Will recap once again in precis form to keep us hurtling along, although there is so little to report on it wouldn’t take long either way:
We close out a 13-17 August with four losses including three straight walkoffs to sit 5th at 65-64.
A series sweep at the hands of Houston leaves our record against them for the year at 2-10.
Things get even uglier from there as the wheels fall off completely and we lose 10 of our first 12 in September including 8 straight.
We are eliminated in mid-September.
A run of 5 straight wins in the next-to-last week of the regular season briefly gets us back above 500 but lose our final three at Philly to finish 80-82, just the 9th losing season in club history.
At AAA, Zane Smith is hurt again and we decide to shut him down for the season to not risk further harm.
One of the more decisive and drama-free regular seasons in memory.
Montreal clinches first, by this stage some 15 games clear, finally delivering that long-awaited maiden playoff appearance after a few near-misses.
They do suffer a huge dent to their title aspirations, however, when Ron Robinson goes down for the remainder with a torn labrum.
The White Sox follow suit the very next day and the Blue Jays later that week, keeping the all-Canada decider on the table.
The Braves are the final piece to fall into place, making it two post-season runs in five years after having to wait nearly 50 the previous time.
Final Leaders and Top 20s
Batting titles to Tony Fernandez and Jerry Mumphrey, the first for each.
Glenn Davis leads the MLB with 39 homers, Jesse Barfield with 121 RBI.
While Vince Coleman and Juan Samuel tie as this year's Men of Steal with 94, Rickey Henderson adds 84 SB to his career total and closes the season at 845, within 200 of Lou Brock's all-time mark of 1016.
In this Golden Age of pitching, Doc Gooden just edges out Rocket Clemens 234-231 to be 1985's King of K.
Both of them, along with a few others, win 20 or more with Jimmy Key's 24 the most of any and the two Johnson-Waddell races this year will be fascinating to see.
Dave Righetti leads the MLB in Saves with 38, just one more than Mark Eichhorn.
Nolan Ryan's can only add 96 K to his career total, which puts him on 4824 and Sandy K might well have him covered.
Monthly Award Winners
August
American League
Batter – Howard Johnson (Mariners): 330 / 8 HR / 28 RBI
Pitcher – Frank Viola (Twins): 5-0 / 1.96 / 29 K / 46 IP
Rookie – Mark Portugal (Mariners): 4-1 / 2.14 / 22 K / 46.1 IP
National League
Batter – Darryl Strawberry (Mets): 375 / 10 HR / 28 RBI
Pitcher – Fred Kuhaulua (Cardinals): 5-0 / 1.06 / 19 K / 42.1 IP
Rookie – Kirk McCaskill (Expos): 4-2 / 3.18 / 25 K / 39.2 IP
September
American League
Batter – Lloyd Moseby (Blue Jays): 346 / 8 HR / 26 RBI
Pitcher – Jimmy Key (Blue Jays): 6-0 / 1.37 / 15 K / 46 IP
Rookie – Rick Aguilera (Red Sox): 5-0 / 4 SV / 1.33 / 6 K / 20.1 IP
National League
Batter – Glenn Davis (Astros): 319 / 12 HR / 31 RBI
Pitcher – Danny Jackson (Expos): 4-0 / 0.43 / 30 K / 42 IP
Rookie – Tim Burke (Braves): 2-0 / 3.66 / 6 SV / 9 K / 19.2 IP
Milestones and Observations of Note
2000 Hits: Dave Parker, Ted Simmons, Keith Hernandez
The Mets lose veteran Jon Matlack for a full year to elbow surgery, while the Twins will be without Steve Ontiveros for the rest of the campaign due to shoulder inflammation.
In AAA, Madisonville’s Kurt Kepshire spins a no-no against Auburn.