Baseball: The World's Game

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Rodrigo Vilanova – Left Field – Madrid Conquistadors – 97.6% First Ballot

Rodrigo Vilanova was a 6’0’’, 200 pound left-handed left fielder from Esmoriz, Portugal; a city of only 11,400 on the northwestern coast. Vilanova was an excellent contact hitter who was great at avoiding strikeouts and respectable at drawing walks. He also hit the ball quite hard with consistency. Vilanova had ten seasons with 30+ home runs and two with 40+. He also got you 25 doubles and 15 triples per his 162 game average.

Vilanova had good to great speed and outstanding baserunning instincts. He successfully stole on around 70% of his attempts. Vilanova was a career left fielder and was known for having a very strong arm. He graded out as just below average for his career defensively, but he was by no means a liability. Vilanova also had excellent durability for most of his run, starting 140+ games each year from 1988-2000.

In the 1984 EBF Draft, Vilanova was picked 32^nd overall by Madrid, where he’d spend his entire career. The Conquistadors left him on the reserve roster for all of 1985, debuting him in 1986 at age 21 with 72 games and 4 starts. Madrid was a strong roster and a tough one to make at this point. In 1987, he didn’t play for the entire regular season. Vilanova did have one postseason at-bat, which earned him a ring as the Conquistadors won the European Championship over Amsterdam.

Vilanova earned a starting spot in 1988 and held it for the next 13 seasons. He led the Southern Conference in doubles with a career best 45 in 1988. He posted six straight seasons worth 7+ WAR. Vilanova led in total bases and wRC+ in 1990. That year, he smacked 45 home runs with 128 RBI, a 1.058 OPS, and 10.5 WAR. He earned his lone MVP and his first Silver Slugger.

Madrid had missed the playoffs in 1988 and 1989, but Vilanova’s MVP helped them back to the mountaintop. The Conquistadors won the 1990 European Championship against Hamburg. In that run, Vilanova had 26 hits, 17 runs, 3 homers, 8 RBI, and 13 stolen bases. Madrid’s run ended here as they missed the playoffs from 1991-98. They weren’t bad in that stretch, just mid with an average win total at 83.6.

Vilanova won his second Silver Slugger in 1991 with a 9.6 WAR effort and was signed to an eight-year, $14,460,000 extension that winter. 1992 was his finest season with conference and career bests in runs (136), hits (233), RBI (134), total bases (426), average (.388), OBP (.418), and OPS (1.127). He also matched his homers best of 45 and set new bests in wRC+ (206) and WAR (11.3). He won a Silver Slugger, but took second in MVP voting to two-way star and Pitcher of the Year Edgar Miranda.

In 1993, Vilanova led again in hits (225), and batting average (.358). That would be his last time atop a leaderboard. He would win two more Silver Sluggers (1994, 1998) to have six total. Vilanova was down from his peak, but still reliably earned around 4-6 WAR each season. Madrid was happy with the result and gave him a four-year, $12,640,000 extension after the 1998 season at age 34.

Vilanova had also been a regular for his native Portugal in the World Baseball Classic, playing 154 games with 136 starts from 1986-2003. Vilanova had 145 hits, 82 runs, 28 doubles, 32 home runs, 84 RBI, 42 stolen bases, a .267/.326/.506 slash, 137 wRC+, and 4.9 WAR.

Madrid finally reemerged as a major contender and began a dynasty run. They won the European Championship in 1999 against Hamburg. This started a seven-year playoff streak that also saw conference titles in 2000, 2002, and 2004. Each of those years, the Conquistadors were denied in the final.

Vilanova was a key starter in 1999 and 2000, but saw his role reduced after that. For his playoff career, he had 80 games and 60 starts with 73 hits, 46 runs, 10 doubles, 11 home runs, 36 RBI, 22 stolen bases, a .283/.316/.481 slash, 118 wRC+, and 2.0 WAR.

In his final three seasons, Vilanova was used primarily in a platoon role against right-handed pitching. He still provided positive value and played 323 games in this stretch, but he only started 85 games. Vilanova was purely a pinch hitter in 2003 and opted to retire after that campaign at age 38. Madrid immediately honored him by retiring his #34 uniform.

Vilanova finished with 2791 hits, 1583 runs, 384 doubles, 225 triples, 455 home runs, 1533 RBI, 980 stolen bases, a .329/.371/.589 slash, 159 wRC+, and 100.6 WAR. He ranks 29^th among position players in WAR and almost quietly put together a very impressive career. Vilanova isn’t at the top of any leaderboards, but he certainly doesn’t look out of place.

He helped usher in two distinct title runs for Madrid and was a huge piece especially in the 1990 championship. In any other year, Vilanova might be a strong headliner. He had the third highest percentage in the loaded 2009 EBF Hall of Fame class, but was still a no-doubter at 97.6%.



Luca Wouterson – Center Field – Rotterdam Ravens – 70.1% Tenth Ballot

Luca Wouterson was a 6’2’’, 205 pound right-handed center fielder from Duiven, a town of 25,000 people in the eastern Netherlands. Wouterson was a very solid contact hitter in his prime who was good at putting the ball in play. He had a low strikeout rate and decent knack for drawing walks. Wouterson wasn’t a prolific slugger by any means, but still got you around 20 home runs per season. Gap power was Wouterson’s best attribute as a hitter, averaging 37 doubles and 14 triples per his 162 game average.

He had pretty good speed and was an excellent base runner. Wouterson was a career center fielder and was considered reliably above average to good defensively. Wouterson’s durability was okay, although sporadic injuries did cost him a month or two some years. He was a nice guy that was easy to get along with.

Wouterson was one of the highly touted Dutch prospects ahead of the 1982 EBF Draft, which drew special attention from Rotterdam. The Ravens grabbed him with the seventh overall pick and he’d spend his entire EBF career there. Wouterson was popular with both Rotterdam fans and Dutch baseball fans generally.

From 1984-96, Wouterson was a regular starter for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Championship. He had 125 games and 124 starts with 112 hits, 56 runs, 19 doubles, 18 home runs, 41 RBI, 38 stolen bases, a .235/.291/.401 slash, 100 wRC+, and 1.6 WAR.

Wouterson was a full-time starter right away for Rotterdam, although a rotator cuff strain cost him a month of his rookie season. Still, his debut effort saw 4.3 WAR, which was good for the 1983 Rookie of the Year. The next two seasons, Wouterson led the Northern Conference in doubles, peaking with a career best 49 in 1984. From 1984-90, he had six seasons worth 7+ WAR.

1985 was his top season by WAR with 9.7, earning a Silver Slugger. In April 1987, Rotterdam gave him an eight-year, $10,180,000 extension. Wouterson won batting titles in both 1987 and 1988 with a career-best .359 average in 1987. He took Silver Sluggers both seasons and was second in MVP voting in 1987. That was the only time he was an MVP finalist. Wouterson won a fourth EBF Silver Slugger in 1991.

Rotterdam was a playoff regular during his tenure, earning eight berths from 1985-93. The Ravens got the reputation as playoff chokers, as they suffered first round exits in seven of those eight. Wouterson was generally good over his 43 playoff games with 60 hits, 27 runs, 13 doubles, 5 triples, 3 homers, 18 RBI, a .349/.370/.535 slash, 154 wRC+, and 2.3 WAR.

In 1992, Rotterdam finally got over the hump. They won the European Championship that season over Lisbon. In that playoff run, Wouterson had 19 this, 9 runs, 5 doubles, 8 stolen bases, and a .328 average. His role in getting them back to the top played a big part in Wouterson’s #46 uniform later being retired by the Ravens.

Wouterson was still playing at a strong level into his early 30s, but suffered a major setback in early 1994. In early spring training, he suffered a torn calf muscle that had setback and required surgery. This put him out 7-8 months and he only made it back for the final week of the season. He struggled in his limited appearances and became a free agent heading into his age 34 season.

No EBF teams wanted to give him big free agent money off that injury with fears that he was cooked. Wouterson had to go to Africa to find a gig, signing a five-year, $8,100,000 deal with Dar es Salaam of the African Association of Baseball. He played four seasons with the Sabercats and was a respectable starter when healthy.

The unfortunate reality is that he was rarely healthy, peaking with 103 games in 1995. A whole host of maladies limited him, although he still earned a Silver Slugger in 1996 with 4.2 WAR over 95 games. The run ended with a broken bone in his elbow in August 1998, costing him six months.

With Dar es Salaam, Wouterson had 8.6 WAR in 321 games, 300 hits, 183 runs, 64 doubles, 50 home runs, 144 RBI, a .262/.350/.457 slash, and 126 wRC+. He hoped to still play in 1999, but went unsigned, retiring that winter at age 38. For his entire pro career, Wouterson had 2243 hits, 1171 runs, 435 doubles, 169 triples, 254 home runs, 998 RBI, 683 stolen bases, a .312/.358/.526 slash, 146 wRC+, and 82.7 WAR.

Just in EBF with Rotterdam, Wouterson had 1943 hits, 988 runs, 371 doubles, 164 triples, 204 home runs, 854 RBI, 614 stolen bases, a .322/.359/.539 slash, 151 wRC+, and 74.1 WAR. The rate stats were nice, but his accumulations were very borderline. Most of the other guys with similar low totals had more impressive peaks often before leaving for MLB. Wouterson had an uphill climb to earn induction.

He debuted at only 32.5% and hovered around there for his first few years on the ballot. Wouterson jumped to 52.4% in 2005, but fell right back down to 23.5%. The roller coaster continued with a new best in 2007 at 56.6%, followed by a new low at 21.7% in 2008. With that, most people, Wouterson included, assumed he was destined for the Hall of Pretty Good.

It was especially surprising that Wouterson gained ground in 2009 with two better outfielders (Fierro and Vilanova) in the group in front of him. Supporters pushed hard to get Wouterson recognized, arguing the low totals were due to injury and not talent.

With that, Wouterson crossed the 66% requirement with 70.1% to round off the impressive four-player 2009 EBF Hall of Fame class. He was the second EBF inductee making it on his tenth and final chance, joining SP Cornelius Danner from 2003.

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For the second time in three years, Eurasian Professional Baseball didn’t add anyone into its Hall of Fame. Four players were very close in 2009 with more than 60%, but not the 66% required. 3B Igor Urban was less than a percentage point short with 65.4% on his second try. Similarly close was SP Temuujin Munkhuu at 65.0% for his second attempt.



The best debut was SP Wojciech Grzybek at 64.3%, while SP Mikhail Kripak had 62.7% in his fourth attempt. SP Dmitry Popov was also above the 50% mark with 52.1% for his fourth attempt. No one was dropped after ten ballots.

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The Oceania Baseball Association added pitcher Otto Rowland as its lone inductee in 2009 Hall of Fame voting. In his debut, he made it across the 66% threshold with 74.1%. Closer Garnet Wallace was the only other player above 50%, taking 57.0% on his sixth ballot. Wallace was slightly down from the prior year, where he had the most voters in an empty ballot.



Mitch Bird was dropped after ten failed attempts. He had a 12-year career between Perth and Auckland and was plagued by injuries. Bird won two Silver Sluggers and had 1761 hits, 655 runs, 247 doubles, 212 triples, 104 home runs, 704 RBI, a .323/.349/.504 slash, 150 wRC+, and 41.7 WAR. He won four batting titles, but leadoff type guys have a tough path even when they have higher accumulations. Bird peaked at 17.4% in 2001 and survived ten ballots, ending at 5.5%.

Also worth a mention was 2B Evan Boyett, who fell below 5% on his eighth ballot. He was hurt by having eight seasons in MLB between his nine in OBA. With Tahiti, Boyett won 1984 MVP, four Gold Gloves, and four Silver Sluggers. In OBA, Boyett had 1338 hits, 666 runs, 267 doubles, 169 home runs, 568 RBI, a .269/.327/.445 slash, 144 wRC+, and 57.4 WAR.

Boyett also won two Gold Gloves in MLB and had a combined career WAR of 98.7. Had he stayed in OBA his whole run, the extremely popular Hawaiian probably had a nice shot. But the split accumulations were far too low to garner serious attention, peaking with his debut at 21.9%.



Otto Rowland – Starting Pitcher – Guam Golden Eagles – 74.1% First Ballot

Otto Rowland was a 5’10’’, 200 pound right-handed pitcher from Brisbane, Australia. The stocky Rowland was known for having outstanding movement on his pitches, especially his signature curveball. His stuff and control were both above average to good as well with a 97-99 mph sinker, decent slider, and rarely used changeup.

Rowland’s stamina was excellent and he loved going deep into games, although his may have contributed to his later injury woes. He was good at holding runners, but subpar defensively otherwise.

Rowland became a popular pitcher, especially in his native Australia. Perhaps his best success was in the World Baseball Championship for the national team. From 1993-2005, Rowland had a 16-6 record over 200 innings, 2.56 ERA, 181 strikeouts, 77 walks, 143 ERA+, and 3.9 WAR.

Even out of high school, Rowland drew plenty of attention among Australian teams. In the 1989 OBA Draft, Adeliade picked him with the third overall pick. Rowland didn’t sign with the Aardvarks and instead headed off to college. He was still very touted when next eligible in 1992 and was picked with the #1 overall pick by Sydney.

Rowland was a full-time starter immediately for the Snakes, who had been generally the weakest franchise of the Australasia League. In his first four years, Sydney won 64, 65, 65, and 63 games. Rowland was a full-time immediately and had a strong rookie year despite leading in losses at 10-22. He posted 7.3 WAR, earning 1993 Rookie of the Year honors.

In his seventh start in 1994, Rowland suffered a fractured elbow. He had a setback in August that required surgery, putting him out 13 months in total. Rowland made it back with respectable efforts in 1995 and 1996. He led in innings pitched in 1996 and led the AL in wins with 18 despite also posting 20 losses thanks to Sydney’s general ineptitude.

Rowland had a nice 7.0 WAR effort in 1997, which prompted Sydney to give him a six-year, $15,600,000 extension in the offseason. The Snakes won 88 games and earned a rare second place finish. His WAR went down in 1998, but his ERA did too, taking third in Pitcher of the Year voting. Sydney fell to .500 that year, but seemed to be trending towards at least some level of competitiveness.

It surprised many when Sydney traded Rowland in October 1998. Two-time defending Pacific League champ Guam scooped him up in exchange for five prospects. With the Snakes, Rowland had an 85-84 record, 2.71 ERA, 1543.2 innings, 1407 strikeouts, 117 ERA+, and 29.7 WAR. Although he had more innings with Sydney, Rowland became far better known for his time with the Golden Eagles.

Guam continued its Pacific League dynasy, winning the title in 1999, 2000, and 2001. They set an OBA record at 119-43 en route to the 1999 Oceania Championship over Christchurch. The Golden Eagles won it all again in 2000 against Auckland, but lost in the 2001 finale to Adelaide. Rowland had a strong playoff career with a 1.71 ERA in six starts, 47.1 innings, 43 strikeouts, a 2-3 record, 205 ERA+, and 1.5 WAR.

