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Leading the European Baseball Federation’s Northern Conference in 1957 was Stockholm, getting their seventh straight playoff berth. The Swordsmen finished 104-58 atop the North Central Division. In the Northwest Division, Rotterdam took first 100-62 for back-to-back playoff berths and their first division title. Amsterdam finished one behind at 99-63, getting the wild card easily and their seventh playoff appearance in the EBF’s first eight seasons. Birmingham picked up back-to-back British Isles Division crowns, taking it easily at 92-70. Defending conference champ Paris fell off to 75 wins.

Stockholm’s Pietro Ribsi was the conference MVP and Pitcher of the Year. He won his third Pitcher of the Year, beating out a field that had two other pitchers with 12+ WAR seasons. The 32-year old Italian was the Northern Conference leader in wins (24), innings (301.2), and quality starts (33). He had a 24-8 record, 1.79 ERA, 339 strikeouts, and 12.5 WAR. He beat out stellar seasons by Hamburg’s Peter Plattner and Rotterdam’s Trent Addams, who also had outstanding seasons on the mound.




The top record in the Southern Conference and overall in the EBF went to Madrid, taking the Southwest Division title at 107-55. The Conquistadors are the only team to make the playoffs in each of the first eight years of the EBF. Defending European Champion Lisbon was second at 94-68, but still moved forward as a wild card. In a competitive South Central Division, Naples earned their first-ever playoff berth with a 91-71 mark. Zurich’s title streak was snapped with an 88-74 record for them. The Southeast Division stunk with all five teams below .500. Munich was the best of the bad at 79-83, sending them to the playoffs for the sixth time. Athens finished two games back and last year’s division champ Zagreb fell hard to 68 wins.

Madrid CF Brainslav Mikusiak won back-to-back MVPs and the third of his career. The 31-year old Slovak led the conference in runs (133), hits (195), triple slash (.336/.422/.675), OPS (1.097), wRC+ (214), and WAR (12.6). He also added 46 home runs and 125 RBI. Seville’s Armando Rojas won back-to-back Pitcher of the Year awards. The 25-year old Spaniard was the SC leader in ERA (1.72), innings (282.1), strikeouts (351), WHIP (0.88), quality starts (29), shutouts (7), and WAR (10.1).

All four first round playoff series went all five games. Stockholm survived Amsterdam and Rotterdam edged Birmingham in the Northern Conference. Lisbon upset division foe Madrid and Naples knocked off Munich in the Southern Conference. In the NCC, the Swordsmen topped the Ravens in six games. The SCC saw the Nobles outlast the Clippers in seven games. The European Championship saw two franchises in their first finals appearance. Stockholm cruised to a 4-1 win over Naples, sending the title to Sweden for the first time.





Other notes: On August 27, Barcelona’s Cosimo Rozzi had the sixth EBF perfect game, striking out six against Seville. Pietro Ribsi and Elih Cruz became the first pitchers to reach 2000 career strikeouts. CF Mercury Hand won his record seventh Gold Glove. LF Gabriel Staudt won his sixth Silver Slugger, as did SC MVP Brainslav Mikusiak. They’re the first in the EBF to get to six.