NABL a History

[JayW UK]

2025 Playoffs

Championship Round

The EL Championship series between division rivals Boston and New York was an instant classic. Game one went the way of the home team, using a strong pitching performance from William Lane Boston ran out easy 6-2 winners, game two was a carbon copy of game one but this time it was New York that ran out 7-2 winners to tie the series. Game three belonged to Boston, they hit four home runs off New York starter Orlando Vicenteno, chasing him from the game after four innings and although New York’s bullpen managed to restrict Boston’s offense the rest of the way, it was too late and the Pilgrims took the game 10-2. Game four was a tight pitching duel between Boston’s Daniel Zanetti and New York starter Ricardo Garcia, after seven strong innings Zanetti handed the game over to the Bullpen, protecting a 4-0 lead the Boston pen almost blew the game, surrendering three runs and loading the bases in the ninth before Jerry Martin managed to navigate his way out of the jam and record the final out, putting Boston on the verge of the World Series. Game five was another tight affair, both starters going deep into the game before stepping aside for the bullpens with Boston leading 3-1, once again the Pilgrims relievers struggled, allowing New York to tie the score and send the game to extra innings. The Senators squandered chances to win in both the tenth and eleventh innings before finally breaking through in the thirteenth, as SS Alejandro Pichardo singled and then scored on Netuno Ermida’s double, sending the series back to Boston. Game six was another tight pitcher’s duel and with Boston protecting a slim 2-1 lead into the ninth inning this time manager Gary Hatcher turned to George Hodges to close out the game. Hodges retired the first two batters he faced and thought he had struck out CF Wayne Manning to win the series, only for Manning to be called safe on catcher’s interference. Clearly rattled by this call Hodges proceeded to walk 3B Tomas Romano on four pitches before surrendering a three-run homer to RF Juan Nunes to give New York a 4-2 lead. Boston’s bats and no answer to Senators veteran closer Curt Rice who retired the side on just six pitches to tie the series and send it to a deciding game seven. Behind a brilliant pitching performance from Billy Moss (3-hit shutout) and timely hitting, Boston kept the Senators at bay and ran out 5-0 winners capping the dramatic series in style and sending Boston to the World Series for the second time in their history.
The 2025 WL Championship series pitted the underdog surprise team of the season Seattle, against the powerful Houston Stars. Game one in Houston was a tight pitchers battle between Houston ace Marc Birstall and Seattle’s Dan Rogers with neither pitcher giving much away, Houston broke through to break a 2-2 tie in the eighth but only plated a single run while leaving men on the corners. Houston turned to star closer Richard Bridgewater for the save, but he struggled, walking two and retiring two before handing the ball over to the ball over to lefty Ernesto Rodriguez to try and get the left-handed Bob Williams out, clearly not having paid attention to the Las Vegas v Seattle series. Williams proceeded to launch the first pitch he saw into the stands giving the Pioneers a 4-3 lead. Seattle closer Chuck Stewart retired the three Houston batters he saw with the minimum of fuss to give Seattle a surprising win. Game two went to Seattle once again as Matt Powell pitched a superb 4-hit shutout sending the Pioneers home to Seattle with a 2-0 series lead. Game three was another pitching duel with both starters going eight scoreless innings before handing over to the bullpens, once again Seattle’s Chuck Stewart was unhittable, retiring three Houston hitters taking just six pitches to do so. Houston reliever Pedro Sanchez made a mess of things in the home half by loading the bases before retiring a batter. Another clutch hit from Bob Williams (this time a single) plated the winning run and handed Seattle a 3-0 series lead. Before game four Houston manager Julio Tovar made some changes hoping to salvage the season, first he made a switch behind the plate, benching veteran catcher Don Bernard for Alaeddin Cobanoglu who was an upgrade defensively and also making a tactical change calling for a much more aggressive approach on the basepaths. Phil Drew took the mound for Houston facing off against Mauricio Villani and both pitchers settled down quickly allowing nothing through the first four innings. Houston’s aggressive approach paid dividends in the fifth as Dustin Polk singled then stole second before scoring on an Angel Valdez single to give the Stars the lead. Polk was at it again in the seventh inning, this time drawing a walk before pilfering second and, on an attempt to steal third, forcing a wild throw from catcher Stephen Miller that evaded everyone and allowed Polk to score. Drew handed over the 2-0 lead to the pen after seven strong innings, Seattle opened the eighth by loading the bases before anyone was out, but only managed a single run from that strong position as Jorge Carriles ended the inning by hitting into a double play. Houston couldn’t add to their lead in the ninth but didn’t really need to as Closer Richard Bridgewater shut the door on Seattle to keep Houston alive in the series. Game five was a wild one as both starters were chased from the game before five innings were complete, Houston’s game plan of aggressive running on the basepaths bore fruit once again as they collected twelve hits, including their first home run of the series, stole 7 bases and scored 10 runs through the first seven innings. Seattle were in no mood to lie down though, rallying to get within three at 10-7 but that was as close as they managed to get as Richard Bridgewater collected his second save in as many nights, keeping Houston’s World Series dreams alive. Before game six Seattle manager William McDonald made a switch to counter Houston’s aggressive baserunning, out went catcher Stephen Miller and in came little used, defense first backstop George Baker. The plan worked to a tee as, held in check by Baker’s superior arm talent (he caught three Houston players stealing during the game) and excellent pitching performances from Matt Powell and Chuck Stewart, the Houston Stars could muster next to no offense on the way to crashing out of the playoffs sending Seattle to their second World Series.

[JayW UK]

2025 Playoffs

World Series

The 2025 World Series was a repeat of the 2016 series, between Boston and Seattle and as in 2016 Boston had home advantage but this time the Pilgrims wanted to make it count. Game one started badly for the visitors as Dan Rogers was rocked for a two-run homer from 2B Luis Miguel Estrada in the first, then surrendered another two-run blast to the same man in the third ending his night and putting his Pioneers in four-run hole. Boston starter William Lane lasted until the sixth before he ran into trouble giving up 3 runs and putting another two men on base before handing over to the bullpen, the Pioneers had no answer and despite adding another run in the ninth they fell 6-4. Game two was a battle between both starters, Shane Miller for Boston and Matt Powell for Seattle, with the game tied at 2 in the sixth inning the wheels fell off for Powell as he allowed four runs and left two on base before he exited. The Seattle bullpen couldn’t keep a lid on Boston’s offense as over the next two innings the Pilgrims added five more runs to run out comfortable 11-2 winners. Game three in Seattle saw Boston’s Billy Moss take the mound against Chris Romero, in a tight duel between the two, Boston drew first blood when LF Stephen Thomas took Romero deep giving the Pilgrims a 2-0 lead. Boston starter Billy Moss lasted until the sixth before Seattle got to him tying the game with a two-run homerun of their own from catcher Stephen Miller. Romero immediately surrendered the lead the next inning with a RF Jared Guest sacrifice fly giving the Pilgrims a slim 3-2 lead. The Boston bullpen took over from there and between Clifford West and George Hodges, saw the game safely home. With Boston on the verge of a series sweep, game four saw a spirited performance from Seattle, they took the lead early, building a 3-0 lead. Boston were not about to roll over though and roared back scoring three runs of their own to tie the game after six innings. Seattle went to their bullpen in the seventh where Broderick Brady and Barry Stewart made a mess of things, allowing four Boston runs, including a massive three-run blast to Jared Guest, handing the Pilgrims a commanding 7-3 lead. Despite a late rally, Seattle couldn’t find a way to overcome Boston’s lead and fell to a 7-5 defeat handing the World Series to Boston. The fall classic had been a series too far for the young Seattle team as they had no answers for Boston and became the first team to lose the World Series without winning a game.

2025 Playoff Recap

Divisional Series
EL: Boston 3-2 New Orleans, New York 3-2 Chicago
WL: Houston 3-0 Denver, Seattle 3-1 Las Vegas
Championship Series
EL: Boston 4-3 New York
WL: Seattle 4-2 Houston
World Series
Boston 4-0 Seattle

[JayW UK]

2025 Season Leaders and Awards

EL Batting
Hits
225 Richie Rambeaux (CLE)
219 Clarence Davis (CLE)
217 Daniel Garcia (NO)
Batting Avg
.382 Lucio Martinez (BOS)
.377 Matt Henderson (CHI)
.353 Clarence Davis (CLE)
Homeruns
50 Juan Santos (TB)
42 Jose Munoz (CHI)
39 Richie Rambeaux (CLE)
RBI
128 Juan Santos (TB)
124 Jose Munoz (CHI)
119 Gabriel Mendez (TB)
Stolen Bases
39 Daniel Garcia (NO)
32 Angel Reyes (CHI)
29 Luis Cano (PHI)

EL Pitching
Wins
17 Larry de Meza (ATL)
16 Stan Fleming (PHI)
16 Kenny Law (NO)
ERA
2.69 Freddie Bankfield (PHI)
2.71 Duane Barker (PHI)
2.73 Kenny Law (NO)
Strikeouts
329 Larry de Meza (ATL)
215 Carlos Correa (CHI)
214 Jerry Wood (IND)
Saves
39 Curt Rice (NY)
37 Sergio Cardenas (CHI)
36 Fernando Costeira (IND)

WL Batting
Hits
215 Dixon Bodean (DEN)
215 Dustin Polk (HOU)
191 Jack Underwood (KC)
Batting Avg
.348 Dixon Bodean (DEN) *
.337 Jesus Garza (PHO)
.335 Dustin Polk (HOU)
Homeruns
54 Dixon Bodean (DEN) *
43 Joey Buhler (HOU)
39 Jamie Boden (DEN)
RBI
141 Dixon Bodean (DEN) *
124 Joey Buhler (HOU)
109 Angel Valdez (HOU)
Stolen Bases
42 Dustin Polk (HOU)
41 Brian Quinborough (LV)
34 Raul Escobar (DEN)

WL Pitching
Wins
18 Ieyoshi Matsumoto (AUS)
17 Pedro Escobar (SD)
16 Diego Camacho (SD)
ERA
2.25 Matt Powell (SEA)
2.31 Franklin Keyes (SJ)
2.37 Felipe Sanchez (SD)
Strikeouts
284 Matt Powell (SEA)
268 Marc Birstall (HOU)
246 Pedro Escobar (SD)
Saves
44 Chuck Patrick (SEA)
42 Beau Bass (DEN)
40 Stephen Davis (LV)

Batting Champion – Boston’s Lucio Martinez (.382) held off Chicago’s Matt Henderson (.377) to claim the title in the east. While in the west, Denver superstar Dixon Bodean (.348) won his fifth straight batting title.
Homerun Champion – In the east Tampa Bay star Juan Santos (50 HR) collected his fourth title finishing 8 ahead of his nearest challenger, Chicago’s Jose Munoz. In the west Dixon Bodean set a new NABL record for homeruns with 54, Houston’s Joey Buhler (43 HR) finished as runner up.
Outstanding Hitter – Cleveland’s Richie Rambeaux (.342, 39 HR, 111 RBI, 126 Runs) capped a superb season by pipping teammate 1B Clarence Davis (.353, 29 HR, 103 RBI) and Chicago 3B Jose Munoz (.316, 42 HR, 124 RBI) to the award in the east. Over in the west, Denver’s Dixon Bodean (.348, 54 HR, 141 RBI, 120 runs) cruised to his fifth straight award, he also claimed his third straight batting triple crown.
Outstanding Pitcher – Atlanta star Larry De Meza (17-8, 2.99 ERA, 329K) followed up his outstanding 2024 season by winning his second consecutive award. In a crowded field in the west, San Diego ace Pedro Escobar (17-8, 2.45 ERA, 246 K) claimed the award, holding off the likes of Franklin Keyes (SJ) Matt Powell (SEA) and Mark Birstall (HOU)
Rookie of the Year – In the east Detroit’s Roberto Cornell (.293, 16 HR, 79 RBI) won the award while Houston OF Jose Camacho (.317, 9 HR, 39RBI) took the WL award.
Manager of the Year – in the east Boston manager Gary Hatcher collected the award after leading his Pilgrims to their first World Series win. Controversially, Houston’s Julio Tovar took the award in the west, ahead of Seattle manager William McDonald who was many people’s favourite to win.
Glove Wizard Awards EL – P Kenny Law (NO) – C Robin Ashburn (BOS) – 1B Arlan Bresnahan (PHI) – 2B Bill Taylor (BOS) – 3B Wayne Martin (CLE) – SS Richie Rambeaux (CLE) – LF Stephen Thomas (BOS) – CF Jason Clement (DET) – RF Ivan Lopez (PHI)
Glove Wizard Awards WL – P Gary Miller (AUS) – C Mark Abraham (DEN) – 1B Bobby Grant (MIN) – 2B Dustin Polk (HOU) – 3B Jose Montoya (SD) – SS Nathan Ross (MIN) – LF Chip Owers (LV) – CF Brian Quinborough (LV) – RF Claude Cummins (MIN)

Interesting Facts – Several single season NABL records fell during 2025, Atlanta star pitcher Larry De Meza struck out 329 batters eclipsing Carlos Correa’s 2017 mark of 314. Dixon Bodean set a new mark for Homeruns (54) beating the previous total of 52 (set in 2017 by Sergio Woods and equaled by Bodean in 2024) Bodean also tied the season record for RBI’s (141) matching Gabriel Mendez’s mark from 2021.

