[FuzzyRussianHat]

European Baseball Federation officials surprised some by announcing rules changes for the 2037 season designed to increase scoring. The EBF Elite Tier’s offensive environment had graded as average to above average on the historical scale and hadn’t seen too much variation in recent decades. From the 1980s up until present, the league ERA was usually in the 3.75-3.90 range with batting averages around .260.

The changes for 2037 put the overall ERA around 4.40 and batting average around .280, which placed EBF on the high to very high offense range more in line with the African leagues. Many officials felt the line had to always go up at any cost, although just like in big business, that idea is often a flawed one. Overall, the 21^st Century had seen broad increases in scoring worldwide both from rules changes and from changes in global weather.



Four teams were separated by three wins in the fight for the Northern Conference’s top seed. Three of them were also battling for the West Division crown. Hamburg went 8-2 in their last ten games to take the top spot at 104-58. The Hammers have had three straight playoff trips since getting promoted back to the top tier, although this was their first division title since 2023.

Dublin was a close second at 102-60 for a fifth straight playoff berth. The Dinos had the best record in EBF at the all-star break at 67-36, but Hamburg made late gains. Antwerp was right there at 101-61 thanks to a dominant 45-14 second half, the best in Europe by far. It was the third wild card in a row for the Airedales, who allowed the fewest runs in the conference at 634. Antwerp’s pitching allowed only 213 walks with a 1.31 BB/9; both the second-best in EBF history.

Defending European champ Warsaw won a fourth consecutive East Division at 101-61 and had the best run differential at +236. Stockholm was the leader at the all-star break, but was only one game above .500 in the back end. Still, the Swordsmen at 95-67 were the third wild card, ending a decade-long playoff drought. Stockholm led the conference with 900 runs scored.

For the final wild card, there was a three-way tie at 92-70 between Edinburgh, Cologne, and Krakow. Just missing the cut beneath this group was Helsinki at 88-74 and Rotterdam at 87-75. In the first tiebreaker game, the Canines were a 5-3 road winner over the Copperheads. However, the Enforcers defeated Krakow 7-4 in Poland to send Edinburgh forward with their fourth wild card in five years. Despite falling short, Cologne notably has 12 straight winning seasons.

The two relegated teams were by far at the bottom with Sheffield at 56-106 in the West and Prague at 50-112 in the East. The Steelhounds in particular had arguably the worst pitching in EBF history, setting all-time worsts for ERA (5.99), runs (1038), earned runs (954), H/9 (11.14), and WHIP (1.582). Kharkiv and Liverpool both also had marks that were top three pitching worsts in conference history, but strong offenses kept those teams in the middle tier.

Sheffield had a nine-year run up in the EBF Elite, but peaked with a .500 record thrice. For Prague, this was their second-ever relegation, having escaped the European Second League after only one year back in 2010. The Pilots had been generally sub-.500 for the last 15 years, but had managed to avoid the very bottom until now.



Leading Stockholm’s top-ranked offense was 3B Harvey Smith, winning his second Northern Conference MVP in three years. The 26-year old English righty led in hits (234), RBI (158), and WAR (9.6). Smith saw 121 runs, 20 doubles, 6 triples, 49 home runs, .376/.402/.664 slash, 1.066 OPS, and 176 wRC+. He notably hit for the cycle in April facing Berlin. The Swordsmen locked up their star after the season on an eight-year, $216,100,000 extension.

For the first time in EBF history, Pitcher of the Year and Reliever of the Year were the same man; Cologne’s Manfred Bucher. It was his second Reliever of the Year, having also won it in 2034. The 28-year old German righty led with 49 saves, 81 games, and 7.1 WAR; a very rare happening with a closer as the WARlord among all pitchers.

Bucher set the WAR record for an EBF ROTY winner and posted only the 50^th season in world history where the Reliever of the Year had 7+ WAR. Bucher had a 1.54 ERA over 93.1 innings, 5-1 record, 169 strikeouts, 288 ERA+, and 21 FIP-. His fastball-changeup combo was outstanding with both pitches graded as better than a 10/10 for most scouts. With the increased scoring league-wide, Antwerp’s Hugo Moldovan was the only qualified starter with a sub-three ERA (2.79).



In the first round of the playoffs, Antwerp swept Stockholm and Dublin swept Edinburgh. The latter notably had 1-0 and 2-0 victories by the Dinos. Dublin then went on the road to sweep reigning champ Warsaw in round two with 4-1, 7-4, and 4-3 wins; getting some revenge for the Northern Conference Championship defeat from last year. The Dinos got their fourth conference finals trip in five years and 19^th appearance overall.

Top seed Hamburg not only got beaten by Antwerp, but they too were sweep victims with 6-2, 6-1, and 1-0 results. Leionel Schlienger tossed a six-hit shutout in the clincher, sending the Airedales to their second-ever conference championship. Their only other trip was back in 2015 when they claimed the European Championship. Dublin had home field as they were one game better, but Antwerp had won the season series 6-3.

Dublin opened with a 4-3 home win, getting the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. Antwerp had a five-run rally in the ninth inning to claim game two 6-4. With the series shifting to Belgium, the Airedales secured 5-4, 11-2, and 8-5 home wins to lock up their second pennant in five games. It is the first finals trip for a Belgian team since Brussels’ 2017 win. Series MVP was 3B Semir Kovac, who signed with Antwerp in 2037 after a four-year run with MLB’s San Diego. The 34-year old Bosnian was 9-21 in the series with 3 homers and 6 RBI.