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Before the 1991 season, the European Baseball Federation followed the general trend of the other leagues in the Global Baseball Alliance by extending the years of service required for free agency. EBF had been at six years, which was the second lowest behind CABA’s five years. They expanded the limit to seven years, which still wasn’t the most restrictive with a number of leagues up at eight years.



Both Birmingham and Brussels finished 100-62 in 1991, but the #1 seed in the Northern Conference went to the Bees. Birmingham won the British Isles Division after missing the postseason in the prior two years. The Beavers earned back-to-back playoff spots, but it was their first Northwest Division title since 1978. Divisional power Rotterdam was 95-67, taking the wild card by eight games over Amsterdam and Belfast. The Ravens secured a sixth playoff appearance in the last seven years. The North Central Division had Berlin back on top after missing the field the prior year. At 95-67, the Barons picked up their fifth division title in six years. Hamburg, the conference champ last year, limped to a lackluster 75-87.

Birmingham had the top awards with Sean Houston earning his record seventh Northern Conference MVP. It was the final MVP for the 32-year old Scottish right fielder, although he had another six seasons left in his run. Houston led in home runs (58), RBI (148), total bases (417), slugging (.700), and OPS (1.091) while posting 8.0 WAR. It was Houston’s seventh time as the NC home run leader and he crossed both 500 career homers and 2000 hits this season. Teammate Lindsey Brampton won his first of what would be many Pitcher of the Year awards. The 23-year old London native led in ERA (1.78), strikeouts (436), and WHIP (0.87). Brampton added a 19-7 record and 12 saves over 248.1 innings with 9.3 WAR.

In the first round of the playoffs, Birmingham survived in five games against Rotterdam while Brussels bested Berlin 3-1. This was the Bees’ first Northern Conference Championship berth since 1985 and the first for the Beavers since their 1978 title. Birmingham prevailed 4-2 in the final against Brussels to claim only their second-ever NC pennant (1974).



The race for the #1 seed in the Southern Conference was intense between Munich and Lisbon. The Mavericks took it at 108-54, earning an impressive ninth successive Southeast Division title. The Clippers won their second Southwest Division title in three years with their 106-56 mark. Defending European Champion Madrid, the division winner last year, was 87-75. This put them seven games shy of the wild card. In the South Central Division, Munich’s record division title and postseason streak increased to a remarkable 19 seasons. The Mountaineers were 100-62, finishing six ahead of 94-68 Rome. That mark was enough for the Red Wolves to end a 22-year playoff drought dating back to their 1968 EBF title season. The only EBF teams that had a longer active drought were Belfast (1961) and Malta (zero playoff appearances).

Southern Conference MVP was Munich RF Udo Gottschall. The 26-year old German righty won his third Gold Glove and led in stolen bases (122) and batting average (.361). He was only the sixth player in EBF to that point to steal 120+ bases in a season. Gottschall also had 211 hits, 107 runs, 19 home runs, 123 RBI, and 10.2 WAR. Rome’s Tommaso Notti was the Pitcher of the Year in his first full season in the rotation. The 22-year old Italian was their 14^th overall pick in the 1988 EBF Draft and had mostly been used in the bullpen for his first two seasons. Notti broke out to lead in WAR at 8.5 over 281.1 innings with 280 strikeouts, a 22-11 record and 3.20 ERA.

Munich would sweep Rome in the first round while Lisbon ousted Zurich 3-1. This gave the Mavericks their fourth consecutive Southern Conference Championship appearance and set up a rematch of 1989 with the Clippers. Munich had won in 1988, but lost in both 89 and 90. The Mavericks got back to the winner’s circle in 1991, topping Lisbon 4-2. It is the fifth conference pennant for Munich, who also won in 1951, 52, and 1971.



In the 42^nd European Championship, Birmingham won its first-ever overall title with the Bees beating Munich 4-1. NC MVP Sean Houston was also the finals MVP, posting 29 hits, 19 runs, 5 doubles, 9 home runs, and 23 RBI over 16 playoff starts. This set EBF playoff records for HR, RBI and total bases (67). The latter two marks are still all-time bests as of 2037. Led by Houston and Lindsey Brampton’s strikeout prowess, this began an impressive streak of 1990s dominance for Birmingham. It was only the third time an English team was the champ with London’s 1973 and 1953 wins.



Other notes: Lisbon’s Alvin Ospina had a 41-game hitting streak in the late summer, tying the second-longest mark in EBF history. It was still eight away from Rudjer Bosnjak’s all-time mark of 49 in 1960. Jacob Ronnberg became the seventh batter to 600 career home runs. Ronnberg also won his record 13^th Silver Slugger at RF, passing Gabriel Staudt for the most at any position. The adjacent RF Silver Slugger winner was Sean Houston, getting his 10^th. 1B Oliver Michaelsen won his ninth Gold Glove, a record for the position.