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100-60 (+8)
2nd overall, 1st in runs, 7th in runs against

The defending champs followed up their first UL title with their first 100-win season, falling just one game shy of the President's Trophy. Their scoring tailed off a bit—down 0.2 to 5.2 runs per game—but that was more than offset by a leap in the pitching.

Toronto hurlers allowed just 4.1 runs per game, the lowest in their recent run of playoff seasons, and this despite an off-year for ace Dwight Gooden. The four-time Cy Young winner—including the last three on the trot—got just 18 wins, ending his run of five 20-win seasons, and posted a 2.99 ERA, tied for his highest since 1985. Toronto's pitching strength was its bullpen, the league's best, with a 2.65 ERA. Dual closers Jose Mesa (2.61) and Michael Jackson (3.12) combined for 40 saves, and Mike Schooler (0.70), Dave Righetti (1.74), and Rod Nichols (2.37) provided ample bullpen depth.

The attack was led by 26-year-old Cuban 1B Rafael Palmeiro (.295-51-138, .976), who again led the  league in home runs and RBIs. CF Ellis Burks (.342-47-97) led the league in both slugging (.644) and OPS (1.051), raising the prospect of two Polar Bears finishing 1-2 in the MVP voting. And then there is the 1990 MVP, Roberto Alomar, who slumped a bit from last year, but still cobbled a .377 OBP, 35 stolen bases, and a 5.2 WAR. Howard Johnson hit 41 homers and 112 RBIs, Mickey Tettleton hit 38 and 86. Their 264 home runs and .478 slugging were both the fourth best in league history.

Turning Point: July 22. The P-Bears rallied for a 6-3 win at Hudson Yards, seizing sole possession of the first place for good. Toronto would go 36-22 to Brooklyn's 30-28 to win the East by a seven-game margin

93-67 (+12)
3rd overall, 3rd in runs, 5th in runs against

The Superbas completed a two-year rise from 100 losses to the third best team in the league, securing their record 16th playoff appearance, their first since 1984, and their second best record in Widholm era (1977). Their 4.8 runs per game was the most since the 1969 Hank Aaron-Mickey Mantle-Dick McAuliffe team, and they were the only team besides L.A. to land in the top 5 in both runs and runs against.

Let's start with the offense, which ranked 3rd in runs and OPS, 4th in batting, and 5th in WAR. Ken Griffey Jr. (.327-34-107, .954 OPS) was the anchor of the attack, with the second best WAR in the league. Junior led the league with 121 runs, was second with 46 doubles, third with 82 extra-base hits, and fourth with 360 total bases. On May 23 he became (presumably) the youngest player to hit a homer hat trick. He hit over .350 in three separate months, and over 1.000 OPS in three separate months. 3B Matt Williams also homered 34 times, and Luis Alicea, Tom Foley, Mike Greenwell, and Tony Bernazard all batted .300.

The pitching staff featured the sixth-best rotation and fourth-best bullpen. The durable rotation had just five starters all year long, with Kevin Brown and David Cone each winning 16, Ramon Martinez leading with 184 strikeouts, and four of the five producing at least 3.5 WAR. Cone arguably had the biggest breakthrough year, improving his ERA 120 points to 3.71 and trimming his WHIP to 1.22 after 1.62 and 1.40 the last two years. The bullpen had four relievers with ERAs under 2.75, and Randy Johnson tallied 15 saves.

The Superbas faltered a bit in September, finishing 11-13 for their first losing month, including 0-3 against Washington, their Hex Series opponent.

Turning Point: Aug. 29. A six-game winning streak (including four vs. playoff teams), gave the Bas a 10-game cushion with two dozen games to play. Kevin Brown (4-0, 2.95) and Matt Williams (.330-8-27, 1.017) were particularly dominant in August.

88-72 (-3)
5th overall, 10th in runs, 1st in runs against

The 1991 Monuments conjured memories of the Stu Miller-Steve Gromek-Larry Jansen glory years. Washington led the league in pitching six straight years from the league's founding in 1951, winning four UL titles. This year's staff was the first #1 pitching team since 1956, and it was all in the rotation.

