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FuzzyRussianHat · 07-29-2023, 06:30 PM

Defending Soviet Series champ Kazan claimed the best record in the EPB European League in 1969 with a 102-60 record atop the North Division. This gives the Crusaders a five-year playoff streak. Minsk was close behind at 100-62 to take the first wild card, giving them 14 playoff berths in EPB’s first 15 seasons. Helsinki, who was a wild card last year, dropped from 94 to 81 wins. In the South Division, Budapest earned its first-ever division title and only second playoff berth. The Bombers were 99-63 to get them into the field for the first time since 1956. Defending division champ Tirana got the second wild card at 91-71 to extend their playoff streak to three. Kyiv (89-73) and Kharkiv (87-75) were the closest competition.

Leading Budapest’s big season was LF Yamin Alimammadov, who earned the third hitting Triple Crown in Eurasian Professional Baseball History. The 31-year old Uzbek won the MVP with a .344 average, 48 home runs, and 110 RBI. The .344 average was a single season record at the time, although it would get passed many times later. Alimammadov also led the league in runs (108), hits (206), OBP (.382), slugging (.644), OPS (1.027), wRC+ (219) and WAR (10.4). Pitcher of the Year went to Tirana’s Dan Potra. The 28-year old Romanian lefty had the best ERA at 1.56 and the most quality starts with 30. He had a 20-7 record over 276.1 innings with 271 strikeouts and 9.3 WAR.

EPB’s best overall record belonged to defending Asian League champ Yekaterinburg at 110-52. The Yaks took the AL North Division at 110-52, giving them the longest active postseason streak at six years. Their offense was explosive for the Asian League with 795 runs, 139 more than their closest competitor. Tashkent took the South Division for the first time since 1962 as the Tomcats finished 101-61. Ufa earned the first wild card at 95-67, giving them six playoff berths in seven years after missing the prior season. For the second spot, Omsk (91-71) edged out Bishkek (90-72), Ulaanbaatar (88-74), Dushanbe (87-74) and Krasnoyarsk (87-75). The Otters have five playoff berths in a seven year stretch. It also ended the Black Sox steak at six seasons and prevented the Boars from a third straight.

Asian League MVP was Yekaterinburg veteran RF Sergey Bogomil. The 30-year old Russian exploded for a 11.7 WAR season, also leading in home runs (48), total bases (365), slugging (.643), OPS (1.019), and wRC+ (220). Ufa’s Artur Golub won his second Pitcher of the Year. The 31-year old lefty from Ukraine was the league leader in ERA (1.52), strikeouts (431), WHIP (0.63), K/BB (17.2), and posted 9.3 WAR with a 21-11 record over 289.2 innings. It was Golub’s fourth 400+ strikeout season and the new single-season record, passing his own mark of 424. 431 would hold as the record until 2002 when Matvey Ivanov passed it by one. Golub’s 0.63 WHIP and opponent OBP of .182 were both also single season records and remain the EPB all-time best as of 2037.

In the first round of the playoffs, Tirana stunned defending champ Kazan with a road sweep. It would be an all wild card European League final as Minsk edged Budapest 3-2. In the Asian League, Yekaterinburg topped Omsk 3-1 and Tashkent swept Ufa, pushing both division champs to the ALCS. The ELCS had the Miners top the Trojans in five, giving Minsk a record sixth league title. The ALCS had the Tomcats win their first title by unseating the defending champ Yaks 4-2.

In the 15^th Soviet Series, Minsk defeated Tashkent in six games to send the trophy back to Belarus after a three year absence. The Miners now have four overall rings, tied with Kyiv for the most in EPB. Finals MVP went to catcher Oleg Rutskiy. A 27-year old Belarusian, he had 11 hits, 5 runs, and 4 RBI in 16 playoff games and provided excellent defense behind the plate.

Other notes: The 11^th Perfect Game in EPB history came on July 21 from Bishkek’s Nikita Shaginyan, striking out 13 against Novosibirsk. This tied the mark for most strikeouts in a perfect game as well. Maxim Alakbarov and Arutyun Lezjov both crossed 200 wins on the mound, making it ten pitchers to do so thus far. Rodion Zhukov became the second to reach 500 home runs. Four more batters got to 2000 hits, bringing it to 15 to do so in EPB. The 2500 mark still wouldn’t be reached until 1973.

After having average scoring in its first five years, EPB’s numbers dropped to below average figures for the 1960s. The league batting average hovered around .234 with ERA marks between 3.20 and 3.30. This was higher than OBA and APB with comparable ERA numbers to EBF and BSA, although the batting averages were lower in EPB. Eurasian Professional Baseball would continue to trend downward in terms of offense until the late 2000s.

