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FuzzyRussianHat · 02-11-2025, 06:56 PM

The fight for the East League’s top seed was centered in the South Division. Hyderabad secured it at 105-57 by allowing the fewest runs in the entire Asian Baseball Federation at 521. Karachi was a competitive second at 100-62 and easily got the first wild card. The Horned Frogs earned repeat playoff berths, but it was their first division title since 2016. For the Carp, they snapped a 13-year playoff drought. Faisalabad had won the division six straight seasons, but their run ended with a fall to 78-84 in 2025.

Over in the North Division, Dushanbe (96-66) edged out defending EL champ Almaty (93-69). The Dynamo are back in the playoffs after back-to-back misses ended a decade-long postseason streak. Dushanbe was the EL’s top scoring team with 746 runs. As the second wild card, the Assassins grew their playoff streak to six seasons.

The only other team within reach in the wild card race was 88-74 Lahore. Bishkek notably fell to 80-82 for only their second losing season since joining ABF in 2000. Also after getting their first-ever playoff berth last year, expansion Shymkent regressed hard down to 68-94. Multan also notably collapsed to 51-111 after posting winning seasons from 2019-24.

East League MVP went to Hyderabad RF Emir Han in his second year as a starter. The 25-year old Turk led in total bases (386) with 9.1 WAR, 196 wRC+, .981 OPS, 52 home runs, 122 RBI, 194 hits, and 109 runs. Han managed to beat out Horned Frogs teammate Khalid Bekzat for the top honor despite Bekzat’s league-best 61 homers and 125 RBI.

Hyderabad also had the Pitcher of the Year Arshia Hushyar in his third-year with the squad. The 13^th year lefty from Iran won his first ERA title at 1.96 after mostly being an above average to good pitcher in his run. Hushyar posted 251 strikeouts over 234.2 innings, 16-11 record, 178 ERA+, and 5.6 WAR. He joined the Horned Frogs in 2023 on a five-year, $31,660,000 free agent deal.

Both wild cards pulled off 3-1 first round upsets with Almaty over Hyderabad and Karachi over Dushanbe. The Assassins had a chance to repeat while the Carp hadn’t been in the East League Championship Series since their 2008-09 repeat. Karachi dethroned Almaty 4-1 to become six-time league champs (1985, 1995, 1996, 2008, 2009, 2025).

Mashhad had ABF’s best overall record at 108-54 for the top seed in the West League and a Central Division title. The Mercury grew their playoff streak to five seasons and allowed the WL’s fewest runs at 577. Gaziantep and defending ABF champ Baku tied for the West Division at 100-62. With no tiebreaker games in ABF, the formula favored the Gorillas for their third-ever division title (2010, 2012). The Blackbirds’ playoff streak grew to four seasons. Gaziantep was the top scoring team in the WL at 823 runs.

For the second wild card, Bursa and Tabriz tied at 94-68 with no other teams above .500. The tiebreaker formula favored the Blue Claws for a third consecutive playoff berth. This also ended the Tiger Sharks’ playoff streak at nine years, one short of Dushanbe’s record of 10 from 2013-22. For Bursa, they tied the ABF team record with 95 triples, a mark previously hit by Isfahan in 2021.

Istanbul was a non-factor at 78-84, but they had the West League MVP in 1B Ismayil Kostenko The 30-year old Kyrgyz righty had joined the Ironmen the prior year after a seven-year run starting for Izmir. Kostenko led in hits (224), total bases (379), and OBP (.410). He added 108 runs, 38 homers, 119 RBI, .362 average, 1.023 OPS, 172 wRC+, and 7.8 WAR.

Third-year Baku lefty Agshin Jumayev won Pitcher of the Year with league bests in wins (22-9), innings (275.2), strikeouts (410), WHIP (0.87), quality starts (28), and WAR (8.0). The 24-year old Tajik’s strikeouts were the ninth-most in an ABF season to that point. His 2.51 ERA was also only six points away from a Triple Crown. This was just the beginning for what would become one of ABF’s all-time great pitching careers.

The division champs escaped with 3-2 series wins in the first round with Mashhad over Bursa and Gaziantep over defending champ Baku. The Mercury earned their first West League Championship Series trip since 2021, while it was the second-ever for the Gorilla (2012). Mashhad showed why they were the top seed, cruising to a sweep of Gaziantep to end a ten-year pennant drought. The Mercury became five-time WL champs (1990, 1992, 1994, 2014, 2025).

