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FuzzyRussianHat · 10-15-2023, 05:54 AM

In the Eurasian Professional Baseball European League, St. Petersburg had the top overall record at 102-60. This gave the Polar Bears their third straight North Division title and sixth straight playoff berth, the longest active streak in the EL. Defending league champ Kyiv took the South Division at 94-68 for the fourth time in five years. Prague finished two back at 92-70. The first wild card went to Moscow at 93-69, while the Pilots and Minsk tied for the second spot. The one-game tiebreaker went to the Miners, giving them their 23^rd playoff berth in EPB’s first 25 seasons. The Mules snapped a three-year playoff drought.

EL MVP went to 23-year old Misnk LF Vasili Shi tov. In his breakout year, the right-handed Russian was the leader in WAR (9.1), triples (25), OBP (.375), and OPS (.913). The Miners also had the Pitcher of the Year in veteran Nikita Zubrilin. The 33-year old Belarusian had a 1.86 ERA and 19-8 record over 275.2 innings with 293 strikeouts and 8.4 WAR. Also of note, Budapest’s Svetoslav Angelov became EPB’s first five-time Reliever of the Year winner. He had a 0.40 ERA over 89.2 innings with 162 strikeouts and 7.3 WAR for 30 saves and 40 shutdowns.

In the first round of the playoffs in the European League, Minsk upset St. Petersburg in four games and Kyiv topped Moscow in four. This put familiar foes in the ELCS with the Miners making their 14^th appearance and the Kings their ninth. It was the fifth time they faced each other in the ELCS, although the first since 1965. The 1979 edition went to Kyiv in six games, giving the Kings back-to-back European League titles and their sixth in franchise history.

For only the second time in franchise history, Asagbat earned a playoff spot (1960). The Alphas had the best record in the Asian League South Division at 102-60. Baku at 97-65 got the first wild card and also earned their second-ever playoff berth, having only made it previously in 1956. Dushanbe at 91-71 took the second wild card spot. Almaty dropped to 79-83 and saw their eight-year playoff streak ended. In the North Division, Irkutsk was first at 91-71 for their fourth playoff berth in five years, back after finishing below .500 the prior year. Ulaanbaatar at 90-72 finished both one game short of the division and one game short of the second wild card. Defending Soviet Series champ Chelyabinsk fell to sixth in the division at 76-86.

Asgabat 1B Bartlomiej Tarka won his second MVP in three years. The 26-year old Pole was the leader in hits (216), stolen bases (96), average (.354), OBP (.380), and WAR (9.8). It was the fourth straight season he had the most hits. Ufa’s Maksim Ekstrem was the Pitcher of the Year. The 29-year old right led in ERA (1.66), quality starts (27), complete games (29), FIP- (59), and WAR (10.0), adding 288 innings, 319 strikeouts, and a 19-12 record.

Asgabat cruised to a first round sweep of Dushanbe and Irkutsk bested Baku in four. In the Asian League Championship Series, the Alphas defeated the Ice Cats in a seven-game classic, giving Asgabat its first-ever AL title.

The 25^th Soviet Series saw Asgabat beat Kyiv 4-2, which would be the only time the title would end up in Turkmenistan during the Alphas’ EPB tenure. Kyiv has now dropped back-to-back finals after winning their first four appearances. Catcher Stefan Sanginov was finals MVP with 13 hits, 4 runs, 1 home run, and 3 RBI in 16 playoff starts.

Other notes: The 18^th and 19^th Perfect Games in EPB history came in 1979. On May 21, Minsk’s Nikita Zubrillin did it with eight strikeouts against Kyiv. On August 8, Almaty’s Rolands Karlovskis had six Ks in a perfecto against Tbilisi. Bucharest’s Henryk Konorski had a 28-game hitting streak, two shy of the EPB record of 30. Zaur Kadirov became the third to 600 home runs and the third to 1500 RBI. Novrus Toshev became the fourth batter to 2500 hits. SS Nazar Gogunov and CF Andrei Yevdokimov became nine time Gold Glove winners.

For the 1970s, Eurasian Professional Baseball saw a league batting average around .229 and ERA around 2.97. This was a drop from the around 3.27 ERA and around .244 batting average they had in the 1960s. This put EPB in the low to very low offense range overall, but still had them above OBA, APB, and CLB. EPB’s numbers would continue in the same general range until seeing a bump in the 2010s.