[JayW UK]

2026 Off-Season

As soon as the 2025 season was in the books and Boston crowned World Series champs, Cleveland manager Tom Heitman announced that he was stepping down from his management duties and retiring. The Corsairs pursued and eventually got their man to replace Heitman in the form of former San Jose manager Pedro Garcia. The Spartans stayed in-house for Garcia’s replacement, promoting bench coach Al Ewing to be their new skipper while Philadelphia also promoted from within when they tabbed bench coach Don Blair as their new manager. Blair had no previous managerial experience having been the pitching coach at both LA and LV before accepting the role as Philadelphia’s bench coach in 2023, his promotion was thought by many to be a risk. The former Seattle manager, Mike Holdsworth, had spent a year out of the game after leaving the Pioneers and was said to be itching to get back to management, after being passed over for the San Jose job, he was given his chance by Dallas, where he inherited a team lacking top talent and had a very tough job ahead to make the Mustangs relevant again. Tom Heitman’s retirement lasted only two months, as in early January he announced he had accepted the role of Bench Coach with his old team Denver, not everyone was happy with the news though, as rumours spread that incumbent manager Yoshizaku Tanaka did not want Heitman as his No 2 but was overruled by the team’s ownership.
In a free agency period devoid of blockbuster deals, Phoenix pulled off by far the biggest when they lured 2B Dustin Polk away from division rivals Houston, paying him $106M over the next 4 years. Minneapolis splashed the cash signing former New Orleans pitcher Kenny Law to a five year $107M Deal while ex-Indianapolis OF Steve Burgess landed in Oklahoma City on a $71M four-year deal and division rivals Denver strengthened their rotation by adding starter Jimmy Chien from LA on a 4 year $61.5M deal. Pitcher Benedict Lewis did not re-sign in Sanfrancisco as expected, instead he opted to go back to Washington (the team that had traded him to SF the year before) signing for 2 years and $15M. Sanfrancisco got to work replacing Lewis by persuading San Jose’s Barney Howell to join for 4 years, paying him $61M and also enticing 39-year-old Billy Moss, the veteran World Series winner to swap Boston for the Bay area for one last hurrah. Two more pitchers on the move were, former Detroit starter Will Christopher who joined Kansas City on a 1-year $12M deal and Carlos Correa who left Chicago to join New York on a three year $57M deal. New Orleans lost their star CF Jorge Sanchez (owner of the franchise record for career homeruns (213) with two 30 Hr / 30 SB seasons on his resume) to division rival Tampa Bay, Sanchez would earn $42M over the next two years.
Meanwhile Boston, after a relatively quiet off-season, added veteran catcher Alaeddin Cobanoglu to replace Robin Ashburn and signed one of their former stars, RF Brady Avery, to a one-year deal to provide outfield depth.
In the pre-draft process three players stood out, High School CF Marc Smith who projected to be a high contact hitter with plus speed and excellent defensive ability was the top position player, while college stars Kade Blackford from North Carolina, a hard throwing righty, and Arkansas ace T.J Simms were the best pitchers. There were two other players that were garnering a lot of attention, Texas CF Bobby Schoeppell and Mississippi 2B Jack Rasmuessen, both players were outstanding defenders at their positions, already good enough for the NABL, but both had some way to go on the offensive side of the ball.
On draft night it was CF Marc Smith who heard his name called first by Washington, the second player drafted was fellow high schooler 1B Danny Bates, picked by Detroit who liked his power potential. Third was North Carolina pitcher Kade Blackford taken by LA, while Dallas took CF Paul Bryan from Memphis fourth. Bobby Schoeppell was drafted fifth by OKC and college pitcher T.J Simms sixth by Sanfrancisco, Jack Rasmuessen had to wait until the 17th pick to hear his name called, where Denver ended his fall.
Heading into the 2026 season, Boston were still considered the team to beat in the east, although both Tampa Bay and New York had strengthened and were expected to challenge, New Orleans despite the loss of star CF Jorge Sanchez were the only other team thought to be in with a chance. Also of interest was how new managers Pedro Garcia in Cleveland and Don Blair in Philadelphia would perform, with both teams expected to be on the verge of pushing for the playoffs. In the west all eyes were on Seattle to see if their run to the World Series had been a fluke or the sign of things to come, Los Angeles were expected to challenge again after their disastrous 2025 campaign and with San Diego waiting in the wings the Pacific division race was going to be an exciting one. Las Vegas with their dominating pitching and Houston with their powerful offense were once again the teams to watch in the Southwest division while Minneapolis, Oklahoma City and Denver were likely to fight it out for the Midwest division. Denver were an interesting team to watch with their management team of Yoshisaku Tanaka and Tom Heitman not on the best of terms, Denver’s season rested on the two men being able to overcome their differences and work together, otherwise there was the potential for disaster.

[JayW UK]

2026 Regular Season

Eastern League Review

Boston owned the Atlantic division, led by the NABL’s most potent offense (910 runs scored with 220 Homers) powered by outfield trio LF Stephen Thomas (.288, 35 HR, 111 RBI), CF Lucio Martinez (.365, 28 HR, 107 RBI) and RF Jared Guest (.308, 34 HR, 105 RBI) and a quality pitching staff featuring Daniel Zanetti (19-8, 3.73 ERA) and Tony Quintero (16-5, 3.47 ERA) the Pilgrims won 104 games and claimed their third straight division title. New York (89-73) held off a strong challenge from Philadelphia (87-75) to finish second and claim the EL wildcard spot, Washington (73-89) while much improved, still finished last for the third consecutive season.

With 3B Jose Munoz (.294, 32 HR, 120 RBI) and LF Scott Winters (.291, 29 HR, 103 RBI) leading the way, Chicago followed up their 2025 success by once again claiming the Central division title finishing with an 86-76 record, injuries played a big part in the reason why Cleveland (80-82) didn’t mount much of a challenge to the Zephyrs, but the season as a whole was still a big disappointment for new manager Pedro Garcia. Detroit (79-83) climbed off the foot of the division for the first time in seven years, while Indianapolis (68-94) slumped to the division basement for the first time since 2014.

Tampa Bay finally got over the line after two years of late season failures, the Hurricanes won the Southeast division at a canter, riding a solid pitching staff featuring ace Guillermo Medina (18-8, 3.23 ERA) and their powerful offense (195 HR) headlined by CF Jorge Sanchez (37 HR) and RF Juan Santos (36 HR) to finish 97-65 a full nineteen games ahead of second place New Orleans (78-84) who tumbled to their worst season since 2020. Atlanta (71-91) slipped to third, held back by inconsistent pitching and the EL’s worst offense, while Miami (60-102) finished in the division basement for the fourth season in a row and the fifth time in six years with pitching proving to be their Achilles heel, Octavio Cortal (11-16, 4.29 ERA) was their best pitcher by far, lightyears ahead of the likes of Tim Cook (8-17, 5.53 ERA) and John Jones (2-13, 6.12 ERA).

Final Standings

Atlantic Division
Boston 104-58 *
New York 89-73 *
Philadelphia 87-75
Washington 73-89

Central Division
Chicago 86-76 *
Cleveland 80-82
Detroit 79-83
Indianapolis 68-94

Southeast Division
Tampa Bay 97-65 *
New Orleans 78-84
Atlanta 71-91
Miami 60-102

[JayW UK]

2026 Regular Season

Western League Review

The anticipated three horse race in the Midwest division did not materialize, instead Kansas City rode quality pitching from the likes of Jose Roa (19-9, 3.93 ERA) and Mark Fort (17-12, 2.87 ERA) and a hot September (losing only eight games during the month) to pull away and win the division with a 92-70 record. Of the three teams expected to challenge only OKC, led by off-season signing 1B Brian Watson (.278, 33 HR, 96 RBI) put up any kind of fight, pulling within three games entering September, only to fall away and finish a distant second, a full twelve games back at 80-82. Defending champs Denver, despite strong campaigns from LF Dixon Bodean (.329, 44 HR, 122 RBI) and 1B Jamie Boden (.302, 40 HR, 105 RBI), had a nightmare start to the season (more on that later) but eventually finished strong, ending up in third place with a 79-83 record while Minneapolis slumped to a 77-85 record, a five-year low to finish last.

In the Southwest division a season-long three-way tussle between defending champs Houston, Las Vegas and Phoenix went down to the wire with Las Vegas eventually riding Dave Cahill (21-9, 1.81 ERA) and the league’s top pitching staff to a 96-66 record and their third division crown. Phoenix (90-72) held off defending champions Houston (89-73) on the last day of the season to advance to the playoffs for the first time in twelve years. Austin (78-84) and Dallas (73-89) brought up the rear, both teams too inconsistent to mount any sort of challenge.

San Diego Mariners (100-62) leaned heavily on a pitching staff featuring Mike Fulton (17-6, 2.58 ERA), Felipe Sanchez (16-10, 2.90 ERA) and Pedro Escobar (13-13, 2.74 ERA), a necessity given their below average offense. Los Angeles bounced back from their disastrous 2025 season but still finished well off the pace on 85 wins, Seattle proved their run to the World Series was not the beginning of a new dynasty, by slumping to a disappointing 77-85 record. Both Sanfrancisco (61-101) and San Jose (57-105) endured miserable seasons, with both teams struggling to put runs on the board while also being unable to stop the opposition from scoring.

Final Standings

Midwest Division
Kansas City 92-70 *
Oklahoma City 80-82
Denver 79-83
Minneapolis 77-85

Southwest Division
Las Vegas 96-66 *
Phoenix 90-72 *
Houston 89-73
Austin 78-84
Dallas 73-89

Pacific Division
San Diego 100-62 *
Los Angeles 85-77
Seattle 77-85
Sanfrancisco 61-101
San Jose 57-105

[JayW UK]

