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FuzzyRussianHat · 07-15-2023, 06:16 AM

Eurasian Professional Baseball didn’t look much different at the top in 1966 as it did the prior year. All four European League teams earned repeat playoff berths with a five-year streak for Kyiv, six-year streak for Moscow, and twelve-year streak for Minsk. The Mules had the best overall record at 106-56 atop the North Division with wild cards for the Miners (101-61) and Kazan (95-67). The Crusaders pitching staff set a league record with 1829 strikeouts, still the EPB all-time mark as of 2037. Helsinki at 92-70 had the misfortune of missing out in their tough division. The South Division title went to defending Soviet Series champ Kyiv at 92-70, who beat out Tirana by three games and both Budapest and Prague by five.

Minsk acquired longtime Dushanbe ace Sergei Filatov in a trade the prior summer and he earned European League MVP and Pitcher of the Yea in 1966. The 37-year old became a four-time Pitcher of the Year winner and two-time MVP. The lefty was the leader in wins at 26-7 and led in innings pitched (301.1), quality starts (29), complete games (22), shutouts (8), and WAR (10.8). He would leave for Moscow the next season, but with the Miners, Filatov became the first EPB pitcher to 3500 career strikeouts. He also threw the only no-hitter of his illustrious career in 1966, striking out 11 with one walk on May 28 against Sofia. Also of note in the EL was Kyiv’s Hryhoriy Boychuk becoming the second EPB closer to win three Reliever of the Year awards. The 33-year old lefty had a 0.75 ERA in 84.1 innings with 142 strikeouts and 38 saves.

The Asian League was historically top heavy with the two highest win totals in AL history both in 1966. After missing the playoffs narrowly last year, Omsk took the North Division at 120-42, leading in both runs scored (765) and runs allowed (417). The Otters allowed a league-record 1040 hits, which held as the best mark for 30 years. They also had a league-record 0.861 team WHIP. Meanwhile in the South Division, defending league champ Bishkek improved on their recent success with a 119-43 mark, earning a fifth straight playoff berth. As of 2037, these are still the top two winningest seasons in AL history and third/fourth for the entire EPB (Minsk in 1957 was 123-39, Warsaw was 122-40 in 1955).

Overshadowed was Ufa, who followed up a 115-win 1965 with a 110-52 1966 to take the first wild card. It was the fourth straight playoff berth for the Fiends. There was a huge gap to the second wild card spot with three teams just above .500. Yekaterinburg and Baku tied at 84-78 with Ulaanbaatar just one game behind. In a one-game playoff, the Yaks ultimately earned a third straight playoff appearance.

Omsk righty Arutyun Lezjov won both MVP and Pitcher of the Year for the Asian League; his first of the former and second of the latter. He was the wins leader at 25-5 and led in ERA (1.48), WHIP (0.73), quality starts (28), FIP- (40), shutouts (8), and WAR (13.1). The ERA mark was the EPB single-season record and the WAR was the fifth-best season for an EPB pitcher to that point. He also had 344 strikeouts over 280.1 innings and 24 complete games.

In the European League first round of the playoffs, Kazan stunned Moscow with a road sweep and Minsk outlasted Kyiv 3-2. In the ELCS, the Miners edged the Crusaders in a seven-game classic, giving Minsk five league titles in EPB’s first 12 seasons. In the Asian League, Omsk cruised to a sweep of Yekaterinburg and Bishkek downed Ufa in four. The ALCS was an all-timer with a combined 239 wins between the two teams. The Otters denied the Black Sox their three-peat win in a seven-game thriller, giving Omsk its first league title.

After two seven-game battles in the LCS round, the 1966 Soviet Series ended up being a dud. Minsk swept Omsk to give the Miners their third EPB title. It was the second sweep in finals history, joining Minsk’s last title in 1962 when they rolled Chelyabinsk. RF Mikhail Musayev was the postseason star after the 31-year old joined the Miners in a midseason trade from Krasnoyarsk. He won both ELCS and Soviet Series MVP, posting 17 hits, 9 runs, 5 home runs, and 13 RBI in 16 playoff starts.

Other notes: Artur Golub became the first EPB pitcher to record three no-hitters in a career. The Ufa ace’s third came with 14 strikeouts against Irkutsk. Kirill Edelman reached 3500 strikeouts, the second pitcher to do after Sergei Filatov did it four weeks earlier. Edelman and Henri Gevorgyan both earned their 200^th win, joining Filatov and Taleh Ismailov as the only ones to do so thus far. Pavlo Kolesnik became the first EPB batter to 2000 career hits. Corin Dragomir and Andrei Yakimov made it four EPB hitters with 400 career home runs. 2B Anton Kirilenko won his eighth and final Silver Slugger; the second EPB player to get to eight.

