Västra Delen 95, officially Västra Delen 95 Erana Kuller Baseboll Klub, is a professional baseball team located in Erana Kuller in the northern state of Norra Koana, Koana Islands.
The team first rose to prominence in February 1895 when a group of friends – having read an article about the impending Super Ligan – decided to play a game of baseball in the local park. By May of the same year the team was officially founded as Västra Delen 95 which in English translates to “Western Part”, the poorer side of the city denoted by the north-south running of the river Tydje. They were founding members of Stor Nordlig Allians, finishing 5th in their first season. The friends eventually sold the team to Tax Collector Anton Söderström in a private deal, although some documents from the time suggest the friends fell into debt running the team and Söderström saw an opportunity to make a business deal for himself.
After attempting to join the Super Ligan in 1897 but failing election, Söderström approached the national newspaper Koanian Dagbladet and complained of the requirement to have prior success before being admitted entry as a possible stumbling block for the competition, claiming the NBL would succeed as it had no such rule. The Nationella Basebolligan offered a spot to Västra Delen 95 shortly after the article which Söderström initially accepted, before withdrawing two weeks later when he discovered the NBL had voted against the expansion and league commissioner Niclas Nordin had made the decision himself to invite Västra Delen 95 and BK Randia.
At he end of 1898, Västra Delen 95 was again approached by Nordin to join an expanded competition which Söderström accepted, being quoted as saying:
The time for Västra [Delen 95] is now. Joining a national league of teams is paramount to putting Erana Kuller and our ball players on the map and playing the best the country has to offer is important for our fans.
– Anton Söderström
After besting fellow newcomers Freyr Viksida IK in their inaugural season in the NBL before the league collapsed and became Division Ett, Västra Delen 95 went 57-177 over the next three years, finishing last every time before they were voted out of the league. Söderström was quoted as saying both Freyr Viksida IK and Västra Delen 95 were never given a fair go after not being invited for the vote to merge the NBL with the Super Ligan.
Following their expulsion, the team re-joined the Stor Nordlig Allians where they finished as runners-up. They won their first title in 1905, repeating the feat in 1911 and 1912. Around the same time, the Koanian Basebollförbundet was looking to expand the Super Ligan and Division Ett by four teams and approached Västra Delen 95 who officially re-joined the KBF from the 1914 baseball season.
The team play out of the 28,600-seater stadium Torggatan, which is situated in the heart of downtown just two blocks away from the Tydje River. A deep centre-field makes for a fairly balanced ballpark, although Triples are fractionally higher here as a result. The park is famed for it’s outfield hill that overlooks center field and allows families to bring picnic blankets and their own food when they watch a game.
The team is known as Vargar by the locals, which translates to Wolves in English, and they play in dark blue, green, light blue and white..