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FuzzyRussianHat · 02-01-2025, 05:57 PM

In a competitive European League, reigning Eurasian Professional Baseball champ Volgograd took the top seed at 96-66. The Voyagers won their fourth consecutive South Division and earned their fifth straight playoff berth. It was also the first time in that stretch they didn’t win 100+ games. Volgograd was notably second in the EL in both runs scored (617) and fewest allowed (509).

St. Petersburg narrowly took the North Division at 93-69, edging out Nizhny Novgorod (92-70) by one. The Polar Bears got their second playoff slot in three years, but it was their first division title since 2006. The Ninjas earned their third wild card in four years. Nizhny Novgorod allowed the fewest runs in the European League at 506.

For the second wild card, there was a three-way tie at 87-75 between Samara, Voronezh, and Minsk. The Steelers defeated both the Zephyrs and Miners in one-game playoffs to earn their first-ever playoff berth. Samara was the only remaining team from the 2000 emergency expansion that had yet to make the playoffs. Also of note was Moscow falling to 79-83, their first losing season since 1998.

Samara swept the European League’s top awards with MVP going to RF Dmitri Khodakovsky in his third season. The 24-year old Russian posted the 12^th Triple Crown hitting season in EPB history and led in runs (102), hits (195), home runs (51), RBI (113), total bases (381), average (.337), slugging (.658), OPS (1.052), wRC+ (215), and WAR (10.0). Khodakvosky had been picked fifth overall by the Steelers in the 2019 EPB Draft.

His teammate Ivan Nikolin was Pitcher of the Year with the 15^th pitching Triple Crown in EPB history. Never before in all of pro baseball history had there been a Triple Crown pitcher and hitter on the same roster in the same season. For the 29-yaer old Nikolin, he had a 21-8 record, 2.18 ERA, and 346 strikeouts over 255.2 innings. He also led in WHIP (0.81) and K/BB (11.9) while adding 139 ERA+ and 7.2 WAR. Nikolin stayed committed to Samara with a six-year, $92,400,000 extension after the 2025 season.

Samara used those talents to upset reigning champ Volgograd 3-2 in the first round, earning their first-ever European League Championship Series trip. Nizhny Novgorod outlasted St. Petersburg on the road 3-2 for their second ELCS in four years. The matchup between the 2000 expansion teams guaranteed a first-time pennant winner. The Ninjas prevailed 4-2 over the Steelers to advance.

The top two records in EPB battled for the Asian League’s West Division with Yekaterinburg (103-59) outracing Chelyabinsk (100-62). Both were tied for the fewest runs allowed at 483, while the Cadets actually outscored the Yaks (642 to 603) despite getting stuck as the wild card. Yekaterinburg earned repeat playoff berths, but they hadn’t been division champ since 2008. Chelyabinsk’s playoff streak grew to six seasons; all wild card appearances.

Defending AL champ Krasnoyarsk dropped from 103-59 to 87-75 in 2024, but that was still enough to repeat as East Division champ. The Cossacks’ division title streak grew to six seasons and their playoff streak grew to seven. Ulaanbaatar was their nearest foe at 82-80. The Boars ended up one win short for the second wild card.

The West’s Omsk and Nur-Sultan tied for the final spot at 83-79 with the Otters winning the one-game playoff to advance. Omsk earned a second wild card in three years. The Setters in their fifth season became the first of the 2020 expansion teams to post a winning record. Khabarovsk came close in 2024 at 80-82. Also of note was Perm falling to 73-89, their first losing season since 2017. The Pitbulls had won the prior four West Division crowns.

RF Nikolay Kargopolcev had a remarkable resurgence, winning his fourth Asian League MVP in 2024. He had won the award for Ufa in 2011, 2013, and 2014. A decade later and now 37-years old, Kargopolcev was on top again now with Chelyabinsk. He had signed with the Cadets in 2021, but had been largely forgettable there, even getting relegated to a part-time role in 2022 and 2023.

For 2024, Kargopolcev led in runs (93) and slugging (.590). He added 164 hits, 21 doubles, 15 triples, 38 home runs, 116 RBI, .906 OPS, 173 wRC+, and 7.7 WAR. Kargopolcev finished the year at 695 career home runs and seemingly now had a shot at passing Konrad Mazur (740) and Zina Gigolashvili (720) for the top spots. Kargopolcev also became the fourth to reach 1500 runs scored and was one of nine with 1500+ RBI. He earned a three-year, $43,100,000 extension in the offseason for his efforts, getting his shot to continue up the leaderboards.

