Wildest Season in UL History?
Atlanta Dominates With Epic Pitching Amid League Bifurcation
Four Teams Win 98+; Five Teams Lose 98+
The twists and turns and moments of high drama in the 1994 UL season were enough to fill a Russian novel.
• Atlanta won 110 games, the most in 30+ years, behind the greatest pitching staff in UL history.
• 22-year-old Pedro Martinez and 38-year-old Ed Whitson became the first teammates to throw no-hitters in the same season.
• Year of the Pitcher: Lowest scoring in league history. 3.79 runs per game per team shatters previous record of 3.94 in 1983. Three 20-game winners for first time since 1972.
• Toronto was barely over .500 in late June, then went 32-7 to climb four spots to 1st, slumped back to 4th by Sept. 1, and finished 19-4 to surge a franchise-best 101 wins.
• Boston improved by 32 games, but ended the season on a sour note after blowing a three-game lead with 10 games to go.
• Brooklyn won one more game than last year's World Series team, but somehow managed to drop to fifth.
• Florida and Keystone, the 1990 expansion teams, finished 4th in their respective divisions; the Starlings improved by 23 games and both teams were in the playoff hunt until the final week.
• Los Angeles and St. Louis quietly and reliably advanced to their 14th and 12th straight postseasons, while Detroit made it 11 out of 14.
• Four teams won 98 games (previous record: 2)
• Six teams lost 98 games (previous record: 3)
• Only 8 teams (44%) between .400 and .600 (previous record: 57%)
World Series Teams Miss Playoffs
Colts, Superbas Stumble
Turmoil in the Chicago front office and a late season collapse in Red Hook landed the two defending World Series teams in unfamiliar territory: out of the playoffs. Both clubs dropped from 2nd to 5th in their respective divisions: Chicago by winning 14 fewer games and Brooklyn, amazingly, despite improving by a game. It marks just the second time in the expanded playoff era (1974) that neither World Series team made the postseason the following year. (In 1981, Boston and San Francisco dropped from the playoff field.)
The dramatic drop is all the more shocking considering the historic stability of recent years and the fact that both ballclubs were considered on the ascent. Since 1990, the same three clubs—Chicago included—had a vise grip on the West's postseason slots. And Brooklyn was widely picked as one of the title favorites in preseason polls.
PLAYOFF TEAMS MISSING THE PLAYOFFS
Winners W L Overall Runner-Up W L Overall
1975 SF 79 77 7th
1977 BRO 80 76 7th
1978 LA 92 64 5th
1980 MAN 91 61 3rd
1981 BOS 82 70 6th 1981 SF 63 89 11th
1983 MON 79 77 9th
1988 WAS 87 75 7th
1992 TOR 83 77 7th
1994 CHI 83 77 10th 1994 BRO 91 69 7th
Expansion: Five Years In
Flamingos, Starlings Are Contenders
Five years after entering the league as expansion teams, both the Florida Flamingos and Keystone Starlings were legitimate contenders this year, not being elimated until the final week of the season. Florida was within a couple games of third-place Los Angeles for almost the entire second half, while Keystone's late surge saw them overtake Brooklyn to land in fourth place.
Keystone's 23-game surge comes a year after Florida's big leap. In 1993, the Pink Birds improved by 26 games to jump from last to fifth in the West.
So where do these clubs rank relative to previous expansion teams? The best expansion team in UL history was arguably the Montreal Voyageurs, who made the playoffs in their second year (1975) and averaged 84 wins in their first five seasons. The Dallas Texans (now Seattle Rainiers) set the record for the best first-year record for an expansion team, with 97 wins in 1962, but despite that amazing start did not make the playoffs until their 20th season and have the second longest UL title drought after the Cleveland Barons, a UL founder club.
The San Francisco Spiders were the fastest to a title, stunning the Brooklyn Superbas in the 1959 World Series, their fifth season. Los Angeles, clearly the most successful franchise overall, took 14 years for its first playoff appearance and 27 for its first World Series win in 1981.
