[FuzzyRussianHat]

Leading the EBF Northern Conference in 1954 was Amsterdam with a 118-44 record, making the Anacondas a playoff team for all five years of the European Baseball Federation to date. Their Northwestern Division rival Paris wouldn’t continue their streak, as their 90-72 mark was nowhere near the division title or wild card. Berlin earned its first playoff berth with the North Central Division title at 105-57, while Stockholm at 101-61 took the wild card at 101-61 for their fourth playoff berth in five years. Defending European Champion London and Dublin tied for first in the British Isles Division at 92-70. In a one-game playoff, the Dinos knocked off the Monarchs to give Dublin its first playoff berth. It was a remarkable turnaround for Dublin, who won an abysmal 64 games the prior season.

Amsterdam’s Joe Ramet won his second Northern Conference MVP. The 35-year old French centerfielder led the conference in RBI (141), slugging (.631), OPS (.996), and wRC+ (201), posting 9.0 WAR with 48 home runs. The Anacondas also had the Pitcher of the Year in Luigi “the Bandit” Kerac. A 34-year old Croatian who signed with Amsterdam in the offseason after three years with Copenhagen, Kerac had a NC best 1.74 ERA and 0.80 WHIP, going 22-1 with 257 strikeouts, only 20 walks, and 8.8 WAR.



Defending Southern Conference champ Madrid made it five straight playoff appearances with the SC’s best record at 107-55 atop the Southwest Division. Last year’s wild card Barcelona fell to 81 wins in third, but Lisbon would finish 93-69 for their first wild card. Munich earned a fourth straight playoff berth by firmly winning the Southeast Division at 103-59. Zurich became a first-time playoff team by winning the South Central Division at 93-69; dethroning four-time champ Milan who tied for second with Naples at 85 wins.

Munich’s Orion McIntyre became a two-time Southern Conference MVP. The 38-year old Northern Irishman had a SC-best 9.5 WAR, whacking 51 home rns with 116 RBI and a 1.003 OPS. Zurich’s David Rothlan was Pitcher of the Year. A 36-year old Englishman, Rothlan had a 22-7 record, 1.94 ERA over 288.1 innings with 264 strikeouts and 10.0 WAR.

The first round in the Northern Conference playoff saw two sweeps with Amsterdam over Stockholm and Dublin upsetting Berlin. Both in the Southern Conference went all five games with Madrid surviving Lisbon and Munich outlasting Zurich. Neither Conference Championship had much drama with the Anacondas sweeping the Dinos and the Conquistadors sweeping the Mavericks. The European Championship was the second appearance for both franchises with Amsterdam winning it all in 1951 and Madrid taking runner-up the prior season. The Conquistadors would be runner-up again as the Anacondas became the first two-time European Champion, winning the series 4-1.





Other notes: Marseille’s Jesper Rorendaal stole 124 bases in 1954, which would not be passed as the single-season record until 1986. Although he didn’t win Pitcher of the Year, Amsterdam’s Elih Cruz had a 13.1 WAR season on the mound, the first pitcher to have a 13+ year. Vienna’s Sem Outjes had the fourth EBF perfect game on April 25, striking out 11 against Munich.