[FuzzyRussianHat]

Defending European League champion Minsk kept their streak alive with a playoff berth in all 11 seasons of Eurasian Professional Baseball to date. After getting in as a wild card last year, the Miners won the North Division in 1965 at 11-51, leading the league in both runs scored (708) and allowed (425). Minsk’s offense drew 578 walks over the season, a single-season record that holds as of 2037. The power was in the North with Moscow (100-62) and Kazan (98-64) getting the wild cards with St. Petersburg (95-67) and Warsaw (94-68) short despite great years. It was the fifth straight playoff berth for the Mules and third in five years for the Crusaders. Kyiv cruised to the South Division title at 94-68, giving them four straight and eight division titles in EPB’s first 11 years.

Minsk featured both the European League MVP and the Pitcher of the Year. MVP went to 2b Ali Alasgarov, who was a big free agent signing for the Miners in the offseason at eight years, $1,390,000. The 26-year old Kazakh switch hitter was the league leader in runs (118), home runs (43), RBI (118), slugging (.656), OPS (1.032), wRC+ (210) and WAR (10.3). Pitcher of the Year was Sebastian Weiss. He joined Minsk in an offseason trade after a decade in Bratislava. The 31-year old Bavarian righty was the wins leader at 23-5, adding a 2.12 ERA over 259.1 innings, 246 strikeouts, and 7.7 WAR.



The best overall record in EPB came from the Asian League with Ufa at 115-47; a franchise record. The Fiends earned a third straight playoff berth and their first North Division title, leading the league in both runs (728) and fewest allowed (427). Defending Soviet Series champ Bishkek claimed the South Division with their own impressive 105-57, giving the Black Sox three straight division titles. Tbilisi at 98-64 and Yekaterinburg at 96-66 earned the wild card with Omsk the first team out at 93-69. It was the first-ever playoff berth for the Trains and back-to-back for the Yaks.

MVP went to Bishkek RF Asif Yakhin in his eighth season with the club. It was a career year for the left-handed Tajik, who led the league in runs (101), slugging (.608), and wRC+ (182), adding 40 home runs and 8.8 WAR. Pitcher of the Year was 26-year old Czech righty Vladimir Hora for Yekaterinburg. In his fourth season with the Yaks, Hora led the league in wins at 25-11, as well as innings (304.1), complete games (28), and shutouts (7). He added a 2.04 ERA, 332 strikeouts, and 8.8 WAR.

In the first round of the playoffs in the European League, Minsk swept Kazan and Kyiv downed Moscow in four games. Both series went all five in the Asian League with Yekaterinburg stunning Ufa and Bishkek outlasting Tbilisi. The ELCS for the fourth time was Miners versus Kings with Kyiv having won in 1959 and Minsk taking it in 1962 and 1964. The Kings evened the series, winning their fourth league title in six games. In the ALCS, the Black Sox made it back-to-back titles, defeating the Yaks 4-2.



The Soviet Series went seven games for the first time in EPB history. Kyiv outlasted Bishkek to deny the repeat, giving the Kings two overall titles in three seasons. Kyiv now has four overall titles to their name, while only Minsk has multiples. Although the Black Sox lost, notably League MVP Asif Yakhin won ALCS and first round MVP, posting 22 hits, 10 runs, 3 home runs, and 9 RBI in18 playoff games for Bishkek.



Other notes: Kazan’s pitching staff had 1755 strikeouts, a new league single-season record. Kirill Ohlobystin hit 54 doubles, second only to Max Sarinyan’s 57 in 1955. 54 remains second all-time in an EPB season as of 2037. Taleh Ismailov and Sergei Filatov became the first EPB pitchers to 200 career wins. Pavlo Kolesnik was the first to earn 1000 RBI and the second to 1000 runs scored. Three others joined him in the 1000 RBI club; Andrei Yakimov, Rodion Zhukov, and Leonid Morozov. Zhukov and Timofei Khrushchev became the first to reach 400 home runs in EPB.