Baseball: The World's Game

[FuzzyRussianHat]

The Oceania Baseball Association’s 2035 Hall of Fame ballot lacked any notable debuts with the best newcomer at only 30.4%. Two guys on the backlog got the bump across the 66% requirement with 3B Dale Harper at 83.7% in his seventh ballot and 1B R.W. Putnam with 71.1% for his sixth go. Two others were above 50% with SP Lekinala Desire at 55.6% for his second attempt and SP Supa Malata with 52.6% on his third try.



The backlog saw a purge with five players removed after ten failed attempts. SP Raj Marple got the highest share of this group at 45.9% after peaking with 59.8% back in 2027. Marple was a victim of injuries and was never the same after a torn UCL that cost him his age 30 season. In his first four years with Perth, Marple won four ERA titles, led in WAR four times, strikeouts once, and won Pitcher of the Year thrice.

For his career, Marple had a 139-77 record, 2.79 ERA, 2018.1 innings, 2274 strikeouts, 138 ERA+, 69 FIP-, and 60.8 WAR. More injuries persisted after that with his last full season at age 32 and done by age 34. Marple certainly had the stuff to be a legend, but fate dealt him a bad hand. He only had about eight full seasons worth of innings, but his 2012-16 was so dominant that he almost made it into the HOF on that alone.

LF Samson Gould got as close as 61.0% in 2028 before ending at a low of 28.1%. He was a 21-year pro with ten Gold Gloves, one Silver Slugger, and six rings as part of Melbourne’s dynasty. Gould also was the 2007 finals MVP. In 2520 games, Gould had 2590 hits, 1319 runs, 429 doubles, 272 home runs, 1176 RBI, 1319 walks, 304 steals, .299/.390/.462 slash, 137 wRC+, and 91.6 WAR.

Gould ranks 14^th in WAR among position players, but a lot of value came from longevity, defense, walks, and avoiding strikeouts. Many traditionalist voters undervalue those traits, arguing against Gould for the lack of home run power and greater totals considering his lengthy run. In 57 playoff games, Gould was great with .935 OPS, 159 wRC+, and 3.1 WAR; a huge part of the Mets dynasty. He’s looked at as one of the biggest snubs you’ll find, but Gould did at least get his #16 retired in Melbourne.

2B Kevin Aguon peaked at 39.9% in 2027 before ending with only 11.9%. In 13 seasons mostly with New Caledonia, Aguon had five Silver Sluggers, two Gold Gloves, 2015 hits, 679 runs, 330 doubles, 141 triples, 48 homers, 645 RBI, 325 walks, 466 strikeouts, 287 walks, .332/.366/.456 slash, 138 wRC+, and 59.1 WAR. Aguon won five straight batting titles from 2011-15 and ranks second in average among all OBA batters with 3000+ plate appearances. But getting a lot of singles didn’t wow many voters and Aguon was generally stuck on bad teams, thus a Hall of Pretty Good designation.

SP Larry Ponapart got as high as 45.4% in 2027 before finishing at 10.7% in his last ballot. In 14 years between three teams, he had a 197-184 record, 3.36 ERA, 3439 innings, 3320 strikeouts, 899 walks, 110 ERA+, 89 FIP-, and 64.0 WAR. He had a nice tenure, but was never a Pitcher of the Year finalist and almost never a league leader. Ponapart would’ve needed a few more years of raw totals or some playoff accolades to have gotten more of a look in.

Lastly, Christian Valenzuela pitched 15 years mostly with Tahiti, but he only got to 28.2% for a peak and ended at 8.1%. He had a 200-118 record, 3.26 ERA, 2979 innings, 2650 strikeouts, 661 walks, 112 ERA+, 89 FIP-, and 54.9 WAR. Valenzuela had one ERA title in a partial season and won three rings with the Tropics, but he also wasn’t an awards consider or league leader generally. He was another guy who needed either more dominance and/or longevity to have gotten the nod.



Dale Harper – Third Base – Auckland Avengers – 83.7% Seventh Ballot

Dale Harper was a 6’2’’, 200 pound right-handed third baseman from Adelaide, Australia. Harper was an above average-to-good contact hitter with solid gap power against both sides equally. His 162 game average got you 32 doubles and 10 triples, but only 11 home runs. Harper was better than most at avoiding strikeouts, but below average at drawing walks. He was an incredibly crafty baserunner and thief, making the most of having merely good speed in his prime.

Harper was a career third baseman with few in world history making more starts at the hot corner. He was a reliably rock solid defender and even won two Gold Gloves. Harper’s durability wasn’t perfect in his later years, but he persevered for a 23-year career and didn’t draw attention to himself. By the 1999 OBA Draft, he was one of the hottest prospects coming from Australia and went fifth overall to Auckland.

The Avengers kept him in developmental for most of his first three years. He saw 79 games and 31 starts from 2000-02, but struggled in the small sample size. Harper got the full-time job in 2003 with solid results and held the gig somewhere for the next two decades. He led the Australasia League with 72 stolen bases in 2003, the only time in his career Harper led in any stat. For Auckland, Harper hit for the cycle in 2004 against Adelaide and won a Silver Slugger in 2005.

After the 2006 season, Auckland gave Harper a five-year, $20,120,000 extension. Harper was never dominant, but he remained a steady starter with the Avengers. They were regularly above .500 from 2005-10, but Melbourne’s dynasty had a firm hold on the AL. Auckland dropped to 80-82 in 2011 for Harper’s last season and he’d opt for free agency at age 31. For the Avengers, Harper had 1426 games, 1568 hits, 745 runs, 296 doubles, 114 triples, 99 home runs, 561 RBI, 339 walks, 800 Ks, 483 steals, .295/.339/.449 slash, 116 wRC+, and 41.8 WAR.

Harper joined Samoa on a four-year, $25,600,000 deal. He won both of his Gold Gloves with the Sun Sox from 2012-13 and got a Slugger in 2012. The Sun Sox were in the top half of the standings during this tenure, but not strong enough to compete for a title. Harper played 573 games with 631 hits, 282 runs, 116 doubles, 36 triples, 32 homers, 269 RBI, 175 steals, 143 walks, .296/.341/.429 slash, 125 wRC+, and 19.2 WAR.

He had remained steady into his mid 30s and still had plenty of interest as he returned to free agency, joining Canberra at $29,200,000 over three years. Harper struggled in his debut with .617 OPS, 73 wRC+, and 1.2 WAR; all worsts to that point. He bounced back with his third Silver Slugger in 2017 and a respectable 2018. The Centurions were in the 70s win range during Harper’s time there, getting 429 games, 447 hits, 197 runs, 76 doubles, 21 triples, 31 homers, 156 RBI, 107 walks, 90 steals, .281/.328/.414 slash, 107 wRC+, and 10.4 WAR.

Coming up on age 39, Harper signed a three-year, $27,600,000 deal with Guam. He won his fourth Silver Slugger in 2019 with arguably his best season, posting career highs for WAR (7.0), and WRC+ (155). The Golden Eagles fell four wins short of the Pacific League title in 2019, then won it in 2020. Guam beat Christchurch in the Oceania Championship with Harper faring well in his first postseason series, going 8-18 with 4 runs, 1 double, 2 homers, and 4 RBI.

Harper also made his Baseball Grand Championship debut, although his stats were merely decent with 15 hits, 11 runs, 4 doubles, 4 homers, 6 RBI, .774 OPS, 115 wRC+, and 0.4 WAR. Still, this helped Guam to a fourth place finish at 12-7. Harper did drop off in 2020 and didn’t meet the vesting criteria for the third year of the deal. In 254 games for the Golden Eagles, Harper had 254 games, 249 hits, 130 runs, 49 doubles, 10 triples, 26 homers, 110 RBI, 92 steals, .278/.336/.442 slash, 125 wRC+, and 9.2 WAR.

He kept on going into his 40s with a three-year, $26,300,000 deal with Melbourne for 2021. Harper had a nice first year for the Mets and became only the fourth OBA batter with 3000 career hits. He was subpar in 2022 and missed close to half the season to injuries. Melbourne was firmly in rebuild mode at this point. In two seasons, Harper had 221 games, 215 hits, 91 runs, 37 doubles, 10 triples, 10 homers, 79 RBI, 53 walks, 57 steals, .279/.328/.392 slash, 100 wRC+, and 4.3 WAR. He finished the season with 574 career doubles, tied with Adrian Kali for the OBA career record.

Harper signed for 2023 with Perth and still was a serviceable starter with 152 games, 155 hits, 53 runs, 22 doubles, 6 triples, 13 homers, 67 RBI, 49 steals, .280/.323/.412 slash, 108 wRC+, and 3.3 WAR. Harper became only the third OBA player to play 3000+ games and was the doubles leader outright now.

Some thought he could chase Adrian Kali’s hits record of 3467 as he was only 202 away. Harper also was also two away from the 1500 run club. He wanted to play in 2024, but teams weren’t interested in a 44-year old, so he eventually retired that winter.

The final totals saw 3055 games, 3265 hits, 1498 runs, 596 doubles, 197 triples, 211 home runs, 1242 RBI, 752 walks, 1783 strikeouts, 946 steals, .290/.336/.434 slash, 116 wRC+, and 88.2 WAR. Harper remains the OBA doubles king and ranks 3^rd in games, 9^th in runs, 3^rd in hits, 15^th in total bases (4888), 27^th in triples, 40^th in RBI, 14^th in steals, 25^th in walks, and 16^th in WAR among position players.

Harper’s case was obvious for his supporters; he was the doubles leader with 3000+ hits and nearly 1500 runs. But a notable subset of voters strongly were against “compilers” and cared far more about explosive peaks. Harper didn’t have that and was never an exceptional bat. His rate stats suggest sustained above averageness and those same skeptics also usually were iffy on leadoff guys and wanted home run power. Those same skeptics also tended to undervalue defense and baserunning, two of Harper’s stronger skills.

The loud skeptics won the battle for Harper’s first six Hall of Fame ballots. He was never below 55%, but he couldn’t quite get to the 66% requirement. Harper got as close as 63.3% in 2031 and 63.5% in 2033, but was still painfully short. With no notable debuts in 2035, Harper got a huge swell of increased support for 83.7%. Many felt it was long overdue, but he finally got his spot on the seventh ballot to captain the 2035 class for the Oceania Baseball Association.



R.W. “Melody” Putnam – First Base – Guam Golden Eagles – 71.1% Sixth Ballot

R.W. Putnam was a 6’4’’, 190 pound left-handed corner infielder from Ahuimanu, Hawaii; a town of around 9,000 people on the island of Oahu. Putnam was the third Hawaiian inductee for OBA’s HOF. Nicknamed “Melody” for his musical chops in the clubhouse, Putnam was known as an excellent home run hitter. He was thrice a league leader and had a 162 game average of 39 home runs and 97 RBI. Putnam’s gap power wasn’t bad either with 23 doubles and 6 triples per 162.

On the whole, Putnam graded as a good-to-great contact hitter with a very solid eye for drawing walks, although his strikeout rate was middling. He was an extreme pull hitter and noticeably fared better facing right-handed pitching (.935 OPS, 165 wRC+) compared to lefties (.790 OPS, 129 wRC+). Unlike many other power hitters, Putnam was a very good baserunner and had solid speed earlier in his career.

Putnam was initially a third baseman, but was terrible there defensively and quickly switched to first. He graded as quite good at 1B and even won a Gold Glove in 2015. Putnam occasionally filled in at third and ultimately had about an 80/20 career split for starts between 1B/3B. His durability was mostly sturdy in a 21-year career and few players could outwork him. Putnam was relatively simple-minded, but knew how to ball.

Hawaiians do receive some scouting attention in the continental United States, but many end up staying in the Pacific in OBA. Putnam was noticed by Guam and signed to a developmental deal in March 2006. He spent three full years in their academy, then was a rare 19-year old debut in 2009, although he was subpar in 47 games and 12 starts. Guam won the Pacific League that year, but lost the Oceania Championship to Melbourne with Putnam going 0-4 in the series.

Putnam was on the roster full-time in 2010 and a part-time starter. He got the full-time job and a Silver Slugger at 3B in 2011. That winter, the Golden Eagles gave him an eight-year, $49,200,000 extension. Back and shoulder troubles kept Putnam out much of 2012, but he would be good for 155+ games each year for the rest of the Guam tenure.

He won his second Silver Slugger in 2013, then had the breakthrough year in 2014 with his first Slugger at 1B and his lone MVP win. Putnam led the Pacific League in runs (125), homers (57), RBI (131), total bases (392), slugging (.690), OPS (1.074), wRC+ (204), and WAR (10.2). Those would all be full season career bests as was his 183 hits, .322 average, and .383 OBP. It was one of only 14 times in OBA that a player scored 125+ runs in a season. Putnam also had a 31-game hitting streak, only three games short of the then OBA record.

Putnam won his lone Gold Glove in 2015 along with a Slugger and a second place finish in MVP voting; leading in homers (50), total bases (364), slugging (.624), OPS (.969), and wRC+ (185). Despite his efforts, Guam had been merely above average since the 2009 pennant, averaging 88 wins per season with no titles. The Golden Eagles returned to the top of the PL in 2016 at 107-55.

In the Oceania Championship, Guam upset the historically dominant Christchurch, who had tied the world’s single-season wins record at 126-36. Putnam was unremarkable in the seven game classic going 4-24, although he had three homers. He stepped up big in the Baseball Grand Championship as the Golden Eagles were the world’s best at 13-6 in the event. Putnam had 18 hits, 14 runs, 4 doubles, 6 homers, 12 RBI, 9 steals, .295/.405/.656 slash, 193 wRC+, and 1.4 WAR.

Putnam won another Slugger in 2017 and was second in MVP voting, leading in homers (48) and runs (118). Guam finished 100-62 and swept Brisbane to repeat as OBA champs, although Putnam was 3-17 in the series. They couldn’t repeat as Grand Champion at 10-9, although they were one of 12 teams within two wins of first in a crowded field. Putnam had another strong showing with 18 hits, 15 runs, 11 homers, 14 RBI, 1.097 OPS, and 1.3 WAR.

Guam dropped to 82-80 in 2018, then finished four out of first in 2019 at 95-67. Putnam had two more solid seasons, then declined his contract option at age 30 to try free agency. This ultimately was the end of Putnam’s OBA run, although he had another decade of pro baseball ahead. Guam would eventually retire his #7 uniform for his role in the repeat and Grand Championship win.

For the Golden Eagles, Putnam had 1522 games, 1502 hits, 949 runs, 215 doubles, 73 triples, 395 home runs, 914 RBI, 601 walks, 976 strikeouts, 427 steals, .287/.361/.582 slash, 167 wRC+, and 62.0 WAR. This complicated his Hall of Fame case since his OBA run was so short. Putnam is 58^th in homers and 60^th in WAR for position players, but is out of the top 100 in any other counting stat. Among batters with 3000+ plate appearances, he was 16^th in OBP, 14^th in slugging, and 7^th in OPS at .943.

While his HOF classmate Dale Harper had skeptics for being a compiler, Putnam faced the opposite. There were voters who simply felt he wasn’t around long enough to deserve the nod, even if the brief tenure was excellent. Many of those skeptics also gave little or no credit for any tallies from outside of OBA. Supporters pointed out how strong of a slugger Putnam was and his key role in Guam’s dynasty run.

Also like Harper, Putnam never was below 55% on the ballot, but he had to wait. He debuted at 61.8% in 2030 and hovered mostly around that mark until 2035. With a quiet field and no big debuts, Putnam got the slight bump across the 66% requirement at 71.1%. He earned a sixth ballot induction as the second member of the 2035 class for the Oceania Baseball Association.

Putnam likely did get at least some credit for a very respectable Major League Baseball career beginning at age 30. He signed a six-year, $114 million deal with Winnipeg and eventually signed a three-year, $84 million extension in May 2025 to stay in Manitoba. Putnam never won any awards and the Wolves were firmly stuck in the middle tier in the 2020s with no playoff berths, although they won at least 76 games in each season he was there.

His best effort by far was 2022 with his MLB career highs for WAR (7.6), wRC+ (191), homers (46), RBI (116), runs (103), triple slash (.290/.387/.584) and OPS (.971). Putnam finally declined by 2028 after a severely strained hip muscle and was relegated to the bench by 2029. Still, in a decade in Winnipeg entirely in his 30s, Putnam had 1367 games, 1268 hits, 747 runs, 189 doubles, 37 triples, 292 home runs, 812 RBI, 590 walks, 958 strikeouts, 124 steals, .265/.350/.504 slash, 146 wRC+, and 40.8 WAR.

The combined pro stats for Putnam had 2889 games, 2770 hits, 1696 runs, 404 doubles, 110 triples, 687 home runs, 1726 RBI, 1191 walks, 1934 strikeouts, 551 steals, .276/.356/.544 slash, 157 wRC+, and 102.8 WAR. Certainly that combined resume would be plenty for induction with all but the most stuffy of voters. Putnam’s OBA tenure alone though was impressive enough to secure his spot among the association’s hallowed greats.

[FuzzyRussianHat]

Austronesia Professional Baseball’s 2035 Hall of Fame class had two relief pitchers on their first ballots inducted with Jay Abiad at 82.9% and Marco Yudho at 78.6%. The only other guy above 50% was fellow closer Favian Frias with 52.5% in his third ballot. The best position player was RF Mohd Aqmal Kunanlan debuting at 48.4%.



Another closer, Arcan “Big Cat” Sari fell off after ten ballots, peaking with a debut at 38.8% and ending with 18.0%. He was hurt totals-wise by having a seven year run in the middle of his career in MLB. Sari’s peak with Surabaya had three straight Reliever of the Year wins along with an APB title in 2007. In APB, Sari had 279 saves and 383 shutdowns, 1.72 ERA, 845.1 innings, 1242 strikeouts, 148 ERA+, 49 FIP-, and 32.6 WAR.

There’s just so many impressive closers in the extremely low scoring APB that it isn’t easy to stand out. Sari was mostly mid relief in MLB with a full career of 328 saves, 457 shutdowns, 1.91 ERA, 1082.2 innings, 1530 strikeouts, 194 walks, 145 ERA+, 51 FIP-, and 39.8. The split career though kept him below the accumulation milestones that APB voters wanted. Sari would notably get his #18 uniform retired by the Sunbirds.

RF Yee Ibrahim also dropped from the ballot after ten failed tries, debuting at 42.5% before ending at 6.7%. He was one of the most decorated players of his era, but was a victim to the very tough standards APB voters have towards hitters. They often use other league’s benchmarks despite APB batters having lower stats just from the nature of the league. Ibrahim also did lose four seasons of totals with his final years in Beisbol Sudamerica and the African Association of Baseball.

In 15 years with Semarang, Ibrahim won two APB titles and was finals MVP in 2012. He had seven Gold Gloves and eight Silver Sluggers with 2024 games, 1764 hits, 913 runs, 204 doubles, 94 triples, 406 home runs, 920 RBI, 718 walks, 1764 strikeouts, 623 steals, .247/.316/.472 slash, 173 wRC+, and 100.5 WAR. Ibrahim is 19^th in WAR among position players, but he couldn’t get voting traction despite that resume. For many scholars, Ibrahim is one of the notable snubs for any league’s HOF.



Jay Abiad – Relief Pitcher – Zamboanga Zebras – 82.9% First Ballot

Jay Abiad was a 6’4’’, 185 pound left-handed relief pitcher from San Vicente, Philippines; a municipality of around 12,500 people in the Bicol Region. Abiad was known for very good stuff and movement, but his control was subpar and he sometimes had to be “effectively wild.” His one-two punch was a 97-99 mph cutter and a changeup.

Abiad’s stamina was good as far as relievers go and he had ironman durability, never missing any significant time to injury in an 18-year run. He had a fantastic pickoff move, but was a weak defender otherwise. Abiad was very outspoken and not afraid to share his (usually wrong) hot takes on various topics. He was good enough though and his team strong enough for that not to be too disruptive.

Zamboanga picked Abiad with the sixth pick in the second round of the 2010 APB Drat, 33^rd overall. He was mainly a setup man and occasional closer throughout his 20s as the Zebras had their dynasty run. Zamboanga from 2013-18 won five Taiwan-Philippine Association Championships and won the Austronesia Championship in 2013 and 2018.

Abiad’s playoff numbers were impressive over 34 career appearances and 46.2 innings with 15 saves and 20 shutdowns, 0.96 ERA, 63 strikeouts, 3 walks, 290 ERA+, 44 FIP-, and 1.7 WAR. He allowed only one run over 11 innings in the 2013 Baseball Grand Championship as the Zebras took second at 13-6. Zamboanga was one of four teams tied for third at 11-8 in 2018 with Abiad allowing two runs in 9.1 innings.

The first awards consideration for Abiad came in 2018, taking third in Reliever of the Year voting. He signed a two-year, $8,240,000 extension that September and would take on the full-time closer role from 2019-24. Abiad won the top honor in 2019 with an impressive 0.70 ERA in 102.1 innings, 36 saves, 152 Ks, and 6.0 WAR. 2019 also featured a 39-inning scoreless streak from June 3 to August 9. He had a 39 save streak from 5/8/19 through 5/11/20.

Abiad won Reliever of the Year again in 2021 and 2023. He took third in 2020 and 2022, then got second place in both 2024 and 2027. Abiad kept signing two years extensions to stick with Zamboanga, who missed the playoffs from 2020-22 while still competitive. The Zebras won the TPA pennant again in 2023, but lost the APB Championship against Medan. They set a franchise record in 2024 at 110-52, but were upset in the TPA finals by Kaohsiung.

2024 was Abiad’s first time leading in saves with 40 and his second sub-one ERA. He was surprisingly limited to only 40 innings in 2025 and was merely decent in 2026. Abiad bounced back with a career high 41 saves in 2027 at age 38. That would be the end of the Zamboanga run though with a possible rebuild coming after three straight playoff misses. The Zebras traded Abiad in the winter to Pekanbaru straight up for prospect 3B Rais Salim, who only ever played 14 big league games.

For Zamboanga, Abiad had 384 saves and 524 shutdowns, 95-102 record, 1.59 ERA, 930 games, 1299.1 innings, 1735 strikeouts, 301 walks, 173 ERA+, 54 FIP-, and 48.8 WAR. He had hopes of chasing the 400 save milestone, which had only been reached thrice to that point. Metta Adam’s record of 437 seemed reachable if Abiad could keep up his Zebras pace.

Abiad’s stuff had started to decline noticeably by that point and his velocity was now peaking in the low 90s. Pekanbaru only used him 30 innings in 2028 with no saves, although he had a 1.50 ERA. Abiad signed with Cagayan de Oro in 2029, but only saw 3.2 innings with three runs allowed (two earned). Abiad retired that winter at age 41. Zamboanga quickly honored him for his role in the dynasty run by retiring his #16 uniform.

In total, Abiad had a 98-103 record, 384 saves, 526 shutdowns, 1.60 ERA, 1333 innings, 949 games, 1761 strikeouts, 312 walks, 172 ERA+, 55 FIP-, and 48.8 WAR. Abiad is APB’s all-time leader in games pitched and ranks 6^th in saves and among APB’s HOF closers has the 5^th-best WAR and 3^rd-most strikeouts.

Among those with 1000+ innings, Abiad ranks 7^th in ERA, 17^th in opponent’s OBP (.508), 64^th in WHIP (0.88), 33^rd in K/9 (11.89), and 23^rd in H/9 (5.78). His .183/.235/.273 triple slash ranks 22^nd/49^th/11^th. Abiad’s longevity also gets him on the world leaderboard, just missing the top 50 for games pitched but 45^th in shutdowns, 45^th in WAR among relievers, and 40^th in strikeouts. He also is 22^nd in ERA among qualified world relievers, although APB’s extremely low scoring environment helps that as he misses the top 50 in ERA+.

