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Coming into to 1993, most observers agreed that the Flyin' Lions 1992 title run was a case of lightning in a bottle—a flash in the pan—once in a blue moon—a rara avis—even an objet trouvé, as it were. Instead, Detroit again rolled the East Division, finishing 95-65, five games ahead of the pack, and clinching a second straight division crown. Detroit once again finished sixth in offense, while their pitching dropped from 3rd to 9th.

The offense was led by 1B Fred McGriff, who, as expected, did not repeat his .338-55-145, 8.2 WAR career year, but was still among the league's most productive cleanup hitters with .300-36-112, 5.6 WAR. Alongside the Crime Dog but Rookie of the Year favorite Ryan Klesko (.252-33-86). Throw in 94 RBIs from the Dave "The Wonder from Down Under" Nilsson, 88 from leadoff man Dwight Smith, and 76 from 2B Jeff Treadway, and you are looking at an elite offense.

On the pitching side, as expected Andy Benes did not repeat his 20-win season and Mark Wohlers did not repeat his single-season save record. But... Benes was 15-12, 3.75 and led the staff with 206 innings, and his relative dropoff was compensated by Chris Nabholz—who returned to form with a 3.07 ERA in 31 starts—and sophomore Alex Fernandez (18-6, 3.38). Wohlers notched just 29 saves, but trimmed his ERA to 1.70 and his WHIP to 1.14, while veteran Dave Beard got 12 wins and 17 saves with a 2.92 ERA in 67 relief appearances.

Brooklyn's league-best offense was led by batting champion Dion James (.342), the Screaming Bats' first batting champion since 1964—omen alert!—a Brooklyn title year. Brooklyn also got 35 HR and 110 RBI out of 3B Matt Williams and a third straight 8.0+ WAR season from 22-year-old CF Ken Griffey Jr., whose torrid finish (1.024 OPS in August, .343 batting in September) helped lift Brooklyn past Toronto and Manhattan for 2nd place. 2B Geronimo Pena continued his evolution into an elite middle infielder. Pena hit .300-16-83, .828, posted a 6.9 WAR and led the league with 120 runs and 753 PA.

And Brooklyn's pitching finished in the top 4 for the first time in 11 years, led by ace Ramon Martinez (18-5, 2.92), who briefly co-led the league in ERA with brother Pedro. Kevin Brown was 15-5 with a career-best 3.35 ERA; fourth-year lefty Steve Avery set career marks with 15 wins, 209 IP, and 156 K; and 32nd overall pick Blas Minor came out of nowhere to record 30 saves with a 2.80 ERA. Minor was a key component of the Bas' stretch drive, with 7 SV and a 0.50 ERA in September.

Another key late contributor was veteran slugger Bob Horner, who was left for dead after OPSing .732 last year, including a .171 average in 49 games with L.A. Horner wasn't much better for most of the year, batting .252 with 7 HR through August, but then reclaimed the sweet swing that won his six HR titles, batting .352-7-17, 1.123 in his last 19 games. The late spurt pushed Horner's career HR tally to 622—#3 all-time and just 65 behind all-time home run champion Orlando Cepeda.

Toronto makes a playoff return after a one-year absence. The P-Bears took the biggest hit from the injury bug, with a league high 495 IL days and $3.6 million salary on the IL, but benefitted from a full year of a healthy Dwight Gooden, who had just five starts in 1992. The four-time Cy Young winner set himself for a likely fifth award with a 20-10, 3.05 campaign with 234 Ks. The 28-year-old ace was 14-10 on Aug, then rattled off six straight wins, getting #20 on the last day of the season. It was his fifth 20-win season and the fourth time he led the league in WAR. A decade into his career, Gooden is 170-71 with a 2.75 ERA, 2424 strikeouts, and a 79.2 WAR. Brian Holman turned in his third straight 15-win season while slicing his ERA over two points to 2.92

Toronto's offense was still the motor behind their success, though they fell from the top spot in run production after a five-year run. Their 246 home runs was 65 more than any other team and nearly 100 more than the league average. Four batters hit at least 37 dingers, led by 1B Eric Karros (.264-41-115), who doubled his career highs for homers and RBIs on his way to a 4.1 WAR season. Mickey Tettleton (39/89), John Shelby (37/93), and Ellis Burks (37/92) completed the Murderer's Row.

