[Hendu Style]

Since the advent of free agency, teams had dabbled in signing marquee free agents. But in 1985, the Motor City Racers didn't just dabble... they went all-in.

The Racers were coming off their second 90+ win season in three years and had been to the playoffs four times since 1974, including one championship. Not a bad run for a team that had never fielded a playoff team for the first 20 years of its existence. But owner Blaine Petty Junior was enjoying a financial windfall thanks to an automotive boom in the 80's, and he chose to spend much of his excess on his suddenly competitive baseball team.

When the free agency period began in the offseason leading up to the '85 season, Petty wrote a blank check for his front office. He was repaid with a whopping six free agent signees, most notably Motor City's new "Big 3."

LF Doyle Rigby (5 years, $4.97 million: .338, 44 HR, 141 RBI for Maxis City)
SP Gary Fulkerson (6 years, $4.98 million: 17-12, 3.00 ERA, 187 K for Cape Crowley)
1B Skeeter Leconte (4 years, $3.52 million: .283, 40 HR, 127 RBI for Northgate)

Never before in the history had a player reached the million dollar mark in salary, and Rigby had broken that barrier. His yearly salary would start at $790,000, but it would climb to a record $1.1 million in 1988, and then $1.2 million in 1989. He was scheduled to be baseball's first million dollar player. And somehow, the Racers lived up to their enormous hype in the regular season, easily winning the Colonial League West with a record of 90-72. But that mark paled in comparison to the 110-52 season the Sim City Capitols put together in the CL East. In fact, every division winner except for Motor City managed to win 100+ games. Granite Falls cruised to the Pioneer League West crown at a 106-56 clip, while the Lunar Lake Electrics earned their first-ever playoff appearance with a 105-57 record in the PL East.

The 1985 season was filled with incredible individual achievements. Chief among them was the emergence of Emerald Bay's ace, Hank "Cubbie" Wilkinson. Already the owner of the franchise's first no-hitter and a record 19 strikeouts, Wilkinson put together a season for the ages in '85. He had two more 19-strikeout performances that season, though they both came in extra inning games. And in his 34th and final start of the season, Wilkinson struck out 11 Durango Firebirds, giving him a SBL-record 404 strikeouts for the season, breaking JP Youngblood's seemingly unbreakable mark set in 1957.

Though Tropico was kept out of the playoffs for a third year in a row, the Firebirds could argue they had a better ace than Wilkinson... when healthy. Battling elbow inflammation, 26 year-old Chris "The Hammer" Anderson went a stunning 19-0 in 22 starts in 1985, posting a 1.88 ERA.

But the postseason belonged to not an individual, put a collection of great strong all-around All-Stars, devoid of MVP's and Stormy Boyd winners. The Timberjacks, twice denied a championship in the two previous Sim Series, raced past Motor City in six games, claiming the fifth championship in Granite Falls team history, and the first since 1957.