EXPANSION TEAMS AFTER FIVE YEARS
Avg First First
Wins Playoffs Title
1974 MON 84 MON 2nd SF 5th
1962 DAL 80 TOR 5th MAN 7th
1984 TOR 78 SF 5th TOR 7th
1962 MAN 75 MAN 7th MON 9th
1990 KEY 71 DEN 7th LA 27th
1984 HAV 71 LA 14th DAL -
1955 LA 70 DAL 20th DEN -
1990 FLO 69 HAV - HAV -
1955 SF 69 FLO - FLO -
1974 DEN 67 KEY - KEY -
Average 73 9th 15th
What about Florida vs Keystone in other categories? Florida's best pitcher, Mike Mussina, has 20.4 career WAR, compared to Scott Bankhead's 11.1. While Keystone's best hitter, Tim Salmon's 18.3 WAR is better than Ivan Calderon's 11.1, though Calderon has been with Florida just two seasons. Both teams had three All-Stars this year, Keystone has had two Rookies of the Year (Baerga and Salmon) to Florida's one (Frank E. Thomas), but Florida has had three Ullies to Keystone's zero. Finally, Keystone leads the all-time head-to-head series, 21-20.
Year of the Pitcher
Runs at All-Time Low, Aided by Record Defense
Among all the records and feats of the 1994 season, one that fell below the radar is the single-season record for fewest runs per game. UL clubs scored an average of 3.79 runs per game, breaking the 1983 record by 15 points. This year's league WHIP was also an all-time low (1.23). The 3.63 league ERA was only 4th best, which reflects yet another record broken this year: the league's .991 fielding percentage. League fielding averaged around .983 in the late 80s, but has jumped to .990 since 1990.
TOP PITCHING SEASONS
RA ERA WHIP
1994 3.79 1st 3.63 4th 1.23 1st
1983 3.94 2nd 3.60 2nd 1.27 4th
1984 3.94 3rd 3.60 1st 1.27 2nd
1985 4.00 4th 1.28 5th
1993 4.02 5th 1.27 3rd
1970 3.63 3rd
1973 3.64 5th
Pedro Martinez' July 27th perfect game was just the seventh in league history and the first accompanied by 15 strikeouts. The performance is ranked tied for second all time by Game Score, with only Whitey Ford's 12-inning, three-hit shutout in 1967 ahead of it. [Side note related to Pitcher of the Year: Dave Nilsson's .331 was the third lowest average for a batting champion and the lowest since Joe Torre's .324 in 1973.]
However, look closer and you will find that 1994 also produced the second-greatest hitting performance of all time. On July 20, Boston's Jim Thome had a 5-for-6 day at the plate, which included 3 HR and 7 RBI. There have been 124 homer hat tricks in UL history, but only four coincided with five-hit games. Amazingly, three of the four happened this season: Tom Brunansky (MAN) on Apr. 3, Matt Williams (BRO) on June 12, and Thome's game. The only other was by Dick Kokos (STL) in 1961. Kokos drove in 8 runs that day, but was only 5-for-7 with 3 runs, while Thome was 5-for-6 with 4 runs. Any way you slice it, it is a curious thing that 1994 was simultaneously the "year of the pitcher" and also the year with some of the best individual hitting exploits in UL history.
Ups and Downs
Atlanta, Boston Are Most Improved
Three teams improved by more than 20 games this year, including emerging juggernaught Atlanta; Boston, which led the East for much of the second half; and Keystone, which surpassed won 92 after never previously surpassing 70 wins.
At the other end, East Division's Montreal and Manhattan dropped by 27 and 26 games, respectively, while San Francisco and Denver regressed by 17 and 16 games.
