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Much to the chagrin of many players. MLB increased the minimum service time for free agency in 1967 from six to seven years. This put them aligned with Global Baseball Alliance members CABA and APB also at seven; although CABA would drop to six the next year. EAB had just moved down to six two years earlier, which leaves them, EBF, and OBA as the leagues at six years. BSA and EPB were the most restrictive at the time at eight seasons, although BSA would also lower theirs down to seven shortly. MLB’s goal was to keep local players at home longer and try to corral big free agent salaries.



Pittsburgh had the National Association’s best record in 1967 with a franchise-record 105-57 mark atop the Eastern League This ended a three season playoff skid for the Pirates, who had the top offense in the NA at 787 runs scored. In the Midwest League, Omaha and St. Louis tied for the first place spot at 95-67. The Hawks won the one-game playoff for their first league title since 1956, snapping a three-year playoff drought. The Cardinals still advanced as a wild card, in the field for the fourth time in five years.

Minneapolis was 92-70, three games off the Midwest League title. The Moose tied with Boston for the second and third wild card spots. This gave Minneapolis its first playoff spot since 1953 and gave the Red Sox 11 appearances in 15 seasons. It was tight for the final spot with Washington and Kansas City finishing even at 90-72, both one ahead of Toronto and two better than Columbus. The Admirals defeated the Cougars in the one-game playoff, allowing the defending National Association champs to make it back to the postseason. They finished as the only NA team with an active multi-year playoff streak at two as Hartford (77-85), Ottawa (79-87) and Philadelphia (81-81) all saw their steaks end in 1967.

Washington 1B Elliot Fisher won the National Association MVP. The 27-year old from New York City was the home run (50) and RBI leader (123) and the WARlord (8.6), adding 99 runs, a .316 average, and 1.015 OPS. Pitcher of the Year was Minnesota’s Ju-Hwan Park in his MLB debut. Park became one in a very select group to win the top award in two different leagues, having won the 1960 and 1961 Korea League Pitcher of the Year awards with Hamhung. The 30-year old signed a six-year, $1,068,000 deal with the Moose and delivered as the WARlord at 8.7. He added a 2.24 ERA, 19-6 record, and 250 strikeouts in 268.2 innings.

In the first round of the playoffs, Boston swept Minneapolis and St. Louis swept Washington. The Red Sox stunned Pittsburgh with a 3-2 upset in round two, while Omaha cruised to a sweep over the Cardinals. This earned the Hawks only their second National Association Championship Series appearance, while it was only Boston’s third. The Red Sox took the NACS 4-1, sending them to the World Series for only the second time (1955).



Defending World Series champion San Diego improved upon their record, leading the Western League and all of Major League Baseball at 106-56. Second was Las Vegas at 99-63 and third was Vancouver at 98-64 with both getting the wild card for the second time in three years. San Francisco finished 92-70 to take the third wild card, giving them the longest active playoff streak in MLB at five seasons.

The Southern League saw a new face on top with Jacksonville at 102-60. This was the Gators’ first playoff appearance and SL title since 1950. Only Dallas (1945) and New Orleans (1949) had longer active playoff droughts in the American Association. Atlanta was a distant second at 91-71, but that was good for the final wild card, ending a six-year playoff skid for the Aces. The next closest teams in the wild card hunt were Phoenix and Oakland, both at 87-75. The Firebirds and Houston (85-77) both had won 100+ the prior year, but missed out in 1967. San Antonio also saw a big drop, going from a 93-win wild card berth in 1966 to only 71 wins in 1967.

In his second season, Charlotte 2B Rodd Shackelford won the American Association MVP. He led in WAR (94), hits (218), and doubles (42), adding 116 runs, 22 home runs, and a .343 average. Shackelford also had a 30-game hit streak over the summer. San Diego’s Ryan Rankin won the Pitcher of the Year. The 28-year old lefty nicknamed “Lucifer” had a 27-6 record with the lead in ERA (2.41) and innings (298.1), adding 218 strikeouts and 6.3 WAR. He was only the fourth MLB pitcher to win 27+ games in a season.

Both wild card series needed all three games with San Francisco beating Vancouver and Las Vegas topping Atlanta. The league champs prevailed in the second would with Jacksonville sweeping the Vipers and San Diego surviving a five-game battle with the Gold Rush. For the Gators, this was only their fifth American Association Championship Series appearance and first since 1948. They gave the defending champ Seals a seven-game battle, but San Diego survived for back-to-back titles and their sixth overall. The Seals were the first repeat AA champ since they did it themselves in 1955-56.



San Diego entered the 67^th World Series as a big favorite; the defending champs with the best record in MLB against a wild card Boston franchise that had seen little playoff success despite many recent berths. The series would be a sweep for the first time since 1937 and only the fourth time ever. However, the result was the exact opposite of what was expected with the Red Sox rolling to their first-ever MLB title. CF Ashton Holbrook was the World Series MVP and NACS MVP. A local New England favorite, the 26-year old from Eastport, Maine in 16 playoff games had 21 hits, 10 runs, 4 home runs, and 16 RBI.



Other notes: Catcher Roland Southerland won his ninth and final Gold Glove at catcher. As of 2037, this is still the MLB record for the position.