[ArquimedezPozo]

This post is the third of five counting down all 48 NABF teams. Each entry will include vital stats, a short history, and its best players and season. This entry will cover teams #24-#13.

24. The Columbus Red Birds
Overall Record: 2255-2365, .488
Conference Titles: 4 (D4E 2013-2014, D3E 2017-2018)
Division Championships: 4 (D4 2013-2014, D3 2017-2018
Last Place Finishes: 8
Original/Lowest Division: 4
Highest Division: 2
Current Division: 3

The Red Birds are one of only three teams that have won at least four championships without ever losing a Championship Series, along with the Athletics and Saints. Of that group, they’re the only ones that have done so in multiple Divisions. Along with the Gulls, the Red Birds were an early proof-of-concept for the NABF: a small-market team that was able to use promotion to demonstrate success up the ladder. Though their overall winning record is far from sterling, their staying power despite small-market beginnings has been impressive.

Columbus is an original D4 member, a franchise that was on the verge of - in fact in the process of - shuttering before the NABF came along. Late in the 2006 season, as it sat in last place in the Great Lakes League, Columbus had traded away several of its better players (including future NABF Hall of Famer, 3B Nate Hall) and was preparing to disband; the NABF became a lifeline. However, this also meant the cupboards were mostly bare for Columbus in the early years, and they finished dead last in the D4 East in both 2007 and 2008. The club experienced their first winning season in 2011 behind Pitcher of the Year Estevan Barola, and improved marginally in 2012. But in 2013, at the start of Cycle 3, everything clicked: 3B Lorenzo Valenzuela had a career year, winning the MVP ahead of a solid lineup that ranked third in D3 in runs, while a rotation fronted by Barola allowed just one run more than the Division-leading Terrapins. The Red Birds won 98 games and the Conference, then rolled over San Antonio for their first championship. They would repeat the following season, winning 90 and a thrilling seven game bout against Albuquerque. Though they ended in second place in 2015, two championships easily got them promoted to Division 3.

They struggled to find their footing early on in D3, finishing in third and barely above .500 in 2016. But with Vaqlenzuela at the core of a booming offense (more runs in 2017 and 2018 than any other team in the Conference), Columbus went back to back again to close out Cycle 4, thus becoming the first team in Federation history to win multiple championships in each of two divisions. The performance got them promoted for a second straight cycle, into Division 2.

For five cycles after 2018, Columbus held on to its D2 spot. They remained competitive in 2019 and 2020, but in 2021 they began a three-year last place streak, losing 96 games in 2023 and controversially avoiding relegation only because a) that streak was split between two cycles, and b) the Federation had just made an adjustment to the promotion/relegation formula, putting even more emphasis on the final season of a cycle (a change which has since been reversed, in no small part because of what became called the “Columbus scenario”). In fact, Columbus has had just three winning seasons since its move to D2, and after spending much of Cycle 10 in the basement of the D2 East, Columbus will open Cycle 11 back in D3. Still, their run of successes is enough to earn them a spot in out top half here.

Best Position Player: Lorenzo Valenzuela played most of his career in Columbus, winning one of the club’s two MVPs and topping out team record books in several categories. This was a close call with slugger David Durica, but Durica - one of the league’s least popular players - also only spent the first half of his career with the Red Birds, whereas Valenzuela played all but two seasons with the club.

Best Pitcher: Estevan Barola has Columbus’s only Pitcher of the Year Award, its three best pitching seasons, and its all-time highest career pitching WAR. He was also instrumental in securing Columbus’s first title, though he left the team after the 2013 run.

Best Season: 2013 was the club’s first title and its highest win total at 98; it was also a great season for Red Birds hitters - especially Valenzuela, who won his MVP in 2013.

23. The Monterrey Industriales
Overall Record: 2269-2351, .491
Conference Titles: 4 (D2W 2016-2018, D1W2024)
Division Championships: 2 (D2 2016-2017)
Last Place Finishes: 3
Original/Highest/Current Division: 1
Lowest Division: 2

Monterrey can claim an important first: the first team outside of the Troika (El Paso, Los Angeles, and Ft. Worth) to win a D1 West title, which they did in 2024. It is their most recent Conference title, and it was ultimately an unsuccessful season as they went down in five to Boston in the Championship Series, but it signalled the end of that era in Division 1. Except during Cycles three and four, Monterrey has always been a D1 club, and laying in the shadow of the Troika’s dominance was difficult at first; while the Industriales managed a couple of winning seasons in the first two cycles, two 90 loss seasons in 2011 and 2012 got them bumped. The move down, though, gave the front office room to play with the roster, and they cleared space for a promising prospect, 2011 first round pick Brett Perry. Perry was a gifted defensive center fielder - scouts called him a natural. His hit tool was solid enough, though there were question marks. Still, for a rebuilding franchise, a strong defensive CF was valuable no matter the offense, so Perry began the year in Monterrey. He responded with an outstanding season, winning a Gold Glove (the first of eight) right out of the gate while hitting .267/.336/.446 with 18 homers, a total of 5.6 WAR. He only got better from there - his HR total exploded to 32 in 2014, easily a career high. It was with Perry at his peak that the Industriales took over in the D2 West: the team won the Conference three straight seasons during Cycle 4, and won the D2 Championship in 2016 and 2017, earning promotion back to D1.

