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The European Baseball Federation had a very strong 2014 Hall of Fame class with three first ballot guys all above 85%. 1B Mattias Stole was the headline at 98.7% with 1B/RF Roberto Baccin very close behind at 96.3%. OF Giulio Lago joined them at a very solid 88.3%. Catcher Ulrich Thomsen was the only other player above 50%, debuting at 53.7%. The top returner was closer Steven Macario at 43.6% on his second ballot.



Pitcher Silvio La Paglia was dropped after ten failed ballots, having posted a 15-year career between Malta, Dublin, and Paris. He had a 186-185 record, 3.37 ERA, 3349.1 innings, 3104 strikeouts, a 113 ERA+, and 65.9 WAR. La Paglia had nice longevity, but no awards and little black ink. He was very much a “Hall of Pretty Good” level guy.

Albrecht Busch was also notable, falling off after dropping below 5% on his seventh ballot. He had longevity with 4539 innings, which was the EBF record until the early 2020s and still ranks second. Busch was below average in those innings though with a 4.04 ERA and 95 ERA+, posting a 209-301 record. Thus, he is the only pitcher in world history as of 2037 to have recorded 300 losses. Busch had 63.4 WAR and 3528 strikeouts over his 21-year run primarily with Zagreb.



Mattias Stole – First Base – Copenhagen Corsairs – 98.7% First Ballot

Mattias Stole was a 6’0’’, 200 pound left-handed first baseman from Stavanger, Norway’s third-largest city with around 360,000 in its metro area. Stole was one of his era’s prolific home run hitters, topping 40+ each year from 1994-2004. He also smacked 50+ dingers five times. Stole absolutely destroyed right-handed pitching with a career 1.050 OPS and 190 wRC+. Against lefties, he was a decent .762 OPS and 118 wRC+.

On the whole, Stole graded as a great contact hitter with a good strikeout rate, although he was surprisingly average at drawing walks despite his power profile. Stole found the gap regularly, hitting 30+ doubles in seven seasons. He couldn’t get extra bags with his legs though, as he was a painfully slow and sluggish baserunner.

That clumsiness carried over to first base, where he played his entire career defensively. Stole graded as a mediocre gloveman, but you had to find a spot in the lineup for that bat in the DH-less EBF. He had very good durability and quickly became one of Europe’s most popular sluggers. Stole was especially beloved back home in Norway and in Denmark, playing his entire pro career with Copenhagen.

The Corsairs drafted Stole #2 overall in the 1992 EBF Draft and he won Rookie of the Year as a part-time starter in 1993. In 126 games and only 87 starts, he hit 33 homers for 3.8 WAR. Copenhagen would be a perfect spot for a powerful lefty pull hitter with Corsairs Park known as a very homer-friendly park. At only 310 feet down the right field line, 327 to right, and 373 to right center, Stole was in the perfect place to do some big damage.

In only his second season in 1994, Stole shocked the baseball world with a 75 home run, 184 RBI season. He broke EBF’s single-season record of 72 homers by Sean Houston in 1984 and obliterated Houston’s 167 RBI record. Stole was one short of the then-world record 76 homers reached twice by Beisbol Sudamerica’s Valor Melo. He was the first-ever player in any league to top 180+ RBI in a season and this remains the EBF single-season record as of 2037.

Stole’s home run record held five years in EBF with Peter Brinkmann getting 76 in 1999. It still ranks third as of 2037. Stole ‘s 503 total bases still sit second in EBF history to Houston’s 522 in 1984. Stole also led the Northern Conference in runs (136), hits (239), triple slash (.376/.418/.791), OPS (1.209), wRC+ (223), and WAR (10.8). It ranks as the sixth-best OPS in EBF history as well.

He easily won MVP and a Silver Slugger, but Copenhagen still could only muster an 83-79 record. This did end a six-year run of losing seasons and the Corsairs would stay above .500 for the rest of the 1990s. They won division titles in 1995 and 1998, but lost both years in the first round of the playoffs.

Stole never had a monster year quite like that again, but he followed it up with a repeat MVP in 1995 with 53 homers, 153 RBI, 418 total bases, 1.081 OPS, and 8.7 WAR. Stole won his third Silver Slugger in 1996 and was third in MVP voting. After going third in 1998 MVP voting, Copenhagen signed Stole to an eight-year, $29,680,000 extension.

He wouldn’t be a league leader from 1996-2002, but he had 40+ homers and 6+ WAR in each of those seasons. In the 2000s, Stole would help turn Copenhagen into a dynasty. The Corsairs would earn eight straight division titles from 2000-07, winning 100+ games each year from 2001-2005. They initially had the reputation as a playoff choker, going one-and-done in 2000, 2002, and 2003 with a conference finals loss in 2001.

Stole won his third MVP and fourth Silver Slugger in 2003 with 52 home runs and 133 RBI. He led with 142 RBI in 2004 and smacked 50 homers, helping Copenhagen to the top seed at 112-50. They finally broke through in the playoffs, winning their first European Championship since the inaugural 1950 season.

Copenhagen beat Madrid in the 2004 final with Stole posting 18 hits, 10 runs, 5 doubles, 4 home runs, and 11 RBI in the playoff run. At age 34, Stole had finally delivered the Corsairs the cup after 11 seasons. As he aged, Stole would start to struggle more against left-handed pitching, although he remained quite good against righties.

2005 saw a career-worst 3.0 WAR, his only time below 6+ WAR since his rookie season. Copenhagen still won 101-61 games and Stole stepped up in the playoffs, helping them repeat as European Champion with a finals win over Vienna. Stole was finals MVP and over 12 games and 7 playoff starts had 5 home runs, 12 RBI, and a 1.332 OPS.

Stole bounced back with 5.7 WAR in 2006, then dropped to 3.9 WAR in 2007 despite still getting 41 homers. Copenhagen would suffer round one playoff exits both years, seeing their playoff streak end in 2008. For his playoff career though, Stole was excellent over 64 games with 75 hits, 39 runs, 8 doubles, 20 home runs, 43 RBI, a .329/.388/.627 slash, 190 wRC+, and 3.6 WAR. As 2037, he’s one of 27 players in EBF playoff history with 20+ home runs.

After the 2006 season, Stole signed a three-year, $20,700,000 deal. Continued struggles in 2008 against lefties demoted him to a platoon role with 1.3 WAR over 122 games and 66 starts. Stole missed the vesting criteria for the final year of his deal, becoming a free agent for the first time. He had hoped to make a run at the 700 homer, 3000 hit, and 2000 RBI milestones. However, he went unsigned in 2009 and retired that winter at age 39. Copenhagen would immediately retire his #23 uniform.

Stole finished with 2868 hits, 1523 runs, 419 doubles, 686 home runs, 1872 RBI, 638 walks, a .324/.373/.612 slash, 174 wRC+, and 100.0 WAR. As of 2037, he ranks 12^th all-time in homers, 13^th in RBI, 21^st in hits, 25^th in runs scored, and 30^th in WAR among position players. Among all batters with 3000+ plate appearances, Stole ranks 39^th in slugging and 40^th in OPS.

Few sluggers were as reliably powerful in European baseball as Stole in his era, helping turn Copenhagen into a regular divisional contender during his 16-year career. The Norwegian baseball legend was an obvious headliner even in a loaded 2014 Hall of Fame class at 98.7%.