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In 1927, the Knights continued to dominate the ABC East, a division that they had not lost one time ever since the league went to divisional play. The Buffalo Destroyers and Virginia Beach Captains hung around for a while, but the Captains fell away and the Destroyers kept up but never could catch them. In the ABC West, the Indiana Fireflies got off to a hot start and led the division for about half the season, until they were caught by the Pittsburgh Prowlers. The Fireflies fell behind but stayed at it, trying desperately to catch up to the Prowlers. They never were able to, and had a terrible August to finish ten games out of first place. The ABC Championship Series would feature, yet again, the Knights and Prowlers (Year 5).
Over in the NBC, the Atlanta Colonels got off to a hot start, but nobody expected this second-year expansion team to do anything. But there they were, in first place for almost all the season. The St. Louis Browns hung around and stayed close, but could never seem to catch them. On September 1, the Colonels held a 5.5 game lead with two weeks to go. However, they lost 9 of their final 10 games, including the last 6 games of the season. The Browns, meanwhile, went 9-1 during that same stretch. That enabled them to leap over the Colonels and steal the division. As for the NBC East, the Bears continued their dominance by winning the division for the fourth year in a row. Would this be the year that the Bears finally make it into the World Series? As of now, they are one of the three original teams (the others being the Kentucky Kings and Dover Green Sox) to have never played in the World Series--alongside the four expansion teams, of course. The Browns, on the other hand, had been to the World Series three times, but lost all three times. They are among the 11 teams to never win a World Series (including the four expansion teams and the Green Sox, Kings, Ravens, Yellow Jackets, Bears and Patriots).

So the Bears and Browns would face off in the NBC playoffs, with one long-suffering team guaranteed to get a shot at a championship. And in the ABC, the Knights and Prowlers would face off for the fifth year in a row (with Pittsburgh winning 3 of the last 4...seemingly the only team with any sort of dominance over the Knights). This time, however, the Knights emerged victorious by winning the series in four games. In the NBC, the Bears finally made it through on their fourth try, beating the Browns in four games to make it an all-New York World Series.

It was an exciting back-and-forth World Series. The Knights won Game 1, and after the game a Knights player reportedly commented that, "We are still the kings of New York, and they (the Bears) are still our little brothers!" The Bears responded by winning the next three games. They had trouble putting the Knights away, though, as the Knights won Game 5 and Game 6. In a winner-take-all Game 7, the New York Bears dealt the Knights a humiliating 10-3 loss to win their first World Series championship in team history.

In 1928, the two New York teams continued their dominance over their divisions, as both jumped out to big leads early and easily won the two East divisions: the Knights by 16 games and the Bears by 20. In the ABC West, the Prowlers jumped out to a big lead, but the Cincinnati Silverbacks hung in there with them and the Prowlers could never pull away. The Prowlers finally won the division by two games, setting up yet another playoff meeting between the Prowlers and Knights. This is the fifth straight first place finish for both the Prowlers and the Bears, and the Knights' 13th in a row. They last missed the playoffs in 1915.

The only division to change hands in the past five years was the NBC West. Once again, the Atlanta Colonels--an expansion team that has now not posted a losing record in its first three seasons--challenged for the top spot. But once again, they had a challenger who would not go away. In fact, this time they had two: the Toledo Ravens and the Chicago Cardinals. The Ravens fell behind and stayed close, but could never catch up. The Cardinals and Colonels went neck and neck, including remaining tied on top of the division for more than a week straight in the stretch run. But in the final game of the season, the Cardinals won while the Colonels lost, giving the NBC West to the Cardinals. Both West divisions were won by a single game.

Speaking of the Colonels' finishing at or above .500 in their first three seasons: the current record for most consecutive non-losing seasons to begin a team's history goes to the Pittsburgh Prowlers, who went 13 seasons before finally finishing under .500 for the first time in 1914. The Colonels (who finished at an even .500 in their first season) need to post a record of .500 or better every year until at least 1930 to beat that record. And who knows how many teams will even have an opportunity to challenge this record? The other three expansion teams all posted losing records in their first seasons (the Fireflies have had 2 winning seasons, the Silverbacks just posted their first, and the Tigers have yet to have one).

Okay, back from that rabbit trail. On to the playoffs. In their sixth consecutive playoff meeting, the Prowlers and Knights went head to head once again. And the Prowlers got the best of the Knights again, sweeping them to win their fourth of those six meetings. They would face off against the Chicago Cardinals, the team that beat them in the World Series two years ago. The Cardinals swept the Bears, ending their chance at a repeat championship. A win in this series would give the Cardinals their seventh championship, which would be the most in the league. They are currently tied with the Knights at 6. The Prowlers are second with 4 championships, tied with the Washington Eagles (who have only posted one winning record in the 1920s).

This was another thrilling World Series that went seven games, the third consecutive series to do so. And just like two years ago, the Chicago Cardinals emerged victorious in Game 7, winning their 7th championship in team history, most of any team in the league.