The North American Baseball Federation (Promotion/Relegation) - the first 30 years and beyond

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***NOTE: For September, in order to try to cover all 48 teams and give a clearer idea of the pennant races, I'm going to do multiple Games of the Week.

Solons Stomp Stars as Season’s Final Month Begins

There was not a lot of drama in this game, as the Solons jumped out to a 5-0 lead against Detroit ace Zack Root and never looked back. Angel Delgado continued his outstanding season with a four-hit complete game shutout to push the Stars even further behind Baltimore in the Conference.

The Solons may be as good as gone in a D2 West dominated by Vancouver, but they can still have an effect on the outcome, and they reminded Detroit of that fact quickly.

Zack Root struggled from the very start, clearly missing spots. He gave up a single to Randy Foti on his fourth pitch, hanging a curve that Foti probably didn’t hit as well as he could have. He got Colby Gall to chase ball three for a strikeout, but then walked Danny Dautel and Alejandro Flores to load the bases. Jonathan Lomison then connected, hard, on a fastball low over the plate, turning on it and sending it just over Ali Brown’s reach. It touched down along the LF line and rolled to the wall, and kicked around as all three batters came in to score. A Joe Mischel single put Lomison on third, and a walk loaded them again, but Root seemed to rally, dropping Nate Graham on three straight. Edwin Martinez, Sacramento’s #9 guy, came to the plate then, but just as it looked like Root might escape the 1B drilled a shot between the first and second basemen into right. Two came in, to make it 5-0 Solons before the Stars even had a chance to bat. Root struck out the side in the end, getting Foti, but that accomplishment wasn’t much comfort as the star slammed his glove in frustration upon returning to the bench.

Delgado allowed a leadoff single in the first as well, but the Stars offensive output ended there, as a fly out and two strikeouts of Victor Ortiz and Ali Brown brought Root back out. Gall’s leadoff triple greeted him, but Root responded with a pop-up to third that kept Gall in place. He walked Flores, who later stole second, but got Lomison on strikes and Mischel on a groundout to keep the score 5-0.

That’s where it remained through the fourth, as it appeared Root had shaken off first inning struggles to settle into a rhythm. In the top of the fifth, however, more disaster struck: a Nate Graham single and a one out walk to Foti put runners on first and second again. Gall popped out to the catcher Eric Lawler, but Dautel delivered, snapping a line drive deep to left that cleared the fence for a devastating three run homer. That was Root’s last batter, as Mike McDonald came in to try to keep an 8-0 game from getting even further out of hand.

He largely did so, going nearly the rest of the way allowing scattered hits, though one was yet another Dautel homer, this time a solo shot in the 7th. But it didn’t really matter, as the Stars could do nothing against Delgado. Though he struck out just five, he scattered the four hits and three walks he allowed effectively, allowing only a single runner to reach second (Luis Baleia, who stole second in the 6th after a walk), and didn’t allow any past there.

The loss dropped Detroit four games back of Conference-leading Baltimore, who won 6-2 over Ft. Worth, and gave Sacramento its 69th win of the season.

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A Walk-Off in Washington: Senators Stun Sugar Kings with Two Late Comebacks

Nothing has gone right for the Havana Sugar Kings all season, so there’s no reason tonight should have been any different. Despite taking a 3-0 lead into the 7th inning, the Kings lost 5-3 in extra innings to the Senators tonight in Washington.

Both starters - Chris Klink for the Sugar Kings and Ken Magda for the Senators - went the distance allowing just three runs. Neither exactly cruised out of the gate, though the first four innings were scoreless: Klink gave up a triple to Ron Fazzio in the first, while Havana’s Phil Holdredge doubled in the second and advanced to third on a grounder later in the inning, but neither scored. Both pitchers worked around a couple hits and walks in the third as well.

The top of the fourth went so fast you might have missed it if you blinked: three pitches, two for groundball outs and the third a lazy fly to center, sent Washington down. A couple of batters reached on a walk and an error by Klink in the fourth, but again no damage taken.

Havana broke through in their half of the fifth, with what turned out to be the sum total of their scoring. With one out, Alejandro Batiz singled, as did Ali Bateman behind him. That put runners on first and second for Dave Corbett, a light-hitting backup catcher who came into the game hitting .216 with only two homers in 45 games on the season. But Magda missed, hanging a curve that Corbett turned on. The ball soared nearly 400 ft before settling into the left center stands at Griffith Stadium.

The rest of the fifth, and the sixth, passed quietly, with just a single baserunner (a base hit by Havana’s Robby Reyes). Havana tried to manufacture something in the top of the seventh as Corbett walked and was replaced by Lorenzo Solis on a fielder’s choice; Solis ended the inning getting caught stealing second after a perfect throw by Washington C Wayne Ripley.

That brought Washington to the plate, down by three in the late innings. With one out, Kevin Zecca doubled off Klink, and Havana’s hurler let a curve get away from him, hitting Ivan Torres. LF Johnny Vigo capitalized, doubling on a line shot right past 1B Tim Baker and into the corner; Zecca cruised home, and Torres stumbled coming around third or he would have scored as well. He did anyway in the next PA as Wayne Ripley grounded softly to second. The inning ended with the Senators a single run back of Havana.

They got that run in their very next chance, as a leadoff walk by Parnell and a single by pinch hitter Trent Robinson but batters on first and third. Klink almost escaped, getting a popup out of Tyler Chapman and striking out PH Sean Brown, but Zecca came through with the single that tied it up.

Though both teams had chances in the ninth, neither capitalized. Klink struck out the last batter he faced to escape a first-and-third situation, bringing the game to extras.

Havana’s tenth was a disaster: After a leadoff single from PH Oscar Gonzalez, Tim Baker attempted a bunt but shot the ball directly to the strong fielding Madga on one hop. Magda whirled and fired to second to get Gonzalez, leaving time to swivel for a DP to nab the slow Baker. Instead of a runner on second, Havana had no one on with two down, and Juan Cruz struck out to finish the half.

Washington didn’t miss their shot. After a fly out by Tyler Chapman, Jon Evans took a five pitch walk, bringing Kevin Zecca to the place. Zecca, who had doubled to begin Washington’s seventh inning rally, turned on the first pitch he saw. He didn’t hit it that hard, but it floated just over the fence in left for a walk-off two run bomb that sent Washington fans home happy, despite looking at the twilight of their season.

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Division 1

• New York Giants Magic Number down to 5, club on pace for first-ever 100 win season
• Philadelphia, Chicago mathematically eliminated in D1 East
• Philadelphia now only two games up on Toronto for last place
• Jason Blanche strikes out 11 in loss to Los Angeles, 289 strikeouts on pace to break record
• Carson Prince has batting, HR lead, only two RBI behind Castrovinci
• El Paso four games up on Los Angeles, six on Seattle
• Tijuana eliminated, but has won eight of their last ten, now just three games behind Denver

Division 2

• Terrapins scuffling, now tied for first with surging Bees at 77-56
• Detroit Stars two games behind in third place
• Zephyrs eliminated
• Baltimore’s Omar Juarez continues to scuffle down the stretch
• Matt Greene now at 45 saves, closing in on record
• Mounties magic number down to seven despite poor stretch of games
• Kansas City, Ft. Worth, San Diego all eliminated

Division 3

• Nashville wins five straight, opens up six game lead on Atlanta, magic number at 16
• Amigos now nine games back
• Columbus eliminated
• St. Paul loses four of last ten, lead down to one game
• Salt Lake wins two straight, pulls to within one at 70-63
• Austin still five games back, even over last ten games
• Calgary on verge of elimination
• Ralph Keough leads all NABF with 116 RBI, second in average at .324 and third in homers at 36

Division 4

• Pittsburgh still alive, now with four game lead in Conference after winning three straight
• Surging Tigers seven games back, closing in on Charlotte for second place
• Havana eliminated, still in danger of 100-loss season
• Ernesto Gonzales hitting .350 for D4 lead
• Phoenix keeps winning, now two games up on St. Louis
• San Antonio fading, 3-7 over last ten and now five games out of first
• Las Vegas only a game ahead of Albuquerque for last place

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Seals Stay Alive Behind Duran, Hunter as Austin Treads Water

In a battle of the dark horses, Austin - coming in five games back of St. Paul - and San Francisco - 8 games back - both needed a win. In the end, San Francisco walked away with it on the strength of Danny Duran’s bat and George Hunter’s arm.

For the second straight game, George Hunter went deep into the night, this time lasting more than eight innings without allowing a run to Austin while striking out 8. He was matched for much of the game by Austin ace Tim Lank, who allowed a run in the first on a solo shot by Danny Duran, but was otherwise stingy for the game’s first five innings.

