hyderabad survived 2-1 against Almaty in the opening round and Rawalpindi topped Tashkent 2-1. The Red Wings then swept the Horned Frogs in round two 2-0, earning their first East League Championship trip since their 2010 title. The Tomcats survived 2-1 in the loser’s bracket over the Assassins. Hyderabad then rolled Tashkent 2-0 to earn a second shot at Rawalpindi in the double-elimination bracket.

The rematch was lopsided in favor of the top seed as the Horned Frogs got revenge 4-1 against Rawalpindi. Hyderabad earned its fourth pennant in six years and tenth overall, leading all ABF teams (1986, 1987, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2013, 2026, 2027, 2027, 2031). The Horned Frogs joined Isfahan (1997-2002) as the only other ABF franchise with four finals trips in a six year stretch.

Baku looked to keep the historic dynasty going. The two-time defending ABF champs bested their 113-win effort of the prior year with a 114-48 mark in 2031. This was the third-best win total in ABF history behind only Tehran’s 116 wins in 2016 and their 115 in 2015. The Blackbirds led in scoring with 821 runs and set new ABF power records with 312 homers and a team .510 slugging percentage. They also allowed the fewest runs (518), earning a fourth West Division title in five years and an eighth playoff trip in a decade.

Mashhad’s ABF-record playoff streak grew to 11 seasons, returning to the Central Division perch at 98-64. Last year’s WLCS runner-up Tabriz was one back at 97-65 to get the first wild card, while the reigning division champ Isfahan fell to 79-83. The West Division’s Adana took the second wild card at 96-66, holding off 90-72 finishes by Ankara and Istanbul along with 89-73 Gaziantep. The Axemen ended a three-year playoff drought.

Leading Baku’s historic power output was 1B Artyom Masharipov, who repeated as West League MVP. The 27-year old Azeri slugger led in home runs (64), RBI (152), runs (139), total bases (458), slugging (.751), OPS (1.165), wRC+ (206), and WAR (10.9). Masharipov added 207 hits, 51 doubles, a .339 average, and .414 OBP. The Blackbirds wisely locked up their home country hero to a league-record eight-year, $227,200,000 extension in February.

Masharipov joined Gokhan Karatas as the only ABF sluggers with multiple 150 RBI seasons. There have only been 12 such seasons in ABF history with Adana’s Abed Kapani also hitting the mark in 2031. He also had to fend Mashhad’s Artem Abdrakhmanov for MVP, as the Mercury LF became ABF’s first-ever .400+ hitter with a .407 average. Abdrakhmanov’s mark ranks as the 15^th-best qualifying average in world baseball history. He also had 9.1 WAR, 1.083 OPS, 224 hits, 97 runs, 49 doubles, 20 triples, 14 homers, and 81 steals.

Baku’s Agshin Jumayev became the third in ABF history with five Pitcher of the Year award wins, joining Hall of Famers Oskar Tamm and Yazeed Anwari. It was a three-peat for Jumayev, who also won in 2025 and 2027. The 30-year old Tajik lefty led in wins (22-6), ERA (2.21), and FIP- (60). Jumayev struck out 398 over 248 innings with 8.6 WAR.

Jumayev also threw his second career no-hitter on April 5 in an 18 strikeout, two walk effort against Istanbul. He missed out on a third straight Triple Crown as Ankara’s Hasan Yousefi fanned 417, the fifth-best single season in ABF history. Yousefi also had him beat in WHIP (0.83), K/BB (17.4), and WAR (9.20), but had a weaker ERA at 2.98. Still, the Alouettes gave the 31-year old Iranian lefty a six-year, $145,200,000 extension before the season.

Adana shocked Baku 2-0 in the first round while Mashhad outlasted Tabriz 2-1. The Axemen kept rolling with a 2-0 win over the Mercury in round two, securing their second West League Championship Series trip in five years. Adana hasn’t had any luck getting over the hump recently, dropping five straight WLCS trips.

The double-elimination format kept the defending champ Blackbirds alive, as they topped Tabriz 2-0 and bested Mashhad 2-1 to secure a rematch with the Axemen. The seven-game WLCS saw Baku earn revenge 4-2 over Adana for a third consecutive pennant. The Blackbirds earned their eighth West League title (2010, 12, 13, 22, 24, 29, 30, 31) since joining ABF in the 2000 exodus from Eurasian Professional Baseball

Baku joined Hyderabad as the only ABF franchises to earn three consecutive finals trips. The Horned Frogs did it in 1997-99 and in 2026-28, but had been unable to pull off the championship three-peat. Each of the finals since 2026 featured one of the two, but they hadn’t met recently until now. They had met with Hyderabad defeating Baku back in the 2013 final.

