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In the European Baseball Federation Northern Conference in 1956, Paris had the top record at 99-63. The Poodles have won 90+ in all seven seasons in the EBF, but this brings them back in the postseason after missing the prior two years. Rotterdam was two games behind at 97-65 in the Northwest Division, easily taking the wild card slot for their first playoff berth. The North Central Division crown went to Stockholm at 93-69, finishing four games ahead of defending conference champ Berlin. The Swordsmen earn a fourth straight playoff berth. The British Isles Division saw Birmingham take their first-ever division crown at 88-74, three games ahead of London and five better than Belfast.

Conference MVP went to Paris 1B Fausto Martini. The 34-year old Italian was the leader in hits (192), home runs (47), RBI (141), and wRC+ (211), while adding 9.7 WAR. Berlin’s Loris Eichelberger was the Pitcher of the Year. The 25-year old Swiss righty led in ERA at 1.79, adding 32/36 quality starts, 10.4 WAR, and 334 strikeouts over 286 innings.



The top mark in the Southern Conference went to Lisbon at 102-60, giving them their first-ever Southwest Division title. The second best record in the conference went to division rival Madrid as the defending European Champion finished 98-64 to take the wild card. Zagreb had their first winning season and won the Southeast Division at 91-71. Munich’s postseason streak ended at five seasons as they won only 79 games. Zurich won a third straight South Central Division title. They finished tied for first at 90-72 with Milan, but the Mountaineers advanced by winning a one-game tiebreaker. Naples at 89-73 was right in the race as well but ended up just short.

Madrid CF Branislav Mikusiak won his second MVP. In his second year with the Conquistadors, the 30-year old Slovak lefty led the conference in runs (114) and WAR (10.4), adding 39 home runs and 111 RBI, plus a .308 average and 60 stolen bases. Seville’s Armando Rojas was the Pitcher of the Year. The 24-year old Spaniard was one strikeout away from a Triple Crown season, posting a 24-7 record, 1.93 ERA, 334 strikeouts, 31 quality starts, 0.85 WHIP, and 11.7 WAR.

In the first round of the playoffs, Paris bested Rotterdam 3-1, Stockholm edged Birmingham 3-2, Lisbon outlasted Madrid 3-2, and Zagreb swept Zurich 3-0. The Northern Conference Championship saw the Poodles drop the Swordsmen in five games, giving Paris a second conference title. Lisbon swept Zagreb in the Southern Conference Championship to advance to their first European Championship. It was the second time the finale went seven games and like in 1952, the Poodles ended up on the wrong side of it as Lisbon became European Champion.





Other notes: Madrid’s Mike Ring threw a perfect game on 7/21 against Seville with nine strikeouts. The first five-time Silver Slugger winners were SC MVP Branislav Mikusiak and LF Gabriel Staudt. Didier Fischer became a five time Gold Glove winner at catcher and CF Mercury Hand won his sixth at CF.