Arena Baseball League

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Statistics

The chase to be the first .500 hitter in the ABL continues to pick up pace. On the back of his 60 game league high hitting streak, Mark Baxter hit at a .478 clip, yet it wasnt enough to lead the league as Alex Aparicio (Hartford) hit .484 to break the league record.

RBIs also increased, Ryan Gill who was arguably the best player in the league last year would put up a record 67, topping Hartfords Steve Healey whose 66 gives him a ABL career high 154.

Pitchers slowed down this year with no one throwing over 100Ks, infact Hostetler (Hartford) and his 82 was still almost 20 ahead of the nearest pitcher.

Vazquez as noted had and has ongoing records that prove his consistency in Chicago, but its Hostetler who claims the Triple Crown as his 3.45ERA and 8 wins beat out the Chicago ace.

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One Game Shootout:

Chicago Crush @ Hartford Dark Blues

The Crush hoped to go one better than last years loss in the World Series, but stood in their way was the 39 win Dark Blues. Come the end of the nights affair, those Dark Blues would also put an end to the Crush hopes.

Struble would get things going as he bought 3 runs home in the 2nd as Hartford set the tone. Chicago barely got into the tie and in the end Vazquez left the mound a dejected figure, his 3.1IP, 10H 6ER showing was enough to put the nail in the Crush coffin.

Buffalo Blast @ Ottawa Black Caps

In a repeat of their playoff tie last year, the Blast arrived in Ottawa hoping to improve on the 4-17 shelling they suffered. Buffalo would improve and infact scored 7 on 15 hits, yet Ottawa responded as only Champions can, driving home 14 runs with Ryan Gill a center piece of their win.

Free agent acquisition Roger Camargo repaid a chunk of his salary, holding steady for 4.2 innings as although he gave up 5 runs, he set the table for the bullpen to close down Buffalo and send Ottawa back to the series... albeit in Hartford.

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Arena Baseball World Series

Ottawa Black Caps @ Hartford Dark Blues

The repeat was on, Ottawa travelled to Hartford with the experience of getting 'it done'. Yet Hartford had ABL history on their side, the had topped the regular season standings and in each of the previous seasons, that team would go on to win the series.

This year was no different, Ottawa led early, but a 4 run spurt by the Dark Blues in the 3rd thanks to Aparicio and Hutchinson would give Hartford a lead they would never surrender.

The tie remained close, Ottawa got within 2 with a pair of frames remaining but Venezuelan Sergio Reyes would come in, initially as setup but a quick 1-2-3, turned into 4-5-6 as he no hit the Black Caps and ensured Hartford would win their first Championship on home soil.

Hutchinson would collect MVP honors going 4-4 and bringing home a pair of runs in that crucial 3rd inning.

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League News

With 3 years now in the books, all 6 teams have posted positive financial results. Player wages continue to rise in line with the increased revenue from gate receipts.

ESPN have begun negotiations with the ABL to put one live game every Friday Night on ESPN2. This potentially will generate $100,000 per team in increased TV revenue and will be a part of the ESPN package moving forward, with more indepth coverage alongside their current ESPN App offering.

Alongside this, Iowa have been granted permission to increase capacity at the Hog Pit. Currently capped at 2000 seats, there is room for Iowa to double their seating area, although team ownership are looking at a circa 3800 capacity with extra development on corporate and restaurant facilities.

Finally and possibly more excitingly is the announcement that the ABL is tendering the opportunity for 2 expansion franchises. Ideally the league want to introduce these teams in 2 years, so the process will move quickly. Interested cities include Baltimore, New Jersey, Dover and Chattanooga.

It is likely this list will expand and evolve over the next 6 months, with the announcement of successful bids being unveiled after next years Arena World Series. With 2 new teams coming into the fold, there will be structural changes to the league. The favoured route is to split the league into 2x4 divisions and increase the number of games to around 80.

All of these changes will fit into the fast developing world of the ABL as it looks to embrace the future.

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The Off-Season

The excitement of expansion heads up the summer as teams look to lockdown their talent ahead of a potential expansion draft.