Abiad isn’t quite at the absolute tip-top of relievers all-time, but his longevity and consistency were impressive. At his peak, he was firmly a perennial Reliever of the Year candidate and he played a strong role in multiple titles for Zamboanga. This got Abiad to 82.9% for a first ballot induction for 2035 into the Austronesia Professional Baseball Hall of Fame.



Marco Yudho – Relief Pitcher – Manila Manatees – 78.6% First Ballot

Marco Yudho was a 6’2’’, 190 pound right-handed relief pitcher from Loa Janan, Indonesia; a district with 56,000 in the East Kalimantan province. Yudho led the way with very strong stuff, making up for merely above average-to-good movement and control. He had a 98-100 mph fastball combined with a splitter for an extreme groundball tendency.

Yudho’s stamina was outstanding for a closer and had excellent durability, avoiding major injuries in his career. He was the leader in games pitched four times in his run. Yudho was effective at holding runners with below average defensive marks. He did receive criticism for over-relying on his natural ability with some peers calling him lazy and dumb. Being able to throw hard though can make up for that though and did in Yudho’s case.

His pro career began with a developmental deal in October 2006 with Bandung, although he never pitched for the Blackhawks. After four years in their academy, he was part of a four-player trade in late 2010 to Manila. Yudho debuted for the Manatees in 2012 and had mixed results in his first five years in middle relief. He was a part-time closer in 2017, then took the full-time gig in 2018.

2018 was Yudho’s lone Reliever of the Year win with 35 saves, 1.55 ERA, 143 Ks, 98.2 innings, and a career best 4.7 WAR. He was the saves leader again in 2019, 21, and 22. His bests were 44 saves in both 2022 and 2023. Yudho also had 104.1 innings, 81 games, and 154 strikeouts in 2023 for career highs. He was third in 2019’s ROTY voting and third in 2026.

Manila was above 90+ wins from 2019-23, but only had one playoff berth in 2020 with an association finals loss to Taipei. Yudho’s lone playoff appearances saw four scoreless innings. He did also have nice numbers pitching from 2020-26 in the World Baseball Championship for Indonesia with 9 saves, 1.98 ERA, 33 games, 41 innings, 61 strikeouts, 183 ERA+, 74 FIP-, and 1.0 WAR.

Yudho continued to sign extensions with Manila, who fell below .500 in his later years there. He lost the closer job in 2025, then got it back in 2026. He was back to limited use in 2027 and left for free agency that winter at age 37. With the Manatees, Yudho had 352 saves and 483 shutdowns, 106-90 record, 2.05 ERA, 1100.2 innings, 1465 strikeouts, 136 ERA+, 63 FIP-, and 34.2 WAR.

Major League Baseball gave Yudho a look as he signed for two years and $14,200,000 with El Paso. He was lackluster with a 5.23 ERA over 43 innings and 0.5 WAR, getting released in May 2029. Yudho returned later that year to APB with Depok, posting a 2.15 ERA over 37.2 innings with 38 Ks.

Yudho got another MLB shot in 2030 with Albuquerque, but struggled in only five innings and spent most of his time on the reserve list. He was cut in July and finished the year in the European Second League with Gothenburg. El Paso brought Yudho back into the system in 2031, where he spent the entire season in minor league Las Cruces. He retired that winter at age 41 and Manila honored him by retiring his #29 uniform.

In APB, Yudho had a 108-92 record, 361 saves, 497 shutdowns, 2.06 ERA, 895 games, 1138.1 innings, 1503 strikeouts, 301 walks, 135 ERA+, 63 FIP-, and 34.8 WAR. Yudho ranks 8^th in saves and 5^th in games, although he has the worst ERA amongst APB’s HOF closers. Among APB pitchers with 1000+ innings, Yudho is 49^th in ERA and 62^nd in opponent’s OPS (.542).

Yudho was certainly less dominant than his Hall of Fame classmate Jay Abiad, but he had good longevity and consistency. 350+ saves had been a magic number to that point for the pitcher-friendly Austronesia Professional Baseball voters and Yudho wouldn’t be an exception. He received a solid 78.6% for a first ballot selection with the 2035 class.

[FuzzyRussianHat]

Two former Nanjing infielders made up the 2035 Hall of Fame class for Chinese League Baseball. 2B Kenny Sang was the clear headliner at 96.6%, while 1B Houzhi Ding also got a first ballot nod at 74.0%. SP Dalong Li debuted at 59.8%, only narrowly missing the 66% threshold. SP Xioale Li was the best returner and only other guy above 50%, earning 51.4% on his fourth try. No one was dropped after ten failed ballots in 2035.



Kenny Sang – Second Base – Nanjing Nuggets – 96.6% First Ballot

Kenny Sang was a 6’4’’, 200 pound left-handed hitting second baseman from the Sha Tin neighborhood in Hong Kong. He joined Class of 2033 SP Len Goh as the only Hongkongers in the CLB HOF. Sang had elite home run power and led the league five times in dingers. His 162 game average had 44 homers, 22 doubles, and 8 triples; very high marks especially in the extremely low scoring CLB.

Sang was also a very solid contact hitter against both sides, but he was subpar at drawing walks and avoiding strikeouts. Unlike a lot of big sluggers, Sang had good speed and was a highly skilled baserunner, becoming of the most effective offensive players in league history. His durability was alright, but he had some bad luck with a few big injuries.

The biggest downside was defense with Sang playing entirely at second base. He was an absolutely putrid defender, but CLB didn’t have the designated hitter so you had to stick him somewhere. The bat was so generationally good though that it made up for his comically bad glove work. It was clear as Sang progressed through the amateur ranks that he had next-level potential offensively. With the #1 pick in the 2016 CLB Draft, he was picked by Nanjing, where he’d spend his entire career.

Sang won 2017 Rookie of the Year with 33 homers and 4.6 WAR and won his first Silver Slugger. In 2018, he got his first MVP and another Slugger, leading the Northern League in runs (105), hits (182), triples (16), homers (54), total bases (401), slugging (.677), and wRC+ (243). Sang also had 12.2 WAR, 1.031 OPS, 111 RBI, and a .307 average, falling eight average points and five RBI shy of a Triple Crown.

Most importantly, this led Nanjing to a stunning turnaround. The Nuggets had bottomed out at 58-104 in 2016, then were 68-94 in Sang’s rookie year. In 2018, Nanjing took the Northern League’s top seed at 96-66 and went all the way, defeating Chengdu in the China Series for their second-ever title (1996). Sang had a monster postseason, winning finals MVP and semis MVP against Shenyang. In 16 playoff starts, he had 21 hits, 14 runs, 3 doubles, 3 triples, 7 homers, 13 RBI, 1.174 OPS, 283 wRC+, and 1.8 WAR.

Nanjing took last in the Baseball Grand Championship at 5-14, but you couldn’t blame Sang. He had 25 hits, 14 runs, 4 doubles, 9 homers, 16 RBI, 1.167 OPS, 234 wRC+, and 1.5 WAR for the event. 2018 was also his debut in the World Baseball Championship playing for China, which Hong Kong natives were eligible to do. From 2018-27, Sang had 91 games, 77 hits, 45 runs, 14 doubles, 24 homers, 53 RBI, .253/.522/.536 slash, and 3.2 WAR. This was a down period for the previously strong Chinese team with a lone division title in 2022.

Sang repeated as MVP with another Slugger in 2019, leading with 101 runs, 60 homers .698 slugging, and 13.2 WAR. The WAR, homers, slugging, and OPS (1.041) would be career highs. It was one of only 11 seasons of 60+ homers in CLB history and ranks as the 13^th-best WAR by a position player. Nanjing couldn’t follow up on their title, missing the playoffs by one win at 87-75.

In 2020, Sang was second in MVP voting but got another Slugger. He led with 44 homers and had 10.0 WAR and 207 wRC+. Nanjing got a wild card at 91-71 but lost in the round robin. They were the #3 seed in 2021 at 89-73 as Sang won another Slugger and was again second in MVP voting, leading in slugging (.593), OPS (.950), total bases (349), and wRC+ (220). He had fierce MVP competition in his prime from legendary two-way star Chuchuan Cao and slugger Cheng Kang. From 2012-22, every NL MVP was claimed by either Sang, Kang, or Cao.

Nanjing got hot and made another deep playoff run, upsetting Cao and his defending champ Shenyang Swans in the semifinal with Sang as series MVP. The Nuggets then took the China Series over Sang’s hometown Hong Kong. In 16 playoff starts, Sang had 24 hits, 11 runs, 5 homers, 12 RBI, 1.143 OPS, 298 wRC+, and 1.7 WAR. He was merely good in the 2021 BGC with 19 hits, 10 runs, 4 doubles, 6 homers, 11 RBI, .838 OPS, 127 wRC+, and 0.5 WAR. The Nuggets would finish 7-12.

After the 2021 campaign, Nanjing locked up Sang on an eight-year, $60,100,000 extension. He won his third MVP in 2022 and continued the Slugger streak with league bests in runs (108), hits (191), homers (58), RBI (115), total bases (404), slugging (.667), wRC+ (256), and WAR (12.8). This would be his career best for runs, hits, RBI, total bases, and wRC+. His .315 average was also a new best, although Beijing’s Ziqi Sun kept him a long way from the Triple Crown at .377. There have been 53 seasons by a CLB position player of 12+ WAR, Sang has three of them.

Sang had another strong postseason and Nanjing got the top seed at 100-62, but got upset by Urumqi in the semifinal. He had another Slugger in 2023, but the Nuggets fell one win shy of the playoffs. They made it back in 2024 at 93-69 with a semifinal defeat in a rematch with the Unicorns. Sang was MVP in the semis loss and second in league MVP voting.

In 2025, Sang was the fifth CLB star to win four MVPs and got another Slugger. It was his final time as a league leader with 103 runs, 52 homers, 366 total bases, and .616 slugging. Nanjing was second in the standings at 92-70 and yet again ousted Shenyang in the semifinal. The Nuggets knocked off Chongqing for their third China Series win in an eight year span. Yet again, Sang was a playoff stud in 18 games with 22 hits, 18 runs, 8 homers, 14 RBI, 10 steals, .974 OPS, 224 wRC+, and 1.8 WAR. The 18 runs set a CLB playoff record that has been matched twice since but not passed. His last Baseball Grand Championship was lackluster though with a .687 OPS, 88 wRC+, and 0.3 WAR as Nanking was an awful 3-16.

This was Sang’s final playoff run, finishing his career with stellar stats. In 79 games, he had 105 hits, 60 runs, 13 doubles, 5 triples, 31 homers, 58 RBI, 31 steals, .334/.364/.704 slash, 261 wRC+, and 7.9 WAR. Sang is the all-time playoff leader in CLB for runs, hits, total bases (221), homers, and RBI. Those stats would be terrific in any league, but are especially remarkable coming both in the playoffs and in the extremely low scoring CLB.

Nanjing would fall to around .500 for the next three seasons. Sang won two more Silver Sluggers in 2026-27 as he had 5.2 WAR and 6.2 WAR efforts; great for any normal player but well down from his peak. Sang is one of only three CLB players with 11+ Silver Slugger wins. 2027 was on pace to be closer to his peak seasons, but catastrophe struck on August 12 with a broken kneecap. This knocked him out eight months and he was never the same player afterward.

Sang struggled in 2028 and was reduced to a bench role with 126 games, 40 starts, 15 homers, 127 wRC+, and 1.5 WAR. Then in 2029, he was actively bad in 141 games and 84 starts with .568 OPS, 70 wRC+, and -1.2 WAR. Many expected Sang to re-write the record books, but his collapse was abrupt after the broken kneecap. He retired after the 2029 season at age 36 and quickly had his #11 retired by Nanjing for his role in three titles.

The final stats for Sang: 1939 games, 1967 hits, 1060 runs, 267 doubles, 92 triples, 528 home runs, 1118 RBI, 359 walks, 1601 strikeouts, 566 steals, .286/.326/.582 slash, .907 OPS, 202 wRC+, and 102.6 WAR. Sang ranks 63^rd in games, 15^th in runs, 28^th in hits, 7^th in total bases (4002), 71^st in doubles, 5^th in homers, 10^th in RBI, and 13^th in WAR among position players.

His .907 OPS is 17^th among CLB batters with 3000+ plate appearances and he’s 82^nd in batting average and 10^th in slugging. Among CLB second baseman, Sang is the leader for slugging, OPS, runs, hits, total bases, homers, and RBI. He is just behind Duguan Cai for WAR at the position (107.6) and just above Liang Shang Guan (100.5).

Sang’s totals don’t come close on the world leaderboards because of how low scoring Chinese League Baseball is. But by wRC+, which tries to normalize stats relative to time and era, Sang ranks 9^th of all world Hall of Famers. He’s one of only 10 to have 200+, showing how far beyond most of his peers he was. Only his contemporary Cheng Kang is above him among CLB greats at 208.

What sets Sang apart though are the playoff stats, as a 261 wRC+, 1.067 OPS, and 7.9 WAR in 79 games makes him one of the best postseason performers in all of baseball history. You could easily rank him as CLB’s playoff GOAT as he led Nanjing to three championships. That pushes Sang into the inner-circle level as one of the best pure bats that China has ever produced. At 96.6%, Sang headlined the 2035 HOF class along with his teammate Houzhi Ding.



Houzhi Ding – First Base – Nanjing Nuggets – 74.0% First Ballot

Houzhi Ding was a 6’9’’, 200 pound left-handed hitting first baseman from Liuzhou, a prefecture-level city of 4.1 million people in southern China. Like his former teammate Kenny Sang, Ding had fantastic home run power and was a league leader four times. He was much better than Sang at drawing walks, but struck out a lot more and was only an above average-to-good contact hitter for most of his run. Ding’s 162 game average got you 43 homers, 22 doubles, and 3 triples.

Ding was notably stronger facing right-handed pitching with a .913 OPS and 177 wRC+ compared to a still solid .792 OPS and 141 wRC+ against lefties. His speed and baserunning ability was lousy. Ding was a career first baseman with serviceable metrics, grading as just below average with the glove. His durability was outstanding and he never missed significant time because of an injury.

Nanjing hit back-to-back home runs in the CLB Draft to set up their dynasty run. After getting Sang #1 overall in 2016, they grabbed Ding with the fourth pick in 2017. He didn’t immediately see much action with only nine games in 2018 and 88 games with 13 starts in 2019. Ding wasn’t used in the postseason for the Nuggets’ 2018 championship, but he did go 1-8 as a pinch hitter in the Baseball Grand Championship.

In 2020, Ding played 148 games and started 116 with excellent marks with 43 homers and 7.0 WAR, earning a full-time starting job from then on. Nanjing had a round robin playoff exit that year, then won their second title of the dynasty in 2021. Ding saw his first Silver Slugger and had 16 hits, 11 runs, 6 doubles, 5 homers, 9 RBI, and 0.9 WAR in the postseason. The Nuggets went 7-12 in the BGC with Ding getting 14 hits, 5 runs, 4 doubles, 5 homers, 15 RBI, 89 wRC+, and 0.0 WAR.

Ding was a league leader for the first time with 32 doubles in 2022 and added 52 homers, 1.011 OPS, 240 wRC+, and 10.3 WAR. He got his second Silver Slugger and was behind only Sang for MVP voting. Ding had a strong playoffs with 1.031 OPS and 0.9 WAR in 11 games, but top-seeded Nanjing fell in the semifinal against Urumqi.

In 2023, Ding won another Slugger and was third in MVP voting, leading the Northern League in homers (50), RBI (117), and total bases (341), but Nanjing fell one win shy of the playoffs. They got back in 2024 with another semifinal defeat to Urumqi despite another good playoff showing by Ding. This was by far his best regular season with his lone MVP win and another Slugger.

Ding posted only the eighth Triple Crown hitting season in CLB history, leading in runs (104), hits (184), homers (63), RBI (119), total bases (405), triple slash (.319/.388/.702), OPS (1.092), wRC+ (255), and WAR (12.8); all career highs. The 63 homers rank as the fifth-best single-season in CLB and the total bases rank 12^th.

In 2025, his regular season stats were down from that peak, although he still led with 105 RBI and had 185 wRC+ and 7.4 WAR. It was Ding’s turn for the epic playoff run, winning semifinal and finals MVP en route to Nanjing’s China Series win over Chongqing. In 18 starts, he had 24 hits, 12 runs, 3 doubles, 8 home runs, 16 RBI, 10 walks, 1.234 OPS, 266 wRC+, and 1.8 WAR. The Nuggets were a terrible 3-16 in the BGC, but Ding fared well with .992 OPS and 0.8 WAR over 19 starts.

While no one can match Sang’s career playoff numbers, Ding was quite critical also for Nanjing’s dynasty. In 63 starts, he had 70 hits, 39 runs, 14 doubles, 21 homers, 39 RBI, .297/.355/.631 slash, 218 wRC+, and 4.7 WAR. He ranks 6^th in total bases (149) and 4^th in homers while also making the top 20 for playoff runs, hits, doubles, and RBI.

Ding led in homers twice more with 44 in 2026 and 52 in 2028. He also led with 119 RBI in 2028 for a third place in MVP voting as Nanjing hovered around .500 for his final three years. With Sang’s decline after his knee injury and Ding’s departure, Nanjing would plummet to the bottom to end the decade. They were unable to ever work out a long-term extension with Ding, who left China after the 2028 campaign at age 31. The Nuggets later retired his #7 uniform for his efforts.

With Nanjing, Ding had 1532 games, 1424 hits, 793 runs, 212 doubles, 30 triples, 454 home runs, 979 RBI, 594 walks, 1460 strikeouts, .274/.348/.589 slash, 202 wRC+, and 78.7 WAR. He’s another guy who observers though would re-write the record books, but he was gone from CLB after only a decade. Ding ranks 80^th in runs, 58^th in total bases (3058), 10^th in homers, 24^th in RBI, 52^nd in walks, and 57^th in WAR among position players. Ding’s .937 OPS is also 11^th among those with 3000+ plate appearances and he ranks 39^th in OBP and 9^th in slugging.

It’s hard to say what his final totals might have been had he stayed and if he would’ve pushed into that inner-circle level. There were Hall of Fame voters who felt Ding didn’t belong simply because he wasn’t around long enough. However, his exceptional power in that short burst and role in Nanjing’s dynasty was enough for the majority. At 74.0%, Ding crossed the 66% requirement in 2035 for the first ballot induction into Chinese League Baseball’s HOF along with his long-time teammate Kenny Sang.

Ding would still have six more pro seasons left post-Nanjing, signing a healthy six-year, $174 million deal with Major League Baseball’s San Francisco. He never lived up to the elite billing with the Gold Rush, who were generally mid-tier in his time. Ding debuted with 37 homers, 116 wRC+, and 3.0 WAR in 2029, but led the American Association with 182 strikeouts.

He was a part-timer in 2030, but regaining a starting job for the following three years with passable results. Ding was back to a part-time platoon role in 2034 and retired that winter shortly after his 37^th birthday. In six years in San Francisco, Ding had 787 games, 663 hits, 380 runs, 105 doubles, 164 homers, 426 RBI, 287 walks, 796 Ks, .244/.317/.470 slash, 105 wRC+, and 7.4 WAR. He wasn’t bad with the Gold Rush, but at $29 million per year you’d call him a bust with those stats.

Ding’s pro totals had 2319 games, 2087 hits, 1173 runs, 317 doubles, 39 triples, 618 home runs, 1405 RBI, 881 walks, 2256 strikeouts, .264/.338/.548 slash, 169 wRC+, and 86.1 WAR. In his 20s, Ding was undoubtedly elite and a key piece for Nanjing’s prolonged success. The powerful stroke of the lanky lefty certainly secured him a deserved spot among China’s all-time best.

[FuzzyRussianHat]

West African Baseball had two first ballot Hall of Famers in 2035, albeit by very different margins. RF Clarence Cole was nearly unanimous at 99.3%, while SP Nazifi Zakaria scraped by the 66% requirement at 66.2%. SP Joseph Masuta came painfully short with 65.2% on his fourth ballot. Three others were above 50% with CL Nwaneri Victor at 55.9% on his third try, LF Lovemore James with 52.4% for his second go, and SP Sabado Balde at 50% exactly in his debut.



Dropped after ten failed ballots was 3B Lamin Sowe, who had a 20-year career between six teams. He peaked at 45.9% in 2031 and was never below 35%. Sowe won three Silver Sluggers and played 2419 games with 2850 hits, 1569 runs, 571 doubles, 273 triples, 162 home runs, 989 RBI, 718 walks, 973 steals, .298/.349/.465 slash, 119 wRC+, and 75.9 WAR.

It is often difficult for leadoff guys to get much traction for the HOF with low power stats and Sowe was very rarely a league leader. He does rank 22^nd in doubles, 5^th in triples, 19^th in hits, 19^th in runs, 11^th in steals, 25^th in games, and 15^th in WAR among position players. Still, Sowe was dismissed by many voters as a compiler who just hung around and was consistently above average. The Gambian was still appreciated by Niamey fans, helping them to their 2007 title. With some of the flashy stats from contemporaries, Sowe was relegated to the Hall of Pretty Good.

SP Gregory Asso deserves a quick mention despite dropping below 5% on his sixth ballot. He had won two Pitcher of the Year awards by age 27 with Conakry and helped them to the 2020 title. Sadly, Asso had five full or partial labrum tears and was out of the game entirely by age 31. He had 39.4 WAR and 1924 Ks in 1370.2 innings with a 3.37 ERA, 94-51 record, 134 ERA+, and 70 FIP- and goes down as one of the “what ifs?” in WAB lore.



Clarence Cole – Right Field – Bamako Bullfrogs – 99.3% First Ballot

Clarence Cole was a 6’4’’, 200 pound switch-hitting outfielder from Freetown, the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. He joined Class of 1996 SP Albert Kamara as the only Sierra Leoneans in WAB’s HOF thus far. Cole’s eye was world class and would be among the best ever at drawing walks. He also was better than most at avoiding strikeouts in WAB.
Against right-handed pitching, Cole was a very strong contact and home run hitter with a career 1.060 OPS and 169 wRC+. Facing lefties, he was merely decent with a .809 OPS and 113 wRC+. Cole’s 162 game average had 33 homers, 36 doubles, and 11 triples for a very steady diet of extra base hits, although he only led in any of those stats once. Cole’s speed and baserunning skills were good-to-great, but he would get caught stealing more than anyone else in league history.

Cole made around 70% of his starts at right field and was considered an excellent defender there, winning four Gold Gloves. He was a true utility man though and started games at all of the infield and outfield slots in his career. Cole started a season or more worth of games at 3B, SS, and LF. He was respectable in LF, but was poor at 3B and atrocious at SS. Cole didn’t quite have the speed or range for the middle infield or center field, but it was nice to have someone to plug-in in a pinch.

That team-first attitude and impressive work ethic made Cole absolutely beloved across the continent. While he had occasional injuries issues mainly with his knees, Cole held up quite well over a 21-year career. He was signed as a teenage amateur in April 2004 by Bamako and spent almost five full years in their academy. Cole debuted with six games and one start in 2008 at age 20.

He was a full-timer from 2009 onward, debuting as the 2009 Rookie of the Year although he did struggle in his first postseason going 4-27. The Bullfrogs had a second round exit, which was a nice bounce-back after four straight losing seasons. They’d spend the next five years generally a notch below .500 as Cole started to find himself as a pro. 2011 was his first of seven seasons as the league leader in on-base percentage. That winter, Bamako gave him a six-year, $22,900,000 extension, which proved to be a huge bargain.

Cole won his first Silver Slugger in 2012 in RF and was second in MVP voting, leading in OBP (.412), slugging (.616), OPS (1.028), and wRC+ (175). He led in both walks and OBP in 2013-14 while also leading in slugging, OPS, wRC+, and WAR in 2014. Cole won Sluggers both years and was second in 2014’s MVP voting.

