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The National Association had no major standouts in 1997 as the top overall record was 94-68. That went to Boston, who had the #1 seed the prior year as well. The Red Sox won their third straight Northeast Division title as well. Montreal was close behind at 92-70, which earned the Maples the first wild card. This is Montreal’s first playoff appearance since winning the 1987 pennant. Virginia Beach won the East Division at 92-70, while Minneapolis had the same mark atop the Upper Midwest Division. The Vikings had the tiebreaker to earn the first round bye. The Moose were a repeat division champ while VB ended a three-year playoff drought. Virginia Beach notably had an impressive rebound from only 65 wins the prior year.

The Lower Midwest Division saw Columbus first at 90-72. That gave the Chargers their third division title in four years. The race for the final wild card was intense with defending National Association champ Indianapolis narrowly taking it. The Racers finished 86-76, beating out both Buffalo and Ottawa by one game. Four teams were two games back at 84-78; Quebec City, Toronto, Detroit, and Winnipeg. Washington (82-80), Kansas City (81-81) and Brooklyn (81-81) were right in the hunt as well.

Indianapolis first baseman Salvador Villasenor repeated as National Association MVP. The 30-year old Spanish lefty led in hits (220), RBI (135), total bases (393), slugging (.637), OPS (1.037), and wRC+ (214). He added 9.0 WAR, a .357 average, and 47 home runs. Pitcher of the Year was Omaha’s Killian Bliss, who led the NA in innings pitched (301.1), quality starts (30), complete games (20), and shutouts (7). The 26-year old lefty added a 2.57 ERA, 19-13 record, 208 strikeouts, and 6.8 WAR. This was really the one season of note for Bliss, who would be out of the majors three years later due to various significant injuries.

The first round of the playoffs saw Minneapolis sweep defending champ Indianapolis 2-0 and Montreal top Columbus 2-1. The Moose mauled Virginia Beach with a road sweep, sending Minneapolis to the National Association Championship Series for the first time since 1982. Montreal also got the road upset 3-1 against their division rival Boston. The Maples hadn’t been in the NACS since their 1987 pennant. In a seven game thriller, the Moose outlasted Montreal for the title. This was only the third time Minneapolis had won the pennant, joining their 1907 and 1971 campaigns.



The American Association was much more top heavy, specifically in the Southwest Division. San Diego had MLB’s best record at 109-53, earning repeat playoff berths. The second best record in MLB was 104-58 Los Angeles, but alas, they were stuck with the first wild card. It was the sixth playoff berth in nine years for the Angels. The second wild card also came out of the division by a decent margin with 93-69 Las Vegas. It was the second wild card in three years for the Vipers. For the fourth straight season, both AA wild cards came out of the Southwest. San Francisco’s four-year playoff streak ended as they plummeted to 73-89. Oakland, a wild card in 1996, dropped down also to 77-85.

The #2 seed went to Vancouver, winning the Northwest Division at 96-66. The Volcanoes were 11 games above of three different squads, getting their first playoff spot since 1982. One of those 85-77 teams to miss out was defending World Series champion Edmonton. After narrowly missing the field the prior two seasons, Atlanta ended up back on top of the Southeast Division at 92-70. Charlotte was close at 88-74 and was also the closest to Las Vegas for the second wild card. Nashville, the AACS runner-up last year, fell to 78-84. Houston at 90-72 grabbed the South Central Division for the second time in three years, ending eight games better than San Antonio. Defending division champ Dallas had a rough swing downward to 69 wins.

Las Vegas third baseman Kieran Wilson won American Association MVP in his third year in the majors. The 23-year old lefty led in runs (114), total bases (375), slugging (.605), OPS (.966), wRC+ (159), and WAR (9.1). Wilson added a .324 average, 41 home runs, and 115 RBI. Pitcher of the Year went to Denver veteran Chris Greer. It was his second time winning the top honor, having also done it all the way back in 1986 with Austin. The 35-year old lefty earned the ERA title at 2.43 and had six shutouts. Greer also posted a 21-8 record over 278 innings, 236 strikeouts, and 8.5 WAR.

Los Angeles swept Houston and Las Vegas swept Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs. Both continued on with second round wins as the Angels ousted Vancouver 3-1 and the Vipers upset San Diego 3-2. This was Las Vegas’s first American Association Championship Series trip since the 1981 season. For LA, this was their first since their 1990 pennant. In the battle of the wild cards, Los Angeles won the AACS 4-2. This made the Angels nine-time pennant winners, tying them with Houston and Phoenix for the most American Association titles.



In the 97^th World Series, Minneapolis was hoping to become a first time MLB champion, having lost their prior two trips to the Fall Classic. Los Angeles entered at 5-3 in their prior appearances, but hadn’t won it all since their mid 1970s repeat. The Angels would win the 1997 title 4-2 to become six-time champs (1945, 46, 68, 74, 75, 97). Pitcher Omar Haroun was the World Series MVP in his second season with the Angels, having come over after seven seasons in OBA. In four playoff starts, the 30-year old Australian had a 2.78 ERA over 32.1 innings with 10 strikeouts. LA is third among all MLB teams in World Series titles, one behind Houston and Philadelphia’s seven. This was also the fifth consecutive WS win for the American Association over the National Association, as well as the eighth different champ in eight years.



Other notes: Travis Vest and Tony Evans both reached 250 wins on the mound, making it 38 pitchers to hit the mark in MLB. CF Jonathan Valenzuela won his seventh Gold Glove.