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FuzzyRussianHat · 05-15-2026, 08:17 AM

Defending European Champion Dublin matched the 108-54 record from the prior campaign, repeating as West Division champ and as the Northern Conference’s top seed. The Dinos posted their seventh consecutive 100+ win season and grew their playoff streak to nine years. Several teams were close to them at the all-star break, but Dublin’s 41-18 post-break record was the best among all teams in the European Baseball Federation. The Dinos had the fewest runs allowed (539) and the best differential (+245) in EBF.

Stockholm, Hamburg, and Antwerp were each right with Dublin early on. The Hammers and Swordsmen battled closely in the East Division with Hamburg narrowly taking first place at 102-60 ahead of 101-61 Stockholm. The Hammers earned repeat playoff trips and their first division title since 2037, while the Swordsmen grew their playoff streak to five seasons.

It was Stockholm’s fourth straight 100+ win season as they led EBF with 942 runs, the second-highest total in conference history. Their 1760 hits were third-most in NC annals. Stockholm had the better differential (+199 to +130), but Hamburg outperformed their expected win/loss by eight. As for Antwerp, they were a game below .500 after the break, but their strong start still got them second in the West at 95-67. The Airedales are back in the playoffs after a five-year streak was ended the prior year.

The remaining two wild cards went to Reykjavik (92-70) and Brussels (91-71) with a five-game drop to the next closest teams Wroclaw and Manchester at 86-76. It was the first-ever playoff trip in the EBF Elite Tier for the Raccoons. For the Beavers, this ended a 23-year playoff drought which had included three relegations to the European Second League. Both Amsterdam and Krakow had three-year playoff streaks ended with 85-77 and 80-82 finishes, respectively.

Cardiff was relegated with EBF’s worst overall record of 55-107. The Crew had a decade back in the top tier with four playoff berths from 2032-36, but they fell into mediocrity after. In the East Division, Helsinki at 69-93 took the last place spot, while Oslo (70-92), Tallinn (74-88), and Berlin (75-87) survived. The latter two both notably had winning records after the break to avoid demotions. The Honkers had a decade-long run back in the EBF Elite with only one playoff trip, although they had typically stayed around .500 until their demotion in 2041.

Stockholm 3B Harvey Smith with the nearly unanimous Northern Conference MVP, giving him five straight MVPs and his sixth in seven years. He joined Harvey Coyle (9) and Sean Houston (7) as the only 6+ time MVPs. Only Coyle had previously won five consecutively. Smith also won his second Gold Glove in his tenth season in the Swedish capital.

The 30-year old Englishman surprisingly didn’t lead the conference in any stat, but was rated highly in all of the big ones. Smith had 230 hits, 126 runs, 27 doubles, 55 home runs, 139 RBI, .367/.396/.679 slash, 1.076 OPS, 179 wRC+, and 9.6 WAR. For his career, Smith has a 1.022 OPS, 174 wRC+, and 85.0 WAR. He is signed through 2045 with Stockholm.

Antwerp’s Jens Rijkaard repeated as Pitcher of the Year, getting 44 first place votes while Dublin’s Christopher Norregaard got the remaining eight. The 25-year old dual Dutch-Irish national led in ERA (1.79), strikeouts (262), K/BB (10.1), quality starts (25), shutouts (6), ERA+ (233), FIP- (57), and WAR (9.2). Rijkaard missed the Triple Crown by only two wins with a 20-7 record over 241.1 innings.

It was a remarkable year for Rijkaard, who threw a no-hitter for the Dutch national team against Hawaii in the World Baseball Championship. Then on September 5, he tossed EBF’s 49^th perfect game with 14 strikeouts against Kharkiv. Rijkaard had pitched two no-hitters in 2040, joining the legendary Jean-Luc Roch as the only EBF aces with three career no-nos. Roch likewise had his three in a two-year stretch from 1975-76.

Also of note, Hamburg’s Lukas Grothe won his third straight Reliever of the Year award. He’s the 13^th to win the award thrice and the third to do so consecutively. The 30-year old German is due free agency after an eight-year run with the Hammers. In 2041, Grothe had 33 saves over 75.2 innings with a 2.14 ERA, 112 Ks, 200 ERA+, 62 FIP-, and 2.8 WAR.

