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FuzzyRussianHat · 03-25-2024, 10:07 AM

1998’s Eurasian Professional Baseball Hall of Fame class featured three inductees, each taking very different paths to their spot. The lone slam dunk was pitcher Andrey Fisyuk with a debut at 98.0%. Fellow pitcher Maksim Ekstrem finally crossed the finish line with 75.4% on his tenth and final opportunity. 1B Vyacheslav Afonin rounded out the group at 67.7% in his second ballot, narrowly breaching the 66% requirement. The only other player above 50% was SP Maxim Aivazyan at 54.9% in his third go.

Dropped after ten attempts was SS Daurenbek Zeynalov, who had a 20 year career between seven teams. He won MVP once and had two Silver Sluggers, finishing with 2711 hits, 1148 runs 453 doubles, 361 triples, 178 home runs, 1018 RBI, a .269/.300/.438 slash, 126 wRC+, and 94.5 WAR. Zenynalov retired as EPB’s triples king, a distinction he still holds as of 2037. He also won a title in 1975 with St. Petersburg. However, he didn’t dominate leaderboards outside of triples and for whatever reason, didn’t get much traction. Zeynalov peaked at 37.4% on his second ballot before ending at 7.4%. He’s still 17^th in offensive WAR as of 2037, but the EPB voters proved stingy yet again.

SP Oleg Yaremchuk also made it ten ballots before being dropped, although he was far less of a snub. In 16 seasons, he had a 198-213 record, 2.95 ERA, 3825.2 innings, 3675 strikeouts, 212 complete games, 100 ERA+, and 63.4 WAR. The advanced stats suggested sustained averageness for him while also being overlooked due to stints with bad teams. He still got as high as 31.9% on the 1990 ballot before ending at 5.4%.

Andrey Fisyuk – Starting Pitcher – Omsk Otters – 98.0% First Ballot

Andrey Fisyuk was a 6’5’’ 200 pound left-handed pitcher from Baranovichi, Belarus, a city of around 172,000 in the southwestern Brest Region. He was a hard thrower with very good stuff and movement, but below average control. Fisyuk had 99-101 mph peak velocity with his best pitch being an excellent screwball. He also had a good slider and sinker, plus a rarely used changeup. Fisyuk didn’t go the distance as often as most other EPB Hall of Famers, but he was incredibly durable and gave you 200+ innings reliably.

Fisyuk was spotted at a camp by a scout from Omsk, who signed him as a teenager in January 1971 and brought him from Belarus to Siberia. He spent five years in development for Omsk, finally making his debut in 1976 at age 21. Fisyuk was a part-time starter and had some growing pains initially. He was moved to the full-time rotation the next year and looked solid, even throwing a no-hitter against Tashkent on July 12 with 11 strikeouts and one walk. It was his first of 13 straight seasons with 300+ strikeouts.

In 1978, he led the Asian League with a career best 356 strikeouts. This was Fisyuk’s only time leading in strikeouts. He also led with 8.9 WAR, taking third in Pitcher of the Year voting. Fisyuk never won the top honor, but was third again in 1979 and 1980, then second in both 1985 and 1987. He was a bright light for an Omsk franchise that didn’t make the playoffs once from 1972-84. Fisyuk was also well respected in his native Belarus, pitching for his country from 1977-91 in the World Baseball Championship. He had 183 WBC innings with a 12-6 record, 2.66 ERA, 249 strikeouts, 140 ERA+, and 5.3 WAR.

After the 1979 season, Fisyuk signed a six-year contract extension worth $1,508,000. He would add another four years for $3,160,000 after the 1984 campaign. Fisyuk seemed to improve in his 30s, leading in ERA for the only time in 1985 at 1.52. He had 12 straight seasons worth 7+ WAR, but posted three worth 9+ in his final three seasons with the Otters, including a career and league-best 10.9 in 1989. 1987 also featured a second no-hitter, coming on May 4 with 11 strikeouts versus Irkutsk.

Omsk finally found success in the mid 1980s, making the playoffs four times from 1985-89. The Otters were Asian League champs in 1985 and 1987, although both times they lost in the Soviet Series. Fisyuk was great in the 1987 run with a 1.86 ERA over four starts, but his career playoff numbers were unremarkable with a 3-7 record, 3.47 ERA, 85 ERA+, and 96 strikeouts in 80.1 innings. Still, he was popular with Otters fans and recognized as a big reason they returned to relevance. His #8 uniform would get retired once his professional career was over.

