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West African Baseball barely avoided having a blank Hall of Fame ballot for 2031 with the best debut getting a mere 34.7%. 3B/DH Joey Agboola managed to just barely cross the 66% requirement on his third ballot with 67.2%. Only one other player was above 50%; SP Isaac Appiah with 58.2% on his seventh try.



Two fell off the ballot after ten failed tries, including RF Oumar Samake, who ended at 8.2% and peaked at 40.1%. He won three Silver Sluggers and a WAB title with Port Harcourt, finishing with 1640 games, 1842 hits, 969 runs, 441 doubles, 382 home runs, 1125 RBI, 447 walks, .317/.366/.597 slash, 155 wRC+, and 51.5 WAR. Samake was on a nice pace, but dramatically fell off in his early 30s, keeping him from the accumulations needed to make it across the line.

Fellow RF Morrison Udobong fell off after ten tries also, peaking at 40.4% in his debut and ending with only 4.9%. He won three Silver Sluggers and had championship rings with Abidjan in 2009 and Lome in 2014. Udobong was never a league leader, but finished with 2543 games, 2810 hits, 1401 runs, 543 doubles, 248 triples, 399 home runs, 1487 RBI, 524 walks, 790 steals, .286/.324/.514 slash, 127 wRC+, and 71.2 WAR.

He notably ranks 24^th in WAR among position players as of 2037 and ranks 22^nd in hits, 32^nd in doubles, 11^th in triples, and 35^th in runs. Despite that, Udobong never really got much ballot traction with many WAB voters hyper-focused on big peaks and accolades. Udobong ended up dismissed by many as a compiler and was banished to the Hall of Pretty Good despite reaching several impressive milestones.



Joey “Hacksaw” Agboola – Third Base/Designated Hitter – Kano Condors – 67.2% Third Ballot

Joey Agboola was a 6’3’’, 200 pound right-handed third baseman from Dankalwa, Nigeria; a village of about 6,000 people in the northeastern Yobe State. He had the nickname “Hacksaw” from his unusual childhood fascination with professional wrestler Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Rock solid contact skills and gap power pushed Agboola to his successes.

Although his home run power was limited, Agboola still got you plenty of extra base hits with a 162 game average of 29 doubles, 18 triples, and 14 home runs. His strikeout rate was decent, but he drew fewer walks than most. Agboola was a quick and skilled baserunner when he got aboard. He fared better facing left-handed pitching (.946 OPS, 148 wRC+) compared to righties (.866 OPS, 125 wRC+).

Agboola had a very strong arm, but his glove work was mediocre. He made a bit over half of his career starts at third base with generally subpar metrics. Agboola started around 1/3 of games as a designated hitter and saw brief stints at second base, although he was especially putrid there. His durability was mostly good over a 16-year career and he became a generally well liked player across the region.

He left Nigeria for Ghana as a teenager with a developmental deal for Accra signed in March 2002. Agboola spent almost five full years in their academy, debuting for the Alligators in 2006 with five at-bats at age 20. He saw 80 games and 13 starts the next year, but struggled to -1.2 WAR. Accra kept him back in the developmental system for all of 2008.

Agboola returned to the big time as a part-timer in 2009 and 2010 with good results, managing 5.8 WAR over 221 games and 89 starts. He was a full-time starter the next two years for Accra and led the Western League with 23 triples in 2011, winning his lone Silver Slugger. He notably hit for the cycle against Bouake in 2010 and against Ibadan in 2011. Despite his efforts, the Alligators couldn’t find their way out of the lower-mid tier of teams.

With one year left under team control, Accra traded Agboola in March 2013 to Nouakchott for three prospects. With the Alligators, Agboola finished with 585 games, 526 hits, 244 runs, 70 doubles, 63 triples 48 home runs, 229 RBI, 159 steals, .310/.346/.511 slash, 135 wRC+, and 13.5 WAR.

As a DH in 2013 for the Night Riders, Agboola had 231 hits, 109 runs, 37 doubles, .872 OPS, and 3.0 WAR. Nouakchott had WAB’s worst record at 60-102 and Agboola left for free agency at age 28. He returned to his native Nigeria and got a sizeable seven-year, $62,800,000 deal with Kano. The Condors had posted a dynasty run from the mid 1990s through the 2000s, but they had been mediocre in the 2010s.

