Tight races abound, with all three NL division winners getting home by just one game. The Rockies miss the NL WC2 slot by the same margin, while in the AL a tiebreaker is required to decide the final playoff entrant, with defending champs Cleveland scoring 4 in the 9th and one more in the 10th for a thrilling 6-5 win over Detroit. Their title defence ends at the first hurdle with a loss in the WC game to the M’s.
In the OFA’s first-ever Subway Series, after both survive 7-game LCS, the Yanks beat the Mets in six to notch their first Championship.
Awards
MVP- AL: Stan Musial (Yankees) [3]
- NL: Bob Johnson (Phillies) [1]
CYA- AL: Roy Halladay (Angels) [2] unanimous
- NL: Jose Fernandez (Mets) [7]
RoY- AL: Bill Riggins (A’s)
- NL: Austin Martin (Dodgers)
Reliever- AL: Provine Bradley (Guardians) [1]
- NL: Tim Crews (Phillies) [1]
Feats of Note- Cycle: Stan Spence, Ben Taylor, Jose Macias
- No-Hitter: Christy Mathewson
- Jose Quintana ties Jack Erwin’s OFA record with a 17-K game
Milestones- 600 HR: Brandon Lowe
- 500 HR: Mike Schmidt
- 3000 H: Al Simmons
- 1500 RBI: Brandon Lowe, Matt Olson, Mike Schmidt
- 1500 R: Al Simmons
- 500 SB: Max Carey
- 250 W: Ken Raffensberger
- 2500 K: Jose Fernandez
- 400 SV: Antonio Ruiz
Top 20s by WAR
It pains me to do so, but I have decided to impose a "Game as God" rule from here on in, whereby whatever the engine decides, sticks. Sadly, that means Christy Mathewson retires aged 21 and with just two seasons under his belt. Just as Rick and Ilsa will always have Paris, so Big Six will always have Houston and the no-no he pitches against the M's on 08/05/16.
Two slightly less prominent "One-and-Outs" are
Edward Lloyd and
Austin Martin. Each was the rarest of birds, a 19th-century minor leaguer.
Edward played one season apiece for the Roanoke Magicians of the 1895 VA State League and the Newark Colts of the 1896 Atlantic League. Here in the OFA, he sparkles brightly but briefly with an 18-win / 4 pWAR rookie year for the Snakes and promptly hangs 'em up.
Austin - a near-contemporary of Ed's who played in 1897 and '98 for a couple TX League clubs - leaves an even more indelible mark in the OFA, winning the NL RoY with a 3+ bWAR performance for the Dodgers and heads off into the sunset. He would of course later become famous as the inventor of James Bond's favourite set of wheels.
Ernest "Spoon" Carter was a handy enough pitcher IRL who enjoyed a long 51-win career in the NeL and various Latin American leagues between 1932 and 1948, for which Seamheads credits him with a little over 5 WAR. He has nearly doubled that total in his four OFA seasons so far, and puts together an excellent 1916 campaign that sees him go 16-8 with a swanky AL-best 2.49 ERA (163 ERA+).
Provine Bradley was another NeL player of the 1930s, albeit one with a far briefer career than Spoon enjoyed. Still, he wastes no time making himself right at home in the OFA, registering 45 saves and winning the award for Best Reliever in the AL in his debut season for Cleveland.
Finally, meet pitcher
Harry Keich. IRL, Harry played three seasons for the mighty Binghampton Triplets of the NY-P League during the mid-1930s. In his sophomore OFA season, he pops big time, going 17-9 / 2.86 for the Padres, good for 6 pWAR.