Fisyuk’s time in Omsk ended with the 1989 season, becoming a free agent for the first time at age 35. With the Soviet Union beginning to disintegrate, Fisyuk jumped at the chance to head to the United States and MLB. Dallas signed him to a three-year, $4,660,000 contract. Oddly enough, the Dalmatians cut him after only four starts. Fisyuk finished the season in Omaha as a part-time starter with okay results.

A free agent again at age 36, San Francisco gave him a one –year deal. However, Fisyuk was subpar as a part-time starter. For his brief MLB run, he had a 3.43 ERA over 278.1 innings, 175 strikeouts, 111 ERA+, and 1.4 WAR. Fisyuk returned to EPB for one final season, signing with Yekaterinburg. He was a full-time starter for the Yaks and ate innings. But he was no longer elite. Fisyuk did become the seventh pitcher to reach 4500 career strikeouts in EPB in this return. He would retire in the winter at age 38.

For his EPB tenure, Fisyuk had a 227-136 record, 2.21 ERA, 3726.2 innings, 4667 strikeouts, 901 walks, 368/480 quality starts, 132 ERA+, 67 FIP-, and 111.6 WAR. At induction, he was seventh all-time in EPB pitching WAR and still sits 11^th as of 2037. Despite never winning Pitcher of the Year in his career, Fisyuk was consistently one of the finest pitchers in Russian baseball in the 1980s. He earned a no-doubt induction at 98.0% to lead the 1998 EPB Hall of Fame class.

Maksim “Toxin” Ekstrem – Starting Pitcher – 75.4% Tenth Ballot

Maksim Ekstrem was a 6’0’’, 205 pound right-handed pitcher from St. Petersburg, Russia. Ekstrem was known for having solid stuff and movement along with above average control. His velocity peaked in the 97-99 mph range with an arsenal of fastball, slider, changeup, and splitter. Ekstrem also had excellent stamina, regularly sitting towards the top of the complete games list. He was also viewed as a strong defensive pitcher. Ekstrem was considered a team captain with great loyalty and leadership skills, becoming very respected in the clubhouse.

Ekstrem had an excellent amateur career and had a lot of exposure being in a major city like St. Petersburg. In the 1972 EPB Draft, he was the #1 overall pick by Ufa. The Fiends had just finished 59-103 in the prior season and would be even worse in 1973 at 57-105. Ekstrem led the Asian League in losses as a full-time starter and also led in walks. He also led for the first of four seasons in complete games.

In his second season, Ekstrem was more firmly Ufa’s ace. He won Pitcher of the Year in both 1979 and 1980, leading in ERA in 1979 at 1.66. He was the WARlod both seasons at 10.0 and 9.9 respectively. His 1977 actually saw a career best 11.3 WAR and 367 strikeouts, although he didn’t get any awards consideration. In 1978, Ekstrem had 15 strikeouts in a no-hitter on August 25 against Tbilisi. Ekstrem garnered nationwide respect playing for Russia from 1975-84 in the World Baseball Championship. He posted a 3.69 ERA over 156 innings with 185 strikeouts and 4.5 WAR.

Ufa signed Ekstrem to a five-year, $1,444,000 contract extension in April 1978. He stayed loyal to the Fiends and wanted to see them succeed, but they were generally abysmal during his tenure. They only had two winning seasons during Ekstrem’s run with the best being 84 wins in 1982. After seeing dominance in the prior few seasons, Ekstrem’s first issue with injuries came with forearm inflammation in 1981 costing him half the season. He bounced back with a very respectable 1982.

In 1983, Ekstrem entered the final year of his contract. Despite the respect everyone had for him, it appeared likely that he’d be on the way out. Ufa decided to get some trade value, sending him to Dushanbe near the deadline for three players. With the Dynamo, Ekstrem had his lone playoff start, giving up one run in three innings. That also marked the end of his time in EPB.

Ekstrem still had offers from throughout professional baseball and ended up inking a four-year, $2,520,000 with Leon of the Mexican League. He saw his velocity drop significantly, down to the 92-94 mph range after being upper 90s most his run. He stunk in 1984 with the Lions and lost time to shoulder inflammation. The team only used him for 40.1 innings in 1985 and kept him on the reserve roster for all of 1986. Ekstrem retired that winter at age 37. He would return to Russia and see his #22 uniform retired by Ufa.