Teddy Higuera finally emerged from the long shadow of ace Bret Saberhagen, posting a league-best 19 wins, 2.35 ERA, and 0.91 WHIP and making him the favorite for the Cy Young Award. Saberhagen had a 2.85 ERA, 203 strikeouts, and 1.02 WHIP—not bad for your second-best pitcher. Then there is #3 starter Larry McWilliams, who at age 36 has a career year (15-7, 3.17, 1.12 WHIP). Even fifth starter Don Schulze dominated at times, tossing three shutouts and winning 10 for the first time in his career.

The lineup was just average in the aggregate, but featured key role players who excelled at their specific roles. Wade Boggs led with 42 doubles and a .369 OBP, Ryne Sandberg slugged .537 and hit 37 HR and 103 RBI, Bob Horner had his first 30-homer year in three years, Chili Davis stole 39 bases, and SS Robin Yount (12.1 ZR) and CF Stan Javier (10.3) were top-5 fielders.

The club has everything and appears perfectly build for short-series success, with Higgy and Sabes stacking up against any 1-2 combo in the league.

Turning Point: Aug. 30. A 5-4 win over Atlanta put Washington in third place for good.  The Monuments trailed Montreal by six games on Aug. 23, but won 10 straight to overtake the V's and clinch their sixth playoff appearance in eight years.

86-74 (+32)
7th overall, 6th in runs, 9th in runs against

They were the most improved team of the year, but the 1991 Voyageurs will be remembered for the August skid that scuttled any hope of a playoff return after nine years. Montreal held a five-game advantage over Washington and Detroit on Aug. 23, but then fell into an 11-game skid that found them 3.5 games out by Sept. 4, only to win seven straight to close the season after they had been mathematically eliminated.

The V's became just the third team have a winning season after losing 106 games (1967 Atlanta, 1979 Detroit) thanks to the most improved hitting and the most improved pitching in the league. The club jumped from 17th/16th to 6th/9th.

The offense was led by Bip Roberts (.363, 37 SB)—the first Voyageur to win a batting title—and CF Luis Gonzalez (.305-26-102, .887), whose 4.1 WAR was second among rookies. The rotation was not spectacular, but was spectacularly consistent, with four starters with ERAs between 4.06 and 4.10. Chris Bosio led the staff in innings, strikeouts, and WAR, while rookie Curt Schilling went 16-11 with 177 Ks. The bullpen was second best in the league, thanks to newcomer Lee Smith (2.04, 35 SV) and 23-year-old Gregg Olson (2.38).

Turning Point: May 14. A 15-25 start already had the Canoeists in the Waffle House, then SP Jim Abbott left the game in the third with a season-ending injury. At that point, it looked like another 100-loss season was in store. Instead, Montreal beat Brooklyn at the Frank to start a 13-3 run that got them back in the race.

80-80 (-8)
10th overall, 13th in runs, 6th in runs against

Three teams were tied for third in the East at the All-Star Break, but only two would participate in the playoff race down the stretch; the odd man out was Detroit. The Griffins had their lowest offensive output since 1978, giving the club no chance to compete, despite having the fifth-best rotation.

Alex Fernandez, age 22, was fourth in ERA (2.83) and fifth in H/9 (7.3). Andy Benes, age 23, had a breakout year, going 13-8, 3.31 and leading the team with 22 quality starts. Chris Nabholz, age 24, who won the ERA title his rookie year, continued to dominate, with a 2.98 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 32 starts. Randy Tomlin, age 25, had 17/31 quality starts, pitched 191 innings, and posted a 3.76 ERA. And closer Mikey Stanton, age 23, saved 31, pushing his career save tally to 84 before his 24th birthday. So Detroit has cornered the market on young pitching.

However, the offense was 9th in batting average, 12th in OPS, 13th in runs, and 14th in home runs. Fred McGriff (.301-33-116, .882) and Kevin Mitchell (.315-25-89, .897) were the main mashers, Jeff Treadway hit .322 in his first full year as a regular, but the rest of the lineup was at or below league average hitting.

Turning Point: Aug. 17. The Flyin' Lions were only two games out of the playoff zone before a 4-2 loss at Arroyo Seco plunged them into a 1-5 skid that essentially dropped from front contention.

74-86 (-6)
11th overall, 15th in runs, 8th in runs against

In the the playoff zone for much of the first half, the Barons collapsed down the stretch and were not in contention in the final month. After finishing 3rd in runs against last year, the pitching regressed back to league average, and the offense produced its usual sporadic and meager output.

