[FuzzyRussianHat]

The European League North Division was very top heavy in the 1964 Eurasian Professional Baseball Season. St. Petersburg narrowly came out on top at 105-57, while Moscow (104-58) and Minsk (102-60) earned the wild cards. Kazan finished 101-61, falling just short of the postseason. It is the first division title for the Polar Bears, giving them two playoff appearances in three years. The Mules made it four straight, while the Miners remained the only franchise yet to miss the playoffs in EPB’s first decade. Defending Soviet Series champ Kyiv won the South Division at 93-69, five games better than Bucharest. The Kings earned a third straight playoff berth and eighth in 10 years.

Warsaw finished at 87-75, but boasted the league MVP and Pitcher of the Year. Both went to 24-year old Polish lefty Konstanty Fedoruk, who led the league in wins (26-4) ERA (1.49), inning (302.2), WHIP (0.76), and quality starts (33). He struck out 349 for 12.2 WAR. Fedoruk was just behind Helsinki’s Alvi Tahiri in WAR, as Tahiri set a single-season strikeout record with 418 Ks. This was the peak for Fedoruk sadly, as three torn labrums from 1965-68 put him out of the game before age 30.



The Asian League’s best record went to Yekaterinburg atop the North Division at 102-60. This gave the Yaks their fourth division title. Omsk was second at 98-64 to earn back-to-back playoff berths. Bishkek narrowly claimed back-to-back South Division titles with a 96-66 finish, one better than Tbilisi. The Trains and Ufa finished tied for the final wild card at 95-67 and a one-game playoff went to the Fiends, putting Ufa in the field for back-to-back seasons. Last year’s Asian League winner Almaty had a respectable year, but missed out at 90-72. They would fall hard with only 68 wins in 1965.

Omsk’s Tamkin Gimayev won league MVP in his third full season. The 25-year old Russian outfielder led in hits (184), average (.316), and WAR (9.2), adding 29 home runs. Ufa’s Artur Golub became the third EPB Triple Crown Pitcher, winning Pitcher of the Year as a result. The 26-year old Ukrainian lefty, nicknamed “Bug Eyes”, had a 24-8 record, 1.75 ERA, and 416 strikeouts. He also led in WHIP (0.71) and was second in WAR with 10.4.

Minsk beat St. Petersburg and Kyiv topped Moscow, both in four games in the first round of the playoffs in the European League. The Asian League first round had Ufa upset Yekaterinburg in four and a Bishkek swept of Omsk. The ELCS was the third time that the Miners and Kings had met in the final. Minsk denied Kyiv’s repeat, winning in five. This gave the Miners two titles in three years and four of the first ten in the European League. In the ALCS, Bishkek’s first appearance led to a title. The Black Sox bested the Fiends in six, making Ufa runner-up for back-to-back seasons.



In the 1964 Soviet Series, Bishkek beat Minsk 4-2, sending the title to Kyrgyzstan for the first time. Madiyar Abdiev was Soviet Series MVP and the MVP of the first round. The 35-year old Russian first baseman joined the Black Sox in a midseason trade from Chelyabinsk. The trade paid off, as he had 21 hits, 11 runs, 5 home runs, and 12 RBI in 15 playoff starts.



Other notes: Tbilisi’s Zina Gigolashvili hit 55 home runs, second most in a season to date in EPB. He also owns the record, having hit 56 in 1961. Sergei Filatov and Kirill Edelman became the first EPB pitchers to 3000 career strikeouts. Eldar Vdovichenko became the first batter to score 1000 runs. Ruslan Strembicky won his sixth Gold Glove at third base. Anton Kirilenko won eighth Silver Slugger at second base.