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FuzzyRussianHat · 01-12-2024, 06:25 AM

Bucharest had an impressive bounce back in 1989 after seeing their playoff streak end the prior year with a 75-87 season. They ended up dead even with Kyiv at 101-61 for both the top mark in the European League’s South Division and the best record in the EL. In a one-game playoff, the Broncos bested the Kings to take the #1 seed. It was Bucharest’s seventh playoff berth of the 1980s and the ninth for Kyiv. In the North Division, Warsaw earned back-to-back division titles, getting first at 99-63. The defending Soviet Series champ Minsk was two back at 97-65 to get the second wild card and extend their playoff streak to nine years. St. Petersburg was in the mix at 93-69, but ultimately four back of the playoffs. Moscow, a conference finalist the prior season, plummeted from 93 wins to only 69.

European League MVP went to Warsaw LF Mahammad Tagiyev. Nicknamed “Mole,” the 26-year old Ukrainian lefty led the league in runs (87), slugging (.543), OBP (.887), wRC+ (182), and WAR (7.9). He added a .297 average, 28 home runs, and strong defense. Pitcher of the Year was Bucharest’s Artem Nurov, who had won the award in the Pakistan League with Multan in 1985. After leaving ABF and going unsigned in 1988, the 33-year old Azeri lefty joined the Broncos for 1989 and led the league in wins at 21-6. He added a 1.82 ERA over 262 innings with 264 strikeouts and 7.3 WAR.

Minsk upset Bucharest 3-0 in the first round while Warsaw dropped Kyiv 3-1. This set up a rematch between the division rivals of the 1985 European League Championship Series. The Wildcats were 1-4 historically in the ELCS, while the defending champ Miners were 9-10. Despite being on the road, Minsk took the series 4-1 for the EL title repeat and their fourth pennant of the 1980s. By getting their 10^th title, the Miners matched Kyiv for the most pennants of any EPB team.

Defending Asian League champion Novosibirsk improved upon their record from the prior year to take the North Division at 107-55. The Nitros did it despite both wild cards firmly coming from their division with Omsk at 96-66 and Yekaterinburg at 94-68. Both the Otters and Yaks had missed the playoffs in 1988 after having gotten in the field from 1985-87. Last year’s wild cards fell off with Krasnoyarsk going from 97 to 81 wins and Ufa getting the big oof from 95 to 63 wins. In the South Division, Biskhek was first at 103-59 for a third consecutive division title and their eighth playoff berth of the 1980s. Their closest competitor was Almaty at 88-74, a distant 15 games from the division title and six games from the second wild card.

Novosibirsk two-way star Igor Bury won Asian League MVP for the third time and narrowly missed winning a fifth Pitcher of the Year. On the mound,, the 29-year old led in strikeouts for the fifth straight season (403) and posted a 1.94 ERA and 17-8 record over 282.2 innings with 10.5 WAR. On top of that, he added 4.1 WAR playing 89 games in left field with a 173 wRC+, 104 hits, 48 runs, 22 home runs, and a .296/.320/.553 slash. Edging him out for Pitcher of the Year was Bishkek’s Fredi Tamasi. The 31-year old Hungarian righty led in ERA (1.75), innings (307), WHIP (0.78), K/BB (14.3), quality starts (31), and shutouts (6). Tamasi added a 21-11 record, 357 strikeouts, and 10.5 WAR, along with a no-hitter in July against Omsk that had 14 strikeouts and one walk.

Yekaterinburg upset Novosibirsk 3-2 in the first round, while Bishkek outlasted Omsk in five. This gave the Yaks their second Asian League Championship Series appearance in four years and seventh all-time, while the Black Sox were making their seventh ALCS of the 1980s. Yekaterinburg got revenge for their 1986 ALCS defeat in a seven-game classic over Bishkek. This was the fourth pennant for the Yaks, who were the inaugural winner in 1955 along with the 1968 and 1970 AL champ.

The 35^th Soviet Series was a rematch of the very first one in 1955, which had seen Yekaterinburg beat Minsk in six games. The Yaks would prevail again, denying the Miners repeat bid in a seven game thriller. Finals MVP was veteran CF Adam Pichardo, 34-year old Mexican player in his fourth year in Russia that made only 54 starts in 1989. In 19 playoff games, he had 19 hits, 8 runs, 2 home runs, 5 RBI, and 11 stolen bases. The Yaks also had a stellar postseason from closer Nodar “Biceps” Zarqua. The 29-year old Georgian had six saves and a 0.00 ERA over 18.1 playoff innings with 31 strikeouts, four this, one unearned run, and seven walks allowed. He holds EPB playoff records for H/9 (1.96), opponent average (.074), and opponent slugging (also .074). Yekaterinburg is now a three-time champ (1955, 1970, 1989) and snapped a six-year title drought for Asian League teams.

Other notes: On May 23, Vilnius’s Dana Bancu tossed EPB’s 26^th perfect game with 19 strikeouts against Minsk. This tied the EPB record for most strikeouts in any no-hitter and tied the world record for most Ks in a perfect game, which had amazingly been set only one day earlier in Indonesia by Bandung’s Vhon Lasam. EPB would see its 27^th perfect game only two weeks later when Kyiv’s Artem Makarevich fanned 15 against St. Petersburg on June 5. Darian Tasos became the sixth batter to 1500 career RBI and the 16^th to 2500 hits. He’d play two more seasons and end with 1660 RBI, third on the leaderboard at retirement and only 42 shy of Konrad Mazur’s 1702 top mark.

For the 1980s, Eurasian Professional Baseball was considered a low offense environment, although still higher than the very low numbers of APB or CLB. EPB saw a league ERA of around 2.95 and batting average around .288. The environment would look much the same over the next 20 years with a slight bump after.

