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Hall Of Famer
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2041 ALB Hall of Fame (Part 1)

Arab League Baseball had three strong inductees into the Hall of Fame for 2041, captained by SP Diyar Abbas with the rare unanimous nod. He joins SAB SP Zainal bin Aziz, EPB SP/LF Igor Bury, OBA SP Jonah Lois, BSA RF Luca Alvares, and CABA SP Antonio Desir as the only players in any world league to get 100% of the vote.
2B Iqbal Matharu (90.0%) and RF Azhar Eid (84.7%) both joined Abbas firmly. Three returners were above 50%, but short of the 66% threshold. 1B Mohamed Ali Mansour had 57.5% on his seventh ballot, SP Ahmed Essa had 55.6% for his fifth try, and SP Muhammed Fadel saw 53.4% with his eighth go. No players were dropped from the ballot after ten failed tries.

Diyar Abbas – Starting Pitcher – Riyadh Rats – 100.0% First Ballot
Diyar Abbas was a 6’6’’, 195 pound right-handed pitcher from Sulaymaniyah, Iraq; a city of 847,000 in the country’s Kurdistan region. Abbas was well-rounded with great stuff, movement, and control for his entire run. His control got even better in his final years even as his velocity dropped, helping Abbas play into his 40s. He had a five-pitch arsenal with 99-101 mph velocity; fastball, forkball, sinker, slider, and changeup.
Abbas had stellar stamina relative to his ALB peers and had excellent durability, avoiding any major injury until his penultimate season. He led the conference 12 times for innings pitched and tossed 220+ each year from 2018-33. Abbas was a good defensive pitcher, but was subpar at holding runners. He was a true fan favorite and one of the game’s most likeable guys, known for his leadership, work ethic, loyalty, and adaptability. With all of those traits combined, you get ALB’s first unanimous Hall of Famer.
He left Iraq for Saudi Arabia as a teen in September 2012 by signing a developmental contract with Riyadh. Abbas debuted with four relief appearances in 2016 at age 21, then was full-time in the bullpen the next year with decent results. He became the ace in 2018 with his first of 14 consecutive seasons worth 6+ WAR and the first of nine straight worth 7.5+ WAR. Abbas also started a seven year streak as the Eastern Conference leader for innings pitched.
In 2020, Abbas won his first Pitcher of the Year award, leading in strikeouts (318), and WAR (9.5). He took third in 2021, second in 2023, third in 2024, and third in 2025. Abbas led again in strikeouts in 2022 with a career-best 340. He was the WARlord at 9.1 in 2023, starting a four-year streak of 9+ WAR seasons. Abbas led in strikeouts from 2024-27. From 2019-26, he led seven times in complete games, but surprisingly never tossed a no-hitter.
In June 2023, Abbas signed a seven-year, $180 million extension with Riyadh. He was perhaps underappreciated initially as the Rats were historically one of ALB’s less successful franchises. They had a playoff drought back to 2002, although they did start consistently finishing around or above .500 with Abbas. Their closest breakthrough was a franchise-best 100-62 in 2019, but ALB didn’t have wild cards at this point. They were four games behind Jeddah, whose Arabia Division streak stretched from 2011-24.
Riyadh finally ended that streak at 100-62 in 2025, but was upset in the divisional round. They missed the playoffs at 82-80 in 2026, but Abbas won his second Pitcher of the Year and posted ALB’s ninth-ever Triple Crown pitching season. He had a 22-9 record, 2.82 ERA, and 305 Ks. Abbas also saw his career best WHIP (0.93), complete games (12), and WAR (9.6).
He surprisingly had his ERA above four in 2027. The wild card was now a thing and Riyadh got it in 2027, but lost in the first round. In 2028, they won a terrible division at 79-83 and made it to the Eastern Conference Final, falling 3-2 to Muscat. Abbas was respectable in that run with a 3.42 ERA over 23.2 innings, but he stunk in his previous two playoff starts. In his Riyadh career, he had a 5.05 ERA in five starts, 35.2 innings, 2-3 record, 45 strikeouts, 91 ERA+, 85 FIP-, and 0.8 WAR.