For his EPB career, Ekstrem had a 156-169 record, 2.40 ERA, 3028.2 innings, 3232 strikeouts, 594 walks, 258/343 quality starts, 250 complete games, 122 ERA+, 75 FIP-, and 77.3 WAR. Many traditionalist voters saw the losing record as a non-starter, although it wasn’t his fault Ufa stunk during his prime. The sabremetric stats and two Pitcher of the Year awards gave him his supporters. However, Ekstrem also didn’t have the longevity that many other Hall of Famers boasted and had lower accumulations as a result.

His candidacy was a roller coaster, starting at 52.7% and getting to 60.1% the next year. He fell down to 46.8% in 1991, then back up to 57.1% in 1992. Ekstrem hit a low in 1993 at 34.0%, but bounced back in 1994 at 59.8%. He was down to 40.3% in 1995, then fell less than a point short in 1996 at 65.2%. With 36.2% on his ninth try though, Ekstrem told friends and family that he had accepted that he’d miss the cut. But the well-respected righty saw his supporters put together a campaign for one last push. In EPB’s Hall, no one had been inducted beyond a seventh ballot. Ekstrem bucked that trend with a boost to 75.4% and took his seat among the all-time greats.

Vyacheslav Afonin – First Base – Kharkiv Killer Bees – 67.7% Second Ballot

Vyacheslav Afonin was a 6’4’’, 205 pound right-handed first baseman from Novyi Buh, Ukraine; a town of around 15,000 people in the southern Mykolaiv Oblast. Afonin was one of the great sluggers of his era, averaging around 40 home runs and 30 doubles per 162 games. He was an above average contact hitter, but he didn’t draw many walks despite his power and had strikeout issues. Afonin was quite slow and sluggish on the basepaths. He was a career first baseman and graded out as fairly average defensively. Afonin was quiet and humble, not looking to draw attention to himself. That attitude, plus dingers, made him extremely popular throughout Ukrainian baseball.

He spent his entire pro career in his home country, picked 15^th overall by Kharkiv in the 1979 EPB Draft. Afonin also was a regular for Ukraine in the World Baseball Championship with 141 starts from 1980-92. In the WBC, he had 126 hits, 79 runs, 31 doubles, 44 home runs, 96 RBI, a .240/.306/.561 slash and 5.3 WAR. Afonin was a full-time starter immediately for the Killer Bees and was considered an ironman, starting 145+ games in all 12 of his pro seasons.

He debuted with 41 home runs and 6.4 WAR in 1980, taking Rookie of the Year honors. Kharkiv had the best record in the European League that year at 103-59 and went onto win their first-ever EPB Championship. Afonin had 14 hits, 5 runs, 2 home runs, and 5 RBI in the postseason. The Killer Bees were a contender with eight straight winning seasons after this. They made the playoffs four times but couldn’t make it back to the final, with their deepest runs ending in the conference championship in both 1982 and 1984.

Afonin thrived during this time. He led the European League in RBI four times, home runs once, runs twice, total bases four times, slugging four times, and WAR twice. Afonin won MVP in 1983 with career bests in RBI (130), total bases (373), and WAR (9.3). He took second in 1981’s MVP voting and third in 1985 and 1990. Afonin won five Silver Sluggers (1981, 83, 87, 89, 90). After the 1984 season, he signed a seven-year, $2,708,000 extension with Kharkiv.

Afonin seemed to be aging gracefully, leading in both home runs and RBI in 1990 at age 33. The Killer Bees made it back to the playoffs after missing in three straight years, although they fell in the first round. For his playoff career, Afonin had 47 starts, 42 hits, 15 runs, 7 doubles, 7 home runs, 19 RBI, a .235/.266/.391 slash, and 1.1 WAR.

In 1991, Afonin saw a notable decline with a career worst slash of .231/.268/.428. He still hit 30 home runs, but it was the worst season of his career. His contract ended and Kharkiv wasn’t looking to extend him. Afonin wanted to play and saw his last action in the 1992 WBC. He was unsigned in 1992 and resigned himself to retirement that winter at age 36. The Killer Bees would quickly bring him home to retire his #28 uniform and he remained a popular franchise figure in the decades to follow.

For his career, Afonin had 1907 hits, 952 runs, 350 doubles, 471 home runs, 1190 RBI, a .268/.303/.524 slash, 163 wRC+, and 70.6 WAR. It was a very impressive 12 year run, but the shortness of his career meant his accumulations were on the low end. To that point, only one other batter was in EPB’s Hall of Fame without having 2000+ career hits. His slugging stats were favorable though and he had great popularity especially in Ukraine. Afonin just missed the cut at 64.4% on his debut, but got just enough of a bump in his second shot to get in at 67.7%, rounding out the 1998 crew.

