[Dukie98]

Frontier League: Once again, the HRDL's elite teams struggled to make it out of the Wild Card Round. The defending champion Buffalo Fighting Elk upended the 106-win Denver Spikes in six games, as catcher Dave Nilsson hit .385 and slugged .923, blasting 4 homers and driving in 10 runs, including a 2-homer, 6-RBI performance in the clinching Game Six (which also saw teammate Dan Gladden steal five bases). The Buffalo pitching staff held Denver star Mickey Mantle in check, as he hit a punchless 3-for-21 with a single RBI. The 101-win Minneapolis Penguins shut down the powerful offense of the Philadelphia Hawks in six games; after splitting the first four games, the Penguins' Madison Bumgarner and Larry Jaster held the Hawks to one run in the final two games. Minneapolis's Andy Van Slyke took home the MVP award after hitting .450 with a homer, 3 RBI's, and 7 steals. The Seattle Whales narrowly avoided disaster, nearly blowing a three-games-to-zero lead over the Toronto Predators before prevailing in a 10-8 slugfest in Game Seven. Seattle left fielder Mike Marshall set a record with seven homers in the series, and also had 13 RBI's on 14 hits in the series. Toronto's Hernan Perez had 17 hits in the 7-game series. The San Francisco Longshoremen blasted the Kansas City Mad Hatters, outscoring them 30-10 in a five-game romp. San Francisco second baseman Tony Bernazard took home the hardware after hitting .421 with 2 homers and 7 RBI's, while shortstop Troy Tulowitzki ripped 3 homers and drove in 6 runs.

In the divisional round, the Penguins dispatched the Fighting Elk in six games, as catcher Chad Kreuter led the way with a .391 average, a homer, and a series-high 8 RBI's, and righthander John Koronka went 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA. Erasing a three-games-to-one deficit, the Seattle Whales edged out the San Francisco Longshoremen in a low-scoring series, allowing just 17 runs in a 7-game series which featured just one game where a team scored over four runs. Seattle's Ryan Howard won the MVP after hitting two homers and driving in 6 runs, while San Francisco's Yu Darvish threw a four-hit shutout and yielded a 1.50 ERA with 18 strikeouts. Minneapolis returned the favor in a similarly low-scoring League Championship Series, winning Games 6 and 7 to harpoon the Whales in seven games, allowing just 15 runs to the Frontier League's second-ranked offense. Minneapolis's Larry Jaster went 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA and a stellar 16:0 strikeout to walk ratio, and threw a three-hit shutout in the vital Game 6.

Continental League: In an upset for the ages, the overachieving Atlanta Ducks -- the winners of 90 games with a meager +47 run differential -- upended the 125-win Los Angeles Kangaroos (and their incredible +401 run differential) in six games. Atlanta catcher John Wockenfuss took home MVP honors after hitting .381 with two homers and 9 RBI's, and righthander Ken Hill went 2-0 with a 0.66 ERA. Kangaroo first baseman Glenn Davis pounded 4 homers and drove in 8 runs in a losing effort. The Las Vegas Aces held on to eliminate the San Antonio Marksmen in seven games, as Clay Buchholz yielded just six hits in 16 innings and sported a tiny 0.56 ERA, including a three-hit shutout in Game Seven. In a controversial selection, Las Vegas second baseman Brett Lawrie was named MVP over Buchholz after ripping 13 hits in the series. Miami catcher Jody Davis dominated the Flamingos' seven-game series victory over the Jacksonville Gulls, as Davis hit an incredible .444 with 6 homers and 17 RBI's -- including a 2-homer, 5-RBI showing in Game 1 and a follow-up 2-homer, 6-RBI performance in Game 2. Miami won a dramatic Game 7 1-0 behind a five-hitter from Jim Roland and Howie Camnitz. The Charlotte Aviators, a postseason fixture, deposed the New York Emperors in six games, with right fielder Cliff Heathcote winning the MVP after hitting .375 with 4 steals, and southpaw Ray Fontenot won the decisive Game 6 and sported a 0.71 ERA.

The upset-minded Atlanta Ducks knocked off another 100-win squad in the second round, upending the Las Vegas Aces in seven games. Center fielder Torii Hunter won the MVP after hitting .440 with a homer and 5 RBI's; catcher John Wockenfuss ripped 3 more homers and drove in 11 runs with just 5 hits - including a tie-breaking 3-run homer in the 7th inning of Game 7. Closer Chris Nabholz threw six shutout innings to save all four Atlanta wins. In Miami, Jody Davis continued his dominant postseason, winning MVP once again after hitting 4 more homers and driving in 7 runs in the Flamingos' 7-game win over the Aviators -- including a tie-breaking homer in the tenth inning of Game 1 and a walk-off homer in Game 5. Remarkably, by Game 5 of the Divisional Round, Davis had already set a postseason record with 10 homers and 24 RBI's.
Davis's heroics overshadowed Brett Tomko, who merely threw 17 shutout innings, including a one-hit shutout in Game 7. The Flamingos then shot down the Ducks in 5 games to advance to their first World Series, as third baseman Rube Oldring hit .522 with 2 homers, 5 RBI's, 7 runs scored, and 3 steals, while Davis added two more homers and a series-high 7 RBI's.

World Series: The World Series presented a classic matchup between the deep pitching staff of the Minneapolis Penguins, who had allowed just 510 runs on the season (second-fewest in baseball), and the red-hot offense of the Miami Flamingos. But the Penguins' pitching proved to be too much for the Flamingos. The Penguins jumped out to an early lead, winning Game 1 4-0, as Madison Bumgarner yielded just one hit in seven innings. The Penguins took a commanding lead in the series, winning Game 2 4-3, as Andy Van Slyke homered and right fielder Roy Foster drove in the tie-breaking run in the seventh inning. The Flamingos took Game 3, 6-3, as second baseman Phil Garner homered and drove in three runs, and Jim Roland yielded just two unearned runs in six innings. But the Penguins seized control in Game 4, winning 7-4, as left fielder Jason Kubel popped a three-run homer in the first inning; the win, however, was bittersweet as 5-time All-Star closer Rafael Betancourt blew out his flexor tendon, likely knocking him out of commission for next season. The Penguins clinched the series, winning Game 5 3-2 in ten innings, as Bumgarner pitched into the tenth inning, and first baseman Babe Young plated pinch runner Ced Landrum with what proved to be the series-clinching run in the top of the tenth. In a controversial decision, the commissioner overrode the writers' bizarre decision to award the World Series MVP to Garner, who hit .412 with a homer and 6 RBI's in a losing effort -- instead, Bumgarner was declared the MVP after going 2-0 with a 1.10 ERA and just 9 hits allowed in 16.1 innings.