Hunter wasn’t flawless early on, dancing around two hits, two HBP, and a wild pitch over the first three before he finally nailed down a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, and another in the fifth.

Duran’s homer, meanwhile, was one of four San Francisco hits over the first five, the others all harmless base hits.

That ended in the sixth, as aging slugger Josh Henry opened with a single, followed once again by a Duran homer into left to make it 3-0 Seals.

Hunter made it through the 6th, 7th, and 8th without a clean inning - two singles and a double, with another wild pitch for good measure. But they were spread out, and though Marty Evans reached third in the 6th, no one got down those last 90 feet.

San Francisco added insurance in the bottom of the 8th on five straight base hits from Duran, Jim Tyndall, Eric Hicks, Urbano Corteso, and finally Julian Tapia after Lank was finally pulled. Those hits made it 5-0 San Francisco, and Hunter was pulled in the final inning as Juan Cerda came in to end it.

The win, combined with a St. Paul loss, moved San Francisco to seven games back, still in fourth but climbing. Austin, meanwhile, missed a golden opportunity to gain ground, staying 5 games back. These two clubs have another head to head game tomorrow.

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Castrovinci, Rison, Matthews Lead the Way in Sun Kings Rout of Whales

Brian Castrovinci is making his final case for MVP, and it is a good one. The young El Paso star went 3-4 with a grand slam as part of a 5 RBI effort, and David Matthews went the distance as the Sun Kings downed the Whales 10-0.

With Jeff Martin on the mound for Chicago, the conditions were ripe for a big El Paso night: Martin has struggled all season, with a low K rate, high walk rate, and a .309 BABIP to boot. He worked around a Joe Rison leadoff double in the first, but El Paso drew blood in the second when Tom Knighton doubled and scored on a Chris Beardsley single.

Matthews, too, allowed doubles in the first and second, but stranded them both. In the third, he worked around two singles, and finally got his first clean inning in the fourth, preserving the Sun Kings’ 1-0 lead.

That lead grew in the fifth. Joe Rison tripled to open the inning, and after a Jesus Hernandez walk, Castrovinci did his first damage of the game with an RBI single. A wild pitch during Mike Kepler’s AB sent Castrovinci to second, and walks to Kepler and Ralph Carter advanced him further. With the bases now loaded, Tom Knighton grounded slowly up the middle; it was enough to score the 24 year old 1B to give his club a 3-0 lead.

Another squandered double in the bottom of the inning was frustrating for Chicago, as Matthews continued to work into and out of danger. The game slipped a bit further in the top of the sixth, as El Paso got into a two-out hole but held on, working three straight walks to Rison, Hernandez, and Castrovinci. That last ended Jeff Martin’s night, but reliever Tim Potter didn’t do better, working Kepler to a full count before putting him on as well, forcing in Rison. He escaped further damage getting Ralph Carter to fly to center, but the difference between a three run deficit and a four run deficit loomed large.

Matthews was efficient in his half of the sixth, getting three fly ball outs in nine pitches.

His offense made the rest academic in the top of the seventh. Walks to Knighton and Troxell (the eighth and ninth of the ten handed out by Chicago) brought up Chris Beardsley, who singled Knighton home for the fifth El Paso run. Izzy Villanueva flew to shallow left, but Joe Rison continued his outstanding game by stroking his second double, this one scoring Troxell and putting Beardsley on third. Jesus Hernandez collected El Paso’s tenth and final walk of the night, which brought Brian Castrovinci to the plate.

The Ohio native had seemed like an ironclad MVP lock in his second season, but hit the skids in August, hitting “just” .232/.356/.475 - above average production division-wide, but far below his season standard. But he had rebounded in the first several games of September, and came to the plate with the bases full and his confidence high. He took ball one, and then got a fastball that was meant for the outside corner. It didn’t miss by much, but it missed by enough: the lefty Castrovinci reached out and drilled it on a line into left, where it cleared the fence for an opposite field grand slam to put his club up 10-0.

The rest of the game unfolded quietly, as Matthews allowed solitary hits in the 8th and 9th but nothing else. El Paso, too, went quietly: Castrovinci’s trot around the bases in the seventh represented their last offensive output of the night. It was, of course, more than enough: El Paso extended its lead on the West, while Chicago, already eliminated, simply cast another game into their lost season.

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Pennant Update: September 12

Division 1

• New York’s magic number down to 3, 13 games up on Brooklyn
• Carson Prince falters, now tied for third in HR, third in RBI, and second in BA
• Blanche becomes first D1 pitcher to 300 K, now 30 away from record
• Tampa eliminated
• Philadelphia just three games ahead of last place Toronto
• El Paso maintains four game lead in West
• Brian Castrovinci making late MVP, Triple Crown push
• Denver eliminated, but gains games on Tijuana, now five games up on last place

Division 2

• Bees drop to four games back, Stars surge, now just two behind conference-leading Terrapins
• Champions, Expos eliminated
• Mounties become first NABF team to clinch Conference title
• Sacramento, Houston eliminated, now tied for second in Conference
• Matt Greene just three saves away from tying Heitzman’s all-time NABF record

Division 3

• Nashville pulls away from Atlanta with 9-2 run, magic number at 10
• Nashville’s Jonathan Cosner takes batting title lead over Ralph Keough
• Ricky Ponce at 44 HR, threatening 50
• Memphis and Cleveland eliminated
• Atlanta SP Jim Mayer and Austin SP Masahiro Nakanishi both could tie D3 Wins record (21)
• St. Paul, Salt Lake tied atop Western Conference
• San Francisco just three games back after five game win streak
• Pioneers still within 4 games, in 4th
• Calgary eliminated

Division 4

• Pittsburgh wins seven of last ten, lead up to five over Hornets with magic number of 11
• Havana likely to avoid 100-loss season
• Phoenix extends conference lead to three games
• D4 MVP race a free-for all with no clear favorite
• Willie Rodriguez favorite for D4 Pitcher of the Year

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Defensive Miscues, Missed Opportunities Doom Crackers in Cleveland

Seven games back in the East with just two weeks to go, Atlanta can’t afford games like the one they lost tonight. With the Sounds losing against Austin, the Crackers dropped a winnable ballgame - and dropped is the right description, after critical errors in the ninth and tenth turned a victory into a crushing defeat.

For most of the game, this looked like a Jim Mayer special. The Pitcher of the Year candidate came in at 18-6 with an ERA just above 3, tied for the league lead in strikeouts with Memphis’ Ian Weaver, and he cut through a weak Spiders lineup easily for the first six innings, scattering a walk and five singles, allowing just a single runner to reach second while striking out seven.

It didn’t hurt that his offense spotted him two runs in the second inning. Cleanup hitter Jeremy Figone opened with a single, and went to third on a booming Ken Wright double. When Cleveland starter Ernie Belluardo snapped off a wild slider that got past Shane Farrar, Figone came in to score; Wright followed two batters later when, with two outs, John Chambers shot a ball between first and second for a single.

Atlanta missed a major opportunity to extend their lead in the third, as the first hitter Marco Diaz walked, but then got cut down stealing second in front of Sam Stanton. The 2037 MVP singled, but now with the bases empty and two down. Figone’s follow-up base hit, then, produced nothing, and Ken Wright flew out harmlessly to center to end the threat.

Belluardo kept wriggling out of jams the rest of the way: a stranded double in the 4th, a first and second situation in the 5th, first and third in the seventh, when he was finally lifted for Casey Welu, who ended the threat.

In the bottom of the seventh, Cleveland finally got to Mayer when he hung a curve to light-hitting RF Arturo Tovar, who lofted it over the left field fence for a leadoff solo shot. But a strikeout, a groundout, and a flyout followed quickly, and at the end of seven, Atlanta held a narrow 2-1 lead.

The Crackers missed another chance in the 8th, putting runners on first and second after a Ken Wright single, a walk to pinch hitter Matt Showalter, and a John Chambers fly out that advanced Wright to third. Buyt Leo Riojas went down swinging, giving Atlanta ten men left on base on the night.

Welu sent Atlanta down 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth, and Crackers closer Scott Gale came on to put the game away. He struck out Jay Pendleton on a nasty 2-2 high fastball that Pendleton flailed at, but then walked the pinch hitter Francisco Baquero on five pitches. That brought up Tovar, who worked a 3-2 count before hitting a sharp line drive to the 3B Riojas. Thinking two, Riojas failed to get one, as the ball tipped off his glove and skipped to the shortstop Chambers. There was no play to make by the time he picked it up, so what could have been an inning-ending DP turned into a critical error that put men on first and second with one out. Shane Farrar followed with a single on another full count, a floater into left, too shallow to allow Baquero to score, but which loaded the bases. Brian Power took Gale to another full count, but struck out on the reliever’s thirty-second pitch.