The Industriales who rejoined D1 in 2018 were centered around Perry and newly acquired ace Jayden Moody, who they’d picked up before the 2017 season for prospect Joe Schmidt. Moody anchored Monterrey’s rotation for the next nine seasons, including an outstanding 2024, when his D1-best 5.9 WAR helped Monterrey take that infamous Conference title. 2024 was also the last great year of Perry’s Hall of Fame career, as he won his seventh Gold Glove while knocking 18 homers with an .823 OPS and 125 wRC+. Perry was backed by younger stars too - 3B Madison Charron, who led D1 in all three slash categories that season, and young RF Matt Rutz, in his breakout campaign. Hard hitting 1B Zach Markiewicz had come over from San Francisco the previous year, and added a potent bat as well, but Monterrey couldn’t match the Bees.

Since 2024, Monterrey has been almost exactly a .500 club, averaging just under 77 wins and a .500 pace in 12 seasons. Perry’s replacement in CF, Joel Gamble, now has six Gold Gloves, carrying on a Monterrey tradition, and the club has exciting young talent in SS Tyler Duncan. While the pitching staff needs work, the Industriales managed 90 wins in 2036, second only to the 99-win El Paso juggernaut, so perhaps Monterrey is about to shine again.

Best Position Player: certainly Perry, the club’s only Hall of Famer and the player most associated with the team. While Markiewicz and Matt Rutz are potential Hall of Famers and spent the most years of their careers with Monterrey, Perry is the face of the franchise.

Best Pitcher: Moody is the only choice for a team that has really never had many impactful arms. Moody is a borderline Hall of Famer himself, though a lack of recognition during his career hurts his case. Still, he holds multiple Monterrey records including career WAR (by a long distance) and he’s the easy choice here.

Best Season: 2024 was the year Monterrey broke the Troika’s stranglehold on the D1 West, and it was also their best year, winning 93 games with some of the biggest stars in their history at the tops of their games.

22. The Tijuana Potros
Overall Record: 2228-2392, .482
Conference Titles: 4 (D2W 2013-2015, D1W 2028)
Division Championships: 2 (D2 2014, D1 2028)
Last Place Finishes: 0
Original/Lowest Division: 2
Highest/Current Division: 1

When the Boston Bees dynasty collapsed during Cycle 9, a little-reported side effect of it was this: the Tijuana Potros now stood alone as the only franchise in the entire Federation that had never finished in last place. This is, to an extent, no more meaningful than most trivia; Tijuana, after all, has a losing record over its history and lacks the hardware many other teams have collected over the years. But in a Federation where last-place finishes mean relegation, Tijuana’s ability to avoid it has made them a constant factor in Division 1 since their arrival there in Cycle 4.

After a slow start with three losing seasons in Cycle 1, the Potros put together a fantastic six year run in Cycles 2 and 3, winning the conference three straight seasons and capturing their first Division title in 2014 with a team led by ace and two-time Pitcher of the Year Jose Santos and a pitching staff that allowed fewer runs over that stretch than any other D2 club. Santos in particular was electric: in 2013, as the Potros won a franchise record 101 games, he gave the club 230 innings of constant groundball pressure with his powerful sinker/slider combo. He was even better in the championship season of 2014, with an 8 WAR and 56- FIP while striking out 245 and allowing just six homers over 213 innings. The Potros were rewarded for that run with promotion to Division 1 to begin Cycle 4.

By all rights, the Potros probably should have been relegated in that first few years, but the presence of even worse teams (the Mounties in Cycle 4 and the Saints in Cycle 5) prevented it; still, the club lost an average of 91 games a season over a six season span, placing fifth in D1 West in four of those years and fourth twice. Subsequent years showed improvement: in 2022, 2B Antonio Dominguez played his first full season and was a sensation, hitting .319/.413/.520 with 25 homers and getting elected to his first All-Star team. Dominguez was a Tijuana native, and grew up watching the Potros in those early NABF seasons. He was also incredible, and among the best players in D1 for the next decade, helping to stabilize the Potros. CF Danny Gonzalez added to Tijuana’s potent offense in the back half of the 2020s; Gonzalez won the 2027 MVP and would win another five years later in his best season. Though the pitching staff struggled, an offense led by two probable Hall of Famers was good enough to net Tijuana 81 wins and the Conference title in 2028, with a victory over Boston giving them that most coveted Division 1 Championship.

The 2030s have mostly brought decline to Tijuana. Antonio Dominguez wasn’t re-signed after 2035, a deeply unpopular move given his community ties. While Danny Gonzalez continues to produce, his time as a Potro could be coming to an end as his contract is up at the end of 2037. Where the club goes from there remains unseen, though with a decent younger core coming of age it doesn’t seem too likely that the Potros will see a last place finish in the next few seasons.

Best Position Player: maybe by the end of his career, should he come back to Tijuana, Danny Gonzalez will be in this spot. But for now it’s the highly deserving Dominguez, who can make a case as the best second baseman in NABF history with a career .298/.395/.488 line, 340 homers (a mark Gonzalez will likely eclipse this year) and 63.7 WAR.

Best Pitcher: Jose Santos is far and away the team’s best starter, with two Pitcher of the Year Awards and a bevy of team records. Santos spent his entire 14 year career in Tijuana.

Best Season: their first Conference title in 2013 was a banner year, as the club won 101 games to put them on a path to promotion.