YEAR-ON-YEAR CHANGE IN WIN TOTALS
'93 '94 Δ
ATL 110 77 +33
BOS 99 67 +32
KEY 92 69 +23
CLE 71 56 +15
TOR 101 90 +11
STL 98 87 +11
FLO 86 82 +4
BRO 91 90 +1
DET 94 95 -1
WAS 62 68 -6
LA 88 95 -7
HAV 77 84 -7
SEA 55 64 -9
CHI 83 97 -14
DEN 57 73 -16
SF 58 75 -17
MAN 62 88 -26
MON 56 83 -27
Hex Series Preview
Reed, Vays Face Off for Fifth Time
BOSTON vs DETROIT
W-L Ovr HTH GM Titles Series Games
BOS 99-61 3rd 6-5 MWaller 1 9-6 48-41
DET 94-66 7th 5-6 Holloway 3 8-7 42-42
Prior Meetings: Holloway 8-5
1984 WS: DET 4-2 WAS
1992 SS: DET 4-3 WAS
ST. LOUIS vs LOS ANGELES
W-L Ovr HTH GM Titles Series Games
STL 98-62 4th 9-2 Reed 12 19-16 106-84
LA 88-72 8th 2-9 Vays 3 13-13 72-77
Prior Meetings: Vays 14-8
1983 SS: LA 4-0 STL
1985 WS: LA 4-3 STL
1988 SS: STL 4-2 LA
1993 HS: LA 4-1 STL
Griffins to Sport a New Logo?
Who's Down with GBC?
by Sean Holloway, UL Beat Reporter
With this cable TV thing starting to take off, the UL is doing its best to stay relevant. Combine cable with this other new thing, the Internets, and Commissioner Tim Smith is on a quest to keep the UL fresh, exciting and at the forefront of all new media. As such, Smith has created and been releasing possible updates to each UL team’s logo.
As such, I recently covered a presser (in Conference Room P at UL HQ) called by Griffins GM Sean Holloway, and to say it was wild would be an understatement. Holloway, strangely unaccompanied by the Griffins special team assistant, Lance Mueller, was, however, accompanied by what appeared to be a six-foot tall fox – or at least a person in a fox costume.
Stated Holloway. “We have taken this re-design of the Griffins logo to heart, and I am here to announce that we like what the Commish has created so much that we are adding the logo to our special alternate third strip, which we will wear on the third Sunday of every month when Saturn is in retrograde.”
Holloway interrupted himself and loudly whispered “Damn it, Haugh! I told you to stop trying to kneecap me with that police baton!”
“Sorry, Shane!” Replied Haugh.
“And stop calling me Shane!” Snapped Holloway.
Holloway then continued. “And that’s not all! Wait until you see this!” At that, Holloway raised a curtain and proudly displayed the logo that would appear on the alternate strip.
“And, if that’s not enough, these awesome shirts will be on sale as well! We had to abbreviate a bit due to printing costs and the fact that I’m a cheap bastard, but we think these are the bomb – simple yet elegant – and the ‘GBC’ for ‘Griffins Ball Club’ is just awesome!”
After saying that, Holloway walked around the stage to ensure everyone could see the shirt clearly. A reporter shouted to show everyone what was on the back, and that’s when the conspicuously absent Lance Mueller suddenly threw open the entrance doors and shouted “No!”.
But it was too late. Holloway had turned so the back of his shirt could be seen, and all the entire conference room could see was “THON” emblazoned in capital letters. Mueller gasped; Holloway grinned, and the reporters looked befuddled.
What does this mean? Stay tuned as I attempt to sort out what just happened.
HORNER'S CORNER
Horner's Cepeda Chase
Bob Horner ended the year with 14 home runs, equaling his 1993 total and three better than in 1992. The 36-year-old overtook Mickey Mantle for 2nd all-time and is 51 behind the all-time leader Orlando Cepeda.
