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Old 11-21-2025, 10:43 PM   #2578
FuzzyRussianHat
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Join Date: Dec 2020
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2038 EBF Hall of Fame (Part 1)

The European Baseball Federation had an impressive three-man Hall of Fame class in 2038 with each player receiving above 90%. Greek stars OF/1B Theofilos Psarras and IF Stefanos Emmanoulidis were the co-headliners at 99.6% and 97.9%, respectively. SP Griffin Arnall joined them at a rock solid 90.1%. SP Jack McConnell barely missed the 66% requirement on his debut at 65.7%.

Four returners were above 50%, but shy of 60%. 3B Albert de Jong led this group at 59.4% on his second ballot. LF Marco Solis had 54.4% on his tenth and final try. RF Zeljko Siladjdzic had 53.0% with his third attempt and SS Nicolo Giotto saw 52.7% with his seventh go.



For Solis, he debuted at 52.% and was above 50% six times, but never got into the 60s. He had one Silver Slugger and Gold Glove over a 21-year career with seven teams. In the EBF Elite Tier, Solis had 2396 games, 2868 hits, 1400 runs, 431 doubles, 199 triples, 336 home runs, 1401 RBI, 408 steals, .323/.373/.529 slash, 150 wRC+, and 86.0 WAR.

Solis ranks 65th in WAR for position players, 22nd in hits, 50th in runs, 35th in doubles, and 56th in RBI. Despite that, his candidacy stalled as he had very limited black ink and accolades. Solis had decent visibility in Seville and Amsterdam, but neither made deep runs in his tenure. He didn’t have that signature season or moment needed to push him beyond the Hall of Pretty Good.

Also dropped after ten ballots was 1B Erich Steinhausen, although he peaked at 27.0% in 2030 before ending at 7.1%. He had one Silver Slugger in the top tier and had 2030 games, 2242 hits, 1073 runs, 338 doubles, 426 home runs, 1233 RBI, .310/.350/.544 slash, 149 wRC+, and 62.6 WAR. Steinhausen was a key figure to get Leipzig promoted in 2009, but didn’t have the longevity or dominance to gain much HOF voting traction.



Theofilos “Poison” Psarras – Outfield/First Base – Dublin Dinos – 99.6% First Ballot

Theofilos Psarras was a 6’8’’, 200 pound left-handed hitting outfielder and first baseman from Iraklion, Greece; the country’s fourth-largest city with about 179,000 people on the island of Crete. Psarras was an outstanding contact hitter with a 10/10 grade in his peak. He absolutely mashed against right-handed pitching in particular with a career 1.058 OPS and 194 wRC+. Psarras was no bum against lefties though with a .853 OPS and 141 wRC+.

He wasn’t just a singles slap hitter by any means with a 162 game average of 27 doubles, 21 triples, and 28 home runs. Psarras graded as above average relative to his European peers for drawing walks and avoiding strikeouts. He was a tremendously skilled baserunner with excellent speed, leading his conference six times in swipes. Few guys frustrated pitchers more once he got on base and Psarras got on plenty. The nickname “Poison” came from his baserunning exploits.

Psarras bounced around defensively in his career between right field, left field, and first base mostly. He graded as a lousy defensive outfielder and was below average at first, but serviceable. Psarras very briefly tried third base and was abysmal there. Still, his tireless work ethic and strong intelligence made him a fan favorite and one of the most beloved European stars of his day. Psarras also had ironman levels of durability, playing 145+ games in all but his first and final seasons of a 23-year career.

In July 2008, a teenaged Psarras left Greece for the Czech Republic for Brno, who was part of the European Second League’s founding in 2005. Psarras was quickly ready for the E2L level and made his Bandits debut in 2010 at only age 17 with 50 games and 11 starts. He was on the roster full-time and a part-time starter in 2011. Psarras was then a full-time starter somewhere for the next two decades.

