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The West League was incredibly top heavy with the four playoff teams each winning at least 100 games. The next closest team to this group was Adana at a distant 85-77. While it was fairly clear who the four postseason players would be, the exact positioning wasn’t assured. Isfahan had the Asian Baseball Federation’s top record at the all-star break at 66-36 and held on for the WL’s top seed and the Central Division title at 106-56.

The Imperials narrowly had the best run differential at +216, earning their second playoff trip in three years and first division crown since 2030. Tabriz was their top divisional rival at 100-62, growing the Tiger Sharks’ playoff streak to five seasons with their eighth berth of the 2030s. Tabriz ended the season on a seven-game winning streak, but they ended up as the second wild card via a tiebreaker. Last year’s Central Division champ Ahvaz fell to 79-83.

Two-time defending ABF champ Bursa had a seven-game lead on Baku at the all-star break in the West Division. The Blackbirds had the best second half of any team at 44-17 and tied it down the stretch. The Blue Claws won their final three games against Gaziantep, while Baku dropped three of four to Izmir. Bursa took the division at 102-60 with the Blackbirds 100-62, setting up a first round battle between the two.

Although the Blue Claws were the two-time defending champs and grew their playoff streak to four years, this was their first division title since 2024. Baku’s division title streak ended at nine seasons, but it was their tenth straight playoff trip and 100+ win season, averaging a remarkable 111.3 wins over the last decade per season. The Blackbirds led ABF with 844 runs scored and Tabriz allowed the WL’s fewest at 539.



Since Baku’s dominance began, they’ve had the West League MVP each year since 2029 with three different Blackbirds claiming the honor. That streak finally ended as Bursa DH Khattak Baweja took the top honor with 17 first place votes and 369 points. Izmir 1B Yunis Suleymanov was a competitive second with 11 first place nods and 334 points. Baku had the third place man Ular Esenov at 256 points. Suleymanov was notably the leader in total bases (418). Tabriz LF Demir Potuk was the WARlord at 9.6, while Esenov led in RBI (146) and the Blackbirds’ Artyom Masharipov had 59 homers.

For the winner Baweja, he was the leader in slugging (.687) and OPS (1.098). The 26-year old Pakistani lefty had 191 hits, 115 runs, 45 doubles, 52 homers, 128 RBI, .335 average, .412 OBP, 203 wRC+, and 9.2 WAR. Baweja had debuted in 2031 at age 19, but had become a starter for the Blue Claws in 2034. Although not known as a greedy guy, Baweja is set to cash in as this was a contract year for the noted prankster.

Bursa also had the unanimous Pitcher of the Year as Refik Sagir made it three straight. The 26-year old Turkish lefty led in wins (22-6), ERA (1.98), innings (263.1), complete games (23), shutouts (8), and WAR (8.1). Sagir won his third Gold Glove and had a 202 ERA+, 60 FIP-, and 330 strikeouts; missing the Triple Crown by only 11 Ks to Istanbul’s Ibrahim Tolibov. While the Blue Claws were unable to re-sign Baweja, they did give Sagir a five-year, $86 million extension in June.



Although Bursa won the division and the season series 9-5 against Baku, the Blackbirds got the road sweep in the first round on 4-3 and 5-4 scores. Game two was an incredible 19 inning, nearly eight hour affair that included a rain delay in the 15^th inning. After no scoring in all of extras, Mubarak Ashyrow finally broke the deadlock on a solo homer.

The other side also had an upset with Tabriz over top seed Isfahan. The Tiger Sharks rolled 8-1 in game one, followed by a 3-1 Imperials bounce-back. It was all Tabriz 7-1 in game there. However, Baku rolled to a second round sweep of the Tiger Sharks on 8-5 and 5-4 scores. The latter was ended on Ular Esenov’s solo homer in the bottom of the tenth. The Blackbirds earned their seventh West League Championship Series appearance of their decade-long streak.

In the loser’s bracket, Isfahan swept Bursa on 4-1 and 8-1 finals, ending the Blue Claws’ three-peat bid with a whimper. The Imperials rebounded from their earlier losses to Tabriz in the rematch. Ebrahim Firoozabadi’s five-hitter gave Isfahan game one 7-0, followed by a 4-2 victory in game two to oust the Tiger Sharks. For the Imperials, they earned their first trip to the WLCS since 2011.

You had a franchise on a 35-year pennant drought Isfahan hosting the perennial power Baku in the West League Championship Series. Despite the Blackbirds dynasty at the start of the decade and continued dominance, they failed the capture the pennant in the prior four seasons. The Imperials had narrowly won the season series 5-3.

It appeared Baku was back as they opened with 5-4 and 3-2 wins in Iran, stunning the Isfahan crowd to silence. It was doubly stunning as in the regular season, Isfahan was 60-21 on their home diamond. The Imperials returned the favor with the shift to Azerbaijan, taking the next three games on the road with 10-4, 8-2, and 6-2 scores. The run of road winners ended with game six back in Iran, as the 7-3 result gave Isfahan the series in six games.



The Blackbirds now were pennant-less for five straight seasons despite averaging 110 wins per year in that stretch. The Imperials ended their sizeable drought and became seven-time West League champs (1986, 87, 97, 98, 2000, 02, 38). Catcher Amredin az-Zuabi was series MVP, going 9-21 with 4 homers and 9 RBI. It was a surprise success for the 29-year old Afghani, who had only 13 homers and a .692 OPS in the regular season.