[MrNFL_FanIQ]

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Freetown extended its postseason streak to four seasons and for the first time in that streak, placed first in the WAB Western League standings. The Foresters finished 103-59, setting a new franchise record for wins. Abidjan was second at 99-63, giving the Athletes their seventh playoff berth in eight years. Nouakchott grabbed the third place spot at 91-71 for their second berth in three years. Bamako was the closest to the final wild card at 85-77. Kumasi, last year’s Western League winner, dropped to fifth at .500.

Emmanuel Kao repeated as Western League MVP. He won it the prior season with Dakar, but was surprisingly traded to Freetown in the offseason for three prospects. Still only 24 years old, the Togolese right fielder led in runs (118), home runs (57), RBI (153), total bases (411), slugging (.711), OPS (1.104), and wRC+ (197), while adding 8.5 WAR and a .329 average. Kao fell one RBI short of Jamil Boadi’s single-season record of 154 from 1975.

Pitcher of the Year was Kieran du Toit, who joined Kumasi that year in a trade from Lome. The 27-year old South African righty was two wins short of a Triple Crown with a 17-9 record, 2.63 ERA, and 349 strikeouts. He also led with 263.2 innings and 16 complete games while posting 6.6 WAR. In the offseason, du Toit would leave and sign one of the largest contracts in baseball to date for seven years and $41,300,000 with MLB’s Boston Red Sox. He would have a solid debut season, but du Toit stunningly got the yips. Boston released him after three years and he never played again.

Abidjan edged Nouakchott 2-1 in the first round of the playoffs, sending the Athletes to their first Western League Championship Series since their 1992-95 pennant four-peat. Freetown had home field advantage, but ended up losing in the WLCS for the fourth consecutive season. The series went all five games with Abidjan on top for their ninth pennant through WAB’s first 25 seasons. That is tied with Lagos for the most of any team.



History was made in the Eastern League by two-time defending WAB champ Kano. The Condors set the all-time WAB record with a 123-93 mark. They also smacked 299 home runs, second in EL history only to Lagos’ 300 from 1977. Kano became the eighth team in any world league to win 123+ games in a season. As of 2037, it is WAB’s second best, as the Condors themselves would best it the next year. Kano scored 200+ more runs than any of their EL foes with 954 and also allowed the fewest at 563. These marks also led the entire WAB.

It was a 27 game drop down to second place Ibadan at 96-66. The Iguanas managed to make the playoffs each season of the 1990s, giving them the second-longest postseason streak in WAB history behind Kumasi’s 14-year odyssey from 1978-91. Niamey also repeated as the third place finisher as they were 94-68. Cotonou was also in the mix at 89-73, but fell five games short of a playoff spot.

Kano shortstop Darwin Morris became the first five-time MVP in WAB history, taking the Eastern League’s MVP for the third consecutive year. The 27-year old Liberian led in runs (144), home runs (55), RBI (150), total bases (450), slugging (.769), OPS (1.191), wRC+ (221), and WAR (14.1). Ibadan’s Tiemogo Idrissa repeated as Pitcher of the Year. The 29-year old Nigerien led in wins (24-6), ERA (2.28), innings (252.1), quality starts (26), complete games (10), and WAR (8.3). He also added 272 strikeouts.

Ibadan downed Niamey 2-1 in the wild card round, sending the Iguanas to the Eastern League Championship Series for the sixth time in eight years. It was the fifth straight for Kano, who came in as a massive favorite. Ibadan gave them a hearty effort, but the Condors survived the ELCS in five games to three-peat as Eastern League champs. It was the eighth EL pennant overall for Kano.



In the 25^th West African Championship, Kano became the first WAB franchise to three-peat as overall champ, rolling 4-1 over Abidjan. LF Amewu Murry repeated as finals MVP. In 10 playoff starts, the 29-year old Ghanaian had 12 hits, 7 runs, 4 doubles, 2 home runs, and 7 RBI.



At 123-39, Kano blew by their own record from the prior year (114-46) for winningest season by a WAB champion. This was also the Condors’ sixth overall title (1975, 76, 86, 97, 98, 99). Even as of 2037, the 1999 Condors stake a very strong claim as being the greatest team in WAB history. They also have an argument as one of the greatest in any league. Only 1995 Ahmedabad (124-38) of South Asia Baseball won more games to that point in a season while also winning it all

Other notes: 1999 had WAB’s 13^th and 14^th perfect games, both thrown by pitchers for Cape Verde. On April 12, Karim Samir Abdel Gaber struck out 10 against Conakry. Then on July 31, Yamoussa Camara fanned 10 versus Monrovia. SS Jorginho Fonseca picked up his tenth Gold Glove and LF Jake Pourchet won his ninth. Fonseca became the first player in WAB to win ten at any position.

West Africa Baseball’s offensive numbers saw a boost in the 1990s from where they were in the 1970s and 1980s. The league ERA was around 3.86 with batting averages around .254. The 1980s had seen around a .243 batting average and 3.64 ERA. WAB graded out historically as slightly above average offensively in the 1990s. The early 2000s would look similar with a slight jump before spiking significantly after.