[FuzzyRussianHat]

Defending European Champion Brussels again had the best record in the EBF Northern Conference, although they were far less dominant than the 113 wins from the prior year. The Beavers finished 99-63 atop the Northwest Division for a fourth consecutive playoff berth. Paris was second at 92-70 and narrowly took the wild card for their first playoff spot since 1956. The other division winners both finished 91-71 with Dublin atop the British Isles Division and Berlin winning the North Central. Both won their division by one game with Belfast and Hamburg both just missing at 90-72. The Brewers and Hammers were two games behind the Poodles for the wild card. For the Barons, it is their first playoff appearance since 1958 and the first since 1959 for the Dinos.

Hamburg had the Northern Conference’s MVP and Pitcher of the Year. RF Davey Miquel won his second straight MVP as 27-year old Frenchman was the conference leader in runs (115), home runs (52), RBI (110), walks (121), OBP (.420), slugging (.626), OPS (1.047), and wRC+ (211). Hermann Hoffmann was the Pitcher of the Year with the 26-year old Austrian right-hander leading in innings with 296.2. He had 7.7 WAR, 2.46 ERA, 21-9 record, and 283 strikeouts.



The Southern Conference was also very competitive. Seville and Rome both won divisions at 92-70 with Munich taking the Southeast at 91-71. The Stingrays won the Southwest title by two games over 90-72 Barcelona. It is Seville’s first-ever playoff berth, while the Bengals have their third in four years at the earned the wild card. The Red Wolves grabbed their first-ever playoff berth atop the South Central, snapping Zurich’s four-year streak with the Mountaineers at 88-74. The Mavericks were division champ for the first time since 1957. Athens at 86-76 was their closest competitor. Last year’s SC champ Belgrade struggled to a 76-86 season.
Slugger Gabriel Staudt won his second conference MVP, five years after his first. The 34-year old Swiss righty is in his third year with Zurich, having spent his first nine seasons in Paris. Staudt led the SC in home runs (53), slugging (.664), OBP (1.057), and wRC+ (192), adding 8.9 WAR and 121 RBI. Staudt also became the first EBF hitter to cross 500 career home runs. Pitcher of the Year went to Barcelona’s Saul Bernal. The 29-year old hometown favorite had a 20-10 record, 2.30 ERA, 227 strikeouts in 282.1 innings, and 6.7 WAR. He led the conference with 14 complete games.

In the first round of the European Baseball Federation playoffs, Berlin upset defending champ Brussels in five. On the other side of the Northern Conference, Dublin swept Paris. The Southern Conference had Seville edge Barcelona in five and Rome sweep Munich. In the NCC, the Dinos dropped the Barons in six, giving Dublin its first-ever conference title. In the SCC, the Red Wolves outlasted the Stingrays 4-3 for Rome’s first title. The European Championship went to Dublin in six games over Rome, sending the cup to Ireland for the first time. 1B Charles Day was the series MVP with the 26-year old Scot getting 26 hits in the postseason with six runs, 12 RBI, and a .426 average.





Other notes: The first three EBF players to reach 2000 career hits happened in 1962 with Paolo Gigliotti, Daniel Bosseler, and Gabriel Staudt. Staudt won his record ninth Silver Slugger while Gigliotti won his seventh. Pietro Ribsi became the first pitcher to 3500 strikeouts.