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2017 - Playoffs
The defending Eastern League champions Boston, took on the wild card entry Atlanta. In a disappointing series, in which the Pilgrims lost Sergio Woods to a serious knee injury (more on that later) Atlanta swept aside Boston with dominant pitching and good defense, taking the series in a three-game sweep. Top seed Miami played Indianapolis in a tight five game series which the Racers eventually won, overcoming Miami’s strong pitching and taking the series 3-2. In the west both series ended in sweeps, Houston were no match for the 105-win Minneapolis Bears, the third straight year they had been sent home by them. Denver were the wildcard team and this proved to be crucial as they dropped games 1 and 2 on the road, both in extra innings, before losing game three at home to Sanfrancisco in lopsided fashion, going down 8-1. The nature of the losses in the first two games on the road were blamed for their below par performance when they returned home.
The Eastern League pennant was a classic, going the full seven games. Atlanta took the first two games at home and appeared to be well on their way to the World Series, leading game three 5-0 after 7 innings. Indianapolis came roaring back though, taking the game to extra innings and eventually winning on a Mark Abraham walk off home run in the 12th. Games 4 and 5 were taken by the Racers in less dramatic fashion and put them on the verge of the World Series, needing to win just one of the two remaining games. Atlanta shut the door on Indianapolis in game 6 shutting down the Racers 5-1 and behind another strong pitching performance by ace Vince Little, took game seven 6-2. In the west despite Minneapolis winning 105 games they had no answer for Sanfrancisco’s Warren Dyer and Netuno Ermida led offense and were swept aside four games to nil. It was the third season in a row that the team had fallen in the Championship series, giving rise to accusations in the local press that the team choked when it mattered most.
The 2017 World Series was the first to not go the full seven games, Sanfrancisco had home field advantage and had not lost a game in the playoffs sweeping both Denver and Minneapolis. The Flames wrestled that advantage away immediately by taking game one. Sanfrancisco evened the series before taking the advantage back, winning games 3 and 4 in Atlanta. The Flames won game five to ensure that the series would return to California, where behind a strong pitching performance from Jose Flores, Sanfrancsisco won and took the World Series 4 games to 2.
October 5th - during game 3 of Boston’s Playoff series against Atlanta, Pilgrims first baseman Sergio Woods, collapsed to the turf in agony after making a defensive play. It was revealed later that he suffered a serious dislocation of his knee and major damage to the ACL and MCL ligaments He underwent several surgeries in the following days but after advice from his doctors and talking to his manager and teammates, on the 22nd October Sergio Woods announced his retirement at age 32. He collected 502 hits with 158 homeruns and drove in 413 runners in his short four-year career.
2017 Playoff Recap
Divisional Series
EL: Atlanta 3-0 Boston, Indianapolis 3-2 Miami
WL: Minneapolis 3-0 Houston, Sanfrancisco 3-0 Denver
Championship Series
EL: Atlanta 4-3 Indianapolis
WL: Sanfrancisco 4-0 Minneapolis
World Series
Sanfrancisco 4-2 Atlanta
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