Magrane led the league in ERA until early September. He was 1.99 through July, then finished 4.63 in the last two months. Bill Wegman led the staff with 19 quality starts and trimmed his ERA to a career-best 3.57, but was 9-14 due to lack of run support. And John Smoltz had his first 200-K season and led the league with 10.6 K/9. Closer Dan Plesac became just the fourth pitcher to  lead the league in saves in successive years (joining Clem Labine, Ted Abernathy, and Brad Havens).

Cleveland hit a league-low 83 home runs, and 25 of those were by Gary Gaetti, leaving less than 60 to spread amongst the rest of the team. LF Brett Butler had a successful first year by the lake, stealing 33 bases and walking 101 times for a .368 OBP; and RF Phil Bradley led the team with 188 hits and .313 average.

Turning Point: August. The offense ranked 9th on Aug. 1, but plummeted six spots to its more-familiar 15th by the end of the month. The Barons scored three runs or fewer 20 times in August. They started the month one game under .500 and five games back and ended it eight under .500 and nine games back.

70-90 (-9)
13th overall, 4th in runs, 18th in runs against

The Gray Sox suffered their first back-to-back losing seasons since 1973 and lost 90 games first just the second time in club history. The pitching dropped from league-average to dead last, allowing 5.5 runs per game, the most since Washington in 1982. Doug Drabek was the best starter, at 5-6, 3.36 in 20 starts before he was sidelined for the year in mid-July. Jim Acker and Bill Laskey both had ERAs over 6.00, but perhaps the most telling statistic is the back-to-back six-hit games surrendered to Havana's Alvaro Espinoza and Denver's Luis Poloniaat the end of May.

Offensively, the runs were up, despite 30 fewer home runs and a dip in OPS. Jose Canseco, who led the league with 50 home runs two years ago, hit just 18 and was demoted to a platoon role with Lonnie Smith in left field. Danny Tartabull's power numbers were down as well (17 HR, 58 RBI), but rookie Ed Sprague and new centerfielder Eric Davis made an immediate impact. Sprague homer hat trick on Sept. 27 and ended with 7 in 24 games, while ED smashed 17 dingers in 51 games for a .562 slugging percentage. The Sox paid a pretty penny for Davis, whom they hope to build around.

Turning Point: July 15. Manhattan was already last in pitching in mid-July, but when their best starter Doug Drabek was lost for the season, it was full-rebuild time in Hell's Kitchen.

67-93 (-23)
15-T overall, 11th in runs, 12th in runs against

After 90 wins and a playoff appearance last year, Feds fans were primed for more glory in 1991. Instead Boston plummeted by 23 games, the biggest drop in the league. What went wrong? The short version is that a perennially top-5 attack dropped to the middle of the pack.

Two-time MVP Barry Bonds  had his worst output since his rookie year. His average nosedived 90 points to .260, his OPS 125 points to .906, and he drove in "only" 102 runs. RF Sammy Sosa fizzled in his first year as a regular, batting just .248 with a .718 OPS. And longtime defensive specialist Cal Ripken Jr. had his first negative WAR season, suggesting that a .203 hitting and .543 OPS is not good enough for every day no matter how good the leather. On the plus side,  2B Mickey Morandini hit .329, .818 OPS and Edgar Martinez  led the team with 106 RBIs with a .866 OPS.

Rookie Pat Hentgen was the start of the season, posting a 15-9 record and 3.95 ERA, and Roger Clemens notched his sixth 200-K season in eight pro seasons. Tom Candiotti, however, could not replicating last year's success, turning 15 wins into 17 losses and a 4.20 ERA into 5.05, and Bob Sebra's 75 percent save percentage was the worst among closers with at least 20 saves.

Turning Point: May and June. In 52 games through June 23, Barry Bonds hit just .218. From May 3 to June 21, Roger Clemens lost eight straight starts, with a 5.08 ERA. During the same stretch, Barry Bonds hit .236.

64-96 (+1)
18th overall, 17th in runs, 17th in runs against

Not much was expected of a second-year club, the Murmuration met expectations. Their pitching improved by 0.6 runs on their inaugural year, but the offense regressed by the same amount, and Keystone finished next-to-last in both categories and won exactly one more game than 1990.

Carlos Baerga was the big star, the player who was famously traded for Randy Tomlin on Draft Day 1990 put up a rookie year for the ages, leading the league with 217 hits with a .341 batting average and .873 OPS. Cecil Fielder (.281-34-78) raised his average 25 points and tripled his homer output, and third overall pick Jeff Bagwell hit .290 with .517 slugging in a two-month stint.