2026 Season Notes

Spring Training – Las Vegas pitcher Max Castle suffered a setback in his rehab from shoulder surgery meaning he would not be ready to play until June, his injury threw the Gamblers rotation plans up in the air but with the likes of Anthony Barrett, Dave Cahill and 2023 first round draft selection Holden Willis available to pick up the slack, Las Vegas were in a stronger position than most to deal with the setback.
After two disappointing and injury ravaged campaigns, two-time batting champion Alejandro Pichardo found himself looking for a new team after being released by New York. He found few takers given his recent struggles with injury, eventually settling on a one year $1M deal with Minneapolis hoping a change of scenery would help him avoid the injury bug.
April 2nd – Cleveland’s star shortstop Richie Rambeaux suffered a dislocated shoulder ruling him out until July at the earliest.
April 12th – Las Vegas star Anthony Barrett collected his 3000th strikeout against Phoenix, but it wasn’t enough to help his Gamblers as they fell 6-3.
April 13th – 40-year-old Zander Pace, now pitching out of the bullpen for San Diego racked up his 2000th career strikeout.
April 22nd – Washington’s International Free agent signing Tatsui Aoyama endeared himself to his new fans, hitting for the CYCLE (4-5, 5RBI 2R) while leading the Generals to an 11-2 rout of Indianapolis.
April 23rd – Denver 1B Jamie Boden clubbed a walk-off Grand-Slam to complete an amazing turnaround for the Wildcats, trailing 4-0 after eight innings Boden’s slam gave Denver an improbable 8-4 victory.
May 2nd – Las Vegas ace Dave Cahill struck out 11 Houston Stars and in doing so became the latest player to reach 2000 career strikeouts.
May 6th – Denver superstar Dixon Bodean’s attack on the NABL batting records continued, he collected his 2000th career hit against Dallas, he would also reach 1000 runs scored (26th May) and 300 career homeruns (August 9th) during the season.
May 20th – Indianapolis SS Kevin Jones scored his 1000th run in a win against Miami.
May 21st – Las Vegas rookie pitcher Holden Willis suffered a shoulder injury serious enough to shelve him for the rest of the campaign, although his seasons numbers hadn’t set the world on fire (1-2, 4.86 ERA through 8 games) he had provided solid pitching while the team awaited the return of star pitcher Max Castle.
May 22nd – another day, another pitcher injured, this time Boston’s William Lane who’s elbow injury wasn’t season ending but would still keep him out of the lineup until August.
May 25th – Houston’s Marc Birstall took just 89 pitches to NO-HIT San Jose, allowing a single walk while striking out 11 in a 5-0 win.
June 1st – one week after being no-hit by Houston’s Marc Birstall, San Jose were at it again, this time the beneficiary was Las Vegas star Dave Cahill who took 100 pitches to NO-HIT the Spartans surrendering a single walk and striking out 12. (it was Cahill’s second career no-hitter, his first having come in 2020 also against San Jose)
June 1st – after a disappointing start to the season Denver manager Yoshizaku Tanaka resigned from his position. In his resignation statement he said that “philosophical differences between himself, the rest of the management team and the ownership had a detrimental effect on team chemistry and confidence, therefore he felt it best that he stepped down to allow a new voice in the clubhouse the chance to try and save the season”. Bench Coach Tom Heitman was named as interim manager until the end of the season and with the team’s record standing at 24-32 already eleven games off the pace, he would have his work cut out for him. Within days of Tanaka’s resignation stories began to emerge about what really happened, one had it that after back-to-back blowout losses to division rivals Oklahoma City, Tanaka and Heitman became involved in a furious argument and players had to separate the two men, while another had the two men barely speaking to each other at all during the season, while yet another (although unlikely story) had Tanaka finding Heitman in bed with his wife. Whatever the truth one thing that is for certain, was that after those two dispiriting losses to OKC, Tanaka approached the team’s ownership to demand that Heitman be dismissed, evidently his demand and subsequent “me or him” ultimatum fell on deaf ears and left Tanaka in a difficult situation having threatened to quit if his demands were not met. Tanaka having called ownerships bluff had no option but to resign and after saying goodbye to the players, the two-time Manager of the Year left the team and returned to his homeland to ponder his next move.
June 3rd – Seattle SS Jose Velasquez hit for the CYCLE in a game against San Jose, going 5-5 with two doubles 5 RBI’s and 3 runs scored. It was the second five hit game of the season for Velasquez having clubbed five in a May loss to LA.
June 4th – star pitcher Max Castle was back on the mound for Las Vegas, in his first NABL action since the previous September he was limited to just five innings but was still effective, allowing only a single run on three hits. However, his effort was in vain as a rare late collapse by the bullpen lost the game for LV.
June 10th – Las Vegas’ three Amigos had only just re-united when disaster struck again, this time in the form of a torn back muscle for pitcher Anthony Barrett who would miss the rest of the season. The Gamblers rotation still contained two legitimate aces in Max Castle and Dave Cahill but after the losses of Holden Willis and now Barrett Las Vegas would have to dig deep to maintain their charge for the playoffs.
June 11th – Yet another pitcher suffered an injury, this time Sanfrancisco lost Billy Moss for the season to a Torn Elbow flexor tendon.
June 12th – Seattle pitcher Dan Rogers may as well have played Denver on his own, he pitched a four hit shutout and provided all the offense he needed when he slugged a two-run homer in the sixth inning, a measure of how poor both teams batted on the day was the fact that they combined for only six hits between them.
June 23rd – having identified that their play from behind the plate was holding them back, Houston traded slugging 1B/OF Joey Buhler to Washington for catchers Mike Hinrichs and Antonio Castellanos hoping that at least one of them could provide the solid play they were looking for.
July 5th – within hours of being named an All-Star, Seattle pitcher Dan Rogers found himself on the move, the Pioneers who were going nowhere fast on the season, packed Rogers along with $2.8M off to sunny San Diego for prospects SP Ken Kramer and LF Ramon Madrid.
July 15th – Sanfrancisco CF Salvador Colon tied the NABL single game record with four stolen bases against Oklahoma City. On the same Day Chicago’s Matt Henderson collected six hits versus New York, going 6-6 with 4RBI’s helping his Zephyrs defeat the Senators 6-4.
July 19th – Atlanta’s Vince Little reached the 2500K career milestone with his fourth strikeout of the day against New Orleans.
July 25th – Atlanta moved to get some pitching help for Vince Little and Larry de Meza by trading LF Gary Ferguson and prospect SS Pedro Serrano to Kansas City for Pitcher Will Christopher.
July 27th – Las Vegas traded from a position of strength to beef up their offense, sending MR Anthony Wallace to Philadelphia to get 1B Arlan Bresnahan and an 8th round pick in the 2027 draft.
July 29th – Dallas CF Luis Anderson smashed six hits in a win against LV, he came agonizingly close to setting a new NABL record with 7 hits when his flyball deep into left field was caught at the wall by Chip Owers.
August 11th – Austin’s Carlos Vazquez reached the 1000 career runs scored milestone, scoring twice in a victory over Dallas.
August 18th – Catcher Jorge Maldonado led Detroit to a victory over New York when he smashed six hits, his line for the day 6-6, 2x 2B, HR, 3RBI, 3R.
August 22nd – New Orleans LF Daniel Garcia stole four bases in a win against Tampa Bay and Both Denver’s Luis Sanchez (vs PHO) and OKC’s rookie outfielder Bobby Schoeppell (vs MIN) hit for the cycle all on the same day.
August 24th – Las Vegas speedster Brian Quinborough collected four stolen bases helping the Gamblers beat San Diego 4-2.
August 25th – Boston CF Stu Joyce had his 26-game hitting streak ended when he went 0-3 in a loss against New Orleans.
September 9th – Cleveland 2B Jeff Johnson became the third player in less than a month to steal four bases in a game, accomplishing the feat against Detroit although ultimately it didn’t help his team who lost the game 8-4.
September 18th – Boston’s star LF Lucio Martinez single handedly carried the Pilgrims to victory over Miami (5-5, 2 HR, 5 RBI’s) and in doing so secured the Atlantic division crown for Boston.
September 19th – Lucio Martinez was at it again collecting five more hits including a 3-run homer, as Boston dispatched Miami 6-2.
September 28th – Washington’s Gabriel Lopez became the third player during the season to hurl a NO-HITTER, going the distance against Atlanta.
October 2nd - Philadelphia’s veteran closer Edgar Arrojo announced his retirement from the game after two disappointing seasons. At the time of his retirement, he was second on the all-time saves list with 464 (only Min-Jae Choi with 470 was ahead of him)

[JayW UK]

2026 Playoffs

Divisional Round

In the east 104-win Boston would take on 86-win Chicago while wildcard entry New York would face off against Tampa Bay who had finally reached the playoffs after two close calls. Over in the west, 100-win San Diego were drawn against wildcard Phoenix, back in the playoffs after a twelve-year absence and Las Vegas with their dominant pitching would battle surprise playoff entry Kansas City.

Boston’s title defence got off to the worst possible start as Tony Quintero served up a two-run homer in the first inning to Chicago 1B Matt Henderson, by the time Quintero was chased from the game in the fourth Boston were seven runs down. Chicago starter Justin Babbitt by contrast was almost unhittable through seven innings, surrendering just a pair of singles up to that point. Finally, back-to-back doubles by Stu Joyce and Jared Guest got the Pilgrims on the board but the Chicago Bullpen closed the door giving the Zephyrs a dominating 8-1 win. Game 2 was the total opposite as this time Boston’s powerful offense turned up to play, Chicago starter Ramon Perez was the unfortunate victim as he surrendered three homeruns and eight runs before he was mercifully pulled from the game in the fourth inning. Boston kept up the pressure on the Zephyr’s bullpen cruising to a thoroughly dominant 11-0 thrashing with starter Daniel Zanetti going the distance to claim his first career shutout. Jose Cuesta took the mound for Chicago against Boston’s Clifford West in game three, and both pitchers proceeded to shut the opposition down, through the first five innings the pair combined for just two hits and three walks while striking out 14 batters. West cracked first surrendering three straight singles in the sixth to plate a run before Chicago 3B Jose Munoz smashed a three-run homer to straight away centerfield giving the Zephyrs a four-run advantage. It took until the seventh inning for Boston to get on the scoreboard with a LF Stephen Thomas solo homerun, but they couldn’t find a way to add any further runs as Chicago took the 4-1 win. Facing Elimination, Boston handed the start to Shane Miller to keep them alive in the series, while Chicago countered with their ace Justin Babbitt. In an entertaining pitcher’s duel, it was Babbitt who blinked first, allowing the first run of the game in the fifth inning. Chicago tied the score in the bottom of the sixth when Matt Henderson launched his second homerun of the series and took a 2-1 lead in the eighth. This time Chicago closer Andrew Jones couldn’t get the job done as he walked the first batter he saw before surrendering a two out 2-run homer to veteran catcher Alaeddin Cobanoglu giving the Pilgrims a 3-2 lead. Boston closer Jerry Martin did get the job done but not without a wobble as he put two men on before finally getting SS Kevin Nelson to ground out. The deciding game five saw starters Tony Quintero (BOS) and Ramon Perez (CHI) face off against each other, neither player had pitched well in their previous starts with Quintero giving up seven runs in less than four innings while Chicago’s Ramon Perez was responsible for eight runs in three plus innings. This time the pair pitched much better with only four runs in total being scored against them through the first five innings. With the game tied at two in the top of the sixth Chicago LF Scott Winters drew a walk off Quintero then, on an attempted steal of second, Winters was called safe on a marginal call, the ensuing argument resulted in Boston Manager Gary Hatcher being tossed by the umpire. This turn of events seemed to disrupt Quintero’s concentration as he proceeded to walk RF Juan Fuentes and then served up a three-run homer to 3B Jose Munoz giving Chicago a 5-2 lead. A Jared Guest solo bomb cut the Zephyrs lead to 5-3 in the seventh but Chicago’s bullpen proved to be too much for Boston as, try as they might, they couldn’t find a way to score, leaving runners on base in both the eighth and ninth innings. Chicago’s 5-3 victory saw them advance to the EL pennant series for the second time in three years (Boston were the team they beat to advance the last time as well) while Boston’s once promising season ended in disappointment.

Tampa Bay entered the playoffs on the back of a six-game winning streak, they duly extended it to seven on the back of a strong pitching performance from Anastasio Perez (7.2 IP, 2 ER, 10K) and a 2 HR, 5RBI game from Juan Santos. Game two started well for Tampa Bay, building a four-run lead off NY starter David Gonzalez before the Senators had even collected a hit. The momentum swung in New York’s favour as a pair of homeruns and a C Max Johnson two-run triple tied the score before a sacrifice fly from P David Gonzalez gave the Senators a 5-4 lead. New York added an insurance run in the eighth before former starter-turned-closer Carlos Correa shut the door on the Hurricanes to preserve the 6-4 win. Harry Barnes took the mound in game three for Tampa Bay and proceeded to pitch well, keeping the New York hitters off balance through six innings, the bullpen then took over the scoreless game and immediately the wheels fell off. Relievers Matt Becker and William Clark allowed four runs over the next two innings, New York’s bullpen by contrast didn’t allow a single baserunner in closing out the comfortable 4-0 win. Game four saw Hunter Thomas on the mound for Tampa Bay, while the Senators sent up former pitcher of the year Loren Neal. New York didn’t let Thomas settle and built a five-run lead, Loren Neal on the other hand was masterful, mixing his pitches well and keeping the powerful Hurricane hitters in check until the eighth when the ageless Gabriel Mendez got to him, launching a solo bomb to break up the shutout bid. But that was as good as it got for Tampa Bay as Matt McKeochan and Juan Pacheco closed out the game without any drama to send New York to the EL Pennant series.

San Diego entered the playoffs on an indifferent run (winners of only 5 of their final 12 games) and although their opponents Phoenix had only been marginally better, in game one it was the Eagles who struck first putting three runs on the board early before San Diego answered with a pair of solo homeruns to cut the Eagles lead to one. With Phoenix protecting a one run lead entering the ninth manager John Martin turned to veteran reliever Min-Jae Choi (who had won the World Series with Detroit back in 2015) to close the door, and in true closer fashion that is exactly what he did, retiring the three batters he faced with minimum fuss to preserve Phoenix’s 3-2 win. In game 2 it was San Diego’s turn to score first, putting four runs on the board before the Eagles had a chance to bat, but the Mariners couldn’t build on their early momentum and Phoenix worked their way back into the game eventually taking a 5-4 lead in the top of the ninth. Once again Phoenix turned to Min-Jae Choi to close out the game, and once again he was up to the task sending Phoenix into game three with a 2-0 series lead. San Diego’s season was in danger of petering out in disappointing fashion and needing to sweep the rest of the series they were immediately put into hole to start game three by Pedro Escobar who staked Phoenix to a five-run lead before the end of the third inning. Eagles starter Arturo Rodriguez did not let the Mariners get a foothold in the game and pitched flawlessly into the seventh inning before handing over to the bullpen, with the game all but over, San Diego finally scored a run off reliever Emmett Grimes but George Webb and Rich Townsley combined to finish off the Mariners and send Phoenix to the WL Pennant series for the first time in their history. San Diego after the crushing defeat were left to lick their wounds and wonder just how such a promising season had ended with them being swept out of the playoffs at the first hurdle.

The hottest team in baseball, Kansas City, ran into the hottest pitcher in the form of Las Vegas star Dave Cahill. The Gamblers ace continued his hot streak allowing a single run on four hits while striking out twelve through 8 innings of work. He was ably backed by his offense, especially CF Brian Quinborough, whose big day (2 HR, 5 RBI) helped the Gamblers to an 8-1 victory. Game 2 starter Max Castle was just as sharp, surrendering a single run over seven innings while striking out 10 while Kansas City got a good start from Mark Fort (6IP, 2ER, 8K), but the KC pen couldn’t keep a lid on the Gamblers offense, allowing four runs over the final two frames to give the final 6-2 scoreline a flattering look. Nineteen game winner Jose Roa was on the mound for KC in game 3, while Las Vegas countered with the hard throwing but inconsistent Will Spencer. The Gamblers starter was predictably wild throwing 105 pitches through just five innings, too many of those pitches were off the plate as he issued seven walks but those that were over the plate were hard to hit. Spencer collected eight K’s and surrendered only two hits, but one of them was a 2-run homer to Michael Jennings. Staked a two-run lead by Jennings’ homerun Roa pitched well until the sixth when he surrendered a solo shot to Las Vegas rookie catcher Chris Coates before putting two more Gamblers on base. Romao Aertrijcke came into the game to get out of the jam, but next inning it was his turn to give up a homerun when LF Dave Baker took him deep to tie the game. The Gamblers completed the comeback in the eighth inning when 2B Earl Malone scored on Brian Quinborough’s double before closer Davis Robinson blew through the KC lineup in the ninth, closing the door on Kansas City’s season and sending the Gamblers on to the WL Pennant series.