All-Time Home Run Leaders
Player Total
Orlando Cepeda 687
Bob Horner 636
Mickey Mantle 634
West W L GB 2ndH R RA
Atlanta 110 50 - 51-25 3 1
St. Louis 98 62 12 51-25 4 6t
Los Angeles 88 72 22 42-34 9 3
Florida 86 74 24 42-34 10 6t
Chicago 83 77 27 42-34 11 2
Havana 77 83 33 31-46 8 11
San Francisco 58 102 52 27-49 15 16
Denver 57 103 53 27-50 17 14
Seattle 55 105 55 24-52 18 15
East W L GB 2ndH R RA
Toronto 101 59 - 56-20 1 8
Boston 99 61 2 50-26 2 9
Detroit 94 66 7 42-34 5 4
Keystone 92 68 9 46-30 6 12
Brooklyn 91 69 10 39-37 7 5
Cleveland 71 89 30 41-35 12 10
Manhattan 62 98 39 32-44 14 18
Washington 62 98 39 27-49 16 13
Montreal 56 104 45 15-61 13 17
Batting Average
Dave Nilsson DET .331
Carlos Baerga KEY .320
Tony Gwynn ATL .318
Bip Roberts MON .317
Ken Griffey Jr BRO .315
Kal Daniels BOS .313
Juan Gonzalez TOR .309
Barry Bonds STL .306
Larry Walker CLE .306
Dwight Smith DET .306
RBIs
Barry Bonds STL 135
Ken Griffey Jr BRO 130
Ryan Klesko DET 130
Tim Salmon KEY 123
Jim Thome BOS 120
Raffy Palmeiro STL 114
Bret Boone ATL 111
Eric Karros TOR 109
Howard Johnson HAV 106
Mike Piazza BOS 106
Infield Zone Rating
Cal Ripken Jr STL 17.7
Alan Trammell CHI 15.6
Jay Bell LA 10.8
Rey Sanchez LA 8.5
Jose Valentin ATL 8.2
Home Runs
Barry Bonds STL 52
Eric Karros TOR 48
Tim Salmon KEY 46
Ryan Klesko DET 43
Sammy Sosa BOS 43
Eric Davis CHI 41
Ken Griffey Jr BRO 41
Mickey Tettleton TOR 40
Howard Johnson HAV 39
Jim Thome BOS 39
bWAR
Ken Griffey Jr BRO 10.5
Barry Bonds STL 10.3
Eric Davis CHI 9.1
Sammy Sosa BOS 8.7
Jose Valentin ATL 8.4
Dave Nilsson DET 8.3
Rich Gedman STL 8.3
Ryne Sandberg WAS 7.9
Andy Van Slyke LA 7.4
Tony Phillips STL 7.2
Outfield Zone Rating
Eric Davis CHI 16.1
Ken Griffey Jr BRO 14.3
Stan Javier LA 13.6
Shane Mack HAV 11.4
Gar. Anderson SF 10.5
Earned Run Average
Pedro Martinez ATL 1.80
F. Valenzuela ATL 2.21
Mike Mussina FLO 2.23
Joe Magrane STL 2.24
Floyd Youmans LA 2.43
T. Mulholland CHI 2.50
Greg Swindell LA 2.67
Darryl Kile ATL 2.74
Ismael Valdez CLE 2.74
Jaime Navarro CLE 2.79
Strikeouts
Pedro Martinez ATL 340
Floyd Youmans LA 289
Fern Valenzuela ATL 274
Mike Mussina FLO 267
Dwight Gooden TOR 238
Steve Cooke CHI 235
Jon Lieber BOS 234
Scott Sanders DET 230
Jose DeLeon KEY 221
Donovan Osborne CHI 221
Wins
Mike Mussina FLO 22
F. Valenzuela ATL 22
Joe Magrane STL 21
Pedro Martinez ATL 19
Kirk Rueter KEY 19
Brian Anderson BOS 18
Kevin Brown BRO 17
Dwight Gooden TOR 17
Bruce Hurst LA 17
Darryl Kile ATL 17
pWAR
Pedro Martinez ATL 9.5
Mike Mussina FLO 7.1
Fern Valenzuela ATL 7.0
Dwight Gooden TOR 6.4
Bret Saberhagen BOS 6.1
Floyd Youmans LA 6.0
Jon Lieber BOS 5.2
Butch Henry KEY 5.1
Tom Glavine WAS 5.1
Darryl Kile ATL 4.8
Batter of the Month
APR Raffy Palmeiro STL
MAY Tim Salmon KEY
JUN Ken Griffey Jr BRO
JUL Barry Bonds STL
AUG Howard Johnson HAV
SEP Mike Stanley KEY
Pitcher of the Month
APR Mike Mussina FLO
MAY Mike Mussina FLO
JUN Pat Hentgen BOS
JUL Pedro Martinez ATL
AUG Fern Valenzuela ATL
SEP Bruce Hurst LA