Ten rookie pitchers had 1.0 WAR seasons, and four of them were Starlings, led by closer Roberto Hernandez (1.56, 13 saves) and righthander Gil Heredia (8-6, 4.34). Southpaw Denny Neagle impressed in 10 late-season starts, posting a 2.88 ERA and 1.18 WHIP

Turning point:  Sept. 30. A cynic would say the last day was the end of the suffering. But from another perspective the season's last day revealed the eggs of future success. Baerga ended the year with a .388 September, including six-straight multi-hit games for a scorching .482 in the final week, wrapping a bow around his inevitable Rookie of the Year award.

101-59 (+3)
1st overall, 2nd in runs, 3rd in runs against

The pitching dominance may have waned a bit, but what's new is L.A.'s offensive firepower. Playing in a pitcher's park, the Outlaws ranked 2nd in home runs and 2nd in runs scored. Four players hit 20 homers, led by 1B Cory Snyder, whose late surge put him into the HR and RBI races. Snyder's 50 homers tied Hank Aaron's club record (1964), Andy Van Slyke had a .383 OBP and swiped 48 bases, Ken Caminiti slugged .506 and drove in 90 runs, and Kirby Puckett hit .309 with 76 RBIs.

On the pitching side,  the top story was perhaps the lack of injuries, with five pitchers accounting for all 160 starts. Floyd Youmans led the team in innings and strikeouts, losing the K title in the final week to Fernando Valenzuela. Bruce Hurst (3.18) had the best ERA, and Greg Swindell  led the staff with 16 wins, also his career best. Lee Smith's absence was felt. The bullpen ranked just 14th, arguably the club's biggest weakness heading into October.

Turning Point: May 24. The Outlaws started slow but rode a 15-4 run to seize first place in the West for good, then leveraged a league-best 49-27 second half to win their ninth pennant in ten years.

91-69 (-5)
4th overall, 8th in runs, 2nd in runs against

The Colts make the first back-to-back playoff appearances since 1978-79 and hope to advance to the World Series for the first time since 1973. They again had the second-best pitching in the league, led by Erik Hanson and Charles Nagy, whose names are peppered throughtout the league leaderboards.  Nagy flirted with the league record for winning percentage with his 14-2 start, before losing twice in the last six weeks to finish 16-4, 3.04.  Meanwhile, Hanson (13-6, 2.77) was third in ERA and fifth in WAR. 24-year-old Dominican righthander Melido Perez showed much improvement in his sophomore year, winning 13 and trimming his ERA 75 points to 3.47. And rookie setup man Anthony Young was a stellar 2.70 in 33 appearances.

Chicago's offense features the youngest batter age in the league (26.7), and six of their top nine WAR batters were 25 or younger, including second-year LF Albert Belle (.287-29-115) and 21-year-old 3B Gary Sheffield (.292-15-73, .800). Having said that, some of the biggest bats belonged to relative oldsters: Ivan Calderon (age 29) hit .332-22-91, leading the team with a .906 OPS. SS Alan Trammell hit his lowest OPS in a decade, but still drove in 71 and posted a 6.9 WAR thanks to his record eighth Willie Mays Award.

Key Moment: Sept. 15. At Sportsmans Park, Sheffield and Tim Flannery both homered off Steve Howe ninth to deliver a 5-4 win and a five-game lead over the Maroons with 11 to play.

87-73 (-2)
6th overall, 5th in runs, 11th in runs against

Five pitchers tossed one-hit shutouts in 1991, but only Tom Glavine's gem on Sept. 6 was without a walk, making it the best pitching performance of the season. Unfortunately for the Maroons, it was also out of character. St. Louis finished 11th in runs allowed, their worst showing since 1982, which is also the last time they didn't make the playoffs. And though St. Louis' margin over fourth place, and the corresponding playoff berth, were never much it doubt, this feels like a lesser Maroons' squad. The offense was down as well, to 4.6 runs, good for 5th in the league, both the worst since 1986.

Age surely played a factor in St. Louis' relative decline from dominance to mere top-tiered-ness. The Maroons have the second oldest roster. All but two of their regulars are 31 or older, and Tom Glavine, at 24, feels almost a generation younger than the rest of the rotation.