Psarras’ efforts eventually pushed to their first-ever winning season in 2013 at 96-66. The Bandits won the Eastern Conference title to earn a promotion to the EBF Elite for 2014. Brno stayed in the top tier through 2034, although they were typically in the mid-lower tier. Psarras won his first Silver Sluggers from 2014-16, getting it at first base in 2014-15 and right field in 2016.

Brno wasn’t expecting to be able to sign Psarras long-term and traded him to Berlin for the 2017 for three prospects. In 989 games total with the Bandits, he had 1016 hits, 557 runs, 173 doubles, 91 triples, 124 home runs, 447 RBI, 384 steals, .314/.393/.538 slash, 173 wRC+, and 37.2 WAR. To Psarras’ disappointment, this trade sent him back to E2L, but he kept his head down and got to work.

He won MVP honors for the Barons, who made the playoffs but lost in the conference finals and just missed out on promotion. For Berlin, Psarras had a 1.011 OPS, 203 wRC+, and 10.5 WAR. He was certainly a top tier talent though and left for free agency at only age 25. Psarras signed an eight-year, $121,600,000 deal with Dublin to begin his signature run.

The Dinos had been a recent dynasty with three European Championship wins from 2010-13, but they had fallen towards the middle tier since. Dublin was a wild card and first round exit in Psarras’ 2018 debut, then fell to 82-80 in 2019. Psarras won Silver Sluggers both years in RF, won MVP in 2018, and was second in 2019’s MVP voting.

Both seasons, Psarras led the Northern Conference in runs and hits, including his career best 229 hits in 2018. He won his second batting title in 2018 with a career-best .374 average. Psarras also led in slugging, OPS, and wRC+ in 2019 with career bests for OPS (1.119), and wRC+ (202). Both seasons also had 9+ WAR and he’d stay above 7 WAR in each of his Dublin seasons. The Dinos would soon emerge in the 2020s back to the top spot in European baseball.

Psarras won Silver Sluggers from 2020-22 and 2024-25 for Dublin with three in LF, one at 1B, and one in RF. He won his second MVP in 2022, was second in 2020’s voting and third in 2024. During that stretch, Psarras led four times in runs scored, peaking with 140 in 2024 which ranks as the seventh-best single season in EBF history. In 2022, Psarras had his career best for total bases (420) and homers (41) while leading again in OPS, slugging, and wRC+.

This helped begin a new dynasty run for Dublin, starting with a 109-win season in 2020. Hamburg was actually the top seed at 115-47, but got upset by Amsterdam in round two. The Dinos swept the Anacondas to win the Northern Conference, but were defeated by Munich 4-2 in the European Championship. Even in a losing effort, Psarras was finals MVP. In 15 playoff starts, he had 25 hits, 15 runs, 5 homers, 1.190 OPS, 224 wRC+, and 1.4 WAR. Dublin went 8-11 in Psarras’ first Baseball Grand Championship, but he exceled with a .949 OPS, 200 wRC+, and 1.1 WAR.

Psarras was no stranger to tournament play by that point as a regular for Greece in the World Baseball Championship. From 2012-32, Psarras played 204 games with 208 hits, 100 runs, 36 doubles, 7 triples, 33 home runs, 91 RBI, 115 steals, .293/.388/.502 slash, and 8.4 WAR. Despite his efforts, the Greeks never earned a playoff trip, but he’s still 50th all-time in games played and 32nd in hits.

Dublin fell to 87-75 in 2021, but still won a weak West Division and got to the conference final, where they were defeated by Hamburg. The Dinos then had an all-time dynasty with 116, 114, and 110 wins from 2022-24 and Northern Conference pennants each year. Dublin won the European Championship in 2022 against Naples and in 2023 against Munich. In 2024, the Dinos were upset by Chisinau, missing out on what would’ve been EBF’s first-ever three-peat.

Psarras continued to post outstanding numbers in the playoffs and was MVP in the 2024 conference finals win over Rotterdam. In 76 playoff starts for Dublin, Psarras had 105 hits, 67 runs, 12 doubles, 9 triples, 19 home runs, 43 RBI, 44 steals, .370/.431/.676 slash, 195 wRC+, and 5.1 WAR. Psarras became absolutely beloved by the Irish fans as perhaps the biggest single reason they had their 2020s dynasty.