The 47^th Asian Baseball Federation Championship had Baku make history, completing the three-peat with a 4-2 win over Hyderabad. The Blackbirds became five-time ABF champs (2012, 2024, 2029, 2030, 2031) and their 114 wins were the second-most ever by an ABF champ behind only 2017 Tehran’s 116-46. The three-peat certainly gave Baku a claim for ABF’s best dynasty ever, averaging 109 wins per season over the run.

Blackbirds manager Jeb Leiter had become a legend with three rings in only three seasons as the skipper. He’s the second manager in all of baseball history to win three titles in his first three seasons as the top coach, as Kirk Scott did it from 2020-22 with Kampala in the African Association of Baseball. The only other ABF manager with three rings was Erick Kent, who won in 1985, 88, and 89 with Istanbul.

League MVP Artyom Masharipov had a dominant postseason as both WLCS and finals MVP. In 19 playoff starts, he had 22 hits, 16 runs, 3 doubles, 2 triples, 8 homers, 15 RBI, 1.066 OPS, 187 wRC+, and 1.3 WAR. Teammate Agshin Jumayev also was impressive, breaking his own ABF playoff strikeouts record with 71. He also broke the playoff innings record (51.2) and was the fifth to record five wins in a postseason run. Jumayev had a 1.92 ERA with two complete games and a five-hit, 11 strikeout shutout in the game six finale.

Other notes: Veteran slugger Hakan Mocuk became ABF’s new career home run king in his fifth season with Baku. The 37-year old Turk hit 38 to finish the year at 692, leaping over Habib Saquib (686), Ali Sungu (683), and Fakhri Rajavi (678) in the rankings. Mocuk was already the RBI leader and now had 1927, in striking distance of the 2K club.

Mocuk also won his 12^th Silver Slugger and 11^th at third base. He joined the legendary Nizami Aghazade as the only 12+ Slugger winners at any spot in ABF Mocuk and Ismayil Kostenko also became the 17^th and 18^th ABF batters to 2500 career hits. Kostenko and Ismail Akbar became the 8^th and 9^th to reach 1500 RBI. Two-way player Safdar Kahlwan won his 9^th Silver Slugger and 8^th as a pitcher. LF Youssouf Raza won his 8^th Silver Slugger and 3B Mahtab Malik won his 7^th.

While Baku set the league home run record, they also set an all-time West League worst with 70 stolen bases. Mashhad’s Ishtaq Shahzad set a single-season record with 31 triples. Gaziantep’s Svan Arnason struck out 21 on March 24 against Izmir, which was the 14^th game in ABF history of 21+ Ks.

Elnur Hasanov became the 6^th ABF ace to 4500 career strikeouts, wrapping up his career with 4640. Hasan Yousefi became the 22^nd to 3500 Ks. C Ali Mahdian won his 11^th Gold Glove and CF Anatoly Memmendov won his 10th, both hold their position record.