[JayW UK]

2026 Playoffs

Championship Round

The EL Championship series was between Chicago and wildcard entry New York with the Zephyrs looking to avenge their playoff loss to the Senators the previous year. Game 1 was a tight affair with neither team giving an inch until the bottom of the ninth when with one out and one man on base, Chicago 3B Jose Munoz slammed a walk-off two-run homer to left field to give the Zephyrs a thrilling 4-2 victory. Where game 1 had been closely fought, game 2 proved to be the opposite, the Senators jumped on Chicago starter Jorge Carrasco blasting their way to an early six-run lead while New York starter David Gonzalez didn’t allow a run until the seventh and kept a lid on Chicago’s offense to tie the series at one game each. Game three back in New York was over as a contest by the end of the first inning, the Senators batters took a liking to Chicago starter Justin Babbitt, plating six runs on five hits and two walks with C Max Johnson hitting a grand slam, every member of their line-up came up to bat before the carnage was over. New York added two more in the third ending Babbitt’s day with him having conceded more runs (8) than he retired batters (7), New York cruised to a crushing 10-0 victory with Adam Reid, Matt McKeochan and Curt Rice combining for the shutout. Chicago actually out hit New York (12 to 10) but were their own worst enemies hitting into five double plays on the day. Game four saw Chicago take a first inning lead before New York tied the game in the third and went ahead in the fourth, a 1B Ben Cox homerun in the fifth extended the lead further. New York starter Loren Neal went seven before handing the game over to the pen, Chicago 1B Matt Henderson finally collected his first RBI the series in the eighth where his solo homerun cut the lead to one before New York called on Carlos Correa for a four out save leaving the Senators on the verge of the World Series. Game five saw Orlando Vicenteno (NY) and Jose Cuesta (CHI) both pitch seven strong innings, their final lines were very similar, both surrendering 2 runs on five hits with Cuesta having the edge on strikeouts 8 to 7. New York immediately took the lead in the eighth only for Chicago to tie the game in the top of the ninth against closer Carlos Correa. Chicago finally got a big hit from 1B Matt Henderson in the 10th when he slammed the go-ahead homer before closer Andrew Jones made short work of the Senators to keep the Zephyrs alive and send the series back to Chicago. Game six saw Chicago build a 4-0 lead behind the pitching of Jorge Carrrasco, once he left the game with a blister in the seventh inning things began to change. The New York hitters having struggled to come to terms with Carrasco took the game to the Zephyrs pen, scoring twice in the eighth to halve the deficit, then taking the lead in the ninth when veteran catcher Jack Epps launched a three-run homer off closer Andrew Jones which instantly quietened the stadium. Carlos Correa made tough work of the save putting two men on base before enticing Scott Winters to hit into a game ending double play punching the Senators ticket to the World Series.

The WL Pennant Series featured two teams that had never been this far before, Las Vegas and Phoenix. The Gamblers had struggled against Phoenix during the regular season losing 13 of the 20 games they had played, but regular season form counts for nothing come playoff time as Phoenix proved when they beat San Diego. Games one and two in Las Vegas went the way of the home team with starters Dave Cahill and Max Castle combining for 5 hits and just 3 runs with 17K’s in two lopsided wins. Will Spencer took the mound in game three for the Gamblers and his wildness was once again on show, scattering five walks and nine hits over just five innings before getting the hook. While Las Vegas were in a 5-1 hole courtesy of Spencer, Phoenix starter Manny Garza was in control, he went seven strong innings before handing over to the bullpen. Las Vegas found the change to their liking plating three runs and forcing the Eagles to use three relievers in the inning. In the bottom of the eighth Phoenix LF Wes Lauderdale slammed a solo homerun off Rolando Cerny to extend the lead to three before veteran closer Min-Jae Choi made short work of Las Vegas to close out the 6-3 win. Game four saw Kunihuko Suzuki on the mound for Phoenix while Stevie Lopez drew the assignment for the Gamblers. In a game remarkably similar to the opening games of the series Las Vegas dominated, opening an 8-2 lead before a late 3B David Leach 2-run homer gave the final 8-4 score some respectability. Dave Cahill was back on the mound for the Gamblers in game five and while he pitched very well through seven innings, this time, so too did his Phoenix counterpart Raul Martinez. Both teams turned to their bullpens in the eighth, the Gamblers struck first to break the 2-2 tie when 1B Santiago Ybarra slugged a solo bomb off the pitching of David Rios before Phoenix answered in the home half to once again knot the score. Rios took the mound again in the ninth for the Eagles and immediately dug himself a hole allowing both PH Van Hanna and 2B Earl Malone to reach base. Catcher Chris Coates advanced the runners when he ground out and when Arlan Bresnahan (hitting for pitcher Leland Watson) popped out to third, it appeared Rios may get out of the jam. It was not to be, as Brian Quinborough smashed the first pitch he saw down the left field line to clear the bases and give the Gamblers a late 5-3 lead. Closer Davis Robinson got the call for the ninth, looking to finish the game and just eight pitches later, the game and series were over, and Las Vegas were off to their first World Series.

[JayW UK]

2026 Playoffs

World Series

The 2026 World Series saw two first time protagonists, Las Vegas and New York, go head-to-head. Game one saw Las Vegas cruise into an early four run lead sparked by a Bob Peylon 3-run homer in the second, only for New York to come roaring back to take a 5-4 lead by the sixth chasing starter Dave Cahill from the game. With the home fans becoming restless the New York bullpen imploded in the eighth, allowing Las Vegas to score five runs, including homeruns from Brian Quinborough and Chris Coates, to blow the game wide open. Rolando Cerny and Leland Watson combined to close out the ninth inning and give the Gamblers a 9-5 win and the series lead. Game two was a much tighter affair with neither team able to get much offense going through the first three innings, things took a turn for the worse for Las Vegas in top of the fourth when starter Max Castle left the game with shoulder pain. New York took full advantage of his replacement, Shannon Hendricks, scoring four runs over the next two innings to take a commanding lead. Senator starter Orlando Vicenteno kept a lid on the Gamblers until the eighth inning when he surrendered three consecutive hits allowing the Gamblers to halve the lead, New York went to the pen to stop the Gamblers charge and Pablo Arellano obliged, getting out of the inning without further damage. Carlos Correa came out for the Senators in the bottom of the ninth protecting a 4-2 lead and proceeded to easily retire the three Las Vegas batters he saw, sending the series back to New York tied at one. With the news that Max Castle’s injury was not as serious as first thought buoying the Gamblers spirits, Will Spencer took the mound for them in game three, Spencer was not as wild as he had been in previous games as in six frames of work he gave up two runs on four hits while surrendering only three walks, his nine strikeouts were aided in large part by the New York hitters swinging at, and mostly missing, everything (even pitches that were never going to trouble the plate). Both teams took turns to score before New York grabbed a late lead on a 3B Ken King solo homerun in the bottom of the eighth. Carlos Correa entered the game for New York in the ninth and blew the save when Chip Owers scored on a Brian Quinborough single tying the score before the Gamblers turned to Leland Watson to try to get the game to extra innings, he allowed one Senator to reach base but stranded him there when he struck out 1B Ben Cox. Neither team scored in the 10th but Las Vegas plated the go-ahead run in the 11th when a sacrifice fly from Arlan Bresnahan brought home Earl Monroe. The Gamblers turned the game over to Davis Robinson who worked around a walk to close out the 5-4 win, breaking New York hearts. The tough luck loss in game three (New York had led 3-2 and 4-3 but couldn’t get the job done) seemed to knock the stuffing out of them in game four, Gamblers starter Stevie Lopez cruised through his seven innings, handing over a 5-1 lead to the pen who kept a lid on New York in a comfortable 6-1 win. New York were out hit 14-3 in the game all of their three hits were of the extra base variety, two doubles and a CF Wayne Manning homerun. Game five would be the Senators last home game no matter what happened (games 6 & 7 would be in Las Vegas) and it started well with a Juan Nunez homerun in the first and a Max Johnson two-run shot in the fourth giving them a three-run cushion. Senators starter Adam Reid (a former Las Vegas player) ran into trouble in the fifth when C Chris Coates launched a two-run homer to cut the advantage to one, the lead was gone in the sixth and Reid left the game in the next inning with two out after loading the bases, Pablo Arellano managed to get out of the jam but couldn’t stop 3B Bob Peylon from clubbing a solo homerun in the next inning to give the Gamblers the lead. New York couldn’t dent the Gamblers bullpen and Las Vegas added another insurance run in the top of the ninth before the Senators were sat down in order, the final out seeing PH Antonio Romero flail helplessly at a Davis Robinson fastball that clocked 102mph on the radar gun. The Gamblers dropped only two games during the run to their first World Series win, joining Sanfrancisco (2017) as the only teams to accomplish the feat. Strangely enough both the 2017 Sanfrancisco team and the current Gamblers team were managed by Pat Bennett.

2026 Playoff Recap

Divisional Series
EL: Chicago 3-2 Boston, New York 3-1 Tampa Bay
WL: Las Vegas 3-0 Kansas City, Phoenix 3-0 San Diego
Championship Series
EL: New York 4-2 Chicago
WL: Las Vegas 4-1 Phoenix
World Series
Las Vegas 4-1 New York

[JayW UK]

2026 Season Leaders and Awards

EL Batting
Hits
204 Lance Rainey (CHI)
201 Daniel Garcia (NO)
187 Jose Munoz (CHI)
Batting Avg
.365 Lucio Martinez (BOS)
.345 Lance Rainey (CHI)
.341 Matt Henderson (CHI)
Homeruns
37 Jorge Sanchez (TB)
36 Juan Santos (TB)
35 Stephen Thomas (BOS)
RBI
120 Jose Munoz (CHI)
111 Stephen Thomas (BOS)
107 Lucio Martinez (BOS)
Stolen Bases
42 Daniel Garcia (NO)
36 David Chavez (PHI)
28 Wayne Manning (NY)

EL Pitching
Wins
19 Daniel Zanetti (BOS)
18 Guillermo Medina (TB)
16 Tony Quintero (BOS)
ERA
2.74 Stan Fleming (PHI)
2.74 Mark Hayes (PHI)
2.94 Eric Parker (IND)
Strikeouts
308 Larry de Meza (ATL)
222 Jerry Wood (IND)
215 Eric Parker (IND)
Saves
39 Jerry Martin (BOS)
38 Carlos Correa (NY)
36 Greg Gray (DET)

WL Batting
Hits
210 Dixon Bodean (DEN)
201 Dustin Polk (PHO)
190 Jesus Garza (PHO)
Batting Avg
.330 Jesus Garza (PHO)
.329 Dixon Bodean (DEN)
.306 Dustin Polk (PHO)
Homeruns
44 Dixon Bodean (DEN)
40 Jamie Boden (DEN)
35 Luis Macias (KC)
RBI
122 Dixon Bodean (DEN)
105 Jamie Boden (DEN)
97 Jesus Velasquez (SEA)
Stolen Bases
42 Gonzalo Jiminez (SF)
39 Salvador Colon (SF)
35 Dustin Polk (PHO)

WL Pitching
Wins
21 Dave Dahill (LV)
19 Jose Roa (KC)
18 Mark Sears (HOU)
ERA
1.81 Dave Cahill (LV)
2.20 David Cook (HOU)
2.58 Mike Fulton (SD)
Strikeouts
284 Matt Powell (SEA)
260 Mark Fort (KC)
236 Mark Birstall (HOU)
Saves
44 Min-Jae Choi (PHO)
43 Richard Bridgewater (HOU)
38 Chuck Patrick (SEA)

Batting Champion – Boston’s Lucio Martinez (.365) held off challenges from Chicago pair Lance Rainey (.345) and Matt Henderson (.341) to win the batting title in the east for the second straight year. In the west Phoenix SS Jesus Garza (.330) held off Denver’s Dixon Bodean (.329) by the slimmest of margins to take the award.
Homerun Champion – in the east Tampa Bay new boy Jorge Sanchez (37 HR) edged teammate Juan Santos (36 HR) and Boston LF Stephen Thomas (35 HR) to win his first homerun title. Dixon Bodean (DEN) hit 44 Homers to take his fourth straight title while teammate Jamie Boden (40 HR) finished as runner-up.
Outstanding Hitter – Boston star Lucio Martinez (.365, 28 HR, 107 RBI) took the award in the east ahead of New Orleans star Daniel Garcia (.322, 22 HR, 87 RBI + 42 SB) while in the west, Denver superstar Dixon Bodean (.329, 44 HR, 122 RBI) collected his sixth straight award, he was denied a fourth triple crown by the slimmest of margins when Jesus Garza took the batting title by one percentage point.
Outstanding Pitcher – In a tight race Tampa Bay’s Guillermo Medina (18-8, 3.23 ERA) held off the likes of Larry de Meza, Eric Parker and Vince Little (all previous winners) to take the award in the east. Las Vegas star Dave Cahill (21-9, 1.81 ERA) waltzed to the award in the west.
Rookie of the Year – New York’s newest outfielder Ho-Hun Park (.287, 17 HR, 86 RBI) took the EL award while in the west, Las Vegas Catcher Chris Coates (.254, 20 HR, 79 RBI) went home with the WL award.
Manager of the Year – Boston’s 104-win regular season saw Gary Hatcher collect his second straight award in the east, while over in the west Pat Bennett (LV) also collected his second award, his first coming in 2017 as SF manager.
Glove Wizard Awards EL – P Pedro Diaz (WAS) – C Damon Massingham (NO) – 1B Fernando Flores (NO) – 2B Bill Taylor (BOS) – 3B Wayne Martin (CLE) – SS Kevin Nelson (CHI) – LF Chandler Harrington (CLE) – CF Travis Olsen (PHI) – RF Hun-Ho Park (NY)
Glove Wizard Awards WL – P Ron Henderson (DAL) – C Ron Evans (SJ) – 1B Jamie Boden (DEN) – 2B Earl Malone (LV) – 3B Arnold Davis (HOU) – SS Eduardo Ruiz (LV) – LF Chip Owers (LV) – CF Jorge Alvarez (HOU) – RF Dave Baker (LV)

Interesting Facts – Atlanta hurler Larry de Meza struck out 308 opponents becoming the first player to reach 300+ strikeouts in multiple seasons (he recorded 329K in 2025) Boston had three players who reached 100+ RBI’s on the season, Stephen Thomas 111, Lucio Martinez 107 and Jared Guest 105. Detroit’s 40-year-old pitcher Alfonso Vargas looked as though he had reached the end of the road in his career, finishing what many believed to be his final campaign, 5-10, 6.79 ERA with one save in 70-games.

