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The top mark for the EBF Northern Conference in 1968 went to Berlin at 100-62, giving them the North Central Division title after missing the playoff field in the prior two years. Defending conference champ Dublin won the British Isles Division again at 94-68. The Northwest Division went to Rotterdam at 96-66 for back-to-back playoff berths for the Ravens. In the wild card race, London (91-71) edged out Paris (90-72) and Oslo (89-73) for the spot. The Monarchs have their third playoff berth in four years, back in the field after missing the division by two games the prior season.

London 1B Benny Baker became a three-time conference MVP. The 32-year old Englishman was the leader in home runs (50), RBI (121), and runs (102), adding a .295 average and 8.2 WAR. Berlin’s Joachim Muller won his third Pitcher of the Year with the 30-year old German posting a 21-7 record and 2.09 ERA in 280 innings with 284 strikeouts and 8.2 WAR.



The best record in the entire European Baseball Federation came from the Southern Conference as both Marseille and Athens finished 104-58. This gave the Musketeers a third straight Southwest Division title and Athens the Southeast Division title and a second berth in three years. Last year’s conference champ Vienna finished 92-70, firmly earning the wild card and a fourth straight playoff berth. Rome extended their playoff streak to seven, the longest active one in the EBF. The Red Wolves finished 86-76, taking the South Central Division by one game over Naples and four over Malta.

Southern Conference MVP was Vienna CF Lars Vogtland. The 27-year old German in his seventh and final year with the Vultures led in slugging (.632), OPS (1.034), and wRC+ (195), adding 8.2 WAR and a .330 average. Malta’s Ugo Musacci won back-to-back Pitcher of the Year awards. The 24-year old Italian righty was the leader in ERA (1.74), strikeouts (368), WHIP (0.78), K/BB (14.2), FIP- (36), and WAR (12.4).

In the first round of the Northern Conference playoffs, London stunned Berlin in four games and Dublin knocked out Rotterdam in four. In the Southern Conference, Rome shocked Athens with a road sweep and Marseille downed Vienna in four. The NCC saw the Dinos sweep the Monarchs, giving Dublin back-to-back conference titles and their third overall. In the SCC, the Red Wolves outlasted the Musketeers 4-3 for Rome’s third title. Marseille is now 1-4 in the Southern Conference final.



In the 19^th European Championship, the Red Wolves defeated the Dinos 4-1, denying Dublin’s repeat. At 86-76, Rome has the worst record of any EBF. champ. The Red Wolves are two-time champs, having also won in 1963. The finals MVP was Norwegian 2B Pete Habberstad. In his final season with the Red Wolves, the 35-yaer old in 15 playoff games had 21 hits, 9 runs, 5 doubles, and 7 RBI. After 13 seasons with Rome, Habberstad would leave for MLB’s New York next season.



Other notes: Vienna’s Walter Fischer threw a perfect game against Hamburg on June 19 with six strikeouts. Two players had 41 game hit streaks in 1968 with Glasgow’s Graeme McNay and Belfast’s Tobias Sigmarsson. They are both tied for the second-best streak In EBF history behind Rudjar Bosnjak’s 49 in 1960. Rotterdam’s Isaac Trenton had a 27-7 record, setting an EBF record for wins in a season. Hamburg’s Hartwig Werner became the second EBF hitter to 2500 hits.