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The 2008 Hall of Fame class for the European Baseball Federation featured three players, led by SP Khaled Jabri with a near unanimous 99.3%. The other inductees were returners who finally breached the 66% requirement. 3B Thomas Indiani received 72.8% in his ninth ballot and LF Kenneth Hammer got 66.9% for his seventh go.



1B Luigi Cuttone was very close on his fourth try, but short at 64.0%. RF Bernard Martin got 55.1% on his fourth ballot and SP Reggie Hobart earned 52.9% for his fifth try. The second best debut was CL Dario Wiesner at a mere 29.4%. No one was dropped after ten failed ballots.



Khaled “Tiger” Jabri – Starting Pitcher – Brussels Beavers – 99.3% First Ballot

Khaled Jabri was a 6’0’’, 200 pound left-handed pitcher from Hilversum, a city of 90,000 in the northwestern Netherlands. Jabri had tremendous stuff with excellent movement and very good control. His fastball regularly hit the 98-100 mph range and was complimented by a great slider, curveball, and splitter.

Jabri had very good stamina and was excellent at holding the fewer runners he’d allow. He had great durability for most of his run, tossing 200+ innings each year from 1986-1998. Jabri was a hard worker and quite adaptable, helping him to become one of the most effective pitchers of all time. He ended up being very popular, especially in the Benelux area.

Coming out of college, Jabri was viewed by some as the best pitching prospect in the 1984 EBF Draft. He was picked third overall by Brussels and spent 14 years with the Beavers. Jabri was split between starting and the bullpen as a rookie with respectable results. He became a full-time starter after and quickly emerged as the ace for Brussels.

From 1987-98, Jabri had 7.5+ WAR in 12 consecutive seasons. He topped double-digits five times and led the Northern Conference five straight years from 1988-91. In that stretch, Jabri also led twice in wins, twice in ERA, once in innings, once in strikeouts, once in WHIP, thrice in quality starts, once in complete games, and thrice in FIP-. For his career, he was the WARlord six times and ERA leader thrice.

Jabri’s first Pitcher of the Year win came in his fourth season in 1988, lading in ERA (2.59 and WAR (9.9). He did better the next year with a 2.40 ERA and 9.9 WAR, as well as a conference-best 325 strikeouts to repeat as POTY. Jabri fell one win short of a Triple Crown season. His ERA worsened in 1990, but he led again in WAR and won a third straight Pitcher of the Year.

Brussels had been decent in the 1980s, but had a playoff drought from 1982-89. Jabri helped them end the drought with berths in 1990, 1991, and 1994. However, the Beavers went one-and-done twice and lost in the 1991 conference championship. Jabri had a great start in 1990, but struggled to a 4.57 ERA in 21.2 innings in 1991. Elbow tendinitis cost him a chance to pitch in the 1994 postseason.

Jabri signed a seven-year, $12,600,000 extension in April 1992. He was arguably better after his POTY three-peat, posting a career best 11.3 WAR in 1991 and a career best 394 strikeouts in 1992. Jabri wouldn’t win the top honor again because of Birmingham’s Lindsey Brampton, who took the award seven straight years from 1991-97.

From 1991-95, Jabri was second in POTY each year. He took third in 1996 and second again in 1998. If not for Brampton, Jabri might have been up there with Jean-Luc Roch in terms of hardware. Jabri had a no-hitter in 1993 with 11 strikeouts and 1 walk against Dublin. He also had a 20 strikeout game in 1994 versus Oslo. That year also had a career-best 1.97 ERA.

Jabri was also very popular with Dutch baseball fans as he regularly pitched for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Championship. From 1986-02, Jabri had a 2.60 ERA over 252.1 innings with a 14-9 record, 307 strikeouts, 64 walks, 140 ERA+, and 7.0 WAR.

He seemed ageless, maintaining excellence into his early 30s. Jabri’s final year with Brussels as at age 35 with a conference-best 10.1 WAR and a career best 20 complete games. Despite his efforts, Brussels fell into the lower tier to close out the 1990s, hovering in the 70s win range. Jabri had one year left on his deal entering 1999 and the Beavers decided to trade their longtime ace.

With Brussels, Jabri had a 244-115 record, 2.61 ERA, 3552.2 innings, 4169 strikeouts, 587 walks, 147 ERA+, 61 FIP-, and 122.8 WAR. Retiring his #7 uniform was an easy choice and he’d maintain a good relationship in retirement with the Beavers as a franchise icon and spokesman.

After the 1998 season, Jabri was sent to Athens for three prospects and a draft pick. The Anchors had been the Southern Conference runner-up in back-to-back seasons and hoped Jabri could get them over the hump. They gave him a two-year, $6,320,000 extension only days after the trade, committing to him for at least a few years.

It was a rough start as in his fifth appearance in 1999; Jabri suffered a torn rotator cuff. That knocked him out for the rest of the season and put his future in doubt. The injury caused Jabri’s velocity to plummet down to the mid 90s after previously being upper 90s. He was still crafty enough to post 6.6 WAR in his return, although his big strikeout days were long gone.

In the 2000 season, Jabri became the sixth EBF pitcher to 250 career wins. He struggled to a 4.11 ERA in two playoff starts as Athens lost in the first round. Still, the Anchors gave Jabri another two years and $6,320,000. His velocity dropped more and he missed part of 2001 to elbow tendinitis. Athens playoff streak ended after four years.

The Anchors made it back in 2002 with a 39-year old Jabri seeing a limited role due to age and injury. He posted a 4.15 ERA in the playoffs and they again lost in the first round. That season, Jabri was able to reach 4500 career strikeouts, a mark only breached thrice before him. With Athens, Jabri had a 28-22 record, 3.64 ERA, 490 innings, 349 strikeouts, 79 walks, 106 ERA+, and 11.9 WAR. He opted to retire after the 2002 season at age 40.

Jabri finished with a 272-137 record, 2.74 ERA, 4042.2 innings, 4518 strikeouts, 666 walks, 344/499 quality starts, 166 complete games, 141 ERA+, 63 FIP-, and 134.7 WAR. As of 2037, Jabri sits fourth in pitching WAR all-time, fourth in strikeouts, fifth in wins, and eighth in innings pitched. If it wasn’t for strikeout king Lindsey Brampton’s arrival, Jabri could have racked up far more than his three Pitcher of the Year awards.

Because of that, Jabri perhaps doesn’t get mentioned as prominently as he should in the conversations for Europe’s best-ever pitchers. He does lose a bit in the top five conversations due to his lack of playoff and team success. But hardly anyone would argue Jabri wasn’t a top ten or better pitcher in EBF history. He was nearly unanimously inducted at 99.3% to headline EBF’s 2008 Hall of Fame class.