[FuzzyRussianHat]

The 47^th Africa Series was historic as the fourth consecutive meeting between Kampala and Dar es Saalam. Only once in all of world baseball history had the same two teams met four straight years in an overall final; Ahmedabad versus Ho Chi Minh City (1997-2000) in South Asia Baseball. Those two notably battled ten times from 1987-2000). Previously in the African Association of Baseball, Kinshasa and Johannesburg met three years running from 1998-2000.

The Peacocks also had a shot at a feat rarely achieved for any dynasty; four straight titles. They have had classic battles with the Sabercats, going 5-4 in both 2038 and 2039. Last year’s meeting was the most emphatic with a 5-2 Kampala win. It was Dar es Salaam’s seventh straight Africa Series trip, having beaten Nairobi in 2035 and Kinshasa in 2037, along with a loss to Mombasa in 2036.

Kampala had home field advantage and rolled 9-1 in game one with a complete game and 14 strikeouts for Abdullahi Ali. Their offense pushed them to a 10-5 win in game two. Dar es Salaam reversed the momentum as the games moved to Tanzania. The Sabercats won the next three by 5-4, 4-3, and 8-2 margins. Game four had a dramatic three-run bottom of the ninth comeback. Dar es Salaam was also down 2-0 entering the seventh in game five, then posted back-to-back four-run innings.

In game six, Kampala earned the first road win of the series 3-1 to even it at 3-3 heading back to the Ugandan capital. The Sabercats countered with their own 5-3 road win to reclaim the advantage. However, the Peacocks claimed game eight by a 3-0 margin to force a decisive game nine for the third time in four years. Ali pitched seven shutout innings, striking out 15 with two hits allowed.

In a back-and-forth finale on a beautiful 72 degree Friday evening, Kampala held on 6-4 over Dar es Salaam to clinch the four-peat at home. The Peacocks joined Addis Ababa (six-peat from 2008-13) and Kinshasa (1997-2000) as the only four-peats in AAB history. Kampala stands alone with the most Africa Series titles at eight thanks to their prior dynasty with the 2018 and 2020-22 titles. The Sabercats are now 3-7 all-time in their finals trips.



For the third time in four years, 1B Marlon Muianga won Africa Series MVP. He went 11-34 with three homers and five RBI. The 33-year old Mozambican was also conference finals MVP and over 13 playoff starts had 18 hits, 9 runs, 6 doubles, 5 homers, 10 RBI, a 1.224 OPS, 220 wRC+, and 0.9 WAR.

Adding to his accomplishments, Ali set AAB playoff records (15 IP required) for ERA (0.34), opponent’s slugging (.115) and opponent’s OPS (.302). He was 3-0 with a save in five appearances with 47 Ks, 26.2 innings, and 1.9 WAR. Ali is AAB’s career playoff leader for wins (12), complete games (5), strikeouts (231), and WAR (7.93).

Dar es Salaam’s Cedric Samba was notably 4-0 in his four starts, joining Ali and Iggy Fellows as the AAB pitchers to record four wins in a playoff run. Remarkably, the 30-year old Congolese lefty had been a nobody journeyman with only 94 career innings prior to the playoff run. The Sabercats’ Ferdinand Rajerison also notably moved to 70 RBI for his playoff career, tying Bawaka Ngoie for the AAB record. He’s 3^rd in homers with 27.

It was also four championships for Kampala manager Alan Brzozowski, who also led them to the 2038 Baseball Grand Championship. The 56-year old Polish skipper had been a forgettable reliever in Europe as a player, but was now a legendary manager. Brzozowski was initially Kigali’s manager with forgettable results from 2029-34, but has led the Peacocks since 2037 to the dynasty run. He’s won four straight Manager of the Year awards and is one of three with 4+ Africa Series wins. Both Orville Sneddon (Addis Ababa) and Alimayu Kiros (Kinshasa) have six rings.

Other notes: Paul Lambote remains AAB’s career leader with 4093 strikeouts, but two pitchers moved closer with Mert Seyoum (3976) and Lawal Deffallah (3931). Seyoum surprised many by retiring in the winter at only age 35, having led the league ten times in strikeouts. He was a two-time Pitcher of the Year with Gaborone and finished with a 179-136 record, 3.84 ERA, 2951.1 innings, and 69.6 WAR.

Defallah joined Johannesburg as a free agent in 2041 and had a 4.14 ERA, 216 Ks, and 4.9 WAR. He’ll only be 35 next year with a prime shot at passing Lambote. Defallah also has 230 wins, second only to Ernias Tadele’s 239. Ghebrezgiabhier Alemayehu also became the 6^th pitcher to 3500 strikeouts. In his final season, Alemayehu finished with 3634 Ks, 88.1 WAR, a 3.70 ERA, 3118.1 innings, and 198-139 record. Abdullahi Ali and Rodgers Kaliati became the 14^th and 15^th with 3000 Ks.

Lubumbashi’s Djeke Ahmat threw his 2^nd no-hitter on September 24 against Kinshasa, becoming the 3^rd AAB pitcher with multiple no-hitters. Jaco Bereng became the career leader for games pitched with 951 and ranks 7^th in saves at 343. Atharv Andaka became the 10^th to 300 saves. 2B Kassim Nour won his 10^th consecutive Gold Glove. The only other AAB player with 10+ GGs is Destin Kette with 11 as a catcher.

LF Namir Jamal is approaching AAB’s stolen bases record, leading for the 11^th time in 2041 at 103. It was his second year with Lusaka with 2.3 WAR and he’s set to be a free agent at age 36. Jamal has 1672 AAB swipes, just behind Djibrilla Ousseini’s 1701. Jamal is up to 8^th on the all-time world list for steals. African Second League stats don’t count for all-time world leaderboards, but Jamal has 1997 swipes if you count his first four A2L seasons.

Stewart Khumalo became only the 2^nd in AAB with 3000 hits, although he still has a long way to go to reach Ousseini’s 3728. Jose Manuel Beirao became the 20^th to 2500 hits. In other hitting milestones, Abel Teklemariam and Lebogang Ntuka both reached 600 home runs on the same day, making it a 20-man club. Ferdinand Rajerison was the 30^th to 500 homers. Martin Kulatilaka and Lazarus Abraham became the 21^st and 22^nd to 1500 RBI. Kulatilaka also won his 8^th consecutive Silver Slugger at 1B.

Promotion/Relegation: Demoted to the African Second League were Lubango from the Southern Conference and Mogadishu from the Central Conference. Moving up into the SC from A2L is Bulawayo and Kigali will take the CC spot.