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Atlanta's historic season keeps adding plot twists. With eight games to play, the Hilltoppers are within reach of the highest winning percentage in league history and need to finish 6-2 to end with just the third .700 season. And on Sep. 15 and Sep. 19, Atlanta had massive wins against their top two division rivals, teams that represent the "old guard" that the Hilltoppers have been smashing all year.

First, 38-year-old fifth starter Ed Whitson tossed the Toppers second no-hitter of the year, blanking Los Angeles 2-0 at Arroyo Seco Stadium. The win was symbolic, as Los Angeles has been the circuit's dominant pitching team for a decade. The two runs came on solo homers by Bret Boone and Manny Ramirez, the former the league's 6th-ranked second baseman who was acquired by trade in mid-July and the latter at 22-year-old sophomore having a breakout year.

Atlanta becomes the first team in UL history with two no-hitters in the same year. Perhaps more remarkably, the Atlanta Hilltoppers/Louisville Colonels franchise had just one no-hitter in its first 3,317 games (43.5 seasons): Johnny Antonelli's 1959 gem.  Then in a span of just over 50 days, they get two no-hitters. Whitson likely become the oldest pitcher to author a no-hitter. Don Larsen was 37 when he threw the Cleveland Barons' first no-no in 1967.

Cut to four days later, Sep. 19, at Aaron-Antonelli Field, packed house for a Monday afternoon game, with Darryl Kile on the mound against the Maroons' Scott Garrelts.  Over the next three hours, the Hilltoppers would dismantle St. Louis 15-1, outhitting them 19-4. Kile allowed a single run in 5.1 innings to push his record to 17-6. Rondell White homered twice, giving him a 30 HR/90 RBI season at age 22.  Tony Gwynn was 3-for-5, pushing his average to .325, points behind Dave Nilsson for his fifth batting title. Atlanta scored five runs in an inning twice, batting around in the fifth and clobbering three homers in the seventh. The rout was the biggest of the season for the Red Blobs, and there have been many.

With eight games remaining, the question is whether GM Andy Chaney will rest his big stars for the playoff run or keep his foot on the gas and try for United League history.

Toronto's 1-8 skid through Sept. 1 had the Polar Bears in fourth place five games back, and it seems that Toronto's hopes for a sixth playoff appearance in seven years was quickly fading away. But from Sept. 1, the P-Bears are 13-2. An 8-6 extra-inning win at Detroit Sept. 2 pulled them into third place. The next day, a 5-3 win at Hudson Yards pulled them into 2nd place and they have widened the margin ever since. A 9-0 win at the Frank gave them a 4.5-game lead over 3rd place Detroit and 6.5-game lead over 4th place Brooklyn; and a 6-5 win over Boston Sep. 20 moved them within one game of first place.

In short, in the span of less than 20 days, Toronto has climbed from 4th place to within a single game of the division lead. Key games will come Sep. 27 with back-to-back road tilts at Detroit and Boston.

In a historic season for bad teams, the Montreal Voyageurs are setting a new standard for futility, going 11-57 in the second half an losing a UL record 23 consecutive games. The skid includes four shutouts, nine games scoring one run, and four more scoring two runs—for a total of 17 games in the last 23 scoring two runs or less. And on the few occasions when they have produced five runs or more, they have managed to lose 5-6, 5-10, and 7-8. In fact, of the 23 losses, seven have been one-run contests, including losses of 2-3, 0-1,  2-3, 1-2, and 3-4.

Despite the epic collapse, Montreal does not own the inside track for the #1 spot in the draft pick lottery. That honor belongs to the Seattle Rainiers, who put together a 14-game losing streak of their own in early September. Seattle is 51-101, one game "ahead" of Montreal for last place. Two other teams (San Francisco and Denver) are on pace to comfortably loss 100 games, which would set a UL record for 100-loss teams.

A couple points of context: A) only 33 teams in 44 UL seasons have hit that loss total, or roughly 0.75 per season. B) Only one season (1963) has seen as many as three 100-loss teams. C) There is a remote possibility  there could be FIVE 100-loss teams, if Manhattan goes 1-7 in the final days.

              W  L    Pct
SEA  51 101  .336
MON  52 100  .342
SF   54  98  .355
DEN  56  94  .373
MAN  59  93  .388
WAS  61  91  .401

100-LOSS TEAMS                   MOST LOSSES IN A SEASON
3 1963                           1964 Louisville     118
2 1979                           1979 St. Louis      109
2 1985                           1990 Florida        109
2 1988                           1965 Atlanta        108
2 1989                           1978 Detroit        108
2 1990