That tied Gale’s biggest pitch count of the year, which had come the previous week against Portland. But Cleveland manager Jabari Davis liked the matchup of John Wisniewski against Gale; the Cleveland 2B had limited success against him in the past. Wisniewski took a ball, then looked at two straight strikes. He fouled off a good fastball on the outside corner. Gale tried to elevate, but Wisniewski climbed the ladder, drilling a high fastball over the head of a leaping Dan Elliott, who had come in as a defensive replacement at first. Only one run scored, but it was enough. Justin McCann grounded out to end the inning, and the game went to extras.

Welu, now in his fourth inning, walked Eddie Rutter, who stole second. But Welu had enough left to get Hiram Reznicek on a fly out, and to down both Cameron Wormwood and Joey House on strikes.

The young reliever Jeremy McAninch came in for the tenth. He got a fly out from Chris Colburn, but walked Judah Avila. Jay Pendleton singled to create another first and third situation. Pat Heyer stepped to the plate, and gave his club an epic at-bat: he worked a full count while fouling off five pitches. But on the tenth pitch he saw, he hit a tailor-made double play ball right at Jonathan Chambers, who had slid over to second. Chambers gloved it, and was transferring it to toss to second and begin a game-saving double play when the ball slipped his hand. He dove at it and tried to get it to first at least, but with only one out it wouldn’t have mattered anyway: Avila crossed the plate to win the game as what remained of a Cleveland crowd roared.

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Steelheads Inch Closer with 11-5 Win over Bears

The Seattle Steelheads aren’t finished yet. Despite a poor start from Toshio Nimiya, Seattle’s bats led the way in an 11-5 pounding of the Denver Bears, and the club is now just two games behind El Paso, tied with Los Angeles, as the D1 West heads into an exciting final two weeks.

Both pitchers kept zeroes on the board for the first three innings, though Denver lefty Chris Crovo had to work around baserunners, including a first and third jam in the second. Despite that, it was Denver that struck first, as promising power hitter Ray Ramirez doubled with two outs in the fourth, scoring on CF Mario Nunez’s two run shot off a first pitch Nimiya fastball.

Seattle hit back hard in the fifth, courtesy of rookie catcher Roger Alvarado, burnishing his Rookie of the Year case. A one out walk to Justin Ballard set up a rally, as Josh Dowling doubled him home. Dowling moved to third when Matt Galante grounded out, but Mike Hood drew a walk to keep the inning alive and send Alvarado to the plate. Alvarado, who hits from the left side but has actually performed better against lefthanded pitcher this season, squared up a Crovo slider and demolished it, sending it 430 feet to dead center field for his 30th homer of the season, giving Seattle a 4-2 lead.

The Bears came right back in the bottom of the inning, as Rich Parsons, Andy Held, Pete Samms, and Clemens Young all took turns collecting base hits, scoring two. Samms and Young took second and third after a passed ball, and Ray Ramirez turned on one, a blistering line drive into left. But it was hit right at Josh Dowling, who brought it in to end the inning and prevent further damage.

Now it was Seattle’s turn. Jon Slike walked and took second on a Josh Stennett bunt, only to have first base filled again when Crovo issued a free pass - his fifth - to Ray Snead. Having seen enough, Bears skipper Andy Hernandez lifted him in favor of Jim Brockman.

But Brockman was hittable, and Seattle hit him, with singles on consecutive pitches by Ballard and Dowling, scoring Slike. Galante struck out, but with Mike Hood at the plate a Brockman sinker hit the dirt and got past Dave Judge, scoring Snead. Hood struck out to end it, but Seattle was now up 6-4 in a see-saw contest.

Nimiya once again failed to convert a lead into an easy inning, though. Nunez singled to lead off the bottom of the sixth, and after a quick popup out by Judge, Nunez took second on a wild pitch, then scored when Rodrigo Sanchez doubled down the LF line. That was it for Nimiya, as Colin Izak came in and settled things down. Sanchez got to third on a roller to first that marked the inning’s second out, and was stranded there when, after a walk to Mike de Jesus, Andy Held flew out harmlessly to center.

That would prove to be it for Denver, but Seattle kept going. With two outs in the top of the seventh, Silke hit a solo homer to left off Brockman, who then walked Stennett. Ray Snead doubled to score the Steelheads’ eighth run.

After Izak gave Seattle its first 1-2-3 inning since the second, Seattle got right back in it, scoring their ninth run on a Dowling double and Galante base hit. Brockman exited in favor of Benvenuto Caratti, and the Venezuelan hurler managed to get fly ball outs of the dangerous duo of Hood and Alvarado. But Frank Gonzales hit his fly ball harder than they had, over the left center wall for a 2 run bomb that completed the game’s scoring at 11-5.

The rest of the game passed without a baserunner, as Seattle gained a game on El Paso and kept pace with Los Angeles, winners in their contest against Chicago.

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With two weeks left in the season, only two races are fully decided, though another couple are on the verge. We have exciting pennant races left in D1 West, D2 East, D3 West, and both D4 Conferences, not to mention a chance at the all-time strikeout record and the all-time saves record.

Division 1

• Giants clinch first D1 West title since 2033
• Dodgers eliminated
• Jason Blanche strikes out 13, moves within 17 of all-time record
• Brian Castrovinci set to become first 8 WAR D1 player since teammate Mike Burcham in 2033
• Four-way tie for HR title: Denver’s Donovan Bryant, El Paso’s Castrovinci, Brooklyn’s Carson Prince, Toronto’s Jim Yoder
• Toronto in last place, four games behind Chicago
• Philadelphia moves into fourth
• El Paso struggles to close it out, now just two up on Angels, surging Steelheads
• Denver four games up on last place Tijuana

Division 2

• Race still tight in D2 East, with Baltimore up by a game over Detroit, Boston three back
• Omar Juarez continues to scuffle as team fights for title
• Sinking Montreal now just a game out of last place
• Vancouver’s Matt Greene ties Heitzman’s all-time record with 51st save against Ottawa, 9/18

Division 3

• Nashville on the verge of clinching the east, magic number at 2
• Miami eliminated
• Paul Herrin takes ERA lead
• St. Paul maintains one game lead over Gulls
• Pioneers, Giants tied at five games back
• Portland eliminated

Division 4

• Hornets win six straight, once again two games back of Pittsburgh
• Tigers on verge of elimination
• Washington, Indianapolis eliminated
• Charlotte’s Jason McCollum hits 40th homer
• Washignton’s Cory Spry makes late Pitcher of the Year case
• Phoenix pulls four games up on West, magic number now at 5
• Las Vegas, Albuquerque eliminated; Las Vegas falls into last place

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5 Run Third Gives Saints Win Over Calgary; Still One Game Up

With control of the D3 West on the line and just three games remaining, St. Paul can’t afford a single misstep. The club remains a game ahead of the Salt Lake Gulls, but will close out their season against last place Calgary while the Gulls face the Sounds, so a cautious optimism hangs over Minnesota.

Though Calgary took the early lead in this one, scoring two on a bases-loaded single by Ryan Waldrop, the lead didn’t last long.

In the bottom of the third, Calgary’s John McAdams (6-16, 5.22 ERA coming in) was betrayed by his defense. A leadoff single from Kevin Fitzpatrick could have been erased with a double play on Sam Tracy’s grounder to short, but Waldrop - the hero of the second inning - booted it, giving St. Paul runners at first and second. Keith Piniero loaded them up with another base hit, and though McAdams got Steve Mershon on strikes, he couldn’t convert after that. A Bill McDaniel single scored two, and an out later the shortstop Motoi Honda roped a double into the LF corner scoring two more. A Joe Sessa double scored Honda to give St. Paul a 5-2 lead.

They added to it an inning later off reliever Yosef Hennessey, who had come in to spell McAdams with two outs in the third. Hennessey got Fitzpatrick to ground to second, and Sam Tracy to fly out to center, but Keith Piniero ran into one, blasting his fourth homer of the season. Steve Mershon added another as the Saints went back-to-back to put the score at 7-2.

Calgary tried to stage a late comeback, scoring one in the 7th on an RBI single from Mike Avison and another in the ninth off closer Pat Pipkin. With two outs, Joe Wrobel reached on an error at second, and pinch hitter Mike Jones pumped a double into right to put men at second and third. Another Mike Avison single scored Wrobel, but Jones held at third. David Durica took a fastball off the tricep to load them up, but young 3B Dave Quinonez - the go-ahead run - could manage only a pop fly to second, ending the game.