07-03-2025, 05:03 AM	#2302
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,937	2031 in ABF For the fifth consecutive season, Hyderabad earned the East League’s top seed as the Pakistan Division champ. The Horned Frogs finished 103-59 to grow their playoff streak to eight seasons. Rawalpindi was second in the division at 94-68, earning the first wild card. The Red Wings used impressive power, setting an EL record for team home runs at 295. It was an impressive turnaround for Rawalpindi, whose last playoff trip was 2017 and last winning season was 2023. Tashkent ended an even longer playoff drought going back to 2013 and posted their first winning campaign since 2020. At 92-70, the Tomcats were one win ahead of Almaty for the North Division title. 91-71 was enough to get the second wild card for the Assassins over defending EL champ Lahore (90-72), Bishkek (87-75), and Peshawar (85-77). Almaty earned its 11^th playoff trip in the last 12 years. The Longhorns had their postseason streak ended at three seasons and the Predators had theirs snapped at four years. Peshawar had been in the ELCS all four of those years. The EL’s top scoring team was the Predators with 752 runs, while the Black Sox allowed the fewest at 529; both missed the playoffs. Faisalabad at 82-80 notably improved after five straight sub-70 win seasons. Namangan, who debuted in 2030 at 86-76, fell back to earth at 69-93. Almaty LF Youssouf Raza won East League MVP for the fourth time in five years, becoming the fourth four-time MVP in Asian Baseball Federation history The 30-year old Pakistani righty led in WAR (9.4), slugging (.698), and RBI (137). Raza smacked 55 home runs with 182 hits, 120 runs, 30 doubles, 1.106 OPS, and 219 wRC+. Rookie of the Year Dzhurakon Asadullayev notably was third in MVP voting in his debut for Osh, who picked him second in the 2030 ABF Draft. The Kazakh first baseman led in OPS (1.108), doubles (49), walks (100), total bases (387), OBP (.423), and wRC+ (221). Asadullayev also had 101 runs, 182 hits, 50 homers, 126 RBI, and 9.3 WAR. Tashkent righty Ashat Ryskulov secured Pitcher of the Year, leading in ERA (2.28), wins (18-10), WHIP (0.83), quality starts (27), and WAR (7.6). The 28-year old Uzbek struck out 281 over 248.1 innings with 160 ERA+ and 67 FIP-. The Tomcats would be unable to extend Ryskulov after the 2032 season, as he left for a six-year, $124,800,000 deal with Dushanbe. Hyderabad survived 2-1 against Almaty in the opening round and Rawalpindi topped Tashkent 2-1. The Red Wings then swept the Horned Frogs in round two 2-0, earning their first East League Championship trip since their 2010 title. The Tomcats survived 2-1 in the loser’s bracket over the Assassins. Hyderabad then rolled Tashkent 2-0 to earn a second shot at Rawalpindi in the double-elimination bracket. The rematch was lopsided in favor of the top seed as the Horned Frogs got revenge 4-1 against Rawalpindi. Hyderabad earned its fourth pennant in six years and tenth overall, leading all ABF teams (1986, 1987, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2013, 2026, 2027, 2027, 2031). The Horned Frogs joined Isfahan (1997-2002) as the only other ABF franchise with four finals trips in a six year stretch. Baku looked to keep the historic dynasty going. The two-time defending ABF champs bested their 113-win effort of the prior year with a 114-48 mark in 2031. This was the third-best win total in ABF history behind only Tehran’s 116 wins in 2016 and their 115 in 2015. The Blackbirds led in scoring with 821 runs and set new ABF power records with 312 homers and a team .510 slugging percentage. They also allowed the fewest runs (518), earning a fourth West Division title in five years and an eighth playoff trip in a decade. Mashhad’s ABF-record playoff streak grew to 11 seasons, returning to the Central Division perch at 98-64. Last year’s WLCS runner-up Tabriz was one back at 97-65 to get the first wild card, while the reigning division champ Isfahan fell to 79-83. The West Division’s Adana took the second wild card at 96-66, holding off 90-72 finishes by Ankara and Istanbul along with 89-73 Gaziantep. The Axemen ended a three-year playoff drought. Leading Baku’s historic power output was 1B Artyom Masharipov, who repeated as West League MVP. The 27-year old Azeri slugger led in home runs (64), RBI (152), runs (139), total bases (458), slugging (.751), OPS (1.165), wRC+ (206), and WAR (10.9). Masharipov added 207 hits, 51 doubles, a .339 average, and .414 OBP. The Blackbirds wisely locked up their home country hero to a league-record eight-year, $227,200,000 extension in February. Masharipov joined Gokhan Karatas as the only ABF sluggers with multiple 150 RBI seasons. There have only been 12 such seasons in ABF history with Adana’s Abed Kapani also hitting the mark in 2031. He also had to fend Mashhad’s Artem Abdrakhmanov for MVP, as the