In the first round of the playoffs, Antwerp got a 3-2 walkoff win to start their series against Reykjavik. However, the Raccoons countered with 6-5 and 8-0 wins to advance. Brussels upset Stockholm 6-4 to open that series, followed by a 9-1 Swordsmen blowout. The Beavers used a four-run seventh inning to take game three on the road 5-3 to oust last year’s conference runner-up.

Neither winner had any luck against the division champs. Dublin swept Brussels on 7-4, 7-6, and 8-4 wins, notably getting a walkoff solo homer in game two from Alekss Purins. Hamburg swept Reykjavik with 4-3, 4-2, and 7-3 results. Game one went ten innings with a walkoff RBI single.

The Dinos earned their 21^st trip to the Northern Conference Championship and their sixth in the last decade. Dublin has made it 15 times in the 21^st Century. The Hammers earned their first trip since 2022, which had a defeat to the Dinos. The year prior was Hamburg’s last pennant, which had a win over Dublin. The Dinos narrowly won the regular season series 4-2.

Game one had drama with Hamburg tying the game at 3-3 in the top of the ninth inning. Dublin broke the deadline in the 12^th as Aymeric Bottesini smacked a solo walkoff homer on the first pitch he saw. The Hammers grabbed the next one by an 8-5 margin. Now in Germany for game three, Hamburg rallied with three runs on five hits in the ninth for a 5-4 walkoff win. However, the Dinos routed them 12-3 in game four to even it back up.

A two-run eighth pushed Hamburg to the 3-2 win in game five. Back in Ireland, Dublin won game six 9-3, forcing the decisive finale for the third straight year. The Dinos held on 7-3 in game seven to repeat and earn their 14^th pennant, the most of any EBF team (1962, 67, 68, 95, 2010, 11, 13, 20, 22, 23, 24, 35, 40, 41). C Alekss Purins was series MVP, as the Latvian went 10-26 with four homers, ten RBI, and six runs.