07-15-2023, 06:16 AM	#413
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,613	1966 in EPB Eurasian Professional Baseball didn’t look much different at the top in 1966 as it did the prior year. All four European League teams earned repeat playoff berths with a five-year streak for Kyiv, six-year streak for Moscow, and twelve-year streak for Minsk. The Mules had the best overall record at 106-56 atop the North Division with wild cards for the Miners (101-61) and Kazan (95-67). The Crusaders pitching staff set a league record with 1829 strikeouts, still the EPB all-time mark as of 2037. Helsinki at 92-70 had the misfortune of missing out in their tough division. The South Division title went to defending Soviet Series champ Kyiv at 92-70, who beat out Tirana by three games and both Budapest and Prague by five. Minsk acquired longtime Dushanbe ace Sergei Filatov in a trade the prior summer and he earned European League MVP and Pitcher of the Yea in 1966. The 37-year old became a four-time Pitcher of the Year winner and two-time MVP. The lefty was the leader in wins at 26-7 and led in innings pitched (301.1), quality starts (29), complete games (22), shutouts (8), and WAR (10.8). He would leave for Moscow the next season, but with the Miners, Filatov became the first EPB pitcher to 3500 career strikeouts. He also threw the only no-hitter of his illustrious career in 1966, striking out 11 with one walk on May 28 against Sofia. Also of note in the EL was Kyiv’s Hryhoriy Boychuk becoming the second EPB closer to win three Reliever of the Year awards. The 33-year old lefty had a 0.75 ERA in 84.1 innings with 142 strikeouts and 38 saves. The Asian League was historically top heavy with the two highest win totals in AL history both in 1966. After missing the playoffs narrowly last year, Omsk took the North Division at 120-42, leading in both runs scored (765) and runs allowed (417). The Otters allowed a league-record 1040 hits, which held as the best mark for 30 years. They also had a league-record 0.861 team WHIP. Meanwhile in the South Division, defending league champ Bishkek improved on their recent success with a 119-43 mark, earning a fifth straight playoff berth. As of 2037, these are still the top two winningest seasons in AL history and third/fourth for the entire EPB (Minsk in 1957 was 123-39, Warsaw was 122-40 in 1955). Overshadowed was Ufa, who followed up a 115-win 1965 with a 110-52 1966 to take the first wild card. It was the fourth straight playoff berth for the Fiends. There was a huge gap to the second wild card spot with three teams just above .500. Yekaterinburg and Baku tied at 84-78 with Ulaanbaatar just one game behind. In a one-game playoff, the Yaks ultimately earned a third straight playoff appearance. Omsk righty Arutyun Lezjov won both MVP and Pitcher of the Year for the Asian League; his first of the former and second of the latter. He was the wins leader at 25-5 and led in ERA (1.48), WHIP (0.73), quality starts (28), FIP- (40), shutouts (8), and WAR (13.1). The ERA mark was the EPB single-season record and the WAR was the fifth-best season for an EPB pitcher to that point. He also had 344 strikeouts over 280.1 innings and 24 complete games. In the European League first round of the playoffs, Kazan stunned Moscow with a road sweep and Minsk outlasted Kyiv 3-2. In the ELCS, the Miners edged the Crusaders in a seven-game classic, giving Minsk five league titles in EPB’s first 12 seasons. In the Asian League, Omsk cruised to a sweep of Yekaterinburg and Bishkek downed Ufa in four. The ALCS was an all-timer with a combined 239 wins between the two teams. The Otters denied the Black Sox their three-peat win in a seven-game thriller, giving Omsk its first league title. After two seven-game battles in the LCS round, the 1966 Soviet Series ended up being a dud. Minsk swept Omsk to give the Miners their third EPB title. It was the second sweep in finals history, joining Minsk’s last title in 1962 when they rolled Chelyabinsk. RF Mikhail Musayev was the postseason star after the 31-year old joined the Miners in a midseason trade from Krasnoyarsk. He won both ELCS and Soviet Series MVP, posting 17 hits, 9 runs, 5 home runs, and 13 RBI in 16 playoff starts. Other notes: Artur Golub became the first EPB pitcher to record three no-hitters in a career. The Ufa ace’s third came with 14 strikeouts against Irkutsk. Kirill Edelman reached 3500 strikeouts, the second pitcher to do after Sergei Filatov did it four weeks earlier. Edelman and Henri Gevorgyan both earned their 200^th win, joining Filatov and Taleh Ismailov as the only ones to do so thus far. Pavlo Kolesnik became the first EPB batter to 2000 career hits. Corin Dragomir and Andrei Yakimov made it four EPB hitters with 400 career home runs. 2B Anton Kirilenko won his eighth and final Silver Slugger; the second EPB player to get to eight. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)