10-15-2023, 05:54 AM	#643
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 3,402	1979 in EPB In the Eurasian Professional Baseball European League, St. Petersburg had the top overall record at 102-60. This gave the Polar Bears their third straight North Division title and sixth straight playoff berth, the longest active streak in the EL. Defending league champ Kyiv took the South Division at 94-68 for the fourth time in five years. Prague finished two back at 92-70. The first wild card went to Moscow at 93-69, while the Pilots and Minsk tied for the second spot. The one-game tiebreaker went to the Miners, giving them their 23^rd playoff berth in EPB’s first 25 seasons. The Mules snapped a three-year playoff drought. EL MVP went to 23-year old Misnk LF Vasili Shi tov. In his breakout year, the right-handed Russian was the leader in WAR (9.1), triples (25), OBP (.375), and OPS (.913). The Miners also had the Pitcher of the Year in veteran Nikita Zubrilin. The 33-year old Belarusian had a 1.86 ERA and 19-8 record over 275.2 innings with 293 strikeouts and 8.4 WAR. Also of note, Budapest’s Svetoslav Angelov became EPB’s first five-time Reliever of the Year winner. He had a 0.40 ERA over 89.2 innings with 162 strikeouts and 7.3 WAR for 30 saves and 40 shutdowns. In the first round of the playoffs in the European League, Minsk upset St. Petersburg in four games and Kyiv topped Moscow in four. This put familiar foes in the ELCS with the Miners making their 14^th appearance and the Kings their ninth. It was the fifth time they faced each other in the ELCS, although the first since 1965. The 1979 edition went to Kyiv in six games, giving the Kings back-to-back European League titles and their sixth in franchise history. For only the second time in franchise history, Asagbat earned a playoff spot (1960). The Alphas had the best record in the Asian League South Division at 102-60. Baku at 97-65 got the first wild card and also earned their second-ever playoff berth, having only made it previously in 1956. Dushanbe at 91-71 took the second wild card spot. Almaty dropped to 79-83 and saw their eight-year playoff streak ended. In the North Division, Irkutsk was first at 91-71 for their fourth playoff berth in five years, back after finishing below .500 the prior year. Ulaanbaatar at 90-72 finished both one game short of the division and one game short of the second wild card. Defending Soviet Series champ Chelyabinsk fell to sixth in the division at 76-86. Asgabat 1B Bartlomiej Tarka won his second MVP in three years. The 26-year old Pole was the leader in hits (216), stolen bases (96), average (.354), OBP (.380), and WAR (9.8). It was the fourth straight season he had the most hits. Ufa’s Maksim Ekstrem was the Pitcher of the Year. The 29-year old right led in ERA (1.66), quality starts (27), complete games (29), FIP- (59), and WAR (10.0), adding 288 innings, 319 strikeouts, and a 19-12 record. Asgabat cruised to a first round sweep of Dushanbe and Irkutsk bested Baku in four. In the Asian League Championship Series, the Alphas defeated the Ice Cats in a seven-game classic, giving Asgabat its first-ever AL title. The 25^th Soviet Series saw Asgabat beat Kyiv 4-2, which would be the only time the title would end up in Turkmenistan during the Alphas’ EPB tenure. Kyiv has now dropped back-to-back finals after winning their first four appearances. Catcher Stefan Sanginov was finals MVP with 13 hits, 4 runs, 1 home run, and 3 RBI in 16 playoff starts. Other notes: The 18^th and 19^th Perfect Games in EPB history came in 1979. On May 21, Minsk’s Nikita Zubrillin did it with eight strikeouts against Kyiv. On August 8, Almaty’s Rolands Karlovskis had six Ks in a perfecto against Tbilisi. Bucharest’s Henryk Konorski had a 28-game hitting streak, two shy of the EPB record of 30. Zaur Kadirov became the third to 600 home runs and the third to 1500 RBI. Novrus Toshev became the fourth batter to 2500 hits. SS Nazar Gogunov and CF Andrei Yevdokimov became nine time Gold Glove winners. For the 1970s, Eurasian Professional Baseball saw a league batting average around .229 and ERA around 2.97. This was a drop from the around 3.27 ERA and around .244 batting average they had in the 1960s. This put EPB in the low to very low offense range overall, but still had them above OBA, APB, and CLB. EPB’s numbers would continue in the same general range until seeing a bump in the 2010s. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports The Level Playing Field: Alternate MLB History From 1884-Onward Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)