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2027 Regular Season
Western League Review
Led by star 1B Michael Jennings (.315, 32 HR, 92 RBI) and an underrated pitching staff featuring 24-year-old swing man Francisco Perez (14-1, 3.41 ERA in 41 games including 18 starts), Kansas City cruised to their second straight Midwest division title finishing with a franchise best 96-66 record a full 26 games ahead of their nearest challengers. Denver, despite owning the WL’s top payroll at $180M and the presence of stars Dixon Bodean (.314, 45 HR, 104 RBI) and Jamie Boden (.280, 32 HR, 85 RBI) on the roster underachieved hugely, Minneapoils were inconsistent throughout the campaign eventually finishing tied with Denver at 70-92, whilst Oklahoma City slumped to a franchise worst 68-94 record, their third losing season in a row. All three teams had issues with pitching and defense, highlighted by the fact that they owned three of the bottom four WL defenses.
In the Southwest, even with star pitcher Marc Birstall (13-5, 2.19 ERA) missing time due to injury, Houston reclaimed the title (their fourth in the last six seasons) finishing with a 91-71 record, three games ahead of defending champions Las Vegas (88-74) who once again boasted top pitching but were held back by an underwhelming offense (#12 in the WL) with C Chris Coates (.311, 27 HR, 73 RBI) as their main threat. Austin, despite having by far the worst offense in the NABL (only hitting 76 homeruns) were buoyed by their Duane Jones (16-6, 2.38 ERA) led pitching staff (#2 in the WL) and finished third with an 84-78 record. Dallas (82-80) with 1B Ron Gilfedder (.322, 25 HR, 91 RBI) and P Edward Williams (13-1, 2.36 ERA in 17 games before injury ended his season) leading the surge, earned their first winning record since 2019 while Phoenix dropped from 90-wins and a playoff spot to just 80-wins and a place at the bottom of the standings after a disjointed campaign.
The Pacific division race went down to the wire with Seattle (92-70) pipping San Diego (91-71) to the title by the slimmest of margins, both teams possessed top notch pitching staffs headed by two of the WL’s best in Seattle’s Matt Powell (16-9, 2.20 ERA) and San Diego’s Diego Camacho (18-7, 2.62 ERA). Los Angeles struggled at times offensively and never seriously threatened the top two, eventually finishing third with an 80-82 record. As a team Sanfrancisco (77-85) stole an NABL record 161 bases led by 20-year-old rookie Ernesto Gardella (49), but that didn’t help them in the standings as the Gold finished with a losing record once again, bringing up the rear were San Jose, with a talent deficient roster and all the mid-season upheaval it was a minor miracle the Spartans won 65 games, but with dwindling attendances and the team struggling in the standings the seat under GM Brian Halliday was getting decidedly warm.
Final Standings
Midwest Division
Kansas City 96-66 *
Denver 70-92
Minneapolis 70-92
Oklahoma City 68-94
Southwest Division
Houston 91-71 *
Las Vegas 88-74
Austin 84-78
Dallas 82-80
Phoenix 80-82
Pacific Division
Seattle 92-70 *
San Diego 91-71 *
Los Angeles 80-82
Sanfrancisco 77-85
San Jose 65-97
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