03-25-2024, 10:07 AM	#1093
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,635	1998 EPB Hall of Fame 1998’s Eurasian Professional Baseball Hall of Fame class featured three inductees, each taking very different paths to their spot. The lone slam dunk was pitcher Andrey Fisyuk with a debut at 98.0%. Fellow pitcher Maksim Ekstrem finally crossed the finish line with 75.4% on his tenth and final opportunity. 1B Vyacheslav Afonin rounded out the group at 67.7% in his second ballot, narrowly breaching the 66% requirement. The only other player above 50% was SP Maxim Aivazyan at 54.9% in his third go. Dropped after ten attempts was SS Daurenbek Zeynalov, who had a 20 year career between seven teams. He won MVP once and had two Silver Sluggers, finishing with 2711 hits, 1148 runs 453 doubles, 361 triples, 178 home runs, 1018 RBI, a .269/.300/.438 slash, 126 wRC+, and 94.5 WAR. Zenynalov retired as EPB’s triples king, a distinction he still holds as of 2037. He also won a title in 1975 with St. Petersburg. However, he didn’t dominate leaderboards outside of triples and for whatever reason, didn’t get much traction. Zeynalov peaked at 37.4% on his second ballot before ending at 7.4%. He’s still 17^th in offensive WAR as of 2037, but the EPB voters proved stingy yet again. SP Oleg Yaremchuk also made it ten ballots before being dropped, although he was far less of a snub. In 16 seasons, he had a 198-213 record, 2.95 ERA, 3825.2 innings, 3675 strikeouts, 212 complete games, 100 ERA+, and 63.4 WAR. The advanced stats suggested sustained averageness for him while also being overlooked due to stints with bad teams. He still got as high as 31.9% on the 1990 ballot before ending at 5.4%. Andrey Fisyuk – Starting Pitcher – Omsk Otters – 98.0% First Ballot Andrey Fisyuk was a 6’5’’ 200 pound left-handed pitcher from Baranovichi, Belarus, a city of around 172,000 in the southwestern Brest Region. He was a hard thrower with very good stuff and movement, but below average control. Fisyuk had 99-101 mph peak velocity with his best pitch being an excellent screwball. He also had a good slider and sinker, plus a rarely used changeup. Fisyuk didn’t go the distance as often as most other EPB Hall of Famers, but he was incredibly durable and gave you 200+ innings reliably. Fisyuk was spotted at a camp by a scout from Omsk, who signed him as a teenager in January 1971 and brought him from Belarus to Siberia. He spent five years in development for Omsk, finally making his debut in 1976 at age 21. Fisyuk was a part-time starter and had some growing pains initially. He was moved to the full-time rotation the next year and looked solid, even throwing a no-hitter against Tashkent on July 12 with 11 strikeouts and one walk. It was his first of 13 straight seasons with 300+ strikeouts. In 1978, he led the Asian League with a career best 356 strikeouts. This was Fisyuk’s only time leading in strikeouts. He also led with 8.9 WAR, taking third in Pitcher of the Year voting. Fisyuk never won the top honor, but was third again in 1979 and 1980, then second in both 1985 and 1987. He was a bright light for an Omsk franchise that didn’t make the playoffs once from 1972-84. Fisyuk was also well respected in his native Belarus, pitching for his country from 1977-91 in the World Baseball Championship. He had 183 WBC innings with a 12-6 record, 2.66 ERA, 249 strikeouts, 140 ERA+, and 5.3 WAR. After the 1979 season, Fisyuk signed a six-year contract extension worth $1,508,000. He would add another four years for $3,160,000 after the 1984 campaign. Fisyuk seemed to improve in his 30s, leading in ERA for the only time in 1985 at 1.52. He had 12 straight seasons worth 7+ WAR, but posted three worth 9+ in his final three seasons with the Otters, including a career and league-best 10.9 in 1989. 1987 also featured a second no-hitter, coming on May 4 with 11 strikeouts versus Irkutsk. Omsk finally found success in the mid 1980s, making the playoffs four times from 1985-89. The Otters were Asian League champs in 1985 and 1987, although both times they lost in the Soviet Series. Fisyuk was great in the 1987 run with a 1.86 ERA over four starts, but his career playoff numbers were unremarkable with a 3-7 record, 3.47 ERA, 85 ERA+, and 96 strikeouts in 80.1 innings. Still, he was popular with Otters fans and recognized as a big reason they returned to relevance. His #8 uniform would get retired once his professional career was over. Fisyuk’s time in Omsk ended with the 1989 season, becoming a free agent for the first time at age 