[FuzzyRussianHat]

Starting pitcher Sergei Filatov was the lone inductee in the Eurasian Professional Baseball’s 1977 Hall of Fame Class. Filatov was nearly a unanimous first ballot selection at 99.4%. Two other first ballot players were above 60%, but short of the required 66%. Both were closers with Hryhoriy Boychuk at 60.9% and Zhaksyllyk Sarychev at 60.3%. Four others were above 50% with pitcher Skerdi Hoxha at 57.7% on his seventh ballot, SP Anatoliy Mykhaylenko at 54.6% on his first try, SP Broys Voynov at 54.0% in his first try, and LF Eldar Vdovichenko at 53.1% in his fourth go.



One player was dropped after ten failed ballots with closer Mircea Ioan. His EPB career was only eight years long with a beginning at age 28. With four teams, he had a 1.53 ERA, 219 saves, 845 strikeouts in 506.2 innings, 30.1 WAR, and one Reliever of the Year. With a few more years of accumulations combined with his dominance, Ioan probably would have gotten in. He peaked at 54.5% on his third ballot before plummeting to 15.1% at the end.



Sergei Filatov – Starting Pitcher – Dushanbe Dynamo – 99.4% First Ballot

Sergei Filatov was a 6’2’’, 200 pound left-handed pitcher from Kazan, the capital of Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan. Filatov was a knuckleballer and had incredible movement along with decent control and stuff with 80-83 mph peak velocity from his changeup and curveball. Knuckleballs are incredibly rare and most EPB batters had no clue what to do against Filatov’s knuckler. He also had very good stamina and durability for the majority of his career. Filatov was also a very good defensive pitcher and a team captain with great leadership and work ethic. These factors and his fun knuckleball made him one of the most popular and endearing players in EPB’s first two decades.

When Eurasian Professional Baseball was formed, Filatov was already 26 years old. He had already built up a reputation in the semi-pro ranks with the knuckleball and was highly sought after for the new league. Filatov would be signed by Dushanbe and would spend his first decade in EPB with the Dynamo. He was an immediate success, posting8.9 WAR or better in all of his full seasons with Dushanbe. Filatov had seven seasons worth 10+ WAR with the Dynamo and was the WARlord in the Asian League in six different seasons.

Filatov’s first season earned him Pitcher of the Year and a second place in MVP voting. In 1957, he won both awards, leading the league with a 1.94 ERA and 0.87 WHIP. 1958 saw him place second in Pitcher of the Year and third in MVP voting. In 1959, he won his second Pitcher of the Year with 11.2 WAR. Filatov took second in 1960 and stunningly wouldn’t be a finalist again until 1966 despite leading in WAR three times in that stretch. In 1961, Filatov posted a 14.13 pitching WAR season, second only all-time in EPB history to Taleh Ismailov’s 14.17 in 1956.

Dushanbe was an early Asian League contender led by Filatov, making the playoffs from 1955-60. They were league champs in 1958 and 1960, winning the Soviet Series in 1960. In 125 playoff innings with the Dynamo, Filatov had a 3.24 ERA, 8-7 record, 115 strikeouts, and 3.0 WAR. He was also part of Russia’s national team in the World Baseball Championship from 1955-69, posting an 18-6 record over 246.2 innings, a 2.59 ERA, 277 strikeouts, and 8.2 WAR. In 1956, he pitched 57.2 innings with a 3.12 ERA in helping Russia to its first World Championship.

The Dynamo fell into mediocrity after the 1960 title, but Filatov remained there until summer 1965. He became the second EPB pitcher to 200 career wins. Hoping to rebuild, they traded him at the 1965 deadline for three prospects to Minsk. The Miners had made the playoffs in every EPB season to date and got to the European League final again with Filtaov.

In 1966, Filatov won his fourth Pitcher of the Year award and his second MVP, leading again in WAR while adding career bests in wins (26), ERA (1.85), and innings (301.1) at age 37. This season also had his lone no-hitter, striking out 11 with one walk against Sofia on May 28. The Miners won the Soviet Series with a stellar postseason from Filatov with a 1.44 ERA over 31.1 innings. Fresh off this campaign, Filatov entered free agency and signed a three-year, $446,000 deal with Moscow.

Filatov was third in Pitcher of the Year voting in his Mules debut with his ninth 10+ WAR season, posting 11.9. Moscow would win the European League crown, falling to Bishkek in the Soviet Series. Filatov was a big part of the playoff run again with a 1.53 ERA over 35.1 innings. This was his last amazing season, as the now 39-year old Filatov missed four months of 1968 with forearm inflammation.

Moscow opted to let him go and Filatov went back to Dushanbe for three more seasons. He had limited success and injury issues, but was able to retire with the Dynamo, who would quickly retire his #10 uniform. In total in Dushanbe, he had a 223-149 record, 2.54 ERA, 3709 strikeouts over 3434 innings, and 123.8 WAR. He retired after the 1971 season at age 43.

Filatov’s final career stats: 284-167 record, 2.43 ERA, 4210.2 innings, 4547 strikeouts to 762 walks, 350/479 quality starts, 330 complete games, a FIP- of 58, and 153.1 WAR. At retirement, he was EPB’s all-time WARlord and wins leader, as well as the first to reach 4000 strikeouts. He also retired as the postseason wins and WAR leader among pitchers. At retirement, only five other pitchers in any pro league had compiled 150+ pitching WAR. As of 2037, he’s still second all-time in EPB for pitching WAR, eighth in wins, and 15^th in strikeouts. Any conversation about EPB’s greatest pitcher has Filatov mentioned with his knuckleball receiving mythical status for later generations, especially as the pitch was so incredibly rare full stop in professional baseball. Very few pitchers in later years would even try to use the pitch and almost all were ineffective. Filatov earned the first ballot induction at 99.4% as a legend of the game.