 Manhattan's playoff odds were essentially zero at the midway point. The Gray Sox were 49-51 and eight games out of the playoff zone on July 20, but were 37-11 over the next two months, making them by far the hottest team in the league. A 2-1 win over Keystone on Sept. 15 found Manhattan in sole possession of 1st place—an unimaginable situation just weeks before.

However, as the baseball gods giveth, the baseball gods taketh away. Just when it looked like there was no stopping them, the Dingy Hose fell into one of the worst-timed slumps in club history. dropping 10 of their last 12 games to crash out of the four-way pennant race, ending up seven games back and two game out of the playoffs.

Manhattan's formula was the same as in recent years: a top-3 offense paired with mediocre pitching (both heavily affected by the most hitter-friendly park in the league). The 33-year-old Joe Carter had a late-career resurgence, batting .303-35-94, .908—all career highs—while leading the league with a .587 SLG. Unsung 1B Ed Sprague OPSed over .915 for a second straight year, while pushing his WAR to 4.1, and CF Tom Brunansky drove in 84 runs.

The staff ERA improved dramatically, by 75 points to 3.85. Matt Young, age 35, posted career-best 17 wins, 3.15 ERA, and 207 Ks; while 32-year-old Ken Howell pitching out his mind (15-8, 2.94 after a career 4.48 ERA in his first nine seasons. Closer Heathcliff Slocumb got 8 wins and 26 saves with a 2.75 ERA in 82 appearances.

The Sox final collapse came down to pitching meltdowns and failing in the clutch. Manhattan allowed 10 runs on three occasions in the last two weeks and was 0-4 against the other three East Division contenders in the final 12 days.

The see-saw Voyageurs bounced back over .500 this year, but never really challenged for the playoff spots. Their pitching regressed three spots to 15th, but the offense more than compensated, finishing in the top 3 in runs for the first time since 1975.

The young outfield trio of Junior Felix (.302-24-96), Luis Gonzalez (.251-25-108), and Larry Walker (.317-20-85) led the attack, while rookie 1B Bret Boone contributed 25 HR and 77 RBI, both figures second among rookies.

The rotation ERA ranked second from bottom, though Mike Scott (15-13, 3.81) turned in one of his finest campaigns at the age of 37 and closer Lee Smith overtook Steve Howe for the career save record with 15 saves in the last two months.

First, the good news: the expansion Starlings have improved every year. The bad news is their win totals have creeped upwards at a snail's pace, from 63 to 64 to 67 to 69. At this rate, Keystone should be in playoff contention by 2003. The Murmuring again ranked 17th in pitching for a third straight year, and the offense was in the bottom quarter. There were some bright spots, however.

Keystone ranked 7th in home runs, led by Tim Salmon (.254-36-86, .855), whose production regressed a bit from Rookie of the Year campaign. Jeff Bagwell, in his second full year, smashed 31 homers with an .841 OPS. Veteran righthander Scott Bankhead showed tremendous resilience, recovering from a disastrous 1992 (5-20, 4.48) with a career year (18-10, 3.33), while rookies Kirk Rueter (3.93 ERA and 2.3 WAR in 231 IP) and Butch Henry (3.27 ERA, 1.4 WAR in 10 starts) both had solid debuts.

With a bevy of young stars already in starting roles and the league's top-rated farm system, look for the Starlings to take flight sooner rather than later.

Through no fault of first-year GM Jason Gudim, the Monuments rate as the season's biggest disappointment. Rated 5th in BNN and 9th in Reed's rating count, the Mons finished 15th overall, regressing by 23 games to their worst record in 11 years. To find the reason, one need look no further than the offense. After ranking 8th with 4.6 runs per game last year, Washington put up only 3.5 runs, a full 1.1 run decline, good for 16th in the league.