21. The Chicago Whales
Overall Record: 2336-2284, .506
Conference Titles: 4 (D2E 2020-2021, 2028-2029)
Division Championships: 2 (D2 2028-2029)
Last Place Finishes: 3
Original/Highest/Current Division: 1
Lowest Division: 1

Chicago, one of the largest markets in the game and an original Division 1 member, has fought tooth and nail to remain there over the first thirty years of the NABF. Along with Toronto, the Whales were the pre-eminent power of the Great Lakes League, winning the championship more than any other team, but the transition to Federation play was not an easy one as Chicago hovered around .500 for the first decade-plus. Those years coincided with the prime of the best player in their history, the incredible two-way star Jose Martinez. Between his debut in 2008 and the end of his Chicago career in 2018, Martinez amassed 46 WAR as a first baseman, hitting .327/.376/.519 with 221 homers and nearly 350 doubles while winning the 2014 MVP. Amazingly, he was almost exactly as valuable on the mound, with 44.9 WAR over 336 pitching appearances (all as a starter), going 130-123 with a 4.06 ERA that was about league average, but a better 3.67 FIP, making for an 87 FIP- over his time in the Windy City. Far better on the mound was ace Doug Peternek, who had debuted with Chicago in 2005 before the NABF and who spent nine seasons with the D1 Whales, winning 180 games and taking home two Pitcher of the Year Awards. But the Whales consistently failed to surround their two stars with a deep team, and the Whales maxed out at second place, their best showing an 87 win runner-up year in 2013. Cycle 4 proved a disaster, as by then Peternek had moved on, Martinez was slowing down, and Chicago had little else. They lost 86 games in 2016, and 89 in 2018, both last place efforts. Their reward was a shift down to Division 2.

The rebuild happened fast. Martinez was gone after 2018, opting out after relegation, and Chicago struggled the following year, climbing barely above .500 in their first season in Division 2. But the following season, 2020, was better: Chicago won 92 games with a balanced team that ranked second in D2 in runs scored and first in runs allowed. A young offense led by RF Tom Thompson and young 3B Connor Carey pounded opponents while Jarrod Scott blew down strikeout records, dropping batters at a record rate of 14.4 per nine two seasons in a row as a starter. Chicago won the D2 East in 2020, and in 2021 reached their height with a 101 win campaign that earned them promotion back to D1.

That promotion was short lived, just as the relegation had been: Scott was an amazing pitcher but a terrible clubhouse presence, and the team was forced to trade him during the 2022 season. Connor Carey signed with Baltimore, and the Whales - just two seasons removed from a 101 win season - hit their lowest point, with 95 and 96 loss years in 2023 and 2024, finding themselves once again in D2. For a bit it seemed like they’d be sliding further: the club lost 90 in their first season back down. But they rebounded somewhat to avoid relegation, and by 2028 a deep farm system acquired through three terrible years began to bear fruit. Led by MVP CF Kyle DuBell, Chicago finally broke through. In 2028 and 2029, under freshman manager Vince Lorek (a former Gold Glove OF with Baltimore) Chicago won two straight seven game championship series against the powerful Seattle Steelheads, and were a close second in 2030 as they won 91 games. Once again, Chicago was off to Division 1, and this time they’d stay: though they haven’t dominated, the Whales have basically broken even during the 2030s. With DuBell’s age starting to show, however, it’s unclear how long they’ll remain competitive: can Chicago finally build a deep team around its stars, or will they find themselves on the downslope once again?

Best Position Player: Martinez gets more credit for his hitting prowess, so we’ll put him here despite DuBell’s edge in a few areas. Martinez, a member of the inaugural 2036 Hall of Fame class, is among the very best two-way players in NABF history, up there with Nick Goodwin and Ryan Little.

Best Pitcher: Hall of Famer Doug Peternek is the best and really only answer here. Peternek spent most of his career in Chicago and remains a presence at Whales games and spring training.

Best Season: their 96 win D2 championship season in 2028 is the one fans will remember best, as it was the first title for the franchise, won in thrilling fashion in front of the home crowd in a dramatic game 7.

20. The Atlanta Crackers
Overall Record: 2421-2199, .527
Conference Titles: 2 (2010, 2014)
Division Championships: 0
Last Place Finishes: 2
Original/Highest Division: 2
Lowest/Current Division: 3

Poor, hopeless Atlanta. No team has won so many games without anything to show for it - their all-time 2421-2199 record is the ninth best of all NABF teams, yet they’ve won their Conference fewer times than Portland (#41 on this list), and have never won a championship or been promoted. They’ve finished a season in second place eight times over 30 seasons - only Philadelphia, with five first place finishes and as many championships, has done so more frequently. And what’s even more astounding is that all eight of those second place finishes came between 2009 and 2023 - that’s more than half of those years.

Atlanta benefitted in those early years from two Hall of Fame talents. Starter A.J. Nichols debuted with the club in 2012 was one of the best power pitchers of his time, and is one of only a handful of pitchers who have ever struck out more than 300 in a season (305 in 2013, his first full season). Nichols put up 5+ WAR seasons every year from 2013 to 2020, striking out around 12 batters per nine over that span. On the other side of the ball was Raul Romero, a strong leadoff hitter and outstanding defender whose 103 WAR is the highest mark in NABF history. Between Romero’s debut in 2008 and Nichols’ last great season in 2020, Atlanta won at a .545 clip and took their only two Conference titles in 2010 and 2014. Was Nichols’ third year with Atlanta and Romero’s last.

Despite Romero’s departure and Nichols’ decline, the period between 2020 and 2023 was Atlanta’s best. Despite finishing no higher than second in those seasons (courtesy of exceptional seasons by the Chicago Whales in 20 and 21, and the New York Giants in 22 and 23), Atlanta won 90 games twice, and 87 in2021, finishing just a game out of first in each 90 win season, much to the heartbreak of the Atlanta faithful. Nichols was still productive at that point, but a new star had taken over the title of ace for Atlanta: Hall of Famer David Miramontes had come to the Crackers on the downswing of his career and was suddenly reborn as a finesse pitching sensation. Miramontes had the best year of his career for Atlanta in 2019 at the age of 38, and kept going for three more outstanding seasons, winning the last of his four Pitcher of the Year awards in 2021 at the age of 40.