With the win, St. Paul improves to 80-72 while Calgary drops to 57-95, tied with Havana for the Federation’s worst record.

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With just two games left to play, there’s a lot of drama left! There is still an active race in every Division, while Jason Blanche will get one more shot at the strikeout record after striking out ten in a losing effort last week; he sits just six behind the record. Meanwhile Matt Greene remains tied with Matt Heitzman’s all-time D2 and NABF record saves mark of 51.

Division 1

• El Paso’s magic number down to one, visiting the Monterrey Industriales for two more games
• Los Angeles still alive, two games back - will face Giants to end season
• Seattle eliminated
• Jason Blanche at 327 strikeouts, just six away from Jarrod Scott’s record - he will face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday 9/27
• Brian Castrovinci, Carson Prince each still in Triple Crown hunt
• Castrovinci leads in homers with 43 and RBI with 115, in third with a .329 BA, seven points back of leader Aaron Soucy of Tampa
• Prince one homer back, 11 RBI back, and five points back in average
• Toronto clinches last place, will almost certainly face relegation after 2039
• Tijuana two games back of Denver, can still avoid first last-place finish

Division 2

• Baltimore’s magic number down to 1, will face Ottawa at home to close regular season
• Boston, Detroit both two games back, one loss or Baltimore win from elimination
• Matt Greene stuck at 51 saves with two games left against Cats
• Tough choice for Pitcher of the Year voters, between Baltimore’s Randy Putnam, Kansas City’s Rhett Frew, and Vancouver’s Rich Buxkemper
• Montreal moves into last place in East, one game behind New Orleans

Division 3

• St. Paul one game up on Salt Lake, will finish regular season at home against Calgary while Salt Lake plays Nashville on the road
• Nashville clinches D3 East
• Miami moves into second place as Atlanta falls
• Columbus clinches last place in East
• Ricky Ponce will likely fall short of 50, with 46 homers and two games left
• Salt Lake’s Ralph Keough likely MVP

Division 4

• Pittsburgh Crawfords’ magic number at one as fans hold breath for first Conference title; Pittsburgh on the road against Las Vegas to end regular season
• Charlotte remains in contention, two games back; any loss by Charlotte or win by Pittsburgh will eliminate them
• Phoenix clinches third straight D4 West title, would clinch 2040 promotion with Division championship
• Las Vegas clinches last place in West

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337! Jason Blanche Sets New Record as Dodgers Lose to Brilliant Roman and Maple Leafs

Raul Roman pitched a gem and Toronto beat the Dodgers in the season’s penultimate game, but not one fan in attendance minded: they got to see their ace set a new NABF single-season strikeout record, eclipsing Jarrod Scott’s 333 and finishing his night with a new standard: 337 strikeouts.

Toronto ace Roman - who himself finished with 260 strikeouts, a total unthinkable in D1 until this strange year - was brilliant over his seven innings, striking out nine while walking one and giving up just four hits. He allowed just two runners to reach third - Justin Collins on a third inning triple and John Brucia after a single and a walk.

Blanche, meanwhile, labored somewhat after a long and draining season. Barry Miller got the first of three runs against him after doubling, advancing the third on a groundout, and scoring on a sac fly; the other two runs came in a tough seventh inning in which Miller took Blanche deep with a runner on. But by then, his work was finished.

Here’s a strikeout-by-strikeout look at Blanche’s record-setting night:

328: Ken Conroy strikes out swinging on a 3-2 changeup in the first inning
329: Josh Rose strikes out to end the second, swinging through a high 1-2 fastball
330: Eddie Santana goes down swinging on a cutter to lead off the fourth
331: Zach Breland takes a changeup on a 2-2 count with one out in the fourth
332: Eddie Santana strikes out for the second time in the game, looking at a fastball on the outside corner with a full count to lead off the 6th
333: Zach Breland gives Blanche a share of first place, looking at a cutter that tails back onto the outside corner for strike three, with one out in the sixth
334: Josh Rose swings through a changeup, Blanche’s signature pitch, to lead off the seventh and give Blanche the record
335: After Barry Miller’s two run homer in the seventh, Josh Gaul swings through a fastball on the outer half
336: Ken Conroy strikes out for the second time in the game, whiffing on a changeup
337: Eddie Santana collects the golden sombrero, swinging under a high heater in the 8th, Blanche’s last inning

Note: I have no real idea why 2038 became the Year of the Strikeout in D1. D1's K numbers were always very low, and I had equalized some setting or or something before the season that I realized was out of sync with other Divisions, though for the life of me I can't remember which. I had no idea it would have this sort of effect. So, I'm just going to explain it as some kind of change to the ball that D1 used or something and go with it. See the list below - 13 people broke the previous D1 record this season alone.

[ArquimedezPozo]

Best Loss Ever: Crawfords Downed by Vegas, But Clinch First Title with Charlotte Defeat

Champagne celebrations don’t often happen after 5-1 losses, but they did in the visitor’s clubhouse in Las Vegas tonight, as the Pittsburgh Crawfords clinched their first ever Conference title.

They’d known as early as the top of the fifth inning, as news of Havana’s victory over Charlotte flashed on the scoreboard, but there was a game to finish and the celebration had to wait. By then, the Crawfords were already down 2-0, after a Danny Aviles triple and a Josh Killion sacrifice fly scored one in the first, and a Killion double followed by singles from Tim Sicinski and Jeff Cather added another in the fourth.

Las Vegas starter Ryan Phillips is among the 51s’ more exciting young players, and had a breakout campaign this year going 13-11 with a 3.38 ERA in his first full season as a starter. He did well against the newly crowned D4 East champs, allowing just two hits through seven.

By the time that inning rolled around, Las Vegas was up 5-0, courtesy of three solo homers - Elijah Richardson and Sicinski in the fifth, and Danny Sierra in the sixth. Pittsburgh let starter Matt Hahn roll; though the Crawfords haven’t settled on a Division Championship rotation, if Hahn is on it he’ll go fourth. So tonight, he spelled Pittsburgh’s pen, going all eight in the loss.

Pittsburgh finally got on the board against Phillips in the ninth, loading the bases on singles before Fernando Cruz grounded to second. The ball got through Sierra, and though he chased it down quickly a run came in. That did it for Phillips, and Chad Mealey got the final out, sparking a surreal scene in which the winning team walked back to their dugout while the losing club celebrated mid-field. There will be one more with the pressure off tomorrow, and then Pittsburgh will be headed just south to Phoenix, for their first Division Championship appearance.

[ArquimedezPozo]

It almost didn't happen, but Matt Greene is the new all-time NABF single season Saves leader, recording his 52nd in a 3-1 Mounties win against Ft. Worth on the final day of the regular season.

The Cats led 1-0 much of the way, but the tides turned when Leo Rodriguez homered in the seventh to tie it. Colin Hannigan gave Vancouver a lead with an RBI single in the eighth, and Chris Porter did the same in the ninth to make it 3-1.

That brought Greene in from the pen, with one last shot at the record. Scott Dohman helped him out, swinging at a ball inside which jammed him just enough to produce a shallow fly out to left. Lorenzo Tapia singled up the middle, but Mike McGuckin quickly flew out to right for the second out.

The game and the record came down now to Adam Hersh, pinch hitting for RF Andres Torres. Hersh fouled off two straight to put him in an 0-2 hole, but then took three pitches, all balls (two borderline). With a full count, Greene fired. Hersh, looking fastball, swung at air, as Greene's slider dived under his bat. Strike three, game over, and Greene pulled past Matt Heitzman for the all-time Division 2 and NABF saves record.

[ArquimedezPozo]

Division 1

• El Paso clinches D1 West, finishes one game ahead of Los Angeles; will face New York in Championship Series
• Brian Castrovinci misses Triple Crown by 6 points in batting average; leads in RBI, tied for first with 43 home runs
• Toronto finishes last, clinches relegation after 2039
• Seattle finishes just two games behind El Paso
• Tijuana finishes in last place for the first time in franchise history

Division 2

• Baltimore holds on to win D2 East, a game ahead of Detroit and two ahead of Boston; will face Vancouver in Championship Series
• Montreal finishes in last place
• Leo Rodriguez’s 121 RBI highest total in five seasons
• Matt Greene sets new all-time saves record with 52
• Omar Juarez wins batting title, remains MVP favorite

Division 3

• St. Paul completes improbable pennant run, clinches D3 West; will face Nashville in Championship Series
• Salt Lake crushed by defeat, changes possible
• Ricky Ponce finishes with 48 homers, highest total in NABF
• Ralph Keough, Ricky Ponce tie at 128 RBI, most in NABF this season
• Andres Orozco wins ERA title, one point better than Paul Herrin
• Herrin’s 8 WAR season the fifth best in D3 history

Division 4

• Pittsburgh Crawfords clinch first-ever Conference title, will face Phoenix in Championship Series
• Nate Mefford sets new D4 single season strikeout record with 294, now holds D3 and D4 single season marks
• Ernesto Gonzales wins D4, NABF batting title with .344 average

[ArquimedezPozo]

New York Giants: 95-59, 886 runs scored (1), 717 runs allowed (9)

The Giants were an offensive powerhouse who fell just short of their own NABF runs scored record of 895 this year. There are few holes in this lineup, with seven starters at 20 homers or more on the year. Three of their top offensive producers (2B Andrew Fitts, CF Idar Olson, and C Matt Wood) are at positions where defense is more heavily prized, and they have sluggers at the corners too. The weakness all year has been in their pitching; while ace John Sayre has been as good as advertised despite a rough start, it goes downhill fast after that.