[JayW UK]

2027 Off-Season

December 1st 2026 was a monumental day in the history of the NABL, it was the day that two new franchises arrived in the Eastern League, the St. Louis Reds would join the Central Division while the Charlotte Express would call the Southeast Division home. St. Louis named Daniel Donnelly as their first manager, enticing him to leave his successful College career to lead the fledgling franchise while Charlotte in somewhat of a coup hired 2024 Manager of the Year Hector Guerra away from Chicago to be their inaugural manager. Both teams participated in the first expansion draft in NABL history getting to pick over all of the existing teams 40-man rosters once they had “protected” their top 20 players. The Reds got the festivities going with the first pick taking Chicago pitcher Robin Bishop while the Express took Houston pitcher Pedro Sanchez with their first selection. St. Louis raided Dallas for Shortstop John Gentry and veteran pitcher Ron Henderson they also swiped 3B David Ballard and pitcher William Lane from Boston while New Orleans provided them with pitcher Imre Ingvaldsen. Catcher Luis Agguire came over from Houston and another pitcher, Matt Healy arrived from world Champions Las Vegas. While the Reds concentrated on pitching early, the Express went in the other direction calling the names of C Antonio Vera (NY) 1B Russell Brown (LV) 2B Javier Saldana (AUS) SS Orlando Maros (MIN) Outfielders Kevin Perkins (DAL), Freddie Holden (DEN) and John Barnett (SF) before collecting a pair of savvy veteran pitchers Duane Barker (PHI) and Adam Reid (NY). Both teams would have Free Agency and the draft to continue to build their initial rosters, as for who “won” the expansion draft, that question was still open to debate with both teams picking up some intriguing players, the Reds landing World Series veterans David Ballard and William Lane from Boston and Ron Henderson (a veteran of four, appearing twice each for Atlanta and Denver) while the Express boasted 2024 WL Rookie of the Year Kevin Perkins from Dallas and one of the world champion Gamblers top prospects in 1B Russell Brown.
While league expansion was dominating the headlines Denver quietly announced that Tom Heitman was once again to be their manager, he had finished 2026 as interim skipper after the controversial departure of Yoshizaku Tanaka. San Jose also stayed with their manager to the surprise of many, Al Ewing had appeared out of his depth at times during 2026 and with the Spartans slumping to only 57 wins on the season it was widely expected he would be gone, but GM Brian Halliday chose to be patient and persevere with Ewing. San Diego found themselves needing to replace outgoing manager Leonard Miller after his sudden announcement that he was leaving the NABL to move into the college ranks taking over at Stanford, the Mariner’s decided to promote from within naming Bench Coach Roberto Rodriguez as their new manager. With Hector Guerra leaving town to manage the Express, Chicago turned to former Seattle and New Orleans manager Luis Martinez rewarding him with a five-year deal. Julio Tovar left Houston to take up the reins at Kansas City and for his replacement the Stars elected to raid the Sanfrancisco coaching tree, luring Hitting Coach Gustavo Martinez on board. Indianapolis chose to scour the college ranks for their next skipper, eventually settling on Ron Edwards hoping he could arrest their recent slide and deliver playoff baseball once more.
Free agency started with a bang when Tampa Bay lured former Cleveland pitcher Claudio Gonzalez to town on a 7 year $129M deal, then days later enticed two-time pitcher of the year Larry de Meza to leave Atlanta for Florida on a six year $146M deal. The Flames also lost pitcher Will Christopher, who opted out of the last year of his deal to join Indianapolis on a 6 year $105M deal, Indianapolis chose to pursue Christopher after the departure of their own ace pitcher Eric Parker (who jumped at the chance to join Pedro Garcia’s project in Cleveland signing for $112M over the next five years) and mid-rotation stalwart, Robinson Castro who left town to sign with Boston for $56M over three years. The Racers had not finished dealing though, doubling down on pitching by luring former Dallas pitcher Earl Stone to town for 4 years at $16M per year and then enticing NABL legend and three-time Outstanding Hitter Gabriel Mendez away from Tampa Bay for two years at a cool $50M. Shortstop Kevin Jones went the other way leaving the Racers for Florida to join the Hurricanes on a 2 year $38.8M deal. While Jones arrived in Tampa two more players were on their way out, Pitcher Hunter Thomas packed his bags and joined Minneapolis for 2 years and Outfielder Marshall Ayersome (one of the league’s best at drawing walks) joined Oklahoma City for $90M over 4 years. Shortstop Alejandro Pichardo’s decision to back himself by accepting a one year prove it deal from Minneapolis worked in his favour when he turned his solid, injury free season into a two year $36M deal with Los Angeles while RF Claude Cummins also left Minneapolis for pastures new, signing a one year $7M deal with Cleveland. Centerfielder Wes Lauderdale left Phoenix to become the face of expansion franchise Charlotte Express when he accepted their 3-year $64M offer. World Champions Las Vegas lost a couple of key performers, star shortstop Eduardo Ruiz turned down all of the Gamblers contract offers and instead chose to join Phoenix for $73M over the next four years while, after an injury hit season, veteran Pitcher Anthony Barrett was allowed to test free agency, eventually settling on a two year $24M offer from Detroit, the Giants also announced that veteran reliever Alfonso Vargas (now 41) had turned his back on retirement and would be returning to the team for another season.
The 2027 draft was a little light on star talent, the only players receiving top billing were college pitchers Brandon Stanton from Florida State, Seton Hall’s Greg Bailey and while Coppin State’s Harvey Widdowes was expected to be drafted in the first round his future likely lay as an elite closer. None of the top college position players, 3B Matt Romero (UAB) and outfielders Willie Ingle (Rice) and Danny Wheeler (Wisconsin-Milwaukee) or Highschool SS Travis Rutherford were expected to be in the mix for the first overall pick.
On draft night St. Louis raised eyebrows when with the first overall pick they passed over both top pitchers to take speedster Willie Ingle, Charlotte tabbed pitcher Greg Bailey with their pick while San Jose wasted little time calling the name of pitcher Brandon Stanton when their turn came. Travis Rutherford was the first High School player picked when Miami took him fourth, Indianapolis nabbed 3B Matt Romero with the sixth pick while San Diego drafted their probable closer of the future 17th when they took Harvey Widdowes. In a surprising turn of events Outfielder Danny Wheeler slipped out of the first round and into the supplemental round where world champions Las Vegas ended his fall.
After their 104-win season there was no reason Boston couldn’t repeat as Atlantic division winners although both New York and Philadelphia would be waiting in the wings for any Boston slip up. With new managers in Chicago and Indianapolis and a resurgent Cleveland in the mix the Central division was wide open, while the Southeast was once again expected to be fought over by New Orleans and Tampa Bay.
In the west, Kansas City were looking to build on their successful 2026 and win the Midwest division once again, while in the Pacific, San Diego looked strong with Los Angeles aiming to close the gap with them and compete for the playoffs after a two-year absence. After losing key players to free agency and with both Houston and Phoenix breathing down their necks, the world champion Las Vegas Gamblers would have their work cut out for them if they were to repeat as champions.

[JayW UK]

2027 Regular Season

Eastern League Review

The Atlantic division saw a race that went to the wire between Washington, who came out of nowhere to finish the season tied with Philadelphia on identical 84-78 records, it was Washington’s first winning season since 2022 when they made the playoffs as the wildcard team winning 90-games. Neither team possessed explosive offenses, although RF Joey Buhler (27 HR, 70 RBI for Washington) and 2B Gregg Hopper (30 HR, 104 RBI for Philadelphia) provided some pop, both however relied on strong pitching and competent defense to win games. New York slipped back to 81-81 to miss out on the playoffs while the biggest surprise came from Boston, who fell all the way from 104 wins to just 75 to finish bottom of the division. The Pilgrims, despite boasting the EL’s third best offense, led by star CF Lucio Martinez (.347, 28 HR, 103 RBI in just 102 games) struggled defensively, conceding the most runs in the NABL (815) and blowing saves (26) like they were going out of business to leave the front office with work to do in the off-season.
The Central division also saw a team rise from the dead, under new skipper Ron Edwards Indianapolis were even more impressive than Washington, boasting an explosive offense led by the power bats of 1B Nelson Vasquez (42 HR, 100 RBI) and C Richard Watson (32 HR, 96 RBI) along with the EL’s #1 pitching staff featuring Angel Castro (12-4, 2.96 ERA) and Broderick Brady (16-5, 3.01 ERA), the Racers rose from just 68 wins in 2026 to take the division with a 99-63 record. Pedro Garcia’s Cleveland were hot on the Racers heels, riding the power hitting of SS Richie Rambeaux (28 HR), RF Pedro Arevalo (26 HR) and LF Claude Cummins (24 HR) and the arms of Eric Parker (19-5, 2.29 ERA) and Nick Grant (15-5, 2.83 ERA) to a 96-66 finish, their best record since 2021. Under the guidance of new manager Luis Martinez, with 1B Matt Henderson (.371, 29 HR, 94 RBI) and LF Scott Winters (.298, 34 HR, 108 RBI) providing the offensive fireworks and pitcher Jorge Carrasco (19-6, 3.08 ERA) heading a strong pitching staff, Chicago finished third with a franchise best 94-68 record but still missed the playoffs. Detroit also had a winning record (88-74) their first since 2018 and appeared to be turning the corner for manager Keith Bennett while new kids on the block, St. Louis found their inaugural season tough going, scoring a NABL low 507 runs on the season and hitting just 93 homeruns to finish 60-102.
The Southeast division had no team post a winning record but still saw an exciting race for the crown. Tampa Bay with the highest EL payroll ($181M) and Miami with the lowest ($57M) finished tied atop the standings with identical 80-82 records. Both teams were built similarly to each other with upper echelon offenses, the Hurricanes featuring slugging 1B Juan Santos (.286, 32 HR, 103 RBI) and the Everglades with SS Jorge Rivera (.267, 31 HR, 94 RBI) coupled to inconsistent pitching staffs featuring legitimate aces, Larry de Meza (16-9, 3.58 ERA) in Tampa and Octavio Cortal (17-7, 3.03) in Miami. New boys Charlotte, led by 1B Russell Brown (.293, 21 HR, 84 RBI) capped off a successful first season finishing third with a 76-86 record while Atlanta, having lost key players in the off-season and New Orleans, both struggled falling away to finish 69-93 and 68-94 respectively.
For the first time in NABL history there were two playoff play-in games to decide the Atlantic and Southeast division titles. Washington faced off against Philadelphia and used a strong pitching performance from Ned Scott to eke out a 3-1 victory and take the Atlantic division crown while Tampa Bay, despite struggling defensively as they had all season, won a slugfest against Miami to take the Southeast title.

