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1984: Flowers' 2nd Triple Crown, and a Back-to-Back Champion
From the league's inception (1885) until 1977, only one player -- Sam Crowley in 1935 -- had hit 50 homeruns in a single season. But when Leo Estrada tied Crowley's mark in 1978, he started a homerun revolution. Ernie Fallon had hit 59 homers in 1983. And in 1984, Whiskey Flowers reached the 50 mark for a third time in his career.
He already held the record for homeruns in a season with 65. He had already hit .418, the second-best mark in SBL history. So when Flowers led the Pioneer League in batting average (.374), homeruns (54), and RBI (155) in 1984, it almost seemed pedestrian.
Almost.
Before SimNation's very eyes, Flowers was obliterating records and keeping pace to destroy all of Crowley's career marks. He hadn't even turned 31 by the end of the '84 season, and he had put together a Hall of Fame resume:
.375 lifetime average (best in SBL history)
339 homeruns
2223 hits
1193 runs
1117 RBI
393 stolen bases
8 All-Star appearances
2 Tiberium Glove awards in LF
and soon-to-be 6 MVP awards
Though Flowers was the best in the game, his team was not. The Northgate Knights finished a respectable yet unimpressive 87-75, wasting yet another banner season by their peaking slugger. Yes, the Knights had won the Sim Series in 1982, but there was a feeling that the team should be accomplishing much more with the imposing Flowers in the middle of the order. The same was said of the great Crowley, whose Northgate teams won the Series just once, in 1939.
But there was little doubt who the best team was in 1984. That distinction belonged to the Maxis City Heroes, who roared past the Granite Falls T'jacks to win their 25th championship that season. It was their second straight title, the first SBL team to repeat as Sim Series champions since the rival Freeport Patriots in 1966-67. It seemed that Flowers wasn't the only one who was blooming in the 1980's.
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