Ownership

They may have won it all, but that wasnt enough to convince local businessman Tommy Levine to hold on to the Dark Blues. With money talking and the ABL becoming a profitable way to enter the North American sports market, the eccentric Jorge Lopez bought his way into Hartford and will direct the future of the Dark Blues.

Awards

Arena MVP - Mark Baxter (Richmond Liberty)

Baxter hit his way into the hearts of the Liberty fans as his 60 game hit streak has set the standard in the ABL and will do so for a long time to come. His .478AVG and 55RBI put ranked him highly, whilst his 11 doubles and 7 triples saw him add bases to his production.

Arena League Best Pitcher - Dirk Hostetler (Hartford Dark Blues)

24 year old Hostetler took home the Pitching Triple Crown and was a lock to win this award, with pitchers becoming less prominent in a league that is seeing an explosion in offense.

Arena Skipper of the Year - Bobby Childress (Hartford Dark Blues)

At 37, Childress is the youngest Manager to lead his team to a Championship. His 3 year run with the Dark Blues has seen him put together a team that is geared up for more success.

Draft

Position players continue to dominant the draft board as only 1 pitcher would get the nod, 17 year old Andy Graybill straight from high school.

Trades / FA Agency

Richmond appear to be taking a new approach this year, dumping off experienced talent in a pair of trades to open up the winter meetings. Outfielder Hua Mok (Taiwan) would make the move to Buffalo, as the Liberty dumped salary to acquire Arevalo and Evert.

Then days after, they would make a deal with Iowa in which 2022 #1 overall pick Oscar Quezada would move to Richmond in exchange for 3B Chris Hunley, with the Liberty shedding more salary and 100+ RBIs from the lineup.

Another notable deal saw Hartford spend $60,000 to bring in RBI machine Angel Ibanez, pushing their annual salary spend in excess of $1,000,000 almost double that of Richmond as the Liberty take a different angle at the ABL.

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The Season that was 2023/24:

The Money Game!

If Hartford were to worry that a new owner may mean a new approach, then they needn't had. The Dark Blues saw their owner underpin a league record $1,000,000 salary bill and that in turn saw the team continue their success on the field as they raced to a 20-6 division leading record thru November.

Ironically the team chasing them were the team that dumped salary, as the Liberty surprised many with a 16-10 record, with reigning MVP Mark Baxter putting up big numbers once more as he hit .516 in the opening weeks.

Can they be stopped?

Hartford made light work of the rest of the division going through December, piecing together a league best 12 game winning steak as they broke all records to head into the final week of play 42-13 and clinching a 2nd straight division crown.

The rest of the division scrapped for the minor places. Richmond did just enough to break in, Chicago joined them for a 4th straight playoff appearance, as the rest had 5 games to extend their season.

In the end Ottawa would scrape in as neither Buffalo or Iowa could collect a win, as their 26 wins made them the worst team in ABL history to make the One Game Shootout.

Miscellaneous

Hartford would break the scoring record, scoring 539 runs as the league saw a significant jump in its average with 7.77 runs coming home per game.

Attendances slumped a little, notably and surprisingly in Chicago and Richmond as both teams would wind up making the playoffs.

Interestingly with offenses becoming more prominent, walks have also increased as pitchers are more wary of their opponents approach, increasing from 500 to 861 over the past 3 years.

[bestbrother]

Statistics

The race for the leagues first .500 hitter carried weight until the final week of fixtures, with Mark Baxter heading there at .503. Alas he fell short and put up a league high .483 clip.

Another league record broken saw Aparicio of Hartford club in 70 runs, whilst Eduardo Sanchez raced around the bases for the leagues sole home run this time out.

On the mound, the emergence of Fernando Rodriguez as the leagues most dominant pitcher caught the eye, as he racked up 93Ks bringing him to 361 across his 4 year career. Whilst he also led the league in ERA at 3.04, ahead of Chicago duo Spencer and Vazquez.

Last years Pitching star Dirk Hostetler would be put to use in the Hartford bullpen this time round, as he racked up 53Ks in 36IP en route to 15 saves and a 3-0 win record.

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One Game Shootout:

Ottawa Black Caps @ Hartford Dark Blues

They were separated by 19 games in the regular season, Hartford dominated once more and were ready to become the leagues first repeat Champions. Yet come the end of 9 innings at the Hartford Dome, the conversation changed to 'Why are we relying on 1 game to decide such a crucial playoff'... yes you guessed it, Hartford lost and heavily.