07-29-2023, 06:30 PM	#458
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 3,243	1969 in EPB Defending Soviet Series champ Kazan claimed the best record in the EPB European League in 1969 with a 102-60 record atop the North Division. This gives the Crusaders a five-year playoff streak. Minsk was close behind at 100-62 to take the first wild card, giving them 14 playoff berths in EPB’s first 15 seasons. Helsinki, who was a wild card last year, dropped from 94 to 81 wins. In the South Division, Budapest earned its first-ever division title and only second playoff berth. The Bombers were 99-63 to get them into the field for the first time since 1956. Defending division champ Tirana got the second wild card at 91-71 to extend their playoff streak to three. Kyiv (89-73) and Kharkiv (87-75) were the closest competition. Leading Budapest’s big season was LF Yamin Alimammadov, who earned the third hitting Triple Crown in Eurasian Professional Baseball History. The 31-year old Uzbek won the MVP with a .344 average, 48 home runs, and 110 RBI. The .344 average was a single season record at the time, although it would get passed many times later. Alimammadov also led the league in runs (108), hits (206), OBP (.382), slugging (.644), OPS (1.027), wRC+ (219) and WAR (10.4). Pitcher of the Year went to Tirana’s Dan Potra. The 28-year old Romanian lefty had the best ERA at 1.56 and the most quality starts with 30. He had a 20-7 record over 276.1 innings with 271 strikeouts and 9.3 WAR. EPB’s best overall record belonged to defending Asian League champ Yekaterinburg at 110-52. The Yaks took the AL North Division at 110-52, giving them the longest active postseason streak at six years. Their offense was explosive for the Asian League with 795 runs, 139 more than their closest competitor. Tashkent took the South Division for the first time since 1962 as the Tomcats finished 101-61. Ufa earned the first wild card at 95-67, giving them six playoff berths in seven years after missing the prior season. For the second spot, Omsk (91-71) edged out Bishkek (90-72), Ulaanbaatar (88-74), Dushanbe (87-74) and Krasnoyarsk (87-75). The Otters have five playoff berths in a seven year stretch. It also ended the Black Sox steak at six seasons and prevented the Boars from a third straight. Asian League MVP was Yekaterinburg veteran RF Sergey Bogomil. The 30-year old Russian exploded for a 11.7 WAR season, also leading in home runs (48), total bases (365), slugging (.643), OPS (1.019), and wRC+ (220). Ufa’s Artur Golub won his second Pitcher of the Year. The 31-year old lefty from Ukraine was the league leader in ERA (1.52), strikeouts (431), WHIP (0.63), K/BB (17.2), and posted 9.3 WAR with a 21-11 record over 289.2 innings. It was Golub’s fourth 400+ strikeout season and the new single-season record, passing his own mark of 424. 431 would hold as the record until 2002 when Matvey Ivanov passed it by one. Golub’s 0.63 WHIP and opponent OBP of .182 were both also single season records and remain the EPB all-time best as of 2037. In the first round of the playoffs, Tirana stunned defending champ Kazan with a road sweep. It would be an all wild card European League final as Minsk edged Budapest 3-2. In the Asian League, Yekaterinburg topped Omsk 3-1 and Tashkent swept Ufa, pushing both division champs to the ALCS. The ELCS had the Miners top the Trojans in five, giving Minsk a record sixth league title. The ALCS had the Tomcats win their first title by unseating the defending champ Yaks 4-2. In the 15^th Soviet Series, Minsk defeated Tashkent in six games to send the trophy back to Belarus after a three year absence. The Miners now have four overall rings, tied with Kyiv for the most in EPB. Finals MVP went to catcher Oleg Rutskiy. A 27-year old Belarusian, he had 11 hits, 5 runs, and 4 RBI in 16 playoff games and provided excellent defense behind the plate. Other notes: The 11^th Perfect Game in EPB history came on July 21 from Bishkek’s Nikita Shaginyan, striking out 13 against Novosibirsk. This tied the mark for most strikeouts in a perfect game as well. Maxim Alakbarov and Arutyun Lezjov both crossed 200 wins on the mound, making it ten pitchers to do so thus far. Rodion Zhukov became the second to reach 500 home runs. Four more batters got to 2000 hits, bringing it to 15 to do so in EPB. The 2500 mark still wouldn’t be reached until 1973. After having average scoring in its first five years, EPB’s numbers dropped to below average figures for the 1960s. The league batting average hovered around .234 with ERA marks between 3.20 and 3.30. This was higher than OBA and APB with comparable ERA numbers to EBF and BSA, although the batting averages were lower in EPB. Eurasian Professional Baseball would continue to trend downward in terms of offense until the late 2000s. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports The Level Playing Field: Alternate MLB History From 1884-Onward Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)