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Eurasian Professional Baseball had inducted eight players into its Hall of Fame prior to the 1975 ballot. They expanded big time in 1975 with five guys earning the 66% required for induction. There wouldn’t be another EPB class this big until 2005’s unprecedented seven-man group. All five selected would be first ballot as well with 3B Pavlo Kolesnik leading the way at 92.8%. The others didn’t get massive numbers, but enough with SP David Constantin at 75.9%, SP Askar Asanov at 72.6%, 2B Anton Kirilenko at 70.7%, and SP Ilya Pominov at 68.7%. No players were dumped after ten failed attempts in the 1975 voting.



Pavlo Kolesnik – Third Base/Designated Hitter – Minsk Miners – 92.8% First Ballot

Pavlo Kolesnik was a 5’10’’, 200 pound switch hitter from from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city located in the northeast. Kolesnik would be beloved as an ironman who played 146+ games in all of his EPB seasons, providing a very well-rounded bat. He was a solid contact hitter with very good home run and gap power, while also providing a solid eye and respectable ability to avoid strikeouts. Kolesnik was a slow baserunner and split his career between third base and designated hitter. He wasn’t an atrocious defender, but was definitely subpar and often best left out of the field.

When Eurasian Professional Baseball was officially formed, Kolesnik was already 28-years old and was known as a top flight batter in Ukraine. He would join the new league and go to Belarus, signing with Minsk. He spent his first five seasons with the Miners and helped establish them as a perennial power. Kolesnik led in home runs (43) and RBI (140) with the RBI mark holding as the EPB single-season record until 1988. He won Silver Slugger in each of his first five years with Minsk and was third in MVP voting in 1955 and 1956; and second in both 1957 and 1959.

In the first five years, Minsk made the playoffs each time and won the European League title in 1955 and 56, taking the Soviet Series in 56. Kolesnik took 1955 ELCS MVP honors and 1956 Soviet Series MVP, posting 47 hits over 30 starts in the two seasons. He became beloved in Belarus, but was also beloved back home in Ukraine as part of the World Baseball Championship team. From 1955-69, he made 111 starts in 121 games with 109 hits, 70 runs, 37 home runs, 66 RBI, and 5.5 WAR.

Entering 1960, the now 33-year old Kolesnik was a top free agent and signed a five-year, $460,000 deal with Novosibirsk. He won a batting title and Silver Slugger in 1960 and took third in MVP voting that year. The Nitros were a bottom tier team despite Kolesnik’s efforts and they traded him after the third year of his deal to Bucharest for prospects. He had 14.4 WAR, 502 hits, 244 runs, 76 home runs, and 233 RBI with Novosibirsk.

Kolesnik emerged as a star again with the Broncos with his arguably best season, leading the European League in the Triple Slash (.335/.407/.608) with a 1.016 OPS and 9.0 WAR. This got his seventh Silver Slugger, but he was second in MVP voting, ultimately never snagging the top award. Kolesnik won another Slugger in 1964 with 14.8 WAR, 356 hits, 172 runs, 55 home runs, and 179 RBI in just two seasons with Bucharest. His deal expired after the 1964 season and the 38-year old Kolesnik wanted to be on a playoff contender again. Thus, he re-signed with Minsk, whom had remained a dominant force since his departure.

He spent three more years with the Miners and was still a solid starter, although he’d only win one more Silver Slugger with his ninth in 1967. Kolesnik earned his second ring with Minsk taking the 1966 Soviet Series. In his eight total years there, he had 1351 hits, 713 runs, 240 home runs, 821 RBI, and 41.8 WAR. His jersey #1 would also be retired by Minsk as he’d remain an extremely popular face of franchise for years after. He became a free agent again at age 41 and spent his final two seasons with Bishkek, retiring after the 1969 season.

Kolesnik’s final stats: 2485 hits, 1234 runs, 487 doubles, 403 home runs, 1363 RBI, a .286/.352/.491 slash, 145 wRC+, and 75.5 WAR. His stats didn’t end up at the top of the leaderboards as the years went on, but they’re impressive considering his debut season was at age 28. With five more prime years, he could’ve ended up in the 3000 hit, 100 WAR, 600 home run range. Still, Kolesnik’s accomplishments were more than enough to get the first ballot nod at 92.8% as the first Ukrainian member of the EPB Hall.



David Constantin – Starting Pitcher – Baku Blackbirds – 75.9% First Ballot

David Constantin was a 6’4’’, 200 pound left-handed pitcher from Tarnova, a commune of around 6,000 people in western Romania. He had 96-98 mph peak velocity with good stuff and movement and okay control. Constantin could beat you with one of five pitches; fastball, slider, curveball, changeup, and splitter. He was incredibly durable and almost never missed a scheduled start and in his prime was good at going deep in games. Constantin was also a strong defensive pitcher. However, he was a complete jerk that was disliked in any clubhouse he went to.

Despite being unlikeable, Constantin had plenty of promise out of college and was picked 26^th overall by Budapest in the 1956 EPB Draft. He was a part-time starter in only two seasons with the Broncos and struggled to a 4.65 ERA over 257.1 innings. His home country team was unimpressed by both his play and attitude, although he would still later return home in the World Baseball Championship from 1959-68 with a 3.34 ERA over 86.2 innings. Constantin’s pro time in Romania would end before the 1959 season as he was traded to Baku.

He’d find his groove with the Blackbirds and have nine straight 5+ WAR seasons with Baku, later earning his #8 jersey’s retirement. He’d never get to play in the playoffs though with the Blackbirds perennially at the bottom. Constantin had highlights, including a no-hitter with 14 strikeouts and two walks against Ufa in 1959. On May 4, 1961; he’d toss a perfect game with 12 strikeouts against Dushanbe.

1962 was the crowning achievement season for Constantin as he won his lone Pitcher of the Year and also Asian League MVP. It would be his only time as a PotY finalist, but It was well deserved with a league-best 1.64 ERA and 10.6 WAR with 30 complete games, 8 shutouts, and 340 strikeouts. In total with Baku, Constantin had a 161-104 record, 2.45 ERA, 2592 strikeouts in 2433 innings, and 58.0 WAR. The Blackbirds would also later retire his #8 uniform, although their relationship with him over the later years would fluctuate.

He had solid production throughout and Warsaw hoped he’d carry that over, signing Constantin at age 33 to a four-year, $548,000 deal starting in 1967. Both his production and motivation fell off hard with the Wildcats, posting -0.2 WAR over 361.1 innings with a 3.41 ERA. He’d be in-and-out of the rotation and ultimately benched full-time; not pitching a single inning in 1970 despite being under contract the whole year. Constantin retired after the season at age 35.

Constantin’s final stats: 198-135 record, 2.75 ERA, 3051.2 innings, 3000 strikeouts, 252/358 quality starts, a FIP- of 87 and 59.1 WAR. Pretty much his entire production was the Bau run, but it was a very impressive nine year run. Respectable stats, but not amazing, which made some wonder if he’d have a real shot at the Hall of Fame considering he was also stuck on bad teams and was a jerk. The tallies were enough for 75.9% of the voters to not only put him in, but with a first ballot distinction.