[FuzzyRussianHat]

The top two records by far in the European League were locked in an intense fight for the North Division crown. It came down to the final series as Moscow took two of three at Gomel, while St. Petersburg got swept at Kazan. This gave the Mules first place and the top seed at 100-62, leaving the Polar Bears as a 99-63 wild card. Moscow’s playoff streak grew to nine seasons and St. Petersburg’s to three years.

The defending Eurasian Professional Baseball champion Krasnodar actually had EPB’s best run differential at +140 and the most runs scored at 791. Despite that, they underperformed their expected win/loss by eight games and were only 87-75, although that still won them repeat South Division titles. The Steamers had 1605 hits and 107 triples, the third and second-best team marks for those stats in EL history.

Voronezh (83-79) was four back on Krasnodar and Rostov (82-80) was five back. Both ended up just behind the North’s Minsk (85-77) for the second wild card. The Miners had actually been close to Moscow and St. Petersburg at the all-star break (and allowed the EL’s fewest runs at 581), but struggled to 31-37 in the second half. Gomel was also in the wild card mix at 82-80. Minsk got their third wild card in three years, while the Zephyrs saw their five-year playoff streak snapped. For the Rhinos, it was notably their first winning season since 2019.



At only age 22, St. Petersburg DH Gavrilovich Somov was the unanimous European League MVP. The left-handed slugger from Russia’s far east made his full-time debut the prior year, but had played games in 2034-35. In 2037, Somov led in home runs (62), RBI (140), total bases (418), slugging (.692), OPS (1.076), and wRC+ (200). He added 188 hits, 117 runs, 34 doubles, a .311 average, and 8.7 WAR.

Voronezh’s Sergei Stepanov won Pitcher of the Year with 20/24 first place votes. It was his third award and third ERA title, having also done both in 2033 and 2035. The 28-year old Russian righty had a 2.40 ERA in 2037 and led in K/BB (13.9), FIP- (53), and WAR (8.9). Stepanov had a 17-9 record over 228.2 innings and 305 strikeouts. In April, the Zephyrs secured Stepanov to a six-year, $104,800,000 extension.



Moscow rolled to a first round sweep of Minsk, earning their fifth European League Championship Series trip of the 2030s. Krasnodar had home field as a division champ on the other side despite St. Petersburg having 12 more wins. The Polar Bears opened with a 4-2 road win, but the Steamers countered by the same margin. Krasnodar took game three 5-4 in 11 innings with a walkoff fielder’s choice. The Steamers rolled 8-2 in game four to oust the Polar Bears, keeping the repeat bid intact.

Although Krasnodar was the defending champ, Moscow was a heavy favorite with home field, 13 more wins, and an 8-1 head-to-head record. The ELCS opened in the Russian capital with a 6-4 Moscow win, but Krasnodar took a 5-4 road result the next day. The Steamers had three runs in the eighth to tie and one in the top of the ninth to go ahead. The series shifted and Krasnodar snagged 7-4 and 6-4 wins, putting them on the brink of clinching. The Mules forced the series back to Moscow though with an 8-3 victory in game five.

In game six, the Mules scored three in the first and held on for a 6-4 win. Game seven was close until Krasnodar’s five runs in the top of the eighth inning, propelling them to the 9-4 road win and repeat European League pennants. 1B Azamat Kurbanow was series MVP, going 13-32 with 5 RBI and 3 runs. The Steamers earned their fourth EL crown (2017, 18, 36, 37).