Final Standings

Atlantic Division
Washington 85-78 * (+)
Philadelphia 84-79 (+)
New York 81-81
Boston 75-87

Central Division
Indianapolis 99-63 *
Cleveland 96-66 *
Chicago 94-68
Detroit 88-74
St. Louis 60-102

Southeast Division
Tampa Bay 81-82 * (++)
Miami 80-83 (++)
Charlotte 76-86
Atlanta 69-93
New Orleans 68-94

Play-In Games
+ Washington defeats Philadelphia to win Atlantic Division
++ Tampa Bay defeats Miami to win Southeast Division

[JayW UK]

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

[JayW UK]

2027 Season Notes

Spring Training – Las Vegas pitcher Stevie Lopez suffered a fractured ankle ruling him out until late July at the earliest.
April 6th - Washington’s Steve Logan was masterful against Indianapolis pitching a NO-HITTER, allowing a single walk and striking out 9 in a 6-0 win.
April 9th - Alejandro Pichardo joined the 1000 runs scored club, scoring twice in new club LA’s 7-4 win over San Jose.
April 10th - Tampa Bay’s Larry de Meza dominated Philadelphia striking out 16 while allowing only a single walk and five hits in a 10-2 TB win.
April 16th - Washington LF Tatsui Aoyama smashed two triples against New York, going 3-4 with 2 triples, 2 RBI’s and four runs scored helping the Generals to a 7-3 victory.
April 24th - Boston catcher Alaeddin Cobanoglu mashed his 300th career homerun helping Boston defeat Charlotte.
April 27th - Cleveland pitcher Keith Robison became the newest member of the 2000K club.
May 5th - Austin closer Marcos Diaz became the fifth player to reach 400 career saves.
May10th – Houston ace Marc Birstall suffered a sprained knee ruling him out until mid-June.
May 19th – Denver 1B Jamie Boden broke a 5-5 tenth inning tie when he blasted a walk-off Grand-Slam, it was Boden’s second walk-off slam of his career.
May 22nd - Cleveland slugger Claude Cummings became only the fifth player to reach the 1000 career RBI milestone.
May 28th - Jorge Rivera helped Miami overcome Cleveland when he smashed six hits (6-6, 2HR, 5RBI) helping the Everglades to a 10-7 victory.
May 31st - Las Vegas’ young star in the making Holden Willis became the second player on the season to throw a NO-HITTER, surrendering a pair of walks and striking out 13 on the way to an 8-0 thumping of LA.
June 3rd - Boston’s pitching rotation took a hit when Clifford West tore his Labrum ending his season, the Pilgrims eventually won the game on a SS Joseph Davis walk off Grand-Slam in the 13th inning.
June 6th - San Jose’s Jack Woodard became the third player on the season (and second in a week) to hurl a NO-HITTER, blanking Sanfrancisco.
June 8th - Cleveland moved to shore up their bullpen by acquiring closer Beau Bass from Denver for prospects SP Gerald Helton and utility player George Turner.
June 15th - with Joey Buhler eating into his playing time Washington 1B Jason Wilson asked for and was given his wish, a trade out of town. Sent to Atlanta for prospects MR Jason Christenson and C Pedro Cruz.
June 16th – St Louis lost veteran starter Ron Henderson to a shoulder injury, ending his season and likely his time in Missouri.
June 23rd - with his 10th strikeout of the day Cleveland’s Earl Stone become the newest member of the 2000K club.
June 24th - NABL legend Juan Santos was the first player in the league history to hit 500 career homeruns, he achieved his milestone in the first inning of Tampa Bay’s matchup with Atlanta.
June 28th - Another Boston pitcher, this time Robinson Castro succumbed to injury he would spend the next four weeks on the DL with a back strain.
July 5th - Indianapolis rookie 3B Matt Romero had his 20-game hitting streak ended when Chicago held him off the basepaths (his major league career had so far lasted 23 games !!)
July 6th - Dallas pitcher Edward Williams, enjoying a career year (13-1, 2.36 ERA in 17 games) and firmly in the conversation for the WL Outstanding Pitcher award, suffered torn flexor elbow tendon ending his season and shelving him for at least a year.
July 7th - Indianapolis starter Earl Stone struck out 16 in an 8-5 Racers win over Tampa Bay.
July 22nd – Atlanta’s Homer White hit for a natural cycle against New York, his final hit was a game tying solo homerun in the eighth, Atlanta went on to lose in the 10th inning.
July 24th - Sanfrancisco hurler Barney Howell joined the 2000K club just hours after Tampa Bay ace Larry de Meza did the same.
July 26th - St. Louis sent disgruntled pitcher Robin Bishop to Miami for 1B Fred James and pitching prospect Jim Schultz.
July 27th - Boston moved to beef up their pitching after the loss of Clifford West by acquiring Cleveland starter Vicente Garza, sending 1B prospect Ramon Jiminez and OF Stu Joyce to Ohio in return.
July 29th - with his team sitting at 37-65 and in the midst of a 3-12 run since the all-star break, San Jose GM Brian Halliday admitted his mistake and relieved Al Ewing of his duties appointing hitting coach Jose Peredes as his replacement.
July 31st - OKC’s Marshall Ayersome drew five walks in a game against Austin, it was the second time he had accomplished the feat in his career (ironically the first time was as a member of the Kings back in April 2019).
August 3rd - Mike Fulton, one of San Diego’s key rotation pieces suffered a torn tricep ruling him out for the season.
August 4th – against Miami, Washington pitcher Gabriel Lopez pitched his second career NO-HITTER and still managed to LOSE !! carrying a perfect game into the bottom of the ninth inning Lopez crumbled and while he managed to retire two batters, he walked four to hand the Everglades a 1-0 walk-off victory.
August 7th - New York pitcher Loren Neal’s season ended when he injured his shoulder shelving him until spring training at the earliest.
August 8th - Kansas City star Michael Jennings clubbed his 300th career homerun in style, belting a Grand-Slam in a 14-5 rout of Oklahoma City.
August 17th - Houston star Marc Birstall dominated Dallas, striking out 15 of the 20 batters he retired on his way to a 4-1 Houston victory.
August 24th - Las Vegas got some bad news when ace pitcher Dave Cahill pulled his hamstring making a play at first against Dallas, the injury would sideline him for at least four weeks meaning they would be without him for their late season playoff push.
August 27th - Las Vegas star Max Castle became the latest member of the 2000K club in a losing effort against Phoenix.
September 1st - Minneapolis OF Diego Rangel went 6-for-7 and collected the Bears only RBI in a 5-1 loss to OKC.
September 6th - Chicago 1B Matt Henderson collected three hits in four at bats (all of them home runs) in an 8-5 Chicago loss to New Orleans.
September 9th - when San Diego closer Clint Long surrendered a game tying homerun to Austin’s Gary Baker it was his first blown save in almost two years ending a run of 69 straight save conversions. His total put him joint second (tied with Edgar Arrojo) on the all-time NABL save streak list, three behind leader Stephen Davis. On the same day Tampa Bay star Juan Santos becomes the first player in NABL history to hit 1500 career RBI.
September 14th - New York catcher Max Johnson smashed two homeruns (a three-run shot and a Grand-Slam) on his way to collecting 8-RBI’s in a big New York win against Philadelphia.
September 16th - Denver closer Min-Jae Choi became the first player in NABL history to reach 500 career saves while on the same day Tampa Bay star Kevin Jones collected his 1000th RBI.
September 18th - Minneapolis starter Jason McCullough reached 2000 career strikeouts but his efforts couldn’t stop the Bears from falling to defeat against Kansas City.
September 24th - new boys Charlotte ran into Detroit pitcher Jermaine Diffin on one of his better days, although Diffin was a little wild (issuing six walks) he NO-HIT the Express on the way to a 5-0 win.
September 26th - Seattle star Matt Powell won his 16th game of the season striking out 15 Denver batters in a 7-4 Pioneers victory.

[JayW UK]

2027 Playoffs

Divisional Round

In the east, 99-game winners Indianapolis were the favourites in their matchup with Tampa Bay (the two teams had met in the 2021 playoffs with TB winning) while Washington were looking to take down wildcard entry Cleveland despite winning eleven games less on the season. Over in the west Kansas City would face San Diego while Houston had a matchup against wildcard team Seattle and with no team standing out amongst the four WL teams, the road to the World Series was wide open.

Indianapolis opened their series with Tampa Bay with a disappointing 6-3 defeat, starter Carlo Tagros taking the loss surrendering all six runs in just four innings of work. Tampa Bay Ace, Larry de Meza on the other hand worked seven flawless innings before the bullpen allowed three late runs to give the score some respectability. The Racers bounced back the following evening to tie the series, Gabriel Mendez smashed a three-run homer and starter Will Christopher went eight innings giving up just two runs in a comfortable 5-2 victory. First inning bombs from Gabriel Mendez and Nelson Vasquez gave the Racers an early 3-0 lead in game three, Tampa Bay’s offense on the other hand couldn’t solve starter Broderick Brady, mustering a mere two hits and one walk through the first seven innings. The Racers added an insurance run in the eighth before the Hurricanes scored in the bottom of the ninth on a Jorge Sanchez solo bomb to make the final score 4-1 Indianapolis. Game four saw a pitching duel between the Racers Earl Stone and Tampa Bay’s ace Larry de Meza. Stone pitched a gem going eight shutout innings and allowing only three hits while Tampa Bay’s starter, Larry de Meza played almost as well surrendering a pair of runs on only four hits through seven plus innings before relievers Matt Becker and Lou Stephens got the Hurricanes through to the bottom of the ninth still only trailing by two. Indianapolis closer Jimmy Parkinson took only eleven pitches to turn the game on its head, walking 2B Ronald McKinney and allowing a single to veteran Kevin Jones putting runners on the corners and prompting a visit to the mound from the Racers pitching coach. Whatever was said seemed to fire Parkinson up as he struck out the next two batters leaving Indianapolis one out away from winning the series, it was not to be though, as catcher Marcos Ocasio (0-3 on the day and just 1 for 12 on the series) slammed the first pitch he saw deep into the stands for a three-run walk off homer, stealing the game from the Racers and tying the series. Game five back in Indianapolis saw Carlo Tagros (IND) and Guillermo Medina (TB) face off in an entertaining back and forth affair. By the time the game reached the ninth inning both starters were long gone and the game was tied at four. Jimmy Parkinson was on the mound again for the Racers looking for redemption after blowing game four, he started well striking out danger man Juan Santos before Vicente Fernandez beat out an infield single. Parkinson’s composure deserted him from that point on as he proceeded to load the bases, however Tampa Bay failed to take full advantage scoring only a single run but that was still enough to give them a 5-4 lead, closer Lou Fuller took the mound for the bottom half of the inning and proceeded to blow through the Indianapolis lineup, striking out two and enticing a soft grounder to second to end the game and send Tampa Bay on to the EL Pennant series for the second time in their history.

Washington played host to the first playoff tilt since game five of the 2022 World Series and got off to a flier when Marc Smith smashed a leadoff homerun to give the Generals a 1-0 lead but that was as good as things got, Cleveland were level in the second and had the lead in the third courtesy of a Richie Rambeaux 2-run homer. The Corsairs then blew the Generals away in the sixth inning adding five more runs while chasing starter Pedro Diaz and relievers Frank Wilcox and David Rios from the game, with the stadium emptying and the game all but over a string of relief pitchers saw things through to the end. Game two was much closer as both starters Gabriel Lopez (WAS) and Eric Parker (CLE) pitched into the seventh inning where Lopez ran into trouble allowing a Clarence Davis 2-RBI double to put Cleveland ahead 3-1. The Corsairs added another run in the top of the ninth before closer Beau Bass took the mound, Bass allowed a solo homerun to Joey Buhler but that was all Washington could muster as they fell to a 4-2 defeat. Cleveland’s Guy Pot started game three in wayward fashion, after retiring the leadoff man he then allowed two walks and two singles to give Washington a 1-0 lead and leave the bases loaded, a double play off the bat of SS Michael Matthews bailed Pot out and he escaped the inning with only a one run deficit. Washington’s inability to take advantage of Pot’s stumble came back to haunt them almost immediately as a Pedro Arevalo solo homerun tied the scores in the second before Richie Rambeaux drove in a pair with a 2-out double in the fifth. Pot settled down after the first to pitch six solid innings before handing over to the bullpen to finish the game. Although they managed to get two men on base in both the seventh and eighth and had a man on third in the ninth Washington couldn’t find a way to convert any of the chances and fell to a 3-1 defeat despite outhitting the Corsairs 11-6. Cleveland’s sweep meant they advanced to the pennant series for the fourth time in their history.

In the west the matchup between Houston and Seattle (a repeat of the 2025 WL Pennant series which Seattle won) pitted strength against strength, Houston with the WL’s No2 offense and Seattle with the No3 ranked pitching. A quality start from Marc Birstall and a pair of homeruns by CF Angel Valdez off Seattle ace Matt Powell put Houston in control of game one, but a late bullpen collapse (Seattle scored six runs in the final two frames) gifted the Pioneers a 7-5 series opening win. Trevor Kaiser on the mound for Seattle in game two fared little better than Matt Powell the night before, surrendering homeruns to C Mike Hinrichs and 2B Javier Montalvo to dig the Pioneers into another early hole (down 4-0 after three) this time Seattle began their rally earlier, chipping away at the lead and eventually tying the game on a 2B Jose Velasquez homerun in the top of the eighth. Neither team could force home a run in the ninth so the game went to extra innings. Pitching held sway until the top of the thirteenth when Houston pitcher Mark Sears walked Jose Velasquez (the first baserunner for either team since the eighth inning), Sears doubled that count by allowing 3B Ignacio Campos to reach first on an infield single when he was slow off the mound to field the ball. After a visit from his pitching-coach he uncorked a wild pitch which moved the runners up to second and third and ended his night, Wilbur Hutchinson was tasked with getting out of the inning, which he did but not before both runners scored giving Seattle a 6-4 lead, so now it was on Houston’s offense to try and rescue the game. With their bullpen mostly empty it fell to Maurizio Villani to close out the game for the Pioneers, pitching to the heart of the Stars line-up Villani worked around a single by LF Vincente Gonzalez to preserve the 6-4 Seattle win. Houston travelled to Seattle for game three knowing it was do or die for their season, Shane Miller took the mound for them against Seattle’s Chris Romero. Both pitchers had little trouble first time through the line-up but Miller ran into problems in the fourth, Gabriel Nestor, Stephen Miller and Manny Romero all reached base before Jose Velasquez cleared the basepaths with a 3RBI double before next man up Marc Baxter slammed a two-run homer and in the blink of an eye Houston found themselves down 5-0. Miller’s night ended and the bullpen wrestled control back from Seattle but the Pioneers starter Chris Romero was in cruise control allowing just four hits through seven strong innings, Houston finally got on the scoreboard in the eighth but it was too little too late as Chuck Patrick extinguished any lingering hopes, striking out the side in the ninth and sending Seattle through to the WLCS for the third time in their history.

