1979 season :
As always, the
B&Y will aim for the title this season. They have literally an armada of star players, in which
Wander Samuel Franco shined last year. At 35, he won his second Golden Glove playing mostly as a DH. His batting line was
.320/.432/.549 and a WAR of
5.7.
As their young player keep getting better, the
Silver Eagles would most likely find a seat into postseason for the third time in a row. The youngest player of the team last season,
Francisco Sauceda will turn 23 this year. As a 2nd pick of the 1974 draft, he has already made his name in the league. He was indeed named MVP of the Linga Semi-Final Series and Linga Baseball Series last year despite his team defeat, as well as a Ruby Award at 2B. He also had a hitting streak of
30 games and managed to produce the highest average (
.353), number of hits (
185), runs (
104) and stolen bases (
35).
The
Freros last participation in the playoffs dated from 1973. At the time they had surely the best team in their history. Now, all the key players have parted way from the team and a rebuilding has been initiated. Young CF
Jaska Rita will surely be a player to watch this season. He was named prospect #11 in the league last season and has showed strong potentials with the Bobcats in the l-league. He will most likely get to play in the big league this season.
Despite finishing fourth last year, the
Sea Stars could be the surprise of the 1979 season. Their team is also fairly young, and promising player such as
Cesar Gomez will surely improve. The 24 year old pitcher has everything to be the next ace of the franchise. He finished last year with an ERA of
3.32, a WAR of
5.3 and
188 K.
The
Maple Leaves have again finished last in 1978. It will be the 5th time in a row that they will pick first in the Draft. The #1 pick in 1976, RF
River Ford is the most promising prospect of the MAP. He already played 2 seasons and keeps getting better. Will he be the key to deliver the Maple Leaves ?
Moon Division
The best record this season is achieved by the GRE, with a .633 AVG and a 13 games lead on their runner-ups, the Freros. With only one more win than the Nang Nius, the Freros return to the play-offs. They end an incredible streak of 18 years of the Nang Nius presence in the play-offs. Behind, the Maple Leaves finally don't finish last, as they do better than Lingalie City.
Sun Division
The Sea Stars surprinsingly took command of the division and won their first division title with only 3 more wins than the eternal B&Y. Thus, the Silver Eagles are out of the playoffs while the Diamonds and the Jade Tigers finish respectively 4th and 5th.
Manny Rosa, a pitcher originally from Cuba was picked first by the Maples Leaves.
The newcomers Sea Stars face the Freros in the first semi-final Series. In the other Series, it is a classic matchup between GRE and B&Y.
The Seas Stars won 4-1 while the showdown is more indecise. In the end, the B&Y manage to get their ticket to the LBS 4-3.
In the 1979 LBS, the Sea Stars surprisingly dominated the Black & Yellow 4-2 to be crowned LBL champion for the 1st time !
A glance of the players behind this title :
Who were the best player this year ? (I just discovered this pannel in the league history, it is better than the other one imo, i don't know while some players don' have stats though)
Skipper Carlos Ramos of the Sea Stars successfully managed to lead his team to win their division and the LBS. He was named manager of the 1979 season.