Chelyabinsk also had the Pitcher of the Year in fifth-year lefty Aleksandr Rossel. The 25-year old Russian won the ERA title (1.77) and led in WHIP (0.74), and shutouts (6). Rossel had an 18-5 record over 203 innings, 304 strikeouts, 182 ERA+, and 7.8 WAR. Also worth a mention was Omsk’s Vitali Kolyayev becoming a three-time Reliever of the Year winner.

Yekaterinburg topped Omsk 3-1 in the first round, while Krasnoyarsk used their home field advantage to beat Chelyabinsk 3-1 despite their 13-win difference. This set up a rematch in the Asian League Championship Series, but the results would get switched. This time the Yaks prevailed 4-1 over the Cossacks, giving Yekaterinburg their first pennant since 2012. The Yaks led all Asian League teams with 12 titles.

The 70^th EPB Championship was the first since 2008 to end in a sweep as Yekaterinburg crushed Nizhny Novgorod 4-0. The Yaks were now eight-time EPB champs (1955, 1970, 1989, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2024). They tied the departed Kyiv for the second-most EPB rings while Minsk had the most at 13.

Pitcher Georgi Nevdakh was finals MVP as the 26-year old Belarusian went 3-0 in his playoff starts with a 2.02 EREA over 26.2 innings and 21 strikeouts. Nevdakh had a one-hit shutout during the series. Teammate Abdulla Savitsky was also notable as the ALCS and first round MVP. Savitsky set a new EPB playoff record with 6 triples and added 20 hits, 11 runs, 2 doubles, 2 homers, and 8 RBI in 13 starts.

Other notes: Igor Gorbatyuk became the 27^th to reach 2500 hits. He also finished the year with 1597 runs scored at age 39, putting him close to Zaur Kadirov’s top mark of 1619. Evgeny Kiselev was the 20^th to 500 home runs. Kaysar Alkhasov was the 29^th to 4000 strikeouts.

1B Artur Sagadatullin won his 15^th and final Gold Glove. He was the only 15-time winner in EPB history and one of seven in all of world history. Two others in the group played first base with Beisbol Sudamerica’s D.J. Del Valle (16) and Austronesia Professional Baseball’s Kent Wang (15). LF Brandon Chunchignorov won his 9^th Gold Glove and 3B Daniil Wekshinsky won his 7^th.

