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2033 Regular Season
Western League Review
After winning their first division title in a decade Oklahoma City didn’t rest on their laurels, instead spending the off-season strengthening their already loaded roster. One of those additions Mario Cristo (.320, 23 HR, 89 RBI) along with rookie slugger Jesus Alarcon (.265, 28 HR, 93 RBI) were key contributors in the league’s top scoring offense while their top four pitchers (Antonio Valdes, Rafer MacNeil, Chris McInnes and Ronald Shockley) combined to go 64-21 with a 2.87 ERA on the season as the Outlaws rolled to their second consecutive division title winning 104 games. Minneapolis (90-72) led by pitcher of the year frontrunner Ramon Schoof (22-7, 3.07 ERA) improved to their best record for 11 years but still couldn’t live with OKC while Denver’s addition of manager Francisco Cerda did not have the desired effect as the club slumped to a 76-86 record. Kansas City struggled once more, finishing 66-96 for the second year in a row while Omaha endured their second consecutive 100-loss season, despite the best efforts of veterans, RF Daniel Garcia (.303, 10 HR, 31 RBI) and 1B Pedro Arevalo (.268, 20 HR, 72 RBI) the majority of the Braves young players were just not ready to compete.
The Southwest division was a three way battle all season long between Las Vegas, Dallas and Austin. With RF Danny Wheeler (.344, 29 HR, 107 RBI) driving the offense and strong pitching down the stretch from the likes of Holden Willis, Mike Cooper and Marc Birstall the Gamblers separated themselves from their rivals to take the division crown, finishing the season with a 101-61 record. The battle between Austin (96-66) and Dallas (97-65) came down to the final day of the season with Austin slipping up against Kansas City when an Uncharacteristically poor start from Leo Wright (17-7, 3.23 ERA) put them in a bind they couldn’t escape while Dallas left it late (3B Wayne Radke’s eighth inning homerun proving the difference) as they scraped past Houston 2-1 to claim second spot in the division and the WL wildcard spot. Phoenix who clubbed 191 homeruns on the season with 2B Roy Knight (32), 1BRick Flynn (27), LF Stephen Thomas (26) and 3B Michael Ford (24) responsible for 109 of them, couldn’t stop the opposition from scoring and dropped back to just 77 wins while Houston (74-88) whose young stars SS Steve Blanton (.291, 24 HR, 81 RBI) and 1B Eric Finley (.262, 29 HR, 84 RBI) continued to improve, bettered their 2032 record by 12 wins but still finished in last place.
The fairy-tale story of the season came in the bay area where Gary Hatcher’s influence on a young roster was in full effect, as he led San Jose to the franchise’s first playoff berth winning the Pacific division crown with a 95-67 record. Their offense was driven by home grown players such as LF Gregg Bambridge (.329, 51 HR, 126 RBI) and 3B Tom Sterling (.311, 38 HR, 99 RBI) while Pedro Rosario (21-7, 3.24 ERA), Julio Torres (18-4, 2.71 ERA) and 22-year-old Rick Sauer (7-2 in 76 games out of the bullpen) headed a fast-improving pitching staff. Los Angeles (75-87) finished second a full twenty games off the pace after struggling through another disappointing season, the performance of pitcher Kade Blackford (15-6, 1.61 ERA the third lowest ERA total in NABL history) the lone bright spot. Sanfrancisco (73-89) continued their playoff drought (extending the run to sixteen years) with another below par campaign while Seattle (72-90) continued their slide from relevancy with a frustratingly inconsistent season resulting in manager Melvin Barr’s dismissal. By far the biggest story of the season was San Diego’s sudden decline, after three division titles in four years the Mariners fall to the foot of the Pacific division was nothing short of astonishing, although the offense was hurt by the loss of stars Mario Cristo and Dan Matterby to OKC the biggest issue that the Mariners faced was poor pitching. The disastrous season top starters Mike Anderson (9-18, 4.26 ERA) and Dan Rogers (6-16, 4.90 ERA) endured, only further highlighted the Mariners shortcomings.
Final Standings
Midwest Division
Oklahoma City 104-58*
Minneapolis 90-72
Denver 76-86
Kansas City 66-96
Omaha 62-100
Southwest Division
Las Vegas 101-61*
Dallas 97-65*
Austin 96-66
Phoenix 77-85
Houston 74-88
Pacific Division
San Jose 95-67*
Los Angeles 75-87
Sanfrancisco 73-89
Seattle 72-90
San Diego 61-101
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