1967
After two years and two playoff appearances in Fort Worth, Skipper Jr. said goodbye to the Texas League, departing the Panthers after the 1966 campaign, following six years with four different TL teams, albeit with playoff appearances each season, four league titles (all consecutively), and a National Championship.
Skipper Jr. would then return to the Eastern Baseball Federation, where he would take the reins of a Louisville Colonels squad coming off a 102-loss season and 12 straight postseason-less seasons.
The Northern Conference saw an unusually strong New England League in which five teams all won at least 90 games. However, there was not much drama down to the wire, as two of them, Manhattan and New York, took the two playoff spots by each going 96-66. The Midwest Association saw Toronto cruise to a pennant, but Milwaukee had to hold off Detroit by one game to secure their postseason bid.
In the postseason, New York took down Milwaukee in a six-game series, while Toronto defeated Manhattan, also in a six-game series. The Maple Leafs continued their trek, grappling with the Gothams for seven games before emerging victorious with their third Conference Championship.
The Southern Conference was dominated by the Miami Gators, who ran roughshod over the Eastern League for a club-record 111 wins.
Jacksonville finished a distant second, 21 games back, edging Washington by two games for the second playoff spot. St. Louis won the Western League for the seventh year in a row, but the Browns had to hold off Kansas City by a game, though the Blues took the other playoff spot.
On the other end, after a generally strong quarter-century at the big-league level, New Orleans crashed from 91 wins and the playoffs in 1966 to 100 losses the very next year, beginning a decade-long malaise that nearly drove the team out of the Big Easy.
St. Louis made quick work of their in-state rival, downing Kansas City in five games to begin the postseason. Jacksonville, meanwhile, also faced an in-state rival, and came through with a huge upset, downing Miami in six games. The Tars backed it up in the Conference Finals, sweeping the Browns for their second Conference Championship.
The Pacific Coast League saw defending champion San Diego take the regular-season crown, finishing five games up on Seattle. Meanwhile, Sacramento returned to the playoffs with their most wins (111) in a dozen seasons, while San Francisco, with a sub-.500 record, crashed the postseason party in fourth place.
Seattle quickly escorted the Sacramento Solons out of the postseason with a five-game series win, while San Diego took care of the lower-seeded San Francisco Seals in six games. The Padres then sunk Seattle in the PCL Finals, winning their second-straight Pacific Coast League crown.
Finally in Texas, with Skipper Jr. out of the league, Fort Worth was on top of the North, while Tulsa finished second just a couple games ahead of their in-state rivals in Oklahoma City. Galveston won 100 games (and the South) for the third year in a row, while El Paso returned to the postseason after a three-year absence. The South notably had four teams above .500, with the lone outlier being Phoenix, who bottomed out at 57-105, with serious questions arising about how long their big-league days would last.
As they did with an 83-win team three years prior, 82-win Tulsa pulled off a first-round upset, knocking off Fort Worth in six games. Galveston also went six games, defeating the Texans. The Oilers then finished off a stunner, blowing away the Hurricanes in a four-game sweep to earn their second improbable Texas League crown in four seasons.
In the tournament, the
Jacksonville Tars (SOU) defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs (NOR), while the
San Diego Padres (PCL) defeated the Tulsa Oilers (TL) to end Tulsa’s shocking run. Facing another team on a surprising playoff run, the Padres put an end to that too, as the
San Diego Padres (PCL) defeat the Jacksonville Tars (SOU), 4-0 to take their second National Championship in five seasons.
By this point, it was becoming tradition. Manhattan outfielder
Cory Gilmore was once more atop the Northern Conference MVP ballot. It was the fourth MVP in a row and the sixth in eight years for Gilmore, who slashed .318/.367/.535 with 197 hits, 95 runs, 35 doubles, 29 homers, and 105 RBI.
Likewise, his teammate
Glenn Clark was well acquainted with the Pitcher of the Year trophy, taking it for the third time in four years. Clark went 21-8 with a 2.32 ERA, leading the conference in wins and starts (36). Two years after setting the Eastern Baseball Federation record for strikeouts with 258, Clark re-upped it to 271, setting a mark that no Northern Conference hurler topped for well over three decades.
One of the best to do it in the EBF stepped away as Milwaukee third baseman
Aaron Vergara—who hit .298 with 29 homers the year prior at 40 years old—finally ran out of gas. Vergara retired as the EBF’s all-time leader in home runs (479) and RBI (1,827), while ranking second in hits (3,331) over 19 stellar seasons.
The Southern Conference finally welcomed a new MVP winner, as Kansas City first baseman
Glen Pinkowski took the crown. The 6-5 slugger bided his time (five years in the minors) before blasting 41 homers as a rookie in 1962 and never stopped slugging from there. The 29-year-old had his best year in just about every way this season, slashing .343/.401/.634 with 211 hits, 103 runs, 33 doubles, 48 homers, and 131 RBI. Very unluckily, Pinkowski finished second in all three Triple Crown categories, but it didn’t matter.
Pinkowski’s teammate, 25-year-old righty
Tommy McDonnell, also enjoyed a career year. The third-year hurler went 21-4 with a 2.81 ERA, leading the South in wins and starts (36), with 245 strikeouts in 269.1 innings, good enough for Pitcher of the Year honors.