Check out these year-on-year OPS numbers: Wade Boggs -73, Rich Gedman -80, Ryne Sandberg -152, Kirby Puckett -175. Those four players added up to 19.8 WAR this year, down more than 5.0 from last year. Sandberg's .713 OPS represents a career low, though he still managed 5.3 WAR because of his glove. Puckett's collapse was one of the most precipitous in recent UL history. The 33-year-old right fielder's average and OBP dropped 71 points, and his SLG 104 points. His 18 doubles and 13 homers were career lows since he became a regular in 1987, and his 107 strikeouts shattered his previous high. On the bright side, SS Mariano Duncan improved after a down year last season, and 36-year-old Hubie Brooks hit .301 in 82 games.

The pitching side saw lefty Teddy Higuera (8-18, 3.45) have one of his worst seasons, just two years removed from win, ERA, and WHIP titles. Bret Saberhagen's replacement Tom Glavine had a great start to his Washington career, with a 7-4 record and 2.86 ERA in 13 starts. And 29-year-old Randy Johnson, with his third club in five years, pitched a career high 225 innings and 178 strikeouts, posting a respectable 3.71 ERA and 2.7 WAR.

The loss of Barry Bonds and to a lesser extent, Edgar Martinez, had an immediate effect, as Boston's office dropped from 5th to 10th. Making matters worse, the pitching also declined, at least relatively, from 14th to 16th, though runs per game were down from 4.8 to 4.4. The net result was a 13 game decline to 67 wins, good for 8th in the East and 16th overall.

In Bonds' absence, Sammy Sosa ably took over the role of primary run producer, hitting 44 HR and 99 RBI despite a .247 average. Sophomore catcher Mike Piazza hit .286-30-89, and newcomer Kal Daniels blending in well, batting .297-21-57 in 65 games.

Pat Hentgen was again the top starter, and while his 9-8 record was a far cry from last year's 15-9, his 3.08 ERA narrowly missed the top 10. Rookie rightie Ryan Bowen (3.77 ERA and 203 K in 29 starts) was second among rookies with a 2.2 WAR, and new closer Paul Assenmacher's impressive 34 saves by his 16 meltdowns (2nd most) and 13 losses (most for a reliever).

Barons fans suffered through a ninth straight non-winning season, but this was the second worst team in club history, racking up 104 losses thanks to the 2nd worst offense in UL history. Cleveland averaged 3.06 runs per game, .07 more than the 1981 Washington Monuments. That Washington team was in the playoffs within three years and won a UL title within six. That's clearly the path that GM Charlie Qualls is charting. With a suprise title by the Triple-A Texas Twisters, led by Jim Edmonds and Ken Hill; five high picks next year, including the 1st and 4th chances in the draft lottery; as well as a new ballpark on the horizon, the rebirth of the Barons is coming into full view.

A few (moderately) bright spots: 1B Will Clark led the club with a .281 average and collected a career-high 167 hits. LF Jose Canseco mashed 31 HR, the most since Eddie Murray in 1989. SP Bill Wegman earned a 2.80 ERA and managed a 6-5 record, which earned him a trade to Detroit for cash at the trade deadline.

The Colts were neck-and-neck with L.A. all season and with St. Louis for most of the season, but did not clinch the pennant until the final game. Chicago and Brooklyn were the only teams in the top 5 in both batting and pitching.

Sophomore lefty Steve Cooke was sensational, going 18-4, 2.38 including 20 consecutive shutout innings over his last three starts—the last two wins over Los Angeles. One could fairly say that Cooke single-handedly stole the pennant from the Outlaws. Erik Hanson was again fantastic, with a fourth straight year with an ERA under 3.20, over 200 innings and at least 3.8 WAR. Finally, closer Todd Burns had a 2.48 ERA and league-leading 44 saves.

At the plate, Gary Sheffield posted his second straight 8.2 WAR season, solidifying his claim as one of—if not THE—top young sluggers. Sheff hit .299-34-81, .868. Albert Belle, two years Sheffield's senior at the age of 25, batted .301-33-104, and veteran Eric Davis, in his first full season with the Ponies, contributed .269-32-93

Excluding Mickey Morandini, who was traded to Toronto three weeks after fracturing his knee, the Colts largely avoided the injury bug. But their luck ran out on the penultimate day of the season, while 1B John Olerud tore his quad running extra hard during a 15-1 rout at Florida. The injury will rule him out of the playoffs.