The 2014 rate stats were historic with a .371/.465/.757 slash and 1.222 OPS. Cole was the first player in WAB history with an OPS above 1.200, beating Darwin Morris’s record 1.934 from 1997. Cole’s .465 OBP was also a new league best ahead of the old mark of .459 in 2004 by Kely Ballard. Through 2036, Cole’s 2014 ranks as 4^th in OBP and 5^th in OPS in WAB history.

Cole was third in 2015’s MVP voting with a league best 132 runs. Bamako ended the playoff drought and narrowly got the Western League’s top seed at 95-67. Cole was WLCS MVP in their win over Dakar for the pennant, but they came up short to Port Harcourt for the WAB title. In 11 playoff starts, Cole had 16 hits, 6 runs, 6 extra base hits, .985 OPS, and 162 wRC+. This started a seven-year playoff streak for the Bullfrogs.

In 2016, Cole won his first MVP and was a Silver Slugger winner again, leading in OBP, wRC+, and WAR. Bamako would finish third in the standings with a second round defeat. In April 2017, the Bullfrogs gave Cole a seven-year, $94,300,000 extension. They were immediately rewarded as Cole had an all-timer season and pushed the Bullfrogs to a franchise record 109-53. He won his second MVP and another Silver Slugger as he earned only the fifth hitting Triple Crown in WAB history.

Cole’s 2017 had league and career bests for runs (147), hits (233), homers (60), RBI (171), walks (100), total bases (458), triple slash (.400/.483/.786), OPS (1.268), wRC+ (213), and WAR (11.6). The OBP and OPS both remain WAB single-season records through 2037 and rank 9^th and 19^th in all of world history among qualified seasons. He technically just missed the true .400 season as that was rounded up from .3997.

The RBI also ranked as the as 3^rd best in WAB and 26^th in any world league. The run tally is tied for 6^th in WAB and 21^st in world history. Cole’s total bases are 8^th in WAB and his WAR mark was 10^th-best by a WAB position player. It was the third-best single-season by a WAB position player if you remove the GOAT Darwin Morris, who holds the top seven spots.

Bamako used this run to earn their second WL pennant in three years, but were again denied the WAB Championship, this time by Kano. The Bullfrogs earned the at-large spot into the Baseball Grand Championship, which saw one of the tightest fields ever with 12 teams within two wins of first place. Even at the top at 12-7 was Bamako, Juarez, and Concepcion; however the Bullfrogs officially were third having lost their head-to-head matchups against both the Jesters and Chiefs. Cole had 20 hits, 9 runs, 3 doubles, 5 homers, 15 RBI, .994 OPS, 193 wRC+, and 1.0 WAR for the event.

Cole never had anywhere close to that level of power again after the 60 homer season, but he still got 30+ for the next five seasons. He won additional Silver Sluggers in 2019 and 2021 for Bamako and earned his four straight Gold Gloves from 2019-22.Cole was limited by some injuries, including a 2020 concussion and 2023 knee sprain.

In 2018, Bamako was the #4 seed and had a first round exit. They rebounded in 2019 by matching their franchise record at 109-53. The Bullfrogs earned their third pennant in five years, but again were denied the top prize by the Condors. That was Cole’s one real weak postseason for Bamako with a .661 OPS and 0.0 WAR. However, he was second in BGC MVP voting with 25 hits, 15 runs, 3 doubles, 8 homers, 14 RBI, 1.189 OPS, 217 wRC+, and 1.5 WAR. Even with that, the Bullfrogs finished 8-11.

Bamako had a second round exit in 2020, then returned to the top seed in 2021 at 98-64. The Bullfrogs won the WLCS for the fourth time with Cole, but yet again still couldn’t win that first WAB Championship, this time due to Yaounde. Bamako was now a frustrating 0-8 all-time in their finals trips and didn’t get the at-large to return to the BGC. Across 63 playoff starts for the Bullfrogs, Cole had 72 hits, 45 runs, 11 doubles, 3 triples, 12 homers, 35 RBI, 29 walks, 24 steals, .300/.376/.521 slash, 136 wRC+, and 2.0 WAR.

Cole’s numbers started to dip into his mid 30s, but he was still a capable starter. Bamako missed the playoffs in 2022, then had a second round exit in 2023 as their final gasp of their excellent run. The Bullfrogs fell below .500 in 2024 for their first losing season since 2014 and wouldn’t get back into the W column until 2030. Cole would hit some milestones in these later years such as 1500 runs, 1500 RBI, 2500 hits, and 500 home runs.

After the 2024 season, the now 37-year old Cole became a free agent for the first time with a mutual parting. He remained beloved by Bamako fans and later got his #14 uniform retired. Cole played 2382 games with 2828 hits, 1744 runs, 492 doubles, 152 triples, 535 home runs, 1644 RBI, 1241 walks, 1144 strikeouts, 757 steals, .323/.406/.597 slash, 158 wRC, and 96.8 WAR. Cole was inching towards top ten and top five leaderboard spots, but was overshadowed by his contemporary Fares Belaid; the eventual world leader in hits, doubles, and triples.

For 2025, Cole signed a two-year, $33,200,000 deal with Niamey, who had won a pennant in 2022. The Atomics had a franchise-best 105-57 mark in 2025 as the Eastern League’s top seed, but got upset by Ibadan in the LCS. Knee and shoulder issues kept Cole out almost half of the season, although he did notably hit for the cycle in September against Ibadan; his second cycle.

Cole was healthy and led in walks in 2026 with Niamey at 100-62, although they were upset in the second round by Lagos. He became the 5^th WAB batter in the 3000 hit club and got a new three-year, $30 million extension to stick with the Atomics. At age 39, Cole shocked many by looking like his old self, leading in walks, average, OBP, OPS, and wRC+. He won his eighth and final Silver Slugger and was second in MVP voting. Cole also joined Morris and Belaid as WAB’s only players with 2000 career runs.

Niamey’s playoff streak continued through 2029, but they didn’t get beyond round two as a wild card. Cole’s playoff stats were underwhelming in 16 starts with a .767 OPS, 96 wRC+, and 0.1 WAR. He couldn’t replicate the magic in 2028 and had a knee sprain cost him a month, but did join the 600 home run club. In four seasons for Niamey, Cole had 510 games, 575 hits, 381 runs, 138 doubles, 34 triples, 74 homers, 272 RBI, 290 walks, 285 Ks, 200 steals, .307/.399/.536 slash, 137 wRC+, and 15.4 WAR.

Now 41 and a free agent again, Cole joined Cotonou on a three-year, $57,600,000 deal. The Copperheads were on a dynasty run with three straight EL titles and WAB rings in 2026-27. It was possibly Cole’s last chance to get that vaunted WAB ring. He had a respectable 2029 and crossed 3500 career hits, getting 150 hits, 102 runs, 42 doubles, 13 triples, 17 homers, .276/.368/.495 slash, 121 wRC+, and 2.3 WAR over 149 games.

Cotonou got the #1 seed at 97-65 and won their fourth straight pennant, beating Port Harcourt in the ELCS. Alas, the WAB Championship again eluded Cole as they were defeated by Dakar. In 9 playoff games, he had .785 OPS, 86 wRC+, and 0.1 WAR. Instead of further ring chasing, Cole retired that winter at age 42.

Cole’s career playoff stats in 88 games had 94 hits, 61 runs, 13 doubles, 19 homers, 49 RBI, 34 walks, 29 steals, .282/.353/.511 slash, 124 wRC+, and 2.2 WAR. Not bad stats by any stretch, but probably lower than you’d expect from a guy of his caliber. Cole ranks 6^th in playoff games, 5^th in runs, 6^th in hits, 6^th in homers, 14^th in RBI, and 3^rd in steals. He is also the playoff leader in times caught stealing at 20.

The final overall numbers had 3041 games, 3553 hits, 2227 runs, 672 doubles, 199 triples, 626 home runs, 1969 RBI, 1605 walks, 1523 strikeouts, 1011 steals, 673 caught stealing, .318/.403/.582 slash, .985 OPS, 152 wRC+, and 114.6 WAR. Cole ranks 3^rd in games, 3^rd in runs, 5^th in hits, 7^th in total bases (6501), 8^th in doubles, 23^rd in homers, 8^th in RBI, 2^nd in walks, 9^th in steals, 1^st in caught stealing, and 3^rd in WAR among position players. He also ranks 13^th in OBP, 51^st in slugging, and 25^th in OPS among WAB batters with 3000+ plate appearances.

Cole makes several appearances on the world top 50 leaderboards, ranking 10^th all-time in runs, 29^th in doubles, and 23^rd in walks drawn. He’s 31^st in on-base percentage among World Hall of Famers, one of 38 above the .400 mark. Cole is just outside the top 50 for both hits and RBI. Still, his impressive tallies were often overshadowed by Fares Belaid, who concurrently went onto become the first-ever player with 5000 pro hits.

Still, Cole is 3^rd behind only the GOAT Darwin Morris and Belaid in WAR and you could definitely make the case for him as a top three player in West African Baseball history. Rarely is Cole ranked outside of the top five and he’s basically always considered a top ten player. He was one of the game’s true immortals and the pride of Sierra Leone. Thus, Cole was a near unanimous inductee at 99.3% to headline the 2035 HOF ballot.



Nazifi Zakaria – Starting Pitcher – Nouakchott Night Riders – 66.2% First Ballot

Nazifi Zakaria was a 6’6’’, 195 pound right-handed pitcher from Ede, Nigeria; a city with around 160,000 people in the country’s southwest. Zakaria had rock solid stuff along with above average-to-good control in his prime, although his movement was average at best. His ability to change speeds made him thrive despite his velocity peaking in the 94-96 mph range. Zakaria had a three pitch arsenal of fastball, changeup, splitter; and knew how and when to choose the right one.

Zakaria’s stamina was very strong relative to your typical WAB ace and his durability was excellent, avoiding significant injuries in his entire run. He was effective with his glove defensively, but was terrible at holding runners which especially plagued him early in his run. Zakaria ended up as a bit of a late bloomer, offering his best production after improving his control after a few seasons.

In November 2009, a teenaged Zakaria left Nigeria for Mauritania on a developmental deal with Nouakchott. He spent most of four years in their academy, debuting in 2013 with 22 terrible innings. Zakaria got a full-time spot in 2014 and had mixed results over the next few years. Control issues hurt him initially, leading the Western League in walks as a rookie, but he was still third in Rookie of the Year voting.

Zakaria signed a four-year, $19,220,000 extension in April 2017 which immediately looked like a mistake. That year, he even got demoted to a bullpen and long relief role in 2017 after a terrible 6.03 ERA for the season. Zakaria broke through with arguably his best season though in 2018, leading the league in wins (20-5) and quality starts (20) along with a career best 5.2 WAR.

Nouakchott had been terrible to start his run, but would earn wild card slots in 2017 and from 2018-21. Only once would the Night Riders win a playoff series, falling in the 2020 WLCS to Conakry. Zakaria’s limited playoff results were poor with a 7.82 ERA over 12.2 innings. They moved him back to a long relief role in 2019 and 2020 after iffy results.

Zakaria was back to the rotation in 2021 and had a 3.35 ERA, which would be his career best. He was third in Pitcher of the Year voting, his first time as a finalist, raising his stock as was headed to free agency at age 31. With Nouakchott, Zakaria had an 89-84 record, 4.48 ERA, 1488.1 innings, 1624 strikeouts, 375 walks, 93/188 quality starts, 36 complete games, 6 shutouts, 104 ERA+, 92 FIP-, and 23.2 WAR.

Because they gave him his first shot, Zakaria opted to get inducted with Nouakchott, who later retired his #10 uniform. He narrowly spent the most innings there, but his most impactful tenure would come next with Ibadan. Zakaria returned to his home country on a seven-year, $63,700,000 deal with the Iguanas.

Although he was now back in Nigeria, he had been a World Baseball Championship regular since 2017 and remained rostered through 2029. Zakaria had a 3.77 ERA over 145.2 innings with a 10-6 record, 169 strikeouts, 53 walks, 92 ERA+, 122 FIP-, and 0.6 WAR. His overall stats were subpar, but he notably had four quality starts of six in 2022 with a 3.32 ERA, 55 Ks, and 19 walks over 40.2 innings. Ever inning helped as the Nigerians defeated Poland for the 2022 world championship, the first African nation to claim the top prize.

In his 2022 debut with Ibadan, Zakaria was second in Pitcher of the Year voting with a league and career best 307 strikeouts and 21 quality starts. He wasn’t a finalist after that as he still had some problems allowing home runs, but Zakaria would be a reliable innings eater through 2027. Ibadan started a four-year playoff streak from 2022-25, each year as a wild card.

The Iguanas got to the 2022 Eastern League Championship series, but lost to Niamey. They had a second round exit in 2023, then had another ELCS loss in 2024 to Port Harcourt. Ibadan finally broke through in 2025 at 94-68, upsetting 105-win Niamey to take the pennant. They were denied the WAB Championship ring by Dakar. The Iguanas would miss the playoffs by one win in 2026.

Ibadan had their best record of this run in 2027, taking first place at 107-55. However, defending WAB champ Cotonou downed them in the ELCS. Zakaria’s playoff stats were middling with a 2-4 record, 3 saves, 48.2 innings, 52 strikeouts, 9 walks, 92 ERA+, 95 FIP-, and 0.8 WAR. He would have a weak start to 2028, which ultimately ended the Iguanas’ run of winning seasons. That June, he was traded to Niamey in exchange for three prospects.

With Ibadan, Zakaria had a 96-65 record, 3.97 ERA, 1456.2 innings, 1732 strikeouts, 243 walks, 99/193 quality starts, 31 complete games, 7 shutouts, 115 ERA+, 91 FIP-, and 24.8 WAR. While there, Zakaria had become the 24^th WAB pitcher to 3000 career strikeouts. He was effectively used in an opener role for the Atomics with 33 games and 28 starts, but only 75 innings with a 3.12 ERA, 95 Ks, and 2.2 WAR. Zakaria had a 3.18 ERA in 11.1 playoff innings, but Niamey suffered a second round defeat.

Zakaria was now a free agent again at age 38 and signed a two-year, $11,300,000 deal with Kano. He had a respectable effort with the Condors with a 4.30 ERA over 220 innings, 12-12 record, 238 Ks, 38 walks, 107 ERA+, 89 FIP-, and 4.0 WAR. That year, Zakaria became the ninth in WAB with 3500 strikeouts and also the ninth with 200 wins. He decided to retire that winter at age 38.

The final stats had a 201-161 record, 4.21 ERA, 26 saves, 3240 innings, 3689 strikeouts, 676 walks, 208/438 quality starts, 68 complete games, 13 shutouts, 110 ERA+, 91 FIP-, and 54.3 WAR. Zakaria ranks 10^th in wins, 7^th in losses, 7^th in innings, 3^rd in homers allowed (439), 4^th in hits allowed (3264), 6^th in strikeouts, 16^th in walks, and 41^st in pitching WAR.

West African Baseball is the world’s highest scoring league and pitchers don’t go nearly as deep into games as other leagues. But even with that in mind, Zakaria’s resume was borderline for many Hall of Fame voters. There had never been an inductee in any world league who had a career ERA above four. Rate stats suggested more above average levels of production and his career 5.20 playoff ERA didn’t help the cause either.

However, many WAB voters appreciated tenure and Zakaria hit the 200 win and 3500 strikeout milestones; rare feats in the league. 200 wins hadn’t been a guarantee, as 215-174 Douba Abdramane still hadn’t gotten inducted through eight ballots (and hadn’t gotten particularly close). He had Zakaria beat on WAR (67.6) but not strikeouts (3369).

To that point, anyone with 3500 Ks eligible had gotten in. You could certainly call Zakaria one of the weaker HOF additions in any league, but the raw tallies was exactly enough. In his 2035 ballot debut, he crossed the 66% requirement thinly at 66.2% to secure his spot.

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South Asia Baseball saw two slam dunk first ballot inductees enter the Hall of Fame for 2035 with SP Franklin Tung at 99.3% and 3B Yasir Malkawi at 98.3%. CF Chris Saandeep in his tenth and final try missed the 66% requirement at 61.5%. SP Siddhant Shakya was the only other guy above 50% with 51.0% for his eighth ballot.




For Saandeep, he was never below 50% in his ten ballots and peaked at 62.5% in 2033. In a 20-year career with five teams, he had five Silver Sluggers with 2643 games, 2880 hits, 1583 runs, 549 doubles, 147 triples, 285 homers, 1085 RBI, 714 walks, 2153 strikeouts, 1158 steals, .293/.349/.466 slash, 140 wRC+, and 90.6 WAR. He helped Yangon to multiple titles and was finals MVP in 2015, posting a career 3.7 WAR, .787 OPS, and 127 wRC+ in 114 playoff games.

Saandeep ranks 29^th in WAR among position players, 17^th in runs, 13^th in hits, 20^th in doubles, 33^rd in triples, and 5^th in steals. Despite that and being a 13-time all-star, certain voters shun leadoff guys who lack home run power numbers. Saandeep was also rarely a league leader with a few dismissing him as a compiler. Still, considering the numbers he did compile, he certainly looks like one of the biggest snubs you’ll find. It’s even more surprising since Saandeep was on some very good teams with multiple pennants between Yangon and Bengaluru.

Closer J.K. Bhagwan also made it ten ballots, debuting at 43.7% before ending at only 7.6%. In 15 seasons, he won two Reliever of the Year awards and had league titles with Hanoi and Kanpur. Bhagwan had a 2.38 ERA over 999.2 innings, 298 saves, 410 shutdowns, 1453 strikeouts, 252 walks, 149 ERA+, 67 FIP-, and 27.4 WAR. Even the most reliever-friendly voters though generally agreed that Bhagwan was more of a “Hall of Pretty Good” level guy.



Franklin Tung – Starting Pitcher – Kanpur Poison – 99.3% First Ballot

Franklin Tung was a 6’3’’, 200 pound right-handed pitcher from the city state of Singapore. He was the first Singaporean to make SAB’s HOF, although five had made it into the Austronesia Professional Baseball Hall. Tung had strong stuff and movement along with good-to-great control which only got better as he aged. His velocity peaked in the 96-98 mph range but he had a diverse five-pitch arsenal of fastball, slider, curveball, forkball, and changeup. All five were viable, but the changeup was typically considered the most frustrating for batters.

Compared to most SAB aces, Tung’s stamina was subpar and he only had 17 career complete games. He had excellent durability over a 19-year career so you could reliably count on a full year’s worth of starts. Tung was solid at holding runners and defense. He was a bit of an enigma as he was very intelligent, but considered self-centered. Tung was a loner and wasn’t going to lead the way, but he wasn’t disruptive. By pitcher standards, he was also a decent batter with a career .212/.242/.251 slash, winning Silver Sluggers in 2017 and 2018

Singapore’s pro team is in APB and most prospects from the country head to APB, which is also viewed as more prestigious than SAB. After his college career, Tung surprised many by declaring his SAB intent. Many teams hadn’t paid much attention to him since they focused their scouting elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Tung was the 19^th pick of the second round in the 2009 SAB Draft, 51^st overall, by Bangkok.

Tung had only 14 starts and 92.2 innings as a rookie, but was still impressive enough to take third in ROTY voting. His one playoff start was a quality one, but he took the loss as Bangkok had a first round exit. He was a part-timer again in 2011, then got a full-time rotation spot from 2012 onward. From 2012 through 2027, Tung was good for at least 5 WAR each season, a true model of consistency. His big breakout was 2015, winning his lone Pitcher of the Year award.

This was his lone ERA title at 1.85 along with a league-best 0.86 WHIP and 53 FIP-. Tung also had his career0high WAR at 7.2. His ERA ranks as the 38^th-best qualifying single-season in SAB history; a sub-two ERA has only happened a nice 69 times. This year, Bangkok was an 86-win wild card with a first round exit. The Bobcats had also earned winning seasons in 2011, 12, and 14, but came up short.

Bangkok fell to 72-90 in 2016 and Tung’s traditional metrics weakened with a 3.38 ERA and 7-12 record. However, he led again in WHIP (0.93) and his 65 FIP- and 6.3 WAR suggested he was the victim of poor support by his teammates. The Bobcats were clearly going nowhere and had only one year left of team control for Tung, who wasn’t shy about wanting a big future paycheck. In January 2017, Tung was traded to Kanpur for three prospects. One was 2B Ekkaluck Pan-In, who went onto be a respectable ten-year starter for Bangkok with 36.2 WAR for them.

For the Bobcats, Tung had an 80-50 record, 2.98 ERA, 1212 innings, 1495 strikeouts, 277 walks, 129 ERA+, 68 FIP-, and 35.6 WAR. Kanpur had been the Indian League’s runner up in 2016 and hoped Tung could help them get across the line. They also didn’t want him as a simple rental and signed Tung in May to a six-year, $56 million extension.

The deal had immediate results as Kanpur won back-to-back Indian League titles in 2017-18. They fell to Yangon in the 2017 SAB Championship, but won it all in 2018 over Mandalay. In seven playoff starts, Tung had a 2.27 ERA over 47.2 innings with 54 Ks and 0.9 WAR. In 2017, he was third in Pitcher of the Year voting with a league-best 20 wins, along with a career best 297 Ks and a strong 2.03 ERA. He had 20 wins again in 2019 and led in quality starts from 2018-20.

In the 2018 Baseball Grand Championship, Kanpur was 10-9, one of five teams tied for seventh. Tung was 0-3 in four starts, but lacked run support as he had a solid 2.61 ERA over 31 innings with 37 Ks and 1.2 WAR. This helped him earn a reputation as a big game pitcher. Prior to that, Tung had also been a regular in the World Baseball Championship for his native Singapore. The city-state wasn’t particularly competitive, but Tung did his best from 2011-28 with a 3.98 ERA in 217 innings, 8-17 record, 260 strikeouts, 70 walks, and 4.1 WAR.

Tung was steady for his entire Kanpur run, but their run on top in India was brief. The Poison missed the playoffs in 2019-20 at 84-78 both years, then would fall below .500 in 2021 and stay there until 2029. Tung would be inducted with Kanpur as it had his most innings and overall success. In six seasons, he had a 100-67 record, 2.70 ERA, 1443 innings, 1778 strikeouts, 262 walks, 135 ERA+, 72 FIP-, and 39.3 WAR.

After the 2023 season, Tung was a free agent for the first time at age 36. He initially signed a one-year deal worth $11,400,000 for Visakhapatnam, the defending SAB champ. Tung provided his usual consistent production and helped the Volts repeat, defeating Ho Chi Minh City in the final. Tung had a 2.75 ERA over 36 playoff innings. Although the Volts went 8-11 in the BGC, Tung was excellent with a 1.41 ERA over 32 innings with 43 Ks.

Visakhapatnam would sign him to a series of two-year deals across what would be a six-year tenure overall. The Volts finished 107-55 in 2025 and three-peated, winning the finals over Khulna. Tung had a 2.25 playoff ERA in 28 innings and had a 2.49 ERA over 25.1 innings in the BGC, although Visakhapatnam was the worst team in the event at 2-17.

Tung continued on and Visakhapatnam had their best win totals of the six-year playoff streak with 115, 119, and 110 from 2026-28. The playoff success didn’t come these years with an ILCS loss to Kolkata in 2026 and first round losses the other years. Tung’s playoff stats overall were quite strong over 98.2 innings with a 7-1 record, 2.74 ERA, 108 Ks, and 2.0 WAR. For his combined career, Tung had a 2.61 playoff ERA over 155.1 innings, 9-3 record, 171 strikeouts, 28 walks, 138 ERA+, 88 FIP-, and 3.0 WAR.