Mercury LF became ABF’s first-ever .400+ hitter with a .407 average. Abdrakhmanov’s mark ranks as the 15^th-best qualifying average in world baseball history. He also had 9.1 WAR, 1.083 OPS, 224 hits, 97 runs, 49 doubles, 20 triples, 14 homers, and 81 steals. Baku’s Agshin Jumayev became the third in ABF history with five Pitcher of the Year award wins, joining Hall of Famers Oskar Tamm and Yazeed Anwari. It was a three-peat for Jumayev, who also won in 2025 and 2027. The 30-year old Tajik lefty led in wins (22-6), ERA (2.21), and FIP- (60). Jumayev struck out 398 over 248 innings with 8.6 WAR. Jumayev also threw his second career no-hitter on April 5 in an 18 strikeout, two walk effort against Istanbul. He missed out on a third straight Triple Crown as Ankara’s Hasan Yousefi fanned 417, the fifth-best single season in ABF history. Yousefi also had him beat in WHIP (0.83), K/BB (17.4), and WAR (9.20), but had a weaker ERA at 2.98. Still, the Alouettes gave the 31-year old Iranian lefty a six-year, $145,200,000 extension before the season. Adana shocked Baku 2-0 in the first round while Mashhad outlasted Tabriz 2-1. The Axemen kept rolling with a 2-0 win over the Mercury in round two, securing their second West League Championship Series trip in five years. Adana hasn’t had any luck getting over the hump recently, dropping five straight WLCS trips. The double-elimination format kept the defending champ Blackbirds alive, as they topped Tabriz 2-0 and bested Mashhad 2-1 to secure a rematch with the Axemen. The seven-game WLCS saw Baku earn revenge 4-2 over Adana for a third consecutive pennant. The Blackbirds earned their eighth West League title (2010, 12, 13, 22, 24, 29, 30, 31) since joining ABF in the 2000 exodus from Eurasian Professional Baseball Baku joined Hyderabad as the only ABF franchises to earn three consecutive finals trips. The Horned Frogs did it in 1997-99 and in 2026-28, but had been unable to pull off the championship three-peat. Each of the finals since 2026 featured one of the two, but they hadn’t met recently until now. They had met with Hyderabad defeating Baku back in the 2013 final. The 47^th Asian Baseball Federation Championship had Baku make history, completing the three-peat with a 4-2 win over Hyderabad. The Blackbirds became five-time ABF champs (2012, 2024, 2029, 2030, 2031) and their 114 wins were the second-most ever by an ABF champ behind only 2017 Tehran’s 116-46. The three-peat certainly gave Baku a claim for ABF’s best dynasty ever, averaging 109 wins per season over the run. Blackbirds manager Jeb Leiter had become a legend with three rings in only three seasons as the skipper. He’s the second manager in all of baseball history to win three titles in his first three seasons as the top coach, as Kirk Scott did it from 2020-22 with Kampala in the African Association of Baseball. The only other ABF manager with three rings was Erick Kent, who won in 1985, 88, and 89 with Istanbul. League MVP Artyom Masharipov had a dominant postseason as both WLCS and finals MVP. In 19 playoff starts, he had 22 hits, 16 runs, 3 doubles, 2 triples, 8 homers, 15 RBI, 1.066 OPS, 187 wRC+, and 1.3 WAR. Teammate Agshin Jumayev also was impressive, breaking his own ABF playoff strikeouts record with 71. He also broke the playoff innings record (51.2) and was the fifth to record five wins in a postseason run. Jumayev had a 1.92 ERA with two complete games and a five-hit, 11 strikeout shutout in the game six finale. Other notes: Veteran slugger Hakan Mocuk became ABF’s new career home run king in his fifth season with Baku. The 37-year old Turk hit 38 to finish the year at 692, leaping over Habib Saquib (686), Ali Sungu (683), and Fakhri Rajavi (678) in the rankings. Mocuk was already the RBI leader and now had 1927, in striking distance of the 2K club. Mocuk also won his 12^th Silver Slugger and 11^th at third base. He joined the legendary Nizami Aghazade as the only 12+ Slugger winners at any spot in ABF Mocuk and Ismayil Kostenko also became the 17^th and 18^th ABF batters to 2500 career hits. Kostenko and Ismail Akbar became the 8^th and 9^th to reach 1500 RBI. Two-way player Safdar Kahlwan won his 9^th Silver Slugger and 8^th as a pitcher. LF Youssouf Raza won his 8^th Silver Slugger and 3B Mahtab Malik won his 7^th. While Baku set the league home run record, they also set an all-time West League worst with 70 stolen bases. Mashhad’s Ishtaq Shahzad set a single-season record with 31 triples. Gaziantep’s Svan Arnason struck out 21 on March 24 against Izmir, which was the 14^th game in ABF history of 21+ Ks. Elnur Hasanov became the 6^th ABF ace to 4500 career strikeouts, wrapping up his career with 4640. Hasan Yousefi became the 22^nd to 3500 Ks. C Ali Mahdian won his 11^th Gold Glove and CF Anatoly Memmendov won his 10th, both hold their position record. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)