Rowland had a nice debut season in 1999, then really turned into a true ace for the first time in 2000. He had a league and career best 11.0 WAR, 23-11 record, and 319 strikeouts. This earned Rowland his lone Pitcher of the Year honor. In 2001, a hamstring strain cost him a month, but he posted a league and career best 2.28 ERA. Rowland finished second in Pitcher of the Year voting.

Elbow and rotator cuff strains cost him half of the 2002 campaign. Guam’s Pacific League run ended here, falling four games short of Fiji for first. The Golden Eagles fell to around .500 in 2003. Rowland bounced back for a strong 2003 with a 2.34 ERA and 7.7 WAR. Guam hoped he could help prevent them from needing a full rebuild.

Disaster struck Rowland in spring training of 2004. He suffered a torn labrum, putting him out ten months and the entire campaign. Guam struggled to 75-87, their first losing season since 1989. They decided to begin the rebuild and didn’t re-sign Rowland.

With the Golden Eagles, Rowland had a 90-44 record, 2.63 ERA, 1332 innings, 1222 strikeouts, 257 walks, 74 complete games, 136 ERA+, and 36.2 WAR. He was at a crossroads as he rehabbed with many teams not wanting to risk signing a guy off that kind of injury at age 35. Rowland looked good though in his first workouts back and caught the attention of MLB’s Hartford. The Huskies gave him a four-year, $32,800,000 deal as they hoped to find a diamond in the rough.

Rowland pitched in the 2005 WBC and showed promise with a 1.64 ERA over 11 innings. Tragically in spring training almost exactly one year later, Rowland tore his labrum again. Doctors told him he had to retire and he never pitched a single inning in MLB for Hartford.

For his career, Rowland had a 175-128 record, 2.67 ERA, 2875.2 innings, 2629 strikeouts, 575 walks, 155 complete games, 32 shutouts, 125 ERA+, and 66.0 WAR. His accumulations were definitely on the lower end compared to most OBA Hall of Fame pitchers, although his rate stats were good. Rowland was definitely borderline, but he did have a couple things working in his favor.

Rowland helped Guam win two OBA titles, looked good in the postseason, and had a Pitcher of the Year. It also didn’t hurt that his debut ballot in 2009 was a weak group with no standouts. Enough voters were sympathetic to his injury plight and got Rowland across the line at 74.1%. This was enough to make him the lone OBA Hall of Fame addition for 2009.

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First baseman Akbar Fatchurohman was the lone addition for the Austronesia Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. He earned a first ballot addition, although narrowly crossed the 66% requirement at 70.2%. RF Eli Cheng fell painfully short in his debut at 64.1%. CL Chang-Heng Chang was the only other guy above 50%, debuting with 54.2%. No players were dropped from the ballot after ten tries in 2009.



Akbar Fatchurohman – First Base – Depok Demons – 70.2% First Ballot

Akbar Fatchurohman was a 6’3’’, 200 pound right-handed first baseman from Curug, Indonesia, a village in the Banten province in western Java. Fatchurohman was a well-rounded batter with good to sometimes great contact skills. He was above average at drawing walks and decent at avoiding strikeouts. Fatchurohman didn’t have prolific power, but he had a steady pop in his bat. Over his 162 game average, he got you 26 homers, 26 doubles, and 6 triples in the low offense environment of APB.

Fatchurohman’s baserunning speed and skills were both firmly mediocre. However, he was known for having outstanding glovework as a career first baseman. He won 13 Gold Gloves, which at retirement was second in APB history at the position only behind Kent Wang’s 15. Fatchurohman had good durability for most of his 19-year career.

Described as having a “winning smile,” Fatchurohman was one of most beloved superstars in Indonesian baseball. He was one of the hardest working guys in the game and you’d have a hard time finding anyone to say a bad word about him.

He was a top prospect entering APB’s 1984 Draft and was picked fourth overall by Depok. Fatchurohman played nearly his entire career with the Demons, starting with a part-time role in his first two years. He earned the full-time gig in 1987 and held it through 2002 for Depok. Fatchurohman started 135+ games in all but two seasons in that stretch, missing a few weeks to injury in 1996 and 1998.

1987 was his first of 11 seaosns worth 6+ WAR. It also started a run of nine consecutive Gold Glove wins at first base. He’d miss it in 1996, but win four more from 1997-2000. Fatchurohman’s finest effort would be his lone MVP season in 1988. He led the Sundaland Association and had career bests in hits (196), homers (40), total bases (356), average (.317), slugging (.576), OPS (.935), wRC+ (233), and WAR (11.6).

Fatchurohman won his first of six Silver Sluggers that year, also winning in 1989, 90, 92, 2000, and 2001. He wasn’t generally a league leader otherwise, but he was one of the most reliable bats in APB. After the 1990 season, Depok gave Fatchurohman an eight-year, $11,040,000 extension.

Despite Fatchurohman’s efforts, Depok was a bottom-rung franchose for much of his tenure. They had a playoff drought from 1979-1996 with only three winning seasons in that stretch. Fatchurohman chugged along and also played for Indonesia in the World Baesball Championship. From 1988-01, he had 65 games, 44 starts, 39 hits, 25 runs, 8 doubles, 8 home run, 21 RBI, a .231/.323/.444 slash, 122 wRC+, and 1.1 WAR.

Depok finally snapped their playoff drought, winning the Java League title in 1997, 98, and 2000. However, they were thwarted each time in the Sundaland Association Championship. In 16 playoff starts, Fatchurohman had a .274/.338/.532 slash, 193 wRC+, 17 hits, 6 runs, 4 doubles, 4 home runs, and 7 RBI.

Fatchurohman got a two-year, $5,040,000 extension after the 1998 season. In 2001 at age 38, he surprised many by leading the SA in batting average and OBP. He regressed a bit in 2002, although was still a plenty good starter. That would end his run with Depok.

Oddly enough, Fatchurohman had changed his jersey number four times with the Demons, starting with #8, then #14, then #4, then #17, and back to #8. #4 was his longest tenure, which was retired in #4 for pitching Chandra Igbonefo. Therefore, Fatchurohman doesn’t specifically have a number retired despite his impressive tenure and extreme popularity with Depok.

In his last year with the Demons, Fatchurohman became the 5^th APB hitter to reach 2500 career hits. A.J. Tan played his last season in 2002 and became the new hits leader in APB at 2957. Many thought Fatchurohman would catch this mark. Jakarta signed him to a two-year, $5,760,000 deal in hopes of just that.

Fatchurohman looked okay in his first month with Jakarta. However, he suffered a torn abdominal muscle that cost him three months. He had a 124 wRC+ and 0.8 WAR over 55 games with the Jaguars. Fatchurohman decided to retire with that, leaving the game at age 41.

The final stats for Fatchurohman: 2580 hits, 1075 runs, 419 doubles, 415 home runs, 1229 RBI, a .272/.330/.467 slash, 174 wRC+, and 113.5 WAR. As of 2037, he’s 11^th in WAR among position players. The totals look low compared to other leagues, but keep in mind how low offense APB is.

As of 2037, Fatchurohman still ranks ninth in hits, 17^th in RBI, 25^th in runs, 14^th in doubles, and 30^th in home runs. He also has a 78.8 career zone rating at first base, which ranks third all-time in APB. APB voters are harsh on batters and Fatchurohman only received 70.2%. Still, he got his deserved spot in the Hall of Fame and was the lone APB inductee in 2009.

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Chinese League Baseball inducted two players into the Hall of Fame in 2009. SP Momota Oichi was the headliner as a first ballot selection with 89.6%. Fellow pitcher Martin Cui narrowly crossed the 66% requirement with 67.3% on his third ballot. SP Jun Tang barely missed making it a three-man group, missing at 64.4% on his third ballot. No one else was above 50%.



Pitcher Xueming Hao was dropped after ten failed ballots. He pitched 14 years for Beijing, winning three rings and one Pitcher of the Year. Hao had a 146-105 record, 2.33 ERA, 2413 innings, 2690 strikeouts, 111 ERA+, and 44.8 WAR. A nice run, but not enough longevity or accumulations to stand out. Hao peaked with a debut at 25.4% and ended with 17.2%.

Another pitcher dropped after ten years was Jiancheng Jiao with a similar problem. He won five rings with Dalian’s dynasty and one POTY, but his CLB run lasted only nine years. He had a 138-78 record, 2.21 ERA, 2062.1 innings, 2328 strikeouts, 116 ERA+, and 42.0 WAR. Jiao peaked at 27.8% in 2001 and finished with 8.4%.

1B Yiming Sui also fell off after ten ballots, winning three Silver Sluggers and a ring with Hangzhou in 12 years. Sui led in hits five times, doubles, six times, and batting average thrice. He had 1966 hits, 779 runs, 366 doubles, 240 home runs, 834 RBI, a .288/.322/.458 slash, 165 wRC+, and 71.5 WAR.

As of 2037, Sui still ranks sixth in doubles. CLB voters are already harsh on hitters and being out of China after his age 34 season kept him from more impressive accumulations. Sui got as high as 42.1% in 2001, but fell to a measly 8.1% by the end in 2009.



Momota Oichi – Starting Pitcher – Xi’an Attack – 89.6% First Ballot

Momota Oichi was a 6’1’’, 190 pound right-handed pitcher Toyohashi, Japan; a city of around 377,000 within the Aichi Prefecture. Oichi had excellent stuff with average control and below average movement. His fastball regularly hit 97-99 mph and was complimented by a stellar changeup and good curveball.

Oichi’s ability to change speeds made him an elite strikeout pitcher during his prime. Compared to most CLB aces, Oichi’s stamina was subpar. He had great durability though, so he still gave you a full load during his peak. The lack of stamina did cause some later teams to use him more out of the bullpen.

Oichi was a very unique case as Japanese players almost never defected from the East Asia Baseball sphere as amateurs. However, after playing at Osaka Toin High School, Oichi declared for CLB’s 1989 Draft. Many Chinese teams were unfamiliar with him, as they didn’t bother scouting in Japan for obvious reasons. Xi’an was impressed with his potential though and picked him early in the second round with the 28^th overall pick.

In 1990 and 1991, Oichi was left on the developmental roster. Xi’an brought him up for 1992 as a part-time starter at age 21. After a promising showing, he earned a full-time spot in the rotation for the next eight years. Oichi already drew attention throughout CLB by taking second in Pitcher of the Year voting in 1993.

1994 saw two no-hitters by Oichi, the first on May 1 against Jinan with 10 Ks and 1 BB, followed by a second on June 23 versus Harbin with 10 Ks and 2 BBs. He was third in Pitcher of the Year voting, leading the Northern League in WAR. Oichi was the WARlord the next three seasons, peaking with 9.0 in 1997.

From 1995-99, Oichi led five straight seasons in strikeouts. 1995 saw CLB’s second-ever pitching Triple Crown with his only ERA title at 1.66 and an 18-6 record. Oichi led in wins in 1996 and 1998 as well while leading in WHIP in 1995 and 1998. His 383 strikeouts in 1998 ranked sixth most in a season to that point and still sits eighth as of 2037.

Naturally, this dominance allowed Oichi to rack up awards. He won four consecutive Pitcher of the Year titles from 1995-98 and took third in 1999. Oichi was the first-ever four-time POTY in CLB history and as of 2037 is one of two to win them consecutively. In 1998, he threw two more no-hitters, one against Shanghai with 12 ks and 1 BB on 6/23 and the other with 13 Ks and 1 BB versus Beijing on 7/22. Oichi was the first CLB pitcher with four no-hitters, a mark only Jinlong Han would match. He may be the only pitcher in world history to twice have two no-hitters in a single year.

Oichi’s dominance helped turn Xi’an into a contender, ending 14-year playoff drought in 1994. The Attack made it to the China Series in 1994 and 1995, losing to the Dalian dynasty in 1994 but winning it all against Zhengzhou in 1995. Xi’an missed the playoffs in 1996, but earned four straight berths from 1997-2000. They only made the semifinal once in that stretch and couldn’t get back to the final.

In the playoffs, Oichi posted very strong numbers. He had 81.2 innings over 11 starts for a 5-3 record, 1.65 ERA, 122 strikeouts, 15 walks, 155 ERA+, and 3.8 WAR. His role in Xi’an’s success led ot his #27 uniform eventually being retired.

Xi’an wanted to lock up Oichi long-term, but he was enticed by big money offers internationally. Oichi entered free agency after the 2000 season, which ended his run in China at only age 30. With the Attack, Oichi had a 147-83 record, 1.83 ERA, 2178.2 innings, 2907 strikeouts, 401 walks, 235/277 quality starts, 142 ERA+, and 65.2 WAR.

The briefness of his run meant that Oichi isn’t atop the CLB leaderboards. However, he still ranks 22^nd in strikeouts and 33^rd in pitching WAR despite only a nine-year run. Four straight Pitcher of the Year awards and a ring are impossible to overlook and Oichi received the first ballot Hall of Fame induction at 89.6% in 2009.

Oichi still pitched eight more seasons and had big expectations. MLB’s Montreal Maples gave him a six-year, $23,040,000 deal. However, his spring training performance was so lackluster that Montreal cut him without a single major league game. Tampa picked him up for the rest of the season with a mediocre 4.84 ERA over 89.1 innings.

He would bounce around between starting and relief over the next few years in MLB. Oichi played in St. Louis in 2002, Cleveland in 2003, Milwaukee in 2004, Tampa in 2005, both St. Louis and Calgary in 2006, Toronto in 2007, and Jacksonville in 2008. He never had more than average-at-best production, which made MLB officials wonder what the hype was all about.

Oichi didn’t have any steep decline or major injury either; he just didn’t transition to MLB well. His weaker stamina perhaps played a notable role. For his MLB tenure, Oichi had a 57-48 record and 11 saves, 3.97 ERA, 945.2 innings, 826 stirkeouts, 296 walks, 90 ERA+, 109 FIP-, and 6.6 WAR.

That run hurt his overall pro stats, but he still ended with a strong 204-131 record 2.47 ERA, 3124.1 innings, 3733 strikeouts, 697 walks, 121 ERA+, and 71.8 WAR. Oichi’s peak was brief, but among the strongest that Chinese baseball had seen to that point in its relatively brief history. Thus, Oichi still earns a spot in the history books.



Martin Cui – Staring Pitcher – Wuhan Wolverines – 67.3% Third Ballot

Martin Cui was a 6’2’’, 200 pound left-handed pitcher from Nanyang, a prefecture-level city with nearly ten million inhabitants in China’s Henan province. Cui was a great strikeout pitcher in his prime with stellar stuff and excellent control. His fastball his 96-98 mph, but Cui’s outstanding changeup was his most dangerous pitch. He also had an okay curveball and subpar movement generally, leading to some issues with allowing home runs. Still, Cui’s ability to change speeds led to whiffs a’plenty.

Cui had solid stamina and was considered a respectable defensive pitcher. Injuries would plague him though, including a few major ones in his 30s. Cui was one of the most well respected players in Chinese baseball, known for a great work ethic, strong leadership, and impressive intelligence. He was considered truly one of the great people within the game.