The matchup between Kansas City and San Diego saw two of the top three WL offenses face off. Kansas City’s No1 offense struggled to score against strong San Diego pitching scoring three runs on just five hits, but an excellent eight innings of two run ball from KC starter Jose Roa and a seven pitch save from closer Jerry Crane meant that the three runs were just enough for Kansas City to take first blood in the series. In game two KC’s offense sputtered once again only managing to plate two runs off SD starter Dan Rogers while San Diego’s hitters came to play, torching KC starter Juan Villa for three homeruns, one each from C Dan Matterby, 3B Jose Montoya and 2B John Foster, scoring nine runs before relievers Angelo Sanchez and Sam Lloyd regained control. But the damage had been done and despite a Tornadoes consolation run in the ninth, San Diego ran out easy 9-3 winners to even the series. Game three saw Pedro Escobar on the mound for San Diego taking on Mark Fort, both pitchers were strong out of the gate but fort blinked first allowing a solo homerun to SS Mario Cristo to give SD the lead. KC’s 2B Jack Underwood tied things up when he drove in CF Manuel Ruiz in the fifth and that’s the way things stayed until both starters exited the game in the seventh. San Diego took the lead on a Dan Matterby 2RBI single off reliever Ryan McPhates in the bottom of the eighth before closer Clint Long sat the heart of KC’s line-up down in order, preserving the 3-1 lead and putting San Diego one win away from the pennant series. Ronald Shockley got the call from KC to start game four, San Diego countered with unlucky game 1 loser Diego Camacho, Kansas City rocked Camacho early scoring four runs in the first, including a homerun (KC’s first of the series) by Michael “Boomer” Jennings Camacho managed to settle down after that keeping a lid on KC’s scoring although not the hits, eventually leaving the game after five rollercoaster innings (11 hits, 4 walks, 9K’s and somehow just the four runs) Shockley didn’t run into trouble until the fifth when LF Kirby Watts slammed a two run homer to cut the KC lead in half. San Diego scored again in the sixth and Shockley left the game in the seventh with two out but two runners aboard, Ryan McPhates got the final out but not before surrendering the tying run. Both teams stumbled through the eighth, KC put two men aboard but failed to score while San Diego loaded the bases but crucially pushed home the go-ahead run, Mariners star closer Clint Long took the mound for the ninth, he retired the first two batters before allowing a single and then a walk to leave KC needing just a hit to potentially send the game to extra innings. With the pitcher’s spot up next KC called on 20-year-old rookie George Shipp to pinch hit, but the biggest moment of his fledgling career proved too much for the young man as he flailed helplessly at a Clint Long curveball to strikeout and end the game, sending San Diego on to a WLCS matchup with division rivals Seattle.

[JayW UK]

2027 Playoffs

Championship Round

The Eastern League Championship Series saw wildcard team Cleveland take on Tampa Bay and despite the Hurricanes owning home field advantage the Corsairs were slight favourites with the bookies. The two teams had met once before in the playoffs, back in 2021 at the same stage with Tampa Bay sweeping Cleveland aside on their way to the World Series. In game one neither team could get anything going on offense as both starters dominated through the first seven innings, TB starter Anastasio Perez was the first to blink surrendering back-to-back doubles to SS Richie Rambeaux and 1B Clarence Davis giving Cleveland 1-0 lead. The Hurricanes tied the game immediately with a Jorge Sanchez homerun but despite putting two men in scoring position couldn’t score again. Rob Hammer drew the pitching assignment for TB in the top of the 9th and ran into trouble straight away surrendering a walk and a single to put runners on the corners with no-one out. Hammer retired the next two batters before an uncharacteristic error from 2B Ronald MacKinney gifted Cleveland the lead, Beau Bass pitched a clean bottom of the ninth to close the door preserving a Cleveland 2-1 game one victory. Game two was a story of two pitchers, Tampa Bay’s Larry de Meza who dominated, and Cleveland’s Eric Parker who didn’t. De Meza went the distance allowing just a single run on four hits and striking out ten while Parker was unusually erratic allowing five runs over his first two innings of work, although he settled down after that to pitch into seventh inning, the damage was done as Tampa Bay cruised to a 6-1 win to even the series. After the disappointing offensive performances in the first two games (3 runs total) Cleveland found their form in game three, clubbing 15 hits including homeruns by Claude Cummins and Pedro Arevalo on their way to scoring eight times, Tampa Bay on the other hand couldn’t get out of neutral as Guy Pot and Tony Munoz combined to allow only four hits in an 8-0 shutout that put Cleveland ahead in the series. Tampa Bay got off to a fast start in game four scoring twice before Cleveland had recorded an out, but despite loading the bases they couldn’t force any more runs in. After his initial stumble Cleveland starter Nick Grant found his groove retiring Hurricane batters with little fuss allowing his offense to go to work, the game was tied by the fourth inning and a Richie Rambeaux 2-run homer in the fifth ended the night of starting pitcher Claudio Gonzalez, leaving him on the hook for the loss. Tampa Bay couldn’t find a way back into the game while Cleveland added two more runs against the TB bullpen to run out easy 6-2 winners. With their backs to the wall and facing elimination Tampa Bay elected to start ace Larry de Meza on short rest for game five, and the decision appeared to bear fruit early on as he blew through Cleveland’s lineup without surrendering a hit first time round. Cleveland starter Keith Robison was also pitching well but ran into trouble in the fourth, putting two on before surrendering a two-out 2RBI single to Juan Santos to give Tampa Bay the lead, Cleveland scored in the fifth to cut the lead in half and with de Meza flagging Tampa Bay manager Eddie Gray turned to his bullpen to finish the job. Matt Becker got through the sixth but Rob Hammer couldn’t keep up the good work giving up a 3-run bomb to catcher Dan Hardin putting Cleveland ahead 4-2 in the seventh. Cleveland’s Danny Jacobs struck out the side in the eighth and closer Beau Bass did his job to perfection sending the Cleveland Corsairs to the World Series and exorcising the ghosts of their 2021 ELCS defeat at the hands of Tampa Bay.

The Western League Pennant Series was a divisional rivalry between Seattle and San Diego, game one saw home team Seattle take early control, building a 4-0 lead by the fifth inning. San Diego struggled to get men on base against Pioneer starter Matt Powell and those that got there were left stranded, after Powell left the game in the eighth Ken Kramer carried on keeping San Diego off the basepaths, seeing the game through to its conclusion. Game two started in similar fashion for Seattle when catcher Stephen Miller hit a two-run homerun off San Diego starter Diego Camacho in the third, but unlike in game one this time San Diego answered with a 2-run bomb of their own off the bat of RF Thie Santegoeds to tie the game. With the game still tied after seven innings both teams turned to their bullpens, San Diego scored runs in the seventh and eighth to take 4-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth. Closer Clint Long got the call and he didn’t disappoint, keeping Seattle off the scoreboard to preserve the series tying 4-2 win. Game 3 saw Chris Romero on the mound for Seattle going against Pedro Escobar, in a game not noted for quality pitching both starters struggled, combining for eleven runs on fifteen hits and were both back in the clubhouse before the start of the sixth inning. With San Diego holding a slim 6-5 lead it was up to the bullpens to win the game, the Mariners added to their lead in the seventh before Seattle answered, once again tying the score. In the bottom of the eighth with a man on third and two out, John Norman stepped up on pinch hit duty and slammed a two-run homer deep to leftfield giving San Diego a 10-8 lead, Clint Long once again shut Seattle down to gather his second save of the series. Game four was never in doubt from the first inning as Seattle starter Anthony Jacobs was rocked for six runs including a three-run homer for Jose Montoya, the Pioneers tried to answer but could only muster a single run in a lopsided San Diego victory leaving them on the verge of the World Series. After seven innings of game five Seattle appeared to be dead and buried, down 7-2 and with San Diego relief pitcher and strikeout machine Guilherme Malagueira on the mound things certainly looked bleak. The usually reliable Malagueira had an inning to forget, surrendering four runs including a monster 3-run bomb to Jose Velasquez to bring Seattle within one. In the top of the ninth the Pioneers tore into the San Diego pitching once more, adding three more runs but also stranding two runners to hand a 9-7 lead to closer Chuck Patrick. With the season on the line, Patrick threw just nine pitches on his way to closing out the thrilling Pioneer comeback and keeping Seattle’s season alive. Although San Diego ace Diego Camacho pitched a gem in game six (allowing only two unearned runs through eight innings) his teammates seemed determined to lose the game, making three errors gifting Seattle the lead and hitting into five inning ending double plays erasing any chance at a comeback, the game ended when San Diego’s Ernesto Bernal was thrown out at second after inexplicably trying to stretch a single into a double. With Seattle starter Chris Romero dominating in game seven, it seemed that the comeback was on and while San Diego couldn’t score against Romero, Seattle’s offense was finding things almost as hard against Pedro Escobar, managing only five hits but crucially they had scored twice. With the game slipping away San Diego needed to try something different and when pitcher Chris Romero came up to bat in the bottom of the seventh Escobar changed tack and pitched inside to him forcing Romero to take avoiding action leaving him in a heap on the floor, once he had brushed himself off and re-entered the batters box, Escobar’s next pitch ran inside and hit Romero square on the kneecap leaving him once again prostrate on the ground but this time in pain. Both benches cleared but the umpires managed to keep the players from each other and a Mexican standoff ensued, Escobar was ejected for deliberately targeting his opponent while Romero was helped from the field unable to take any further part. The injury to Romero seemed to unsettle Seattle as their pitcher’s focus seemed to be on hitting San Diego batters rather than winning the game, San Diego used the Pioneers lack of focus to tie the game in the eighth when SS Mario Cristo hit a homerun collecting Ieyoshi Ishikawa (who was on base after being hit by a pitch) along the way. The Mariners opened the ninth with another HBP when 3B Jose Montoya took a pitch to the shoulder, Kirby Watts drew a walk only by virtue of avoiding the last pitch earning Seattle pitcher Pedro Rivas a warning from the Umpire. Next up for San Diego was catcher Dan Matterby and when he was plunked by a Rivas fastball, he lost it, first throwing his bat then his helmet at Rivas before charging the mound sparking a bench clearing brawl. When the dust settled and order was restored both Rivas and Matterby were ejected for sparking the brawl, San Diego also had 3B Jose Montoya and Manager Roberto Rodriguez ejected for their part. The game re-started with a new pitcher on the mound and the bases loaded. Ken Kramer couldn’t prevent San Diego from scoring, although he did keep the damage to a single run, San Diego closer Chuck Patrick braved the intimidating atmosphere to retire Seattle in order and send San Diego onto the World Series in controversial fashion.