The Crackers have largely treaded water for the past decade, with a .504 winning percentage since Miramontes’ last great season in 2024. They were a tough luck relegation victim in 2033 after a 65 win season in a competitive conference, and haven’t bounced back yet, though they averaged 81 wins during Cycle 10, waiting for a truly great team to take the franchise where it’s never gone: up.

Best Player: it has to be Romero - all-time NABF WAR leader, second all time in SBs, great defender, and team leader who defined the team’s early years and successes.

Best Pitcher: Miramontes had an incredible run for Atlanta, but Nichols is the guy. He holds all the franchise records, and is one of only a few pitchers to win three Pitcher of the Year Awards for the same team.

Best Season: The Crackers have two Conference titles, and of those 2010 is the right choice here. Though Nichols was still two years away, this was the middle of Romero’s greatest period, and the Crackers won 91 games, among their best totals.

19. The Brooklyn Dodgers
Overall Record: 2304-2316, .499
Conference Titles: 6 (D1E 2008-2009, 2019-2021, 2035)
Division Championships: 1 (D1 2021)
Last Place Finishes: 4
Only Division: 1

The Dodgers are one of the four original Division 1 teams that have never been relegated, and the lowest on this list. Their sole championship is by far the lowest of that group, while their four last place finishes are the most. They are the only one with a losing record across the first 30 seasons of the NABF, and the only one who cannot boast a Hall of Famer in the 2036 inaugural class. Yet the Dodgers are among the proudest franchises in the game, and their fans sell out Ebbets Field in good times and bad, with one of the highest attendance rates in the Federation.

The Dodgers were an early success story, first by successfully maintaining their independence against a proposal to limit their market share as the Federation was being formed and then through their on-field success. Brooklyn won the D1 East in both 2008 and 2009 behind aging but established superstar Gustavo Vazquez and a solid young pitching staff. Though they lost in the Championship Series both times, to El Paso and LA respectively, it was a good start for the Bums, who would have been promoted had there been a higher league. Unfortunately, Brooklyn took a step back at the start of Cycle 2, despite the beginning of an exceptional run by Max Hinkle’s twin* brother John (as good if not better than his Hall of Fame sibling at the start of his career, only to be hampered by injury later). The Dodgers lost 84 in 2010 and wound up in last place, beginning an eight year stretch with only one winning season in which they finished in last place three times. It was during that stretch that John Hinkle’s second wrist fracture occurred, an injury that marked the start of a decline that would prematurely end what could have been a Hall of Fame career.

By 2018, with Hinkle reduced to a part-time role, the Dodgers had started to reload. Young Paul Loomis had his breakout season in 2016 and had established himself as a strong starter, if not an outright ace. He was joined by another young pitcher, Paul Walter, who had a run of success in the same period. The Dodgers had picked up future Hall of Fame hurler Mike Makris in an offseason trade with Ottawa to give them an impressive rotation 1-2-3, backed up by a strong lineup of young hitters, most notably long-time 1B Ian Garrison, then at the start of his excellent career. This was Brooklyn’s golden age, as they won the D1 East each year of Cycle 5, culminating in their 2021 victory over El Paso, the only championship in team history.

Since 2021, Brooklyn has been effectively a .500 team, averaging 78 wins over 17 seasons, with a single Conference title in 2035, 1B Carson Prince’s MVP season and the second Pitcher of the Year campaign for ace Jason Blanche. Though the Dodgers took a step back last season, they have promise for the future.

Best Position Player: Ian Garrison may be one of the more underrated players in the history of Division 1 - a constant, steady presence over a career in Dodger Blue, slugging over 300 homers with a career .385 OBP and 52.8 WAR. He was a 13 time All-Star, but only won a couple Silver Sluggers at 1B with no additional hardware.

Best Pitcher: This is a very tough call, and while you can make a great case for current ace Blanche, we’ll go with longevity and give it to Paul Walter. His 13 seasons with the club make him Brooklyn’s longest-tenured pitcher, and fans will long remember his outstanding performance in the 2021 championship series.

Best Season: 2021 was not only their only championship season, it also set a franchise wins record with 98.

* note: this was an edit - there were two excellent D1 hitters, both with the last name Hinkle, who were basically a couple months apart in age and from different places, so I commissionered them into becoming twins, because why wouldn’t I?

18. The Miami Marlins
Overall Record: 2323-2297, .503
Conference Titles: 7 (D4E 2010, 2011, 2026, 2034-2036; D3E 2030)
Division Championships: 4 (D4 2011, 26, 2035-2036)
Last Place Finishes: 8
Original/Highest/Current Division: 3
Lowest Division: 4

The Marlins hold the impressive/dubious distinction of moving between divisions more often than any other team in the NABF: they have been promoted or relegated at the end of six different cycles (promoted three times, relegated three). Despite their winning record, seven Conference titles, and four Championships, the Marlins have never made it above Division 3.

The club was shaky right out of the gate, losing 88 games in each of its first two seasons before an awful 102 loss campaign to close out Cycle 1. That dropped them to Division 4, just as a young pitching core came of age, and though no one of them was dominant they were all dependable, giving the Marlins the lowest Runs Allowed in their conference. Coupled with a career year by 1B Will Brady and 23 year old catcher Peter Allen (the Marlins’ first NABF draft pick), the Marlins went from 102 losses in 2009 to 96 wins in 2010, taking the Conference, though they lost to Austin in the Championship. The subsequent season’s team was weaker in the regular season - in fact, at 79-75, they are the only team in NABF history to win a Conference with fewer than 80 wins. But they won it just the same, and this time they were ready, topping the Monarchs in a close seven game series for their first title. The result, unsurprisingly, was promotion, and by 2013 they found themselves back in Division 3 again… only to finish in last place in the first and the final years of the cycle, and be returned, making them the only team to shift divisions in each of the Federation’s first four cycles.