Despite his eventual success, Cui wasn’t a tip-top prospect. In the 1990 CLB Draft, he wasn’t picked until early in the third round, going 55^th overall to Wuhan. Cui’s entire Chinese run was with thte Wolverines, who made him a part-time starter in 1991. It was a surprise success for Wuhan, winning 105 games to end a 14-year playoff drought. They lost in the semifinal to Beijing, but Cui’s one playoff start saw one run allowed in seven innings with 10 strikeouts.

Cui earned a full-time gig after that and held it for the next decade. In his second season, he exploded for a Southern League best 409 strikeouts, 9.8 WAR, and 20-12 record. Cui was the first CLB pitcher to fan 400+ in a season, topping the previous high-mark of 382 by Robin Kwan. Despite that, Cui wasn’t even a finalist for Pitcher of the Year voting and Wuhan narrowly missed the playoffs.

The Wolverines got back in 1993 and made it to the China Series, losing in the final to Dalian’s dynasty. Cui had a 2.25 ERA over 28 playoff innings. Elbow tendinitis had cost him a chunk of the season. In 1994, Cui again led in strikeouts with 406, three off his all-time record. But he allowed a league-worst 30 home runs and again wasn’t a POTY finalist.

Cui never was a finalist for Pitcher of the Year, despite having three great seasons from 1995-97. Each had 10+ WAR, including a career and league best 12.9 and 21 FIP- in 1996. That effort is the ninth-best WAR by a CLB pitcher as of 2037. 199 also saw Cui set the CLB single-game record with 22 strikeouts against Macau on 7/22; a mark no-one else has reached in China. Cui still holds the top three strikeout seasons in CLB history with only Jinlong Han eventually crossing 400+ with 403 in 2000.

Wuhan missed the playoffs from 1994-2000, but Cui kept trucking along. After the 1996 season, he signed a five-year, $10,340,000 contract extension. In 1999, biceps tendinitis knocked him out two months. Then in spring training 2000, Cui suffered a torn flexor tendon. He missed the entire season and had his career in doubt.

Cui made it back in 2001 and looked respectable, but not dominant. He stepped up big in the playoffs as Wuhan ended their drought. Cui allowed only one run over 22.1 innings with 25 strikeouts, helping the Wolverines win their first-ever China Series over Beijing. As of 2037, this is Wuhan’s only title.

This also marked the end of Cui’s run in China, as he entered free agency at age 34. With the Wolverines, he had a 126-102 record, 1.95 ERA, 2249 innings, 3247 strikeouts, 368 walks, 223/272 quality starts, 122 ERA+, 57 FIP-, and 75.3 WAR. The advanced stats are quite kind to Cui, who in 2037 ranks 12^th in strikeouts and 20^th in WAR. Many scholars expressed disbelief that he was never even a finalist for Pitcher of the Year in his prime.

Cui continued to seemingly be overlooked as he entered the Hall of Fame ballot. Some felt he didn’t stick around long enough and others thought big strikeout numbers were over-rated. Cui missed the cut at 59.2% and 52.3% in his first two ballots. Third time was the charm, barely crossing the line at 67.3% to join CLB’s 2009 Hall of Fame class.

Like his HOF classmate Oichi, Cui’s post-CLB career was unremarkable. He went to Mexico and signed a one-year deal worth $2,880,000 with Toreeon. Cui was firmly mediocre, then looked no better in 2003 with Haiti. He joined Salvador in 2004, where he suffered a stretched elbow ligament that summer, missing ten months.

Cui made it back in 2005 with Monterrey, but looked forgettable over 74 innings. Tijuana gave him a chance for 2006 and he was off to a good start with a 2.76 ERA in five starts. Sadly, he suffered a torn labrum in that fifth start, effectively ending his career at age 39. In CABA, Cui had a 26-26 record, 4.10 ERA, 476.1 innings, 455 strikeouts, 93 ERA+, and 4.9 WAR.

For his entire pro career, Cui had a 152-128 record, 2.32 ERA, 2725.1 innings, 3702 strikeouts, 434 walks, 116 ERA+, 65 FIP-, and 80.2 WAR. He posted a unique career and forever holds an important spot on China’s leaderboards with his three 400+ strikeout seasons.

[FuzzyRussianHat]

Three players were added into the West African Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009, each on their first ballot. Leading the way were pitchers Pomeyie Mensah at 89.8% and Antonio Akinyemi at 78.7%. Joining them was LF Benedict Collins at 74.8%.



1B Daouda Kadri only barely missed the 66% requirement with 65.0% on his seventh try. It was the third straight year that Kadri was within a mere one percentage point. Two other debuting players were above 50% with SP Angelo Costa at 58.6% and 2B Hamza Seidu with 57.3%. No one was dropped from the ballot in 2009 after ten failed tries.




Pomeyie “Digger” Mensah – Starting Pitcher – Kano Condors – 89.8% First Ballot

Pomeyie Mensah was a 6’1’’, 200 pound left-handed pitcher from Kumasi, Ghana’s second largest city. Mensah was known for having excellent stuff, good movement, and average control. His fastball was solid despite peaking in the 95-97 mph range and was mixed with a great changeup and good slider. Mensah’s stamina was subpar, but he stayed healthy in his early seasons for good innings. He was a smart pitcher who knew how to pick his spots.

Ahead of the 1991 WAB Draft, Mensah was highly touted as a prospect. Kano had the #1 overall pick and grabbed Mensah, who spent his entire career with the Condors. Kano was great in WAB’s first decade, but had bottomed out at 49-113 in the 1990 season. Mensah would help them start their historic dynasty run. The Condors were still terrible in 1992, but had winning seasons in 1993 and 1994, then started a 12-year playoff streak in 1995.

Mensah was a full-time starter immediately and looked delightfully average in his first season. He was better in his second two seasons, leading in 1994 in both wins and quality starts. It was also his first of four seasons with 300+ strikeouts. It would be 1995, the year Kano’s playoff streak started, that Mensah fully emerged as a true ace.

His 1995 saw an ERA title (2.20) and league-best 0.96 WHIP, earning Pitcher of the Year honors. Kano signed Mensah to a five-year, $6,060,000 extension in the winter. The Condors were defeated in that season’s Eastern League Championship Series. They fell in the 1996 ELCS as well, although Mensah’s stats were solid.

Despite plaing his whole career in Nigeria, Mensah did return home to Ghana regularly for the World Baseball Championship. From 1993-2002, he tossed 149.2 innings with a 2.04 ERA, 6-6 record, 198 strikeouts, 175 ERA+, and 4.6 WAR. Mensah finished third in 1997’s Best Pitcher voting.

Mensah was third in 1996 Pitcher of the Year voting, then won the award for a second time in 1997. This was his crown jewel season, leading with career bests in wins (24-7), ERA (1.33), WHIP (0.79), FIP- (50), and WAR (9.6). The ERA mark was a WAB single-season record and still stands as the best mark as of 2037. 1997 also saw Mensah’s career high of 332 strikeouts.

That effort helped Kano officially start their dynasty, as they won the WAB Championship over Nouakchott. The Condors would dominate the Eastern League with nine straight pennants from 1997-2005. Kano three-peated as WAB champs from 1997-1999 and again from 2001-2003. In his playoff career, Mensah had a 2.83 ERA over 108 innings, 8-3 record, 122 strikeouts, 26 walks, 136 ERA+, and 2.2 WAR.

Mensah would take second in 1999 Pitcher of the Year voting, which was his lone season leading in strikeouts. He also led in WHIP in 1998. 1997 would be notable for a perfect game with 11 strikeouts against Port Harcourt on May 6. Kano gave Mensah another six years and $12,440,000 in April 2000. His ERA did balooon up to 3.54 that year, although he stil went 20-3 and struck out 277.

Entering his age 32 season in 2001, Mensah suffered his first major setback. In June, he suffered from ulnar nerve entrapment, knocking him out 3-4 months. He would make it back for the postseason to earn his fourth WAB ring. Mensah would miss all of the 2002 season though with a torn rotator cuff suffered in spring training.

Mensah made his comeback in 2003 at age 34 and saw very mixed results with a 4.15 ERA and 95 ERA+ (although he had a 75 FIP-). However in July, Mensah tore his rotator cuff again, putting him on the shelf for 15 months. This effectively ended his career as although he was on roster in 2004, he never pitched again. Mensah officially retired from the game at age 36 and Kano retired his #14 uniform.

Mensah finished with a 174-75 record, 2.76 ERA, 2165.2 innings, 2879 strikeouts, 523 wwalks, 200/319 quality starts, 138 ERA+, 73 FIP-, and 58.3 WAR. As of 2037, he’s 25^th all-time in pitching WAR. Mensah’s ERA is among the better ones compared to other WAB Hall of Famers, although he didn’t have the longevity or innings to feature prominently on the leaderboards.

His accolades were undeniable though; two POTYs, a perfect game, multiple rings for Kano’s dynasty, and the single-season ERA record. Even if he didn’t live up to his final contract due to injury, it is hard not to be satisfied with that resume with their #1 pick as a Kano fan. Mensah received 89.8% for a first ballot induction as the headliner of WAB’s 2009 Hall of Fame class.

[FuzzyRussianHat]

Antonio Akinyemi – Pitcher – Accra Alligators – 78.7% First Ballot

Antonio Akinyemi was a 6’2’’, 200 pound left-handed pitcher from Iseyin, Nigeria; a city of around 363,000 inhabiants in the country’s southwest. Akinyemi had strong stuff, great movement, and good control. His most potent pitch was a cutter that regularly hit the 97-99 mph range. Akinyemi also had a curveball, changeup, and splitter on offer.

His stamina was quite weak, even by the lower standards expected from WAB pitchers compared to other leagues. However, Akinyemi’s durability was outstanding and he never missed an appearance. Despite his talents, he was a loud mouthed jerk. Akinyemi’s outspoken and selfish nature didn’t make him many friends in the clubhouse.

Akinyemi was signed as a teenage amateur in December 1984 by Accra and spent six seasons in their academy. The Alligators debuted him in 1991 at age 22, primarily in relief. Akinyemi stayed in the bullpen as a part-time closer the next two years and did fwell in that role, taking second in Reliever of the Year voting in both 1992 and 1993. Accra moved him to the rotation full-time after that and he remained a starter for the rest of his career.

In his second year as a starter, Akinyemi led the Western League in ERA with 2.20, a career-best for his starting seasons. He also had a career-best 20-3 record, taking second in Pitcher of the Year voting. After an 18-year playoff drought, Accra made it to the WLCS in 1995, but lost to Abidjan. Akinyemi was mid in the playoffs, but his overall effort on the season earned him a four-year, $4,580,000 extension that winter.

Akinyemi was still good in 1996, but weaker. He struggled with a 4.70 ERA in the playoffs, but Accra earned it’s first-ever WAB Championship over Ibadan. The Alligators were a playoff team in 1997, but lost in the wild card round. Akinyemi led in quality starts at 24 and earned his first Pitcher of the Year.

Accra narrowly missed the playoffs in 1998 and the clubhouse was fed up with Akinyemi’s obnoxiousness. That offseason, the 30-year old was traded in the final year of his deal to Kano for two prospects. With the Alligators, Akinyemi had an 88-65 record, 2.55 ERA, 1319 innings, 1486 strikeouts, 223 walks, 148 ERA+, and 32.3 WAR. Despite his personality clashes, the franchise would later opt to retire his #32 uniform for his role in their 1996 championship.

In his one year with Kano, Akinyemi led the Eastern League in WHIP (0.90), K/BB (11.9), and FIP- (57), while posting a career best 6.8 WAR and an All-Star Game MVP win. Akinyemi was ddecent with a 3.32 ERA in 19 playoff innings, helping the Condors three-peat and finish 123-39. As of 2037, the 1999 Kano squad still holds the WAB record for best record by a team to win it all.

Although Akinyemi liked getting his second ring, he was more excited to get paid in the upcoming free agency period. He was signed by Abidjan, who had fallen to Kano in the WAB Championship. The Athletes gave Akinyemi a five-year, $11,400,000 deal. It immediately paid off, as Akinyemi led in ERA in both 2000 and 2001; winning Pitcher of the Year both seasons.

Abidjan met Kano again in the 2000 final and upset a 125-37 Condors squad. They battled once more in 2001, although Kano prevailed in that encounter. Over six playoff starts for the Athletes, Akinyemi had a 2.82 ERA over 38.1 innings, 32 strikeouts, and 138 ERA+.

Akinyemi had a good 2002, but diminishing velocity saw his strikeout numbers drop. In 2003, Akinyemi now was only hitting 94-96 mph and he posted a very pedestrian 3.76 ERA. He retired after the season at age 35 and finished in Abidjan with a 50-31 record, 2.84 ERA, 772 innings, 782 strikeouts, 139 walks, 132 ERA+, and 16.7 WAR.

The final stats saw a 155-98 record, 2.64 ERA, 2281 innings, 2530 strikeouts, 384 walks, 176/330 quality starts, 143 ERA+, and 55.8 WAR. Like his Hall of Fame classmate Pomeyie Mensah, Akinyemi didn’t have the longevity or innings to make a big dent on the leaderboards. He had a better ERA than Mensah, but fewer strikeouts and a lower WAR. A couple voters snubbed him out of protest for being a jerk.

That said, it is hard to deny a three-time Pitcher of the Year winner. Akinyemi also has a unique distinction of having three championship rings with three different teams. Akinyemi earned a first ballot nod at 78.7% to join the all-time greats in 2009.



Benedict “Coffin” Collins – Left Field – Abidjan Athletes – 74.8% First Ballot

Benedict Collins was a 6’0’’, 195 pound right-handed left feidler from Kaduna, Nigeria; the country’s eight-largest city with around 1.1 million inhabitants. Collins was an excellent leadoff hitter that was a master at getting on base, leading the league six times in on-base percentage. He was a great contact hitter who was very good at drawing walks and outstanding at avoiding strikeouts.

Collins’ speed and baserunning ability were both tremendous with around a 75% successful steal rate. With his ability to put the ball in play, he was frustrating for opposing pitchers. Collins had great gap power, averaging 35 doubles and 22 triples per his 162 game average. He wasn’t going to go yard often though, hitting only 28 home runs for his entire career.

Defensively, Collins played pretty much exclusively in left field. He graded out as just below average for his career, but was perfectly serviceable. Inuries would hinder his potential for much of his career. However, Collins’ play style made him a popular player during his tenure in the Ivory Coast.

Collins was signed as a teenage amateur in January 1987 by Abidjan, moving him from his native Nigeria. He would still make some appearances for his country with eight berths in the World Baseball Championship from 1993-2004. Collins had 41 games and 34 starts, notably stealing 26 bases with 38 hits and 31 runs.