His Baseball Grand Championship stats were middling in 2022, excellent in 2023, and good in 2024. In 2023, Psarras finished third in MVP voting. Dublin was third in 2022 at 12-7, one game off the top spot. They were one from first again in 2023 at 13-6, taking third as they lost the tiebreaker to Guatemala. In 2024, there was a three-way tie at 13-6 between the Dinos, Counts, and Sao Paulo. It was a rock-paper-scissors between them for the head-to-head tiebreaker, but Dublin had the fewest runs allowed and thus earned Grand Champion distinction.

Dublin was a division champ in 2025 at 97-65, but had a first round exit. This was Psarras’ last year, as his contract expired and he went to free agency at age 33. For the Dinos, had 1251 games, 1647 hits, 10111 runs, 191 doubles, 206 triples, 289 home runs, 904 RBI, 368 walks, 689 steals, .352/.404/.667 slash, 191 wRC+, and 69.7 WAR. For his exceptional eight-year run, Dublin later retired his #14 uniform.

Despite his tenure, Psarras was still pretty young heading into his second big free agent contract, inking a five-year, $126 million deal with Zagreb. He would win Silver Sluggers in LF for 2026 and 2028 and in RF for 2029 with the Gulls. Psarras was third in 2026 and 2028 for MVP voting. He led twice in triples and stolen bases. In 2028, Psarras was also the Southern Conference leader for batting average, OPS, and wRC+.

Zagreb had brought Psarras in to get over the playoff hump. From 2020-25, the Gulls had a playoff streak with five 100+ win seasons, but had no pennants to show for it. Munich’s adjacent dynasty run was a big problem, including conference finals defeats in 2021 and 2023 to the Mavericks. 2023 hurt especially with a 113-win season by Zagreb. They dropped the 2024 conference final to Chisinau and were one-and-done despite the top seed in 2025.

The Gulls didn’t have as big of win totals with Psarras, but they had more playoff luck. They fell as a 94-win wild card in the 2026 conference final to Munich, but got revenge in 2027 at as 90-win wild card. Zagreb was denied by 113-win Rotterdam in the European Championship as the Ravens completed a three-peat. Zagreb finished 10-9 in the BGC, tied for seventh.

Zagreb’s playoff streak ended in 2028 at 84-78, but they won a division title in 2029 at 98-64. The Gulls upset 103-win Munich for their second pennant in three years, but were denied the EBF title by Berlin. Zagreb finished 7-14 in the BGC. The Gulls had one more wild card and second round exit in 2030 before falling to the middle-tier for the 2030s.

Psarras got them to the finals and while his playoff numbers weren’t outstanding like the Dublin days, they were still quite solid. In 54 starts, Psarras had 63 hits, 35 runs, 10 doubles, 12 triples, 3 homers, 26 RBI, 24 steals, .307/.363/.517 slash, 135 wRC+, and 1.5 WAR. He also had a 1.051 OPS and 1.4 WAR in the 2027 BGC, followed by a .656 OPS and 0.4 WAR in 2029.

With six different BGC trips, Psarras ranks fifth in games played for the event at 114. He had 110 hits, 64 runs, 14 doubles, 6 triples, 30 homers, 74 RBI, 41 walsk, 38 steals, .258/.340/.529 slash, .869 OPS, and 5.2 WAR. For BGC history, Psarras is 12th in runs, 5th in hits, 11th in total bases (226), 30th in doubles, 9th in RBI, 21st in homers, 3rd in steals, 27th in walks, and 11th in WAR for position players. He also has been caught stealing the most at 28. In any event, Psarras shined brightest in the big games.

In his last year with Zagreb in 2030, Psarras notably hit for the cycle twice, one in June and one in September, both against Paris. He was the fourth in EBF history to hit for the cycle twice in the same season. Psarras is also one of 12 in EBF to have earned the cycle thrice, as he also did it with Dublin in 2022. 2030 was his weakest season in EBF to that point, but by normal person standards he was still solid at .953 OPS and 5.1 WAR. This was his first season in the EBF Elite though with an OPS below one.