His velocity started to dip with age into the low 90s, but he was still quite good through 2027 at age 39 and was decent in 2028. His 2027 was on pace to be his best year in some time, but he lost nearly two months to shoulder inflammation. In 2028, Tung became the third in SAB history with 250 wins and eventually became the wins leader, passing Arvind Lal’s 259 and Zainal bin Aziz’s 255.

Age finally caught him though and he had an abysmal 2029 with a 7.51 ERA in 68.1 innings, eventually getting benched. Tung would cross the 4500 strikeout mark, the third to do so, but he was clearly cooked and retired that winter at age 42. For Visakhapatnam, Tung had an 84-36 record, 3.19 ERA, 1095.1 innings, 1239 strikeouts, 165 walks, 114 ERA+, 75 FIP-, and 28.3 WAR.

Overall, Tung had a 264-153 record, 2.93 ERA, 3750.1 innings, 4512 strikeouts, 704 walks, 360/551 quality starts, 17 complete games, 7 shutouts, 127 ERA+, 72 FIP-, and 103.2 WAR. He is SAB’s career leader in wins and starts while ranking 23^rd in losses, 2^nd in innings, 3^rd in strikeouts, and 2^nd in WAR among pitchers. It speaks to his durability and consistency that he ranks 2^nd in innings despite not making the top 100 for complete games. Among pitchers with 1000+ innings, Tung ranks 85^th in ERA and his 1.05 WHIP is 71^st. He’s also 71^st in opponent’s OPS at .620.

Tung’s remarkable consistency puts him firmly on most top five pitcher lists among South Asia Baseball scholars. Zainal bin Aziz is almost always considered the GOAT with his eight Pitcher of the Year awards, 131.9 WAR, and role in Ho Chi Minh City’s dynasty. Some rank Tung as high as #2 though even without the big explosive seasons of some of his competitors. He was certainly an obvious inner circle lock to co-headline SAB’s 2035 Hall of Fame class at a near unanimous 99.3%.



Yasir Malkawi – Third Base – Mumbai Meteors – 98.3% First Ballot

Yasir Malkawi was a 6’4’’, 195 pound right-handed third baseman from Sarishabari, Bangladesh; a sub-unit in the northern part of the country with a population of around 343,000. Malkawi was a very well-rounded batter against both sides with good-to-great contact and power skills. His power wasn’t prolific, but he was often high on the leaderboards with a career 162 game average of 41 home runs, 32 doubles, and 2 triples.

Malkawi was better than most at drawing walks, but his strikeout rate was subpar. He was stronger facing lefties with a career .953 OPS and 176 wRC+, but he was plenty potent with an .883 OPS and 157 wRC+ facing righties. Malkawi’s baserunning skills were okay, but his speed was lousy so there was limited value there.

He had an absolute cannon arm which served him well as a career third baseman. Malkawi was a reliably strong defender and won Gold Gloves in 2011-12. He would run into some major injuries, but his remarkable work ethic and toughness still allowed for a 21-year career. Malkawi was a strong leader and very intelligent as well, but some felt he was self-serving and greedy. Those traits played a role in him spending time with eight different teams, but he was extremely popular at every stop.

Despite the many stops, Malkawi never played for one of the teams in his native Bangladesh. Still, he was a regular in the World Baseball Championship and was beloved by his countrymen, considered by many to be the best-ever Bangladeshi player. From 2010-29, Malkawi played 147 WBC games with 128 hits, 69 runs, 24 doubles, 40 homers, 95 RBI, .253/.321/.542 slash, and 5.0 WAR.

Malkawi soared up prospect lists in college and was the #1 overall pick in the 2008 SAB Draft by Hai Phong. This was an immediate challenge as the Prowlers were an expansion team only one season into its existence. Hai Phong would be terrible throughout Malkawi’s tenure as they dealt with growing pains. Malkawi had mixed results in his first two seasons, but everything clicked by year three. He won his first two Silver Sluggers and his only Gold Gloves in 2011-12.

Hai Phong was going nowhere fast it seemed and didn’t seem positioned to give Malkawi a long-term deal. After only four years, he was traded to Mumbai for two prospects. With the Prowlers, Malkawi had 587 games, 544 hits, 258 runs, 113 doubles, 113 home runs, 302 RBI, .258/.321/.480 slash, 121 wRC++, and 18.9 WAR.

Malkawi quickly became a superstar with Mumbai, winning a Slugger and taking third in MVP voting in his 2013 debut with 48 homers, 9.6 WAR, and a career-best 106 runs. That winter, the Meteors locked him up with an eight-year, $66 million extension. From 2013-19, he was the Silver Slugger winner in the Indian League each year for 3B, posting 7+ WAR, 40+ homers, and 100+ RBI in each of those seasons.

In 2014, Malkawi was second in MVP voting and was the league’s leader in WAR (8.9) and RBI (123). He was second again in MVP voting with 51 homers in 2015. Malkawi won the top honor in 2016 with league and career bests for homers (53) and slugging (.667). He also led with 119 RBI and had his bests for triple slash (.328/.373/.667), OPS (1.040), wRC+ (207), and WAR (9.9).

Mumbai had been a regular playoff contender in the 21^st Century, but were often overshadowed in their own division by Ahmedabad. The Animals finally faded by Malkawi’s arrival and the Meteors won five straight division titles from 2014-18. They weren’t dominant though as they only once were above 90 wins with a 97-65 mark in 2014. Three of the five seasons, Mumbai was ousted in the first round of the playoffs.

However in 2015-16, the Meteors earned back-to-back Indian League titles. They were denied in the SAB Championship by Yangon in 2015 and Hanoi in 2016. Malkawi was a stud in the playoffs, winning LCS MVP in 2015 and finals MVP in 2016. In 45 playoff starts for Mumbai, Malkawi had 52 hits, 32 runs, 6 doubles, 21 homers, 42 RBI, .294/.354/.684 slash, 213 wRC+, and 3.2 WAR. He smacked 12 homers in the 2015 playoff run, which stands as the SAB postseason record. 20 RBI has also only happened 11 times and Malkawi did it both years.

Mumbai fell a one short in the division and wild card race in 2019, then were below .500 in Malkawi’s remaining seasons. He was on pace for another award-winning season in 2020, but suffered a torn ACL in mid-July. Malkawi’s production dropped notably in 2021 and he dealt with a partially torn labrum, although he was still a good starter. His deal expired that winter and Mumbai let him leave for free agency at age 35.

With the Meteors, Malkawi had 1316 games, 1427 hits, 817 runs, 261 doubles, 402 homers, 959 RBI, 382 walks, 1038 Ks, .293/.346/.599 slash, 178 wRC+, and 68.5 WAR. He was beloved in Mumbai for his efforts and his #8 uniform would later be retired. Malkawi still had plenty of suitors and inked a three-year, $25,700,000 deal with Visakhapatnam. At that point, the Volts had posted six consecutive losing seasons.

Malkawi helped turn things around quickly with Silver Slugger wins in 2022-23. His 11 Slugger wins leads all third basemen in SAB and he’s one of only four at any position with 11+ wins. Visakhapatnam was back above .500 in 2022, then a division champ in 2023-24. The Volts started their dynasty run, winning back-to-back SAB Championships with a win over Dhaka in 2023 and Ho Chi Minh City in 2024. Malkawi was critical in the 2024 run specifically, winning MVP in the ILCS win over Ahmedabad.

He also had his two showings in the Baseball Grand Championship, although the Volts struggled to 7-12 in 2023 and 8-11 in 2024. Malkawi held his end in 37 games with 31 hits, 20 runs, 7 doubles, 16 homers, 30 RBI, .231/.307/.642 slash, and 2.0 WAR. In the playoffs for Visakhapatnam, Malkawi had 39 starts, 44 hits, 21 runs, 12 doubles, 5 homers, 22 RBI, .297/.366/.493 slash, 159 wRC+, and 1.5 WAR.

Malkawi’s career playoff line was impressive with 84 starts, 96 hits, 53 runs, 18 doubles, 26 homers, 64 RBI, 30 walks, .295/.359/.597 slash, 188 wRC+, and 4.7 WAR. That helped earn four Indian League titles and two SAB rings. He ranks in the top 20 for playoff homers, RBI, and total bases.

His third year with Visakhapatnam was shortened by two months to plantar fasciitis, but his play was still impressive as he returned to free agency at age 38. Malkawi signed with Kolkata for two years and $27,600,000, but a ruptured MCL in late May limited him to only 54 games with the Cosmos. He still had a 1.032 OPS and 3.8 WAR in that small sample size, prompting Delhi to grab him for 2026 on a one-year, $9,700,000 deal.

Malkawi had recurring knee inflammation, but still was rock solid over 122 games with the Drillers with .902 OPS, 168 wRC+, and 5.6 WAR. For 2027, the now 40-year old Malkawi made a return to Visakhapatnam on a two-year, $27,900,000 deal. A torn hip flexor limited him to 112 games, but again he was still good fo r.867 OPS, 156 wRC+, and 4.5 WAR in the small sample. The Volts had a franchise-best 119-43 season, but suffered a stunning first round loss to Pune.

He didn’t meet the vesting criteria for the second year of the deal for Visakhapatnam. Between stints with the Volts, Malkawi had 491 games, 538 hits, 275 runs, 85 doubles, 113 homers, 330 RBI, .303/.354/.550 slash, 166 wRC+, and 22.6 WAR. His next deal was one year and $8,900,000 with Madurai, one of the 2025 expansion teams.

In 73 games for the Rams, he had .811 OPS, 144 wRC+, and 2.8 WAR. In July, Malkawi was part of a seven-player trade with Hanoi. In 56 games for the Hounds, he had 1.5 WAR and .810 OPS. Malkawi signed for 2029 with Patna and still managed 1.6 WAR and .904 OPS in 66 games, but more knee trouble kept him on the injured list. Malkawi wanted to play still in 2030, but teams felt he couldn’t hold up physically anymore even if he was still playable when healthy. He retired in the winter of 2030 at age 44.

Malkawi played 2765 games with 2886 hits, 1539 runs, 539 doubles, 28 triples, 703 home runs, 1813 RBI, 801 walks, 2272 strikeouts, .288/.342/.559 slash, 161 wRC+, and 125.2 WAR. He ranks 9^th in games, 19^th in runs, 12^th in hits, 8^th in total bases (5590), 25^th in doubles, 9^th in homers, 8^th in RBI, 37^th in walks, 27^th in strikeouts, and 11^th in WAR among position players. Malkawi’s .901 OPS is 82^nd among those with 3000+ plate appearances and he ranks 74^th in slugging.

Some top 10 position player lists for South Asia Baseball feature Malkawi and almost all top 20 lists have him. SAB hits leader Manju Abbas usually is listed ahead of Malkawi for SAB’s greatest third baseman, but Malkawi is pretty universally considered #2. He is the position leader for homers and is a clear inner-circle level Hall of Famer, although he might be just below the immortals level. At 98.3%, he co-headlined the 2035 class for SAB.

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Three earned first ballot Hall of Fame honors in 2035 for the Asian Baseball Federation with SP Sijad Khaleel the clear leader at 98.8%. LF Mehmet Fatih Canaydin, the ABF hits king, surprisingly only had 89.9%. CF/2B Qasim Muqtadir didn’t breach the 66% requirement by a lot, but 73.6% still got him across the line. Four returners were at or above 50% with 3B Quraishi Lalak at 55.8% on his second try, LF Ramin Abilov at 51.6% for his third go, 3B Timur Tyan with 51.6% for his fourth ballot, and CL Raghid Yazdani at 50% exactly on his fifth attempt.



1B Aayush Pereira was dropped after ten ballots, debuting at an impressive 55.6% before dropping all the way to 8.5% at the end. In 18 years between five teams, Pereira had one Silver Slugger, 2481 games, 2092 hits, 1175 runs, 368 doubles, 575 homers, 1455 RBI, 740 walks, 2808 strikeouts, .250/.317/.512 slash, 142 wRC+, and 63.2 WAR.

Pereira’s steady power got him to 13^th in homers and 14^th in RBI, but he was also 7^th in strikeouts. He was only an MVP finalist once and spent most of his time on weaker teams. Usually big power trumps other factors with voters, especially at first base. But they didn’t feel Pereira had quite enough accolades or other notables to make it on homers and RBI alone, condemning him to the Hall of Pretty Good.



Sijad Khaleel – Starting Pitcher – Bishkek Black Sox – 98.8% First Ballot

Sijad Khaleel was a 6’2’’, 195 pound left-handed pitcher from Mazar-i-Sarif, Afghanistan; the country’s fifth-largest city with somewhere between 500,000 and 680,000 inhabitants. He joined Class of 2023 SP Omar Ma’mur as the only Afghani Hall of Famers and Khaleel is generally viewed as the nation’s best-ever thus far. He graded as good-to-great in stuff, movement, and control for nearly his entire run.

Khaleel’s velocity peaked in the 96-98 mph range with an arsenal of fastball, slider, changeup, and sinker. All four options were considered equally potent and he was especially potent against lefties with a career 139 ERA+ and 57 FIP- compared to a 126 ERA+ and 78 FIP- facing righties.

His stamina was considered average relative to other ABF aces, but he never missed a start with his ironman durability. Khaleel was good for 200+ innings each year from 2013-28 and ended up as ABF’s career leader for innings pitched. He was very good at holding runners, but otherwise subpar defensively. Khaleel was fiercely loyal and very intelligent, two traits that served him well in a 19-year career exclusively with Bishkek.

Khaleel left for Kyrgyzstan in December 2006 on a developmental deal with the Black Sox. He made his debut with part-time use in 2011 and 2012. Khaleel earned a full-time rotation slot for 2013 and held that for the next 17 years. By 2014, he was elite with his first ERA title with a career-best 1.75. That earned a second place in Pitcher of the Year voting, perhaps overlooked as Bishkek struggled to 67-95. That was their only truly bad season in their first 30+ years since joining ABF in 2000, as every season from 2000 to 2032 had at least 80 wins except 2014.

Bishkek did have a playoff drought from 2011-17 despite generally being just above .500. Khaleel thrived though and won Pitcher of the Year in 2015 with another ERA title at 1.76. That winter, the Black Sox gave him a five-year, $33,160,000 extension. While he quickly was becoming popular in Kyrgyzstan, he also had a following back home in Afghanistan.

From 2013-29, Khaleel was a regular for the Afghani team in the World Baseball Championship. He tossed 214.1 innings with a 2.90 ERA, 11-10 record, 251 strikeouts, and 5.8 WAR. Khaleel finished second in Best Pitcher voting in the 2013 WBC and third in 2023.

Khaleel was third in 2017’s Pitcher of the Year voting with his third ERA title at 1.94. He also breached 300+ strikeouts for the first time and led in WHIP (0.73) and WAR (7.5). Khaleel wax the East League’s strikeout leader in 2018 with 340 and Bishkek ended their playoff drought at 103-59, losing the division on a tiebreaker to Dushanbe. The Black Sox would be swept by Lahore in the first round of the playoffs.

2019 was Khaleel’s second Pitcher of the Year win and his finest effort by WAR (10.0), strikeouts (354), and FIP- (48); each league and career bests. He got his fourth ERA title at 1.96 and led in WHIP at 0.77. Despite that, Bishkek was 86-76 and missed the wild card by two wins. However, they were on the cusp of starting a dynasty run. In December 2019, Khaleel inked a new seven-year, $85,900,000 extension to stick with the Black Sox.

Bishkek was a wild card in 2020 at 97-65 with Khaleel leading in wins at 21-7 for a second place in POTY voting. They got hot in the postseason, defeating Bursa for their first ABF Championship win. Khaleel had a stellar postseason with a 1.46 ERA in five starts, 3-0 record, 37 innings, 51 strikeouts, and 1.7 WAR. In the Baseball Grand Championship, he’d post a 2.51 ERA over 32.1 innings with 37 Ks and 1.0 WAR as the Black Sox finished 6-13.

Khaleel wasn’t a Pitcher of the Year finalist after this, but he was reliably solid well into his late 30s. He’d be above 7 WAR thrice more and 300 Ks thrice more. Bishkek finished 104-58 in 2021 for a division title, but lost the ELCS to 106-win Faisalabad. They’d meet the Fire again in the 2022 and 2023 ELCS and get revenge both years. Bishkek was a 97-65 wild card in 2022 and the top seed in 2023 at 103-59.

The Black Sox won their second ABF title in three years, besting Baku in the 2022 finale. Bishkek was one of five teams tied for fourth in the BGC at 11-8 and officially eighth after tiebreakers. Khaleel took Best Pitcher honors for the event with an 0.65 ERA over 27.2 innings, 4-0 record, 36 strikeouts, and 1.6 WAR. They’d be denied a return trip in 2023 as they lost the ABF Championship to Tabriz.

Khaleel’s playoff stats were fantastic with 149.1 innings, a 1.75 ERA, 11-2 record, 182 strikeouts, 12 walks, 194 ERA+, 52 FIP-, and 5.9 WAR. He ranks second in playoff WAR behind only Agshin Jumayev and ranks fifth in wins and eighth in strikeouts. When it comes to being a “big game pitcher,” few did it better than Khaleel.

Bishkek’s reign ended after that as they hovered back in the upper middle tier for the rest of Khaleel’s run. They’d have only one more playoff berth, a wild card and first round exit in 2027. The Black Sox voided the team option in his contract after the 2026 campaign and Khaleel was a free agent for a month at age 36. Bishkek ended up signing him back on a new three-year, $34,400,000 deal. Khaleel’s loyalty meant he was okay taking a slight pay cut from his prior deal.

Another former Bishkek great, Oskar Tamm, had been ABF’s career wins leader at 224. Khaleel passed him in 2027 and eventually became the first to reach 250 wins in ABF. He held the #1 spot until 2036, the final year for both Hasan Yousefi and Agshin Jumayev. Yousefi would pass him by two at 258 and Jumayev would match Khaleel’s 256.

Khaleel would become the second in ABF history to reach 5000 career strikeouts as well in 2029. His velocity had dropped quite a bit in his later years and he was struggling to hit 90 mph regularly by the end. Khaleel was still great through 2028, but fell off to a 4.20 ERA and 1.5 WAR in 2019. He fell short of Hasan Afshin’s then-record 5151 career Ks. Khaleel retired that winter at age 39 and immediately had his #26 uniform retired by Bishkek.

The final stats saw a 256-168 record, 2.55 ERA, 4036 innings, 5023 strikeouts, 612 walks, 403/514 quality starts, 91 complete games, 35 shutouts, 130 ERA+, 72 FIP-, and 108.3 WAR. Khaleel remains the ABF leader in starts and innings while ranking tied for 2^nd in wins, 7^th in losses, 41^st in complete games, 9^th in shutouts, 5^th in strikeouts, and 2^nd in pitching WAR behind only Yazeed Anwari’s 111.4.

Among pitchers with 1000+ innings, Khaleel ranks 43^rd in ERA, 30^th in WHIP (0.94), and 56^th in opponent’s OPS (.592). He’s also 30^th in BB/9 (1.36), 76^th in K/9 (11.20), 42^nd in opponent’s OBP (.254), and 75^th in slugging (.338). Khaleel also cracks the world leaderboard ranking 41^st in strikeouts, one of only 44 in all of pro baseball history in the 5k club.

You could make the case for Khaleel as the Asian Baseball Federation’s best-ever pitcher, although he’s not usually cited as the #1 guy. Anwari with his eight Pitcher of the Year awards and the most WAR usually is the top answer. There’s a few others like the previously mentioned Tamm, Jumayev, or Yousefi who enter the conversation.

Khaleel is usually on the top five lists, even if his tallies were more predicated on consistency and longevity than raw dominance relative to some of the competition. His playoff excellent and role in Bishkek’s dynasty certainly solidifies Khaleel as an inner-circle level Hall of Famer. At 98.8%, he headlined a three-player class for 2035.

[FuzzyRussianHat]

Mehmet Fatih “Socks” Canaydin – Left Field – Lahore Longhorns – 89.9% First Ballot

Mehmet Fatih Canaydin was a 6’2’’, 200 pound right-handed left fielder from Hacilar, Turkey; a town of about 21,000 people in the country’s southwest. He had the nickname “Socks” for his common habit of wearing no shoes and just socks wandering about the clubhouse. Canaydin became famous for incredible longevity over a 25-year career. Even though he did run into occasional lingering injuries, no one has played nearly as many games in ABF as Canaydin, earning him the top spot in a number of stats on the leaderboards.

Canaydin was equally effective facing right-handed and left-handed pitching. He was a very good contact hitter with a strong eye for drawing walks and a decent strikeout rate. Canaydin also had exceptional speed and baserunning chops, emerging as one of the most impressive leadoff men of all-time. Most of his power was for the gaps with a 162 game average of 32 doubles, 8 triples, and 17 home runs.

He made the vast majority of his starts in left field with the downside of being a mediocre defender. Canaydin wasn’t a league leader often, but he was well known across the region with his longevity. He was highly adaptable and intelligent, but Canaydin was a bit of a lone wolf. He never stayed in one place too long and ended up on eight different teams, becoming a favorite choice for ABF’s version of the Immaculate Grid.

In March 2002, a teenaged Canaydin left Turkey for Kazakhstan on a developmental deal with Almaty. He spent most of four years in their academy, but did debut with 25 games in 2005 at age 20. Canaydin was a full-time starter in 2006 and won Rookie of the Year honors. He’d be good for 130+ games each season from 2006-22.

Canaydin was a league leader for the first time in 2007 with 70 stolen bases. He won his first Silver Slugger in 2008, leading in 186 hits. Canaydin exploded for 112 steals in 2009, which ranks as the eighth-best season in ABF through 2036. Because awards usually went to power guys for LF/RF, Canaydin didn’t rack up any other accolades with Almaty despite being good for 6+ WAR each year from 2006-11.

The Assassins were a contender with a four-year playoff streak from 2009-12. They couldn’t get over the hump with East League Championship Series defeats in 2009 and 2011 and a first round loss in 2010. Canaydin’s playoff stats were good in 21 starts with 27 hits, 16 runs, 2 doubles, 2 homers, 10 RBI, 22 steals, .355/.412/.487 slash, 178 wRC+, and 1.5 WAR.

To Almaty’s disappointment, they couldn’t get a long-term deal done with Canaydin, leaving for free agency after the 2011 season at only age 26. With the Assassins, Canaydin had 953 games, 1015 hits, 501 runs, 168 doubles, 57 triples, 95 home runs, 376 RBI, 371 walks, 488 steals, .296/.364/.462 slash, 159 wRC+, and 37.1 WAR. He would sign an eight-year, $61 million deal with Lahore to begin his most famous tenure. Canaydin generally carried on the same consistent numbers with the Longhorns that he had with the Assassins.

Lahore ended a three-year playoff drought in 2012 as an 89-73 wild card. They upset Almaty in the ELCS with Canaydin earning series MVP against his former squad. They would be denied in the ABF Championship by Baku. In the playoff run, Canaydin had 24 hits, 13 runs, 4 doubles, 9 RBI, 18 steals, and 1.3 WAR in 18 starts. The 18 stolen bases is the ABF playoff record and is tied for the world record in any league’s postseasons.

The Longhorns couldn’t sustain that success and mostly hovered around .500 for the rest of Canaydin’s tenure. The exception was 90-72 with an ELCS defeat to Asgabat. Canaydin won Silver Sluggers in 2013, 14, and 17. In 2014, he was second in MVP voting, his only time as a finalist. That year, he was the league leader in hits (190) and steals (99) and had career highs for hits, runs (104), average (.332), slugging (.543), OPS (.934), wRC+ (197), and WAR (9.0). Canaydin crossed 1000 steals in his last year with Lahore, passing Cuneyt Solak’s 1016 to become ABF’s career leader.