It would end there for a while, though, as Miami settled into a role as the D4 East’s middle man: the Marlins were almost exactly a .500 team over the next five seasons. But in 2021 they finished in last, losing 91 games, and then again in 2024, this time losing 89 and finishing the cycle in last place overall.

Their third championship came just two years later, once again cobbling together a league-leading pitching staff without a real ace: journeyman Allen Clary was the best they could offer, and he would be out of baseball two years later. But it was good enough to win 92 games with a middling offense, and it was good enough to beat Albuquerque for Miami’s second title. And once again, the Marlins were riding the rails, back up to Division 3. They stuck around for a while this time, with three winning seasons in cycle 8 including a 91 win 2030 that got them a Conference title, but it wasn’t enough to move them up again. D3 East was a tough Conference in those years, and the Marlins lost it two years running with a 69-85 record in each; not even an 80-74 2033 could save them from yet another return trip to D4.

That winning 2033 had been, in no small part, due to a young pitcher who had debuted the year before and who broke out in the Marlins’ final D3 season: Paul Herrin. Herrin gave the Marlins what was at the time its best season by a pitcher, going 15-10 with a 2.77 ERA and 3.19 FIP (79 FIP-) while putting up 5.3 WAR. Herrin continued to win in Division 4, topping 5 WAR in all three seasons of Cycle 10, but he reached a new level in 2035 as he went 18-6 with a Division-best 1.93 ERA, 277 Ks, and 5.9 WAR. He was joined by young CF Corey Stoute, who came out of nowhere with an MVP year, hitting .299/.364/.498 with 24 homers and 7.2 WAR to win D4 MVP, and the Marlins took their third D4 title. 2036 brought a fourth, as Herrin went even higher, winning 20 with a 2.06 ERA, 2.68 FIP, and only 7 homers allowed, while once again leading the Division in Ks. Herrin won the MVP and Pitcher of the Year, only the second pitcher to do so in the same season.

So, as Cycle 11 dawns, Miami is once again headed up to Division 3. This time they have a brilliant young ace at the head of their attack, and even a new name. Team owners hope the newly christened Miami Amigos will go where the Marlins never could: Division 2.

Best Position Player: Peter Allen is among the best to ever play the NABF’s weakest position, catcher. Most of his career was with the Marlins, hitting 248 homers and the 2011 Championship Series MVP.

Best Pitcher: Paul Herrin is only in his fifth season, but he already has two Pitcher of the Year awards and an MVP, and ranks first on Miami’s all-time ERA, K/9, and WHIP ranking, while in second and gaining in several other categories. The Marlins have him locked up for four more seasons, so chances are he’ll get there in at least some of them.

Best Season: 2035 saw the club win over 100 games for the first and only time, and take its fourth Division 4 championship, with Paul Herrin taking home both the MVP and Pitcher of the Year for his outstanding season.

17. The Montreal Expos
Overall Record: 2368-2252, .513
Conference Titles: 4 (D1E 2014, 2026; D2E 2031, 2034)
Division Championships: 3 (D1 2026; D2 2031, 2034)
Last Place Finishes: 4
Original/Highest Division: 1
Lowest/Current Division: 2

Of the 12 original Division 1 teams, Montreal has more wins over its history than all but three - Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and El Paso. Despite that, Montreal currently sits in Division 2, having been relegated after a rough patch during Cycle 8. Up until then, Montreal’s history had generally been solid - though they lacked much to show for it, Montreal generally won more than they lost, averaging about 82 wins a year over the Federation’s first two decades of play with only four sub-.500 seasons until 2027. The team hit its early peak in Cycle three, with two 94 win seasons in 2014 and 2015. With Hall of Famer David Miramontes fronting the rotation and CF Bruce Denner and 1B Matthew Randle in the center of the lineup, Montreal took the D1 East for the first time in 2014 (losing to El Paso in seven) and fell short of an outstanding Boston club in 2015. In 2026, they took the Conference again with another 94 win campaign. Led by free agent acquisition Craig Vest and an incredible career year by SS Do-Hyun Lee, Montreal finally took Division 1, downing El Paso in six games.

Things took a sharp turn downward after the closing out of that series. The Expos won just 65 games in 2027, a drop of nearly 30. Montreal had played well above their heads with an expected W/L of 85-69 in 2026, and well below them in 2027 with an expected W/L of 75-79, but that didn’t fully explain it either. Whatever the reason, Montreal sank, losing at least 85 games in each of the next four seasons. From champs to relegation victims in just four seasons, Montreal found itself in Division 2 to open Cycle 9.

The shift opened up some starting jobs and younger players stepped in to immediate success. The most notable of these was young SP Bubba Fread, a Rhode Island native whose first full season was 2031, the Expos’ first in D2. He lived up to his heavy hype, putting up a 3.15 FIP (79 FIP-) and striking out about a quarter of the batters he faced, winning ten for an Expos team that went worst-to-first, taking the D2 East with 88 wins and lifting a trophy after a defeat of Ft. Worth. They were passable over the next two seasons as well. But in 2034, they were unstoppable, winning 97 behind Fread - now a certifiable ace about to win his third Pitcher of the Year award with an 8.2 WAR season - and Tony Carillo, who won 18 in a career year. The Expos once again claimed the title, this time over Denver in a seven game series that ended in a Montreal blowout. While many fans are nervous given 2036’s losing effort, with Bubba Fread locked up until 2040 there’s still lots to be excited about in Quebec.