His pro debut came in 1990 at age 20 for Abidjan as a reserve. Collins was only an occasional starter in the next two seasons, being used effectively as a pinch hitter and pinch runner. By 1992, the Athletes emerged again as a Western League top contender being stuck in the middle of the standings for a few years. Abidjan won the 1992 Eastern League pennant, falling to Lagos in the WAB Championship.

Collins became a full-time starter from 1993-01 and played a big role in Abidjan’s success. The Athletes made the playoffs nine times from 1992-01 and won seven EL pennants (1992-95, 99-01) with two WAB titles (1994, 2000). From 1993-2000, Collins led the league eight straight seasons in stolen bases. He also led in OBP in six of those seasons.

Not only did he lead in steals, but he set WAB records for swipes. His career best was 139 in 1997, which remains the all-time record as of 2037. Collins also holds six of the top nine WAB steal seasons. Silver Sluggers are usually reserved for homer guys, but Collins won it in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000.

Collins never won MVP, but took second in both 1998 and 1999. From 1996-99, he led in runs scored thrice, hits once, triples thrice, walks twice, batting average once, and WAR thrice. Collins was the WARlord from 1997-99, peaking with 9.7 in 1998. That year also had career highs in runs (143), hits (217), doubles (47), triples (28), walks (102), batting average (.365), and OBP (.458). 1998 also featured an impressive 50-game on-base streak.


After the 1993 season, Abidjan locked him up long-term with an eight-year, $7,926,000 deal. Collins was a solid playoff performer in 47 games for the Athletes, getting 55 hits, 30 runs, 13 doubles, 6 triples, 25 stolen bases, a .335/.388/.524 slash, 151 wRC+, and 2.0 WAR. As of 2037, he’s fifth all-time in playoff steals.

Collins did have some injuries in his prime years, but had avoided missing too many games in his 20s. In 2000, he lost a month to a torn quad. Then in July 2001, his season ended with a ruptured MCL. That also marked the end of his Abidjan deal and the Athletes didn’t re-sign him. They were worried that his trademark speed would be greatly diminished from this injury heading into his age 32 season. This also marked the end of his West African run. Collins’ #22 uniform would get retired for his role in Abidjan’s decade of dominance.

With the Athletes, Collins had 1833 hits, 1067 runs, 341 doubles, 206 triples, 19 home runs, 508 RBI, 641 walks, 1144 stolen bases, a .342/.412/.493 slash, 152 wRC+, and 67.2 WAR. He was the first WAB player to reach 1000 career stolen bases and still ranks sixth as of 2037. Collins sits 31^st in WAR among position players. He left WAB as the career OBP leader and still ranks seventh in 2037.

The lack of longevity did hurt Collins with some WAB voters, as did the lack of home runs. But his unique skillset and role as the leadoff man for a dominant squad made up for any deficits on the resume. Collins was a first ballot addition at 74.8% to round off a solid 2009 WAB class.

Collins did play another six seasons of professional baseball, although he ended up in South America. Caracas signed him to a four-year, $13,280,000 deal for the 2002 season. Collins had a respectable debut with 2.9 WAR over 115 games. Injuries would cause him to play 42, 63, 53, and 78 games only in the following years with the Colts. In 2003, it was a torn abdominal muscle. In 2004, a broken hand and torn hip flexor. A strained hamstring ruined much of 2005 with assorted knee and back troubles in 2006.

Still, Caracas won the Venezuela Division in each of Collins’ seasons and won the Bolivar League title in 2003 and 2006. They fell in Copa Sudamerica both seaosns, but Collins did make a nice playoff impact. In 36 starts, he had 41 hits, 25 runs, 10 doubles, 14 stolen bases, a .297/.380/.478 slash, 124 wRC+, and 1.2 WAR.

In 2006, he posted 3.3 WAR over 78 starts, showing Collins could still perform when he stayed on the field. Caracas had given him a qualifying offer for a fifth and final season. With the Colts, Collins had 415 hits, 215 runs, 66 doubles, 50 triples, 139 RBI, 155 walks, 136 stolen bases, a .321/.394/.466 slash, 129 wRC+, and 10.0 WAR.

Collins stayed in Beisbol Sudamerica and signed in 2007 for one year and $1,900,000 with Cali. He struggled in his limited use with 40 games and 13 starts with a 92 wRC+. Collins was un-signed in 2008 and retired that winter at age 38.

For his entire pro career, Collins had 2272 hits, 1293 runs, 410 doubles, 256 triples, 28 home runs, 659 RBI, 801 walks, a 6.9% strikeout rate, 1289 stolen bases (caught 429 times), a .337/.407/.487 slash, 147 wRC+, and 77.2 WAR. Collins goes down as one of the more impressive leadoff guys of his era.

[FuzzyRussianHat]

Two players were added into the South Asia Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. Pitcher Kirpal Kushwaha was a no-brainer with 93.7% in his debut. Joining him was second baseman Abdul Deepkaran, who got the big bump up to 79.5% in his fourth ballot. Three others were above 50% with 1B Sunil Lamichhane debuting at 56.5%, C Kumar Patel at 53.2% for his second ballot, and CL Saddam Rahman at 51.4% for his third ballot. No players were dropped after ten ballots.


Kirpal Kushwaha – Starting Pitcher – Delhi Drillers – 93.7% First Ballot

Kripal Kushwaha was a 6’4’’, 190 pound right-handed pitcher from Konnagar, a town of 76,000 in India’s West Bengal state. Kushwaha had impressive stuff with incredible movement, although his control was often lacking. He had a filthy 98-100 mph dancing fastball along with a good slider and changeup. His fastball made him one of the most impressive strikeout pitchers of his era. Kushwaha’s stamina was good compared to most SAB aces, but he did have some injury woes.

Kushwaha was spotted as a teenage amateur and signed in December 1984 by Delhi. He spent four seasons in the Drillers’ academy, debuting as a part-time starter in 1989 at age 21. Kushwaha had a pretty good rookie season, taking third in Rookie of the Year voting. He earned a full-time rotation spot for the next seven years with Delhi.

In his third season, Kushwaha led the Indian League in wins, innings, strikeouts, and WAR; taking second in Pitcher of the Year voting. The Drillers earned their first-ever playoff berth and would start a streak of five straight playoff appearances. They couldn’t hold up against Ahmedabad’s dynasty and suffered first round defeats four times. Delhi had the top seed in 1993 at 111-51, but was upset by wild card Kanpur. Their lone ILCS appearance came in 1992 with a loss to the Animals.

Kushwaha was plenty good in the playoffs with a 5-0 record, 2.62 ERA, 44.2 innings, 64 stirkeouts, 124 ERA+, and 1.5 WAR. He led again in strikeouts in 1992, but also walks, taking third in POTY voting. Kushwaha won the award for the first tiem in 1993 as the leader in wins (21-5), WAR (8.8), and quality starts (29). This also saw a career-best 2.08 ERA.

Delhi gave Kushwaha a three-year, $3,130,000 extension after the 1993 campaign. He was second in 1994 POTY voting, leading in strikeouts and WAR for the third time each. 1995 would see a significant setback with ulnar nerv entrapment in late July, knocking him out for five months. He had a respectable bounce back in 1996, his final season with the Drillers.

For Delhi, Kushwaha had a 115-65 record, 2.39 ERA, 1718.2 innings, 2364 strikeouts, 577 walks, 136 ERA+, 169/212 quality starts, 64 FIP-, and 52.6 WAR. The Drillers would later retire his #6 uniform and he’d remain a popular franchise figure into retirement.

Kushwaha would enter free agency at age 29 and like many top players of his era, the options were limited to the Ahmedabad and Ho Chi Minh City dynasties. Those teams’ wealth from their success and the financial woes of other squads made free agency a restrictive thing. Kushwaha opted not to sign anywhere in 1997, but ultimately joined HCMC in 1998 on a two-year, $1,770,000 deal.

It was a great debut for Kushwaha, winning his second Pitcher of the Year. He led the Southeast Asia League in strikeouts, WHIP, shutouts, FIP-, and WAR. His 10.4 WAR was a career best and it was his fourth time leading in WAR and strikeouts. Kushwaha also had a no-hitter on June 6 with 14 Ks and 1 walk against Johor Bahru. Kushwaha posted a 2.17 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 29 playoff innings as Ho Chi Minh City lost in the 1998 SAB finals to Ahmedabad.

On April 26, 1999, Kushwaha suffered a damaged elbow ligament that knocked him out 26 months in total. He only made seven starts in 1999 and was unemployed in 2000 while rehabbing. HCMC brought him back in 2001 on a one-year deal, although a sore shoulder plagued him. Kushwaha struggled with a 6.10 ERA in his two playoff starts as well. In total for the Hedgehogs, he had a 29-8 record, 2.54 ERA, 358 innings, 462 strikeouts, 142 ERA+, and 12.9 WAR.

Now 34-years old, Yangon signed Kushwaha in 2002. He looked good when healthy, but a sprained ankle and sore shoulder cost him about half of the season. The Green Dragons brought him back in 2003 and he had a respectable mostly complete season. Forearm inflammation cost him any playoff time.

With Yangon, Kushwaha had a 23-9 record, 3.30 ERA, 321.1 innings, 317 stirkeouts, 91 walks, 115 ERA+, and 6.2 WAR. Kushwaha was still only 36 years old, but the injuries had taken a toll on him. He decided to retire from the game after the 2003 campaign.

Kushwaha ended with a 167-82 record, 2.54 ERA, 2398 innings, 3143 strikeouts, 746 walks, 231/307 quality starts, 71 complete games, 134 ERA+, 67 FIP-, and 71.6 WAR. Even with the injuries, Kushwaha still ranks 16^th all-time in pitching WAR as of 2037. His fastball was unhittable in his prime, helping him earn 93.7% in his Hall of Fame ballot debut. Thus, Kushwaha was the headliner for SAB’s 2009 class.



Abdul “Echo” Deepkaran – Second Base – Yangon Green Dragons – 79.5% Fourth Ballot

Abdul Deepkaran was a 5’11’’, 185 pound right-handed second baseman from Amritsar Cantonment, India; a small town of 11,000 in the state of Punjab. Deepkaran was a good contact hitter with a very solid pop in his bat, averaging 36 doubles, 27 home runs, and 9 triples per his 162 game average. His walk rate and strikeout rate were both below average, but he did reliable damage when he made contact.

Deepkaran’s speed was better than most, but he was a middling baserunner. He exclusively played second base for his career and graded out as delightfully average. However, guys who could field the spot respectively and provide a reliable bat weren’t easy to find. Deepkaran was fairly durable and was scrappy, known as a hard-working sparkplug type. His work ethic especially endeared him to fans, making him one of the most popular guys of his era.

In June 1983, Deepkaran was signed as a teenage amateur by Yangon, making the move from India to Mynamar. He debuted in 1986 with 73 games and 34 starts at age 21. Deepkaran earned the starting job after that and held it for nine years with the Green Dragons. Apart from 1994 due to torn ankle ligaments, Deepkaran started 140+ games each full season for Yangon.

Deepkaran led the Southeast Asia League in doubles in both 1989 and 1990. After the 1990 season, Deepkaran inked a five-year, $3,910,000 extension. In 1991, he won his lone batting title by leading with a .344 verage and 206 hits. This also saw a career-best 9.1 WAR, grabbing his lone MVP.

Deepkaran wasn’t otherwise a league leader type, but he posted 5+ WAR in six seasons for Yangon. He wasn’t an MVP finalist in any other year, but won Silver Sluggers for the Green Dragons from 1987-91 and in both 1993 and 1995.

Yangon made it to the SEAL Championship in 1990, but lost to the Ho Chi Minh City dynasty. The Green Dragons struggled the next four years, but made it back to the SEAL finals in 1995 and lost again to HCMC. 1995 marked the start of a lengthy playoff streak for Yangon, although it also marked the end of Deepkaran’s run there.

With Yangon, Deepkaran had 1577 hits, 735 runs, 342 doubles, 94 triples, 243 home runs, 878 RBI, a .294/.341/.529 slash, 144 wRC+, and 55.5 WAR. While still popular with many Green Dragons fans, some were irked by him leaving in free agency heading into his age 31 season. He left for the evil empire HCMC, joining the Hedgehogs on a five-year, $8,600,000 deal.

Deepkaran won Silver Sluggers for Ho Chi Minh City in 1996, 97, and 98; giving him ten for his career. He was the first player in SEAL history to win ten Sluggers. Injuries would cost him a few weeks of each of his HCMC seasons, but he was always healthy for the playoffs. During his tenure, the Hedgehogs won pennants in 1997, 98, 99, and 2000; each year facing Ahmedabad in the SAB Championship. They finally beat the Animals and won it all in both 1997 and 2000.

For his playoff career with HCMC, Deepkaran had 62 starts, 62 hits, 26 runs, 15 doubles, 3 triples, 8 home runs, 25 RBI, a .271/.327/.467 slash, 131 wRC+, and 1.4 WAR. Often times, those playoff numbers came came at the expense of his former team Yangon. Deepkaran took LCS MVP in both the 1997 and 1998 runs.

Deepkaran also was popular back home in India, playing for the national team from 1988-2001 in the World Baseball Championship. He had 108 games and 97 starts with 94 hits, 54 runs, 19 doubles, 6 triples, 17 home runs, 45 RBI, a .283/.355/.530 slash, 153 wRC+, and 3.5 WAR.

Back injuries kept him out almost half of the 2000 season and saw his numbers drop. Deepkaran became a free agent for 2001 and went unsigned, although he still played in that year’s WBC. He retired in the winter at age 36. With HCMC, he had 561 hits, 296 runs, 113 doubles, 100 home runs, 290 RBI, a .274/.325/.499 slash, 137 wRC+, and 19.4 WAR.

Deepkaran finished with 2138 hits, 1031 runs, 455 doubles, 118 triples, 343 home runs, 1168 RBI, a .288/.337/.520 slash, 142 wRC+, and 74.9 WAR. As of 2037, he’s third all-time in WAR among second basemen. The trouble for him is that he shared a position and era with two all-timers in Tirtha Upadhyaya and V.J. Williams. Because of that perhaps, Deepkaran missed the cut in his first three ballots.

He only narrowly missed the 66% requirement with 57.1%, 64.3%, and 63.6% in his first three ballots. The fourth time got Deepkaran over the hump for his deserved spot. He received 79.5% to join the SAB Hall of Fame in the 2009 voting.

[FuzzyRussianHat]

Right Fielder Labid Haroon became the fifth member of the Asian Baseball Federation Hall of Fame in 2009. On his third ballot, he barely crossed the 66% requirement with 66.4%. 1B Hazan Sheikh barely missed out with 61.9% on his eighth ballot; the closest he had gotten. No one else crossed the 1/3s mark with the best debut being LF Pouya Malek at 30.5%. No players were dropped after ten failed ballots.



It was, however, the final ballot for Hazan Sheikh. Criminal issues off the field led to him being removed following his eighth try*. Sheikh had an eight-year run with Faisalabad and won five Silver Sluggers, leading in home runs five times, RBI four times, total bases twice, and OPS twice. He then left for a seven-year MLB run between Chicago and Winnipeg.