In eight seasons for Lahore, Canaydin played 1222 games with 1316 hits, 656 runs, 268 doubles, 56 triples, 131 home runs, 505 RBI, 452 walks, 579 steals, .295/.359/.468 slash, 159 wRC+, and 46.4 WAR. The Longhorns later retired his #48 uniform for his efforts. He was a free agent heading into his age 35 season of 2020. Canaydin stayed in Pakistan on a four-year, $21,200,000 deal with Peshawar.

Canaydin played three years with the Predators, who were a lower-rung team at that point. His production remained steady as he climbed up the leaderboards of the still young ABF. Canaydin crossed 2500 hits in early 2021 and finished 2022 at 2829 hits, passing Petri Viskari’s former ABF record of 2795. Canaydin had competition from contemporaries like Emmanouil Karakostas and Rafkat Kudaybergenov, but managed to stay just ahead of them in the stat races.

With Peshawar, Canaydin had 435 games, 498 hits, 255 runs, 90 doubles, 26 triples, 46 homers, 170 RBI, 136 walks, 217 steals, .307/.361/.480 slash, 160 wRC+, and 15.8 WAR. With one year left on his deal in 2023, Canaydin was traded to Adana for two prospects. He was limited with the Axemen by a torn quad in May, but still got 4.0 WAR and .883 OPS over 111 games.

Canaydin was back to free agency for 2024 heading towards age 39 and hadn’t seen any notable production drop yet. Defending ABF champ Tabriz grabbed him at $17,400,000 over two years. He entered the season at 1481 runs, only ten behind Shadi Alam’s 1491 for the ABF career record. Canaydin quickly passed it and became the first to 1500 career runs in ABF on April 25. One day later, he was the first member of the 3000 hit club.

He was still his usual self in 2024 for the Tiger Sharks, but did lose half of 2025 to various injuries. 2024 was the last year of Tabriz’s nine-year playoff streak and saw a first round exit; Canaydin missed the series to back trouble. The Tiger Sharks missed the 2025 playoffs by a tiebreaker. He was now 40-years old and back to free agency for 2026, joining Mashhad on a two-year, $12,400,000 deal.

The Mercury had won the ABF title in 2025 and repeated as West League champ in 2026, although they dropped the finale to Hyderabad. Canaydin was used in a part-time role with 118 games, 81 starts, .841 OPS, 126 wRC+, and 1.7 WAR. In the playoffs, he started 14 games with 15 hits, 9 runs, 2 doubles, 4 homers, 10 RBI, 132 wRC+, and 0.6 WAR.

Those were Canaydin’s final playoff games, finishing with 62 starts, 73 hits, 41 runs, 10 doubles, 3 triples, 7 home runs, 29 RBI, 19 walks, 47 steals, .315/.365/.474 slash, 151 wRC+, and 3.6 WAR. Canaydin is the ABF career playoff leader for stolen bases.

Canaydin was back to a full-time starting job in 2027 with Rawalpindi and appeared ageless at 42 with 145 games, 144 hits, .808 OPS, 146 wRC+, and 4.4 WAR. With the Red Wings, Canaydin was the first player in ABF to reach 3500 career hits. Dushanbe grabbed him for 2028 with 143 games, 113 starts, .773 OPS, 133 wRC+, and 2.0 WAR.

In 2029, Canaydin returned to Tabriz and finally fell off hard with 83 games, .545 OPS, 54 wRC+, and -1.8 WAR. Between stints with the Tiger Sharks, he played 318 games with 353 hits, 202 runs, 65 doubles, 15 triples, 32 homers, 149 RBI, 124 steals, .290/.347/.447 slash, 115 wRC+, and 6.0 WAR. He retired that winter at age 44, one of a select few in baseball history to play to that age and to compete in 25 different seasons.

Canaydin finished with 3445 games, 3696 hits, 1880 runs, 691 doubles, 175 triples, 356 home runs, 1430 RBI, 1237 walks, 2246 strikeouts, 1610 steals, 616 caught stealing, .297/.359/.466 slash, 152 wRC+, and 117.3 WAR. Canaydin is ABF’s all-time leader in games, at-bats (12,460), runs, hits, singles (2474), and steals.

He also ranks 2^nd in total bases (5805), 2^nd in doubles, 15^th in triples, 61^st in homers, 19^th in RBI, 2^nd in walks, 3^rd in caught stealing, 30^th in strikeouts, and 3^rd in WAR among position players. Among ABF batters with 3000+ plate appearances, Canaydin is 84^th in batting average and 44^th in on-base percentage.

Canaydin’s longevity helps him reach the all-time leaderboards for all of pro baseball, ranking 10^th in games played, 13^th in at-bats, 26^th in hits, 22^nd in doubles, and 11^th in steals. Few leadoff guys were as successful and one wonders how much higher some of his numbers could’ve been had he played in a higher-scoring league.

Nizami Aghazade is the undisputed GOAT of the Asian Baseball Federation, but who occupies the rest of the top 10 for position players and in what order is highly charged. Canaydin is narrowly third in WAR, but only around 17 points separate #2 from #15. Some detractors rate Canaydin lower as a leadoff guy with bad defense and prefer the guys with bigger power stats. Canaydin definitely was rarely in awards or MVP conversations even during his peak and didn’t lead the league all that often.

If longevity and accumulations are important to you, Canaydin has to be a top five level guy easily. For his specific role in the top of the lineup, few have done it better than “Socks”. Shockingly despite his numbers, he only got 89.9% of the vote for his Hall of Fame ballot debut. Regardless, Canaydin definitely fits into that inner-circle and was one of three inducted for 2035. He’s also often cited as a top five player to ever come out of Turkey.



Qasim “Boot” Muqtadir – Center Field/Second Base – Bursa Blue Claws – 73.6% First Ballot

Qasim Muqtadir was a 6’2’’, 200 pound right-handed center fielder and second baseman from Mardan, Pakistan; a city in the north with about 368,000 people. Nicknamed “Boot,” Muqtadir was the traditional leadoff man with outstanding contact ability and speed. He was excellent at putting the ball in play and avoiding strikeouts, but he rarely drew walks. Muqtadir was also a menace on the basepaths with great speed and fantastic baserunning and stealing skills.

Muqtadir’s gap power was solid with 39 doubles and 18 triples per his 162 game average. His home run power was nearly non-existent and he never hit more than six dingers in a season. Muqtadir had notably better stats facing left-handed pitching (.913 OPS, 142 wRC+) but he wasn’t bad facing righties (.842 OPS, 126 wRC+).

Defensively, his career had an odd split with about half of his starts in center field and most of the rest at second base. Muqtadir graded as a very solid CF and a below average but perfectly serviceable 2B. Although he managed a 17-year career, Muqtadir dealt with a lot of significant injuries, especially in his 30s. He was a very intelligent man and became popular across his various stops.

In November 2013, Muqtadir left Pakistan for Turkey on a developmental deal with Bursa. He debuted in 2018 with 66 games and 10 starts at age 20. Muqtadir still wasn’t quite ready in 108 games and 45 starts in 2019, but secured a full-time gig in 2020. From 2021 until the end of his ABF run in 2029, Muqtadir was good for at least 5 WAR per season and 6+ in all but one year.

2020 was a defining season as Bursa made a shocking run to the West League title. They finished 89-73 to end a 14-year drought, then upset defending ABF champ Tabriz in the WLCS. The Blue Claws were denied the overall title with a loss to Bishkek. Muqtadir had an impressive postseason in 19 games with 32 hits, 14 runs, 7 doubles, 5 triples, 14 steals, 1.061 OPS, 171 wRC+, and 1.4 WAR.

In 2021, Muqtadir made his lone World Baseball Championship appearance with Pakistan and played an important role in their runner-up finish to Brazil, the deepest run in the country’s history to that point. In 27 starts, Muqtadir had 30 hits, 8 runs, 10 doubles, 2 triples, 1 homer, 9 RBI, 7 steals, .845 OPS, 140 wRC+, and 0.8 WAR. It is one of only 19 times that a player had 10+ doubles in a WBC event.

Bursa fell two wins short of the playoffs in 2021 and dropped to .500 in 2022. They were happy with Muqtadir’s results and gave him an eight-year, $53,580,000 extension after the 2021 season. He won his first Silver Slugger in CF for 2023 and took second in MVP voting, leading the league in hits (227), steals (105), and batting average (.360).

Muqtadir was only two hits from the ABF single-season record. The hits and steasl would be career bests as would his 48 doubles, .405 OBP, and 9.2 WAR. Bursa got a wild card at 91-71 but suffered a first round exit. Muqtadir led in steals and hits again in 2024 for a third place in MVP voting. Bursa took the top seed at 105-57, but was upset in the WLCS by Baku. Muqtadir’s playoff numbers were middling with .755 OPS, 99 wRC+, and 0.1 WAR.

In 2025, Muqtadir won his first Silver Slugger playing 2B and hit for the cycle for the first time in June against Rawalpindi. He also had a 31-game hit streak in the summer, which sits tied for the sixth-longest streak in ABF history. Muqtadir led in steals again and got his second batting title at .365. A fractured rib kept him out the final weeks and the postseason as Bursa lost in the first round as a wild card.

That ultimately marked the end of the Blue Claws competitive window. They were a decent 86-76 in 2026, but would begin a streak of losing seasons from 2027-34. Muqtadir won two more Sluggers at 2B in 2026-27. The former saw him lead in triples (23) and steals (101). Muqtadir lost part of 2027 to a fractured finger and had hamstring and foot injuries in 2028.

Muqtadir had one year left on his deal and Bursa wasn’t expected to contend in the near future. They traded him in the offseason to Adana straight up for pitching prospect Naim Muhsin, who gave them some passable innings in the lean years. For Bursa, Muqtadir played 1392 games with 1779 hits, 910 runs, 368 doubles, 173 triples, 40 homers, 535 RBI, 754 steals, .342/.381/.502 slash, 136 wRC+, and 62.5 WAR. His #11 uniform would eventually be retired by the Blue Claws for his efforts and role in the 2020 pennant.

In 2029, Muqtadir won his fifth and final Silver Slugger (his fourth at 2B), leading in hits (226), runs (125), steals (82), and batting average (.352). He reached 1000 runs and 2000 hits while also joining the small group of guys to hit for the cycle twice. The Axemen finished 96-66, one win short of the wild card race. Adana had some hopes of Muqtadir not being a rental, but they ultimately couldn’t come to terms and he left for free agency at age 32.

Some felt he had a chance to chase some of the records that his Hall of Fame classmate Mehmet Fatih Canaydin eventually reached, such as hits, runs, steals, and doubles. However, Muqtadir left ABF for the 2030 season as he got a hefty five-year, $160 million deal with Major League Baseball’s Nashville Knights. His best individual season in ABF earned $9 million; it was hard to pass up getting $32 million per year.

Muqtadir still hit for a high average initially in MLB with a .372 mark in 2030, but the run would quickly become cursed. In late May 2030, he suffered a ruptured MCL that knocked him out 10-11 months. A series of small injuries limited him to 102 games in 2031. Muqtadir had torn ankle ligaments in 2032, but notably hit for the cycle in June against Tampa. This put him in very exclusive company as someone with three career cycles and as someone to get the cycle in multiple world leagues.

In 2033, Muqtadir notably had a 29-game hitting streak, but an oblique strain and hip muscle strain kept him out much of the year. Then in June 2034, he suffered a catastrophic fractured ankle. After a setback in October, doctors declared that Muqtadir would be forced to retire. He wasn’t bad when healthy with Nashville, but he was never able to start 100+ games in a season. In 395 games, Muqtadir had 496 hits, 237 runs, 56 doubles, 34 triples, 7 homers, 124 RBI, 127 steals, .320/.356/.414 slash, 104 wRC+, and 8.0 WAR.

Muqtadir was liked by Nashville’s players and fans, but the deal was ultimately considered a bust considering the price tag and the final results. For his combined pro career, Muqtadir had 1942 games, 2501 hits, 1272 runs, 466 doubles, 224 triples, 53 home runs, 725 RBI, 332 walks, 906 strikeouts, 963 steals, .338/.375/.483 slash, 130 wRC+, and 78.0 WAR. Among world Hall of Famers and retired locks, Muqtadir does notably rank 35^th in batting average.

For just his ABF tenure, Muqtadir had 1547 games, 2005 hits, 1035 runs, 410 doubles, 190 triples, 46 home runs, 601 RBI, 263 walks, 776 strikeouts, 836 steals, .343/.380/.502 slash, 137 wRC+, and 70.0 WAR. The short run limits his totals greatly, but Muqtadir does rank 72^nd in hits, 72^nd in runs, 83^rd in doubles, 11^th in triples, 12^th in steals, and 66^th in WAR for position players. His batting average is 4^th among batters with 3000+ plate appearances and his OBP is 16^th. Even with such low home run power, Muqtadir also ranks 62^nd in OPS at .882.

Muqtadir was definitely an all-timer for contact in Asian Baseball Federation history, but his resume was a tough one. It was often an uphill climb for leadoff guys to begin with as so many Hall of Fame voters are fixated on homers and RBI. Muqtadir’s short career also limited the grand tallies for those to care about accumulations primarily.

However, three batting titles factored heavily. 220+ hits in a season has only happened 21 times in ABF; thrice by Muqtadir. His big playoff run for Bursa in 2020 also helped his legacy. Many voters didn’t hold his injuries or MLB departure against him. Muqtadir debuted at 73.6%, crossing the 66% requirement for a first ballot nod to cap off an impressive three-player 2035 class.

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1B Omar Azim stood alone for induction into the Arab League Baseball Hall of Fame for 2035 at 92.4%. 1B Faqi Al-Thakur was the only other guy close to the 66% requirement, missing it on his seventh ballot at 61.7%. Also above 50% was another 1B Mohamed Ali Mansour with a 52.7% debut and SP Muhammad Fadel at 51.5% in his second try. No players were dropped after ten failed ballots in 2035.



Omar Azim – First Base – Riyadh Rats – 92.4% First Ballot

Omar Azim was a 6’5’’, 195 pound switch-hitting first baseman from Sidi Khalid, Algeria; a northern town of about 39,000 people. Azim was only the second Algerian inductee into the ALB HOF along with Class of 2024 reliever Souilem Boudiaf. Facing right-handed pitching, Azim was an excellent contact hitter with great home run power. He had a career 1.028 OPS and 162 wRC+ against RHP. On the downside, Azim was terrible against lefties with a career .658 OPS and 73 wRC+.

Even with his LHP issues, Azim’s 162 game average was still good for 41 doubles, 4 triples, and 42 homers; making him one of ALB’s more effective sluggers. He was average at drawing walks and did struggle with strikeouts especially facing lefties. Azim’s speed was mediocre and his baserunning skills were poor. Despite that, he graded as a reliably good-to-great defender as a career first baseman, winning two Gold Gloves.

Azim’s durability was impressive and he never missed any significant time to injury over a 17-year career. He was a humble ballplayer who kept his head down and worked very hard, earning plenty of respect from peers. As a teenager in May 2008, Azim left Algeria for Saudi Arabia on a developmental deal with Riyadh.

Although he spent nearly his entire pro career in the KSA, Azim would still regularly head home for the World Baseball Championship with Algeria. From 2014-29, he played 153 games and started 132 with 106 hits, 73 runs, 19 doubles, 4 triples, 32 home runs, 69 RBI, 58 walks, .215/.322/.464 slash, 123 wRC+, and 3.6 WAR.

Azim’s pro debut came with nine pinch hit appearances in 2012 at age 20. He was a platoon starter in 2013 for Riyadh, then became a full-timer after that. In 2014, Azim led the Eastern Conference with 52 doubles. Despite some reliably strong numbers, awards were hard to come by with the other talent at first base, especially Yahya bin Hakam, who won six Silver Sluggers at 1B in the 2010s. Riyadh was happy with the results and gave Azim a five-year, $27,610,000 extension in February 2015.

2017 was Azim’s finest year with a third place in MVP voting and a Gold Glove. He led the conference with career highs for homers (60), RBI (144), and slugging (.713). Azim also had his bests for hits (189), average (.317), OBP (.374), OPS (1.087), wRC+ (193), and WAR (8.9). He won his lone Silver Slugger in 2019, but had down years in 2018 and 2020.

Despite Azim’s efforts, Riyadh never made the playoffs and were generally around .500. This was the era of Jeddah’s dynasty in Saudi Arabia, although the Rats came close to dethroning them in 2019 at 100-62. Unfortunately for them, the defending ALB champ Jackals were 104-58 that year to keep Riyadh out of the playoffs.

For Riyadh, Azim had 1231 games, 1338 hits, 724 runs, 345 doubles, 35 triples, 328 homers, 923 RBI, 373 walks, 1181 strikeouts, .294/.354/.602 slash, 153 wRC+, and 42.7 WAR. His #3 uniform would eventually be retired for his efforts. After a career worst to that point 2.6 WAR in 2020, the Rats let Azim leave for free agency at age 29. He stayed in the division on a four-year, $22,800,000 deal with Medina.

Azim won his second Gold Glove in 2021 and had three respectable years for the Mastodons, who were mid-tier at that point. In 480 games, Azim had 523 hits, 289 runs, 123 doubles, 125 homers, 324 RBI, 167 walks, .290/.354/.583 slash, 132 wRC+, and 12.3 WAR. He notably hit for the cycle in April 2022 against his former team Riyadh. With a year left on his deal, Azim was traded in November 2023 to Casablanca for two prospects and a draft pick.

2024 was Azim’s strongest season in some time with 47 homers, 113 RBI, 102 runs, 1.006 OPS, 155 wRC+, and 5.7 WAR with the Bruins. Casablanca had been the ALB champ two years prior, but they struggled to 73-89 that year. Azim reached 2000 hits and 500 homers for his career and had bumped his stock back up heading into free agency at age 33.

Azim signed with Jeddah on a five-year, $61,200,000 deal. He had hoped to finally play in the postseason and the Jackals at that point were on a record 14-year playoff streak. Unfortunately, his timing couldn’t have been worse. The streak ended with an 83-79 season in 2025, followed by six consecutive losing seasons. Azim ultimately never got to play in the postseason for his entire career.

Still, Azim was a respectable starter and power hitter in four seasons for Jeddah. His fifth year saw him reduced to a platoon role with only .749 OPS and 0.2 WAR. For the Jackals, Azim had 719 games, 643 hits, 398 runs, 142 doubles, 170 homers, 431 RBI, .266/.338/.551 slash, 121 wRC+, and 11.4 WAR. He did notably breach 2500 hits, 1500 runs, 1500 RBI, 650 homers, and 650 doubles while with Jeddah; solidifying his Hall of Fame case. After going unsigned in 2030, Azim retired that winter at age 39.

Azim ended with 2589 games, 2678 hits, 1513 runs, 653 doubles, 71 triples, 670 home runs, 1791 RBI, 836 walks, 2436 strikeouts, 26 steals, .287/.351/.587 slash, 141 wRC+, and 72.1 WAR. Azim ranks 16^th in games, 22^nd in runs, 26^th in hits, 14^th in total bases (5483), 11^th in doubles, 13^th in homers, 12^th in RBI, 19^th in strikeouts, and 33^rd in WAR for position players. Among batters with 3000+ plate appearances, Azim is 60^th in slugging and his .938 OPS is 59^th.

There were certainly more prolific sluggers in his era that got the glory. The humble Azim didn’t get a ton of attention while on mostly weaker teams. Some voters were actually a bit surprised how high his power accumulations got, reaching tallies that made him undeniable for the vast majority. With 92.4%, Azim was the lone addition in 2035 for the Arab League Baseball HOF.

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Only 1B Patrick Babila made it into the African Association of Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 2035, but he was a slam dunk at 98.0%. SP Labama Nkurunziza barely missed joining him on his debut as his 65.2% barely fell short of the 66% requirement. Only one other was above 50% with 1B Lifa Moyo receiving 54.5% on his ninth and penultimate chance. No one was dropped off the ballot after ten failed attempts in 2035.



Patrick Babila – First Base – Dar es Salaam Sabercats – 98.0% First Ballot

Patrick Babila was a 6’6’’, 200 pound right-handed first baseman from Ndop, Cameroon; a town in the northwest with around 30,000 people. He was the first Cameroonian into AAB’s HOF, although there had been four to make it in West African Baseball. Babila was one of the great home run hitters of his era and had a rock solid eye for walks. He was an above average-to-good contact hitter but had a subpar strikeout rate relative to other AAB players.

Babila’s 162 game average got you 48 homers, 31 doubles, and 1 triple. He was especially strong facing left-handed pitching with a career 1.029 OPS and 169 wRC+, but was still quite good against righties with a .926 OPS and 144 wRC+. Babila was actually a very clever and skilled baserunner, but his usefulness was still quite limited by terrible speed.

His long frame was quite helpful as a career first baseman. Babila was an excellent defender who won nine Gold Gloves. His durability was excellent with 149+ games in all but two of his 19 seasons. Babila’s reliability, power, and adaptability helped make him extremely popular as one of Africa’s most famous ballplayers.

Cameroon was generally WAB territory and included the country’s two pro teams. AAB had quickly grown in prestige and talent in its short history with players in the bordering nations taking a hard look. Babila had emerged as maybe the nation’s best-ever prospect after a stellar amateur run, but surprised many by declaring for the 2010 AAB Draft. He went #2 overall to Dar es Salaam and became a superstar while in Tanzania.

Babila was a part-timer as a rookie with 112 games and 53 starts, but had strong results with 1.018 OPS and 3.2 WAR. He was a full-time starter after that and won his first Gold Glove in 2013. Babila earned that honor again in 2014-15, 2017-19, and 2022-23 with the Sabercats. He was good for 40+ homers each year from 2012-24, but wasn’t a complete hitter until his fourth season.

That year, Babila led the Southern Conference in OBP and had his career best triple slash of .321/.417/.699 with a 1.116 OPS. 2014 was also his best for runs (113), hits (177) and among his best for homers (57), RBI (134), and WAR (8.2). Babila won his first Silver Slugger and was second in MVP voting. Regardless, Dar es Salaam was fully stuck in the lower-middle tier of the standings. The Sabercats had a playoff drought from 2005-19 with only losing seasons from 2007-17.

Babila thrived though, winning Sluggers again from 2015-18 with a steak of 50+ homer seasons. He was third in 2016’s MVP voting and second in 2018. Babila’s lone MVP win was 2017 with conference bests for homers (58), total bases (360), slugging (.653), OPS (1.037), wRC+ (185), and WAR (8.3). He led in homers and OPS again in 2018. After the 2016 season, Babila signed a seven-year, $46,360,000 extension to stick with Dar es Salaam.

The Sabercats started to see some improvement, finishing .500 in 2018 and 93-69 in 2019. They broke the playoff drought as the wild card in 2020 at 89-73, but fell 4-1 to Kampala’s dynasty in the conference final. This was Babila’s lone playoff trip of the initial Dar run, going 6-21 with 2 homers and 3 RBI. He shocked them by opting out of his deal in the winter, but he was only briefly a free agent before signing a new four-year, $49,600,000 deal for Dar es Salaam.

The Sabercats fell back below .500 in 2021 and had six straight losing campaigns.
Babila was still strong, but just below awards consideration in his early 30s. He broke through in 2023 at age 35 with another Slugger and a second place in MVP voting, leading in RBI (144), OBP (.405), OPS (1.076), wRC+ (187), and WAR (8.0). This was Babila’s highest RBI total and he matched his career best 58 homers. On July 21, Babila had a four home run game against Antananarivo, one of only 19 such games through 2036. Among those four homers was his 600^th career dinger, the eighth in AAB to reach the club.

He still hit 48 homers in 2024, but his .845 OPS and 2.5 WAR both were his worst of his career to that point. Worried that he might be done, Dar es Salaam let Babila leave for free agency at age 37. He would sign a two-year, $20,200,000 deal with Lilongwe, who had been a wild card in 2024. Later in his career, Babila also represented Cameroon in the World Baseball Championship. He played 65 games from 2021-28 with 61 hits, 33 runs, 11 doubles, 17 homers, 41 RBI, .280/.388/.573 slash, 180 wRC+, and 3.4 WAR.

