[FuzzyRussianHat]

Eurasian Professional Baseball came close to having back-to-back years with no Hall of Fame inductees. Closer Maksym Badlo barely crossed the threshold of 66% to get in as the lone 1995 inductee. On his second ballot, Badlo had a nice 69%. LF Emin Ismayilov barely missed joining him with 64.9% for his fifth ballot. Three others were above 50% with 1B Bartlomiej Tarka at 55.6% on his sixth attempt, SP Yevhen Selin at 55.2% for his second go, and 1B Ilkin Hasanov at 53.4% for his third ballot. The best debuting player was SS Maksim Shantanov at only 40.3%.



Dropped after ten ballots was closer Marius Patrascu, who had a 16-year career between EPB and MLB. He won Reliever of the Year twice in EPB and posted 302 saves, a 1.72 ERA, 895 innings, 1363 strikeouts, and 39.8 WAR. He actually had more saves than Badlo who got in in 1995 and might have made the cut had he stayed a few more years in EPB. Patrascu peaked at 54.0% on his second ballot and ended at 39.9%.

Another reliever fell off after ten ballots in Artur Granovsky. He was basically Patrascu with a slightly weaker resume, playing 15 years between EPB and MLB and also getting two Reliever of the Year awards. Granovsky had 257 saves, 1.62 ERA, 699 innings, 1096 strikeouts, and 29.3 WAR. He got as high as 45.1% on his second ballot, but plummeted to only 7.8% by the end.



Maksym Badlo – Closer – Kharkiv Killer Bees – 69.0% Second Ballot

Maksym Badlo was a 5’9’’, 180 pound left-handed relief pitcher from Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. He had terrific stuff with a fastball/splitter combo with 96-98 mph velocity. It was difficult for batters to know which pitch was witch. Badlo had above average control with decent movement as well. He was a smart pitcher and knew when to pick his spots.

It was fairly clear that Badlo lacked the stamina or a deep enough arsenal to be a starting pitcher regularly. This cost him some attention as a prospect, but he was still known in Ukraine for having electric stuff. In the second round of the 1978 EPB Draft, Kharkiv picked Badlo with the 54th overall pick. Badlo was immediately a regularly used reliever as a rookie and took over the closer role by his second season. He would also make some starts for Ukraine in the World Baseball Championship. From 1980-93, he had 40 WBC appearances and 19 starts with a 10-9 record, 8 saves, 132.1 innings, 216 strikeouts, and 4.1 WAR.

In only his second season, Badlo emerged as the Reliever of the Year winner with 39 saves, a 0.54 ERA over 100.2 innings, and 6.4 WAR. This also earned him a third place in Pitcher of the Year voting. He was flawless in the Killer Bees’ playoff run, tossing 16 scoreless innings with six saves and 24 strikeouts. That was critical in Kharkiv earning their first-ever EPB Championship and forever earned Badlo a fond spot in the hearts of Killer Bees fans.

Kharkiv regularly competed in the early 1980s with four more playoff appearances and two more ELCS berths, although they wouldn’t get back to the final. Badlo remained excellent in the playoffs with a 0.53 ERA over 33.2 innings with 60 strikeouts. He won Reliever of the Year again in 1982, 83, and 86. Baldo was also third in 1983 Pitcher of the Year voting. He joined Hryhoriy Boychuk as EPB’s only four-time winners of Reliever of the Year. His 1983 was also notable with 103 innings, 40 saves, 193 strikeouts, and 8.3 WAR. The 8.3 WAR as of 2037 is the highest total in a season by any Reliever of the Year winner. He notably had a 42 game scorless streak from July 1985 to June 1986 and had a 35 inning scoreless streak in 1982.

Badlo finished 1987 with a second place in Reliever of the Year voting. At age 32, he became a free agent for the first time and had numerous big money offers. Badlo opted to leave Ukraine and signed a three-year, $4,920,000 deal with MLB’s Calgary. He would never be a full-time closer in his MLB run, usually stuck to a setup or back-end role. Badlo was decently effective in the small sample size, but just never seemed to catch on like he did with Kharkiv.

Calgary cut him early in the 1989 season and he then signed with Denver. His playoff excellence shined through in his one year with the Dragons, tossing 12 scoreless innings with 5 saves and 11 strikeouts. Badlo’s production helped Denver take the 1989 World Series. It would be his last time making it to the playoffs. Badlo played in 1990-91 with Tampa and 1992 with Nashville. Ottawa signed him in 1993, but cut him at the end of spring training. Badlo joined Cincinnati in April and retired that winter at age 38. For his MLB run, he had a 2.72 ERA over 235.1 innings with 205 strikeouts and 5.1 WAR.

For his EPB and Kharkiv run, Badlo had 277 saves and 337 shutdowns, 1.12 ERA, 712 innings, 1167 strikeouts to 141 walks, 20 FIP-, and 46.4 WAR. 300 saves wasn’t a hard barrier with EPB’s voters, but leaving for MLB and not upping the accumulations hurt him with many voters. However, Badlo’s 1.12 ERA as of 2037 is the lowest of any Hall of Fame inductee. His clutch playoff performances also had to be considered, even if his EPB tenure was only nine seasons. Badlo missed the cut barely with 65.6% in 1994, 1995 again had no big stars debuting, which allowed him win over just enough voters to cross the line at 69.0%. Thus, Badlo is the lone addition into the EPB Hall of Fame in 1995.