Although he was now back home in Nigeria, Agboola had participated in the World Baseball Championship for his country. He was usually a backup and posted subpar numbers from 2011-23 in 53 games with 31 hits, 18 runs, 4 doubles, 3 triples, 10 homers, .214/.263/.283 slash, and -0.2 WAR. Still, Agboola was on roster for Nigeria’s 2022 World Championship win.

Agboola spent six years with Kano with relatively consistent production. He hit for the cycle again in 2018 facing Conakry and versus Port Harcourt in 2019. Agboola was the first WAB player to achieve the feat four times, although eventual hit king Fares Belaid would go onto do it five times. The Condors completed their rebuild and return to contention in 2016, starting a six-year playoff streak.

Kano fell to Libreville in the 2016 Eastern League Championship Series. The Condors took the top seed in 2017 at 101-61 and won it all, beating Cotonou in the ELCS and Bamako in the West African Championship. Agboola was finals MVP in 2017 with 16 hits, 11 runs, 5 homers, 1 double, 2 triples, 11 RBI, and 0.9 WAR over eight games. In the Baseball Grand Championship, he had a .843 OPS and 0.4 WAR over 12 games as the Condors finished 10-9.

In 2018, Kano fell to Yaounde in the ELCS. The Condors then finished 106-56 en route to another WAB title, defeating Bamako in a finals rematch. Across 31 playoff games for the Condors, Agboola had 44 hits, 27 runs, 4 doubles, 5 triples, 8 homers, 29 RBI, 13 steals, .344/.382/.641 slash, 164 wRC+, and 1.5 WAR. In the 2019 BGC, Agboola had a .645 OPS and 0.3 WAR in 18 starts as Kano finished 8-11.

Following the 2019 title, Agboola declined the final year contract option, leaving for free agency at age 34. With Kano in six seasons, Agboola played 901 games with 1271 hits, 543 runs, 176 doubles, 94 triples, 89 home runs, 453 RBI, 385 steals, .344/.380/.514 slash, 130 wRC+, and 21.5 WAR. He remains a popular figure with Condors fans as one of the guys who helped return the franchise to prominence.

Agboola inked a four-year, $36,400,000 deal with Bouake. He led in triples in 2020 and 2021 and was on the best pace of his career in the latter. He lost a month to injury in 2021, but still had his career bests for WAR (6.2), triple slash (.385/.414/.617), and OPS (1.031). The lone playoff appearance for Bouake was a first round exit in 2020. The Blood Hawks were just above .500 the next two years, then just below in 2023.

Nagging injuries kept Agboola out for a bit of 2022-23 with noticeable dips in overall production, including a career worst 1.3 WAR and 115 wRC+ in 2023. Over four years with Bouake, Agboola had 538 games, 758 hits, 384 runs, 105 doubles, 77 triples, 48 home runs, 278 RBI, 206 steals, .347/.382/.532 slash, 136 wRC+, and 14.9 WAR. He hoped to still play in 2024, but went unsigned all season and retired that winter just after his 39^th birthday.

Agboola ended with 2183 games, 2786 hits, 1380 runs, 388 doubles, 249 triples, 195 home runs, 1041 RBI, 461 walks, 1416 strikeouts, 814 stolen bases, .338/.373/.517 slash, 132 wRC+, and 52.9 WAR. As of 2037, Agboola ranks 56^th in games, 39^th in runs, 23^rd in hits, 52^nd in total bases (4257), 9^th in singles (1954), 10^th in triples, and 81^st in WAR among position players. His batting average is 30^th among all batters with 3000+ plate appearances and his OBP is a nice 69^th.

The longevity got Agboola to some nice tallies, but he was lacking in awards and black ink. The advanced metrics were also underwhelmed between his lack of home run power, walks, and defensive value. Agboola’s resume was definitely a borderline one and he just missed the cut on his first two ballots with 58.0% and 59.6%.

Not having one long run with any one team hurt him too, but supporters pointed to Agboola’s role in Kano’s resurgence as a big plus. Strong playoff numbers that helped bring in two rings will often outweigh any other deficiencies. With a weaker 2031 Hall of Fame ballot, Agboola received a slight boost to 67.2% to just cross the 66% threshold. With that, he was a third ballot inductee and the lone addition for West African Baseball’s HOF in 2031.