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2015 - Regular Season
Boston managed to stave off the injury bug for most of the season and, led by off season pickup Larry Petersen (.300, 40 HR, 107 RBI) and 1B Sergio Woods (40 HR, 95 RBI), their power hitting lineup paced the NABL with 205 Homeruns. The Pilgrims took the Atlantic division with 89 wins, five ahead of Washington (84-78). Philadelphia failed to build on their run to the World Series and eventually finished 81-81 while New York brought up the rear at 78-84.
Detroit led the way in the Central Division with a record of 87-75, an improvement of 10 games on their record from the year before. Chicago (81-81) and Indianapolis (80-82) struggled to keep pace while 2014 division winner Cleveland, collapsed amid internal turmoil to a league worst 57-105 season.
In the Southeast Division, Atlanta, paced by an offense featuring 1B Gabriel Mendez (.371, 38 HR, 127 RBI) and LF Claudio Ortiz (.350, 35 HR, 99 RBI) and a pitching staff topped by Vince Little (18-8, 2.41 ERA) held their nerve to avoid another late season collapse and take the division crown with a record of 96-66, the best in the Eastern League. Miami finished five games back taking the Wild Card spot. Tampa Bay with 2B Jeff Miller (.302, 39 HR, 97 RBI) and 3B Terry Lambright (.304, 33 HR, 97 RBI) leading the way pushed Boston hard for the most homeruns but finished two back on 203, but more importantly, nine games back in the division race. New Orleans were even worse than the year before and finished a massive 35 games off the pace with only 61 wins.
In the Western League, Denver Wildcats became the first team to win 100 games in a season. They held off a charge from Minneapolis to take the Midwest division with 102 victories. The Bears narrowly missed the 100-win mark themselves, finishing 99-63 on the season and taking the Wildcard slot. Led by the bat of Ben Wetherby (37 HR, 100 RBI) and the arms of Juan Delgado (17-6, 2.73 ERA) and Jose Flores (15-8, 1.94 ERA) Oklahoma City were disappointed to finish the season in third with a record of 93-69 only 3 games off the pace of the year before. Kansas City finished with a record of 83-79, an improvement of 12 games from 2014, but still in last place.
The Southwest Division saw the debut of Memphis Kings and while their season didn’t go well, Houston’s did, as led by star 1B Albert Massey (.338, 34 HR, 99 RBI) they became the first NABL team to repeat as division winners, finishing 86-76. Dallas and Las Vegas finished tied second with identical 82-80 records while Phoenix fell from 90 wins and a playoff spot in 2014 to fourth and a record of 78-84 in 2015. New boys Memphis struggled mightily for most of the season barely scoring 3 runs per game, though their record of 58-104 was not the worst in the league.
The battle for the Pacific Division crown was the closest in the Western League with Seattle (83-79) topping Sanfrancisco (81-81). Despite one of the best pitching staffs in the west San Diego finished third with 76 wins with Los Angeles fourth, one game further back. San Jose gamefully battled all season but could only muster 56 wins, losing 106 along the way. The Spartans were the worst team both offensively and defensively in the Western League and only Cleveland who conceded a whopping 819 runs (106 more than San Jose) worse defensively in the NABL.
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