Tony Phillips shifted back from second base to shortstop, and then proceeded to have his best year at the plate, driving in 101 runs with an .882 SLG and 6.8 WAR. Julio Franco hit .308 for a career-high 78 RBI. Alvin Davis and Kevin Seitzer slumped hard, both dropping their OPS 120 points. But the biggest hit to the offense was the injury to Rickey Henderson.

Former Federal Mike Scott had a great first year in the Gateway City, going 15-6 with a 3.52 ERA.  Newcomer Tom Glavine posted a 1.16 WHIP in  13 starts after a midseason deal with Havana. And Steve Howe led the league with 45 Shutdowns and was 38-for-40 in save conversions.

Turning Point: June 6. St. Louis ranked 3rd in runs before losing Rickey Henderson for the season. By year's end, they had dropped to 6th, speaking to Rickey's influence in the offense.

83-77 (-4)
8th overall, 9th in runs, 4th in runs against

A 19-10 May had the Leones in third place on June 1, but their offense sputtered and could not match the intensity of the pitching staff, which finishing in the top four in runs against for the first time in club history.

The staff featured three pitchers with 15 wins and ERA under 3.40. Greg Mathews (18-6) had the best record, Bob Ojeda (2.41) had the best ERA, and Mark Langston had the most strikeouts (234) and the best WHIP (1.12). And closer Gene Nelson had 16 saves to go with a career-low 2.62 ERA. 

The offense was 6th in home runs and 7th in batting, but just 9th in runs and 10th in WAR. Shane Mack (.315-30-122, .928) and Kal Daniels (.316-28-93, .917) formed one of the most formidable tandems in the league, but accounted for two-thirds of the team's WAR. Bill Doran compiled a career-best .350 OBP and David Justice drove in 85 runs in his first full-year as a regular.

Turning Point: Mid June. A 4-11 skid destoyed the momentum of their 19-10 May, as the offense produced just one run in five times in a 10-game stretch.

82-78 (+2)
9th overall, 7th in runs, 13th in runs against

Once an offensive powerhouse, Seattle has been merely average the last two years. The club ranked just seventh in runs this year, its lowest finish since 1984, though it was red-hot during a 17-7 September that lifted the club to a winning record in GM Sean Sturgess' first year at the helm. Ricky Jordan hit .404 in August, and Chris Brown hit .400 in September, and Willie McGee hit .350 in the last two months, as all three surged into the top 10 in batting in the final week. McGee finished with 209 hits for his fourth straight 200-hit season and John Shelby (.293-25-106) led the team in home runs and RBIs for the third year in a row. 2B Delino DeShields, in his second year, led the league with 76 stolen bases and raised his average 40 points to .312.

The pitching again ranked 13th, with the bullpen a particular weakness. Lefties Mike Mason and Bruce Ruffin were solid, and Don Robinson was 14-9 with a team-best 160 strikeouts.  But closer Bill Caudill had a 4.54 ERA with 8 blown saves and 15 Meltdowns, despite 35 saves.

Chris Brown (.400, 20 RBI) and Tim Birtsas (4-1, 2.76) were dominant in the final month, leading the club to a strong 17-7 finish that sets the tone for 1992.

Turning Point: Already on the fringe of the race going into July, the R's lost six straight straddling the All-Star Game and were too far back for the September surge to get them back in the playoff hunt.

72-88 (+0)
12th overall, 12th in runs, 10th in runs against

In a case of deja-vu all over again, the San Francisco Spiders finish 72-88, the exact record from a year ago. It was one step forward and one step back, resulting in a net zero. The step forward was that the offense improve four spots to 12th and the Pythagorean wins improved by seven. The step back was the pitching remain mired in mediocrity and former ace and face of the franchise Jose Rijo was injured then spent most of the year in Triple-A Las Vegas.

Jose DeLeon stepped ably into the staff ace role, posting a 3.00 ERA  and 4.5 WAR. Greg Hibbard and Walt Terrell were again innings-eaters, with 200+ innings but below average ERAs. The Spids were worst in the league in extra innings (4-15) and second worst in one-run games (22-36). Bob James lead the league with 11 blown saves, and also had 17 Meltdowns and at least a half dozen temper tantrums.

