The 2026 season proved to be a textbook example of why every game counts, whether it's an early season game in March/April, a mid-season game in the sweltering heat of summer, or a nail-biter in the final stretch of the year. After their 0-7 start to the season, the Syrups managed to get on the right track and stay in contention in the AC Central. A solid push at the start of July gave them hope that they could get the offense and defense clicking at the same time; but that hope quickly vanished with a 9-20 run after the All Star game.
When they reached the last series of the year, the Syrups sat in 3rd place, 3 games back of Annandale for the division lead; with a 4 game series to wrap up the season against that very team. Waffletown managed to take the first 3 games of the series to even their record with Annandale and needed to win the final game of the year to secure a post season birth (now a wild card spot as Waxsaw had jumped into the top spot). Unfortunately for the Syrups and their fans, the team failed to sweep the series and finished 1 game out of the wild card.
Final season notes:
-the team equaled their best record ever with an 88-74 finish (tying their inaugural year).
-on the batting side, the only team record that fell was strikeouts, as the team set an all time low of 614 (narrator note: would be nice if all those balls-in-play would result in more runs scored
)
-Waffletown pitching had an amazing season, setting team records in ERA (3.47), hits allowed (1351), runs allowed (595), earned runs (559), home runs allowed (104), walks (409), and oavg (0.247)
-for fielding, while the team had a solid year, the only team record that fell was in defensive efficiency (0.708).
on the individual front:
- Ernie Lombardi tied the team record for RBI streak with a 7 game run (matching Lefty O'Doul, Freddie Lindstrom and Heinie Manush from prior years).
-Cecil Travis had another solid season, batting .311 to finish 3rd in the race for the batting title in the AC.
-Claude Passeau quietly went about his business and compiled a 16-8 record with a 3.41 era.
-newest addition, Tiny Bonham made the most of his brief time with the team so far, going 5-1 with a 2.61 era. Management hopes that will be just a snapshot of great things to come.
(narrator's note: perhaps it was a sign of the way the season ended just short of a post season birth. Woke up this morning to find my cat had barfed on my Waffletown hat
so it'll be taking a spin in the washer
)