With the Fire, Sheikh had 1009 hits, 564 runs, 175 doubles, 295 home runs, 697 RBI, a .286/.351/.590 slash, 196 wRC+, and 46.2 WAR. He was an elite power hitter in his short peak, but he wasn’t around long enough to get the tallies most voters wanted.

*For whatever reason, OOTP just ended his HOF eligibility after the eighth try, so I made up that backstory. Not sure if he would’ve made it if given two more tries, but figured it was worth mentioning.



Labid “Nails” Haroon – Right Field – Izmir Ice Caps – 66.4% Third Ballot

Labid Haroon was a 6’6’’, 205 pound right-handed right fielder from Quetta, Pakistan; the tenth largest city in the country with a population of over 1.6 million. Nicknamed “Nails” for his toughness, Haroon had a surprising profile considering his big size. You’d expect a 6’6’’ guy to be a big bopper, but Haroon had a whopping 22 home runs for his entire career. Instead, he was a traditional leadoff type guy.

Haroon was an excellent contact hitter and was stellar at avoiding strikeouts and putting the ball in play. He rarely drew walks though and wasn’t going to go yard. Still, Haroon had plenty of gap power, averaging 38 doubles and 19 triples per his 162 game average. He had excellent speed and was a very crafty base stealer. Haroon was terrific at stretching out for extra bases and used his long arms to his advantage.

Defensively, Haroon was a career right fielder, although he did play some designated hitter. Despite the speed, his range was unremarkable. That and a weaker arm meant he graded as a poor defender. Haroon’s high batting average and speed on the basepaths meant he was deserving of a place in the lineup despite any flaws.

Haroon was spotted by a visiting scout from Izmir at a camp in March 1987. The tall teenager was signed and brought to Turkey, where he spent most of four years in the developmental academy. Haroon debuted in 1990 at only age 19, but struggled in 32 games and 8 starts. He earned a full-time starting gig the next season and held it for six years with the Ice Caps.

In his first full season, Haroon was used as a designated hitter and won a Silver Slugger, leading the West Asia Association in hits and triples. He led again in hits for Izmir in both 1995 and 1996. Haroon led in 1995 with a career best 97 stolen bases. 1996 would see his first batting title and a career high .379 average. With the Ice Caps, Haroon topped 5+ WAR four times. His second Silver Slugger came in 1996 in right field.

Izmir won the WAA pennant in 1991, falling to Gujranwala in the ABF Championship. They made the playoffs again in 1993, but couldn’t advance by Tehran. The Ice Caps were in the mid-tier for the rest of Haroon’s run. He was delightfully average in 15 playoff games for Izmir with 15 hits, 7 runs, 6 extra base hits, a .259/.283/.448 slash, and 105 wRC+.

The Ice Caps gave Haroon a four-year, $2,198,000 extension after the 1993 season. Plantar fasciitis and a strained lat cost him much of the 1994 campaign, but he bounced back for solid 1995 and 1996 efforts. In total for Izmir, Haroon had 1144 hits, 565 runs, 229 doubles, 111 triples, 9 home runs, 345 RBI, 423 stolen bases, a .335/.363/.476 slash, 133 wRC+, and 33.0 WAR.

Haroon entered free agency in 1997 at only age 26, which excited potential buyers. He returned to Pakistan and signed a six-year, $8,410,000 deal with Hyderabad. The Horned Frogs had made the playoffs three straight years, but were denied each time in the Pakistan League Championship Series. They hoped that Haroon could help get them over the hump and ultimately, they were right.

Hyderabad won three straight Pakistan League pennants from 1997-99. They lost in the ABF Championship in 1997 and 1998 to Isfahan, but won it all in 1999 against Bursa. In 33 playoff starts, Haroon had 34 hits, 14 runs, 8 doubles, 3 triples, 13 RBI, 12 stolen bases, a .279/.311/.393 slash, 129 wRC+, and 0.8 WAR.

Haroon didn’t win awards with the Horned Frogs, but he led in batting average and stolen bases twice. He also led in triples thrice. Haroon’s finest effort was 1998, where he also led in hits and OBP while posting a career best 8.0 WAR and 198 wRC+. His first four seasons with the Horned Frogs were each worth 4.5+ WAR.

In 2001, Haroon missed some time to injury and looked pedestrian at the plate. For the only the second time, he didn’t crack a .300 batting average and posted a career-worst 1.5 WAR. In five seasons for Hyderabad, Haroon had 807 hits, 361 runs, 131 doubles, 67 triples, 13 home runs, 261 RBI, 403 stolen bases, a .314/.345/.432 slash, 154 wRC+, and 25.6 WAR.

Haroon surprised many by declining his contract option, entering free agency at age 31. His stock was at an all-time low though and if his contact skills were merely good, he didn’t have much value. Haroon was unsigned in both 2002 and 2003, finally retiring from pro baseball at only age 33.

Haroon finished with 1951 hits, 926 runs, 360 doubles, 178 triples, 22 home runs, 606 RBI, 826 stolen bases, a .326/.356/.457 slash, 143 wRC+, and 58.6 WAR. At retirement, he had the best batting average of any qualifying hitter and wouldn’t get passed until offensive numbers in ABF jumped in the 2020s. Haroon is still 11^th as of 2037 among hitters with 3000 plate appearances. He also ranks 13^th in stolen bases.

Still, it can be an uphill climb for leadoff guys to get noticed by Hall of Fame voters without the power numbers. Haroon was also hurt by having a shorter career than most. He debuted at 49.8% and slightly bumped to 51.9% on his second ballot. The third ballot in 2009 with weak competition saw Haroon just barely cross the 66% finish line. At 66.4%, he earned his spot as the lone ABF inductee in 2009.

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1B Bilal Hamdan became the fourth inductee into the Arab League Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. On his debut, Hamdan received 74.3% to cross the 66% requirement. Closer Khadr Seif barely missed joining him with a debut at 65.1%. Two fifth ballot guys also had strong showings, but fell just short. SP Ilwad Maxamed received 62.1% and CL Khemais Khalid had 60.3%. Also above 50% was SP Nacerdine Rahim with 51.3% on his fourth ballot.



Reliever Paul Arfaoui became the first player in ALB to last ten ballots and miss the cut. He played only five seasons in ALB with Sulaymaniya, but won Reliever of the Year thrice. Arfaoui led in saves thrice and also was second in 1992 Pitcher of the Year voting with a 0.76 ERA over 106.2 innings, 192 strikeouts, and 7.1 WAR.

In total, Arfaoui had 193 saves, a 1.48 ERA, 469.1 innings, 781 strikeouts, 231 ERA+, and 24.5 WAR. It is hard to be more dominant over five official years, but it still is too small of a sample size. He was 27 when ALB started, costing him a few possible years of accumulations. Arfaoui still hovered in the 30-40% range most of his time on the ballot, peaking at 45.8% in 2008.



Bilal Hamdan – First Base – Medina Mastodons – 74.3% First Ballot

Bilal Hamdan was a 6’4’’, 200 pound left-handed first baseman from Sur, Lebanon. Also known as Tyre, it has around 200,000 in the urban area and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Hamdan was one of the first great sluggers of the Arab League, averaging 41 home runs per 162 game average. He was also very good at drawing walks, but had a terrible strikeout rate.

Hamdan was a mediocre contact hitter, but luckily he hit the ball very hard. He also averaged 31 doubles per 162 games. He was much better against righties (152 wRC+, .900 OPS) than lefties (101 wRC+, .699 OPS). Hamdan’s speed was below average, but he was an intelligent and crafty baserunner.

In his first three ALB seasons, Hamdan played left field with lousy results. He moved to first base after that and excelled there defensively, winning nine Gold Gloves. Hamdan was incredibly likeable and a fan favorite, becoming one of ALB’s first beloved superstar players.

By the time ALB officially began in 1990, Hamdan already had been a very successful established pro in the various leagues around the region. He was one of the top targets for many squads ahead of the inaugural season. Hamdan ultimately moved to Saudi Arabia, signing a five-year, $3,940,000 deal with Medina. This began his official ALB career at age 29.

Hamdan was an immediate success, leading the Eastern Conference in home runs and RBI in his first season. He hit 45+ dingers and 100+ RBI in each of his seasons with the Mastodons. Hamdan led again in homers in 1992 and 1994, while leading in RBI in 1992. In 1992 and 1994, he also led in total bases, slugging, OPS, wRC+, and WAR. Hamdan also had the most runs scored and walks in 1994.

The 1992 and 1994 efforts both scored MVPs for Hamdan. He also finished third in 1991 and second in 1993 voting. Hamdan won Silver Sluggers in all five seasons with Medina and won Gold Gloves in 1993 and 1994 once moved to first base.

With Hamdan’s efforts, Medina became one of the first successful squads in ALB. They won the Saudi Division all five years he was there. The Mastodons lost in the conference final in 1990 and the first round in 1991. Then from 1992-94, they won three straight conference titles and won the ALB Championship in both 1992 and 1993.

In 38 playoff starts for Medina, Hamdan had 32 hits, 20 runs, 7 doubles, 10 home runs, 20 RBI, a .234/.323/.504 slash, 133 wRC+, and 1.4 WAR. He also picked up conference finals MVP in 1992. In total for the Mastodons, Hamdan had 744 hits, 481 runs, 165 doubles, 243 home runs, 549 RBI, a .262/.351/.583 slash, 172 wRC+, and 35.7 WAR.

Hamdan was coming up on age 34 at the end of his deal and entered free agency. He moved west to Morocco on a five-year, $8,000,000 deal with Casablanca. The Bruins had just met Medina in the last two championships and were the defending champ when he signed. That rubbed some Mastodons fans the wrong way, but Hamdan still remained extremely popular as he was just hard to dislike.

Hamdan was still a steady slugger for the Bruins, although his MVP candidacy was done. He still earned four more Gold Gloves from 1995-98. Casablanca repeated as champs in 1995 and won three more division titles after that, but lost in the first round each of those seasons. Hamdan struggled in the playoffs with the Bruins in 17 starts with a .125/.269/.286 slash and 51 wRC+.

He was solid for the whole run though with 649 hits, 456 runs, 145 doubles, 190 home runs, 443 RBI, a .231/.327/.494 slash, 125 wRC+, and 19.2 WAR. Although his hitting numbers had weakened, Hamdan still had buyers as he entered free agency again for 2000. The 39-year old moved to Iraq initially on a one-year deal with Mosul. Hamdan liked to pick winners, as the Muskies had won the ALB title in 1998 and 1999.

Hamdan had a resurgence at the plate in 2000, winning his sixth Silver Slugger with a 49 homer, 118 RBI effort. He became the first player in ALB history to reach 1000 runs scored and 1000 RBI. Mosul had a record-setting 121-41 season, although they suffered a stunning conference finals loss to 83-win Kuwait. The Muskies were satisfied enough with Hamdan to give him a two-year, $3,160,000 extension.

Hamdan’s bat declined significantly at this point as he hit below .200 with fewer than 25 home runs in his final three seasons. He won Gold Gloves in 2001 and 2002, giving him nine in total. In 2001, Hamdan became the first ALB slugger to 500 career home runs.

Still, Hamdan produced negative WAR in his final two seasons for Mosul. He would win his fourth ALB Championship ring in 2001, becoming one of a very select few in baseball history to win rings with three different franchises. He was still very popular with fans, although Hamdan was no longer a quality bat. He retired after the 2003 season at age 42. With Mosul, Hamdan had 399 hits, 262 runs, 110 doubles, 111 home runs, 299 RBI, a .207/.306/.437 slash, 107 wRC+, and 6.1 WAR.

In total, Hamdan had 1792 hits, 1199 runs, 420 doubles, 544 home runs, 1291 RBI, 934 walks, 148 stolen bases, a .237/.330/.513 slash, 138 wRC+, and 60.9 WAR. They were impressive tallies considering he officially debuted at age 29. Had Hamdan had his full 20s to work with, he likely would’ve finished with a very prominent spot on the leaderboards. He retired leading in a few spots, but quickly fell down the ranks as ALB aged.

Hamdan still holds the distinction as the only nine-time Gold Glove winner in ALB at first base. As of 2037, he’s one of seven at any position with nine or more Gold Gloves. Winning four titles with three teams also goes a long way with many voters. Hamdan only got 74.3% in his debut, but that was plenty for induction as the lone member of the 2009 ALB Hall of Fame class.

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2009 would not see the first Hall of Fame inductee for the African Association of Baseball. The top performer was SP Hendrik Jongman at 37.3% in his second ballot. Closer Boni Kemaika debuted at 35.8% , 1B Laurent Kouakou had 34.3% on his third try, and SP Ahmed Hussen Rooble had 32.0% for his second try.

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The 2009 World Baseball Championship was the 63^rd edition of the event and was hosted in Nairobi, Kenya. Division 1 was competitive with Panama coming out on top at 7-2, edging out 6-3 efforts by Canada, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. It was the fourth division title for the Panamanians, who last advanced in 1997.

The two-time defending world champion United States was the lone unbeaten team in divisional play, dominating D2 at 9-0. The Americans have moved forward 52 times now and were the only elite eight team from 2008 to make it back in 2009. The Netherlands, who lost last year in the championship to the US, limped to 4-5 in D2.

Sweden rolled Division 3 at 8-1, beating their nearest foes by three games. It was the second division title in three years for the Swedes and their fourth overall. Guatemala grabbed Division 4 at 8-1, topping Japan and Poland each by two games. This was the fourth division win for the Guatemalans, who most recently advanced in 2004.

India at 8-1 edged 7-2 Argentina and 6-3 Portugal to win Division 5. It was the sixth division title for the Indians and their second in three years. Division 6 had a tie at 7-2 between Malaysia and Serbia, while Australia was close behind at 6-3. The Malaysians won the head-to-head over the Serbians to advance. It was Malaysia’s first division title, becoming the 73^rd unique country to advance at least once.

D7 went to 8-1 Nigeria with Ukraine their closest foe at 6-3. It was the sixth division title for the Nigerians with their most recent appearance being 2005. Division 8 meanwhile was intense with Pakistan, Ecuador, and Indonesia all at 7-2 and Spain at 6-3. The tiebreaker went to the Pakistanis, marking their fourth time advancing and second in three years.

The Americans remained unbeaten by rolling Round Robin Group A at 6-0, earning the US its 46^th final four appearance. Guatemala also advanced at 3-3, while Malaysia was 2-4 and Sweden was 1-5. For Guatemala, their only prior semifinal berth was a third place finish back in 1968.

India claimed Group B at 5-1 for their second-ever semifinal berth, joining their 1993 runner-up campaign. Nigeria and Pakistan tied at 3-3 and Panama was 1-5. The Nigerians advanced on the tiebreaker, earning a third semifinal appearance. They had finished second in both 1999 and 1979.

The United States finally lost a game, but still won their semifinal 3-1 against Nigeria. Meanwhile, India swept Guatemala to earn their second-ever finals berth. The Nigerians were officially third and the Guatemalans fourth. The Americans earned their 42^nd finals appearance, looking for a three-peat and their seventh title of the 2000s.