Top position players:

• Andrew Fitts, 2B - Fitts, always a strong performer, took it to another level in 2038 displaying a power/on-base combination he’s never reached before. Fitts hit 35 homers while getting on base at a .424 clip; he’s topped both marks in his career, but has never had a season where he put them together like this. Add in solid if not spectacular second base defense and you get a star who put up 6.5 WAR, good for fourth in D1.
• Matt Wood, C - Wood had a difficult start to his season but rebounded late to put up strong numbers while maintaining his established defensive and game-calling prowess. Wood, the undisputed team leader, finished the season hitting .297/.398/.563 with 31 homers, 101 RBI and a 5.9 WAR, all of which led D1 aside from homers (rookie Roger Alvarado finished with 32, a record for a rookie C).
• Mike Burcham, SS - the longtime Giants shortstop had his season interrupted by injury at the end, but finished with 3.7 WAR despite the long layoff, with his usual outstanding defense (Burcham is a four-time Gold Glove winner, most recently in 2036) while hitting .304/.367/.421. Burham stole 30 bases, but was caught a concerning 21 times, a net negative. Still, he’s a threat on the bases, and has been a fearsome table-setter for the game’s best offense this season.

Top pitchers:

• Jon Sayre, SP - one of the biggest free agent acquisitions of the offseason, Sayre had a dreadful introduction to D1. He got hammered in four April starts, with an ERA over 11, though that was an extreme case of bad luck as opponents managed a .438 BABIP against him - his April FIP was far from good at 5.38, but it wasn’t 11. He improved steadily after that, and finished the season with a 78 FIP-, striking out 30% of the batters he faced and ending, incredibly, with a 6 WAR season. He will get the ball in Game 1.
• Dustin Storer, CL - Storer has been a steady hand at the back end of the pen, though he was not among the game’s elite closers this year. Walks were a problem for Storer, but he struck out nearly a third of the batters he faced as well, and allowed only 6 home runs in over 60 innings. He finished with 38 saves in 43 chances.
• Josh Dent, SP - New York’s biggest weakness is evident here, as Dent was by all accounts a league average pitcher this year. His 97 FIP- and 98 ERA+ tell that story, as do his 26 home runs allowed, one of the ten highest totals in D1. Dent has also struggled a bit in recent weeks, and is currently lined up to pitch fourth in the Giants Championship rotation.

El Paso Sun Kings, 85-69, 782 runs scored (2), 632 runs allowed (5)

El Paso, the most storied D1 franchise, is making its 4th straight D1 Championship Series and the 15th in its history - El Paso has won the D1 West in nearly half of the seasons in its history. While the team itself is older (an average age among its starting lineup of 30.5 years), it features one of the best young stars in the game, 1B Brian Castrovinci, who had an all-time great season in his first full year in the majors. The Sun Kings also boast the best starting rotation ERA of any D1 team, though the peripherals are not quite as sunny, and the bullpen has been a persistent issue over the course of the season.

Top position players

• Brian Castrovinci, 1B - there are great MVP candidates in D1 this year, but Castrovinci’s season is an all-timer. The 24 year old nearly won the Triple Crown, mashing 43 homers and driving in 115 while batting .331 and leading D1 with a .443 OBP. His 8.3 WAR is one of the 25 best single-season marks in D1 history, and if you remove those early years (Cycles 1 and 2) when the league was getting settled and a lot of high WAR seasons were recorded, it ranks seventh. Castrovinci looks like a superstar in the making, and this series is his chance to show the world.
• Joe Rison, LF - one of the great leadoff hitters in the game, and the other Sun King regular under 30 years old, Rison actually had something of a down year this year, posting his lowest OBP (.382) since his rookie season. He improved at the back end of the year, though, with a combined August/September mark over .400, and he led D1 with 44 stolen bases. His 99 runs scored were third in D1, behind only the Giants’ 1B Roberto Estrada and his teammate Castrovinci, who drove him in a good chunk of those 99 times.
• Tom Knighton, CF - Knighton has been a quiet team anchor over the Sun Kings’ recent run, putting up strong numbers on both sides of the ball without gaining much notice. Knighton is an accomplished defensive CF, though he’s never gotten recognition for that as he rarely looks like he’s trying - he simply gets to balls. His offensive output might not look like much on the page (.270/.336/.498, 20 homers) but it’s good for a 122 wRC+ and .351 wOBA, and when combined with his defense Knighton was worth 4.2 wins this year, third among position players.

Top pitchers

• David Matthews, SP - ever since coming over to El Paso in an offseason trade with Kansas City before the 2034 season, Matthews has been one of the club’s most reliable arms. Two things changed to launch him into the position of team ace this year: the first was the uptick in strikeouts in Division 1, which lifted Matthews - never a power pitcher - into more competitive territory, striking out over 20% of the batters he faced. The second was a career-best ground ball rate of .54, which helped bring his BABIP down as El Paso boasts a strong infield defense. As a consequence, his 4.6 WAR and 143 ERA+ were both bests for him in his D1 career, with the latter being an overall career best. Matthews will get the nod in Game 1.
• John Belhumeur, SP - Belhumeur had an odd but effective season. One of the pitchers who were most revolutionized by D1's strikeout shifts, Belhumeur nearly doubled his career K rate, which had been under 18% before this year but shot up to over 27% in 2038. Belhumeur ended with 231 strikeouts, well back of the lead but more than any D1 pitcher had ever thrown before. He even hurled a no-hitter against Brooklyn in May. He is often wild, walking nearly 9% of batters, and he is notoriously prone to the long ball: only Tijuana's Jayden Jarret gave up more homers (32) than he did (31). But when he's on, he can be devastating, and El Paso is hoping he can do exactly that in Game 2.
• Jason Bodnar, RP - Bodnar is the club’s bullpen ace, though Adrian Myers is the closer. Bodnar came back to El Paso after a year in Phoenix during which he unlocked some things, most notably a serviceable cutter to add to his fastball/sinker repertoire. Bodnar doesn’t have filthy stuff, but he’s smart and has good control for a reliever, and that has allowed him to give the club over 50 innings of 2.91 FIP work. He could be a weapon in the late innings against a tough NY offense.

Prediction: El Paso in 6 - New York’s pitching deficiencies are much worse than El Paso’s, and the Sun Kings offer a dynamic enough offense to take advantage. And though the regular season doesn’t always matter in the postseason, El Paso won 10 of the team’s 15 matchups this year.

[ArquimedezPozo]

Vancouver Mounties, 96-58, 719 runs scored (3), 600 runs allowed (3)

Vancouver ran away with the D2 West, essentially never breaking a sweat as they racked up the highest win total in the Federation. There’s certainly cause for concern - that kind of run can breed complacency, and the team didn’t perform well in the closing months, with a 13-13 September and a 15-13 August - both well below their season winning percentage. Still, by then it was clear the team was Championship Series bound, so taking the foot off the gas is fine as long as you can reapply it when it starts counting again. They also played six games above their pythagorean, though that matters a lot less in a small sample size like the Championship series.