Rookie of the Month
APR Aaron Sele KEY
MAY Jon Lieber BOS
JUN Jim Edmonds CLE
JUL Salomon Torres CLE
AUG Salomon Torres CLE
SEP Angel Miranda STL
Player of the Week
4/11 Kal Daniels BOS
4/18 Tim Salmon KEY
4/25 Shane Mack HAV
5/2 Jeff Bagwell KEY
5/9 Greg Colbrunn ATL
5/16 Ken Griffey Jr BRO
5/23 Andy Van Slyke LA
5/30 Matt Williams BRO
6/6 Ron Karkovice LA
6/13 Matt Williams BRO
6/20 Ken Griffey Jr BRO
6/27 Barry Bonds STL
7/4 Ken Caminiti MAN
7/11 Frank Thomas LA
7/18 Ron Gant TOR
7/25 Mike Piazza BOS
8/1 Eric Karros TOR
8/8 Bret Boone ATL
8/15 Barry Bonds STL
8/22 Eric Davis CHI
8/29 Bob Horner MAN
9/5 Dwight Smith DET
9/12 Kal Daniels BOS
9/19 Mike Stanley KEY
9/26 Carlos Baerga KEY
May 14 - HAV Lenny Dykstra 500 stolen bases (#20 all-time)
May 16 - ATL Tony Gwynn 500 stolen bases (#21 all-time)
May 18 - LA Andy Van Slyke 700 stolen bases (#5 all-time)
May 25 - TOR Dwight Gooden 2,500 strikeouts (#22 all-time)
June 5 - BOS Mike Scott 2,000 strikeouts (#42 all-time)
June 6 - ATL Wade Boggs 1,000 runs (#57 all-time)
June 7 - SEA Alvin Davis 1,000 RBIs (#48 all-time)
July 1 - DEN Ozzie Smith 1,000 runs (#58 -all-time)
July 7 - HAV Lenny Dykstra 1,000 runs (#59 all-time)
July 15 - BRO Robin Yount 3,000 hits (#4 all-time)
July 18 - SEA Willie McGee 1,000 runs (#60 all-time)
July 18 - LA Don Robinson 200 win (#19 all-time)
July 24 - TOR Ellis Burks 300 home runs (#43 all-time)
July 26 - CHI Eric Davis 1,000 RBIs (#48 all-time)
July 28 - WAS Ryne Sandberg 2,000 hits (#51 all-time)
Aug. 18 - KEY Jesse Barfield 300 home runs (#44 all-time)
Aug. 18 - WAS Ryne Sandberg 300 home runs (#45 all-time)
Aug. 20 - DEN Tim Raines 2,000 hits (#52 all-time)
Aug. 23 - TOR Scott Sanderson 2,500 strikeouts (#23 all-time)
Aug. 23 - HAV Lou Whitaker 2,000 hits (#53 all-time)
Aug. 27 - CHI Eric Davis 400 home runs (#20 all-time)
Sep. 1 - FLO Roberto Alomar 300 stolen bases (51 all-time)
Sep. 3 - TOR Scott Sanderson 200 wins (#19 all-time)
Sep. 8 - STL Rafael Palmeiro 300 home runs (#46 all-time)
Sep. 11 - CHI Eric Davis 600 stolen bases (#10 all-time)
Sep. 12 - STL Tony Phillips 2,000 hits (#54 all-time)
Sep. 21 - WAS Ryne Sandberg 1,000 RBIs (#50 all-time)
Sep. 22 - DEN Ozzie Smith 2,500 hits (#19 all-time)
ATL 3B Wade Boggs 6 mo
ATL SP John Smoltz 5 mo
DET LF Larry Walker 2 mo
LA SP Jose Lima 11 mo
STL RF John Kruk (2 mo)
Toronto's season a mirror image of Brooklyn's. While the Superbas were red-hot into early August, Toronto started slowly. Their 42-38 record on Jun. 25 was good for 5th place in the East, nine games behind division-leading Detroit. The P-Bears were 59-21 the rest of the way, but it was not a linear ascent. The were 32-7 June 26-Aug. 11, the day they claimed a share of 1st place, which they held for 16 days. But a 1-7 slump saw them spiral out of the top three by Sept. 1, as Brooklyn reclaimed a top-three spot. But a 19-4 finish saw Toronto surge to a franchise-best 101 wins and their first pennant since 1991.
