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Hartford ended a five-year postseason drought and took the National Association’s top seed at 103-59 atop the Northeast Division. The Huskies did it with a strong pitching staff with 1481 strikeouts, only eight behind the NA single-season record set the prior year by Indianapolis. Hartford’s 8.97 K/9 ranked third-best in National Association history. The Northeast also had a strong 94-68 Montreal, who took the first wild card and ended an 11-year playoff drought.

The #2 seed went to Brooklyn at 96-66 atop the East Division. The Dodgers earned repeat playoff berths, but it was their first division title since 1988. They fought off Baltimore and Virginia Beach, who tied for the second wild card at 91-71. The Orioles beat the Vikings in a tiebreaker game to end a 24-year playoff drought dating to 1986. That was tied with Omaha and Louisville for the longest active drought in the National Association.

Reigning NA champ Philadelphia missed the cut at 87-75 to end a four-year streak of 100+ win seasons. That was only the second playoff miss in nine years for the Phillies. Quebec City at 88-74 was also in the mix, but couldn’t repeat as a wild card.

Detroit repeated in the Upper Midwest Division at 94-68 and won a third division title in four years. Omaha was their closest foe at 88-74, six short in the division and three back for the last wild card. Indianapolis repeated at 93-69 in the Lower Midwest Division. The Racers were 11 games ahead of their closest foes St. Louis and Kansas City. Only two years removed from back-to-back pennants, Cincinnati dropped to 74-88. That was the first losing record for the Reds since 1999.

Virginia Beach right fielder Ezekiel Thomas won National Association MVP and made history. The 27-year old New Yorker recorded the sixth-ever hitting Triple Crown in MLB, a feat that hadn’t been seen since Sebastian Lunde in 1946. Thomas had 51 home runs, 143 RBI, and a 355 average. He also led in slugging (.659), total bases (392), OPS (1.072), wRC+ (222), and WAR (9.7), while adding 114 runs and 211 hits.

That was Thomas’ final year with the Vikings, as he looked to make pro baseball history in free agency. Montreal rewarded him handsomely with an eight-year, $177,600,000 deal. In his peak seasons, Thomas was to make $28,200,000; a record for the time.

Pitcher of the Year was Hartford’s Seth Southworth in only his third season. The Rhode Islander missed a month to a strained hamstring, but still led in wins at 22-3. The 23-year old lefty had a 2.16 ERA over 225.1 innings, 253 strikeouts, 6.0 WAR, and a 162 ERA+.

The first round of the playoffs had Indianapolis 2-0 over Montreal and Detroit 2-0 over Baltimore. The top seeds won in round two as Hartford swept the Racers and Brooklyn survived 3-2 versus the Tigers. For the Huskies, their last National Association Championship Series appearance came with their 1992 World Series win. The Dodgers drought was even longer, dating back to 1961. Brooklyn pulled off the upset 4-2 over Hartford, giving the Dodgers only their second-ever pennant (1966).



The American Association had a number of intense division battles, none tighter than in the South Central. Austin and Houston both finished at 99-63 with a tiebreaker game giving the winner the #1 seed. The Amigos prevailed for their third division title in six years. The Hornets were the first wild card, which gave them eight playoff appearances in a decade.

The Southeast Division saw the #2 seed go to Charlotte at 99-63, narrowly fending off 96-66 Tampa. That ended a 24-year playoff drought for the Canaries, which was the third longest active skid in the AA with only Miami (39) and San Antonio (25) worse. Charlotte had also never won the division since the 1982 re-alignment; their last time in first place was 1941 in the old Southern League. The Thunderbolts got the second wild card for repeat playoff appearances.

One game separated Los Angeles (94-68) from Phoenix (93-69) in the Southwest Division. The Angels saw repeat playoff berths, while the Firebirds fell three short in the wild card race. Defending World Series champ San Diego was delightfully mid at 82-80, missing the cut. Las Vegas (87-75) missed out on three straight playoff berths.

The weakest division champ was Denver at 89-73 atop the Northwest Division. The Dragons matched their 2010 record to repeat as division champs. Seattle and Calgary were their closest foes both at 81-81.

Leading the way for Denver was LF Isaac Cox, the American Association MVP. In his fourth season, the 24-year old lefty from Idaho led in homers (53), runs (123), and slugging (.676). Cox added 119 RBI, a .313 average, 1.065 OPS, 188 wRC+, and 9.3 WAR. The Dragons didn’t hesitate to lock him up long-term in the winter, giving Cox an eight-year, $125,900,000 extension to remain the face of the franchise.

Austin’s Archer Calloway became a two-time Pitcher of the Year winner, having also taken it in 2006. He worked his way back to excellence after missing all of 2008 to a torn flexor tendon. The 31-year old Texan lefty led in strikeouts (258), WHIP (0.96), and quality starts (24). Calloway added 6.9 WAR, a 22-7 record, 2.94 ERA, and 127 ERA+ over 284.2 innings. Unfortunately, more injuries led to a fairly steep decline for Calloway.

Denver used home field advantage as a division winner to survive 2-1 over Houston in the first round of the playoffs. Tampa overcame that challenge 2-1 against Los Angeles. The Thunderbirds continued to roll, ousting top seed Austin 3-1 in round two. The Dragons kept their momentum as well, knocking off Charlotte 3-2.

Denver earned back-to-back berths in the American Association Championship Series, while Tampa hadn’t gotten that far since 1968. The Thunderbirds cruised to a 4-1 victory for their second-ever pennant. Their only other title came all the way back in the inaugural 1901 season, 110 years earlier.



The 111^th World Series had essentially two newcomers. Brooklyn was looking for its first-ever title with their only prior appearance being a 1958 defeat. Basically no one was still alive from Tampa’s lone championship in 1901. The Thunderbirds made world baseball history with the longest gap between championships at 109 years, as they defeated the Dodgers 4-2.

World Series MVP was 2B Americo Leal in his second season as a starter. The 24-year old Colombian had 32 hits and 13 runs in 18 playoff starts with 2 doubles, 6 triples, 8 RBI, and 9 stolen bases. Leal’s hits mark was the fourth-most in a MLB postseason and he joined Jess Lewis’ 1948 as the only playoff runs with six triples.



The defeat for Brooklyn leaves them as one of ten original MLB teams without a World Series ring in 111 seasons. Counting expansion teams, 16 squads haven’t won it all as of 2011. The only original teams without at least one appearance are Buffalo, Omaha, San Antonio, and Oakland. Expansion squads Salt Lake City, Austin, Orlando, Wichita, and Quebec City also still haven’t gotten a pennant.

Other notes: Olen Lack and Monty Moody became the 56^th and 57^th MLB players to reach 3000 career hits. Daniel Hecker and Lukas Warrell both got to 500 home runs, a mark now reached by 75 MLB sluggers.

Pitcher Theron Summers and CF Damien Yang both became ten-time Gold Glove winners. Summers tied the MLB record for most by a pitcher. CF Morgan Short won his tenth consecutive Silver Slugger, a position record. 3B Daniel Hecker and SS Joel Tournier both became eight-time Slugger winners.