At the plate, the offense improved by 0.3 runs per game and hit the most home runs since 1985 and the most doubles since 1966. 3B Travis Fryman (.310-20-98) had a breakout sophomore campaign and was especially hot in August (.343, .885 OPS) when the Spiders came to life for a 29-22 finish after a 43-66 start. Mark Grace rebounded partially from his 1990 collapse, improving 35 points to .311—a far cry from his .348 from two seasons ago. Sam Horn provided some pop off the bench, slugging an impressive .707 with 10 HR in 92 at-bats in mostly pinch-hitting duty. Rob Deer hit 27 homers, but his average dropped back to .211

Turning Point: April 17. It's never a good thing when you are eight games back two weeks into the season, yet that's where the Spiders found themselves after a seventh consecutive loss—and fourth by one run.

69-91 (+18)
14th overall, 18th in runs, 14th in runs against

The Pink Birds were the second most improved club in 1991, moving up 18 wins to 69 and climbing two spots to 7th in the West.

The pitching made the most forward strides, and the bullpen in particular was impressive with a 3.86 ERA, 10th in the league. Closer Stan Belinda posted a 2.44 ERA and notched 28 saves (for a 69-win team), and Mark Grant was 6-0, 2.98. Lefty starter Dave Fleming led the staff with a 3.69 ERA and Mike Mussina struck out 153. The Flamingos again struggled to score, ranking dead last in OPS and batting WAR. RF Tracy Jones (.285-21-58, 41 SB) led the team batting, homers, and steals; and Ken Gerhart led the team with 69 RBI. Frank Thomas (.269-20-66) again lead the league in walks with 106, but regressed a bit with 10 fewer homers and a 30-point dip in OPS.

Season Highlight:  The club went 10-2 in mid-June, coinciding with Frank Thomas' best batting month (.344, .995 OPS).

67-93 (-5)
15-T overall, 16th in runs, 16th in runs against

Denver once again entered the year with vague hopes of playoff contention, again started 16-12, again lost Ozzie Smith for the season in late June, and again plummeted into obscurity, culminating in back-to-back dumpster fire months in July and August, during which they went 16-36. The boys of summer they are not. In the last two years, the Peakers are a combined 36-68 in July and August.

The much-anticipated move to Ralph Carr Field (and out of Mile High Stadium) improved the pitching by 0.6 runs per game, but the offense fell of a cliff, dropping 1.2 runs to 3.9, third lowest in the league. Jesse Barfield's slugging dropped 115 points to .448, Tim Raines' batting average dipped 30 points to .312, and Ellis Valentine's 10 home runs was good for third on the team.

2B Mark McLemore and SP Ron Darling were the club's only All-Stars. McLemore, in his third year as a regular, hit .313 with .378 OBP and 29 SBs and Darling's 3.04 ERA was third-best in club history. Greg Harris excelled in a swing role, with a 2.67 ERA across 20 starts and 24 relief appearances. But the full rebuild is in effect, as GM Tim Smith has accumulated five second-round picks.

Turning Point: June 15. When San Francisco's Terry Steinbach plowed into Ozzie Smith to break up a double play, he also sent the Denver shortstop to the hospital with a season-ending brain injury. Denver was 35-36 before the attempted murder, and 32-57 after.

66-94 (-11)
17th overall, 14th in runs, 15th in runs against

The Red Blobs were 29-28 on June 1, just two games out of the playoff zone. And then the wheels, hubcaps, and axles fell off and they went 37-66 the rest of the year, compiling their largest loss total in a decade.

Atlanta scored fewer than 4.0 runs per game for just the fifth time in the club's 41-year history. They were 11th in OPS, 14th in runs, and 16th in batting and OBP. Tony Gwynn's .333 was 35 points off his career average and five regulars batted below .245. With an eye on rebuilding, GM Andy Chaney shipped off catcher Mike Stanley and longtime fan favorite Eric Davis on trade deadline deals, the latter fetching an historic haul of three first and three second round picks from Manhattan.

Fernando Valenzuela led the league in WAR for the second straight year, winning the strikeout title with 42 Ks in his last four starts. Beyond Fernie, the highlights were few and far between, but one was 1B Mark McGwire, who raised his average 30 points and his OPS 70 points en route to another 40 HR/110 RBI campaign. Darryl Kile, age 22, had the best ERA among pitchers with at least 30 innings (3.35), and Jaime Navarro won a surprise trip to the All-Star Game.

Turning Point:  June 24. The Toppers were 39-39 going into a three-game series at Kiner Field. They lost the opener 14-3, the first of four straight losses and the start of a 5-20 run that buried the club in the lower division.