Toronto mashed a league-leading 261 dingers, led by Eric Karros (48) and Mickey Tettleton (40). CF Raul Mondesi led all rookies with 36 HR and 301 total bases. The rotation ranked 6th in ERA led again by Dwight Gooden (2.81, 238 K), while 37-year-old Scott Sanderson had his best ERA (3.54) and WHIP (1.22) since his 20s.
Despite improving by 32 games, the Feds ended the season on a bitter note, blowing a three-game lead with 10 games to go. The 99 wins set a franchise record as well as a career record for second-year GM Mark Waller, whose emphasis upon entering Beantown was the upgrade one of the worst pitching staffs to complement one of more prolific offenses.
Boston was the only club with rookies in top-2 SP and closer roles, and the results exceed all expectorations. Jon Lieber, the 3rd overall pick, was 15-11 with a 3.12 ERA, and led all rookies with 11 CGs, 234 Ks and 5.2 WAR. Billy Taylor, the 21st overall pick, was 41/42 (.976) in save situations and had 41 shutdowns to just 6 meltdowns, the best ratio in the league.
At the plate, the Federals unlocked their latent potential, with four regulars with OPS over .880, three of whom were under 25. Sammy Sosa, 24, hit 43 dingers, slugged .533 and was 4th in the league with 8.7 WAR. Jim Thome, 23, was the club RBI leader (120) and added 39 home runs and a .900 OPS. And third-year catcher Mike Piazza, 25, had his second .300-30-100 season. Kal Daniels, at age 30, was the old man of the group; the former Leone hit .313-32-92, and led the team with 38 stolen bases and the league with a .391 OBP. Other players of note: 2B Chuck Knoblauch, 25, had a .353 OBP and 3.9 WAR, and a pair of 34-year-old sentimental bozos—Joe Carter and Gary Gaetti—combined for 28 home runs and 100 RBIs.
Ever since most pundits declared Detroit's 1992 103-win and World Series winning season a fluke, said pundits have predicted the Flyin' Lions decline. And for the second straight year, the Griffins refused to obliged, again posting 90-plus wins and securing a third straight playoff berth. This year it was the pitching that bouyed the ballclub. Their 3.15 ERA was the best in franchise history, and the rotation featured three hurlers with ERAs at or below 3.00, though none ranked in the top-10 in ERA or pWAR, and none of them was ace Andy Benes (3.18), who posted career bests in ERA, innings, and WHIP. Rookie Scott Sanders was spectacular, with a 12-7 record, 2.80 ERA, and 230 Ks. Chris Nabholz' 2.82 ERA was his lowest since his ERA-title rookie year, and lefty Pete Schourek pitched a career-best 1.06 WHIP and 2.7 WAR despite missing most of the first two months of the season.
But the Griffs also had the fifth-best offense. They were first in batting average and OBP, 2nd in wOBA, and 3rd in OPS and bWAR. Dave Nilsson's .331-30-101 won the batting title. Ryan Klesko's 43 homers tied for 4th, and Dwight Smith was 10th in batting with .306. This trio's production offset an off-year by 1992 MVP Fred McGriff. The Crime Dog got off to a slow start, had a hot July (.313, .804 OPS), and then hit like a snowman after an abominable strain July 27 (.182 in 62 PA). Veteran shortstop Tony Fernandez was a key cog as well, hitting .295 with a .351 OBP and career-high 5.2 WAR.
At +23, Keystone was the third most-improved team in 1994, but fell under the radar compared to headliners Atlanta and Boston, who led their divisions most of the season. And 18-7 July had the club in the pennant race before an August swoon dashed their playoff hopes. Even still, a 12-3 finish gave Philadelphia its first winning team since the 1950 Whiz Kids, the year before the UL's founding.