Babila won his ninth Gold Glove in 2025, becoming one of only four in AAB history to do so and the only first baseman. His power was still strong, but he was otherwise just decent in two years with Lilongwe. In 313 games, Babila had 266 hits, 177 runs, 55 doubles, 76 homers, 194 RBI, .247/.357/.509 slash, 118 wRC+, and 5.4 WAR. The Lightning were awful both years and ended up relegated after their 2026 failures.

Now 39-years old, Babila was still beloved back in Dar es Salaam and the Sabercats brought their old slugger home on a three-year, $11,680,000 deal. He maintained his Lilongwe levels of production as Dar had a surprise 92-70 season in 2027. They took first in the Southern Conference standings and beat Cape Town for the pennant, although they lost to Mogadishu in the Africa Series. Babila had a strong playoff run with 15 hits, 9 runs, 2 doubles, 4 homers, 10 RBI, 1.090 OPS, 181 wRC+, and 0.6 WAR.

The success was a one-off as the Sabercats won only 64 and 62 games in the next two years, barely escaping relegation. In 2028, Babila was only the fifth in AAB to reach 800 home runs. He was still a decent starter, but ended up traded in July 2029 to Kigali for two pitchers. Between stints with Dar es Salaam, Babila had 2503 games, 2426 hits, 1543 runs, 481 doubles, 761 homers, 1787 RBI, 1187 walks, .278/.374/.598 slash, 157 wRC+, and 88.9 WAR. His #22 uniform would quickly be retired by the Sabercats.

Babila struggled in the second half for Kigali, who finished 80-82. In 62 games, he had 42 hits, 29 runs, 7 homers, 24 RBI, .213/.315/.376 slash, 77 wRC, and 0.1 WAR. While there he did breach 2000 RBI, the third in AAB to do so. Babila retired that winter at age 42.

In total, Babila played 2878 games with 2734 hits, 1749 runs, 545 doubles, 12 triples, 844 home runs, 2005 RBI, 1391 walks, 2304 strikeouts, 87 steals, .274/.371/.584 slash, .955 OPS, 151 wRC+, and 94.4 WAR. Babila is AAB’s all-time leader in games played and ranks 2^nd in at-bats (9994), 3^rd in runs, 9^th in hits, 3^rd in total bases (5835), 12^th in doubles, 4^th in homers, 3^rd in RBI, 7^th in walks, 8^th in strikeouts, and 5^th in WAR among position players. Among AAB batters with 3000+ plate appearances, Babila is 34^th in OPS, 51^st in OBP, and 39^th in slugging.

He also ranks 39^th on the world leaderboard in home runs and makes the top 100 for RBI. In several cases, Babila is behind only Mwarami Tale and Felix Chaula on the AAB leaderboards. Those two are widely considered #1 and #2 in AAB history with most placing Mohau Sibiya #3 for position players. Babila is a tier below those guys and never had the raw dominance they had. Those guys also were part of dynasty runs while Babila’s playoff and team success was very limited.

Still, Babila’s longevity and power consistency made him an easy inner-circle Hall of Famer. He’s almost always cited as a top ten position player in African Association of Baseball history and many place him in the top five. Some cite Babila as Cameroon’s best-ever player, although WAB legend Lawrence Nassif is cited equally as often. At 98.0%, Babila stood alone for induction in 2035 for AAB.

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The 2035 World Baseball Championship was the 89^th edition and returned to the United States, hosted in Dallas, Texas. The last time it was in WBC was 2025 in Orlando. In Division 1, last year’s third place finisher South Africa took first at 10-3, advancing for the third time in four years and fourth time overall. Belgium and Kazakhstan tied for second at 9-4 with both Australia and Bangladesh at 8-5. The Kazakhs advanced over the Belgians on the tiebreaker for their sixth playoff berth and first since 2027.

The defending champion USA finished first in Division 2 at 11-2, advancing along with 10-3 France. Chad (9-4), Scotland (8-5) and Taiwan (8-5) were the closest competitors. The Americans advanced for the 66^th time and for the sixth consecutive year. The French moved forward for the 17^th time, ending a drought back to 2027.

Poland dominated Division 3 and had the best record of any team at 12-1, earning back-to-back division titles and their 13^th overall. The second place slot with to 9-4 Pakistan, holding off 8-5 efforts by China and Cuba. The Pakistanis earned their 10^th playoff trip overall and their third in seven years.

The 2034 runner-up Philippines claimed D4 at 10-3, advancing along with 9-4 Nicaragua. Just short by one game at 8-5 were Finland, Malaysia, and Venezuela. The Filipinos are now 18-time division champs. This was only the second-ever playoff berth for Nicaragua, whose only other one was way back in 1971. Japan, the fourth place finisher in 2034, was at 7-6 along with Cambodia and Madagascar.

Division 5 was a complicated mess as Germany, India, Somalia, and Spain each finished 8-5. Ethiopia, Liberia, Sweden, and Zimbabwe were all right there too at 7-6. After tiebreakers were sorted, the Somalis took first and the Indians were second. Somalia got its second berth in three years and the Indians got their 15^th overall. Since 2024, India has advanced eight times, including in five of the last six editions.

Austria won Division 6 at 10-3 with Russia second at 9-4. The first teams out at 8-5 were Myanmar and Vietnam. The Austrians earned their seventh playoff trip overall and second in three years. The Russians made it four straight years with their 20^th advancement overall.

Switzerland won a top-heavy Division 7 at 10-3 for only their fifth division title. The Swiss hadn’t done it since 1990. Second place had a four-way tie at 9-4 between Colombia, Nigeria, South Korea, and Uganda. The tiebreakers favored the Koreans for their 21^st postseason appearance and second in five years.

Lastly in Division 8, Brazil and Ukraine dominated the field each at 11-2. Distant third places at 8-5 were Indonesia, Israel, and Romania. The Brazilians were first place on the tiebreaker, advancing for the third straight year and 39^th time overall. The Ukrainians picked up a 16^th playoff trip and their second in four years.

Ukraine rolled in Round Robin Group A at 5-1, while both the Philippines and South Africa were 3-3 and France was 1-5. The tiebreaker moved the South Africans into the quarterfinal. Poland was top dog at 4-2 in Group B with both Russia and South Korea 3-3 and Somalia at 2-4. The Russians would advance via the tiebreaker over the Koreans.

Austria prevailed in Group C at 5-1 with India second outright at 3-3. Pakistan and Switzerland were both ousted at 2-4. And in Group D, the United States rolled at 5-1, advancing along with 4-2 Brazil. Kazakhstan missed at 3-3 and Nicaragua was the lone winless at 0-6.

Russia won their quarterfinal 2-0 against rival Ukraine, sending the Russians to their first semifinal appearance since the 2001 runner-up finish. This was the tenth trip to the final four by Russia. The other three quarterfinal matchups needed all three games. The United States kept its repeat bid alive by besting India, securing a 58^th semifinal appearance. Brazil edged Austria for their 24^th final four berth and third in five years. Poland held off South Africa for an eighth semis appearance, having last done it as the 2028 runner-up.

Both semis were 3-0 sweeps with the United States rolling Brazil and Poland pounding Russia. The Russians were officially third for the fourth time and the Brazilians earned fourth for the fifth time. The Poles earned their sixth finals appearance with the lone win back in 2018 over Iran. They had been defeated in 1959 by Canada, 1964 by the US, 2022 by Nigeria, and 2028 by England.



The Americans held onto the throne and won the 89^th World Championship 4-1 over Poland. The United States had won just over half of the events to date with a 45-9 finals record. The American pitching staff had 441 strikeouts, second-best in event history. Their offense drew 128 walks, also the second-most.

Las Vegas ace Bo Jackson led the way for the US pitching, although he was surprisingly third in Best Pitcher voting. In 50.1 innings, Jackson had a 0.72 ERA, 4-0 record, 74 strikeouts, 2 shutouts, and 3.7 WAR. The WAR mark was the second-best ever by a pitcher in the event behind Nick Hedrick’s 4.66 from 1957. One of Jackson’s shutouts was a no-hitter with 18 strikeouts and three walks facing Scotland. In July 2034, the 28-year old from Sandy Springs, Georgia signed a seven-year, $193,200,000 extension to stay with the Vipers.

Three-time American Association MVP Alair White led the way offensively for the US. The Vancouver 1B had 30 hits, 29 runs, 5 doubles, 16 homers, 32 RBI, 20 walks, 1.084 OPS, 196 wRC+, and 2.2 WAR. The 25-year old lefty from Clarksdale, Mississippi was second in MVP voting behind Austria’s Eduard Heller. Heller had been only a two-year starter in the European Baseball Federation with Lyon.

The Austrian 1B in 22 starts had 36 hits, 24 runs, 16 home runs, 31 RBI, 13 walks, 84 total bases, .414/.500/.966 slash, 1.466 OPS, 300 wRC+, and 2.96 WAR. Heller’s WAR was the ninth-best ever by a position player in WBC history. He nearly had an unprecedented event Triple Crown, finishing only one RBI behind White and second in average behind only Italy’s Emilian Bohler at .500.

India’s Hari Zulfikkur won Best Pitcher. The 30-year old righty had won three straight Reliever of the Year awards in South Asia Baseball and was signed with Visakhapatnam for 2035. Zulfikkur tossed 26 innings with a 0.35 ERA, 3-0 record and 3 saves in six appearances, 43 Ks, 7 walks, and 2.0 WAR.



Other notes: Only the 13^th perfect game in WBC history came on January 5 from Kenya’s Leon Kamau with nine strikeouts against Moldova. That day also had a no-hitter from Portugal’s Panduru Firmino with 14 Ks and 3 BB facing Algeria. There were two other no-hitters, one was the before mentioned effort by Bo Jackson. The other was January 13 by Thailand’s Chaiyo Mokkhavesa with the unusual line of 4 Ks and 7 BB. Only once prior was there a no-hitter with more walks, as Italy’s Roberto Di Vaio walked eight in 1971 against New Zealand.

Poland reliever Marcin Olejnik set an event record with 18 appearances. Below are the updated all-time event stats:

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Gaborone had just gotten relegated back to the African Second League for 2035 after a decade in the African Association’s First League. The Golden Bears looked for an immediate escape, taking first in the Southern Conference at 95-67. It was a fierce three-team fight for the second place slot with Nampula (91-71) edging out Mauritius (90-72) and Reunion (88-74). It was the first playoff trip since 2030 for the Pheasants.



Bahir Dar grabbed first in the Central Conference at 97-65, their second-ever playoff berth (2029). It was an impressive bounce-back for the Baboons, who were a lousy 65-97 the prior year. Asmara grabbed second at 92-70, fending off Mbuji-Mayi (90-72) and Juba (89-73). The Anteaters had also just gotten relegated, although their AAB stint only lasted two years. Mwanza, first in the standings last year, fell to fifth at 84-78.



Gaborone bested Nampula 4-2 in the Southern Conference Championship to guarantee an immediate promotion back up after one year. Bahir Dar rolled to a 4-0 sweep over Asmara in the Central Conference Championship, the first-ever promotion for the Baboons. Bahir Dar went onto defeat the Golden Bears 5-3 in the Second League Championship.



Other notes: A few single-season records were set in the ultra-high scoring A2L. Bahir Dar’s Ismail Taher had a .424 batting average while teammate Patrick Paka stole 162 bases and set a playoff record with 16 steals. Mwanza’s Mazinot Rakoto had a bad record allowing 328 hits. Husain Ferdous won his 9^th Silver Slugger and 2^nd as a DH. The Lubango slugger became the first in A2L with 600 homers, 2000 RBI, and 2500 hits. 1B Dhavita Bubhutsu won his 7^th Gold Glove and C Marshall Mokuna won his 7^th Silver Slugger.

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There weren’t any major standouts in the European Second League’s Western Conference for 2035. Paris took the top spot at 95-67, followed by Valencia at 92-70 and Amsterdam at 90-72. The Poodles had just gotten relegated back to E2L after five years back in the European Baseball Federation’s Elite Tier. The Vandals earned repeat playoff berths and are in the eighth year of their current E2L stint. For the Anacondas, this was their second berth in three years as they have been in E2L since 2030.

The fourth and final playoff spot saw Brno (85-77) edge out Glasgow (84-78), Lisbon (84-78), and Palermo (82-80). The Bandits had also just returned to E2L after a 21-year run in the top tier. No one team was abysmal, but 69-93 Nottingham had the worst mark to suffer relegation to European Tier Three. Belfast (73-89), Stuttgart (74-88), and Nantes (74-88) were the closest to demotion who survived.

The #3 and #4 seeds prevailed out of the Double Round Robin to earn promotion. Brno fared the best at 4-2, while Amsterdam at 3-3 had the tiebreaker over 3-3 Valencia. #1 seed Paris fared the worst at 2-4. The Bandits continued their hot streak by defeating the Anacondas 4-2 in the Western Conference Championship. Brno escaped after only one year back in E2L, while Amsterdam’s promotion ends a six-year E2L stint.



Malta had the Eastern Conference’s top mark at 100-62 with Skopje a solid second at 94-68. It was the second time in three years that the Marvels earned a playoff spot, having been an E2L team since 2027. The Stags earned their first playoff spot since their relegation two years prior. Taking third was Leipzig at 91-71, back-to-back wild cards for the Lumberjacks.

Athens got the #4 spot at 87-75 with Dnipro (84-78) and Sofia (82-80) as the nearest foes. The Anchors were last year’s ET3 champ and have been on a rollercoaster of promotion and relegation in the 2030s. Suffering the shocking demotion was Kyiv in last at 64-98 with only Varna (69-93) nearby. The Kings have been one of the most successful franchises in baseball history with 10 titles between EBF and Eurasian Professional Baseball. Kyiv had just gotten demoted back to E2L for 2035 with a free fall to ET3.



Advancing out of the Round Robin with promotions were #1 seed Malta and #4 Athens both at 4-2, while Leipzig was 3-3 and Skopje was 1-5. The Marvels then defeated the Anchors 4-2 in the Eastern Conference Championship. Malta returns to the Elite Tier after a nine-year stint in E2L. For Athens, their insane ride was E2L in 2030, ET3 in 2031-32, E2L in 2033, ET3 in 2034, E2L in 2035, and now back to the EBF in 2036. The Greek capital last played in the top tier in 2018. In the Second League Championship, the Marvels rolled to a 4-0 sweep of Brno.



Other notes: Athens pitcher Charles-Pierre Pons set the E2L single-season record with 349 strikeouts. Malta’s Alan Caruana set a playoff record with 11 doubles and Brno’s Dag Gjosund set a steals playoff record with 10. Stanislav Iliev became the 4^th to 400 home runs, the 3^rd to 2000 hits, and the 7^th to 1000 RBI in E2L.



Ruhr took the top spot in European Tier Three at 101-61 to earn their first-ever promotion. It was an intense fight for second with Bordeaux and Kosovo even at 93-69, while both Porto and The Hague were 92-70 and both Bilbao and Newcastle finished 88-74. The Blue Angels won the tiebreaker game over the Slayers to advance. Bordeaux had previously gotten promoted for 2032, but only lasted one year in E2L before falling back. In the Third League Championship, the Blue Angels bested the Railhawks 4-2.

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Two years removed from getting relegated, Dar es Salaam was on top of the African Association of Baseball’s Southern Conference at 100-62. This was their first playoff trip since their 2027 pennant. The Sabercats scored 965 runs, the third-highest single-season total in AAB history. Still, they only took first place by one game with Durban right behind at 99-63.

For the Deer, this ended a 25-year playoff drought and was an impressive turnaround after four consecutive losing seasons. Defending conference champ Cape Town was third at 95-67 with Lilongwe fourth at 90-72. The Cowboys allowed the fewest runs at 651. Johannesburg, first in the standings last year, dropped to sixth at 81-81. Bulawayo was firmly last at 55-107, suffering relegation after a five-year run in the first league.

Southern Conference MVP was DH Ketema Gudeta in his seventh season with Dar es Salaam. The 27-year old Ethiopian lefty led in the triple slash (.3576/.417/.735), OPS (1.152), wRC+ (188), and WAR (6.9) despite missing six weeks to a fractured thumb. In 125 games, Gudeta had 176 hits, 112 runs, 40 doubles, 48 homers, and 136 RBI. The Sabercats gave Gudeta a four-year, $54,700,000 extension after the season. He beat out teammate Ferdinand Rajerison, who led with 62 homers and 159 RBI.

Cape Town’s Oteng Thapelo won Pitcher of the Year in his third year with the squad. The 31-year old Motswana righty had signed a six-year, $97,200,000 deal with the Cowboys after starting with Luanda. Nicknamed “Fireball” for his tremendous 99-101 mph fastball, Thapelo led in ERA (2.47) and WHIP (1.00). He had an 18-7 record, 219 innings, 266 strikeouts, 187 ERA+, and 6.0 WAR.



Nairobi took first in the Central Conference at 94-68 and allowed the fewest runs in the CC at 669. Their pitching staff allowed only 313 walks with a 1.94 BB/9, both AAB all-time bests. The Night Hawks had won the Africa Series and the Baseball Grand Championship in 2032, but had back-to-back losing seasons immediately after.

Seven teams were within only five games of the second place spot. Addis Ababa narrowly took it at 88-74 ahead of Bangui (86-76), Kinshasa (86-76), Lubumbashi (85-77), Kampala (84-78), Djibouti (83-79), and defending AAB champ Brazzaville (83-79). Although it was the fifth straight winning season for the Brahmas, this ended a six-year playoff drought. Bukavu was last at 64-98 with Mogadishu (69-93) narrowly escaping relegation. The Bluefins lasted seven seasons in the top tier despite never winning more than 71 games in a season.

It was a disappointing year for the Sun Cats, having won 101 games the prior year. Kinshasa’s Martin Kulatilaka had a mammoth year though and won Central Conference MVP. The 27-year old first baseman from Seychelles led in home runs (75), RBI (159), and total bases (453). It was the fifth time in AAB that a slugger hit 75+ homers and one of only 24 seasons in world history. Kulatilaka also had 194 hits, 116 runs, 8.2 WAR, 192 wRC+, and a .328/.411/.766 slash.

Kampala’s Abdullahi Ali won Pitcher of the Year with what was the best pitching effort in AAB history to that point. The 23-year old Somali lefty had set the strikeouts record with 400 the prior year and broke that with 430 Ks in 2025. Ali also set new AAB records for pitching WAR (13.0) and K/9 (16.10). This was only the 15^th qualifying season in world history (162+ inning minimum) where an ace had a K/9 above 16. The previous pitching WAR record in AAB was 11.96 by Ghebrezgiabhier Alemayehu in 2028.

Ali’s effort was also only the seventh pitching Triple Crown season in AAB history as he had a 22-6 record and 2.10 ERA in 240.1 innings. He was also the leader in WHIP (0.82), K/BB (7.3), quality starts (22), and FIP- (34). Ali’s season ranked as the ninth-best ERA, third-best WHIP, third-best opponent’s OPS (.516), and seventh-best H/9 (5.21) in AAB history.

On top of that, Ali had two games with 20 strikeouts in 2035, doing it to Mogadishu on April 28 and Kinshasa on May 20. 20+ Ks had only happened twice at all in AAB before that with Paul Lambote’s 21 Ks in 2009 as the single-game record. Ali also had two 19 strikeout efforts in 2025. Scouts gave him an absurd 13/10 stuff rating with his fastball, slider, screwball, and changeup all rated as 10/10 or better by the consensus. Some feel Ali stands presently as the best pitcher in the world with the possibility for an all-time career.

Dar es Salaam downed Durban 4-1 in the Southern Conference Championship for their fourth pennant (1997, 2004, 2027, 2035). Nairobi clobbered Addis Ababa in a Central Conference Championship sweep for their third pennant (2014, 2032, 2035). After two lopsided semifinals, the 41^st Africa Series was a classic that needed all nine games.



In the end, the Sabercats survived 5-4 over the Night Hawks for only their second overall title, joining the 2004 win. Dar es Salaam was the sixth different AAB champ in as many years. Nairobi speedster Namir Jamal was finals MVP in the losing effort. In 12 playoff starts, the Tanzanian RF had 19 hits, 11 runs, 4 doubles, 2 homers, 11 RBI, 6 steals, 1.195 OPS, and 0.9 WAR.



Other notes: In the regular season, Jamal stole 150 bases, which was only the 6^th time in world history that a player had 150+ swipes. He was three behind the AAB record by Destin Mpika in 2028 and nine behind Hassan Shanshol’s world record 159 from 2030 in the Arab League. There have been only 43 seasons in world history of 130+ steals; six of which were by Jamal. He turned 30 on August 31 and finished the season already at 1094 career steals in AAB, potentially on a world record pace.

SS Djibrilla Ousseini became AAB’s new steals leader at 1610, passing Jose Santarem’s record 1602 which had held since 2020. Ousseini is one of only 13 in all of world history with 1600+ career swipes. He also won his 15^th Silver Slugger at shortstop, one of 13 in world history with 15+ Sluggers. This ties CF Mwarami Tale for the most by an AAB player.

The 37-year old Ousseini was already AAB’s leader in hits, singles, doubles, and triples. In 2035, he became only the third in all of world history with 800+ doubles. Ousseini finished the year at 829, passing SAB’s Manju Abbas for the #2 spot (816). World hits leader Fares Belaid from WAB holds the top mark at 939. Ousseini also became the first AAB batter with 3500+ hits.

Port Elizabeth’s Jeremiah Adderley had 68 doubles, the third-highest in AAB history and three behind Stefan Cejka’s 71 from 1996. This was one of only 12 seasons in all of world baseball history that a player had 68+ doubles in a season. Kampala’s Leonard Kette had a 29-game hitting streak, tied for the 6^th-longest in AAB.

Johannesburg’s Ibukun da Costa had AAB’s 17^th four home run game on May 16 against Comoros. He made history as he had done it before for Nairobi back in 2031. This made da Costa the fifth player in world history with multiple four home run games. He also became AAB’s 15^th slugger with 1500+ career RBI.

In other milestones, Dagne Mersha was the 17^th to 1500 runs scored. Lane Maloba was only the 4^th pitcher to 200 wins and Sipho Zuke was the 2^nd to 400 saves. CF Noel Malama won his 9^th Silver Slugger, LF Asa Ngoie won his 8^th, and DH Dagne Mersha grabbed his 7^th.

Promotion/Relegation: Bukavu was relegated out of the Central Conference and Bulawayo was booted from the Southern Conference. Gaborone moved up into the Buzz’s slot from the African Second League and Bahir Dar replaced the Bluefins.

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Last year, Algiers’ 11-year playoff streak ended as they finished one win shy of the playoffs at 90-72. The Arsenal bounced back by absolutely dominating the Western Conference at 111-51, their third time with 110+ wins in a decade. They cruised to the Mediterranean Division crown and allowed the fewest runs in the conference at 636. Algiers’ offense also tied the Arab League Baseball team record for triples at 101. Casablanca, last year’s division champ and conference runner-up, plummeted to 71-91.

The remaining four playoff teams were separated by three wins. Cairo was the next best as 95-67 atop the Nile Division, beating out Giza by one game. The Goats at 94-68 ended an 18-year playoff drought as the first wild card. Defending division champ Khartoum fell to 83-79. The Pharaohs led all of ALB with 912 runs scored.

Defending conference champ Beirut and Damascus tied for the Levant Division title at 92-70, although both did earn playoff spots. The Dusters won the tiebreaker game for first place. Although they’ve had seven playoff trips in eight years, this was only the second division title of that run for Damascus. The next closest team in the wild card hunt was Amman at 87-75.

