[JayW UK]

2029 Regular Season

Western League Review

Kansas City continued their dominance of the Midwest division, wrapping up the title in early September and finishing with a 95-67 record, a full 23 games ahead of their nearest challenger OKC, the Tornadoes strength lay in their pitching, with a staff anchored by ace Robert Warwick (19-12, 2.73 ERA) and featuring Francisco Perez (14-6, 3.38 ERA), Mark Fort (13-9, 3.30 ERA) and Juan Villa (13-7, 3.02 ERA), KC would be a handful for anyone in the playoffs. Oklahoma City (72-90) finished a distant second despite ending the season on an 8-2 run while Denver (67-95) and Minneapolis (66-96) failed to break 70 wins. The Wildcats boasted one of the top offenses in the WL, featuring star LF Dixon Bodean (.322, 44 HR, 117 RBI) and 1B Jamie Boden (.305, 30 HR, 113 RBI) but also finished the season dead last in team defense, while the Bears were the opposite, bringing up the rear offensively really struggling to score (barely managing three runs a game) while being one of the better defensive teams in the NABL (making only 81 errors on the season)
Dallas (96-66) rode the WL #2 offense featuring exciting 22-year-old LF Alfonso Sosa (.289, 22 HR, 97 RBI) and their Alwin Roozen (18-12, 3.07 ERA) led pitching staff to a stunning division title, taking the Southwest from Las Vegas (90-72) by virtue of an impressive run of 11 straight wins (including a 3-game sweep of the Gamblers) over the final two weeks of the season. Las Vegas owned one of the league’s better pitching staffs, anchored by Holden Willis (16-5, 1.63 ERA) and hard throwing Will Spencer (16-8, 2.42) but a lack of scoring punch down the stretch cost them in the race for the division. Austin who boasted the WL #1 offense led by new signing 3B Jose Montoya (.302, 31 HR, 115 RBI) and LF Clayton Jones (.267, 30 HR, 95 RBI) were held back by their pitching to finish third with a franchise best 85-77 record. Despite the superhuman efforts of Outstanding Pitching Award frontrunner Marc Birstall (15-6, 1.57 ERA), Houston finished the season 85-77 winning one less game than in 2028 and dropping to fourth in the division. Although starter Arturo Rodriguez (16-8, 2.58 ERA) was superb for Phoenix the Eagles fell all the way into the division basement winning just 71 games.
The Pacific division was a tight season long race between three teams before San Diego separated themselves over the final weeks to take the division crown, finishing 88-74 four games ahead of a resurgent Sanfrancisco (84-78) who recorded their first winning record for a decade. San Diego relied heavily on their pitching staff with Mike Fulton (17-7, 2.97 ERA) and Dan Rogers (14-7, 2.94 ERA) standing out while Sanfrancisco depended more on their offense with 1B Jose Ramirez (33 HR) leading the way. Despite the best efforts of Matt Powell (17-6, 2.73 ERA) and Domingas Fidi (16-8, 2.83 ERA), Seattle (80-82) dropped to third as injuries piled up in September robbing them of the chance to win a fourth division title in five years. LA’s off-season spending did not have the desired effect with the Lynx mired in mediocrity finishing the season 79-83 a far cry from where they thought they would be while San Jose once again ended the season in the division basement, the ninth such finish in their 15-year history, wasting a franchise record 21-win campaign from pitcher Julio Torres (21-9, 2.88 ERA) and costing GM Brian Halliday his job.

Final Standings

Midwest Division
Kansas City 95-67*
Oklahoma City 72-90
Denver 67-95
Minneapolis 66-96

Southwest Division
Dallas 96-66*
Las Vegas 90-72*
Austin 85-77
Houston 85-77
Phoenix 71-91

Pacific Division
San Diego 88-74*
Sanfrancisco 84-78
Seattle 80-82
Los Angeles 79-83
San Jose 76-86