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The National Association was guaranteed a new champion in 1987 as defending champ Ottawa missed the playoffs at 85-77. Their Northeast Division had three playoff teams with Montreal first at 96-66. The Maples earned a third straight playoff berth and their sixth of the decade. Hartford at 94-68 got the first wild card and their fifth berth of the 1980s, while 91-71 Toronto got their second in three years. It was a competitive wild card race with Cincinnati finishing one back. Detroit, Baltimore, and Brooklyn were each two behind at 89-73 and Pittsburgh was three away at 88-74.

The best overall record was tied between Philadelphia and Kansas City at 100-62. The Phillies won the East Division for back-to-back playoff appearances, although it was their first title since 1971. The Cougars ended a five-year playoff drought atop the Lower Midwest Division. Louisville, who had a five-year division title streak, dropped to 84-78. In a tight Upper Midwest Division, Chicago (92-70) topped the Tigers by three games. The 1984 World Series champ Cubs are back after just falling short of the field in the two seasons in between.

Kansas City centerfielder Giovanni “Rock and Roll” Magsamen won the National Association MVP. It was a great bounce-back for the 30-year old lefty, who missed most of the prior season to a broken hand. The Kansas native was the WARlord at 8.8, posting a .905 OPS with 100 runs and 162 hits. In his first full season, Virginia Beach’s Jaime Aguero won Pitcher of the Year. The 23-year old Chilean lefty had a 2.55 ERA over 268.1 innings with 236 strikeouts, 6.7 WAR, and a 12-15 record.

In the first round of the playoffs, Hartford ousted Chicago 2-0 on the road and Montreal topped divisional foe Toronto 2-1. Both 100-win teams would get upset in the second round as the Huskies downed Philadelphia 3-1 and the Maples outlasted Kansas City 3-2. For Montreal, this got them back to the National Association Championship Series for the first time since their three berths from 1979-81, while it was the second in four years for Hartford. The NACS was an all-timer decided in game seven on a walk-off RBI single by CF Martin Barbosa for a 5-4 Montreal win. This made the Maples 10 time NA pennant winners, tied with Ottawa for the most.



Defending World Series champion Calgary improved to 109-53, tying their franchise record set two years prior. The Cheetahs won the Northwest Division for the fourth consecutive season and got a fifth straight playoff berth, the longest active streak now in MLB. In the Southwest Division, Phoenix finished first at 96-66. This put the Firebirds back into the postseason after narrowly missing the prior year, giving them five appearances in the 1980s.

A competitive Southwest Division got both wild card spots with Albuquerque at 92-70 and San Francisco at 91-71. Close behind but short was 90-72 Denver and 89-73 San Diego. The Gold Rush earned their fourth playoff berth in five years and the Isotopes got their second in four years. Atlanta ended a five-year playoff drought and won the Southeast Division at 92-70. Tampa, Charlotte, and Jacksonville were all playoff teams the prior year, but all three were stuck in the 80s for wins in 1987. In the South Central Division, 88-74 was just enough for Houston to win the division for the fourth time in five years. 86-76 Dallas was two games back.

Calgary LF Joseph Gregoire won American Association MVP with an impressive season, falling 12 points short of a Triple Crown with his .331 average. He was about as close as any MLB batter to getting it since Sebastian Lunde last did it back in 1946. The Lethbridge, Alberta native led in home runs (52), RBI (143), runs (128), walks (114), OBP (.440), slugging (.667), OPS (1.107), and wRC+ (191), while adding 9.2 WAR. Albuquerque’s Jimmy Roussel became a three-time Pitcher of the Year winner. He led in wins (23-8), WHIP (0.98), and K/BB (11.7), posting 8.8 WAR with 245 strikeouts over 279.2 innings. It would be the pentuilmate season with the Isotopes for the 30-year old righty, as Roussel would cash in in the 1988 offseason on a five-year, $8,900,000 deal with Chicago.

In the first round of the playoffs, Albuquerque edged Houston 2-1 and Atlanta ousted San Francisco 2-0. Both second round series went the distance with defending champ Calgary outlasting the Isotopes and the Aces upsetting Phoenix. It was Atlanta’s first American Association Championship Series appearance since 1981 and their eighth appearance in total. However, the Cheetahs took them to the cleaners in five games, giving Calgary back-to-back pennants and three in five years.



In the 87^th World Series, Calgary became a repeat champion, dropping Montreal 4-1. World Series MVP went to RF Haojian Yu, who joined the Cheetahs as a free agent after winning league MVP twice with the Chinese League’s Chengdu. The 32-year old acclimated well and posted 20 hits, 11 runs, 4 doubles, 5 home runs, and 14 RBI in 15 playoff starts. Calgary is the first repeat MLB champ since Los Angeles in 1973-74 and are the only fifth franchise to repeat, joining the Angels (who also did it in 1945-46), San Diego (55-56), Philadelphia (1941-44 four-peat, plus 1917-18), and Houston (1910-12 three-peat). The 1987 Cheetahs at 109-53 go down as an all-time great team as to this point, they sit tied for the third-best record by a World Series champion. They’re only topped by 1907 Phoenix (114-48) and 1956 San Diego (112-50).



Other notes: Although he was the NACS walkoff hero, Martin Barbosa set a bad MLB record with 35 postseason strikeouts, a mark that still holds in 2037. Wichita had a team .208 batting average, which stood as the single worst effort in National Association history until 2008. Will Brenneisen and Kymani Massey joined the 600 home run club, bringing MLB’s group to 17. Samuel Dao became the 19^th pitcher to 3500 career strikeouts. Christopher Sollinger won his 13^th Gold Glove at third base.