Oram was only okay at 83-79, but they had the Western Conference MVP in 1B Alaa Khalil. The 27-year old Libyan righty led in home runs (65), RBI (157), runs scored (123), slugging (.739), OPS (1.137), and wRC+ (186). Khalil added 205 hits, 39 doubles, .341 average, and 7.8 WAR. He had been picked 6^th by the Rattlesnakes in the 2026 ALB Draft. This season came in a contract year and Khalil cashed in as a free agent in the winter with a seven-year, $232,100,000 deal with Amman.

Beirut’s Abdul Muhaimin Akbar won Pitcher of the Year in his sixth season for the Bluebirds. The 25-year old Iraqi lefty led in WAR (7.1), WHIP (0.94), quality starts (26), and FIP- (70). Akbar had a 2.98 ERA over 235.2 innings, 16-11 record, and 324 strikeouts. He was second in both ERA and Ks in the conference.

Giza beat Beirut 2-0 in the wild card round, then got defeated 2-1 by Algiers in the second round. Cairo swept Damascus 2-0 on the other side, giving the Pharaohs their first Western Conference Final trip since 2030. Cairo gave a very spirited effort, but the top-seeded Arsenal survived 3-2 for their third pennant in five years and their fifth in a decade (2026, 28, 31, 33, 35).



Four teams finished within seven wins of the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Basra took the top billing at 103-59 for their third consecutive Mesopotamia Division title. The Bulldogs allowed the fewest runs in ALB at 606. Gulf Division champ Muscat was the #2 seed at 99-63, fending off Doha (96-66) by three for first place. The Threshers’ playoff streak grew to nine years, while the Dash as the first wild card extended their streak to six seasons. Muscat was the top scoring team with 910 runs.

Reigning ALB champ Medina was right there as well at 98-64 for a third consecutive Arabia Division title. The Mastodons have missed the playoffs only twice since 2025. Mecca got the second wild card at 92-70 for repeat berths, giving the EC the same playoff teams as the prior year. No other team was particularly close to making the field as the next best record was Jeddah at 82-80.

Eastern Conference MVP was DH Khalid Luaibi in his fourth season. The 25-year old Iraqi lefty led in homers (71), runs (131), total bases (449), slugging (.809), OPS (1.208), and wRC+ (205). Luaibi had 148 RBI, 191 hits, .344 average, and 8.7 WAR. It was the 16^th time in ALB that a slugger smacked 70+ homers and was one of only 41 qualifying seasons in world history with a slugging above .800. Luaibi’s season was the 5^th-best slugging and 13^th-best OPS in ALB history. He would commit long-term after the 2036 season to the Dash on an eight-year, $119,100,000 extension.

Basra’s Yaseen Al-Wajihuddin won Pitcher of the Year in his fifth season. The 6’8’’ Saudi lefty led in wins (20-4), ERA (2.50), WHIP (0.81), K/BB (16.2), quality starts (22), complete games (9), shutouts (4), FIP- (56), and WAR (8.9). Al-Wajihuddin struck out 308 in 227 innings, missing the Triple Crown behind Doha’s Samir Shaban and his 341 Ks. Al-Wajihuddin had been a POTY finalist in the prior three seasons.

Doha downed Mecca 2-0 in the wild card round and gave Basra a challenge in the second round, but the Bulldogs survived 2-1. Basra earned its second trip in three years to the Eastern Conference Final. Medina swept Muscat 2-0 on the other side of the bracket to keep the Mastodons’ repeat bid alive. The Bulldogs quickly crushed those hopes with a 3-0 sweep in the ECF. Basra ended a nine-year pennant drought and earned their eighth conference crown, tied for the most with Medina and Jeddah among EC teams.



In the 46^th Arab League Championship, Basra bested Algiers 4-2 to become six-time ALB champs (2006, 08, 11, 20, 25, 35). This tied the Bulldogs with Casablanca and Medina for the most rings. CF Kareem David was finals MVP, posting 17 hits, 13 runs, 7 doubles, 5 homers, 15 RBI, 8 steals, 1.259 OPS, and 1.2 WAR in 12 playoff starts.



Other notes: 2035 was the last year for ace Diyar Abbas, who struggled in one season with Suez at age 40. The three-time Pitcher of the Year winner and former Riyadh star finished with a 296-171 record, 3.42 ERA, 4237 innings, 4676 strikeouts, and 128.8 WAR. Abbas ranks 2^nd in wins, innings, strikeouts, and pitching WAR; behind only Ahmed Hussain for each stat. Muhammad Nour joined them and Rashid Tariq as the only ALB pitchers with 250+ wins.

Sulaymaniyah at 59-103 had an all-time bad pitching staff. The Sultans set new ALB single-season worsts for team ERA (5.85) and runs allowed (982). Their 1.517 team WHIP and 925 earned runs were both the second-worst. Mokhtar Bouziane hit for the cycle and joined Wandy Martadinata as the only ALB players to achieve the feat four times in a career.

Walid Bennani became the 4^th ALB slugger with 900 home runs and is one of only 24 in all of pro baseball history to get there. Emad Tarek and Walid Zaoui were the 20^th and 21^st members of ALB’s 600 home run club. Iqbal Matharu and Ahmed Yasser Basha became the 6^th and 7^th in ALB with 3000 hits.

Basha, Tarek, and Hassan Shanshol each got to 1500 runs scored, now met by 22 in ALB. Basha, Abdulhalim Talukder, Azhar Eid, and Mohamed Neen all got to 1500 RBI; achieved by 31 ALB batters. Mahmoud Tobah was the 36^th to 2500 hits. Basha also picked up his 8^th Silver Slugger in RF.

Shanshol finished the season with 1706 stolen bases at only age 33. He’s now within striking distance of Amar Rasmi’s ALB record 1730 swipes. They are among only five in all of pro baseball history with 1700+ career steals; the record is EBF’s Carsten Dal at 1995. RF Nathan Nasreddine won his 13^th consecutive Gold Glove. He has the most of any ALB player and is one of 29 in world history with 13+ GGs. LF Karrar Mazloum won his 9^th Gold Glove.

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Last year’s East League runner-up Tashkent took the top seed at 103-59 atop the North Division, allowing the fewest runs in the Asian Baseball Federation at 491. It was the third straight year the Tomcats won 100+ games. Hyderabad switched places with defending EL champ Rawalpindi in the Pakistan Division. The Horned Frogs were first at 100-62 and the Red Wings second at 96-66.

Both continued lengthy playoff streaks with Hyderabad growing to 12 seasons and Rawalpindi to five. The Horned Frogs also hit 298 home runs as a team, two short of the EL record they set last year. It ranks as the fourth-most homers in all of ABF history. Hyderabad was the EL’s top scoring team in 2035 at 705 runs.

Osh at 91-71 took the second wild card, their second playoff berth since the Oxen joined in the 2030 ABF expansion. Just missing was Almaty at 90-72 and Lahore at 89-73. The Assassins and Longhorns both continued lengthy streaks of winning seasons despite the playoff misses at 16 and 11 years, respectively.

In his third year with Hyderabad, veteran 1B Sultan Han won East League MVP. He had previously won West League MVP back in 2026 with Shiraz. The 35-year old Tajik righty led in runs (123), homers (67), RBI (122), total bases (412), slugging (.720), OPS (1.088), wRC+ (233), and WAR (10.5). Han had a .295 average and .368 OBP. The 67 homers were tied for the eighth-best single-season in ABF history. In June, Han became only the second in ABF with 700 career home runs, behind only Hakan Mocuk’s record 784. Han also became the fifth to reach 1500 runs scored.

Pitcher of the Year was Shahrokh Morteza in his Tashkent debut. The 32-year old Iranian righty had seen success previously with Peshawar and Bishkek before signing a five-year, $87 million deal in 2035 with the Tomcats. Morteza won the ERA title at 2.07 and led with a 0.88 WHIP. He had an 18-5 record over 213 innings, 271 strikeouts, and 6.2 WAR.

Osh upset top seed Tashkent 2-1 in the first round while Hyderabad edged their divisional foe Rawalpindi 2-1. The Oxen then shocked the Horned Frogs 2-1 in the second round, sending the expansion Osh to the East League Championship Series in only their sixth season.

The Tomcats bounced back in the loser’s bracket, ousting Rawalpindi 2-1 and eliminating Hyderabad 2-0. Tashkent earned repeat ELCS trips and a chance at revenge against Osh. However, the Oxen had their most shocking achievement yet with a 4-0 sweep over the top-seeded Tomcats. Osh became the first East League expansion team with a pennant.



Defending ABF champ Tabriz repeated as Central Division champ with a franchise-best 113-49 record. This ended Baku’s five-year reign as the West League’s #1 seed, although the Blackbirds came close at 110-52. Baku won a seventh consecutive West Division champ. The Blackbirds were the top scoring team at 921 runs and the Tiger Sharks allowed the fewest runs at 540.

Baku’s offense remained outstanding with a team .293/.346/.512 slash line, each ranking as the second-best in ABF history. The run tally was the third-most behind the Blackbirds own 962 and 922 from 2032 and 2033. Tabriz notably had a 2,252,766 season attendance, the second-largest in ABF history behind Mashhad’s 2,262,372 from 2032.

The WL was top-heavy overall as the wild cards were Gaziantep at 101-61 and Bursa at 99-63. Isfahan was also in the mix but fell short at 95-67. The Gorillas earned their second wild card in three years. The Blue Claws shocked everyone with their season, as they had lost 100+ games in the prior four straight seasons. They hadn’t been above .500 since 2026 and last made the playoffs in 2025.

For the fifth time in six years, Baku DH Artyom Masharipov won West League MVP. He joined the legendary Nizami Aghazade as the only guys with 5+ MVPs in ABF. He also won his seventh Silver Slugger. The 31-year old Azeri led in home runs (59), total bases (428), slugging (.680), OPS (1.052), and wRC+ (177). Masharipov also had 195 hits, 122 runs, 136 RBI, .310 average, and 7.9 WAR. It was his sixth straight season leading in home runs.

Ankara ace Hasan Yousefi won his third Pitcher of the Year, having previously done it in 2028 and 2032. The 35-year old Iranian lefty led in ERA (2.37), WHIP (0.91), quality starts (23), and WAR (7.5). Yousefi had a 13-10 record over 239.2 innings with 325 strikeouts.

In his 15^th year for the Alouettes, Yousefi became only the third ABF ace with 5000+ strikeouts. He finished the year at 5074, passing Sijad Khaleel for second (5023) and now within striking distance of first place Hasan Afshin (5151). Yousefi now has 244 wins, putting ABF’s all-time wins mark of 256 by Khaleel in reach. Baku’s Agshin Jumayev is also getting close with 246 wins through 2035. Since 2027, each WL Pitcher of the Year award has gone to either Jumayev or Yousefi. Jumayev notably became the 8^th to reach 4500 strikeouts in 2035.

Tabriz topped Bursa 2-0 in the first round and Gaziantep upset Baku 2-1. The Tiger Sharks defeated the Gorillas 2-1 in round two to keep their repeat bid intact. The Blackbirds edged the Blue Claws 2-1 to begin the loser’s bracket. But Baku again fell in the rematch with Gaziantep, this time 2-0.

The Gorillas had gotten to the WLCS four times before, most recently in 2028. They would get their revenge in the rematch with Tabriz, dethroning the defending champ 4-1. Gaziantep’s first pennant also marked the first one for a Turkish team since Izmir in 2021. Only Iranian teams had been able to break through during Baku’s dynasty reign as the Turkish teams share a division with the Blackbirds.



No expansion team had been in the ABF Championship until 2035, which featured two of them. Gaziantep was from the first round in 2009 and Osh from the latest group in 2030. In the 51^st ABF Championship, the Gorillas cruised to a sweep of the Oxen. 22 franchises now have won the ABF title and Gaziantep is the first Turkish team to do it since Ankara in 2018.

Finals MVP was LF Majed Mahadeen, the 2028 West League MVP. The 31-year old Palestinian was in his 12^th season starting for Gaziantep. In 17 playoff starts, he had 21 hits, 10 runs, 2 doubles, 3 triples, 2 homers, 15 RBI, and 0.6 WAR. Closer Usman Alla was also notable, as he was only the sixth qualifying pitcher (15+ innings required) to post a zero ERA in the playoffs. In 11 appearances and 19.2 innings, the 25-year old Alla had 7 saves, 3 wins, 26 strikeouts, and 1.1 WAR. He only allowed 6 hits and 1 walk.



Other notes: 2035 was the final year for ABF home run king Hakan Mocuk, as he struggled in 99 games and 38 starts with Tashkent to a .607 OPS. He won 11 Silver Sluggers and four MVPs and retires as ABF’s career leader for homers (784), RBI (2132), and total bases (6012). Mocuk ranks 36^th on the world RBI list.

On the downside, he is ABF’s strikeouts leader with 3140 and is 15^th on that world list. The Turkish 3B/1B also finished with 2903 hits, 1565 runs, 661 doubles, and 104.1 WAR. He sits 5^th in runs, 5^th in hits, 4^th in doubles, and 11^th in WAR. Mocuk’s prime years came with Izmir, but he notably in his mid 30s helped establish Baku’s dynasty.

2035 also saw career milestones for 1B Jason Perazzo. The 40-year old American was in his third year with Tabriz after an impressive MLB tenure with San Diego’s dynasty. For his combined pro career, Perazzo crossed 900 home runs and 2000 runs scored. He’s one of 24 in world history with 900+ homers and one of 33 with 2000 runs. Perazzo sits at 910 homers, 2029 runs, and 2393 RBI, moving into the top 20 all-time for RBI.

Perazzo also had a four home run game on April 17 against Shiraz, the eighth such game in ABF history. It was his third time with a four dinger game, having done it in MLB in 2026 and in the 2032 Baseball Grand Championship. SAB legend Tirtha Upadhyaya is the only other player with three four-homer games. Perazzo’s career would continue in the Africa in 2036 on a three-year, $33,300,000 deal with AAB’s Nairobi.

ABF’s 24^th perfect game came on July 16 by Rawalpindi’s Gara Akmatov against Peshawar. He struck out 16, tying the ABF record for Ks in a perfect game previously met in 1987 by Piyan ar-Rahman. In other pitching milestones, Mansoor Kayam and Shahrokh Morteza were the 27^th and 28^th to reach 3500 strikeouts. 46 guys had 3000 Ks with Ibrahim Tolibov, Halawani Ahmad, and Ozhan Arslan each reaching that mark in 2035.

Youssouf Raza became the 9^th to 600 career home runs and Khalaf bin Abdullah became the 22^nd with 500 dingers. Raza won his 10^th Silver Slugger in LF and bin Abdullah got his 9^th in CF. LF Cihat Cetinkaya won his 8^th Gold Glove and 2B Mahmut Gurbuzerol won his 7^th Gold Glove.

Catcher Ali Mahdian played his final season and won a historic 16^th Gold Glove. He’s only the fifth player at any position in any world league with 16+ Gold Gloves and leads all catchers and all ABF players. In 19 seasons almost exclusively with Tabriz, Mahdian had a 159.4 zone rating, 1689 runners thrown out, and .997 fielding percentage in 2052 games. He’s the only C in any world league with a ZR above 100. However, it remains to be seen if he gets a Hall of Fame nod with only 65.6 WAR, .725 OPS, and 99 wRC+. Regardless, Mahdian has a firm case for being the best defensive catcher in baseball history.

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The Indian League’s top four teams were separated by only three wins in a competitive fight for the top seed. Hyderabad narrowly took top honors at 98-64 as they repeated as South Division champ. The Hippos extended their playoff streak to five seasons and narrowly led the league in both runs (784) and fewest allowed (587).

Hyderabad had the toughest road to a division title with Visakhapatnam close behind at 95-67. The Volts easily were the first wild card, bouncing back from a rare playoff miss the prior year. Visakhapatnam won the pennant from 2031-33 and have missed the postseason only twice since 2023. All but the prior year in that stretch saw 95+ wins for the Volts.

Last year’s ILCS runner-up Mumbai was the #2 seed at 96-66, winning the West Division for the first time since their 2022 pennant. Reigning South Asia Baseball champ Delhi repeated in the Central Division at 95-67. For the second wild card, Pune (88-74) edged out Lucknow (87-75), Jaipur (85-77), Vadodara (85-77), and Kolkata (84-78). The Purple Knights ended a six-year playoff drought. Ahmedabad notably had their playoff streak ended at nine seasons as they fell to 80-82. The Animals had been the #1 seed the prior year.

Delhi LF Duc An Phan won Indian League MVP with a record-setting season. The 25-year old Vietnamese leadoff man set a new SAB record for batting average at .4088, which ranks as the 15^th-best qualifying average in all of world history. There have been five batters in SAB history to top .400, interestingly enough Nagpur’s Alex Chandler also did it in 2035 at .4007.

Phan also led in runs (127), hits (222), stolen bases (122), OBP (.449), OPS (1.066), wRC+ (206), and WAR (10.4). The 122 steals ranked as the fifth-best single season in SAB history. Phan added 36 doubles, 19 triples, 13 home runs, and 87 RBI. This was his first full season starting, as he missed chunks of the prior two seasons to injury.

Mumbai’s Tuan Thai won Pitcher of the Year, leading in wins (20-6) and strikeouts (324). The 27-year old Vietnamese lefty had a 2.57 ERA over 245 innings, 150 ERA+, and 6.5 WAR. He was nine ERA points short of the Triple Crown. Thai had been the #1 overall draft pick in 2028 by Da Nang, but the Nailers surprisingly traded him in 2033 to the Meteors.

Also notable was Visakhapatnam’s Hari Zulfikkur, who became the fifth closer in SAB history with four or more Reliever of the Year awards. He’s won three straight with the Volts and posted 38 saves, a 0.92 ERA, 143 strikeouts, and 4.4 WAR in 87.2 innings. It was the tenth time that an SAB ROTY winner had an ERA below one. It was a big year for Zulfikkur, who won Best Pitcher earlier in the year for India in the World Baseball Championship. He also became SAB’s 21^st closer with 300 career saves.

Pune swept Visakhapatnam 2-0 in the wild card round, but promptly got swept 3-0 by top seed Hyderabad in the divisional series. Mumbai dethroned the defending champ Delhi 3-1 on the other side of the bracket. Despite the playoff streak, this was the first Indian League Championship Series trip for the Hippos since 2022. That year, they were defeated by the Meteors, Mumbai’s most recent pennant. 2035 had a similar result as the Meteors took the series 4-2 on the road over Hyderabad. This was Mumbai’s sixth Indian League crown (2005, 08, 15, 16, 22, 35).



Yangon won a sixth consecutive Central Division title and took the Southeast Asia League’s top seed at 104-58. Amazingly, this was the 22^nd time since 1997 that the Green Dragons won 100+ games in a season. Dhaka repeated as West Division champ and had the #2 seed at 100-62. The Dobermans have missed the playoffs only once in 15 seasons.

Colombo won their first-ever division title at 99-63, fending off 97-65 Ho Chi Minh City in the South. It was the fourth playoff berth in seven years for the Catfish, while the defending SEAL champ Hedgehogs extended their playoff streak to seven seasons. HCMC’s 1773 hits as a team was the third-highest in SAB history and they led all teams with 913 runs scored.

Mandalay was six back in Dhaka in the West, but narrowly took the second wild card 94-68. Hanoi was one back at 93-69 with Kathmandu in the hunt at 88-74. Although they missed the cut, the Hounds allowed SEAL’s fewest runs at 623. The Mammoths are back in the postseason after having their eight-year streak snapped in 2034. Bangkok, who had been a wild card in four successive seasons, struggled to 76-86. The Chaparrals notably had their best record since 2015 and only their second winning season in 20 years.

Colombo swept the Southeast Asia League’s top two awards led by LF James Pham as MVP. In only his second season starting, the 23-year old Vietnamese righty led in hits (233), RBI (131), and WAR (9.9). Pham had 119 runs, 41 doubles, 45 homers, 83 steals, a .361/.386/.656 slash, and 173 wRC+. He was a scouting discovery in 2029 by the Catfish and debuted in 2033.

Sanjit Ali repeated as Pitcher of the Year and led in ERA (2.52), strikeouts (326), quality starts (26), FIP- (560), and WAR (9.3). The 26-year old Bangladeshi lefty had a 19-7 record over 242.2 innings and 169 ERA+, missing the Triple Crown by three wins. Colombo gave him a five-year, $56,580,000 extension prior to the 2035 campaign. Ali’s future would be in doubt though as he’d miss all of 2036 to a ruptured UCL, potentially derailing his career. He’s known for a 10/10 screwball, a pitch that can be particularly taxing on the arm.

Mandalay quickly swept defending SEAL champ Ho Chi Minh City 2-0 in the wild card round. The Mammoths then not only upset top seed Yangon, but swept them 3-0 in the divisional series. The Mammoths earned their eighth trip in a decade to the Southeast Asia League Championship as they try to re-establish their dynasty.

Dhaka downed Colombo 3-1 on the other side, keeping the Catfish from their first-ever LCS trip. The Dobermans earned only their second LCS appearance in 12 seasons despite 11 playoff berths in that span. In a seven-game classic, Mandalay earned the road upset over Dhaka for their sixth pennant in a decade and seventh overall (2018, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 35).



In the 56^th SAB Championship, Mandalay rolled to a 4-1 victory over Mumbai to become three-time SAB champs (2026, 2028, 2035). The Meteors fall to 0-6 all-time in their finals tries. 1B Dong Vinh Lam was the playoff star yet again as finals MVP. He had also won finals MVP previously in 2026 and LCS MVP in 2029, 2032, and 2033. In his 12^th year for the Mammoths, the 34-year old Vietnamese lefty had 22 hits, 14 runs, 5 doubles, 7 homers, 11 RBI, 202 wRC+, and 1.1 WAR in 17 playoff starts.



Other notes: SAB 15^th perfect game came on August 5 from Chennai’s Hari Ashoka, who struck out 11 facing Hyderabad. Nagpur’s Alex Chandler had a 36-game hitting streak, the second-longest in SAB history behind Chanratana Try’s 38 from 2031. The Patriots at 60-102 posted the second-worst ERA (5.05), runs allowed (870), and earned runs (800) in Indian League history. On the plus side, they stole 427 bases, tying the IL record they set the prior year. Korat had only 88 home runs as a team, the lowest single-season mark in Southeast Asia League history.

The 600 home run club added three members in 2035 with Dong Vinh Lam, Randall Batin, and Cong Bui joining 16 others. Yan Chi Zar and Prithu Mishra both got to 500 home runs, making that club 38 members strong. Tan Tai Nguyen became the 43^rd to reach 2500 hits. Two-way player Deep Rajagopal won his 7^th Silver Slugger as a pitcher. Vicchay Som became the 22^nd pitcher to 3500 strikeouts. 50 now have 3000 Ks with Dhaya Naboothiri, Nair Chowdhury, and Van Hung Dinh all getting there in 2035. 3B Vatish Bharat won his 8^th Gold Glove and SS Madfai Mirza got his 7^th.

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Dakar dominated the Western League field at 108-54 atop the North Division, the best record of their 12-year playoff streak. The Dukes scored a blistering 1023 runs, the second-highest in West African Baseball history. Their .552 team slugging was the best by any team in any world league ever. Dakar hit 318 home runs, which ranked as second-best in WAB history. They also sold 2,190,203 tickets, which was WAB’s third-best single-season mark.

Nouakchott was second in the division at 96-66 for their fourth wild card in six years. Two-time defending WAB champ Bamako saw their dynasty derailed at 86-76, fourth in the division with Cape Verde third at 88-74. The Bullfrogs did allow the fewest runs in the WL at 693.

Monrovia (95-67) and Accra (93-69) were the South Division’s best and the only teams above .500 in that field. The Diplomats earned their fourth consecutive playoff trip and second division title of that run. The Alligators got their second wild card in three years. Last year’s WLCS runner-up Freetown fell to 72-90, their worst season since 2019.