02-01-2025, 05:57 PM	#2030
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,614	2024 in EPB In a competitive European League, reigning Eurasian Professional Baseball champ Volgograd took the top seed at 96-66. The Voyagers won their fourth consecutive South Division and earned their fifth straight playoff berth. It was also the first time in that stretch they didn’t win 100+ games. Volgograd was notably second in the EL in both runs scored (617) and fewest allowed (509). St. Petersburg narrowly took the North Division at 93-69, edging out Nizhny Novgorod (92-70) by one. The Polar Bears got their second playoff slot in three years, but it was their first division title since 2006. The Ninjas earned their third wild card in four years. Nizhny Novgorod allowed the fewest runs in the European League at 506. For the second wild card, there was a three-way tie at 87-75 between Samara, Voronezh, and Minsk. The Steelers defeated both the Zephyrs and Miners in one-game playoffs to earn their first-ever playoff berth. Samara was the only remaining team from the 2000 emergency expansion that had yet to make the playoffs. Also of note was Moscow falling to 79-83, their first losing season since 1998. Samara swept the European League’s top awards with MVP going to RF Dmitri Khodakovsky in his third season. The 24-year old Russian posted the 12^th Triple Crown hitting season in EPB history and led in runs (102), hits (195), home runs (51), RBI (113), total bases (381), average (.337), slugging (.658), OPS (1.052), wRC+ (215), and WAR (10.0). Khodakvosky had been picked fifth overall by the Steelers in the 2019 EPB Draft. His teammate Ivan Nikolin was Pitcher of the Year with the 15^th pitching Triple Crown in EPB history. Never before in all of pro baseball history had there been a Triple Crown pitcher and hitter on the same roster in the same season. For the 29-yaer old Nikolin, he had a 21-8 record, 2.18 ERA, and 346 strikeouts over 255.2 innings. He also led in WHIP (0.81) and K/BB (11.9) while adding 139 ERA+ and 7.2 WAR. Nikolin stayed committed to Samara with a six-year, $92,400,000 extension after the 2025 season. Samara used those talents to upset reigning champ Volgograd 3-2 in the first round, earning their first-ever European League Championship Series trip. Nizhny Novgorod outlasted St. Petersburg on the road 3-2 for their second ELCS in four years. The matchup between the 2000 expansion teams guaranteed a first-time pennant winner. The Ninjas prevailed 4-2 over the Steelers to advance. The top two records in EPB battled for the Asian League’s West Division with Yekaterinburg (103-59) outracing Chelyabinsk (100-62). Both were tied for the fewest runs allowed at 483, while the Cadets actually outscored the Yaks (642 to 603) despite getting stuck as the wild card. Yekaterinburg earned repeat playoff berths, but they hadn’t been division champ since 2008. Chelyabinsk’s playoff streak grew to six seasons; all wild card appearances. Defending AL champ Krasnoyarsk dropped from 103-59 to 87-75 in 2024, but that was still enough to repeat as East Division champ. The Cossacks’ division title streak grew to six seasons and their playoff streak grew to seven. Ulaanbaatar was their nearest foe at 82-80. The Boars ended up one win short for the second wild card. The West’s Omsk and Nur-Sultan tied for the final spot at 83-79 with the Otters winning the one-game playoff to advance. Omsk earned a second wild card in three years. The Setters in their fifth season became the first of the 2020 expansion teams to post a winning record. Khabarovsk came close in 2024 at 80-82. Also of note was Perm falling to 73-89, their first losing season since 2017. The Pitbulls had won the prior four West Division crowns. RF Nikolay Kargopolcev had a remarkable resurgence, winning his fourth Asian League MVP in 2024. He had won the award for Ufa in 2011, 2013, and 2014. A decade later and now 37-years old, Kargopolcev was on top again now with Chelyabinsk. He had signed with the Cadets in 2021, but had been largely forgettable there, even getting relegated to a part-time role in 2022 and 2023. For 2024, Kargopolcev led in runs (93) and slugging (.590). He added 164 hits, 21 doubles, 15 triples, 38 home runs, 116 RBI, .906 OPS, 173 wRC+, and 7.7 WAR. Kargopolcev finished the year at 695 career home runs and seemingly now had a shot at passing Konrad Mazur (740) and Zina Gigolashvili (720) for the top spots. Kargopolcev also became the fourth to reach 1500 runs scored and was one of nine with 1500+ RBI. He earned a three-year, $43,100,000 extension in the offseason for his efforts, getting his shot to continue up the leaderboards. Chelyabinsk also had the Pitcher of the Year in fifth-year lefty Aleksandr Rossel. The 25-year old Russian won the ERA title (1.77) and led in WHIP (0.74), and shutouts (6). Rossel had an 18-5 record over 203 innings, 304 strikeouts, 182 ERA+, and 7.8 WAR. Also worth a mention was Omsk’s Vitali Kolyayev becoming a three-time Reliever of the Year winner. Yekaterinburg topped Omsk 3-1 in the first round, while Krasnoyarsk used their home field advantage to beat Chelyabinsk 3-1 despite their 13-win difference. This set up a rematch in the Asian League Championship Series, but the results would get switched. This time the Yaks prevailed 4-1 over the Cossacks, giving Yekaterinburg their first pennant since 2012. The Yaks led all Asian League teams with 12 titles. The 70^th EPB Championship was the first since 2008 to end in a sweep as Yekaterinburg crushed Nizhny Novgorod 4-0. The Yaks were now eight-time EPB champs (1955, 1970, 1989, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2024). They tied the departed Kyiv for the second-most EPB rings while Minsk had the most at 13. Pitcher Georgi Nevdakh was finals MVP as the 26-year old Belarusian went 3-0 in his playoff starts with a 2.02 EREA over 26.2 innings and 21 strikeouts. Nevdakh had a one-hit shutout during the series. Teammate Abdulla Savitsky was also notable as the ALCS and first round MVP. Savitsky set a new EPB playoff record with 6 triples and added 20 hits, 11 runs, 2 doubles, 2 homers, and 8 RBI in 13 starts. Other notes: Igor Gorbatyuk became the 27^th to reach 2500 hits. He also finished the year with 1597 runs scored at age 39, putting him close to Zaur Kadirov’s top mark of 1619. Evgeny Kiselev was the 20^th to 500 home runs. Kaysar Alkhasov was the 29^th to 4000 strikeouts. 1B Artur Sagadatullin won his 15^th and final Gold Glove. He was the only 15-time winner in EPB history and one of seven in all of world history. Two others in the group played first base with Beisbol Sudamerica’s D.J. Del Valle (16) and Austronesia Professional Baseball’s Kent Wang (15). LF Brandon Chunchignorov won his 9^th Gold Glove and 3B Daniil Wekshinsky won his 7^th. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)