India played spoiler though in the 63^rd World Championship, taking the series 4-2. The Indians became the 12^th different nation to win it all and the fifth based entirely in Asia. The Americans are now 36-6 all-time in their championship berths.



Despite falling in the final, the US had historic individual efforts. Tournament MVP went to CF Morgan Short, who set WBC records for hits (49) and singles (35) that still stand as of 2037. He shattered the previous hits high of 42 by Adam Lewis in 1951. His teammate Ezekiel Thomas also reached 42 in 2009.

For the four-time American Association MVP Short, he added 32 runs, 7 doubles, 7 home runs, 18 RBI, 14 walks, 19 stolen bases, a .462/.521/.726 slash, 249 wRC+, and 2.7 WAR. The 32 runs ranked fourth best all-time with Short setting the record the prior year at 35. The Salt Lake City CF’s WAR mark ranked seventh best among position players and still sits 12^th as of 2037.

T.J. Douglas repeated as the Best Pitcher, joining fellow American Thurman Lofink (1971-72) as the only two-time winners. The Houston closer tossed 12.1 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit and three walks with 35 strikeouts. His K/9 of 25.54 is still a tournament record as of 2037. Remarkably, it was the fourth straight WBC for Douglas without a run allowed, throwing 64.2 innings from 2006-09 with only seven hits allowed, 15 walks, and 169 strikeouts.

Douglas would pitch in only one more WBC, but finished with a 0.58 ERA over 125 innings. That ERA mark is the all-time best in the WBC by any pitcher with 80 IP and he is the only qualifying pitcher with a sub-one ERA. Douglas is also the WBC all-time leader in H/9 (1.15), K/9 (23.54), WHIP (0.42), opponent triple slash (.042/.156/.088) and opponent OPS (.244).

Other notes: Two continents had all the titles in the 2000s with seven from North America (6 by the USA, 1 by Canada) and three from Asia (India, Japan, China). Going even further back, the last champ from outside North America or Asia was Brazil back in 1990. In that stretch, there had been four European runners up and one from Africa.

The lone no-hitter of 2009 came from Canada’s Ricky Clines with 17 strikeouts and two walks against the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nigeria’s Daniel Eleje had a 22 strikeout effort against Iran, marking the 13^th time in the WBC that a pitcher fanned 22 or more hitters.

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The European Baseball Federation made changes to the service time requirements for free agency. However, they went in opposite directions from the seven years previously required in both the EBF Elite and Second League. The EBF Elite became more restrictive, requiring eight years, with the intent of trying to keep European talent from leaving for other leagues.

The Second League became less restrictive though at six years with the idea of preventing Elite-level talent from being forever stuck with poor franchises with no promotion aspirations. This did give E2L teams a smaller window to earn promotion, but officials hoped it encouraged squads to go all-in on competitiveness.




Edinburgh took first place in the E2L Western Conference standings at 99-63, earning repeat playoff berths. London and Lyon both were 96-66, tying for second and earning playoff spots. The Monarchs also were a repeat playoff team, as was fourth place Cardiff at 92-70. The Crew finished one game ahead of Palermo and three better than Liverpool for the last playoff spot.



Leipzig dominated the Eastern Conference at 110-52. The Lumberjacks scored 765 runs and hit 252 home runs, which would remain conference records for nearly 20 years. It was also their first-ever winning season. Skopje was a strong second at 100-62, also earning a first-ever playoff berth.

The remaining playoff spots went to Lviv (96-66) and Varna (94-68) with a big gap to fifth place Riga at 85-77. The Lunkers earned a third straight playoff appearance, hoping to finally earn promotion. It was the Vigilantes’ third berth in five seasons, likewise hoping the third time was the charm.

Advancing from the Western Conference Round Robin were Lyon and Edinburgh at 4-2, while London was 3-3 and Cardiff was 1-5. In the Eastern Conference, Leipzig finished first at 4-2. Skopje and Lviv were each 3-3 and Varna went 2-4. The tiebreaker advanced the Stags to the semifinal ahead of the Lunkers.



Both #1 seeds won in the semifinals and guaranteed promotion into the EBF Elite. Edinburgh bested Lyon 4-2 and Leipzig downed Skopje 4-2. In the fifth Second League Championship, the Lumberjacks edged the Enforcers in a seven-game classic. It was the first-time in E2L history that the finale finished 4-3. If additional teams earn promotion beyond the finalists, Skopje is first in line, followed by Lyon, then London, then Lviv.



Other notes: Varna’s Vulcan Baez tossed E2L’s fifth perfect game, striking out six against Wroclaw on August 12.

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For the first time in franchise history, Luanda finished first in the Southern Conference standings. The Landsharks had earned three prior playoff berths in 1996, 2004, and 2006; but each was as the second place team. Luanda finished 103-59 atop the SC standings for a franchise best.

After winning back-to-back AAB titles in 2006-07, Durban fell to 71-91 in 2008. The Deer bounced back in 2009, placing second at 96-66. Durban’s bullpen helped them in close games, setting a conference record with 57 saves. Harare was a distant third at 89-73.

Defending conference champ Antananarivo fell off a cliff, going from back-to-back 100 win seasons to an eighth place 70-92. Last year’s second place team Johannesburg had an even worse collapse, going from 98-64 in 2008 to last place in 2009 at 64-98.

Luanda CF Mwarami Tale repeated as Southern Conference MVP and won his fourth with a historic effort. The 28-year old Tanzanian lefty set a new AAB record for WAR by a position player at 14.4; which still stands as the all-time best as of 2037. Tale’s triple slash were all single-season records with a .382/.489/.885 mark. The OBP, slugging, and his 1.375 OPS still hold the #1 spot, while his batting average mark would be beaten in 2030.

Tale also set a new RBI record with 180, which stood until 2025 and remains fourth as of 2037. His 464 total bases also broke his own 454 from 2006 and stood as the record until 2024. It still ranks seventh in 2037. He joined elite company with his second 70+ homer season, smacking 71. Tale also led in hits (200), total bases (464), and wRC+ (237) while scoring 131 runs. He earned AAB’s second-ever batting Triple Crown, joining Abebe Chekol’s 2000 season.

Luanda also had Pitcher of the Year Paul Lambote, who led in strikeouts (279), WAR (6.0), and complete games (7). The 27-year old righty from the DR Congo had a 14-8 record and 3.29 ERA in 227.1 innings with a 132 ERA+. Lambote also set an AAB single-game record by striking out 21 on April 9 against Johannesburg. He held the record previously with 19 in 2006. As of 2037, no other AAB pitcher has reached 21 Ks.

The Landsharks also signed veteran closer Tewderos Tadesse, who became the second AAB pitcher to win five Reliever of the Year awards. The 40-year old Ethiopian had 33 saves, a 2.56 ERA, 88 innings, 121 strikeouts, and 5.0 WAR. Tadesse became the fourth to reach 300 career saves.



Defending African Series winner and three-time reigning Central Conference champ Addis Ababa again finished first place. The Brahmas were 96-66, edging out a solid 94-70 effort by Mogadishu. The Mighty Mice earned their third-ever playoff berth, joining the 1998 and 2002 seasons. Mogadishu hadn’t been above .500 since 2002. There was an 11 game drop to third place Kampala at 83-79. Last year’s wild card Kigali dropped to eighth at 74-88.

RF Felix Chaula became the first five-time MVP in AAB history. He won Central Conference MVP for the first time in his two years with Addis Ababa, having previously won the honor in 2006 with Kinshasa and from 2001-03 with Lilongwe. The 33-year old Tanzanian led in runs (135), RBI (136), total bases (389), slugging (.719), OPS (1.133), wRC+ (196), and WAR (9.2). Chaula also had 68 home runs and a .294 batting average. He earned his eighth Silver Slugger with his efforts.

His Brahmas teammate Gabriel Mandelli won Pitcher of the Year in his Addis Ababa debut. The 36-year old Italian had come to the African Association in 2007 with Cape Town after playing 11 seasons with EBF’s Milan. Mandelli led in wins (25-5), ERA (2.49), innings (257), complete games (18), and shutouts (7). He added 231 strikeouts, a 167 ERA+, and 8.3 WAR.

Luanda swept Durban to win their first-ever Southern Conference Championship. Meanwhile, Addis Ababa four-peated in the Central Conference, taking the title 4-1 over Mogadishu. The Brahmas joined Kinshasa (1997-00, 02-05) and Johannesburg (1998-01) as the only franchises to win four consecutive pennants.



Addis Ababa pulled off repeat AAB titles by winning the 15^th Africa Series 5-2 over Luanda. Conference MVP Felix Chaula was the MVP of both playoff series, making 11 starts with 15 hits, 9 runs, 5 doubles, 4 home runs, 6 RBI, a .395/.531/.842 slash, and 250 wRC+.



Luanda’s Mwarami Tale was the conference finals MVP on the other side. Tale had signed an eight-year, $20,320,000 extension in April 2005 with the Landsharks and brought them to new heights. Much to their chagrin though, he’d opt out of his deal after the 2009 season with his stock at an all-time high. He would leave for Addis Ababa on an eight-year, $29,640,000 deal. That addition would turn the Brahmas from a great dynasty into an all-time historic one in the coming years.

Other notes: Harare’s Fani Ngambi set a single-season record with 139 stolen bases. This would hold until 2019 and still ranks eighth as of 2037. Bujumbura’s Luke Tembo hit 71 home runs, joining Tale and Mohau Sibiya as the only AAB sluggers to reach 70+. Cape Town had historically bad pitching with the team’s 1.559 WHIP setting a new AAB worst. That remained the all-time worst until 2025.

Sibiya became the first to reach both 1500 career RBI and 1500 runs scored. He played two more years, ending with 1585 RBI and 1604 runs. Marley Mubiru became the fourth slugger to reach 500 career home runs. RF Enzo Cussoca won his seventh Gold Glove. 2B Gedeon Bukasa won his seventh Silver Slugger.

Henry Kibirige became the first pitcher to 200 career wins, retiring with 203. He’d be the wins leader until the early 2020s and still ranks fourth as of 2037. Joel Mwasesa became the first to 3500 strikeouts, also retiring in 2009. His 3583 Ks held as the top mark until the mid 2010s and still ranks third in 2037.

For the 2000s, AAB had a league batting average of around .245 and a league ERA around 4.14. This ranked as just below average in terms of hits, but still above average to high in terms of runs scored. No other league in the 2000s had a higher ERA than AAB.

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The Western Conference had all repeat division winners in 2009. The top two records in the conference battled for the Levant Division crown with Amman (99-63) edging Jerusalem (98-64). With no wild card in Arab League Baseball, that left the Jets out of the postseason. Giza had a tough fight in the Nile Division with Cairo. At 92-70, the Goats bested the 88-74 Pharaohs for a fourth straight division title.

Reigning Western Conference champ Casablanca fell from their 99-win 2008 and top seed. However, 85-77 was still enough to give the Bruins a weak Mediterranean Division by six games over Algiers. No ALB team has more playoff appearances with Casablanca earning berths in 15 of the 20 seasons to date.

Jerusalem DH Tarek Abdel Rahman won the Western Conference MVP, bouncing back from a broken kneecap that cost him almost all of 2008. The 28-year old Egyptian nicknamed “Gorilla” led in runs (114), home runs (55), total bases (417), triple slash (.380/.440/.796), OPS (1.236), wRC+ (251), and WAR (11.0). His 134 RBIs fell one short of earning a Triple Crown.

Casablanca ace Abdullah Al-Tamtami won his fourth Pitcher of the Year. The 28-year old Omani led in ERA (2.29), strikeouts (332), WHIP (0.87), quality starts (25), complete games (8), shutouts (6), FIP- (58), and WAR (8.8). He certainly earned the seven-year, $24,640,000 extension he signed in March. Al-Tamtami pitched 239.1 innings with a 17-8 record, falling one win shy of his own Triple Crown.

Despite being on the road, Casablanca ousted Giza 2-1 in the first round of the playoffs to set a Western Conference Championship rematch with Amman. For the Bruins, it was their 11^th conference final with a 7-3 record entering the encounter. The Aviators had been 1-3 all-time, but got revenge from the prior year. Amman swept Casablanca for their second pennant, joining the 1999 win.



Defending ALB champ Basra again had the top record in the Eastern Conference. The Bulldogs at 103-59 dominated the Iraq Division, earning a seventh straight playoff berth, one away from Mosul’s record from 1995-02. Kuwait repeated as Gulf Division winner with a 99-63 mark, ten games better than second place Doha. The Whales bullpen recorded 64 saves, second-most in conference history.

The Saudi Division had a shakeup as Medina’s title streak ended at six seasons, finishing fourth at 77-85. Mecca took the top spot at 88-74 for only their second-ever playoff berth (1996). Riyadh (82-80) and Jeddah (80-82) were in the mix until fading late.

Basra’s Farouk Adam repeated as Eastern Conference MVP. The 28-year old Comoran led in runs (114), total bases (402), batting average (.378), and WAR (10.4). Adam added 229 hits, 43 doubles, 34 home runs, 140 RBI, a 1.080 OPS, and 188 wRC+.

Although Medina fell off, Mostafa Nabil earned his third Pitcher of the Year in four seasons. The 26-year old Egyptian righty led in ERA (2.92), WHIP (0.94), and K/BB (9.1). Nabil added a 12-7 record over 194 innings, 317 strikeouts, 6.1 WAR, and 140 ERA+.

Kuwait beat Mecca 2-1 in the first round, sending the Whales to their second-ever Eastern Conference Championship. Their only other appearance was the stunning 2000 title where an 83-win Kuwait upset 121-win Mosul. For Basra, they were in their sixth straight and looking for a fourth pennant in that stretch. The Whales would upset the defending champion Bulldogs 3-1 to earn their second pennant.



In the 20^th Arab League Championship, Amman outlasted Kuwait in an intense 4-3 battle. It was the first title for the Aviators, becoming the 12^th different ALB franchise to win it all. Finals MVP was 27-year old LF Amjad Amer, who in 10 playoff starts had 13 hits, 10 runs, and four solo home runs.



Other notes: Basra’s Hassan El Zamek stole 132 bases, second most all-time to that point behind his 138 from the prior year. Basra’s Vladik Giorgadze had a 21 strikeout game against Doha, tying the single-game record set in 2007 by Mostafa Nabil. 2009 notably joined 1999 as the only ALB seasons without a no-hitter.

Nordine Soule had a fifth straight season with 150+ RBI, something no one had done in any pro league to that point. As of 2037, only SAB’s Majed Darwish would top that. Soule also recorded his 13^th season of 50+ homers, passing the world record of 12 set by three other players. Soule also pulled this off consecutively while also winning a record 13^th straight Silver Slugger in left field.

