[FuzzyRussianHat]

The longest playoff streak in pro baseball history came to an end in 2005. Minsk, who had earned 24 straight postseason berths and won five straight EPB European League titles, fell to fifth place at 85-77. It was only the third time in franchise history that the Miners weren’t in the top three in the standings, having most recently taken 5^th in 1980. Their streak of seasons win a winning record did grow to 25 years.

This opened up an opportunity for St. Petersburg, who took first at 105-57 and ended a 12-year playoff drought. The Polar Bears hadn’t placed first in the standings since 1983. Moscow took second at 95-67 for their third wild card in five years. Volgograd was third at 89-73, while last year’s first place finisher Kazan was fourth at 88-74.

St. Petersburg’s Jov Sakharov repeated as European League MVP. The 27-year old Russian right fielder led in runs (92), doubles (35), total bases (309), and WAR (9.9). Sakharov added 27 home runs and a 190 wRC+. The Polar Bears locked up Sakharov the following May with an eight-year, $32,760,000 extension.

Moscow’s Mateo Chaparro won Pitcher of the Year. The 31-year old Mexican had played for CABA’s Mexicali for eight seasons, but left for the Russian capital for 2005 on a five-year, $18,600,000 deal. Chapparo was the WARlord at 8.9 and led with a 64 FIP-. He added a 2.37 ERA over 292 innings with 315 strikeouts and a 17-11 record.



Two-time defending Eurasian Professional Baseball champ Yekaterinburg steamrolled the Asian League competition at 107-55, taking first by a 20-game margin. This was the Yaks’ fifth time in six years at the top of the standings and sixth playoff berth in seven years. Yekaterinburg set a new AL record for speed, stealing 391 bases on the season. Krasnoyarsk managed to extend its postseason streak to five years. The Cossacks narrowly took the wild card at 87-75, finishing one better than Novosibirsk and four ahead of Chelyabinsk.

Krasnoyarsk 3B Boxuan Long won his second Asian league MVP in three years. The 30-year old Chinese righty led in runs (108), home runs (36), RBI (100), total bases (330), OPS (.928), wRC+ (190), and WAR (11.6). Long also won his seventh Silver Slugger.

Pitcher of the Year went to Yekaterinburg’s Matvey Ivanov for a historic seventh consecutive season, making him the first seven-time winner. He also joined Markiyan Konoplya as the only EPB pitchers with two Triple Crown seasons, as Ivanov had a 23-10 record, 1.73 ERA, and 384 strikeouts. He also led in WAR (12.2), innings (296.2), WHIP (0.76), K/BB (14.2), complete games (28), shutouts (8), and FIP- (47).

The 30-year old Russian lefty’s dominance had been unparalleled. This was his sixth straight year as the WARlord, fifth straight as ERA champ, as well as the fifth time in his career as the Ks leader and fifth time as the wins leader. Ivanov also finished second in MVP voting.

In both the European League and Asian League Championship Series, the wild card upset the top seed in six games. Moscow upended St. Petersburg, giving the Mules their first pennant since 1975. More shocking was Krasnoyarsk denying Yekaterinburg’s three-peat bid despite the 20-win gap between the two. It was the fifth straight ALCS appearance for the Cossacks, whose only win in that stretch had been 2001.



The 51^st Eurasian Professional Baseball Championship was the fifth finals appearance for Krasnoyarsk and the fourth for Moscow. They actually met in 1974 with the Mules earning their first-ever title. It would by the Cossacks winning 4-1 in 2005 for their second-ever championship (1982).



Other notes: The 32^nd EPB Perfect Game came on June 2 as Rostov’s Drake Bull had 10 strikeouts against Moscow. There wouldn’t be another perfect game in EPB until 2022. Aleksandr Ghukasyan and Procopie Lungu became the 25^th and 26^th pitchers to 4000 career strikeouts. SS Gleb Khassanov won his 12^th Silver Slugger and OF Sapar Durdiyew won his 11^th. Khassanov was the first-ever 12-time winner of the award in EPB, a mark that only Durdiyew and two others would later reach.