Best Position Player: quite a few Montreal fans were upset when Randle was passed over for the inaugural Hall of Fame class, and while he likely doesn’t quite deserve enshrinement he was certainly a hell of a ballplayer, hitting 463 homers with a lifetime .297/.371/.516 line, 14 All Star games, and the 2021 D1 MVP.

Best Pitcher: Bubba Fread is still very much in the thick of his career, but he’s already Montreal’s best ever, with three Pitcher of the Year awards before the age of 30 and nearly 40 career WAR.

Best Season: certainly the 97 win, D2 championship season in 2034 has to be it. With Bubba Fread at his height and the Expos staff holding runs down at an impressive clip, they’ve never been more effective.

16. The Memphis Blues
Overall Record: 2373-2247, .514
Conference Titles: 4 (D4E 2007, 2019, 2022, 2024)
Division Championships: 2 (D4 2019, 2022)
Last Place Finishes: 2
Original/Lowest Division: 4
Highest/Current Division: 3

Memphis has been such a steady team that they’re hard to notice. They’ve had just seven losing seasons in their history, and only twelve where they’ve fallen outside the top three spots in whatever Division they’re in. They’re one of the winningest teams in all of the NABF (13th overall) yet have just a single promotion to show for it. They’re almost impressively devoid of great players, and yet they just keep steadily winning, which is impressive in its own right. Their relatively small market size has meant they often struggle to retain stars, but they’ve developed an approach based on depth that has kept them in the hunt over their history.

Memphis began their time in the NABF as the absolute smallest market in the Federation, just barely making the cut over a couple of other teams in Louisville and Buffalo. They won just 83 games that year, but snuck a Conference title in an otherwise weak D4 East largely due to the play of 1B Jason Ussery, already approaching the end of his career by the dawn of the Federation . Memphis was pretty well crushed by the great Salt Lake Gulls in that championship series, though, and faded away behind cross-state rivals Nashville for the remainder of Cycle 1. By the end of Cycle 2, Memphis was in dire straits, and would have been relegated had there been a lower league in 2012; they lost 61 games that year, and 60 two years later, their worst seasons to date.

Those would turn out to be their two worst seasons ever, and the only two times the club would find themselves looking up at everyone. After 2014, Memphis began to build - slowly, smartly - into a contender. A break-even year in 2016, a couple second place finishes in 2017 and 2018, and then, with the Zephyrs moving up to D3, a Conference title again. The Blues that year were one of the great run prevention teams in NABF history, behind a brilliant defense led by SS Francisco Rodriguez (his nine Gold Gloves are the most of anyone who has ever played the position) and 2B Mike Campbell, and a solid, groundball-oriented pitching staff. They beat Sacramento in a low-scoring seven game series for the first franchise title, then did it again in 2022 after adding an aging Raul Romero, who had his last great season with Memphis, hitting .279/.387/.502 with 26 homers to improve the Blues’ offensive attack. Another Conference title followed to close out Cycle 6, and push the Blues up the ladder to Division 3.

Things have been quiet and steady for Memphis since, averaging a little above 80 wins since joining the sophomore circuit. A 42 year old Craig Vest joined a much younger supporting squad for a 90 win second place season in 2035, but 2036 was a step back, so Memphis enters Cycle 11 waiting for the improvements that will take them up another rung.

Best Position Player: Memphis has done what it’s done without stars in their prime, for the most part - a genuine small market moneyball approach. Their best long-term hitter is probably John Yocum, a right fielder who spent his entire career with Memphis, ending with a .269/.325/.418 line, 174 homers, and 33.9 career WAR.

Best Pitcher: two current hurlers are under consideration here: Ian Weaver and Cody Garrett. Garrett is the tentative choice, but with the understanding that Weaver could overtake him as early as this year. Garrett has one of Memphis’s three Pitcher of the Year awards, and the only one from D3.

Best Season: 2018 - 88 wins, an incredible pitching staff and defense, and a long-awaited title that started the team on the road to promotion.

15. The Detroit Stars
Overall Record: 2334-2286, .505
Conference Titles: 7 (D3E 2008, 2019-2021, 2035-2036; D2E 2022)
Division Championships: 4 (D3 2008, 2020-2021, 2036)
Last Place Finishes: 7
Original/Lowest Division: 3
Highest/Current Division: 2

Much like the city they represent, the Stars have been a team of boom times and bust times - a frequent cycle of dominant runs interspersed with eras of utter futility. Detroit was a charter member of Division 3 in 2007, and immediately established itself as a power in the D3 East, with three years averaging 85 wins, finishing third, first, and second respectively. In 2008, a balanced club took the Conference by eight games over Charlotte, and proceeded to down D3W winner Portland easily in five for the first of four D3 titles, more than any other team.

The victory and sustained period of success in Cycle 1 brought them to Division 2 in 2010, and there things didn’t go as well; they held on to second place in their first season, but fell sharply in 2011, the first of four straight losing seasons. A surprisingly good 2015 gave them 86 wins, but two last place finishes in the first two years of Cycle 3 was hard to overcome, so they found themselves back in Division 3. They played mostly in the middle of the pack for a couple years, but in 2018 they emerged with 89 wins around a great young core of hitters that included CF Bob Short, longtime Detroit 1B Enrique Pastriano, and LF Alejandro Hernandez. Detroit’s GM was a known aficionado of two way players, and collected an impressive group: DH/SP Ryan Little and 1B/SP Jose Martinez, toward the end of their Hall of Fame careers, contributed a combined 9 WAR after signing on with Detroit at the ends of their respective careers, while the great Nick Goodwin came to MoTown a a 27 year old and had three of the best years of his career there. Goodwin’s acquisition in 2020 put Detroit over the top, and the club won 96 games and their second D3 championship. A third followed the next year. So for the fourth time in five cycles, Detroit was switching Divisions.