Additionally, Soule became the first ALB hitter to reach both 800 career home runs and 2000 career RBI. Mustafa bin Nazim joined Soule as the only sluggers to 1500 RBI. He also won his 11^th Silver Slugger, although it was his first at third base with the others at second. SS Amr Khatab won his tenth straight Gold Glove, becoming the first ten-time winner at any position in ALB.

The Arab League in the 200s had a league batting average around .249 and ERA around 3.85. They graded around average for hits and just above average for runs scored on the historical scale. ALB would stay in the same general range for the 2010s as well before seeing a scoring boost in the 2020s.

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The Asian Baseball Federation had started operations in 1985 and grew to 24 teams in 2000 with the addition of the teams defecting from Eurasian Professional Baseball. 2009 would mark ABF’s first expansion with brand new franchises and also came with realignment. The playoff format and other structures would stay the same.



There would be one addition to each league. The West League added the Gaziantep Gorillas for a sixth Turkish team. Meanwhile, the East League added the Kabul Black Knights, adding Afghanistan to the nations with a franchise. However, ABF officials didn’t want to have two 13-team leagues. For balance, one team was switched for a 14-team East League and 12-team West League.

The squad selected was Asgabat, who had been in the West League since leaving EPB. The Alphas were geographically right in the middle between the two leagues. The move did reunite them with their former EPB division rivals and put each team from a “Stan” in the same league.



Since 2000, both leagues were without divisions for a 12-team round robin. The expansion led to both leagues splitting into two divisions. In the WL, the six Turkish teams joined a Turkish Division, leaving the five Iranian teams and Baku in the newly made Central Division.

The EL’s South Division would essentially reunite the old Pakistan League with 7 of the 8 former Members. Peshawar was the exception, joining the North Division to achieve balance. They were with the five former EPB South Division teams and the expansion Kabul squad.



Defending East League champ Karachi had the top overall record at 105-57, winning the new South Division. This extended their playoff streak to six seasons and was the Carp’s fourth straight 100+ win campaign. They had the top EL offense by a healthy margin with 750 runs, while second best was Almaty at 636. The North Division went to the Assassins at 101-61, ending a four-year stretch of losing seasons for the Almaty.

The first wild card was Rawalpindi, taking second in the South Division at 96-66. It was only the second-ever playoff berth for the Red Wings, joining their 1988 pennant. Last year’s #1 seed Hyderabad and Bishkek tied for the second wild card at 94-68. The Horned Frogs had the tiebreaker to extend their playoff streak to three years and end the Black Sox’s streak at five. Lahore’s postseason streak ended at four seasons, as they were two back at 92-70.

East League MVP was Karachi CF Ziad Tarkhan. The sixth-year righty from Pakistan led in RBI (108), total bases (346), average (.320), slugging (.595), OPS (.969), wRC +(204), and WAR (12.2). Tarkhan added 102 runs, 44 doubles, 28 home runs, and 88 stolen bases. In May, the Carp gave him a massive eight-year, $60,100,000 extension to remain a fixture for the franchise.

Almaty’s Muhammed Emir Erdemir won Pitcher of the Year in his fourth full season. He posted 5.9 WAR over 196 innings with a 1.97 ERA, 14-6 record, 270 strikeouts, and 160 ERA+. Erdemir also earned a big extension with the effort, inking for six years and $32,880,000 in the offseason.

Both division champs earned first round sweeps with Karachi over Hyderabad and Almaty over Rawalpindi. It was the third straight East League Championship Series for the Carp, while it was the first since 2004 for the Assassins. Karachi claimed back-to-back pennants and their fifth overall, besting Almaty in the ELCS 4-2.



Ankara had the West League’s top seed, winning the Turkish Division at 97-65. That was a huge turnaround for the Alouettes, as they had won fewer than 70 games in each of the last three seasons. The Central Division also had a surprise with Baku on top at 92-70. It was the first playoff berth for the Blackbirds since joining ABF, ending a drought back to the 1983 EPB season. Baku also hadn’t seen a winning record since 1985.

Isfahan was four games behind Baku, which earned the first wild card. The Imperials extended their playoff streak to four seasons. The second wild card went to two-time defending ABF champ Istanbul at 87-75, extending their playoff streak to seven seasons. The Ironmen finished four games ahead of Adana and six better than Shiraz.

Istanbul 1B Petri Viskari repeated as West League MVP. The 27-year old Finnish lefty led in hits (188), doubles (49), slugging (.609), OPS (.991), wRC+ (182), and WAR (8.3). Viskari also had 39 home runs, 113 RBI, and a .316 batting average.

Pitcher of the Year was Ankara’s Halil Yilmaz, making an impressive comeback from a torn elbow ligament that knocked him out 19 months. The 24-year old Turkish lefty led in wins at 20-10 and posted a 2.15 ERA over 239 innings, 298 strikeouts, 166 ERA+, and 6.5 WAR.

Also of note was Ananthakrishnan Khan becoming the first ABF closer to win Reliever of the Year five times. As of 2037, he’s the only one to do that. After playing six years with Peshawar, Khan had been traded for 2009 to Istanbul. The 27-year old Indian would leave for MLB for eight years before returning for a final stint in ABF.

Ankara outlasted Istanbul 3-2 in the first round of the playoffs, ending any three-peat hopes for the Ironmen. On the other side, Isfahan upset Baku 3-1. The Imperials earned repeat appearances in the West League Championship Series, while it was the Alouette’s first since 2004. The top seed prevailed with Ankara winning the series 4-2 over Isfahan. It was the second pennant for the Alouettes, joining their 2003 campaign.



The 25^th ABF Championship was guaranteed to have the 14^th unique champion. Karachi was 0-3 in their previous finals berths, including the prior season, while Ankara had lost in their only try. The Carp took the 2009 finale 4-1, finally winning it all after being a top contender for the last few years. Karachi peaked here, as they wouldn’t win the title again in the next 27 seasons.



Other notes: Sultan Davoodi threw ABF’s 14^th perfect game on April 6 for Hyderabad, striking out 14 against Multan. Izmir’s Aayush Pereira became the second ABF slugger to have a four home run game, doing it against Izmir on May 24. Catcher Amir Yskakov won his eighth Gold Glove.

For the 2000s, the Asian Baseball Federation saw a .227 batting average for the East League and .238 mark for the West League. The DH-less EL had a 3.13 ERA to the WL’s 3.51 ERA. The batting averages both graded as low on the historic scale. The EL ERA graded as low as well, while the WL was closer to average. The numbers were similar to how ABF looked in the 1990s.

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Visakhapatnam completed an impressive turnaround for their first playoff berth since 2001. The Volts were 56-106 only two years prior, but in 2009 they took the Indian League’s top seed and the South Division at 97-65. Visakhapatnam was 11 games better than Chennai and 12 ahead of two-time defending division champ Hyderabad.

The Volts had the tiebreaker over Ahmedabad for the #1 seed, with the Animals also finishing 97-65. Ahmedabad was back atop the West Division after seeing their historic playoff streak ended in 2008 at 23 seasons. Defending IL champ Mumbai dropped to 84-78, tied for a distant second in the division with Pune.

Jaipur’s playoff streak grew to six seasons, winning a tight Central Division at 93-69. The Jokers earned their 12^th playoff appearance in 14 years. Jaipur was one ahead of defending division champ Kolkata. The Cosmos at 92-70 took the wild card by six games over Chennai.

Indian League MVP went to Ahmedabad 3B Khatul Salleh. In only his second season as a starter, the 26-year old Malaysian led in RBI with 132. Salleh added 52 home runs, 106 runs, a .306/.340/.631 slash, and 8.3 WAR. The Animals had signed him to a five-year, $8,260,000 extension before the season. Salleh was drafted 14^th by Chittagong in 2001, but was traded after the 2005 season to Ahmedabad after a weak start to his career.

Pitcher of the Year saw a historic effort from Visakhapatnam’s Ariffin Sapri, setting numerous single-season records. The 27-year old Malaysian lefty broke Saddam Khan’s ERA record (1.44) by posting a blistering 1.24; which still holds as the top mark as of 2037. Sapri also set still-standing rate records for H/9 (4.33), K/9 (15.61), WHIP (0.64), opponent’s batting average (.141), opponent OBP (.182), and opponent OPS (.418).

Additionally, Sapri had the seventh pitching Triple Crown season in SAB and the first since 1999, posting a 20-3 record and 378 strikeouts. He also had a league-best 378 strikeouts over 218 innings, 9.2 WAR, and a 282 ERA+. Sapri had only become a starter the prior season after four years as a reliever. He also had a 20 strikeout game against Chennai in April, falling one short of the SAB single-game record.

Both first round playoff series went the distance and saw upsets. Kolkata outlasted Visakhapatnam and Jaipur ousted Ahmedabad 3-2. The Jokers earned repeat berths in the Indian league Championship Series and their ninth since 1996. For the Cosmos, it was only their third ILCS (1989, 1999). Kolkata was shooting for its first-ever pennant, while Jaipur had been a lousy 1-10 in their tries.

It looked like the Jokers were going to remain relatively cursed, as the Cosmos opened the series with a 3-0 lead. Jaipur pulled off the stunning rally to win the series 4-3, giving them their second-ever Indian League title (2006).



Two-time defending SAB champ Hanoi managed to better their outstanding 120 wins from 2008, taking the North Division in 2009 at 122-40. The Hounds earned the top seed in the Southeast Asia League and earned both their fifth straight playoff berth and 100+ win season. The Hounds set a SEAL team record with a .533 slugging percentage and fell one short of the team homer record at 315. Hanoi had a strong foe in the division in Dhaka, who set a franchise best at 110-52. That gave their Dobermans their fifth consecutive wild card.

Ho Chi Minh City won the South Division at 109-53, tying Ahmedabad for the longest playoff streak in SAB history at 23 seasons. This was one shy of the world record of 24 by EPB’s Minsk. Yangon’s own impressive playoff streak grew to 15 seasons, although their streak of 100+ win seasons ended at six. The Green Dragons took the second wild card at 92-70, finishing four better than Bangkok. With that, SEAL had the same four playoff teams for the fifth consecutive season.

The baseball world was wondering how Hanoi DH Majed Darwish would follow up his absurd 2008 campaign, which saw world records set in homers (85), RBI (220), total bases (528), and runs scored (167). The 26-year old Bahraini switch hitter showed it wasn’t a fluke, winning his third straight Southeast Asia League MVP.

Darwish broke his own homer world record with 91 dingers and broke his total bases mark with 534. As of 2037, no other player in world history has smacked 90+ in a season. Darwish also matched his runs record with another 167 scored and posted 209 RBI. While the RBI mark was short of the prior year, he remained the only player ever to hit 200+.

2009 did have something 2008 didn’t have; a Triple Crown, as Darwish led with a .360 batting average. It was the third-ever SAB Triple Crown by a hitter. He also lead SEAL in hits (224), slugging (.859), OPS (1.293), wRC+ (219), and WAR (13.3). The slugging mark was a new SAB record, beating his tally from the prior season. In 2009, Darwish had four games with three homers.

Dhaka’s Tilan Ghai won his second Pitcher of the Year in three seasons. The 26-year old Indian lefty led in ERA (2.42), WHIP (0.92), and FIP- (63). Ghai added 6.7 WAR over 208 innings, a 19-9 record, 297 strikeouts, and 174 ERA+. It was Ghai’s last year with the Dobermans, who traded him the following spring to Bangkok. He would get a big free agent deal with Kolkata in 2011, but injuries would ultimately derail the back end of his career.

Yangon stunned Hanoi with a first round sweep, ending the Hounds’ three-peat aspirations. Ho Chi Minh City would down Dhaka 3-1 on the other side, getting the Hedgehogs back in the SEAL Championship after missing it the prior two years. It was the 20^th finals appearance of their epic playoff streak, while the Green Dragons were making their fourth consecutive appearance. HCMC would survive in a seven-game classic over Yangon, giving the Hedgehogs their 14^th SEAL pennant.



Ho Chi Minh City reclaimed their perch atop South Asia Baseball. In the 30^th SAB Championship, the Hedgehogs beat Jaipur 4-2. Finals MVP went to David Rusli of the defeated Jokers, as the 36-year old Thai 2B set a playoff record with 25 singles. In 18 playoff starts, he had 10 runs, 29 hits, 10 stolen bases, and a .408/.432/.481 slash. Rusli became a two-time finals MVP, having also won in 2006.

For Ho Chi Minh City, this was sixth SAB title, joining their 1997, 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2005 wins. This also marked the end of their dominance of SEAL, as the Hedgehogs would go on a 14-year playoff drought in the following years. It was one of the all-time great runs of any pro team with 14 pennants in 23 seasons, although they were overshadowed by Ahmedabad’s competing run.



Other notes: Manju Abbas became the first batter to reach 3500 career hits. He would play three more seasons and retire as SAB’s hit king with 3897, which still holds as of 2037. As of 2037, Abbas is SAB’s all-time leader in games (3656), at-bats (13,463), singles (2412), and doubles (816). The doubles mark would be a world record for around a decade.

Visakhapatnam’s Kasi Kumar broke the single-season doubles record by one with 59, which held as the top mark until 2022. Kumar also had a .397 batting average, the fifth-best season in ABF to that point. Aftab Alam became the sixth to reach 2500 career hits. Quang Huy Canh became the third reliever to 400 saves. 3B Kanala Vijay won his seventh Gold Glove. 2B/DH Tirtha Upadhyaya won his 12^th Silver Slugger and 3B Jatinder Choudhary won his ninth.

Vientiane had a historically bad pitching staff, setting SAB all-time worsts in ERA (5.58), runs allowed (955), earned runs (888), and WHIP (1.540). The Vampires were 50-112, which still was just better than the all-time SAB worst of 47-115 by Mumbai in 1993.

In the 2000s, the Indian League had a league .238 batting average and 3.33 ERA, which both graded as below average to low offense on the historic scale. With the DH, the Southeast Asia League had a .248 average and 3.89 ERA. The ERA mark graded as above average historically with the batting average just below the mid-grade. Both leagues had seen a bit of a jump compared to the 1990s. The 2010s in SEAL would maintain similar scoring while the IL would increase.

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2009 was a year of expansion for multiple leagues, among them West African Baseball. WAB hadn’t changed from its 20-team structure since the inaugural 1975 season. With the game and region growing significantly since, WAB officials decided 2009 was a prime time to expand. Both leagues would add two teams, making WAB a 24-team endeavor. WAB maintained a division-free structure for the two 12-team leagues.



Joining the Western League were the Banjul Bucks and the Bouake Blood Hawks. Bouake became the second Ivory Coast team, joining Abidjan, while Banjul was the first pro team from Gambia. In the Eastern League, the Libreville Lakers and Yaounde Yellow Birds were introduced. Libreville brought Gabon its first big-league squad, while Yaounde joined Douala as the second from Cameroon.



One other notable change was a new playoff structure, which grew the qualifiers from three to four from each league. WAB did also become the first league to introduce a stepladder format for the playoffs. It would begin with the #3 and #4 finishers meeting in a best-of-three hosted by the #3 team. The winner advanced to the second round where the #2 seed hosted a best-of-three. That winner then faced the top seed in a 2-2-1 best-of-five league championship series. The WAB Championship remained a best-of-seven.



