[FuzzyRussianHat]

Defending World Series champion Ottawa made the playoffs again in the National Association, but came a game short of another Eastern League title. Toronto at 97-65 beat them by one game, giving the Timberwolves their first postseason appearance since 1904. Hartford was three games short of back-to-back postseason berths.

In the Midwest, Cleveland took the top spot at 94-68 for their third playoff appearance in four years and second league title. St. Louis took second with 90 wins for their first playoff berth since 1915 and the first career berth for perennial MVP candidate Elijah Cashman. Cashman won his fourth straight MVP. Washington’s Dylan D’Ippolito was Pitcher of the Year at age 23. In addition to earning it as a pitcher, he also hit 32 home runs as a two-way player in the outfield. D’Ippolito posted 3.4 offensive WAR along with 9.1 pitching.

Both NA first round series went the five-game distance with Toronto surviving St. Louis at home and Ottawa upsetting the Cobras in Cleveland. While the Timberwolves beat out the Elks in the regular season, Ottawa swept them in the National Association final, giving the Elks back-to-back World Series appearances.



After missing the postseason the prior season, Houston bounced back to win the Southern League title in 1925 at 101-61. Last year's SL champ Nashville qualified as the second place finisher at 89-73 with only Oklahoma City also finishing above .500. Alas, the Outlaws remain one of three American Association teams yet to qualify for the postseason in MLB's first 25 seasons.

Denver snapped an eight-year playoff drought and Los Angeles ended an 11-year one in the Western League. The Dragons and Angels both finished 98-64 with Denver taking the tiebreaker for the League title. Five other teams finished with 90 wins in the WL with nine teams total at 86 wins or more; Oakland was the closest to making it but were two games out. Defending AA champ San Francisco finished with 90 wins, snapping their postseason streak at seven years.

Calgary's B.J. Scott was the AA MVP as the second baseman won the batting title (.365) and was the WARlord at 9.1. He pulled this off in his rookie season with the Cheetahs as well. Elijah Campbell of Vancouver was the Pitcher of the Year with a 2.25 ERA, 44 points better than second place. He also had the best hits per nine and strikeouts per nine in the AA.

In the first round, Denver swept Nashville and Los Angeles swept Houston, setting up an all Western League final. Despite tying in the regular season, the AACS was no contest as the Dragons swept the Angels, sending Denver to its first World Series.



The Dragons would then defeat Ottawa in six games, denying the Elks back-to-back titles and bringing the first title to the Rocky Mountains. In his only season with Denver, 38-year old outfielder Jordi Linares picked up World Series MVP honors.





Other notes: Christopher Ross of Cincinnati became the first MLB hitter to 600 career home runs. Houston’s Newton Persaud became the first to 4000 career strikeouts.