[JayW UK]

2027 Playoffs

World Series

The 2027 World Series featured two wild card teams for the first time in NABL history, both teams were remarkably similar boasting top three pitching and above average offenses but with Cleveland owning the home field advantage courtesy of their 96-win regular season they were considered slight favorites. On the eve of the series San Diego learned what their punishment would be after the unsavoury scenes from game 7 of the WLCS (already being dubbed by some media outlets as “The Battle of Seattle”) Manager Roberto Rodriguez was to be suspended for the whole series while catcher Dan Matterby and pitcher Pedro Escobar would miss the first four games with 3B Jose Montoya missing for the opening two games, with these key players unavailable San Diego’s task became all the more difficult. Riding strong pitching performances from Keith Robison and Eric Parker and a steady supply of runs, Cleveland took the first two games in the series hardly needing to break into a sweat. The Mariners on the other hand struggled to contain Cleveland and with their own offense stuck in neutral (managing a paltry total of only eight hits and three runs) they headed back to California down two games and looking for something, anything to give the team a spark. That spark arrived in the form of LF Kirby Watts, with him leading the way San Diego smashed four homeruns (two for Watts and one each from SS Mario Cristo and RF Thie Santegoeds) and chased Corsair starter Guy Pot from the game after four subpar innings. Mariner starter Anthony Jacobs worked seven innings before handing over to the bullpen who kept the Cleveland bats quiet the rest of the way in a comfortable 10-2 victory to get the Mariners on the board in the series. Game four saw San Diego turn to game one starter Dan Rogers on short rest, Cleveland countered with Nick Grant. As quickly as San Diego’s offense came it disappeared just as suddenly, Grant kept the basepaths clear through the first four innings before finally surrendering a single to 2B Ernesto Bernal to break up the no-hit bid, a double by Jose Montoya got San Diego on the scoreboard but that was all they could muster. The Corsairs tied the game in the sixth then forged ahead in the seventh adding two more runs on a 2-run homerun from the bat of Richie Rambeaux. Grant surrendered two more hits in the eighth that the Mariners couldn’t turn into runs before Cleveland added two more runs to ease to a 5-1 victory. San Diego welcomed back catcher Dan Matterby and pitcher Pedro Escobar for game five with a mountain to climb, Escobar drew the start and looked sharp retiring the first eleven batters he faced before issuing a walk to Clarence Davis, however San Diego struggled on offense, once again failing to trouble Cleveland starter Keith Robison. Escobar kept the Corsairs off the scoreboard until the sixth inning when veteran CF Claude Cummins took him deep to give the Corsairs the lead, further runs in the seventh and eighth to put Cleveland on the brink of a maiden World Series victory. The Mariners finally managed to get on the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth chasing starter Keith Robison from the game and bringing reliever Danny Jacobs to the mound in his place, Jacobs stopped the Mariners in their tracks when he struck out both Dan Matterby and Kirby Watts ending their rally then and there. In the ninth with San Diego just three outs away from the end of their season their offensive struggles once again came home to roost, Cleveland closer Beau Bass shut the door completely on the Mariners ending their campaign and giving the Corsairs their first World Series victory at the second attempt (they lost to OKC in 2020)

2027 Playoff Recap

Divisional Series
EL: Cleveland 3-0 Washington, Tampa Bay 3-2 Indianapolis
WL: San Diego 3-1 Kansas City, Seattle 3-0 Houston
Championship Series
EL: Cleveland 4-1 Tampa Bay
WL: San Diego 4-3 Seattle
World Series
Cleveland 4-1 San Diego

[JayW UK]

2027 Season Leaders and Awards

EL Batting
Hits
201 Clarence Davis (CLE)
178 Matt Henderson (CHI)
178 Juan Santos (TB)
Batting Avg
.371 Matt Henderson (CHI)
.331 Clarence Davis (CLE)
3.24 Roberto Cornell (DET)
Homeruns
42 Nelson Vasquez (IND)
34 Scott Winters (CHI)
32 Juan Santos (TB)
RBI
108 Scott Winters (CHI)
104 Gregg Hopper (PHI)
103 Lucio Martinez (BOS)
Stolen Bases
41 Travis Olsen (PHI)
31 Marc Smith (WAS)
29 Tomas Romano (NY)

EL Pitching
Wins
19 Jorge Carrasco (CHI)
19 Eric Parker (CLE)
17 David Adams (PHI)
ERA
2.29 Eric Parker (CLE)
2.83 Nick Grant (CLE)
2.83 Duane Barker (CHA)
Strikeouts
297 Larry de Meza (TB)
225 Orlando Vicenteno (NY)
208 Roberto Perez (CHI)
Saves
39 Greg Gray (DET)
39 Jimmy Parkinson (IND)
37 Andrew Jones (CHI)

WL Batting
Hits
205 Dustin Polk (PHO)
198 Dixon Bodean (DEN)
196 Jose Diaz (OKC)
Batting Avg
.326 Dustin Polk (PHO)
.322 Ron Gilfedder (DAL)
.316 Ernesto Gardilla (SF)
Homeruns
45 Dixon Bodean (DEN)
32 Jamie Boden (DEN)
32 Michael Jennings (KC)
RBI
104 Dixon Bodean (DEN)
104 Tomas Romero (PHO)
95 Vincente Gonzalez (HOU)
Stolen Bases
54 Pancho Sousa (AUS)
49 Ernesto Gardella (SF)
47 Jose Diaz (OKC)

WL Pitching
Wins
18 Diego Camacho (SD)
16 Duane Jones (AUS)
16 Matt Powell (SEA)
ERA
2.19 Marc Birstall (HOU)
2.20 Matt Powell (SEA)
2.38 Duane Jones (AUS)
Strikeouts
289 Marc Birstall (HOU)
268 Will Spencer (LV)
267 Matt Powell (SEA)
Saves
41 Richard Bridgewater (HOU)
41 Davis Robinson (LV)
40 George Webb (PHO)

Batting Champion – Chicago’s Matt Henderson (.371) cruised to the title well ahead of nearest challenger Cleveland’s Clarence Davis (.331). In the west Phoenix 2B Dustin Polk (.326) held off Dallas 1B Ron Gilfedder (.322) to win his first batting title.
Homerun Champion – Indianapolis 1B Nelson Vasquez hit 42 homers to pace the eastern league finishing ahead of Chicago’s LF Scott Winters (34) and TB star Juan Santos (32) while in the west it was a familiar name at the top of the charts, Dixon Bodean winning his fifth straight title with 45 homers, thirteen ahead of teammate Jamie Boden and KC’s Michael Jennings.
Outstanding Hitter – Chicago 1B Matt Henderson (.371, 29HR, 94 RBI, 109 Runs scored) was the unanimous choice in the east while Dixon Bodean (.314, 45HR, 104 RBI, 116 Runs scored) collected yet another outstanding hitter award (his seventh consecutive such award)
Outstanding Pitcher – In the east Eric Parker’s change of scenery (swapping Indianapolis for Cleveland) did wonders for him as he claimed his fourth award with a stellar season (19-5, 2.29 ERA). Over in the west Seattle pitcher Matt Powell (16-9, 2.20 ERA) won the award, finishing just ahead of Austin’s Duane Jones (16-6, 2.38 ERA) and San Diego’s Diego Camacho (18-7, 2.62 ERA) in the voting.
Rookie of the Year – Charlotte 1B and former Las Vegas Gambler Russell Brown (.293, 21HR, 84 RBI) took home the award in the east while Austin speedster SS Pancho Sousa (.281, 3HR, 71 RBI, and an NABL leading 54 SB) took the WL award ahead of fellow speedster, Sanfrancisco’s Ernesto Gardella (.316, 2 HR, 43 RBI + 49 SB).
Manager of the Year – Cleveland manager Pedro Garcia took the award in the east for leading his charges all the way from wildcard team to a World Series victory. In the west the award went to Seattle manager William McDonald who led his team to a division crown before losing in the WLCS.
Glove Wizard Awards EL – P Anastasio Perez (TB) – C Aaron Harris (WAS) – 1B Randy Harrington (BOS) – 2B Anibal Trueba (WAS) – 3B Joseph Davis (BOS) – SS Richie Rambeaux (CLE) – LF Ricardo Saucedo (CHA) – CF Anthony Hopkins (STL) – RF Jose Cintron (IND)
Glove Wizard Awards WL – P Jason McCullough (MIN) – C Christian Wheeler (MIN) – 1B Jamie Boden (DEN) – 2B Barry Carlisle (SJ) – 3B Gary Lee (KC) – SS Eduardo Ruiz (PHO) – LF Quintin Harwood (LV) – CF Tomas Romero (PHO) – RF Mike Massey (SJ)

Interesting Facts - Indianapolis 1B Nelson Vasquez struck out 230 times during the season, a new NABL single season record eclipsing Sergio Woods total of 212 set back in 2016, he also drew 122 walks joining Marshall Ayersome as the only players to have struck out 200+ times while drawing 100+ walks in a season. Tampa Bay pitcher Larry de Meza finished the season on 297 strikeouts, three shy of his third straight 300K season. Washington pitchers Steve Logan and Gabriel Lopez became the first teammates to hurl No-Hitters in the same season.

[JayW UK]

2028 Off-Season

The fallout from the WLCS game seven “Battle of Seattle” continued into the offseason with both clubs removing their pitching coaches and San Diego also firing Bench Coach Ed Farrier for encouraging pitchers to deliberately target their opponents. It was hoped that these moves would finally draw a line under the unsavoury incident once and for all, San Diego appointed well respected college coach, 56-year-old Bubba Young as Ed Farrier’s replacement.
With San Jose only managing to win 65 games in 2027 GM Brian Halliday decided to once again clear house releasing manager Jose Peredes and settling on former Boston skipper Dan Stone as his replacement, on paper Stone looked to be an upgrade and Halliday certainly needed him to be a success as this was likely his last chance as San Jose’s GM. Long-time Boston Bench Coach Alan Fullerton finally got his chance to manage when Austin named him as replacement for Joseph Raymond who announced his retirement, another manager to announce his retirement was Denver’s Tom Heitman who retired for the second time, Heitman’s decision caught the Wildcats on the hop and without time to prepare a shortlist and the season fast approaching, they chose to promote from within, elevating bench coach Jake Sanders to the position. New York finally got their man after months of negotiations announcing the former New Orleans and Houston hitting coach Stu Owens as their new field manager for 2028.
Defending champions Cleveland, opened their off-season by trading away veteran outfielder Stu Joyce to Denver for youngster 3B John Hebert and pitching prospect Ivan Martinez and when free agency opened Cleveland were the early losers, three key pieces of their championship team left for new homes, veteran LF Claude Cummins left town to sign a four year deal with Las Vegas, catcher Dan Hardin traded Ohio for California, signing a 3 year $43.5M deal with Sanfrancisco while closer Beau Bass chose to sign with Tampa Bay for 3 years and $25.8M. Tampa Bay were also the destination of choice for three more stars, former Houston and Austin closer Marcos Diaz signed for three years and $27M to provide veteran leadership out of the bullpen while ex-Atlanta pitcher and the NABL leader in wins Vince Little (233-178 career record) signed on for a bargain 1-year $9.9M deal and slugging Dallas 3B Rizalino Nolasco joined for $80M over 4 years. By far the busiest team in the west was Austin who pursued and signed pitcher Jason McCullough from Minneapolis on a two year $49M deal, added veteran infielder Ronald MacKinney for four years at $48M and also lured Denver CF Raul Escobar to town for $60M over four years, but the Kings biggest move was getting San Diego 3B Jose Montoya to join on an $88M 5-year deal. San Diego also lost starter Diego Camacho who left sunny California for Charlotte and the promise of $93M over four years, another pitcher leaving California was San Jose starter Franklin Keyes who chose a four year $103M deal from Denver over staying in the bay area. Denver continued to bolster their rotation luring former Indianapolis pitcher Carlos Tagros to town on a team friendly 2-year $31M deal. After losing two stars of their own, San Diego landed former Tampa Bay star CF Jorge Sanchez on a 4-year $75M deal before adding veteran pitcher Clifford West on a modest deal. Another veteran finding a new home was 2B Luis Sanchez (second all-time in the NABL with 2336 hits) who signed a two year $17.5M deal with Boston. Houston having largely sat out Free agency making only minor additions to the roster announced they had come to terms with star 2B Angel Valdez on an extension, keeping him in town for the next five years for the princely sum of $120M.
With the NABL calendar moving ever closer to opening day, front offices around the league began to switch their focus from free agency to spring training and the draft. The 2028 draft class was top heavy with high school talent, with slick fielding second baseman Adam Bailey, two quality outfielders in Danny Hewes and Bryan Dale and pitcher Rafer McNeil, all in the conversation as potential first overall picks. There were excellent college players to be had too, SS Ryan Justice from Ohio State, rated as the best position player in the country, and with pitchers such as Stanford’s Steve Berg and fellow bay area alum Greg Marshall from Santa Clara expected to be drafted high, the 2028 draft was lining up to be a good one. When draft night finally rolled around it was Ohio State’s Ryan Justice who heard his name called first by St Louis, High Schoolers Rafer McNeil (taken 2nd by SJ) and Adam Bailey (drafted 3rd by OKC) completed the top three. New Orleans grabbed outfielder Danny Hewes with the fourth overall pick before Atlanta called the name of Santa Clara pitcher Greg Marshall fifth. Las Vegas picking ninth couldn’t believe their luck when CF Bryan Dale was still on the board and wasted no time calling his name, Stanford pitcher Steve Berg had to wait until the 15th pick to hear his name called by Denver. In the days following the draft as teams around the NABL gathered for Spring Training, both Adam Bailey (San Jose) and Rafer McNeil (Oklahoma City) chose not to sign their offer sheets and instead accept college scholarships, while three other draftees were immediately installed as top ten prospects on the BNN top 100, Ryan Justice (#1), Danny Hewes (#6) and Greg Marshall (#8).
As spring training wound down it was time for the annual predictionfest, both Washington (looking to build on their division title) and Philadelphia (fresh off the heartbreak of losing the play-in game in 2027) were the consensus picks to contend for the Atlantic division crown. In the Central things were less clear cut, with Indianapolis, defending World Series champions Cleveland and Chicago all in the mix for the division title, and though they stayed under the radar, Detroit were seen as a dark horse candidate to at least challenge for the wildcard spot, the only team from the division not to be given any chance of reaching the playoffs was St Louis. The Southeast division was seen as the territory of Tampa Bay especially with the off-season additions to their already powerful lineup.
In the west, Kansas City were once again favourites for the Midwest division but after strengthening their rotation Denver were expected to push them hard. The Southwest crown was likely to be a two-way fight between Las Vegas and Houston, although after their off-season spending Austin were looking to challenge for at least the wildcard spot, while in the Pacific, Seattle and San Diego were predicted to once again battle for the division crown.