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Old 06-10-2023, 12:56 PM   #319
FuzzyRussianHat
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Join Date: Dec 2020
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1959 in EPB



Defending Soviet Series champ Kyiv had the top record in Eurasian Professional Baseball in 1959, taking the European League South Division at 113-49. This gives the Kings four straight division titles. Bucharest finished behind them at 107-55, earning a fifth straight playoff berth. Minsk at 105-57 won the North Division and also earned a fifth straight postseason berth. Moscow at 99-63 took the final wild card spot, beating Kharkiv by three games. For the Mules, it is their first-ever postseason berth.

The league MVP and Pitcher of the Year both went to Bucharest ace Bogdan Chirita. He won his third Pitcher of the Year and first MVP. The 32-year old righty became the second EPB pitcher to earn a Triple Crown, posting a 21- 6 record, 1.84 ERA, and 311 strikeouts. He had a 13.9 WAR and FIP- of 34 over 264 innings.



Almaty secured a fifth straight playoff berth by taking the Asian League South Division at 106-56. The Assassins have taken the division title thrice now. Krasnoyarsk won the North Division at 105-57 for back-ot-back playoff appearances. Irkutsk was second at 102-60, getting the first wild card. The second spot went to Dushanbe at 99-63, defeating Chelyabinsk (95-67) and Yekaterinburg (93-69). The defending Asian League champ Dynamo have now also made the playoffs in each of EPB’s first five seasons.

MVP went to Chelyabinsk SS Javid Zaripov. The 28-year old switch-hitter was the leader in hits (193), doubles (45), and WAR (9.3), adding a .316 average and a Gold Glove defensively. Dushanbe’s Sergei Filatov won Pitcher of the Year for the third time in his career. He was the leader in WAR (11.2) and FIP- (51), adding a 16-11 record, 2.55 ERA, and 342 strikeouts over 271.1 innings.

In the first round of the playoffs, Kyiv topped Moscow 3-1, Minsk held off Bucharest 3-2, Dushanbe upset Almaty with a 3-0 sweep, and Krasnoyarsk survived 3-2 against Irkutsk. In the European League Championship Series, the Kings dropped the Miners in six, sending Kyiv to the Soviet Series for back-to-back seasons. In the Asian League Championship Series, the Cossacks earned their first league title by taking a seven-game classic over the Dynamo. The fifth Soviet Series went to the Kings in five over Krasnoyarsk, making Kyiv the first repeat EPB champion.





Other notes: 1B Vait Sherov, P Skerdi Hoxha, and 2B Mher Harutyunyan became the first five-time Gold Glove winners. DH Pavlo Kolesnik became the first five-time Silver Slugger winner.

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