In the 41^st Asian Baseball Federation Championship. Mashhad defeated Karachi 4-2 to become three-time ABF champs (1990, 1994, 2025). Finals MVP was CF Alireza Naser in his ninth year with the Mercury. He had been historically a great defender but subpar hitter, but in 15 playoff starts Naser had 17 hits, 6 runs, 4 doubles, 2 homers, and 5 RBI.

Other notes: Both Rafkat Kudaybergenov and Emmanouil Karakostas reached 3000 hits, a mark previously only met by Mehmet Fatih Canaydin. 2025 was the final year for Kudaybergenov, who finished at 3065 hits. Karakostas would get to 3273 in 2027, still falling short of Canaydin’s record 3696. He also joined Canaydin as the only players with 1500 runs scored, but his 1638 would fall short of Canaydin’s 1880. Karakostas notably retired as ABF’s career triples leader with 266, passing Wafiq Rasool’s 248 in 2026.

Tabriz’s Habib Saquib became the 6^th in ABF to record a four home run game, going it against Isfahan on June 29. Saquib also became the 5^th to 1500 career RBI.Bursa’s Qasim Muqtadir had a 31-game hitting streak, tied for the fifth-longest in ABF history. Nizami Aghazade and Ramin Abilov joined the 500 home run club, making 15 to do so in ABF. Aghazade won his 12^th Silver Slugger split evenly between SS/2B, the most by anyone in ABF at any position. For the 11^th time in 2025, Aghazade was the WARlord with a 10+ WAR effort, growing his career mark to 163.5.

RF Hana Zuhair won his 13^th Gold Glove, joining 3B Eser Haspolatli (14) as the only ABF players to reach that mark. In pitching milestones, Sijad Khaleel was the 10^th to 4000 strikeouts. Khaleel and Mustafa Jumah both reached 200 wins, a mark met by 13. Jumah and Ali Mehrjui became the 16^th and 17^th to 3500 Ks.

Izmir at 73-89 wasn’t the worst team in the West League despite historically bad pitching. The Ice Caps allowed 802 earned runs with a 5.03 team ERA, both ABF all-time worsts to that point. Izmir’s Goran Duvnjak allowed 318 hits, setting a new ABF all-time worst. Another bad record was set by Baku’s Tamaz Rogava, caught stealing 64 times.

