[FuzzyRussianHat]

Two-time defending European League champ Moscow had the top seed at 98-64 in 2032, repeating as North Division champs. The Mules earned their fourth straight playoff streak and became the first team in Eurasian Professional Baseball history with a season attendance above two million, selling 2,005,017 tickets. Moscow allowed the fewest runs in the EL at 557 and won the division by ten games.

Volgograd was South Division champ by eight games at 96-66, bouncing back after a surprising 76-86 in 2031. Since 2020, the Voyagers have only missed the playoffs twice and have ten division titles. They led the EL with 753 runs and set new EL team records for batting average (.286) and on-base percentage (.337). The OBP mark tied the all-time EPB mark set by Krasnoyarsk in 1957 and the batting average was only behind the Cossacks’ .289 in 2023.

The wild card spots went to Nizhny Novgorod and Voronezh, who both finished second in their respective divisions at 88-74. Gomel just missed the cut at 87-75, while Samara was the next team in the mix at 81-81, ending the Steelers’ playoff streak at five years. The Ninjas ended a five-year playoff drought and the Zephyrs snapped an eight-year skid.

Last year’s ELCS runner-up Krasnodar fell to 77-95, while Kazan went from a wild card to 78-84. Also of note was Minsk down at 57-103, the first-ever 100+ loss season for the historically dominant Miners. It was their fourth consecutive losing season, but they had won it all as recently as 2027.

Repeating as European League MVP was Nizhny Novgorod LF Maksim Krutov. The 26-year old Russian lefty led in OBP (.420), OPS (1.073), and wRC+ (197). Krutov won his second Gold Glove and posted 196 hits, 108 runs, 45 homers, 107 RBI, and .344 average, and 9.8 WAR.

The Ninjas also had the Pitcher of the Year Jure Babic in his fourth season. The 24-year old Slovene righty led in ERA (2.36), shutouts (5), FIP- (62), and WAR (8.7). Babic had a 20-10 record, 155 ERA+, and 295 strikeouts in 259.1 innings. Babic would see a setback the following year with a ruptured UCL in September 2033.

Voronezh shocked the defending champ Moscow 3-1 in the first round and Nizhny Novgorod got the 3-2 road upset of Volgograd. The Ninjas had last made the European League Championship Series in 2026 with their lone pennant in 2024. The Zephyrs had yet to win a pennant and had three ELCS trips from 2017-20. Despite both teams winning 88 games, Voronezh cruised to an 8-0 sweep of Nizhny Novgorod for their first pennant. This left Samara as the only remaining EPB team without a pennant, apart from three of the 2020 expansion squads.



Reigning EPB champ Ufa took the Asian League’s top seed at 101-61, repeating as West Division champs. It was the Fiends’ first 100+ win season since 2016. Novosibirsk won a third straight East Division crown and extended their playoff streak to four years with a 98-64 finish. The Nitros led EPB with 760 runs and notably had a .282 batting average and 1590 team hits; both marks the third-best in AL history.

Vladivostok was six back on Novosibirsk and got the first wild card at 92-70. This grew the Shibas’ playoff streak to five seasons. Nur-Sultan and Irkutsk tied for the second wild card at 89-73 with Khabarovsk one back at 88-74. The Setters took the tiebreaker game over the Ice Cats for their fifth playoff berth in six years. Nur-Sultan had the fewest runs allowed in EPB at 529.

Ufa DH Konstantin Antonov won Asian League MVP in his first full season as a starter. The 24-year old Belarusian lefty led in runs (119), hits (207), homers (51), RBI (132), total bases (396), OBP (.394), slugging (.640), OPS (1.034), wRC+ (188), and WAR (8.2). Antonov’s .334 batting average was 15 points shy of Vladivostok’s Filip Apostel (.349) for the Triple Crown. Antonov had debuted in 2028 with the Fiends, but had only been an occasional starter until now.

Repeating as Pitcher of the Year was Vladivostok ace Airat Mamedov, who won his first ERA title at 2.06. The 31-year old Uzbek lefty also led with 24 quality starts and posted a 13-11 record, 248.2 innings, 265 strikeouts, 175 ERA+, and 8.3 WAR. Mamedov had been a full-time starter for the Shibas since 2022. He would miss most of 2033 to a torn UCL, but did bounce back for two more decent seasons before retiring after the 2036 campaign.

Both first round playoff matchups needed all five games. The defending champ Ufa survived against Nur-Sultan, while Vladivostok upset Novosibirsk on the road. The Shibas went onto surprise the Fiends with a road 4-0 sweep in the Asian League Championship Series, earning their fourth pennant in five years. They’re the first AL team to win four in five years since Yekaterinburg’s five from 2003-08.



In the 78^th EPB Championship, it was two squads from the 2008 expansion facing off. Voronezh won their first-ever title with the 4-2 victory over Vladivostok, becoming the 25^th different franchise to win EPB’s top prize. Finals MVP and ELCS MVP was C Sheriff Akpokona. The 28-year old Nigerian had come to Russia in 2029 after flaming out of West African Baseball, then got traded from Moscow to the Zephyrs in 2030. In 14 playoff starts, Akpokona had 23 hits, 6 runs, 1 double, 2 homers, and 6 RBI.



Other notes: Timofei Averkin became the 4^th member of the 3000 hit club and EPB’s new hits leader. He finished the season at 3088, passing Igor Urban (3044), Evgeny Kiselev (3013), and Tayyar Abdulaiyev (3002). Urban’s mark has held since 2002. Averkin also became the 5^th to 1500 runs scored and the 11^th to 1500 RBI. The 38-year old RF was 135 runs, 169 RBI, and 138 total bases away from taking over those top spots on the EPB leaderboard. Averkin spent 2032 with Volgograd and was set to return for 2033.

In other hitting milestones, Timofei Kalinin became the 24^th to 500 home runs and Svilen Dobrev was the 35^th to 2500 hits. Voronezh’s Vasil Mulder threw his second no-hitter on May 30 with 16 Ks and one walk against Samara. He had a previous no-no in 2027 versus Krasnodar. Nehor Pomerantz and Evhen Kononenko were the 61^st and 62^nd pitchers to 3500 strikeouts. CF Robert Albrecht won his 11^th consecutive Gold Glove, taking the position record outright. LF Khazbulat Dukhu won his 7^th Silver Slugger.