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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.