Top position players

• Leo Rodriguez, 3B - Rodriguez will get MVP votes, and could easily finish in the top three, though Omar Juarez is expected to take the prize. Rodriguez, though, had the best season of an excellent career in 2038, racking up 6.2 WAR while leading D2 in RBI with 121, knocking 36 homers, and walking at a career high 6.9% rate. Rodriguez has also been working hard on defense, and it showed this year, his best in the field. Rodriguez, the club’s second overall pick in 2033, is the best overall player on the best overall club in the game.
• John Witherspoon, 1B - Witherspoon is the biggest bat in this lineup after a monster season that is probably his career best. The 34 year old 1B came to Vancouver in an offseason deal with Ottawa, where he’d played most of his career. He settled in fast: Witherspoon set a career mark with 38 homers, while hitting .296/.392/.556 in his first D1 season, putting up a career-best 5.3 WAR as well. He hit well against Baltimore pitching, too, so look for him to potentially provide some fireworks.
• Sonny Scoggins, CF - the entertainingly-named Scoggins (yes, Sonny is his given name) had a breakout year in 2037 and topped it this year, hitting .266/.369/.407 for a 123 wRC+ on top of his Gold Glove level defense. Scoggins hit only five homers (his career high is seven) but his 37 doubles was his best mark, and he stole 20 bases.

Top pitchers

• Rich Buxkemper, SP - Absolutely no one saw Rich Buxkemper coming this year: at 35 years old, having spent a career as a cumulative 2 WAR swingman for Los Angeles who split time between the bullpen and rotation and never had much success in either place, Buxkemper suddenly became unhittable in 2038, his first year with Vancouver. He returned to the rotation full time and led the Division in ERA. There was a lot of luck involved, as Buxkemper held opponents to a .187 BA and a .279 BABIP, but he also struck out 271, over a third of the batters he faced, by far the best mark of his career. Expect a heap of regression next year, but if he can hold on to this for another seven games, Mounties fans everywhere will remember him forever. Buxkemper will pitch Game 2, where manager Tom Flores likes the matchups more.
• Matt Greene, CL - the new NABF single-season saves leader actually had a worse season in many ways than he did in 2037, when he put up 3.4 WAR in just 62 games and struck batters out at a 30% clip as compared to his 27% in 2038. But saves are a capricious stat, and even though he led the Division both years (40 in 2037, 52 this year) he’ll only be remembered for this one. Greene had a good year, to be sure, with a 72 FIP- and just three home runs allowed, and he is as steady a presence at the end of the game as there is in the Division.
• Danny Tanon, SP - Vancouver’s Game 1 starter will be the team workhorse, Danny Tanon. The 28 year old threw 221 innings this year, and though he’s had better seasons he was quite effective in this one, with a 93 FIP- and a relatively low .8 HR/9. His 3.58 FIP was second only to Buxkemper’s 3.39 in the Mounties rotation this season. Tanon, an All-Star for the fourth time this year, signed a four year extension in July.

Baltimore Terrapins, 88-66, 754 runs scored (1), 606 runs allowed (4)

Looking purely at their expected record, Baltimore was the preeminent team in D2 this season: though they won 88 games, their run differential suggested a 92 win pace, ahead of Vancouver’s expected 90-64 season. Baltimore has a dynamic offense led by MVP favorite Omar Juarez, and a talented pitching staff that was third in D2 in FIP. Last year was the only time in their short D2 history that Baltimore didn’t win the Conference title: their previous D2 experience came during their record-shattering run in the mid-2020s. This team is far from the ones that cut through their opposition like tin foil, but they’re dangerous.

Top position players

• Omar Juarez, 2B - Juarez, who spent much of his career with Ft. Worth in D2 and D1 before signing with Baltimore in the 2036-2037 offseason, had always been a good, even great player. But he found another gear in 2038, and led D2 in almost everything: a .330/.411/.597 line, all D2 bests. 318 total bases, a .426 wOBA, 181 wRC+, 176 hits, 103 runs. A 7.6 WAR, the best mark ever recorded by a D2 second baseman. While his defense has slipped and he’s not likely to stick at second much longer, this was an MVP-worthy campaign without question.
• Wayne Richard, CF - the 25 year old Richard could have had one of the great CF seasons in history, but played under 100 games due to several persistent injuries, an issue he’s long faced. When he was healthy - which he is now, heading into the Championship Series - he was unreal, hitting .311/.386/.511 with a 4.3 WAR, 22 homers, and just 77 strikeouts while playing a dependable center field. He has also attempted to continue pitching, though that experiment may be at an end given his health concerns - the Pins want him to develop long term, and that should mean focusing on where he is most valuable. Look for him to contribute this series.
• Tony Posada, 3B - Another player hit by the injury bug this year, Posada struggled with knee issues, even missing a month and a half with a strained knee in May and June. When healthy, he was a threat, hitting .313/.391/.473 with 26 doubles (Posada is not a major home run threat but he can hit the gaps). That was good for a 144 wRC+.

Top pitchers

• Randy Putnam, SP - Baltimore’s underrated rotation is led by Putnam, a veteran who spent most of his career with the same Mounties he’ll be facing in Game 2 (Putnam pitched on the season’s second to last day, as the Pins were locked in a pennant race down to the wire). Putnam’s 6.1 WAR led D2, as did his 73 FIP-, though a .318 BABIP inflated his ERA. He should win Pitcher of the Year, but his focus is on the Mounties..
• Howard Rodriguez, SP - Hard Luck Harold had a strong season, walking a career-best 5.4% of batters while keeping an 84 FIP- over 205 innings. But a .314 BABIP and a high HR rate despite a stunning 0.59 groundout rate make his season look worse than it was. As Randy Putnam had to throw in the season’s second to last game in order to secure a Baltimore clinch, it will be Rodriguez who gets the Game 1 start here.
• Billy Smith, RP - Smith, who is a converted starter, has filthy stuff but some of the worst control in the league: as a starter for Pittsburgh and San Antonio in D4 last year, he led the Division with 123 walks, an insane 5.5 BB/9. His walk rate is actually worse this year in Baltimore’s pen, but it’s easier to hide it as a reliever when his K rate has also increased. Much like the rest of the Baltimore staff, Smith is better than his 4.15 ERA, but wildness can hurt him. He’ll get time in the series, though.

Prediction: Vancouver in 6 - Vancouver has their weaknesses, but Baltimore had to ask a lot of their top-line guys in the final week they’re banged up, and just like Vancouver they limped to the finish line. Not being able to counter Buxkemper with Putnam in Game 1 will hurt, and could set them back. Expect Baltimore’s offense to make it interesting, though.

[ArquimedezPozo]

Nashville Sounds, 95-59, 786 runs scored (2), 641 runs allowed (4)

Nashville was the class of the Division pretty much wire-to-wire: the last time they weren’t alone in first place was May 12, when Miami briefly took a share of the lead, and the last time they weren’t in first all all was in the season’s first week. Since then, they’ve been anywhere from two to eleven games up, and after surviving a brief surge by Atlanta at the start of September they essentially never looked back. Nashville featured the East’s best offense and a solid run prevention unit led by Andres Orozco. The pitching wasn’t quite as good as the top line might suggest, but there’s no other team in the Division that was as well rounded as Nashville, and they’re the heavy favorites.

Top position players:

• Bobby Cook, LF - Cook is the engine for this offense, which is otherwise comprised of solid but not spectacular hitters. Cook, however, hit .277 while leading D3 in OBP (.392) and slugging .555 with 35 homers. His 5.4 WAR was second only to likely MVP Ralph Keough, while his 158 wRC+ tied Keough for second behind only Columbus’s Ricky Ponce. All of that is to say he’s the best offensive player who will appear in this series, and it’s not too close.
• Jonathan Cosner, 1B - The D3 Batting Champ, Cosner is the second best offensive player in this series. Cosner hit .329 on the season, with a .371 OBP and .527 slugging out of the two spot. The longtime Nashville 1B combines average and power, and hit three homers in a game against Austin in May.
• Mel Irving, CF - one of two likely Hall of Famers on this team (the other being SS Ivan Castillo), Irving has spent the last three seasons in Nashville showing off his exceptional defensive ability - Irving has 11 Gold Gloves at center, and the next best total is 8. Even at age 35, he remains a decent hitter, too, with a 111 wRC+ in 2038, and a .274/.350/.417 line with 15 homers. Irving crossed the 70 WAR threshold this season. A five-time Championship Series winner with Baltimore, Irving authored arguably the greatest Series moment in NABF history when he homered with two strikes, down a run, to give Baltimore a walk-off win against Vancouver in Game 7 of the 2026 D2 Championship Series.