Ottawa turned up, chased Hartford and their starting pitcher Danny Arzu for 8 runs in 3 innings and saw their own reliever Ji-hoon Park stand firm for 6 relief innings and help the Black Caps revenge last years World Series loss to the Dark Blues, and reach the 'Show' for the 3rd straight time.

Richmond Liberty @ Chicago Crush

Extra Innings! For the first time in ABL playoff history we would go into extras as a dramatic encounter in Chicago would see the 8000 home fans go home is dispair.

Chicago dragged themselves out of a hole with a 9th inning tying run, yet for their hearts to get broken in the 12th with Richmonds Francisco Morin ripping in his 2nd RBI to send low spending Richmond into their 2nd World Series.

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Arena Baseball World Series

Ottawa Black Caps @ Richmond Liberty

The Black Caps battered the Liberty to become the first team to win 2 World Series and the first team to win it all after having a losing record in the regular season.

It was never in doubt for Ottawa as they held the lead from the 3rd inning and then put their foot down in the latter innings to rack up a World Series best 33 hits and 25 runs, destroying the Liberty in their own yard.

Richmond had defied the odds in reaching the series, even after dumping salary in the last off-season, yet it was the Black Caps who triumphed against the odds, first beating Hartford and then Richmond on the road.

Pitcher Roger Camargo claims the MVP award as he hurled all 9 innings, just 2 years after signing for the club.

[bestbrother]

League News

As expected the ABL is looking to announce its 2 new franchises in time for the start of the 25/26 season. 8 cities put forward proposals, 3 dropped out after plans to develop arenas were put on ice by local authorities.

Those who remained in contention (including team nickname options) were:

Baltimore Fire
Dover Dukes
Montreal Maroons
New Jersey Generals
Wilmington Ports

All 5 put forward their case of becoming the 7th and 8th franchises in the ABL, Dover had the financial backing of the Dover Downs Hotel & Casino and in the end their guarantee to fund a new arena for the team, ensured that the ABL would accept their application.

This essentially ruled out Wilmington, whilst Baltimore stepped back after potential team owners admitted that they would be unable to construct their own arena and would be looking to share with an existing franchise.

This left Montreal and New Jersey as the final 2. The ABL would look on the success of Ottawa in Canada and entrust Montreal with the 8th franchise in the league, leaving New Jersey disappointed once more in hoping to bring a major sports franchise to their shores.

Welcome to the:



Dover Dukes
Home - 3000 seat 'Dover Downs Hotel and Casino Dome'



Montreal Maroons
Home - 6500 seat Montreal Arène

Confirmation on how the teams will integrate into the league in terms of re-structure and expansion draft will follow.

[bestbrother]

The Off-Season

The final time we will have a 6 team off-season as next year the league will be focusing on its new faces in Dover and Montreal, with both teams taking part in the expansion draft.

Awards

Arena MVP - Dirk Hostetler (Hartford Dark Blues)

A day after being named the best pitcher in the ABL for the 2nd straight year, Hostetler becomes the first pitcher to win the MVP award. Many will question this decision as other position players put up huge numbers this year and it is likely to be rare for a closer to be named as the best player in the league. However this just adds to the growing legacy of Hostetler.

Arena League Best Pitcher - Dirk Hostetler (Hartford Dark Blues)

Hostetler continues to be the premier pitcher in the league although this year he is noted for his closing ability. Hostetler made the change in the off-season as he put up 15 saves and a 0.79ERA in a dominating role with Hartford.

Arena Skipper of the Year - Bobby Childress (Hartford Dark Blues)

Childress ends a disappointing finish to his season with a personal award as back to back 'Skipper' honours rewarded his efforts in leading the Dark Blues to a ABL best 45-15 record, whilst also getting the DBs back to the World Series.

Draft

Once again pitching talent was ignored in the draft as teams chased the next big hitter. Iowa held the first 2 picks and although no player from the ABL draft has lit up the league as yet, there is always a chance and Iowa will hope that their recent raft of picks will come good at some point.