This time went better, as Detroit captured the D2 East for the first time in 2022, but their window was closing fast and the club settled into seven straight losing seasons and another relegation by 2028. But once again, Detroit used that time well. By 2032, with the emergence of the great 3B Ali Brown (two MVPs in 2032 and 2033) Detroit climbed the rankings in D3. In 2035, they won 93 games and the Conference title, and then last year they delivered their finest season, winning 101 times to beat Nashville by a single game before sweeping Sacramento in the Championship. Brown, 1B Luis Baleia, LF Victor Ortiz, and young 2B phenom Shane McBride each put up 5+ WAR seasons, including a monster campaign by Brown that could have won him the MVP for a third time, and Detroit was the only D3 team to cross the 800 run threshold.

So with that core to build on, Detroit is once again headed up the ladder to D2, hoping for a better outcome in Cycle 11.

Best Position Player: it seems pretty clear that Brown, despite lacking the counting stats due to his age, has already claimed that title. At 30 and with several productive years ahead of him, he has two MVPs, 217 homers, and 40 WAR, with a Gold Glove at the hot corner.

Best Pitcher: Michael Zoellner was a steady, reliable starter for Detroit over 13 of the 14 years he spent in the NABF. His 2018 season was a gem, and helped re-establish the team after a long period of futility. He’s the best pick for a franchise that has never had much great pitching.

Best Season: it just happened. 2036 saw it all come together for a 101 win championship and the best offense Detroit has ever put together.

14. The New Orleans Zephyrs
Overall Record: 2397-2223, .519
Conference Titles: 8 (D4E 2008, 2012, 2016-2017; D3E 2026-2027; D2E 2030, 2032)
Division Championships: 2 (D4 2016; D3 2026)
Last Place Finishes: 4
Original/Lowest Division: 4
Current/Highest Division: 2

New Orleans has spent 30 years steadily climbing up the NABF’s ladder, and may soon threaten the Terrapins’ place as the only original D4 team to climb to D1. If they do, they will have done it more methodically, yes, but also while overcoming far greater challenges.

The D4 East was an unfortunate division in the Federation’s early years: without any real powerhouses, they lost to stronger D4 West dynasties (Salt Lake and Austin) in five of the first six Championship Series. Among those losing teams were the Zephyrs, who were 2008’s sacrificial lamb to the Salt Lake juggernaut, though they at least took the Gulls to Game 7. The club was maddeningly inconsistent in its first years, though, swinging between winning and losing seasons - in fact, the year after going to Game 7, the Zephs lost 99 games en route to two straight last place finishes. In 2012 they managed 85 wins and a Conference title, with young 1B Nick Barnes clubbing a D4 best 45 homers, but they once again dropped a Championship Series, this time to Austin. The next three seasons were good ones, but without postseason play as Barnes was the only real talent of the club, winning an MVP in 2014 with little backup, on his way to a 521 home run career.

In 2016 two things happened that reshaped the franchise. The first was New Orleans’ first championship: the club won 86 in 2016, as a few younger players reached their potential, including Frank Flanigan, RF Jeff Putz, and Vinny Vazquez. They were able to defeat Milwaukee in six games to raise the banner in the Big Easy. The other development didn’t make headlines, but nothing the Zephyrs have ever done has had a greater impact: they signed a young Dominican prospect named Pedro Quiroz.

As Quiroz worked his way through the minors, the Zephyrs held steady, winning 92 and the Conference in 2017 and finally earning promotion to D3 after the 2018 season. They won 84 in their first season in D3. In 2020, Quiroz was a late-season call-up, though he didn’t impress in part time duty during the club’s last month. But in 2021, he exploded: Quiroz was the easiest Rookie of the Year selection in history, with a .310/.390/.661 line, tying Dennis Milligan’s D3 record 54 homers. Despite his incredible production - and it continued in 2022 though with a sophomore slump - the Zephyrs were in the bottom half of the D3 East in those years, with a 64 win 2022 sparking fears of relegation.

Quiroz refused to allow it: in 2023 he proved that freshman campaign was no fluke with maybe his all-time best season, a .324/.377/.655, 57 homer, 7.2 WAR run that, combined with a strong season by Putz and a decent one by Zephyrs pitchers, won the club 92 games. They sat in second place for three years while Quiroz began an assault on the record books. In 2024, Quiroz hit 43 homers, behind Steve Mauck of Baltimore’s astounding 59 homer Triple Crown, but that was the last season until 2033 that Quiroz didn’t lead his Division in homers. In 2025, he won the D3 Triple Crown: 53 homers, a .322 average, and 122 RBI. And as he slugged, the Zephyrs built around him: 2B Jeff Dollar, SP Josh August, and others joined Quiroz and Putz, and by 2026 the Zephyrs were champions again. The D3 trophy was theirs, having swept the Brewers. That win, coupled with an 89 win, Conference title season in 2027, meant New Orleans had stamped their ticket to D2.

Any fears that Quiroz might not be able to adjust were set aside rapidly: he smashed 55 homers and won the D2 Triple Crown with a .328 average and 127 RBI, the fourth straight season in which he topped his Division in both homers and RBI. And then came the magical 2029 season, in which Quiroz chased Eric Bryant’s 2009 single season record in its 20th anniversary, finally smashing it in the season’s last weekend with a three-homer homestand that brought him to 62 with Bryant on hand to congratulate him.

