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The EBF Northern Conference saw some shakeups in 1990, most notably with Amsterdam’s dynasty ending. The Anacondas defending European Champs and the conference champ in six of the last seven seasons. They were still a respectable 87-75 in 1990, but this ended their playoff steak at eight seasons. Rotterdam won the Northwest Division at 109-53, bouncing back from only 76 wins the prior season. It is the fifth playoff berth in six years for the Ravens. Brussels was second in the division at 96-66, firmly earning the wild card to snap an eight-year playoff drought.

The only returning playoff team in the Northern Conference was Hamburg, who was the wild card last year. The Hammers finished 97-65 to win the North Central Division, their first division crown since 1979. Berlin, who had won five of the last six division crowns, finished at 89-73, eight off the division title and seven off the wild card. In the British Isles Division, Glasgow took first at 90-72. This put the Highlanders back in the playoffs after back-to-back losing seasons. Belfast was second at 83-79 with Birmingham at 81-81. Dublin, the conference runner-up last year, fell off a cliff and finished 64-98.

Birmingham slugger Sean Houston won his sixth Northern Conference MVP, becoming the first six-time winner in EBF history. The 31-year old Scottish right fielder led in home runs (53), total bases (426), slugging (.741), OPS (1.126), wRC+ (213), and WAR (9.4). Houston added 112 RBI, 108 runs, and a .348 average. Brussels ace Khaled Jabri won his third consecutive Pitcher of the Year. Nicknamed “Tiger,” the 27-year old Dutch lefty was the WARlord (9.4) and leader in complete games (14), and FIP- (57). Jabri added a 3.17 ERA and 19-11 record over 258.2 innings with 353 strikeouts.

Despite having the best record, Rotterdam suffered a first round exit for the fifth straight postseason appearance. The Ravens fell 3-1 to Glasgow, sending the Highlanders to their first Northern Conference Championship since 1981. Hamburg held off Brussels 3-1, giving the Hammers their first berth since winning the pennant in 1979. Hamburg handled Glasgow 4-1 in the NCC to become three-time conference champs, having also won in 1964.



In the Southern Conference, Munich and Zurich continued their division title streaks. The Mavericks had the top overall record at 108-54, taking the Southeast Division for the eighth consecutive season. Meanwhile in the South Central Division, the 97-65 Mountaineers extended their record streak to 18 seasons. This is the longest unbroken playoff streak in professional baseball history to this point with the next highest being Kumasi’s 13-years in West Africa Baseball.

The South Central was a strong division with 90-72 Milan getting their second wild card in three years. Division foe Rome was two behind at 88-74 with both Vienna and defending conference champ Lisbon three back at 87-75. The Southwest Division saw a shakeup with Madrid first at 94-68, snapping a two-year playoff drought. The Clippers were seven back, ending their hopes at a repeat. Marseille’s five-year playoff streak ended as well with the Musketeers at 84-78.

Taking Southern Conference MVP was Madrid LF Rodrigo Vilanova. The 25-year old Portuguese lefty led in total bases (426) and wRC+ (191). He added 10.5 WAR, a .353 average, 45 home runs, and 128 RBI. Munich’s Marlon Hoffman won his fourth Pitcher of the Year in five years. The 32-year old German righty had a conference and career best 24-5 record. Hoffmann posted a 2.48 ERA over 275.2 innings with 288 strikeouts and 8.2 WAR.

Munich mauled Milan with a first round sweep, sending the Mavericks to a third consecutive Southern Conference Championship. Madrid outlasted Zurich 3-2 to give the Conquistadors their third finals berth in five years. It is the seventh time in the Mountaineers’ historic 18-year playoff streak that they were ousted in the first round. The SCC was a seven-game classic with Madrid coming out on top over Munich. It is the fifth pennant for the Conquistadors, who won in 1987 and had a three-peat from 1953-55.



The 41^st European Championship needed all seven games for the first time since 1983. Madrid edged Hamburg for their second EBF title in four years and their third overall (1955). The Hammers are now 0-3 all-time in the championship. Leading the Conquistadors’ efforts was 1B Fredrik Malm, who was conference finals MVP. The 34-year old Norwegian had 15 hits, 8 runs, 3 doubles, 4 home runs, and 11 RBI in 19 playoff starts.




Other notes: At 47-115, Luxembourg posted the worst record in Northern Conference history. There had been a few worse in the Southern Conference with EBF’s all-time worst being Malta’s 42-120 from 1982. Udo Gottschall of Munich scored 140 runs, tied for the third-best season in EBF history. Sean Houston holds the record with 144 in 1984. Birmingham’s Lindsey Brampton struck out 21 against Luxembourg on July 3, tying Ugo Musacci’s single game Ks record from 1970. This was the second season for Brampton, who would go onto have 13 games in his illustrious career with 20+ strikeouts.

Jack Kennedy became the third batter to 700 career home runs. He finished the season with 724, passing Gabriel Staudt’s 701 for second while still being behind the top mark of 795 by Christophoros Zarkadis. Kennedy also became the 11^th batter to 2500 career hits. Jacob Ronnberg became the fourth to 1500 runs scored and Charles-Olivier Mallen became the eighth to 1500 RBI. Wojtek Napierkowski became the sixth to 600 homers. 1B Oiver Michaelsen won his eighth Gold Glove. Ronnberg won his 12^th Silver Slugger in RF in the Southern Conference, which tied Staudt for the most Silver Sluggers at any position in EBF. Sean Houston won his ninth consecutive Silver Slugger in RF for the Northern Conference.