 L.A. ran its record streak to 13 straight playoff appearances, and missed their 13th division pennant by two games. It was the usual Outlaws formula of elite pitching matched with adequate, but consistent batting.

Newcomer Joe Magrane, acquired in the trade that sent Dave Beard to Cleveland, was the top hurler, going 13-10, 2.89 with a league-best 0.4 HR/9. Floyd Youmans (3.86) had his worst ERA in three years, but still managed a 16-7 record and 233 Ks. Bruce Hurst won 15 and Todd Frohwirth saved 39.

#4-5 hitters Frank Thomas and Cory Snyder both had 40/100 seasons, Pat Tabler hit .337, and Stan Javier won his third Willie Mays Award (each with a different team).

The Maroons were within three games of first as late as Aug. 24, but a late-season swoon first wiped out any pennant pretensions, then threatened a playoff berth. St. Louis was 13-18 down the stretch and would have dropped to fourth if not for Havana's parallel slump.

St. Louis was 7th in runs and 8th in runs allowed, marking the first time since 1982 they did not rank in the top 6 in one category or the other. The rotation ranked 14th but was saved by the bullpen, which ranked 3rd. Closer Rob Dibble had 37 saves and a 1.57 ERA, while Alejandro Pena had 5 saves and 2.04.

As expected, Barry Bonds and Rafael Palmeiro created the lion's share of offense. What was not expected the Maroons dropping five spots to 7th in offense. Bonds hit .292-49-124, and led the league with .960 OPS, 9.4 WAR, and a more obscure, but telling category: share of team RBIs (17.9%). Palmeiro hit .298-37-100, .893, producing his lowest RBIs and SLG in five years, but that is probably accounted for in park effects along since he moved from Toronto. As for the rest of the offense, Tony Phillips' production was way down (-24 RBI, -124 OPS), Robin Yount's production was way down (-43 RBI, -104 OPS), and Lenny Dykstra's production was way down (-50 average, -128 OPS).

The Maroons' 87 wins equaled their 1991 total, their lowest since 1983.  So while the record books will show a three-team stranglehold on the West's playoff spots for these last years, the reality is that St. Louis continues to flirt with the floor of the playoff zone.

A fourth fourth-place finish in four years, by 2, 4, 9, and 2 games. Such is GM Lance Mueller's fate. The only thing that could possibly be more frustrating would be losing the World Series to the same team four years in a row. Oh wait? That did happen. And it was the same damn guy? So let's call this ERA the Reed-blocks-Mueller Era, Part II.

Despite all that recent (and ancient) history, this Leones team feels like it is on the brink of breaking through. Their 84 wins were the second most in club history, their 180 home runs ranked 3rd in the league, and the starting rotation ranked 7th.

Mark Langston, age 33, at long last had an ERA under 3.00 (2.80), Tim Scott had 33 saves and a 2.00 ERA in his first year as a closer, and C Mike Stanley ran up his two-year RBI total to 230.

A 15-12 August combined with St. Louis' slump got Havana into the playoff race, but a 7-7 finish was not enough to close the gap, leaving the Leones to hope (again) that next year is the breakthrough year.

 The Flamingos were the most improved team, winning 26 more games, transforming from a 104-loss, dead-last team to a club that was briefly in playoff contention in early September. What was being the Pink Birds rapid ascent? The offense improved by 0.4 runs per game and the pitching by 0.6, a nearly 1.0 change in run differential. To put this improvement in context, only five other teams since 1970 have improved by more than 26 games.

The offense was fueled by two newcomers: Former Polar Bear Ivan Calderon (.322-28-101) was 3rd in batting and 6th in WAR, while former Hilltopper Mark McGwire (.254-30-92) had his fifth straight 30-homer season. Calderon also surpassed 200 hits for the second year in a row.

On the pitching side, third-year SP Mike Mussina had a breakout year (13-9, 2.85, 6.3 WAR), second-year SP Shane Reynolds trimmed his ERA by 50 points to 3.68, and former Federal Bob Sebra established career marks with 12 wins, 3.54 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, and 2.7 WAR.

