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It was an unimpressive slate of debuts for the 2030 Hall of Fame ballot for Eurasian Professional Baseball as the best newcomer had a measly 16.7%. That opened up the field for SP Artur Woloshyn to barely cross the 66% requirement line at 68.1% on his seventh ballot. 3B Vladyslav Chychykov narrowly missed with 64.4% on his third try. SP Yuri Sabitov had a good showing at 61.5% on his fifth ballot, as did 1B Roman Stanchinsky at 58.1% on his third go. No one else was above 50%.



Dropped after ten failed ballots was SP Nihat Akhatov, who pitched 14 years between Minsk and Krasnodar. He had a 166-121 record, 2.79 ERA, 2732.1 innings, 3071 strikeouts, 866 walks, 111 ERA+, 87 FIP-, and 52.7 WAR. Akhatov did lead in strikeouts twice, but never won Pitcher of the Year. He did notably have a 2.09 ERA in 103.1 playoff innings and won the 2002 EPB title with the Miners.

Still, Akhatov didn’t have the dominance or longevity to stand out amongst the many great pitching candidates. He peaked at 48.2% in 2024 and stayed above 40% for his first six ballots. However, Akhatov ended with only 14.8% and got banished to the Hall of Pretty Good.



Artur Woloshyn – Starting Pitcher – Yekaterinburg Yaks – 68.1% Seventh Ballot

Artur Woloshyn was a 6’2’’, 200 pound right-handed pitcher from Bratsk, Russia; a city of 224,000 people in the Irkutsk Oblast. Woloshyn boasted very good control along with above average stuff and okay movement. His velocity peaked in the 97-99 mph range with an arsenal of cutter, screwball, splitter, curveball, and changeup. The cutter was generally Woloshyn’s best pitch, although none of the five were exemplary.

Woloshyn’s stamina was pretty good and his durability was excellent. He had an excellent pickoff move, but graded as weak defensively. Woloshyn was a likeable guy in the clubhouse, but was considered a bit thick. In February 1997, his professional career began with a developmental contract with Yekaterinburg. Woloshyn spent five full year in the Yaks academy before making his debut in 2002 at age 22.

He struggled in 87.2 innings in 2002, but put it together once moved into the full-time rotation for 2003. This was a dynasty era for Yekaterinburg, who had a 10-year playoff streak from 2003-12. The Yaks won the EPB Championship in 2003, 04, 07, and 08 while taking runner-up in 2006. Woloshyn was a steady contributor for Yekaterinburg’s decade of dominance.

Woloshyn led in wins twice, but otherwise wasn’t a league leader or overly dominant. He was second in 2005’s Pitcher of the Year voting, his only time as a finalist. That had Woloshyn’s career bests for ERA (1.83), strikeouts (280), ERA+ (159), and WAR (6.4).

In the postseason, Woloshyn’s stats were merely decent for the Yaks. Over 127.2 innings, he had a 3.17 ERA, 8-7 record, 112 strikeouts, 26 walks, 98 ERA+, and 1.1 WAR. Still, you knew generally what you were going to get. In total for Yekaterinburg, Woloshyn had a 155-95 record, 2.93 ERA, 2252.1 innings, 2224 strikeouts, 341 walks, 107 ERA+, and 37.7 WAR. His #24 uniform would later get retired for his role in the dynasty.

Woloshyn became a free agent at age 31 for 2012 and opened up his search worldwide, eventually coming to the Central American Baseball Association on a two-year, $9,740,000 deal with Nicaragua. Although healthy, Woloshyn remained on the reserve roster for all of 2012. He had part-time use in 2013 for the Navigators with a 3.07 ERA over 161 innings, 133 strikeouts, and 1.4 WAR.

He stayed in CABA and moved to Mexico with Monterrey in 2014 and Torreon in 2015. Woloshyn was merely decent in both stops with a 3.06 ERA over 114.2 innings and 1.7 WAR for the Matadors, followed by a 3.88 ERA over 218 innings and 2.6 WAR with the Tomahawks. In CABA, Woloshyn had a 32-19 record, 3.43 ERA, 493.2 innings, 408 strikeouts, 113 ERA+, and 5.7 WAR.

Woloshyn returned to Russia at the veteran minimum for 2016 with St. Petersburg. He was terrible with a 4.47 ERA over 108.2 innings with -0.9 WAR for the Polar Bears. Woloshyn was a roster filler from 2017-18 for Omsk with a 2.88 ERA over 34.1 innings. He retired after the 2018 campaign at age 38.

In Eurasian Professional Baseball, Woloshyn had a 167-102 record, 3.00 ERA, 2395.1 innings, 2343 strikeouts, 369 walks, 180/271 quality starts, 104 complete games, 22 shutouts, 105 ERA+, 93 FIP-, and 36.9 WAR. Woloshyn doesn’t crack the top 100 in any stat and his WAR was well below any other Hall of Fame starters that had made it in EPB.

Even giving Woloshyn some credit for the CABA years, his resume was extremely borderline. He didn’t have the big awards, league leading stats, or big accumulations from longevity. However, Woloshyn had four championship rings and a good winning percentage. For many hardline traditionalists, these were major points in Woloshyn’s favor. Those voters put that above those who felt that the advanced metrics were underwhelming.

Woloshyn debuted at 49.3% in 2024 and hovered around 40-55% for six ballots. His opportunity came in 2030 with no debuts of note and a wide open field. Those reminiscing about the Yekaterinburg dynasty perhaps gave Woloshyn an overstated role. Still, he had an important role and that got him just across the line at 68.1% for a seventh ballot induction. Some scholars argue Woloshyn is the weakest member of EPB’s HOF, but regardless he was the lone man to make it in for 2030.