On that season’s heels, and at the very height of Quiroz’s powers, the Zephyrs won 98 games in 2030, and a Conference title; though they missed promotion it was clear that the Zephyrs would be a team to contend with. And they were, with winning seasons each year of Cycle 9 and a Conference title in 2032. In the absence of a championship or promotion, though, the highlight of those years, was Quiroz’s record-breaking 620th career home run, breaking John Hansen’s record set five years earlier. Quiroz remains the home run king of the NABF and will for some time: the current active leader is Zach Markiewicz with 462, and he is on the verge of retirement.

New Orleans hasn’t seen much success since that year; Quiroz left the club after the 2034 season, and played a few games with San Diego in 2036 before officially announcing his retirement, and while the club boasts several promising young players it doesn’t appear they’ll be a contender too soon.

Best Position Player: Quiroz, obviously - he is the all-time career and single season home run king, a complete hitter who is a lock for the Hall of Fame when he is eligible after Cycle 11.

Best Pitcher: there are startlingly few to choose from. The WAR leader for the club is current starter Wayne Acton, who is in his 11th season with the club and carries a career 88 FIP- with over 37 WAR.

Best Season: 2030 - 98 wins, a Conference title, and Quiroz at his best.

13. The Kansas City Monarchs
Overall Record: 2367-2253, .512
Conference Titles: 4 (D4W 2011, 2028-2029; D3W 2031
Division Championships: 3 (D4 2028-2029; D3 2031)
Last Place Finishes: 1
Original/Lowest Division: 4
Highest/Current Division: 2

The Monarchs, for a long time, were a franchise that could never quite get over the hump - often very good, almost never terrible, they motored along in Division 4 for two decades running out solid teams that always found themselves in second or third place. But for the last ten years, they’ve been one of the most successful teams in the game, and that prolonged success has launched them far up our list.

The story of the Monarchs really begins with Eric Bryant, whose debut season came in the final year before the NABF. Bryant was a highly touted prospect from nearby Omaha who had hit well in the minors before making the move up to KC. In his age 23 and 24 years, he struggled, but a light went off in 2008, the Monarchs’ second season in Kansas City, and he blew up: .305/.409/.617, 45 homers, 7.9 WAR. The Monarchs won 85 games, securing second place behind Salt Lake. And that was just a warm up act for Bryant, who slammed 60 homers, an NABF record until Pedro Quiroz broke it 20 years later, and still the D4 record. His 136 RBI are also the most ever collected by a D4 player. Bryant’s partner in this was catcher Steven Martinez, who was in his prime when the NABF began and put up some of the greatest catching seasons ever on his way to the Hall of Fame. With those two sluggers and a deep pitching staff, the Monarchs were a serious threat… who still finished second to the world-beating Gulls.

The Gulls ascended to Division 3 the following year, clearing a path for Kansas City. Their best season yet followed - 93 wins, brilliant campaigns from Bryant and Martinez, and a great year from SP Mike Wade. And once again they finished in second, this time losing the Conference in a heartbreaker by one game to Austin, who ripped off 12 in a row to finish the season. Kansas City was nearly as good in 2011, but Austin sunk a bit, and finally the Monarchs broke through, winning the first Conference title for the franchise. It would be the last for a while, though. A resurgent Pioneers club put KC back down the standings in 2012, and the window started to close. 2012 proved to be the club’s last winning season until 2025, the longest sustained losing period in their history, despite the presence of ace Justin Bennett, whose two Pitcher of the Year awards came in .500 seasons for KC.

What emerged from that drought was a club that has posted just two losing seasons among the last twelve, winning its Conference and its Division three times. The run began small, with a 78-76 2025 featuring a strong season from CF Adam Robles and 2B Phil Osborne, both of whom would become mainstays and Hall of Fame candidates in the coming seasons with KC. The next two seasons saw second place finishes for KC in the D4 West before finally breaking through in 2028, at the start of Cycle 8, with their second Conference title. Osborne and Robles both had strong campaigns, while SP Larry Szostek was in the middle of his short but excellent run as a two-time Pitcher of the Year, having won his first in 2027 and putting up a 6.1 WAR, 2.37 FIP (67 FIP-) year with 219 Ks in just 178 innings in 2028. The Monarchs beat up on the Nashville Sounds in 2028, and then swept the Washington Senators in the Championship Series the following season; after over 20 years with just a single first place finish to show, the Monarchs were suddenly back-to-back champs and on their way to Division 3.

They closed out Cycle 8 with a 91 win campaign, though they finished second to Austin, and opened their time in D3 with a bang: a 90 win campaign led by Osborne, Robles, and an outstanding Pitcher of the Year season by young starter Nick Padley for the franchise’s third title, and first outside D4. That win, plus a strong 2032, lifted them into D2 for Cycle 10; in their three years in the junior circuit they haven’t dominated, but neither have they been overwhelmed, with a 2034 barely below .500, a 2035 exactly at it, and a 2036 in which they placed third with a strong 86-68 season. So we’ll see where the Monarchs go from here - a continued forward march, or a slide backward, as others who have gone from D4 to D2 have done.

Best Position Player: the original himself, 1B Eric Bryant, who holds the D4 single season HR record with 60 and the D4 career HR record with 409 (also, unsurprisingly, the Monarchs’ team record). Bryant and C Steve Martinez are KC’s only Hall of Famers, and Martinez was only with KC for a few years after the start of the NABF while Bryant played ten seasons for the club.

Best Pitcher: Bennett, who debuted with KC in 2009 but didn’t come into his own until 2012, sometimes doesn’t get enough credit as his best years were spent on losing teams, but though his career wasn’t long he was outstanding, gathering over 43 WAR and 141 Wins in 13 seasons with a career FIP- of 87.

Best Season: 2031’s 90 win D3 Championship is the franchise’s best year outside D4, as they claimed a D3 trophy on their way up the line.