The Flamingos core is very young, and there are several more pieces in the pipeline, so expect this team to be in the mix for the next several years.

The Toppers pitching staff was the best in eight years and the 11th best of all time. The Red Blogs allowed just 3.30 runs per game, the lowest clip since the 1985 Los Angeles Outlaws. How good was Atlanta's pitching? They ranked #1 in runs against, starters ERA, bullpen ERA, FIP, pitching WAR, and strikeouts—essentially every major pitching category. Four starters had ERAs under 3.25 and closer Steve Howe's 1.56 was the league-best for relievers with at least 50 innings. Valenzuela's ERA title was his second (1988) and his 6.1 WAR was his sixth straight 5+ WAR season.

On the offensive side, there wasn't much to see. The Red Blobs were next-to-last in runs, Tony Gwynn (.329) was the only regular to bat better than .272, and Manny Ramirez' 18 HR in a half-season was enough to lead the team. On the milestone front, Gwynn got his 2500th hit on the penultimate game of the season, becoming the 18th hitter to reach that plateau, and beating his arch-nemesis Wade Boggs, who finished the season at 2489.

Another year of turmoil in the City by the Bay. Just when it seemed the Spiders had found a new GM to take over the trouble franchise, he stopped showing up to the office and answering calls, leaving interim GM Darrell Evans to take the reins for the full season. The result was predictable—an 11th losing season in 13 years—though their 75 wins was the fourth-best during that stretch.

Three Spiders stood out for their 1993 performances. SS Barry Larkin (.278-21-84, .780) was 8th in WAR, with his improved defense compensating for his lowest batting average and OPS in four years. SP Jose DeLeon (11-8, 3.02) was fifth in WAR and 10th in strikeouts and set career marks with 235 innings, 225 Ks, and 5.3 WAR. And SP Steve Trachsel, the 23rd overall pick this year, won Rookie of the Month twice and led all rookies with 13 wins and a 3.24 ERA.

Entering the year as the fifth-ranked team in the West according the Reed's Read, expectations were high that the 14ers would finally make a playoff push. However, after a 4-5 start, the Teeners lost nine in a row, and never came close to sniffing .500 thereafter.

Denver's pitching was the best in franchise history at 3.9 runs against, but that is largely a relic of the new Frank Carr Field, which opened last year. Still, the team ranked 6th in runs against and pitchers WAR for just the second time in club history. The top hurler was sophomore southpaw Donovan Osborne (11-10, 2.93, 1.10 WHIP, 4.2 WAR), but newcomer Roger Clemens (3.67 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 259 K, 3.9 WAR) also had a solid season.

Offensively, the $10 million man, Roberto Alomar, batted .306-13-69, .799 for a 5.7 WAR, while designated masher Dan Pasqua overcame a slow start and hit 18 of his 28 homers in the second half. Besides Alomar and Pasqua, no other batter had more than 50 RBIs, and Mark McLemore's .273 was the second best batting average, as the offense hit is lowest point in seven years.

Seattle regressed by 16 games this year, thanks to the league's worst pitching staff combined with a below-average offense, and its 96 losses are a new club record. The only above-league average pitchers were SP David West (3.96 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 1.1 WAR) and rookie reliever Trevor Hoffman (2.40 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 65 appearances).

A traditionally strong hitting team, the Rainiers could manage just 11th in batting average, which used to be their strong suit, 14th in OPS, and dead last in home runs. Newcomers Alvin Davis and Rickey Henderson put up 4.0+ WAR seasons and Delino DeShields led the league in stolen bases for a third straight year, but beyond that, almost every regular had an off-year. CF Willie McGee, a career .330 hitter, hit .294; Chris Brown's OPS plummeted from .906 to .688; and 2B Harold Reynolds' .248 average and .634 OPS were 40 and 90 points below his career averages.

If there is a bright side, it is that most of the club seems to have slumped simultaneously, and therefore should bounce back in 1994, and the club landed in the #2 spot in the draft lottery, giving them a shot at the likes of A-Rod, Garrett Anderson, or Chan Ho Park.