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For only the second time in franchise history, Boston won the Eastern League in 1953. It was only their third playoff berth as well with the last one in 1940. The Red Sox finished 100-62 for the best record in the National Association, two games ahead of New York. The Yankees picked up their second wild card in three seasons with their 98-64 record. In the Midwest League, Chicago narrowly took first at 99-63 for their fifth straight playoff berth. Detroit at 98-64 grabbed a wild card for their first playoff spot since 1932. The remaining wild cards went to Minneapolis and defending NA champ Baltimore, both at 94 wins. For the Moose, it is their first playoff berth since 1945. Just missing the field was Montreal at 92-70 and Toronto at 91-71.

Orioles LF Taffarel Gomes won the league MVP at age 28. A native of the Azores, mid-Atlantic islands owned by Portugal, Gomes had big numbers despite only playing 118 games because of injury. Still, he had 42 home runs, 105 RBI, a .329 average, and 7.5 WAR. Toronto’s Erik Henry was Pitcher of the Year with an NA best 2.16 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and 8.3 WAR. He added 219 strikeouts with a 5.3 K/BB ratio.

In the Wild Card Round, Minneapolis beat New York and Detroit downed Baltimore, both in three games. In the Second Round, the Moose upset Boston in four games and the Tigers knocked out Chicago in four. In the National Association Championship Series, Detroit dropped Minneapolis in five games. For the Tigers, this is their fourth NA title and first since 1932.



The top marks in the American Association came from the Western League. Las Vegas at 114-48 had the best overall record in MLB, giving the Vipers a fourth straight playoff berth. San Diego had a stellar season for a second straight playoff berth, but were second at 108-54. For the second year under the expanded playoff format, each wild card came out of the WL. Los Angeles (96-66), Albuquerque (94-68), and Phoenix (93-69) each qualified. Over in the Southern League, San Antonio was first at 89-73 to give the Oilers a third playoff appearance in four years. New Orleans was second five back, followed by Jacksonville six back and defending World Series champ Houston seven back at 82-80.

Tampa was at 63 wins, second worst in the American Association. Despite this, Thunderbirds 1B Martin Medina won his second straight MVP. The 26-year old Panamanian led the AA in hits (223), OBP (.423), slugging (.645), OPS (1.069), wRC+ (184) and WAR (8.0). San Diego lefty ace Spenser Emond won his third Pitcher of the Year and back-to-back. The 28-year old Emond had a career best 11.6 WAR, at the time the season-best single pitching season in MLB history behind Domingo Martinez’s 11.7 WAR in 1940. Emond also led the AA in strikeouts (301), FIP- (55), and wins (24) with a 2.72 ERA.

Both Wild Card round matchups were sweeps with Albuquerque over Los Angeles and Phoenix over San Diego. San Antonio swept the Isotopes 3-0 in the second round, while Phoenix stunned Las Vegas 3-1. This set up an American Association Championship Series between the two worst records in the playoff field. The final wild card Firebirds won it in five over the Oilers in a repeat of their 1951 encounter, giving Phoenix five AA titles. The Firebirds would win the World Series in five games against Detroit for Phoenix’s second MLB title, joining the 1907 campaign.





Other notes: Stan Provost and J.R. Osborn would become the fourth and fifth MLB hitters to cross 3500 career hits. Provost finished the season with 3658 to pass Jax Sanders (3609) as the all-time hit king while Osborn got to 3556 and retired after next season with 3703. Provost also became the all-time leader in runs scored and the first to 2000+. No one else would cross 2000 runs until 2027 and as of 2036, Provost would remain the all-time leader.

Provost also became the first to 600+ doubles, passing Dale Brooks’ record of 595. Osborn would also cross the 600 mark next season to end with 601. Adding to his accolades, the 40-year old Provost won his eighth Silver Slugger; he had won his first 15 years prior. Erich Fleischmann became the 11^th member of the 600 home run club. Juwan Oliver made it to both 250 wins and 3500 strikeouts.