Defending WAB champ and four-time defending Western League winner Monrovia took the top spot in the WL standings at 103-59. It was the fourth time in five years that the Diplomats finished first place. Abidjan, who took first the prior year, was second in 2009 at 101-61. The Athletes also grew their playoff streak to five seasons.

The third place spot went to Freetown at 94-68, while the fourth and final playoff spot was Bamako at 91-71. Accra (86-76) was the only other team in striking distance. The Foresters ended a seven-year stretch of losing seasons, while the Bullfrogs ended a four-year skid. Nouakchott, who had back-to-back berths, dropped to eighth at 79-83.

Western League MVP was Bamako’s Min-Seong Ryu. The 39-year old third baseman had joined WAB in 2009 after spending the prior four seasons in MLB and the 13 before that in his native South Korea. He become one of the oldest ever MVPs, leading the WL in OBP (.414) and wRC+ (180). Ryu added 7.7 WAR, 201 hits, and a .375 batting average. It was his lone season with the Bullfrogs, although he stayed another five years in WAB with Ibadan.

Abidjan’s Arthur Boateng repeated as Pitcher of the Year and posted WAB’s seventh-ever Triple Crown pitching season. The 25-year old Ghanaian had a 21-10 record, 2.41 ERA, and 305 strikeouts. Boateng also led in WAR (5.9), innings (264.2), and quality starts (25) while posting a 156 ERA+.

#4 seed Bamako upset #3 seed Freetown 2-1 in the first round of the playoffs. The Bullfrogs gave #2 seed Abidjan a challenge, but the Athletes survived round two 2-1 to set up a Western League Championship Series rematch with Monrovia. The Diplomats were shooting for a fifth consecutive pennant, but they were denied 3-2 by Abidjan. The Athletes earned a WL-record 12^th pennant, although it was their first since 2001.



Ouagadougou dominated the Eastern League with a franchise-record 111-51 mark. The Osprey earned their fourth playoff berth in five years, although it was only the second time (1983) that they had ever finished first. Ouagadougou won a ton of close games, setting a WAB record with 65 team saves.

2007 WAB champ Niamey bounced back from their 2008 playoff miss, taking second at 92-70. The Atomics had their third playoff berth in four years. It was a very tight battle for the remaining two spots with third place separated by only five games from eighth place. Benin City took third at 85-77, ending a 26-year playoff drought for the Blue Devils.

The fourth spot had a tie at 83-79 between Ibadan and Kano. The Iguanas won the tiebreaker game to earn their second berth in three years. The Condors missed for only the second time since 1995. Close behind was Cotonou (82-80), Lome (80-82), and expansion Yaounde (80-82). Meanwhile, reigning EL champ Lagos completely imploded, going from 97-65 to a last place 65-97.

Benin City’s Abdel Rahmane Padacke won Eastern League MVP. The 28-year old Chadian led in home runs (61), RBI (178), total bases (437), and slugging (.690). The RBI mark remains the second-most in WAB history behind Mo Reda’s 186 from 2003. Padacke also had 205 hits, 113 runs, a .324 average, and 7.5 WAR. In the late spring, the Blue Devils gave him a four-year, $16,360,000 extension.

Ouagadougou’s Zeb Onyedika won Pitcher of the Year. The 24-yaer old Nigerian led in WAR (6.5), FIP- (61), and K/BB (9.2). Onyedika had a 3.16 ERA over 199.1 innings, 15-6 record, 267 strikeouts, and 128 ERA+.

#4 seed Ibadan edged Benin City 2-1 in the first round, then upset #2 seed Niamey 2-1 in round two. The Iguanas earned a second Eastern League Championship Series in three years and were a major underdog as they tried to end a six-game ELCS losing streak. For Ouagadougou, their only other ELCS was a defeat in 1983. Ibadan’s Cinderella run continued, upsetting the Osprey 3-1. The Iguanas became four-time EL winners, having won thrice in the 1990s.



Ibadan’s magic would ultimately run out in the 35^th West African Championship, meeting their old foe Abidjan. They had split in their 1993 and 1994 finals encounters. The Athletes took the 2009 edition 4-2, becoming four-time WAB champs (1982, 1994, 2000, 2009). LF Kely Ballard was finals MVP and WLCS MVP, setting a still-standing WAB playoff record with 26 hits. In 14 playoff starts, the 34-year old Nigerian also had 12 runs, 6 doubles, 8 RBI, and 6 stolen bases.



Other notes: Freetown’s Didi Kpozo threw WAB’s 16^th perfect game and the first since the 2000 season. Kpozo struck out 10 on May 28 against Freetown. Ibadan closer Brendan Roper set a playoff record with seven saves, doing it despite posting a terrible 5.74 ERA in 15.2 playoff innings. Lawrence Nassif had a 33-game hitting streak, two short of WAB’s record at that point.

Darwin Morris became the first to reach 700 career home runs. His streak of Silver Sluggers would end in 2009 though at 15. C Okoro Otene won his seventh Gold Glove and 2B Sambegou Toure won his seventh.

WAB’s offensive environment remained about the same in the 2000s as it did in the 1990s. The league batting average was around .258 with an ERA around 3.97, which led to above average offense relative to the historic scale. Rule changes in the 2010s would lead to a massive spike, making WAB the highest-scoring league ever to that point.

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Chinese League Baseball also joined the expansion craze of 2009, making their first changes since the inaugural 1970. CLB added three teams to each league, making it two 15-team leagues and 30 total teams. CLB maintained a division-free format and adjusted the interleague schedule to account for such a unique structure.



Joining the Northern League were the Shiijazhuang Serpents, Changchun Camels, and Urumqi Unicorns. Added to the Southern League were the Wenzhou Wild, Nanning Nuts, and Shantou Scorpions. To avoid too many players being poached with six new teams, the expansion draft was relatively restrictive, thus leading to a tough climb for the new squads.



CLB also changed the playoff format so that each league had four playoff squads instead of the previous three. But they also made a setup unique to any pro league by instituting a Double Round Robin opening round. CLB also maintained its unique interleague playoff setup.

In one Round Robin group, it would be the NL’s #1 and #3 seeds against the SL’s #2 and #4. The other group was the inverse and each team got one home and one road game against the other three squads. The top two placers advanced to a best-of-seven semifinal. The winners then played in the best-of-seven China Series.



Defending CLB champ Shanghai finished first in the Northern League at 102-60, taking Zhengzhou by only one game at 101-61. Both earned repeat playoff berths. The Zips had their first-ever 100+ win season, while it was the second for the Seawolves.

Third was Beijing at 98-64 for their second appearance in three years. Tianjin grabbed the fourth and final spot at 92-70 to end a three-year drought. Qingdao, who was the China Series runner-up the last year, was the first team out of the playoffs at 88-74. They and Jinan were four back on the final wild card, while Shenyang was five behind at 87-75.

Zhengzhou’s Liang Xu won Northern League MVP and posted only the second-ever Triple Crown hitting season in CLB history, joining Shichao Zhang’s 1984 effort. The 30-year old left fielder had 42 home runs, 101 RBI, and a .343 average. Xu also led in runs (93), OBP (.392), slugging (.633), OPS (1.025), wRC+ (242), and WAR (11.5). Xu played only one more season with the Zips, then left for Brazil and a six-year, $54,000,000 with the Salvador Storm.

Pitcher of the Year also came from Zhengzhou with Yuandong Wang in only his second season. The 22-year old lefty led in wins at 21-6 and posted a 1.52 ERA over 260 innings, 285 strikeouts, 6.7 WAR, and a 163 ERA+. Wang had been the fifth overall draft pick by the Zips in 2007.



Macau had CLB’s best overall record again, although their 103-59 was less eye-popping than the 118-44 from 2008. Dongguan was 98-64 in second place, continuing their roller coaster ride. The Donkeys were a 2007 playoff team, but had collapsed with an atrocious 56-win 2008.

Chengdu repeated as a wild card, finishing third at 94-68. Xiamen and Changsha tied for fourth at 92-70, besting Foshan by one game. The Mutts won the tiebreaker game for their second berth in four years. Hong Kong’s bid for a third straight playoff appearance was thwarted with a tenth place 78-84.

Xiamen LF Shou Chen won Southern League MVP. The 29-year old righty led in total bases with 320, posting 39 home runs, 87 RBI, a .270 average, 205 wRC+, and 10.0 WAR. Chen played one more season for the Mutts before leaving CLB for MLB. Nashville gave him a mammoth five-year, $79,000,000 to defect to the United States.


Changsha’s Lei Li made history as the first five-time Pitcher of the Year winner in CLB. As of 2037, he’s one of only two. Li led in ERA (1.20), FIP- (27), and WAR (10.7). The 29-year old righty added a 16-4 record and 16 saves over 217.1 innings with 318 strikeouts and a 205 ERA+. Li helped the Cannons to 1820 strikeouts as a team, which still stands in 2037 as the Southern League record. It is second-best for all of CLB behind Xi’an’s 1835 Ks in 1994.

In Round Robin Group A, the Southern League’s #2 Dongguan and #4 Xiamen both advanced at 4-2, while the Northern League’s #1 Shanghai and #3 Beijing were both 2-4. Group B had the NL #2 Zhengzhou first at 5-1, advancing along with SL #3 Chengdu at 3-3. The SL’s #1 seed Macau and NL’s #4 Tianjin both were 2-4.

For the Clowns, this was their first semifinal since 1998, but they lost 4-1 to Xiamen. The Mutts went from needing a play-in game to their third China Series berth, joining the 1981 and 2006 campaigns. Zhengzhou was making their third semifinal berth in four years, while Dongguan hadn’t done it since 1986. After falling in 2006 and 2008, the Zips finally advanced with a 4-2 win over the Donkeys. Zhengzhou earned its second finals appearance, joining the 1995 campaign.



Xiamen’s improbable run as the #4 seed culminated with a 4-3 victory over Zhengzhou in the 40^th China Series. The Mutts won their second title, having also taken it in 2006. 2B Guochen Wang won finals MVP in his ninth and final season with Xiamen. In 18 playoff starts, he had 24 hits, 9 runs, 6 doubles, and 5 RBI.



Other notes: Guangzhou’s Xiaoguang Yang threw CLB’s 40^th Perfect Game on May 1, striking out 13 against Foshan. Hong Kong’s Xue Lian struck out 21 in a 12 inning marathon session against Wenzhou. This was one short of the CLB single-game record set by Martin Cui in 1996.

Cheng Song became the seventh pitcher to 3500 career strikeouts, a mark no one has reached since. He finished with 3656 Ks, ranking sixth as of 2037. 3B Gongsun Yang won his seventh Silver Slugger. Expansion Changchun set an all-time worst record in the Northern League at 50-112.

CLB remained the lowest scoring league in pro baseball in the 2020s, posting a league average 2.48 ERA and .211 batting average. Both grade as extremely low on the historic scale. The Southern League in 1996 had a 2.28 ERA, which was the lowest mark in any subleague ever. CLB remained an extremely low offense environment in the 2010s, but would bump to merely “very low” in the 2020s.

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Davao remained the dominant Taiwan-Philippine Association squad in the regular season, taking the top record for the fifth consecutive year. The Devil Rays won the Philippine League at 109-53, their best record in franchise history. In the Taiwan League, Taipei earned its first title since 1998. The Tigercats finished 99-63, edging out reigning Austronesian Champion Taoyuan (96-66) and Taichung (94-70).

Although Zamboanga struggled to 70 wins, star outfielder Paolo Baptista won Taiwan-Philippine Association MVP. It was his fifth with the most recent in 2004, making him the third APB player to win five or more MVPs. The 32-year old Filipino led in home runs (42), slugging (.602), OPS (.960), wRC+ (198), and WAR (9.5). Baptista also had a .292 average and 92 RBI, winning his ninth Silver Slugger. He would have one more great season, but lose a lot of his spark due to multiple Achilles ruptures in his later seasons.

Manila’s Dedi Dewi won his second Pitcher of the Year award, coming more than a decade since his 1998 win. The 34-year old Indonesian righty led in WAR (10.7) and FIP- (40). Dewi added a 16-10 record over 238.1 innings, 1.66 ERA, 352 strikeouts, and 167 ERA+.



Defending Sundaland Association champion Singapore dominated the Malacca League at 107-55, taking the title by 27 games. Surabaya was similarly dominant in the Java Sea League at 102-60, although Palembang (91-71) and Depok (90-72) at least gave them some competition. The Sunbirds earned a fourth straight playoff berth. The Sharks set an SA record with 431 stolen bases which held until 2029.

Singapore CF Edmund Quan won Sundaland Association MVP. The 25-year old Filipino switch hitter led in hits (207), doubles (46), stolen bases (106), batting average (.344), and WAR (12.5). Quan also had a 220 wRC+ and .927 OPS. The Sharks locked him up the prior winter with an eight-year, $49,620,000 extension.

Pitcher of the Year also came from Singapore with Dwi Kurnia. The 26-year old fourth-year righty led in wins at 26-4, falling one win shy of the single-season record. Kurnia added a 1.72 ERA over 267.1 innings, 309 strikeouts, 147 ERA+, and 6.7 WAR.

Davao won the Taiwan-Philippine Association Championship 4-2 over Taipei, giving the Devil Rays their third pennant in five years and their sixth overall. Singapore won again in a Sundaland Association rematch with Surabaya. The 4-2 Sharks victory gave them their third pennant, having also won in 1996.



Singapore wouldn’t earn their first-ever Austronesia Championship. Davao downed them in a seven-game classic for their third title in five years, having also won in 2005 and 2006. At 109-53, the Devil Rays set an APB record for the best record by a team that won it all, putting them into the all-time team conversations with their dynasty run.

Leading the playoff effort was CF Alvin Sumantri, who won finals MVP. The 26-year old in 13 playoff starts had 14 hits, 6 runs, 2 doubles, 3 home runs, 8 RBI, and 3 stolen bases.



Other notes: 2009 saw APB’s 31^st and 32^nd perfect games. On April 5, I Komang Ainaga of Semarang struck out 12 against Bandung. Then on September 9, his Sliders teammate Fatchul Makrufan did it with 13 Ks over Kuala Lumpur. It is believed this is the first time in world history that two different players on the same team had a perfect game in the same campaign.

SS Chi-Chao Shih won his eighth Silver Slugger. Hsinchu scored only 362 runs, setting a TPA all-time worst that still holds as of 2037. Kuala Lumpur’s offense struck out 1811 times, which still stands as the most whiffs of any APB team in a season.

In the 2000s, the Sundaland Association had extremely low offensive numbers with a .217 batting average and 2.57 ERA. With the DH, the Taiwan-Philippine Association were merely at very low levels with a 2.80 ERA and .225 batting average. These were the lowest in the world thanks to Chinese League Baseball, but were close to it. The numbers were remarkably similar to prior decades for APB and it would remain consistent into the 2010s and 2020s.