Abbas was a tournament regular with better results for his native Iraq in the World Baseball Championship. From 2018-34, Abbas tossed 269.1 innings with a 3.07 ERA, 13-15 record, 351 strikeouts, 116 ERA+, 78 FIP-, and 6.8 WAR. Despite his efforts, Iraq failed to earn their first postseason berth during his tenure.
In 2028, Abbas led in wins for the second time and in WAR, taking second in POTY voting. Riyadh dropped to 74-88 the next year, their first time below 80 wins with Abbas as a full-time starter. That winter, the Rats traded their 34-year old ace to Alexandria for two prospects and a draft pick. Although Riyadh never broke through with Abbas, he was beloved and his #15 uniform would later be retired. Abbas finished with a 222-123 record, 3.33 ERA, 3082.2 innings, 3605 strikeouts, 421 walks, 110 complete games, 17 shutouts, 132 ERA+, 66 FIP-, and 100.8 WAR.
Abbas took second in Western Conference Pitcher of the Year voting in his Astronauts debut, leading in wins and WAR. Alexandria missed the wild card by one win at 89-73, but they were happy with Abbas and gave him a three-year, $92,500,000 extension. In 2031, he won his third Pitcher of the Year with his second ERA title, a career-best 2.55. Abbas also led in WAR and wins both for the final time.
Alexandria got the top seed at 102-60, but got upset in the second round by Damascus. They were a division champ and ousted in the second round in 2032 as well. Again, Abbas was shockingly poor in the playoffs with a 9.28 ERA over his two starts. His career playoff ERA was 6.02 over 46.1 innings with a 2-5 record, 54 Ks, 75 ERA+, 93 FIP-, and 0.8 WAR. That’s generally the biggest mark against him when discussing ALB’s pitching greats.
Abbas did also see his velocity start to dip in his final seasons with Alexandria. Over four years, he had a 67-37 record, 3.41 ERA, 977 innings, 972 strikeouts, 93 walks, 129 ERA+, 75 FIP-, and 26.6 WAR. He was climbing up the leaderboards and with his durability, many expected Abbas to challenge Ahmed Hussain’s all-time marks for strikeouts (5295), wins (312), and WAR (135.79). Abbas was now at 289 wins, 4577 Ks, and 127.3 WAR; holding the #2 spot for each stat.
For 2034, Abbas signed a conditional two-year, $29,800,000 deal with Tunis. His control was still excellent, but his velocity was dropping hard and he was now peaking in the 91-93 mph range. In 96 innings for the Thunder Cats, he had a 4.59 ERA, 59 Ks, and 1.4 WAR. Abbas suffered his first major injury that June with a bone spur in his elbow, ending his season and the brief tenure in Tunis. He tried a comeback in 2035 with Suez for the veteran minimum and missed part of the year to a sprained ankle. He struggled in his limited use with a 5.75 ERA over 81.1 innings, 40 Ks, and -0.1 WAR. Abbas retired that winter at age 40.
Abbas finished with a 296-171 record, 3.42 ERA, 4237 innings, 4676 strikeouts, 539 walks, 341/546 quality starts, 148 complete games, 21 shutouts, 129 ERA+, 70 FIP-, and 128.8 WAR. He ranks 2nd in wins, 2nd in strikeouts, 2nd in pitching WAR, 2nd in complete games, 8th in shutouts, and 2nd in innings. Among ALB pitchers with 1000+ innings, Abbas’s ERA is 92nd. His 1.14 BB/9 is 14th and his 1.11 WHIP is 88th. He’s 52nd in the world leaderboard for wins and in the top 100 for strikeouts.
He’s certainly one of Arab League Baseball’s immortals and usually cited as a top three pitcher in league history. Ahmed Hussain is typically considered the GOAT and although Abbas beats Rashid Tariq in totals, many would rank Tariq higher due to his playoff success and role in a dynasty with Mosul. Almost no one would dare place Abbas outside of the top five and few guys were more likeable. Thus, Abbas was ALB’s first unanimous Hall of Famer to headline a strong three-man 2041 class.
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