Top pitchers:

• Andres Orozco, SP - Orozco’s 2.54 ERA was tops in D3 this year, though it was dependent on a .256 BABIP. Orozco doesn’t strike out many batters - fewer than 19% of the batters he faced went down via the K. He has good control, though, and while he can be homer-prone he has still managed a 4.00 FIP, below the league average. This was very much a breakout year for Orozco, who hadn’t been a full-time starter in a couple seasons, and while there are legitimate fears he will regress in 2039, that magic could last two more starts.
• Isaiah Phelps, CL - Phelps will get plenty of Reliever of the Year support this season. If he wins it, it would be his second straight after coming to Nashville from Montreal in a trade following the 2036 season. Phelps is not a huge K guy, striking out around 29% of batters in 2038, but he has one of the lowest HR rates in the Division, and allowed just five over nearly 90 innings of work while saving a D3 best 48 games in 49 chances. In fact, he was a perfect 38 for 28 until he allowed an unearned run on a single against Miami in early September.
• Matthew Boyd, SP - Boyd rejoined Nashville’s rotation full time this year after a season spent largely in the bullpen, and gave Nashville what they needed: innings. Boyd threw 209 innings of essentially league-average ball, striking out 28% of batters and walking 7.2%. His biggest weakness was the long ball - he was second only to San Francisco’s Ryan Roland with 36 homers allowed.

St. Paul Saints, 81-73, 657 runs scored (8), 674 runs allowed (8)

The overachieving Saints survived a bizarre D3 West to make it here, their first Championship Series appearance since a D2 championship in 2020. At risk now is their perfect 5/5 Series record - their stellar run of four straight between 2009-2012, and the 2020 win. St. Paul lost several of its best players to injury for large chunks of 2038, which set them back, but that’s only part of their story. It will not be an easy road for a team that allowed more runs than it scored and played 6 games better than Pythagoras would suggest. They are, to say the least, heavy underdogs on paper, but they’ve shown this year that paper doesn’t win ballgames.

Top position players:

• Steve Mershon, LF - Mershon was great when healthy, but was seemingly never healthy. A PCL strain late in 2037 caused recurring knee issues for Mershon this season, but the big injury was a forearm strain that lingered, keeping him out of the lineup for the better part of a month. Still, when healthy he mashed: .316/.396/.529 with 18 homers. He’s healthy headed into this series, and could be a difference-maker.
• Sam Tracy, CF - Tracy missed six weeks with an oblique strain right in the middle of the season, and then just after returning got dealt to St. Paul at the deadline from Albuquerque, where he came up. Tracy was a sparkplug for the Saints down the stretch, hitting .342/.378/.495 with 16 doubles and nine steals against just two time caught (his season total ended up at 22-5, about 82%). Despite the injury, this was Tracy’s best season since he won D3 Rookie of the Year for the Dukes in 2035, as he put together 3.7 WAR in a little more than ⅔ of a season.
• Kevin Walker, 1B - Walker is one of St. Paul’s youngest starters, and they believe he will be a capable hitter over his career, combining contact and power. Walker is not the most patient hitter - he’s well known for swinging at anything, though he’s also well-known for usually hitting it hard. He strikes out rarely, and walks even more rarely, but has displayed pop early on. St. Paul doesn’t have a strong offense, but it will improve as Walker does.

Top pitchers:

• John McNayr, SP - the Saints leader in most pitching categories this season, McNayr excelled in his second Minnesota season, with a 3.25 ERA and nearly matching 3.46 FIP. McNayr is a heavy-ball pitcher who induces lots of grounders and mostly keeps the ball in the park - in 213 innings he allowed just 13 homers. The lefty put up 4.7 WAR this season, a career high.
• Jerry Dudek, SP - Dudek is a strong Rookie of the Year candidate, going 15-13 with a 3.30 ERA and 96 FIP- in his first season in the bigs. The 23 year old has boundless energy and an electric fastball, backed by a nasty sinker, a plus curve, and a changeup that coaches think could become a weapon. Dudek is still occasionally wild, but when he’s on he can shut a lineup down. McNayr had to pitch on the season’s final day to keep St. Paul from a one game playoff, so Dudek will get the Game 1 responsibilities against Orozco.
• Pat Pipkin, CL - Pipkin was St. Paul’s only major offseason acquisition, in a trade with New York. Pipken is a former two time Reliever of the Year winner, but had seen his effectiveness decline in 2036 and especially 2037. It turns out a fresh start did him good, as he became a highly effective closer in St. Paul: over 83 innings, Pipkin saved 42 games with 99 strikeouts and 28 walks, while allowing just 6 home runs. His 2.7 WAR was tied with Phelps and behind only Pedro Llopiz’s incredible season.

Prediction: Nashville in 4 - The Saints had a great run, but they are dramatically overmatched in this series, and it will show. The offense isn’t good enough to pick apart Nashville’s lackluster but functional pitching, and Nashville hitters will be able to take apart the weaker areas of St. Paul’s game. Maybe good outings by Dudek and McNayr extend this to 5 or 6, but picking St. Paul seems like wishcasting. Possible? Sure. Likely? Absolutely not.

[ArquimedezPozo]

Phoenix Firebirds, 89-65, 706 runs scored (2), 594 runs allowed (4)

Phoenix comes into this Series with a chip on its shoulder. The franchise broke a 29 season drought with its first Championship Series appearance in 2036, but lost, and then did it again last season. They have now won the D4 West for the third straight year, and come into this series as the heavy favorites with a top-notch offense and an excellent stable of arms, including future Hall of Fame closer Bob Paul. Phoenix is one of the few teams in the game that has no real holes, though one could criticize their defense. Still, it’s hard not to see them as prohibitive favorites to finally take home their first Championship and secure a return to Division 3 after next season.

Top position players:

• Matt Armstrong, 2B - Armstrong was once again quietly and consistently excellent this season, and may walk away with an MVP trophy because of it. Armstrong has been in the league for five seasons, and has been at least a 4.5 WAR player in each of them - a 5+ WAR player in his last four seasons, in fact. The big shift this year was an increase in his power game, hitting over 20 homers (he had 24) for the first time in his career. He finished at .250/.365/.493, a 136 wRC+ that, when combined with strong and effortless defense, gave him 6 WAR and his best overall year.
• Alex Rivera, RF - Rivera, who came to Phoenix in an offseason trade from Chicago, missed big chunks of the season twice - he strained an abdominal muscle in Spring Training which delayed the season for him, and reinjured it in July, keeping him mostly out of commission until late August. But when he was in the lineup, he was hitting: .254/.374/.549, with 18 homers in about half a season worth of plate appearances. He has an outstanding batting eye, when he swings he usually makes contact, and when he makes good contact the ball goes far. He’s been healthy through September, and slugged .618 with a third of his season’s homers, so he should be ready to contribute.
• Fred Levang, DH - Levang is as streaky as they come, and this year his streaks came in April (.276/.389/.500, 2 HR, 11 RBI) and especially July (.389/.511/.750, 5 HR, 18 RBI, Batter of the Month). Unfortunately for Phoenix, September was his worst month, as the DH hit just .155/.284/.227 in 26 games. If July Levang shows up, look out.

Top pitchers:

• Bob Paul, CL - It’s not often a D4 guy gets the kind of media attention Paul had this year, as he has put up one of his best relief seasons at age 40. Though back issues kept him off the mound much of September, part of that was cautionary for the Firebirds, as it became clearer that they would indeed win the Conference. Paul is expected to be back and healthy for the Championship series, and good thing for Phoenix: the future Hall of Famer struck out 94 in 72 innings while walking only 11, and giving up just 4 homers. His 1.86 FIP is his best in a full season since 2033, and he allowed just 6.6 runners per nine, the best full season mark of his entire career. He is a devastating end of game weapon; expect him to make a difference in at least one game this series.
• Kerry Chumley, SP - Chumley may just be Phoenix’s next ace; at 25, he is still feeling out some of his stuff (especially his changeup). But he has solid control, a plus fastball, a slider that can be an out pitch, and a sinker that can get outs when used strategically. Chumley was 4th in ERA at 2.67 this season, and tied Willie Rodriguez for third in Wins, but advanced metrics aren’t quite as kind to him. Still, he will get the ball in Game 1, and the Firebirds hope he can be the hero they need.
• Dustin Gaba, SP - another of Phoenix’s good young arms, Gaba has an impressive six pitch arsenal, with a quality fastball/sinker/curve combo that makes him a good groundball pitcher. He doesn’t get a ton of Ks - just 20% of batters this season. But he shows good control, and is stingy with the homerun ball, allowing just .5 per nine. His FIP is the best among all of Phoenix’s strong starters.

Pittsburgh Crawfords, 81-73, 617 runs scored (8), 597 runs allowed (5)

The drought is over, the curse is lifted, the clouds have cleared: the Pittsburgh Crawfords are Conference winners for the first time in NABF history. Pittsburgh, which arrived in D4 after Cycle 4 and has stayed there since, has rarely even come close to a title; in fact, this is just their eighth winning season. It took a historically weak D4 East in which Pittsburgh was the only team with a positive run differential (at just +18). Their offense is weak to say the least, but they can pitch, and allowed just three more runs this year than Phoenix. If the chips fall right, the most hapless team in the NABF could be champs - they’re closer than they’ve ever been.

