[FuzzyRussianHat]

The 43^rd Africa Series was the third finals meeting between Dar es Salaam and Kinshasa. The Sun Cats won their 1997 encounter, but the Sabercats got revenge in 2004. In a game one pitcher’s duel, Kinshasa opened with a solo homer by Martin Kulatilaka in the first inning. Dar tied it up in the eighth, then got the walkoff single in the ninth for a 2-1 opening win. Sebastian Malema led off with a single and eventually scored the clincher on a bases loaded walk.

Game two was low scoring until the eighth, when Dar es Salaam scored six runs including a three-run bomb by Shemsu Gugsa. Kinshasa got two back, but the Sabercats held on for a 7-4 win. Then Dar es Salaam took game three 4-1 as four pitchers combined to allow only four hits. The Sabercats had a 3-0 advantage in the best-of-nine as the series shifted from Tanzania to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Kinshasa got one back at home with a 5-4 win in game four, but had to rally to do it. Roldan Salazar’s home run to lead off the bottom of the ninth tied the game, then an RBI single by George Higgins brought in Charlie Senkumba. Game five would be a pitcher’s duel classic tied at 1-1 after regulation. Both teams led off with solo homers in the tenth. In the top of the 11^th, MVP Ferdinand Rajerison sent one just over the right field wall, ultimately the clincher for a 3-2 Sabercats win and 4-1 series advantage.

The Sun Cats stayed alive with a 7-2 win in game six. However, Dar es Salaam absolutely unloaded for a 13-2 beat down in the game seven clincher, taking the series 5-2 for their third AAB title (2004, 2035, 2037). Ketema Gudeta, the conference finals MVP, also won Africa Series MVP by going 12-24 with 2 homers and 4 RBI.



Other notes: Lusaka’s pitching staff allowed 1666 hits and Mogadishu’s gave up 1665, which were the two worst marks in AAB history. Comoros’ Jacquot Rakotobe set a single-season record with 172 singles. Zenzele Mnisi became the 24^th member of the 500 home run club. Asa Ngoie and Panya Hailemariam were the 16^th and 17^th to 1500 career RBI. Ngoie was also the 18^th to score 1500 runs. 2B Hassan Salaad won his 7^th Silver Slugger. Jan Amadhila won his 7^th Gold Glove and 6^th at shortstop.

Lovemore Chisora became the third AAB closer with 400+ saves and finished the season at 433, only 11 behind Rajad Hamadi’s record 444. He passed seven-time Reliever of the Year Sipho Zuke, who added one more save for 421 in his final season. Chisora also became the AAB leader for games pitched at 895, passing Hamadi’s 887. Ghebrezgiabhier Alemayehu and Lawal Deffallah became the 11^th and 12^th AAB pitchers with 3000 career strikeouts.

Two former MLB stars continued their climb up the pro baseball leaderboards in Africa, playing their final seasons in 2037. It was Jason Perazzo’s second year with Nairobi, although he stunk with only 36 games and two starts with -0.3 WAR. Still, that gave him a grand pro career total of 3283 games, 2114 runs, 3521 hits, 628 doubles, 947 homers, 2512 RBI, .947 OPS, 146 wRC+, and 107.2 WAR. On the world leaderboard, Perazzo ranks 13^th in homers, 7^th in RBI, 23^rd in runs, and 29^th in games played.

Mike Rojas played only one AAB season at age 42 with Bangui and struggled to -0.7 WAR in 94 games. The four-time MVP with Cincinnati finished with pro totals of 2937 games, 3607 hits, 2046 runs, 488 doubles, 895 homers, 2336 RBI, 1.005 OPS, 188 wRC+, and 135.3 WAR. Rojas just misses the all-time top 100 for WAR among all players, but his OPS is 40^th and wRC+ 28^th among Hall of Famers and retired locks. He also ranks 28^th in homers, 15^th in RBI, and 28^th in runs scored among all players.

Promotion/Relegation: Antananarivo and Kigali were both relegated to the African Second League. Lubango replaced the Eagles in the Southern Conference and Ndjamena took the Guardians’ spot in the Central Conference.