35. With the Soviet Union beginning to disintegrate, Fisyuk jumped at the chance to head to the United States and MLB. Dallas signed him to a three-year, $4,660,000 contract. Oddly enough, the Dalmatians cut him after only four starts. Fisyuk finished the season in Omaha as a part-time starter with okay results. A free agent again at age 36, San Francisco gave him a one –year deal. However, Fisyuk was subpar as a part-time starter. For his brief MLB run, he had a 3.43 ERA over 278.1 innings, 175 strikeouts, 111 ERA+, and 1.4 WAR. Fisyuk returned to EPB for one final season, signing with Yekaterinburg. He was a full-time starter for the Yaks and ate innings. But he was no longer elite. Fisyuk did become the seventh pitcher to reach 4500 career strikeouts in EPB in this return. He would retire in the winter at age 38. For his EPB tenure, Fisyuk had a 227-136 record, 2.21 ERA, 3726.2 innings, 4667 strikeouts, 901 walks, 368/480 quality starts, 132 ERA+, 67 FIP-, and 111.6 WAR. At induction, he was seventh all-time in EPB pitching WAR and still sits 11^th as of 2037. Despite never winning Pitcher of the Year in his career, Fisyuk was consistently one of the finest pitchers in Russian baseball in the 1980s. He earned a no-doubt induction at 98.0% to lead the 1998 EPB Hall of Fame class. Maksim “Toxin” Ekstrem – Starting Pitcher – 75.4% Tenth Ballot Maksim Ekstrem was a 6’0’’, 205 pound right-handed pitcher from St. Petersburg, Russia. Ekstrem was known for having solid stuff and movement along with above average control. His velocity peaked in the 97-99 mph range with an arsenal of fastball, slider, changeup, and splitter. Ekstrem also had excellent stamina, regularly sitting towards the top of the complete games list. He was also viewed as a strong defensive pitcher. Ekstrem was considered a team captain with great loyalty and leadership skills, becoming very respected in the clubhouse. Ekstrem had an excellent amateur career and had a lot of exposure being in a major city like St. Petersburg. In the 1972 EPB Draft, he was the #1 overall pick by Ufa. The Fiends had just finished 59-103 in the prior season and would be even worse in 1973 at 57-105. Ekstrem led the Asian League in losses as a full-time starter and also led in walks. He also led for the first of four seasons in complete games. In his second season, Ekstrem was more firmly Ufa’s ace. He won Pitcher of the Year in both 1979 and 1980, leading in ERA in 1979 at 1.66. He was the WARlod both seasons at 10.0 and 9.9 respectively. His 1977 actually saw a career best 11.3 WAR and 367 strikeouts, although he didn’t get any awards consideration. In 1978, Ekstrem had 15 strikeouts in a no-hitter on August 25 against Tbilisi. Ekstrem garnered nationwide respect playing for Russia from 1975-84 in the World Baseball Championship. He posted a 3.69 ERA over 156 innings with 185 strikeouts and 4.5 WAR. Ufa signed Ekstrem to a five-year, $1,444,000 contract extension in April 1978. He stayed loyal to the Fiends and wanted to see them succeed, but they were generally abysmal during his tenure. They only had two winning seasons during Ekstrem’s run with the best being 84 wins in 1982. After seeing dominance in the prior few seasons, Ekstrem’s first issue with injuries came with forearm inflammation in 1981 costing him half the season. He bounced back with a very respectable 1982. In 1983, Ekstrem entered the final year of his contract. Despite the respect everyone had for him, it appeared likely that he’d be on the way out. Ufa decided to get some trade value, sending him to Dushanbe near the deadline for three players. With the Dynamo, Ekstrem had his lone playoff start, giving up one run in three innings. That also marked the end of his time in EPB. Ekstrem still had offers from throughout professional baseball and ended up inking a four-year, $2,520,000 with Leon of the Mexican League. He saw his velocity drop significantly, down to the 92-94 mph range after being upper 90s most his run. He stunk in 1984 with the Lions and lost time to shoulder inflammation. The team only used him for 40.1 innings in 1985 and kept him on the reserve roster for all of 1986. Ekstrem retired that winter at age 37. He would return to Russia and see his #22 uniform retired by Ufa. For his EPB career, Ekstrem had a 156-169 record, 2.40 ERA, 3028.2 innings, 3232 strikeouts, 594 walks, 258/343 quality starts, 250 complete games, 122 ERA+, 75 FIP-, and 77.3 WAR. Many traditionalist voters saw the losing record as a non-starter, although it wasn’t his fault Ufa