[FuzzyRussianHat]

Defending European Champion Rotterdam set a franchise record in 1973 at 106-56, taking the again strong Northwest Division and earning a seventh consecutive playoff berth. The division also had the wild card contenders with Paris taking it at 96-66, beating Brussels by four games. This gave the Poodles back-to-back wild cards. London snapped a three-year playoff skid by winning the British Isles Division firmly at 96-66. Last year’s winner and conference finalist Birmingham fell off a cliff at 67-95. Meanwhile, Oslo had an impressive climb from 64 wins to 94, taking the North Central Division for the second time in franchise history. They bested Stockholm by four games for the spot. Last year’s division champ Hamburg dropped from 92 wins down to 74.

Although Glasgow was middling, they had an impressive debut season from CF Leon McShane, who won MVP and Rookie of the Year. The 23-year old Northern Irishman was the WARlord (11.3) and led in doubles (39) and stolen bases (96), adding a .292/.337/.499 slash and 108 runs. He was the third in EBF history to win MVP as a rookie. London’s Woody Renner won Pitcher of the Year in only his third season, leading in ERA (1.75) in a season with 20 starts and 39 relief appearances. He had a 5.9 WAR and 227 strikeouts in 195.1 innings.

Oslo stunned Rotterdam in the first round of the playoffs, ousting the powerhouse Ravens in five. Meanwhile London swept Paris, sending the Monarchs to their fourth Northern Conference final appearance. Their only win was in 1953, with defeats in 1960 and 1968. Meanwhile, the Octopi had never gotten that far. The series went all seven games, but London prevailed, breaking the streak of four straight winners out of the Northwest Division.



The top mark in the Southern Conference was Zagreb at 100-62, snapping a five-year playoff drought and giving them the Southeast Division. Vienna, winners of four of the last six conference titles, was close behind at 96-66 and got the wild card. This gave the Vultures nine straight playoff berths, the longest streak in EBF history to date. Zurich ended a seven-year playoff drought by taking the South Central Division at 94-68, 11 better than last year’s champ Milan. Barcelona at 85-77 was just good enough to win the Southwest Division, edging defending champ Madrid and Lisbon both by two. For the Bengals, that also ended a seven-year playoff drought.

MVP went to Zagreb SS Nikolaos Pavlis, his third time winning the award (1967, 69). The 28-year old Greek posted 11.1 WAR with 45 home runs, 97 RBI, 103 runs, and a .301/.361/.577 slash. Zurich’s Jean-Luc Roch won Pitcher of the Year in the first breakout season for a guy many would later consider EBF’s GOAT pitcher. The 22-year old Frenchmen was five short of the single-season strikeout record with 402, adding 10.5 WAR over 258.2 innings with a 1.93 ERA and 20-6 record.

In the first round, both series went all five games. Zagreb survived a strong challenge from Barcelona, while Vienna won at Zurich. It was the third Southern Conference Finals berth for the Gulls, who fell in 1956 and won in 1960. Despite the better regular season record, it was the Vultures who took the series in six games, giving Vienna five conference titles in seven years.



In the 24^th European Championship, London defeated Vienna 4-2, giving the Monarchs their second title (1953). RF Sebastijan Jarc was finals and NCC MVP with the 33-year old Serbian posting 16 hits, 10 runs, 7 home runs, and 13 RBI over 16 playoff games. This ultimately was the end of the run for the Vultures, who went a heartbreaking 0-5 in their finals appearances from 1967-73. The cup wouldn’t return again to England until Birmingham’s 1991 win.



Other notes: Blaise Combes and Sauncho Fiero became the fifth and sixth EBF members of the 2500 hit club. Fiero would jump into the lead soon and become the first 3000 hit player in 1975. LF Paul Daane won his eighth Gold Glove.