[FuzzyRussianHat]

The Eastern League had a tie at the top between Ottawa and Baltimore as both finished at 97-65. The tiebreaker officially went to the Elks, giving them back-to-back league titles. For the Orioles, it was only their third-ever playoff berth and first in a decade. Milwaukee posted their first playoff appearance since 1917 with their third Midwest League title. The Mustangs finished 106-56 for the best overall record in the National Association. Louisville snagged second at 94-68, two better than last year’s runner-up Indianapolis. Defending NA champ Detroit fell to sixth at 79-83.

Racers third baseman Caleb Yang won the NA MVP award, leading in both home runs (51) and RBI (142) while posting 10.1 WAR. The Mustangs had the Pithcer of the Year in Max Reaster, who had the lead in WHIP (0.96) and posting eight shutouts.

Both first round series went five games in the National Association with Louisville upsetting Ottawa and Milwaukee outlasting Baltimore. In an all-Midwest NACS, the Lynx upset the Mustangs in five, giving Louisville their second ever Association title (1906).



The Southern League saw a shakeup as the last two World Series champs, Jacksonville and Miami, both missed the playoffs and finished below .500. Charlotte had the top spot at 103-59 for their first-ever league title and first playoff berth in a decade. Memphis took the second place spot at 90-72, three games better than Tampa and four over New Orleans. It was the first playoff berth for the Mountain Cats since their mid 1910s dynasty.

After just missing the playoffs the prior two years, Phoenix was the Western League champ at 95-67. Albuquerque and Calgary finished tied for second at 91-71 with the Isotopes taking the one-game playoff to earn the playoff spot ahead of the Cheetahs.

Memphis outfielder Andrei Tanev won back-to-back MVPs. The 26-year old Russian had career highs with the AA lead in runs (133), home runs (51), and RBI (139). Miami’s Brandon Scott had his second Pitcher of the Year in three years as the veteran led in innings (289), quality starts (25), complete games (23) and WAR (7.7).

League champs prevailed in the first round as Phoenix edged Memphis 3-2 and Charlotte downed Albuquerque in four. The American Association Championship Series went seven games with the Firebirds grabbing their second AA title in four years and third overall. The 1933 World Series also went seven with Louisville completing their underdog run with the second overall title for the Lynx.





Other notes: Baltimore’s Miguel Melis drew 146 walks, a single-season record that holds a century later. Melis would finish his career with the odd distinction of more walks drawn (1594) than hits (1557). Washington’s Noah Pugliese won his fifth Reliever of the Year, the only player to ever win it five times.

Vancouver’s Franz Boldt became the ninth player to 3000 career hits. Later, Elijah Cashman would become the 10^th. Las Vegas pitcher Bailey Johnson became the fourth in MLB history to 250 career