Trades / FA Agency

As many key players are still locked up to team friendly contracts, free agency still appears to be bare on top tier talent for teams to chase.

Iowa made moves in signing outfielder Philip Brown, who has averaged 45RBIs in the past 3 years with Richmond. Whilst also snapping up Lilley in a trade with Ottawa as they shifted on backup talent to make moves to improve their team immediately.

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League News

With the 2024/25 on the horizon, the ABL made it clear they wanted to have everything to do with the expansion in place ready for the next off-season.

Montreal and Dover both have their own books in order, arenas will be ready and financially they have in place the funds to put together rosters and personnel for opening day.

More importantly the ABL had a restructuring to do. Rumours of splitting the 8 teams into divisions have proven correct. The league will open the Stripes Division and will now work on a 72 game schedule, an increase in 12 games on the current setup. From 20255/26 the ABL will setup as follows.

Stars Division
Hartford Dark Blues
Buffalo Blast
Montreal Maroons
Ottawa Black Caps

Stripes Division
Richmond Liberty
Dover Dukes
Chicago Crush
Iowa Hogmen

The expansion draft is scheduled to take place in March, teams will be able to protect 8 players from their roster.

[bestbrother]

The Season that was 2024/25:

One Last Dance!

The 6-team ABL is about to change, not only will there be new teams, there will be a new structure and new scheduling. This leaves 24/25 as the last dance as a 6 piece.

There is little doubt that the main team competing again this year would be Hartford. They again raced away in the opening month, easily racking up 20 wins and with only Buffalo also posting a winning record, the pair of them looked locked in for a playoff place.

Done and Dusted

December normally opens things up and although there was a turnaround in fortune for a couple of contenders, this time, come the turn of the year we had already figured out the 4 playoff teams.

Those missing out? Unsurprisingly Iowa again proved hapless, whilst Chicago continued to fail to capitalise on what should be a ideal situation for them.

At the top end, Hartford would claim their 3rd straight division title. Whilst Buffalo, Richmond and Ottawa would scrap it out for the seedings and probably hope to not have to travel to Hartford for the OGS.

In the end the playoff picture would throw up yet another Ottawa @ Hartford clash. The Black Caps have been a thorn in the side of the Dark Blues and once again the Canadians will have to go through Hartford to make the World Series.

Miscellaneous

Ottawa outshone all projections this year posting a total attendance of 119,011 easily besting the previous record and leading the league as it once again proved popular.

Run totals again remained on a similar curve for the league. Chicago as always lagged behind, as the Chicago Center remains the deadball arena of the league.

Financially, payrolls have never been higher. 3 teams exceeded the $1,000,000 barrier as players are beginning to learn their true value.

[bestbrother]

One Game Shootout:

Ottawa Black Caps @ Hartford Dark Blues

The 3 year run of World Series appearances for Ottawa finally comes to an end, as Hartford make home field advantage count in a tense 9-5 win.

Hartford would seal the deal thanks to a 3 run 7th, making the most of the stretch inning, as Dirk Hostetler came up big, pitching through both the 8th and 9th innings, giving up just 2H but striking out 4 to collect the save.

Hartford will now hope to collect their 2nd Championship in 3 years.

Richmond Liberty @ Buffalo Blast

The Blast can celebrate tonight as they make their first ever World Series, beating Richmond thanks to a rally sparked in the 6th and finished in the 7th, as they edged the Liberty 12-10.

Richmond had looked in control thanks in part to a huge performance by Steve Healey as he tied the OGS game record with 4 runs. But although Buffalo got through 5 pitchers, they all mustered in together to keep Richmond scoreless through their final 12 outs and move on to Hartford.

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Arena Baseball World Series

Buffalo Blast @ Hartford Dark Blues

In scenes reminiscent of what Buffalo saw with the Bills, the Blast would blow a 6-3 lead and end up losing to Hartford in extra inning heartache.

The Blast looked good for a win and will look back on and rue leaving 8 runners in scoring position, as the dramatic win was sealed by Bob McElroy driving in the walk off winner.

Buffalos Jonathan Wansley would earn the game MVP award, but again headlines were written by Dirk Hostetler as he continues to become the face of the ABL, pitching a 13 pitch, 3K 10th inning to collect the win.

