[FuzzyRussianHat]

As baseball's reach expanded in the early 20th century, many in Europe started to take a liking to the game. Countries with strong ties to the United States or other Western Hemisphere nations especially came to appreciate baseball. Like their counterparts in the Americas and East Asia, there were those who saw the potential for large scale European professional baseball that could compete and compare. However, two World Wars derailed even the best laid plans. There were scattered semi-pro and amateur teams on the continent, but nothing of substance was sustained as the entire continent was reeling from war.

When World War II ended in 1945 and things began to recover and stabilize, the idea of professional baseball began to regain traction in major cities and governments across Europe. Some thought a multi-national baseball federation in the vein of CABA or Beisbol Sudamerica would work great in Europe. Not only did leaders see the financial possibilities evidenced by the other successes worldwide, but they hoped that baseball could help mend some of the wounds of war and could help on the path to a more integrated and unified Europe.

However, another obstacle was the divide in Europe between the US/NATO-aligned capitalist states against the Soviet-aligned communist states. Baseball had seen more adoption on the western half of the continent, but the Eastern Bloc had taken a liking to the great game as well. There were initial discussions to have a league that combined the whole of Europe, but as the political divide grew, that plan was viewed as unfeasible. Western leaders were worried that the regular interaction with the Eastern bloc could spread and promote communist ideas, while Eastern leaders had the inverse concerns over capitalism. Ultimately, the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact comrades would form Eurasian Professional Baseball in 1955.

The negotiations continued between the rest of Europe and eventually the European Baseball Federation was created. It was an eclectic mix of teams throughout the continent made up of the Western-aligned states as well as many officially neutral or unaligned states. The EBF ultimately began in 1950 with 30 teams based out of 20 nations. Bucking the usual West-East trend, they opted for a Northern Conference and a Southern Conference; each with three divisions with five teams each. Unlike the other Major Leagues to date, they would feature interleague play with neither conference using the designated hitter rule. The postseason would feature the three division champions and one wild card with a 2-2-1 first round playoff series and best of seven 2-3-2 conference championships and European Championship.

The Northern Conference had the British Isles Division with England's London and Birmingham, Glasgow (Scotland), Belfast (Northern Ireland), and Dublin (Ireland). The Northwest had Amsterdam and Rotterdam (Netherlands), along with Paris (France), Brussels (Belgium), and Luxembourg. The North Central Division had Berlin and Hamburg (Germany), Oslo (Norway), Copenhagen (Denmark), and Stockholm (Sweden)

In the Southern Conference, the Southwest Division had Spain's Madrid, Barcelona, and Seville, plus Lisbon (Portugal) and Marseille (France). The South Central Division was Italy's Rome, Naples, and Milan; along with Zurich (Switzerland) and Malta. The Southeast Division was Athens (Greece), Vienna (Austria), Munich (Germany), Zagreb (Yugoslavia/Croatia) and Belgrade (Yugoslavia/Serbia). This would be the EBF lineup until the 2000 expansion and EPB exodus.