Top position players:

• Manny Rodriguez, LF - Rodriguez is the only real threat in this lineup, with a season line of .293/.382/.456, third on the team with 13 homers. Ramirez is 35 now, and has lost a step, but he’s still a smart baserunner who gets on base, has a bit of pop, and can reach the gaps (33 doubles this year, second-highest total on the team). Rodriguez made his fourth All-Star team this year.
• Mark Butler, 1B - Butler is the biggest power threat on a club that ranked 9th in D4 in homers and seventh in slugging. He was the only Crawford to crack 20 homers, getting exactly that number on the season’s final day, when he hit two. He closed the season with a .248/.296/.462 line.
• Gary Stophel, 2B/SP - Stophel is a solid two-way player, serving as the team’s #4 starter and starting second baseman on days he’s not pitching. Stophel was acquired midseason during the Athletics’ fire sale, and he immediately helped Pittsburgh plug two holes, one in the rotation and the other at second. As a position player, Stophel is an excellent defender, with a little pop at the plate and good patience.

Top pitchers:

• Joel Ortiz, SP - Ortiz, just 23 and in his first full season, has an electric arm with a plus fastball and split, and a plus-plus Changeup that rivals the best in the game. While he is still fine-tuning his control, at his best he’s capable of throwing all three for strikes and for strikeouts. Ortiz is known for his hard work and the club sees him as a frontline starter. They’re handing him the ball in Game 1 of the most important series in team history - in part because they want to put a flamethrower up against Phoenix, but also because they trust him that much. Ortiz led D4 in K/9 all season, and in every individual month of the season; down the stretch in September he put up a 1.99 ERA with a 3.14 FIP while striking out 31% of his opponents.
• Karunamaya Nema, SP - with Matt Hahn’s September implosion, Nema is now the rotation anchor, and while he didn’t match his extraordinary August (a 0.42 ERA over 43 innings!) he certainly pitched like an ace in September. On the strength of those last two months, Nema wound up with a 2.97 ERA and 3.25 FIP (86 FIP-) this season, striking out over a quarter of the batters he faced. Joel Ortiz will get the ball in Game 1, but Nema will get the nod in Game 2, giving the Crawfords two frontline starters under 26 years old.
• Matt Hahn, RP - Until recently, Hahn was a critical member of this starting rotation. But a collapse in September has relegated him to bullpen duty for the Championship Series, which he has supported publicly but which has hit him hard privately, according to some club sources. Hahn declined in most measurable ways in September, though there’s no evidence of injury; the team believes he will respond well to bullpen duty and can play a valuable role there before returning to the rotation in 2039 - hopefully with a ring.

Prediction: Phoenix in 5 - The third time is likely to be the charm for the Firebirds, a complete team with the kinds of qualities a championship club has - a dynamic offense that can kill you in several ways, a solid starting rotation, and a nasty bullpen ace. Pittsburgh certainly has a shot, and its young arms are intriguing, but the safe money is on Phoenix in a short series.

[ArquimedezPozo]

Game 1: Firebirds Defeat Crawfords, 7-6 in Phoenix
Our first walk-off win of October featured a comeback for the ages, as the home team was down 6-2 coming into the 8th. The Crawfords hit Kerry Chumley hard, scoring one in the second on a Ben Floyd solo shot and another in the 4th on a Doug Jagger shot, before opening it up with two consecutive two run innings in the 6th and 7th, including another Ben Floyd homer. For Pittsburgh, Joel Ortiz was outstanding for the first seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on just three hits and two walks, while striking out ten. But after a pitch count higher than any he’d had all season, the youngster left with the lead. Closer Carlos Hernandez came in, but Phoenix greeted him with a three run eighth to pull within one, courtesy of a Matt West homer with Matt Armstrong and Andy Pearson on base. Hernandez returned for the ninth only to watch his second pitch of the inning drilled by Fred Levang into the seats to tie it up. Matt Hahn came in to try to salvage the tie, but Phoenix manufactured the winning run on a Matt Armstrong walk, a stolen base, and an RBI bloop single with two outs that brought Armstrong all the way around into the celebration.

Game 2: Firebirds (2) Defeat Crawfords (0), 4-2 in Phoenix
Phoenix has put Pittsburgh in a hole early, with a 4-2 victory that was easier than the score makes it sound. A two run homer by Matt Armstrong in the first set the tone against Karunamaya Nema, while Dustin Gaba established himself quickly with a 1-2-3 first that included two strikeouts. Phoenix added another in the fifth on singles by Brandon Murrell and Fred Levang, and an Armstrong sacrifice fly, then a fourth in the seventh inning on an RBI fielder’s choice. Pittsburgh got on the board with a Mark Butler solo shot off Gaba in the 6th, and added a final run after a triple by C Moises Cordova that scored Doug Jagger, but that was all they had in them, so they come back to Pittsburgh with a 2-0 deficit to face.

Game 3: Phoenix Firebirds (3) Defeat Pittsburgh Crawfords (0), 2-0 in Pittsburgh
Phoenix is a win away from their first franchise championship after a masterful 7 innings of shutout ball from Roberto Cabrera. Cabrera allowed only three hits and walked one while striking out three. Ryan Goldy pitched well, going five and two thirds with five hits and eight Ks, but Phoenix got to him in the sixth with a Matt Armstrong RBI single scoring Dave Reyes from second. Craig White added insurance with a leadoff seventh inning homer. Bob Paul tweaked his back in warmup tosses, so it was Jason Gamble who came in to close it out, finishing the Firebirds’ third win and giving them the commanding position of a 3-0 series lead.

Game 4: Crawfords (1) Defeat Firebirds (3), 4-2 in Pittsburgh
Alive! He Pittsburgh home crowd got to see something some of them never thought they would: their team win a Championship Series game at home. That was the good news; the bad news is that the team still faces the steepest of climbs, down 3-1 in the series. This particular game was over quick, as all scoring was completed by the mid-4th inning; Pittsburgh scored two in the first and two in the second off Mike Foster. A two-run Mark Butler double made it 2-0 early, and a rally in the second saw runs score off a Nate Pettigrew double and a Nick Nissen single. Foster settled in after that, and didn’t allow another hit for the rest of the game, but the damage had been done. Phoenix managed two runs on an Alex Rivera homer after a Matt Armstrong triple, but the Firebirds couldn’t muster anything else off Gary Stophel and Carlos Hernandez. So Pittsburgh lives to fight another day, and try to send this series back to Phoenix.

Game 5: Firebirds (4) Defeat Crawfords (1), 7-3 in Pittsburgh
The Phoenix Firebirds are champions, at long last. The long-time also-rans won the Division 4 Championship after two failed appearances and more than 30 years of attempts, and will almost certainly be heading back to Division 3 after the 2039 season. The Pittsburgh Crawfords, meanwhile, have finally tasted a Championship Series, though they too now must wait another year. Matt Armstrong, a possible D4 MVP, won the Championship Series MVP trophy with a .375/.476/.938 line, two homers, and 5 RBI in the series.

For a while, it looked like this game would be headed back to the desert. Phoenix scored off Joel Ortiz in the third on a single and an RBI double from Alfredo Vega, but Pittsburgh pulled ahead in the fifth. Doug Jagger led off the inning with a double off Kerry Chumley, and Moises Cordova singled him in ahead of a walk to Gary Stophel that put men on first and second. Chumley got two outs, but then gave up two straight RBI singles to Nick Nissen and Manny Rodriguez to bring Pittsburgh’s lead to 3-0. Joel Ortiz, meanwhile, had settled in, and was dealing: after six, he’d allowed one run on two hits, three walks, and five strikeouts. But in the top of the seventh he allowed a solo homer to Armstrong, cutting the lead to one; he finished the inning, but left in favor of Carlos Hernandez in the 8th. Hernandez was greeted by a game-tying Alfredo Vega homer, erasing Pittsburgh’s last lead of the series; in the top of the ninth, pinch hitter Tom Taiclet hit his first and only pitch out to right to put Phoenix up by one, and after two singles and a walk, Fred Levang’s double plated two to complete the scoring at 6-3. Jason Gamble came in for the bottom of the ninth, and had a bit of a scare with two outs as Cordova and Stophel both singled. Nate Pettigrew battled Gamble to a full count, but froze on a low fastball that caught the outside corner at the knees, ending the game and the series. Pettigrew walked off slowly as Gamble leapt into C Justin Lake’s arms and was mobbed by his team.

Congratulations, finally, to the Phoenix Firebirds, 2038 Division 4 Champions!