Hartford are truly the dominant force in the ABL and as the league leaves the 6-team era, the Dark Blues will have to re-adjust as their division will contain opponents Buffalo, old foe Ottawa and new face Montreal from 25/26.

[bestbrother]

Statistics

*Apologies put this in the wrong order*

Once again the chase for a .500 season came down to the wire with Carcamo of Hartford coming closest and falling just 0.07 shy after his 45 appearances for the leagues best offence.

Another Hartford player also pulled up trees on the pitching mound as Jeremy Vasiloff came from no where as he posted a sub 3.00ERA from his 33 appearances in relief, across 80+ innings pitched.

As for Dirk Hostetler, well he continued to be the games prominent closer, knocking out 12 saves and as he comes up to his arbitration year, it will be interesting to see how he fares.

[bestbrother]

Expansion Draft

The excitement of new teams entering the ABL becomes a reality today as both Dover and Montreal get the chance to shape their future and put together teams ready to compete with the original six.

With teams able to protect 8 players each, the stars and those with healthy contracts were taken off the market, yet.... players seeped through the gaps and in the end Dover and Montreal were able to snag talent that they maybe shouldnt have.

Dover Dukes:

Arguably the biggest coup for Dover was the pick to sign 2021 ABL Pitcher of the Year Gabe Vasquez. Chicago decided against protecting Vasquez with his contract due up and as such, Dover instantly get a piece that can lead their pitching effort.

Another pitcher to add to their roster saw last years ERA leader Jeremy Vasiloff take his talents to Dover. Hartford saw 2 more years on the 32 year olds $73,000 contract as too much to pay out and as such, he becomes a Duke for their debut season.

Teenage pitcher Elimilton Torroais also left Chicago for Dover, whilst Dover didnt really add much offensive talent, as 21 year old Julian Clingan from Richmond is possibly the most interesting pick, given his recent improvement.

Montreal Maroons:

Montreal on the flip side to Dover, went out and added offense. The most notable proved to be Alex Aparicio, another loss to the Hartford organisation. Aparicio has driven in 239 runs for the Dark Blues in the past 5 years and was a key cog in their 2 Championships. Yet Montreal were able to grab him and instantly take him to a $100,000 contract, instantly making him the 2nd player in ABL history to earn six-figures.

Former WS MVP Jim Olson also wound up on the Maroons roster, whilst solid run producing hitters Bragaghio (C) with 171 RBIs and Francisco Morin (SS) with 140+ RBIs also made Canada their new home.

On the mound, Montreal will be led by 4 starters who are all sub 25. This may be a risky approach given the nature of the league and its ever increasing reliance on offense.

[bestbrother]

The Off-Season

Contract Talk

As previously noted, the future of Dirk Hostetler was to be decided. Hartford managed to convince him to remain a Dark Blue for another year, giving him $88,000, a healthy rise but still a headache for the Hartford front office as next year we will be back here once more.

Hartford did lose out on one front though, as Alfredo Carcamo made the decision to test free agency, as after his close to iconic .500 year, he feels a potential league high salary is just reward for what will be his last big contract.

Awards

Arena MVP - Danny Solano (Buffalo Blast)

'Step out of the shadows' read the headline as Solano took home the league MVP honours. It was a surprise and a sign of the gradual improvement from Solano and the Blast franchsie as a whole. Solano hit for a career best 69RBI and at .484 putting him at the top end of the relative categories.

Arena League Best Pitcher - Fernando Rodriguez (Richmond Liberty)

F-Rod put up an all-round effort for the Liberty this year, starting 8 games, winning 7, whilst also appearing 17 more times in relief and collecting 6 saves. This all to the tune of a dominating league best 96Ks and a 3.12ERA.

Arena Skipper of the Year - Bobby Childress (Hartford Dark Blues)

There was no other choice in reality as Childress mops up the award once more, coming off the back of a 2nd World Series and a 3rd straight dominating division win. Next year things change dramatically and the progress of Hartford will be one to watch.

Draft

A larger draft overall as both Montreal and Dover got to take their picks for the first time. Hartford wound up with 4 picks as their roster has been decimated due to the expansion draft and the loss of experience in free agency. Its potentially the biggest challenge ahead for the DBs and their Skip' Bobby Childress.