stunk during his prime. The sabremetric stats and two Pitcher of the Year awards gave him his supporters. However, Ekstrem also didn’t have the longevity that many other Hall of Famers boasted and had lower accumulations as a result. His candidacy was a roller coaster, starting at 52.7% and getting to 60.1% the next year. He fell down to 46.8% in 1991, then back up to 57.1% in 1992. Ekstrem hit a low in 1993 at 34.0%, but bounced back in 1994 at 59.8%. He was down to 40.3% in 1995, then fell less than a point short in 1996 at 65.2%. With 36.2% on his ninth try though, Ekstrem told friends and family that he had accepted that he’d miss the cut. But the well-respected righty saw his supporters put together a campaign for one last push. In EPB’s Hall, no one had been inducted beyond a seventh ballot. Ekstrem bucked that trend with a boost to 75.4% and took his seat among the all-time greats. Vyacheslav Afonin – First Base – Kharkiv Killer Bees – 67.7% Second Ballot Vyacheslav Afonin was a 6’4’’, 205 pound right-handed first baseman from Novyi Buh, Ukraine; a town of around 15,000 people in the southern Mykolaiv Oblast. Afonin was one of the great sluggers of his era, averaging around 40 home runs and 30 doubles per 162 games. He was an above average contact hitter, but he didn’t draw many walks despite his power and had strikeout issues. Afonin was quite slow and sluggish on the basepaths. He was a career first baseman and graded out as fairly average defensively. Afonin was quiet and humble, not looking to draw attention to himself. That attitude, plus dingers, made him extremely popular throughout Ukrainian baseball. He spent his entire pro career in his home country, picked 15^th overall by Kharkiv in the 1979 EPB Draft. Afonin also was a regular for Ukraine in the World Baseball Championship with 141 starts from 1980-92. In the WBC, he had 126 hits, 79 runs, 31 doubles, 44 home runs, 96 RBI, a .240/.306/.561 slash and 5.3 WAR. Afonin was a full-time starter immediately for the Killer Bees and was considered an ironman, starting 145+ games in all 12 of his pro seasons. He debuted with 41 home runs and 6.4 WAR in 1980, taking Rookie of the Year honors. Kharkiv had the best record in the European League that year at 103-59 and went onto win their first-ever EPB Championship. Afonin had 14 hits, 5 runs, 2 home runs, and 5 RBI in the postseason. The Killer Bees were a contender with eight straight winning seasons after this. They made the playoffs four times but couldn’t make it back to the final, with their deepest runs ending in the conference championship in both 1982 and 1984. Afonin thrived during this time. He led the European League in RBI four times, home runs once, runs twice, total bases four times, slugging four times, and WAR twice. Afonin won MVP in 1983 with career bests in RBI (130), total bases (373), and WAR (9.3). He took second in 1981’s MVP voting and third in 1985 and 1990. Afonin won five Silver Sluggers (1981, 83, 87, 89, 90). After the 1984 season, he signed a seven-year, $2,708,000 extension with Kharkiv. Afonin seemed to be aging gracefully, leading in both home runs and RBI in 1990 at age 33. The Killer Bees made it back to the playoffs after missing in three straight years, although they fell in the first round. For his playoff career, Afonin had 47 starts, 42 hits, 15 runs, 7 doubles, 7 home runs, 19 RBI, a .235/.266/.391 slash, and 1.1 WAR. In 1991, Afonin saw a notable decline with a career worst slash of .231/.268/.428. He still hit 30 home runs, but it was the worst season of his career. His contract ended and Kharkiv wasn’t looking to extend him. Afonin wanted to play and saw his last action in the 1992 WBC. He was unsigned in 1992 and resigned himself to retirement that winter at age 36. The Killer Bees would quickly bring him home to retire his #28 uniform and he remained a popular franchise figure in the decades to follow. For his career, Afonin had 1907 hits, 952 runs, 350 doubles, 471 home runs, 1190 RBI, a .268/.303/.524 slash, 163 wRC+, and 70.6 WAR. It was a very impressive 12 year run, but the shortness of his career meant his accumulations were on the low end. To that point, only one other batter was in EPB’s Hall of Fame without having 2000+ career hits. His slugging stats were favorable though and he had great popularity especially in Ukraine. Afonin just missed the cut at 64.4% on his debut, but got just enough of a bump in his second shot to get in at 67.7%, rounding out the 1998 crew. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)