Dakar 3B Junior Jose led the offense again for his fifth Western League MVP, having previously won in 2024, 27, 28, and 30. He’s only the fourth WAB player with 5+ MVPs and he became only the third with 10 Silver Sluggers. In his 13^th year with the Dukes, the 35-year old Mozambican was the WARlord at 8.3. Jose had 196 hits, 122 runs, 35 doubles, 54 home runs, 131 RBI, .331/.396/.671 slash, and 162 wRC+.

Jose became WAB’s 9^th member of the 700 home run club and the 22^nd with 1500 runs. In the winter, he signed a three-year, $90,400,000 extension to remain with Dakar. Jose had tough competition including Kumasi’s Marc Kuchambi, who led in both homers (62) and RBI (142). His teammate Cedric St-Pierre notably led in hits (256), runs (135), and total bases (436).

Bamako’s Harris Zwane won Pitcher of the Year in his fifth season. The 27-year old Swazi righty led in ERA (2.29), innings (223.2), WHIP (0.90), K/BB (15.4), quality starts 923), FIP- (61), and WAR (7.9). Zwane struck out 278 and had a 17-6 record. Drafted 17^th by the Bullfrogs in 2030, Zwane has already been a POTY finalist thrice in his young career.

Accra edged Nouakchott 2-1 in the first round, then fell 2-1 in round two to Monrovia. The Diplomats earned their second Western League Championship Series trip in four years, although their last pennants came with their 2005-08 dynasty. For Dakar, it was the eighth WLCS trip of their 12-year postseason streak. The Dukes were a heavy favorite, but Monrovia shocked them with a 3-0 road sweep, becoming six-time Western League kings.



Defending Eastern League champ Libreville repeated as Coastal Division champ and the top seed at 100-62. The Lakers led the league with 964 runs. Cotonou was a distant second at 89-73, bouncing back after their eight-year playoff streak was snapped the prior year. Douala (87-75), Port Harcourt (86-76), and Lagos (85-77) each narrowly missed. The Dingos saw their three-year playoff streak ended.

Ouagadougou (96-66) edged Benin City (95-67) in the Interior Division. No one else was close with last year’s ELCS runner-up Ibadan and Niamey both next in line at 81-81. The Osprey got their third playoff berth in five years. The Blue Devils made it four straight and six in seven years. Ouagadougou allowed the fewest runs in WAB at 649.

Leading Libreville was Eastern League MVP Kadhiri Sassou, the prior year’s finals MVP. The 25-year old Nigerian RF was the leader in total bases with 459. Sassou had 235 hits, 140 runs, 48 doubles, 52 home runs, 152 RBI, .363/.385/.708 slash, 181 wRC+, and 8.6 WAR. He also hit for the cycle in August against Benin City. Sassou would sign a five-year, $106 million extension the following May with the Lakers.

Ibadan’s Yakubu Babawo repeated as Pitcher of the Year and became a three-time winner, having also won in 2031. He had the 13^th pitching Triple Crown in WAB history with a 21-6 record, 2.52 ERA, and 333 strikeouts. Babawo likely was the first to win a Triple Crown and also have the most walks with 86. His 10/10 stuff rating and 2/10 control rating makes for starts that are never boring. The 26-year old Nigerian lefty had a 5.7 WAR over 224.2 innings and 23 quality starts.

Benin City bested Cotonou 2-0 in the first round, then upset Ouagadougou 2-1 on the road in the second round. This pushed the Blue Devils to their third Eastern League Championship Series in four years. However, the defending champs Libreville rolled to the repeat with a 3-0 sweep, becoming three-time EL champs (2016, 2034, 2035).



Both LCS matchups were lopsided sweeps, but the 61^st West African Championship needed all seven games. Libreville outlasted Monrovia to bring the overall title home to Gabon for the first time. The Lakers became the 18^th franchise with a WAB ring.



Other notes: WAB home run king Abdel Aziz Ashraf continued to make history, both good and bad, in his 20^th season with Abidjan. The 40-year old Egyptian became the 7^th pro in world history with 1000 career home runs. Now at 1023, Ashraf ranks 6^th behind Majed Darwish (1271), Harvey Coyle (1092), Nordine Soule (1073), Ratan Canduri (1049), and Antonio Arceo (1943).

Ashraf also finished the year at 2386 RBI, passing Lawrence Nassif’s 2338 to become WAB’s career leader. Longtime Freetown slugger Youssoupha Diop also passed Nassif’s mark by getting to 2345. Both are on the cusp of 2400 RBI, which has only been reached by nine other pros. Ashraf joined Diop and four others in WAB in the 2000 runs scored club and became the 12^th with 3000 hits.

On the downside for Ashraf, he became only the 2^nd in world history with 4000+ career strikeouts. Now at 4004, he’s primed to catch EPB’s Konrad Mazur (4051) to become the all-time whiffer. Ashraf also notably hit for the cycle for the second time in 2035. Ashraf would sign a two-year, $22,200,000 extension in October to remain with the Athletes.

Banjul’s William Green had a .4073 batting average, tied for the 5^th-best in WAB history and the 18^th-best qualifying season in any world league. Green also became the 6^th player in baseball history to hit above .400 multiple seasons, having also done it in 2033. Douala’s El Hadji Fofana scored 150 runs with 261 hits, ranking as the 3^rd and 7^th best seasons for those stats in WAB history. It was only the 14^th time in any world league that a player scored 150+ runs and only the 12^th time someone had 260+ hits.

The 500 home run club now has 33 members with five joining in 2035; Haji Mussa, Joao Sebastiao da Silva, Batch Kargbo, Kene Gbade, and Dijbril Quenum. Kalu Adams was the 43^rd to 2500 hits. SS Prince Kofi won his 8^th Silver Slugger and DH Cedric St-Pierre won his 7^th. St-Pierre has six wins as a DH and one at first base.

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Defending Northern League champ Shijiazhuang got the top seed narrowly at 95-67 atop the East Central Division. The Serpents were the only NL team to return to the playoffs from the prior year, extending their streak to five seasons. One back on the top seed was Northeast Division champ Changchun at 94-68. The Camels led the NL with 716 runs and ended an 11-year postseason drought. Last year’s Northeast winner Dalian dropped to 79-83, while Harbin fell to 71-91 for their first losing season since 2026.

Urumqi claimed the West Division at 91-71, beating out last year’s winner Xi’an by four games. The Unicorns picked up their third playoff berth in five years. Shanghai won the Southeast at 86-76 with last year’s semifinalist Nanjing a distant second at 78-84. The Seawolves allowed the fewest runs in the NL at 528 and goot their third division title in six years.

Lanzhou was a non-factor at 77-85, but they had the Northern League’s MVP in LF Yuzeng Qi. The 26-year old lefty led in the triple slash (.361/.435/.648), OPS (1.082), wRC+ (211), and WAR (10.7). Qi had 204 hits, 110 runs, 30 doubles, 42 home runs, and 116 RBI. The Lava had taken him third overall in the 2030 CLB Draft and thus far he has lived up to the hype.

Shanghai’s Hui Wen won Pitcher of the Year, leading in innings (270.1), quality starts (26), and shutouts (7). The 27-year old righty had a 16-10 record, 2.13 ERA, 234 strikeouts, 160 ERA+, and 5.5 WAR. The Seawolves had taken him third in 2027’s draft. After the season, Shanghai extended Wen at $45,700,000 over four seasons.

The Triple Round Robin was incredibly competitive with all four teams separated by one win. Shijiazhuang and Urumqi advanced at 5-4 while Shanghai and Changchun were ousted at 4-5. The Serpents earned their fourth straight semifinal trip with a shot at the repeat. The Unicorns last made it in 2032, falling that year to Shijiazhuang. Despite being the road team, Urumqi rolled the Serpents 4-1 to secure a fourth trip to the China Series (2022, 24, 31, 35). That was an impressive haul for a team that debuted in the 2009 expansion.



The top two records in the Southern League by a healthy margin were in the Southeast Division, but with only division champs advancing, it made for an intense battle. Macau and Xiamen both finished tied at 98-64, but the Magicians prevailed in the tiebreaker game for repeat division titles. Macau scored 723 runs, second in SL history behind their own 750 from the prior year.

Both the Magicians and Mutts had notable offensive marks. Macau’s .322 team on-base percentage was a new Chinese League Baseball record and their .273 batting average ranked as the third-best. Xiamen had 216 homers, the second-best in SL history. Macau and Nanchang both had 1500 hits, tied for the third-most in CLB history.

The next best division champ was Changsha at 90-72, earning a fourth successive Central title. Guangzhou (87-75) outlasted both Nanning (86-76) and Foshan (84-78) to advance out of the Southwest. The Gamecocks got their fifth division title in six years. Last year’s Southwest champ Kunming limped to 76-86. The Nuts allowed the fewest runs at 499. In the East, Nanchang (85-77) got their second division title in three years. Reigning CLB champ Wenzhou missed at 79-83 followed by Dongguan at 77-85.

Nanchang RF Jinhao Lin repeated as Southern League MVP and had another all-timer of a season. The 28-year old lefty led in WAR (13.0), OBP (.420), slugging (.700), OPS (1.119), wRC+ (236), total bases (424), walks (78), and runs (123). Lin added 210 hits, 57 home runs, 128 RBI, 210 hits, and a .347 average.

The 123 runs were three short of CLB’s single-season record by Ming Li in 2029. Lin’s OPS was the 6^th-best qualifying season and his total bases ranked 3rd, nine behind Cheng Kang’s 2016 effort. Only Xiamen’s Hesmat Memetjan beat out Lin in 2035 for homers (61) and RBI (132). It was only the 11^th time a CLB slugger breached 60 dingers.

Changsha’s Zhenying Chen won Pitcher of the Year in his fourth season, leading in strikeouts (375), WHIP (0.86), quality starts (28), FIP- (43), and WAR (10.7). The 24-year old righty had a 2.21 ERA and 14-12 record over 240 innings for 143 ERA+. The 375 Ks was good for the 18^th-best single-season in CLB history. Chen also notably had a no-hitter on June 21 against Chengdu with 14 Ks and one walk.

Macau and Nanchang dominated the Triple Round Robin at 7-2 each, while Guangzhou was 3-6 and Changsha 1-8. This was the Magicians’ first semifinal trip since their 2020 pennant. The Crickets, one of the two 2030 expansion teams, had never gotten this far. In a seven-game classic, Nanchang upset Macau to secure a China Series appearance in only their sixth season.



The Magic continued for Nanchang in the 66^th China Series as they outlasted Urumqi in a seven-game thriller. This tied the world record for the shortest time between an expansion team’s founding and their first overall title, as Shantou had also won the CLB crown in only their sixth season. This continued the run of parity at the top with 11 different champs in as many years. The Unicorns were the last time to break that streak with titles in 2031 and 2024.

With Nanchang’s win, 26 of CLB’s 32 teams have won it all at least once. Finals MVP was Urumqi’s Pengqing Gao in a losing effort. It was his second China Series MVP, having also done it in 2031. In 21 playoff starts, the 27-year old LF had 23 hits, 17 runs, 4 doubles, 7 homers, 15 RBI, and 1.6 WAR. The postseason was notable with several playoff records falling.

Nanchang’s Bing Wang set new records for hits (38), singles (26) and at-bats (107). The hits and at-bats were both playoff records for any world league’s postseason. The Crickets played the maximum possible playoff games in CLB with 23 and multiple players competed in all of them, setting world records for appearances.

Nanchang pitcher Tzuyu Liu set CLB playoff records for starts (7) and innings (48). Macau’s Vihaan Gita meanwhile set the CLB record for playoff pitching WAR at 2.33. In 36 innings, the 22-year old Indian righty had 60 strikeouts, a 0.75 ERA, and three complete games with two shutouts.



Other notes: Beijing had 251 doubles as a team, the second-best in CLB history behind their own 254 from the prior year. Syamsul Azzahari and Zhongting Zhang became the 22^nd and 23^rd to 2000 hits in CLB. Azzahari, Simon Chang, Guan Gan, and Xiaotian Shu all got to 1000 runs scored; only 23 in CLB have done it. Ming Li was the 20^th to 1000 RBI. SS Weiman Hiang won his 9^th Gold Glove, RF Ahmad Al-Salimi won his 8^th, and 1B Boren Zhong got his 7^th.

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Defending Austronesia Professional Baseball champ Tainan was looking to three-peat as the Taiwan-Philippine Association champ. The Titans took the top seed for the third straight year at 104-58 and earned a fifth consecutive playoff berth. They had the TPA’s fewest runs allowed at 445. Taipei took the second place slot in the Taiwan League at 89-73 for their third playoff trip in six years. Taoyuan was third at 84-78 despite being the top scoring team at 619. Kaohsiung, a playoff team in 2034, plummeted to 66-96.

Zamboanga claimed the Philippine League crown at 97-65, fending off 95-67 Quezon and 91-71 Batangas. It was the second playoff trip in three years for the Zebras, but their first time atop the standings since 2024. The Zombies’ playoff streak grew to four seasons. The Beach Bums had their first winning season since joining in the 2029 expansion. Cebu was 84-78 for a rare playoff miss, although their streak of winning seasons extends back to 2023.

Hsinchu had the Taiwan-Philippine Association’s worst record at 64-98 thanks to putrid pitching. The Sweathogs had the worst team ERA (4.06), worst WHIP (1.269), and most earned runs allowed (648) in APB history. Their 711 runs allowed ranked as the second-worst and 8.78 H/9 was the third worst. Despite that, Hsinchu’s Binh Tang continued to make history at the plate. After finishing second in MVP voting the prior two years, “The King” returned to the throne in 2035.

Tang won an unprecedented 13^th MVP, a mark never before met by any player in baseball history. Still only 35-years old, the Vietnamese 2B led in runs (101), slugging (.602), OPS (.987), and WAR (9.7). Tang had 191 hits, 30 doubles, 41 home runs 93 RBI, .330 average, and 187 wRC+. It was his 13^th season leading in WAR and in OPS. Tang also got his 15^th Silver Slugger, one of only 13 in world history to do so and the only in APB. It was his fourth straight at 2B with eight at 1B and three as a DH.

In 2035, Tang became APB’s third batter with 3000 career hits and the second with 700 home runs. He was already the career leader for runs, RBI, total bases, and WAR. Tang finished the season at 525 doubles, tying Iqbal Safari’s APB career record. With 706 homers, he was 60 shy of Wil Tabaldo’s record 766. Tang was also at 3155 hits, putting him potentially 2-3 good years from passing Junior Sanchez’s 3564.

Tainan’s Yu-Lin Hsu repeated as Pitcher of the Year, earning the ERA title (1.82) and leading in quality starts (27) and shutouts (5). The 31-year old Taiwanese lefty had a 21-9 record over 276.2 innings with 362 strikeouts, 176 ERA+, and 10.7 WAR. Hsu had to fend off teammate Kuan-Yang Kang for the award, as Kang led in WAR (11.5) and strikeouts (431).

The first place teams rolled to divisional round sweeps with Zamboanga over Taipei and Tainan over Quezon. For the Zebras, this was their first trip to the Taiwan-Philippine Association Championship since 2024. The series went all seven games with only home victories, allowing the Titans to pull off the three-peat. Tainan became six-time TPA champs (1969, 72, 79, 2033-35).



At 112-50, Bandung set the record for the most wins by a Sundaland Association team. The Blackhawks won the Java Sea League for the fourth year running and got the top seed for the third straight year. Bandung set new SA team records for the triple slash (.265/.305/.424) and hits (1448). Their 633 runs were the second-best in SA history behind Johor Bahru’s 653 in 2018. The Blackhawks also had 96 triples, second also to the 2018 Blue Wings (106).

Even with that dominance, the Java Sea League wasn’t a pushover at the top with Semarang second at 101-61. The Sliders had to hold off Depok at 93-69 to claim a third consecutive wild card. Semarang’s 410 runs allowed was the best in APB with Bandung close behind at 414.

Reigning SA champ Kuala Lumpur repeated atop the Malacca League at 92-70 for their fourth playoff trip in five years. Medan finished second for the fifth time in six years with their 88-74 finish. The next closest foes were Johor Bahru and Pekanbaru both at 82-80.

Leading Bandung’s record-setting offense was Sundaland Association MVP Azmi Lim. The 27-year old CF from Hong Kong led in doubles (36), RBI (106), total bases (318), average (.333), slugging (.633), OPS (1.019), wRC+ (236), and WAR (9.9). Lim had 167 hits, 77 runs, 17 triples, and 27 homers. Before the season, the Blackhawks committed to an eight-year, $163,800,000 extension. Lim had been a sleeper fourth round draft pick for Bandung in 2028.

Kuala Lumpur’s Thipanraj Shahdan won Pitcher of the Year in his sixth season in the rotation, leading in ERA (1.37) and quality starts (29). The 27-year old Malaysian lefty had a 16-7 record, 235.2 innings, 357 strikeouts, 204 ERA+, and 8.2 WAR. Shahdan notably struck out 20 in a 3-hit win over Medan in September. The Leopards gave him a five-year, $114,600,000 extension in August 2034.

Also worth a mention from Kuala Lumpur was Craig Chia, who joined Ting-Wei Ping as APB’s only five-time Reliever of the Year winners. The 29-year old Filipino lefty came to the Leopards in 2035 in a trade after starting with Batangas. Chia led with 41 saves and had a 0.50 ERA over 89.2 innings, 153 strikeouts, and 5.2 WAR.

Bandung survived a fierce 3-2 challenge from Medan in the divisional round while Kuala Lumpur beat Semarang 3-1 to set up a Sundaland Association Championship rematch. The Leopards won in 2034, denying the Blackhawks’ three-peat bid despite being the road underdog. KL again was the underdog and upset 112-win Bandung in a seven-game war. It was Kuala Lumpur’s third pennant, having also won in 2031.



The 71^st Austronesia Championship was the first finals rematch since Taipei versus Palembang in 2019-20. Tainan had cruised to a sweep of Kuala Lumpur in 2034, but the Leopards got their revenge in 2035. The 4-2 win gave KL its second title along with the 2031 victory. SP John Gonzalez was finals MVP, notably tossing a three-hit shutout in the game six clincher. The 26-year old Filipino had a 2.81 ERA in 32 playoff innings with 40 Ks.



Other notes: Quezon leadoff man Vanne Long set APB single-season records for batting average (.3657), hits (230), and singles (166). Tainan’s Kuan-Yang Kang had 23 strikeouts facing Hsinchu on April 10, tying the league record set in 1984 by Vhon Lasam. Kang notably didn’t need extras like Lasam to do it and was only the 5^th in world history with 23 Ks over nine or fewer innings. Additionally, Kang became the 12^th APB ace with 4500 career Ks

APB’s 58^th perfect game came on May 5 by Medan’s Fitri Izwan with 10 strikeouts facing Surabaya. In other pitching notables, Hakimi Aziz, Hari Xi, and Ferry Iilang each got to 3500 strikeouts; a mark met by 42 APB aces. In batting milestones, Roland Arias became the 13^th member of the 500 home run club. Shen Chang, Kevin Lozano, and Wei-Yin Wang grew the 400 homer club to 36 sluggers.

James Yuwono and Kai Yu were the 69^th and 70^th to 2000 hits. Adam Mapiut was the 36^th to 1000 runs scored and the 47^th to 1000 RBI. RF Jeremiah Lang won his 8^th consecutive Gold Glove and SS Husni Slamet won his 7^th Gold Glove. SS Robb Rivera won his 7^th Silver Slugger.

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After winning their first Australasia League title in 2034, Hobart pulled off the repeat in 2035. The Tasmaniacs won a competitive race at 95-67, holding off Christchurch (93-69), Melbourne (91-71) and Gold Coast (87-75). The Chinooks were the top scoring team at 795 runs and the Mets allowed the fewest at 553. Christchurch notably had 298 team doubles, a new Oceania Baseball Association record. Perth notably dropped to 73-89; the Penguins had won 88+ games in each of the prior six seasons.

Captaining Hobart’s effort was ninth-year Davy Boyle who earned Australasia League MVP. The 31-year old Australian LF led in OBP (.411), slugging (.591), OPS (1.002), wRC+ (194), and WAR (7.2). Boyle had 33 home runs, 93 RBI, 197 hits, 91 runs, 33 doubles, and a .350 average. Prior to the season, Boyle inked a seven-year, $184,800,000 extension with the Tasmaniacs. Hobart had picked him fifth back in the 2026 OBA Draft.

The Tasmaniacs also had the Pitcher of the Year Ashton Aucoin in his sixth season. The 28-year old Australian righty had been the #1 draft pick in 2029. Aucoin led in wins (21-16), complete games (18), and shutouts (3). He had a 3.20 ERA and 109 ERA+ over 329 innings with 333 strikeouts and 6.0 WAR. Aucoin would get his extension after the 2036 campaign at $112,800,000 over six seasons.



At the start of the 2030s, Samoa was at the very bottom at 59-103. They had gotten back on the winning track by 2032 and in 2035 would end a 16-year pennant drought. The Sun Sox won the Pacific League at 100-62, becoming five-time PL champs (1972, 1973, 1987, 2018, 2035). Samoa was the PL’s top scoring team with 759 runs.

Four other teams were in the fight for most of the year. Guam was second at 94-68, followed by Guadalcanal at 93-69, defending OBA champ Tahiti at 92-70, and Fiji at 90-72. The Tropics allowed the fewest runs at 536 and had some key individual efforts, sweeping the Pacific League’s top awards.

LF Jun Lopez-Torres won MVP honors with Melbourne in 2030 and Guam in 2034. He opted out of his contract for 2035 and signed a six-year, $162 million deal with Tahiti. The 30-year old Australian repeated as MVP in his Tropics debut, leading in runs (116), total bases (387), slugging (.666), OPS (1.038), wRC+ (184), and WAR 99.6). Lopez-Torres added 193 hits, 32 doubles, 18 triples, 42 homers, 115 RBI, and a .332 average.

Dirk Murray won his second Pitcher of the Year in three years for the Tropics and missed a Triple Crown by one win. The 32-year old Canadian lefty had joined Tahiti in 2032 after a seven-year run with MLB’s Sacramento Shamrocks. Murray led in ERA (2.26), innings (338), strikeouts (402), quality starts (34), shutouts (3), and WAR (9.6). He had a 22-12 record and 161 ERA+. Murray led in strikeouts for the fourth consecutive season.



The 76^th Oceania Championship saw the 17^th different franchise to win it all. Hobart won its first title in a seven-game classic against Samoa. The Tasmaniacs joined Vanuatu as 2006 expansion teams with a ring. The other two expansion teams Canberra and Timor along with charter franchise Fiji were the only remaining teams yet to claim a ring. The Tapirs are the only team to never make it to the championship.

Series MVP was backup OF Rainer Lange, who played only 85 games and started 36 in 2035 for Hobart. The German journeyman started the whole series and went 7-25 with 4 runs, 2 doubles, 2 homers, 5 RBI, and 0.5 WAR. Samoa’s Tommy Mou was notably for setting a playoff record for K/9 of 15.0 (minimum 15 innings required). He pitched 15 innings exactly with 25 Ks and a 3.60 ERA.



Other notes: David Odom and John Skeffington became the 27^th and 28^th to 2500 hits. Four reached 2000 hits to grow that group to 77 batters. Peter Gosden and Timmy Ellis were the 78^th and 79^th to 1000 runs. The 400 home run club grew to 55 members with the addition of Vic Ahn and Pat Nicholson. Alec Taika was the 51^st pitcher to 3000 strikeouts. Odom also won his 12^th Gold Glove at first base and C Kristian Duenas won his 11^th at catcher. SS Mathew Bellamy won his 8^th Silver Slugger.