Though he finished runner-up in MVP voting, Washington third baseman
Mike Thompson enjoyed a banner campaign, setting a Eastern Baseball Federation record with 55 home runs, while also leading the conference with 144 RBI. His home run total remained the most by a non-PCL player well into the 1990's.
Guess who? For the fourth year running, the Pacific Coast League MVP was
Joseph Miller. The Seattle slugger didn’t lead the PCL in homers after doing so the last four years (he was second), but he did slash .281/.371/.524 with 196 hits, 106 runs, 45 homers, and 136 RBI.
San Diego ace
Dusty Richardson could’ve won his fifth Pitcher of the Year award after a 26-win 1966, but instead he did so in ’67 after going 25-7 with a 2.78 ERA, leading the PCL in wins and starts (43) for the fifth time in six years, while striking out 223 in 320.1 innings. Despite being just 29, Richardson would turn out to only have one more top-flight season left before becoming a journeyman in his 30’s before retiring at 35.
Tulsa third baseman
Bryce Asbell was never known as a flashy player, but he put together a career year, winning the Texas League batting title at .342 and also leading the pitching-heavy league with188 hits and 96 runs. He added 27 doubles, 14 homers, 59 RBI, and 20 steals, earning a surprise MVP.
The pitching side also saw a surprise winner, as
Chris Rouzer, owner of just 72 big-league wins never pitched in a full-season after 1967, but made the most of it, going 18-9 and leading the TL with a 2.18 ERA and 268.1 innings, adding 168 strikeouts.
After signing a minor league deal with Washington and failing to reach the majors at any point during the season, longtime Miami ace
Jacob Garrett retired at the age of 36. Despite calling it quits relatively early, Garrett retired as the professional baseball all-time strikeout leader with 4,110 punchouts for his career, more than 3,000 of which came during his decade of dominance in the American Baseball League, with 617 coming in the major leagues.
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The American Baseball League was dominated by two teams. New Haven set a new league record with 113 wins, blowing second-place Pittsburgh out of the water by 23 games, with the Ironmen claiming a playoff spot for the third year in a row. Meanwhile, Austin won 106 games, while San Jose and Spokane tied for second at 95-67, necessitating a one-game playoff that San Jose won to punch their third-ever playoff ticket. In the postseason, San Jose upset New Haven in a startling five-game series, while Austin won an unstartling five-game set over Pittsburgh. The Wranglers then repeated as ABL champions, hoisting the American Baseball Cup after a seven-game series win over San Jose.
With a powerhouse team, strong attendance, and plans for a new stadium progressing, even as the American Cup Series progressed, most believed they would be the final games for the Austin Wranglers in the ABL, especially with a Texas League franchise teetering on the brink. The offseason would be the time to see if that would indeed be the case…
New Haven outfielder
Rich York hit just .258, but the slugger crushed 38 home runs, drove in 118, and swiped 27 bases, as the 26-yer-old took home the ABL MVP in his fifth pro season. On the mound, San Jose lefty
Ryan Whitehead broke out with a bang, going 26-8 with a 2.02 ERA, leading the ABL in wins and innings (326.0) while striking out 233 to earn the ABL Pitcher and Rookie of the Year trophies. After that season, Whitehead was inexplicably released by San Jose, beginning a vagabond career as a lefty reliever for hire that took home to 18(!!!) more franchises in total, including 9 big-league squads and two more brief stints in the ABL—all packed into just 12 years…with only 23 more career starts.
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Minor League Champions
Southeastern League: Chattanooga Lookouts, 88-66, defeats Mobile
Colonial League: Worcester Tornadoes, 80-60, defeats Pittsfield
River Valley League: Peoria Distillers, 90-50, defeats Evansville
Rocky Mountain League: Pueblo Miners, 77-49, defeats Billings (2nd straight)
Coastal League: Richmond Giants, 100-54, defeats Columbia
Northern League: Quad Cities Trappers, 79-61, defeats Fargo-Moorhead
Great Lakes League: Harrisburg Senators, 84-56, defeats Youngstown
Southwest League: Bakersfield Conquistadors, 97-57, defeats Santa Barbara
Southern Association: Springfield Ozarks, 78-62, defeats Beaumont
Northwest League: Salem Senators, 78-62, defeats Tacoma
Can-Am League: Quebec Carnavals, 70-57, defeats Ottawa
Mid-Atlantic League: Trenton, 76-64, defeats Charleston (WV); 4 teams within 2 games
Lone Star League: Abilene Prairie Dogs, 80-60, defeats San Angelo
Great Plains League: Salina Blue Jays, 90-50, defeats St. Paul
Florida Coast League: West Palm Beach Tropics, 83-57, defeats Fort Lauderdale
Big Sky League: Idaho Falls Fireballs, 87-54, defeats Calgary
A couple leagues saw some insanely close playoff races. In the Southern Association, 7 of the 8 teams finished between 65-75 and 73-67. Meanwhile, the Can-Am League needed a 3-team playoff for last playoff spot (taken by Ottawa), while 4 teams finished within 1.5 games.