02-11-2025, 06:56 PM	#2060
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,886	2025 in ABF The fight for the East League’s top seed was centered in the South Division. Hyderabad secured it at 105-57 by allowing the fewest runs in the entire Asian Baseball Federation at 521. Karachi was a competitive second at 100-62 and easily got the first wild card. The Horned Frogs earned repeat playoff berths, but it was their first division title since 2016. For the Carp, they snapped a 13-year playoff drought. Faisalabad had won the division six straight seasons, but their run ended with a fall to 78-84 in 2025. Over in the North Division, Dushanbe (96-66) edged out defending EL champ Almaty (93-69). The Dynamo are back in the playoffs after back-to-back misses ended a decade-long postseason streak. Dushanbe was the EL’s top scoring team with 746 runs. As the second wild card, the Assassins grew their playoff streak to six seasons. The only other team within reach in the wild card race was 88-74 Lahore. Bishkek notably fell to 80-82 for only their second losing season since joining ABF in 2000. Also after getting their first-ever playoff berth last year, expansion Shymkent regressed hard down to 68-94. Multan also notably collapsed to 51-111 after posting winning seasons from 2019-24. East League MVP went to Hyderabad RF Emir Han in his second year as a starter. The 25-year old Turk led in total bases (386) with 9.1 WAR, 196 wRC+, .981 OPS, 52 home runs, 122 RBI, 194 hits, and 109 runs. Han managed to beat out Horned Frogs teammate Khalid Bekzat for the top honor despite Bekzat’s league-best 61 homers and 125 RBI. Hyderabad also had the Pitcher of the Year Arshia Hushyar in his third-year with the squad. The 13^th year lefty from Iran won his first ERA title at 1.96 after mostly being an above average to good pitcher in his run. Hushyar posted 251 strikeouts over 234.2 innings, 16-11 record, 178 ERA+, and 5.6 WAR. He joined the Horned Frogs in 2023 on a five-year, $31,660,000 free agent deal. Both wild cards pulled off 3-1 first round upsets with Almaty over Hyderabad and Karachi over Dushanbe. The Assassins had a chance to repeat while the Carp hadn’t been in the East League Championship Series since their 2008-09 repeat. Karachi dethroned Almaty 4-1 to become six-time league champs (1985, 1995, 1996, 2008, 2009, 2025). Mashhad had ABF’s best overall record at 108-54 for the top seed in the West League and a Central Division title. The Mercury grew their playoff streak to five seasons and allowed the WL’s fewest runs at 577. Gaziantep and defending ABF champ Baku tied for the West Division at 100-62. With no tiebreaker games in ABF, the formula favored the Gorillas for their third-ever division title (2010, 2012). The Blackbirds’ playoff streak grew to four seasons. Gaziantep was the top scoring team in the WL at 823 runs. For the second wild card, Bursa and Tabriz tied at 94-68 with no other teams above .500. The tiebreaker formula favored the Blue Claws for a third consecutive playoff berth. This also ended the Tiger Sharks’ playoff streak at nine years, one short of Dushanbe’s record of 10 from 2013-22. For Bursa, they tied the ABF team record with 95 triples, a mark previously hit by Isfahan in 2021. Istanbul was a non-factor at 78-84, but they had the West League MVP in 1B Ismayil Kostenko The 30-year old Kyrgyz righty had joined the Ironmen the prior year after a seven-year run starting for Izmir. Kostenko led in hits (224), total bases (379), and OBP (.410). He added 108 runs, 38 homers, 119 RBI, .362 average, 1.023 OPS, 172 wRC+, and 7.8 WAR. Third-year Baku lefty Agshin Jumayev won Pitcher of the Year with league bests in wins (22-9), innings (275.2), strikeouts (410), WHIP (0.87), quality starts (28), and WAR (8.0). The 24-year old Tajik’s strikeouts were the ninth-most in an ABF season to that point. His 2.51 ERA was also only six points away from a Triple Crown. This was just the beginning for what would become one of ABF’s all-time great pitching careers. The division champs escaped with 3-2 series wins in the first round with Mashhad over Bursa and Gaziantep over defending champ Baku. The Mercury earned their first West League Championship Series trip since 2021, while it was the second-ever for the Gorilla (2012). Mashhad showed why they were the top seed, cruising to a sweep of Gaziantep to end a ten-year pennant drought. The Mercury became five-time WL champs (1990, 1992, 1994, 2014, 2025). In the 41^st Asian Baseball Federation Championship. Mashhad defeated Karachi 4-2 to become three-time ABF champs (1990, 1994, 2025). Finals MVP was CF Alireza Naser in his ninth year with the Mercury. He had been historically a great defender but subpar hitter, but in 15 playoff starts Naser had 17 hits, 6 runs, 4 doubles, 2 homers, and 5 RBI. Other notes: Both Rafkat Kudaybergenov and Emmanouil Karakostas reached 3000 hits, a mark previously only met by Mehmet Fatih Canaydin. 2025 was the final year for Kudaybergenov, who finished at 3065 hits. Karakostas would get to 3273 in 2027, still falling short of Canaydin’s record 3696. He also joined Canaydin as the only players with 1500 runs scored, but his 1638 would fall short of Canaydin’s 1880. Karakostas notably retired as ABF’s career triples leader with 266, passing Wafiq Rasool’s 248 in 2026. Tabriz’s Habib Saquib became the 6^th in ABF to record a four home run game, going it against Isfahan on June 29. Saquib also became the 5^th to 1500 career RBI.Bursa’s Qasim Muqtadir had a 31-game hitting streak, tied for the fifth-longest in ABF history. Nizami Aghazade and Ramin Abilov joined the 500 home run club, making 15 to do so in ABF. Aghazade won his 12^th Silver Slugger split evenly between SS/2B, the most by anyone in ABF at any position. For the 11^th time in 2025, Aghazade was the WARlord with a 10+ WAR effort, growing his career mark to 163.5. RF Hana Zuhair won his 13^th Gold Glove, joining 3B Eser Haspolatli (14) as the only ABF players to reach that mark. In pitching milestones, Sijad Khaleel was the 10^th to 4000 strikeouts. Khaleel and Mustafa Jumah both reached 200 wins, a mark met by 13. Jumah and Ali Mehrjui became the 16^th and 17^th to 3500 Ks. Izmir at 73-89 wasn’t the worst team in the West League despite historically bad pitching. The Ice Caps allowed 802 earned runs with a 5.03 team ERA, both ABF all-time worsts to that point. Izmir’s Goran Duvnjak allowed 318 hits, setting a new ABF all-time worst. Another bad record was set by Baku’s Tamaz Rogava, caught stealing 64 times. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)