Trades / FA Agency

With the expansion draft taking many of the headlines, Dover would write even more as they put their money down in a serious way, inking Alfredo Carcamo to a 3 year deal that will see him earn in excess of $100,000 rising to $120,00 across his deal.

Ottawa made a huge splash in free agency, picking up 3 large contracts as they look to remain the dominate force in Canada. First off Rafael Luzania, who has been out of the ABL for 5 years (did not feature for Chicago in 2020), came back from a spell home in Dominican Republic to sign a 5 year $443,000 deal.

Their spending did not stop there as another Domincan joined, this time after his release from Hartford. Alex Mendoza, a Catcher who has 196 career RBIs and a .321AVG in 5 years, penned a 3 year $313,000 contract. Then days later another player who was in the ABL but left to play Independent Baseball, Ryan Phillips, would commit to a 3 year $291,000 contract as Ottawa put up the best part of $1,000,000 in hoping to get back to the World Series.

Finally the last notable deal saw Cuban Tomas Geraldino, one of the remaining Chicago pitching studs, leave the Crush and accept a $75,000 one year deal with Hartford, as the Champions try and salvage something from the wreckage of their off-season that has seen them lose over 10.0WAR in player movement.

[bestbrother]

A brief recap of where we stand in the ABL as we move into the historic expansion era, in which the league will now accommodate 8 teams, 2 divisions and an increased schedule.

Pre-expansion you can see Hartford as the dominate club in the league. 3 straight division crowns and a joint best 2 Championships alongside Ottawa.

Whether Hartford can maintain this now period of dominance will remain to be seen, whilst Dover and Montreal will hope to make an immediate impact with the latter a threat to fellow Canadians Ottawa.

[bestbrother]

The Season that was 2025/26:

Bring in the New!

The first month of the expanded ABL and some things never change. That being Hartford, as they maintained their grip on the ABL and the Stars Division leading the standings through November as the only team with a winning record.

Montreal fared better than their rival Ottawa, but both teams looked out of their depth in the new look setup.

Over in the Stripes Division, things looked alot brighter to the other expansion team Dover. Infact the Dukes held the leagues best record at 20-9, a game up on Richmond and doing things in style, driving in the most runs and giving up the least. A team best 9 game winning streak sw them end November on a high and go into the crucial December period with everything in their own hands.

Run Crazy!

The league has certainly taken shape over the past 5 years since its debut, yet this year it has turned it up another notch with the addition of 2 new teams and 12 extra games in the schedule.

As the year rolled over, Hartford remained in control of the Stars Division, although at 33-25 they havent had things all their own way. However the crazy stat for the Dark Blues, is that after 58 games they have scored over 700 runs.. a huge uptick in production by any standards even under the old 60 game system.

Elsewhere Dover and Richmond had their own battle going on, both sitting at 41-17 and looking favourite to go on and usurp the Dark Blues as the dominant factor in the ABL.

How did it end?

As expected Hartford would win out in the Stars Division, improving to 43-29 to beat out Buffalo by 9 games. Montreal slumped to just 21 wins in their debut effort and fell well short adrift at the bottom.

Richmond and Dover would dice it out for the #1 seed coming out of the Stripes Division, with the experienced Liberty taking it with a stunning 53 wins, 5 ahead of the Dukes who at 48-24 can be very excited for their first effort in the ABL.

Some things also never change afoot the ABL, as Iowa propped them all up and even though their increased Dome has generated more interest, the product on the field continues to be their downfall.

Miscellaneous

There must be something in the air, because the expansion bought in more offense, to the extent that we are now averaging 10 runs per game across the 576 regular season matchups.

Attendances soared once more as 7 of the 8 teams posted season attendances over 100,000 as just Iowa with 91,000 fans failed to hit the target.

Dover will be delighted with their debut season bringing in a league best 137,960 fans, whilst Montreal can also see promise in the 128,000 that turned up for their 1st season albeit a losing one.

Another increasing stat saw Errors creep above the 2pg rate. Montreal accounted for 242 of the 1100+ errors, as questions about the outfield wall surround the Maroons due to some errant bounces.