05-15-2026, 08:17 AM	#2860
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 3,534	2041 EBF Northern Conference Defending European Champion Dublin matched the 108-54 record from the prior campaign, repeating as West Division champ and as the Northern Conference’s top seed. The Dinos posted their seventh consecutive 100+ win season and grew their playoff streak to nine years. Several teams were close to them at the all-star break, but Dublin’s 41-18 post-break record was the best among all teams in the European Baseball Federation. The Dinos had the fewest runs allowed (539) and the best differential (+245) in EBF. Stockholm, Hamburg, and Antwerp were each right with Dublin early on. The Hammers and Swordsmen battled closely in the East Division with Hamburg narrowly taking first place at 102-60 ahead of 101-61 Stockholm. The Hammers earned repeat playoff trips and their first division title since 2037, while the Swordsmen grew their playoff streak to five seasons. It was Stockholm’s fourth straight 100+ win season as they led EBF with 942 runs, the second-highest total in conference history. Their 1760 hits were third-most in NC annals. Stockholm had the better differential (+199 to +130), but Hamburg outperformed their expected win/loss by eight. As for Antwerp, they were a game below .500 after the break, but their strong start still got them second in the West at 95-67. The Airedales are back in the playoffs after a five-year streak was ended the prior year. The remaining two wild cards went to Reykjavik (92-70) and Brussels (91-71) with a five-game drop to the next closest teams Wroclaw and Manchester at 86-76. It was the first-ever playoff trip in the EBF Elite Tier for the Raccoons. For the Beavers, this ended a 23-year playoff drought which had included three relegations to the European Second League. Both Amsterdam and Krakow had three-year playoff streaks ended with 85-77 and 80-82 finishes, respectively. Cardiff was relegated with EBF’s worst overall record of 55-107. The Crew had a decade back in the top tier with four playoff berths from 2032-36, but they fell into mediocrity after. In the East Division, Helsinki at 69-93 took the last place spot, while Oslo (70-92), Tallinn (74-88), and Berlin (75-87) survived. The latter two both notably had winning records after the break to avoid demotions. The Honkers had a decade-long run back in the EBF Elite with only one playoff trip, although they had typically stayed around .500 until their demotion in 2041. Stockholm 3B Harvey Smith with the nearly unanimous Northern Conference MVP, giving him five straight MVPs and his sixth in seven years. He joined Harvey Coyle (9) and Sean Houston (7) as the only 6+ time MVPs. Only Coyle had previously won five consecutively. Smith also won his second Gold Glove in his tenth season in the Swedish capital. The 30-year old Englishman surprisingly didn’t lead the conference in any stat, but was rated highly in all of the big ones. Smith had 230 hits, 126 runs, 27 doubles, 55 home runs, 139 RBI, .367/.396/.679 slash, 1.076 OPS, 179 wRC+, and 9.6 WAR. For his career, Smith has a 1.022 OPS, 174 wRC+, and 85.0 WAR. He is signed through 2045 with Stockholm. Antwerp’s Jens Rijkaard repeated as Pitcher of the Year, getting 44 first place votes while Dublin’s Christopher Norregaard got the remaining eight. The 25-year old dual Dutch-Irish national led in ERA (1.79), strikeouts (262), K/BB (10.1), quality starts (25), shutouts (6), ERA+ (233), FIP- (57), and WAR (9.2). Rijkaard missed the Triple Crown by only two wins with a 20-7 record over 241.1 innings. It was a remarkable year for Rijkaard, who threw a no-hitter for the Dutch national team against Hawaii in the World Baseball Championship. Then on September 5, he tossed EBF’s 49^th perfect game with 14 strikeouts against Kharkiv. Rijkaard had pitched two no-hitters in 2040, joining the legendary Jean-Luc Roch as the only EBF aces with three career no-nos. Roch likewise had his three in a two-year stretch from 1975-76. Also of note, Hamburg’s Lukas Grothe won his third straight Reliever of the Year award. He’s the 13^th to win the award thrice and the third to do so consecutively. The 30-year old German is due free agency after an eight-year run with the Hammers. In 2041, Grothe had 33 saves over 75.2 innings with a 2.14 ERA, 112 Ks, 200 ERA+, 62 FIP-, and 2.8 WAR. In the first round of the playoffs, Antwerp got a 3-2 walkoff win to start their series against Reykjavik. However, the Raccoons countered with 6-5 and 8-0 wins to advance. Brussels upset Stockholm 6-4 to open that series, followed by a 9-1 Swordsmen blowout. The Beavers used a four-run seventh inning to take game three on the road 5-3 to oust last year’s conference runner-up. Neither winner had any luck against the division champs. Dublin swept Brussels on 7-4, 7-6, and 8-4 wins, notably getting a walkoff solo homer in game two from Alekss Purins. Hamburg swept Reykjavik with 4-3, 4-2, and 7-3 results. Game one went ten innings with a walkoff RBI single. The Dinos earned their 21^st trip to the Northern Conference Championship and their sixth in the last decade. Dublin has made it 15 times in the 21^st Century. The Hammers earned their first trip since 2022, which had a defeat to the Dinos. The year prior was Hamburg’s last pennant, which had a win over Dublin. The Dinos narrowly won the regular season series 4-2. Game one had drama with Hamburg tying the game at 3-3 in the top of the ninth inning. Dublin broke the deadline in the 12^th as Aymeric Bottesini smacked a solo walkoff homer on the first pitch he saw. The Hammers grabbed the next one by an 8-5 margin. Now in Germany for game three, Hamburg rallied with three runs on five hits in the ninth for a 5-4 walkoff win. However, the Dinos routed them 12-3 in game four to even it back up. A two-run eighth pushed Hamburg to the 3-2 win in game five. Back in Ireland, Dublin won game six 9-3, forcing the decisive finale for the third straight year. The Dinos held on 7-3 in game seven to repeat and earn their 14^th pennant, the most of any EBF team (1962, 67, 68, 95, 2010, 11, 13, 20, 22, 23, 24, 35, 40, 41). C Alekss Purins was series MVP, as the Latvian went 10-26 with four homers, ten RBI, and six runs. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports The Level Playing Field: Alternate MLB History From 1884-Onward Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)