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For the 2033 season, the African Association of Baseball lowered the active roster from 25 players to 24. AAB had maintained a 25-man roster since the inaugural 1995 season. At this point in history, there are leagues with active rosters as large as 26 and as small as 22 players.



The Southern Conference was extremely competitive as five teams finished within four games of first place. 2031 conference champ Port Elizabeth picked up the first place spot at 95-67, growing their playoff streak to four seasons. Harare at 93-69 scored the most in the conference (896 runs) and took the second place slot at 93-69. Although the Hustlers haven’t had a losing season since 2021, this was their first playoff berth since 2023.

Just missing the cut were Comoros at 92-70, defending conference champ Johannesburg at 91-71, and Windhoek also at 91-71. This was the first-ever winning season in the top tier for the Chimps, who got promoted as the 2032 African Second League champs. Bulawayo was sixth at 83-79 and allowed the fewest runs in AAB at 676. Also notable was Cape Town at 79-83, ending an eight-year run of winning seasons.

At the bottom by a large margin was Maseru at 58-104, ten games worse than the next closest team Gaborone. The Mad Dogs were relegated back to A2L after a five-year run in the First League. Maseru had posted their first winning season the year prior at 84-78, but fell hard off a cliff in 2033.

Southern Conference MVP went to Harare LF Zenzele Mnisi in his third season for the Hustlers. The 31-year old Swazi righty led in on-base percentage (.435) and WAR (7.6). Mnisi had 188 hits, 109 runs, 31 doubles, 41 home runs, 108 RBI, 1.070 OPS, and 175 wRC+.

Mnisi had signed a big five-year, $158 million deal with Harare after playing his first eight years for Brazzaville. To the Hustlers disappointment, he opted out of the remaining two years after the 2033 season. Mnisi signed a new five-year, $127,200,000 deal with Asmara, but left there after one year due to relegation. He joined Johannesburg in 2035 at five years and $136 million.

In his Port Elizabeth debut, Chiro Mukubu won Pitcher of the Year. The 30-year old Congolese righty signed for 2033 as a free agent at $71,500,000 over five years. Mukubu had been merely decent prior with 2024-31 for Lusaka and in 2032 with Durban. He led in wins for 2033 at 23-5 and had a 2.88 ERA, 231.1 innings, 215 strikeouts, 154 ERA+, and 6.7 WAR.



The Central Conference was also competitive with half of the teams still having a playoff shot entering September. Shockingly not among those was Nairobi, the reigning African Series winner and Baseball Grand Champion. The Night Hawks struggled to 73-89, only their second time below 80 wins since 2021. Kinshasa pulled away late to take first at 97-65. The Sun Cats had been competitive since returning to AAB in 2026, but this was their first playoff trip since 2016. Kinshasa allowed the fewest runs in the conference with 678.

There was a tie for the second place playoff spot at 91-71 between Djibouti and Brazzaville. Just missing the cut was 90-72 Addis Ababa, 88-74 Bangui, and 86-76 Kigali. The Berserkers beat the Blowfish to earn their second playoff berth in three years, while denying Brazzaville a fourth trip in five years.
In last place suffering relegation was Bujumbura at 60-102, nine behind the next closest team Bukavu. The Bighorns had been the AAB champ as recently as 2026, but had been below .500 regularly since 2030. This was their first time being relegated, which leaves eight AAB original teams that have avoided demotions still.

Mogadishu was a non-factor at 75-87, their first losing season since returning to AAB in 2027. Regardless, 2B Abel Teklemariam won his second Central Conference MVP, having previously won in 2029. The 28-year old Ethiopian righty led in total bases (446), slugging (.762), OPS (1.183), and wRC+ (183). Nicknamed “Cyclone,” he had 211 hits, 126 runs, 42 doubles, 59 homers, 158 RBI, .361 average, and 8.0 WAR.

Teklemariam came close to a Triple Crown effort. His average was only four points behind Djibouti’s Bernard Kenei; he was four homers behind Nairobi’s Lazarus Abraham and Asmara’s Mustafa Moussa; and only five RBI behind Moussa. Mogadishu had given Teklemariam an eight-year, $149,700,000 extension after the 2030 season.

Kinshasa’s Lawal Deffallah meanwhile earned repeat pitching Triple Crowns and won his third consecutive Pitcher of the Year. The 26-year old Chadian lefty had a 20-3 record, 2.32 ERA, and 314 strikeouts. It was Deffallah’s fifth straight season as the strikeouts leader. He also led in WHIP (0.84), K/BB (7.5), FIP- (50), and WAR (9.3). It was his fourth year running as the WARlord. It was the sixth pitching Triple Crown in AAB history with Deffallah becoming the first to do it twice. Prior to the 2033 season, the Sun Cats had extended him at seven years and $111,400,000.

Port Elizabeth defeated Harare 4-2 in the Southern Conference Championship for their second pennant in three years. Kinshasa routed Djibouti with a sweep in the Central Conference Championship. This tied the Sun Cats with Johannesburg and Addis Ababa for the most pennants at ten apiece. However, this ended a 27-year drought for Kinshasa, who hadn’t won the conference since their epic 1995-2005 dynasty run.



In the 39^th Africa Series, Kinshasa returned to the throne for the first time in 30 years. The Sun Cats denied Port Elizabeth its first title with a 5-2 result, becoming the first AAB franchise with seven overall titles (1997-2000, 02-03, 2033). RF Malleh Dibba was finals MVP in his second season. The 24-year old Gambian in 10 playoff starts had 15 hits, 8 runs, 5 doubles, 1 triple, 5 homers, and 11 RBI.



Other notes: Harare’s Namir Jamal stole 139 bases, which was seventh-best in AAB history to that point. As of 2037, that is tied for the 19^th-best single season in world history. Kigali’s Vadim Makosso had 67 doubles, which was second in AAB history to that point behind Stefan Cejka’s 71 from 1996. As of 2037, this is one of only 14 seasons in world history with 67+ doubles. Bangui reliever Faruk Hamad set the AAB for games pitched with 81. Maseru’s Andre Ekeng set a bad single-season record by allowing 61 home runs.

Windhoe’s Shadrack Jordan had a 32-game hitting streak, tied for the second-best in AAB history. Stewart Khumalo holds the record at 41 games from 2027. In milestones, Ibukun da Costa became the 13^th member of the 600 home run club and Sadik Barakamfitiye became the 19^th to reach 500 dingers. Trevor Zhou and Dijbrilla Ousseini became the 14^th and 15^th to score 1500 career runs. Dagne Mersha was the 14^th to 1500 RBI. Zhou also became only the 15^th member of the 2500 hit club.

Ousseini, the only guy with 3000+ hits, won his 13^th Silver Slugger at shortstop. He joined Mwarami Tale (CF) and Felix Chaula (RF/LF) as the only 13+ Slugger winners in AAB. Ousseini is one of only 28 in world history to reach the mark. 1B Jimmy Bruner won his 7^th consecutive Gold Glove. Lovemore Chisora became the 7^th closer to 300 saves.

Promotion/Relegation: Maseru was relegated to the African Second League with Dar es Salaam returning to take their Southern Conference slot. Bujumbura was demoted from the Central Conference while Kampala was promoted back up.