01-12-2024, 06:25 AM	#872
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 3,173	1989 in EPB Bucharest had an impressive bounce back in 1989 after seeing their playoff streak end the prior year with a 75-87 season. They ended up dead even with Kyiv at 101-61 for both the top mark in the European League’s South Division and the best record in the EL. In a one-game playoff, the Broncos bested the Kings to take the #1 seed. It was Bucharest’s seventh playoff berth of the 1980s and the ninth for Kyiv. In the North Division, Warsaw earned back-to-back division titles, getting first at 99-63. The defending Soviet Series champ Minsk was two back at 97-65 to get the second wild card and extend their playoff streak to nine years. St. Petersburg was in the mix at 93-69, but ultimately four back of the playoffs. Moscow, a conference finalist the prior season, plummeted from 93 wins to only 69. European League MVP went to Warsaw LF Mahammad Tagiyev. Nicknamed “Mole,” the 26-year old Ukrainian lefty led the league in runs (87), slugging (.543), OBP (.887), wRC+ (182), and WAR (7.9). He added a .297 average, 28 home runs, and strong defense. Pitcher of the Year was Bucharest’s Artem Nurov, who had won the award in the Pakistan League with Multan in 1985. After leaving ABF and going unsigned in 1988, the 33-year old Azeri lefty joined the Broncos for 1989 and led the league in wins at 21-6. He added a 1.82 ERA over 262 innings with 264 strikeouts and 7.3 WAR. Minsk upset Bucharest 3-0 in the first round while Warsaw dropped Kyiv 3-1. This set up a rematch between the division rivals of the 1985 European League Championship Series. The Wildcats were 1-4 historically in the ELCS, while the defending champ Miners were 9-10. Despite being on the road, Minsk took the series 4-1 for the EL title repeat and their fourth pennant of the 1980s. By getting their 10^th title, the Miners matched Kyiv for the most pennants of any EPB team. Defending Asian League champion Novosibirsk improved upon their record from the prior year to take the North Division at 107-55. The Nitros did it despite both wild cards firmly coming from their division with Omsk at 96-66 and Yekaterinburg at 94-68. Both the Otters and Yaks had missed the playoffs in 1988 after having gotten in the field from 1985-87. Last year’s wild cards fell off with Krasnoyarsk going from 97 to 81 wins and Ufa getting the big oof from 95 to 63 wins. In the South Division, Biskhek was first at 103-59 for a third consecutive division title and their eighth playoff berth of the 1980s. Their closest competitor was Almaty at 88-74, a distant 15 games from the division title and six games from the second wild card. Novosibirsk two-way star Igor Bury won Asian League MVP for the third time and narrowly missed winning a fifth Pitcher of the Year. On the mound,, the 29-year old led in strikeouts for the fifth straight season (403) and posted a 1.94 ERA and 17-8 record over 282.2 innings with 10.5 WAR. On top of that, he added 4.1 WAR playing 89 games in left field with a 173 wRC+, 104 hits, 48 runs, 22 home runs, and a .296/.320/.553 slash. Edging him out for Pitcher of the Year was Bishkek’s Fredi Tamasi. The 31-year old Hungarian righty led in ERA (1.75), innings (307), WHIP (0.78), K/BB (14.3), quality starts (31), and shutouts (6). Tamasi added a 21-11 record, 357 strikeouts, and 10.5 WAR, along with a no-hitter in July against Omsk that had 14 strikeouts and one walk. Yekaterinburg upset Novosibirsk 3-2 in the first round, while Bishkek outlasted Omsk in five. This gave the Yaks their second Asian League Championship Series appearance in four years and seventh all-time, while the Black Sox were making their seventh ALCS of the 1980s. Yekaterinburg got revenge for their 1986 ALCS defeat in a seven-game classic over Bishkek. This was the fourth pennant for the Yaks, who were the inaugural winner in 1955 along with the 1968 and 1970 AL champ. The 35^th Soviet Series was a rematch of the very first one in 1955, which had seen Yekaterinburg beat Minsk in six games. The Yaks would prevail again, denying the Miners repeat bid in a seven game thriller. Finals MVP was veteran CF Adam Pichardo, 34-year old Mexican player in his fourth year in Russia that made only 54 starts in 1989. In 19 playoff games, he had 19 hits, 8 runs, 2 home runs, 5 RBI, and 11 stolen bases. The Yaks also had a stellar postseason from closer Nodar “Biceps” Zarqua. The 29-year old Georgian had six saves and a 0.00 ERA over 18.1 playoff innings with 31 strikeouts, four this, one unearned run, and seven walks allowed. He holds EPB playoff records for H/9 (1.96), opponent average (.074), and opponent slugging (also .074). Yekaterinburg is now a three-time champ (1955, 1970, 1989) and snapped a six-year title drought for Asian League teams. Other notes: On May 23, Vilnius’s Dana Bancu tossed EPB’s 26^th perfect game with 19 strikeouts against Minsk. This tied the EPB record for most strikeouts in any no-hitter and tied the world record for most Ks in a perfect game, which had amazingly been set only one day earlier in Indonesia by Bandung’s Vhon Lasam. EPB would see its 27^th perfect game only two weeks later when Kyiv’s Artem Makarevich fanned 15 against St. Petersburg on June 5. Darian Tasos became the sixth batter to 1500 career RBI and the 16^th to 2500 hits. He’d play two more seasons and end with 1660 RBI, third on the leaderboard at retirement and only 42 shy of Konrad Mazur’s 1702 top mark. For the 1980s, Eurasian Professional Baseball was considered a low offense environment, although still higher than the very low numbers of APB or CLB. EPB saw a league ERA of around 2.95 and batting average around .288. The environment would look much the same over the next 20 years with a slight bump after. __________________ 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)