With Zagreb, Psarras played 774 games with 946 hits, 538 runs, 138 doubles, 122 triples, 139 home runs, 512 RBI, 256 walks, 420 steals, .345/.404/.636 slash, 185 wRC+, and 36.1 WAR. Now 38-years old, Psarras signed a three-year, $71,400,000 deal with Barcelona. Age finally caught him as he had a pedestrian 1.2 WAR and .772 OPS in 2031. Psarras was then reduced to a bench role in 2032. The Bengals had a first round playoff exit in 2031 and a conference finals loss to Zurich in 2032.

For his playoff career in the top tier, Psarras had 142 games, 172 hits, 105 runs, 22 doubles, 21 triples, 23 homers, 70 RBI, 46 walks, 68 steals, 42 caught stealing, .341/400/.604 slash, 167 wRC+, and 6.6 WAR. On the playoff leaderboard, Psarras is EBF’s all-time leader for hits, singles (106), triples, steals, and caught stealing. He’s also tied with Hall of Fame classmate Stefanos Emmanoulidis in runs scored. Psarras ranks 7th in doubles, 10th in homers, 8th in RBI, and 7th in walks.

In his final two seasons with Barcelona, Psarras had 262 games, 190 hits, 102 runs, 39 doubles, 18 triples, 15 homers, 61 RBI, 60 walks, 85 steals, .265/.328/.433 slash, 113 wRC+, and 1.5 WAR. He retired after the 2032 season at age 40. Because he had a few seasons in E2L, Psarras barely missed the 2000 run and 3500 hit milestones in the EBF Elite. Combined, he had 3983 hits and 2302 runs, although the E2L stats don’t count as “big league” on the all-time leaderboards.

For his EBF Elite tenure, Psarras finished with 2768 games, 3384 hits, 1975 runs, 453 doubles, 412 triples, 531 home runs, 1745 RBI, 859 walks, 1409 strikeouts, 6254 total bases, 1475 steals, 756 caught stealing, .344/.401/.636 slash, 1.036 OPS, 184 wRC+, and 130.9 WAR. Psarras ranks 18th in games, 4th in runs, 7th in hits, 7th in total bases, 25th in doubles, 4th in triples, 43rd in homers, 17th in RBI, 2nd in steals, 4th in caught stealing, 44th in walks, and 10th in WAR among position players.

Among batters with 3000+ plate appearances in EBF, Psarras’ triple slash ranks 14th/18th/16th and his OPS is 8th. Among world Hall of Famers and retired locks, Psarras is 14th in average, 37th in OBP, 31st in slugging, and 21st in OPS. Psarras’ 184 wRC+ is also tied for 44th best. Elsewhere on the world leaderboard, Psarras is 44th in runs scored, 8th in triples, 21st in stolen bases and 38th in caught stealing. He misses the top 100 WAR list for all players ever, but is top 100 among position players.

Undoubtedly, Psarras was an inner-circle Hall of Famer and one of the game’s true immortals. Few batters were more consistently efficient over a two-decade career and he was an absolute stud in the playoffs, bringing multiple titles home for both Dublin and Zagreb. Many cite Psarras as a top ten position player in European Baseball Federation history, but it is a very competitive field.

The big debates often are between Psarras and his Hall of Fame classmate and Greek compatriot Stefanos Emmanoulidis, especially as they played concurrently and battled specifically in some big encounters. Psarras was a far more efficient hitter overall, but Emmanoulidis had more home run power and was a far better defender.

Both have a case for Greece’s best-ever player, although 1970s-80s star Christophorous Zarkadis has the WAR edge by a healthy margin at 165.5; 19th on the world list. Nikolaos Pavlis with 137.0 WAR in the 60s and 70s also has a case, as the Greeks have produced some all-timers despite their smaller stature. In any event, Psarras was one of the most impactful players of his era and earned a near unanimous 99.6% for induction in 2038.
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