The Starlings crop of young players all took forward strides. The offense flew from 15th to 6th. Third-year RF Tim Salmon, already christened "Mr Starling" at the age of 26 hit .267-46-123 and finished 3rd in HR and 4th in RBI. Twenty-five year old 2B Carlos Baerga led the league with 221 hits and 46 doubles and finished 2nd in the batting race at .320. New arrivals 3B Kevin Mitchell (.279-24-89) and C Mike Stanley (.326-20-41, 1.083) made big contributions.
The Starlings' pitching also hatched, climbing five perches to 12th. William Van Landingham (16-11, 4.12) led all rookies in wins and was 2nd in WAR; sophomore southpaw Kirk "Woody" Rueter (REE-ter) was 19-4, 3.36 with a 1.22 WHIP; and veteran Scott Bankhead (12-9, 3.14) posted the lowest ERA and WHIP of his career. In the pen, closer John Dopson, after eight years at the back of the bullpen, led the league with 43 saves and 45 shutdowns.
Keystone finished just two games out of the Hex, and with most of their stars under 25, should be East Division contenders throughout the rest of the '90s.
The Superbas won 91 games, one more than last year's World Series year, but somehow finished in fifth place. As late as Aug. 7, the Bas had the second best record in the league (71-44) and a share of 1st place. But a seven-game losing streak plummetted them into a three-way scrum for the last two playoff spots and their catastrophic 9-15 September doomed them to 5th place behind Keystone. What went wrong? On the pitching side, 3-4 starter Steve Avery and Kelly Downs were a combined 1-5, 7.21; on the hitting side, Matt Williams OPSed .672, after OPSing .857 in the first five months. The most demoralizing bit may have been a 1-6 week in mid-September that included shutouts by four separate divisional rivals.
Despite the disappointment, there were some massive individual achievements. Ken Griffey Jr (.315-41-130) was 2nd in OPS, RBIs, and total bases and led the league in WAR for the second time in three years. Kevin Brown won a career high 17 games. And despite his late-season meltdown, the 24-year-old Avery led the club with a 2.85 ERA and notched his second straight 15-win campaign.
With six teams in rebuilding mode, the Barons have a slight head start, based on the core of players that won the Triple-A Governor's Cup last year plus the 1-2 double-whammy of top draft picks. All that young talent is starting to gel along the banks of Lake Erie (eww!).
The B's won 71 games, a 15-game improvement, the biggest one-year gain since 1964 (which was just before two pennants in three years). The biggest upgrade game in the hitting department. Cleveland's offense ranked 12th, which doesn't seem all that remarkable, but was the best showing since 1983. After all, this is a pitcher-friendly roster playing for a pitcher-friendly GM in a pitcher-friendly ballpark. Rookie Jim Edmonds was the breakout star; the 24-year-old led all rookies with 98 RBIs, .825 OPS, and 7.1 WAR—the third best bWAR in club history. The other rookie outfielder, RF Jeffrey Hammonds, was less flashy but still contributed 20 HR and 71 RBI. Third year infielder Eric Young had another solid year with 3.6 WAR at second base.
The pitching rotation featured three rookies, two of which performed admirably. Ismael Valdez, this year's #2 overall pick, led all rookies with a 2.74 ERA and 0.97 WHIP; and Salomon Torres had a 3.81 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in 31 starts. Meanwhile 23-year-old Allen Watson took his lumps (2-16, 5.08). Yet another rookie, Pedro A. Martinez, was plugged into the closer role and responded well, with 36 saves and 3.76 ERA, though his 9 blown saves were 2nd in the league and 14 meltdowns tied for 6th.
The defense was solid again, attendance ticked upward, and the most highly anticipated hitting prospect since Griffey Jr is on the near horizon. A-Rod hit .316-6-14, .962 in 24 games in September and could see regular action in 1995.
The Dingy Hose had their most anemic offense since moving into the bandbox called Ferraro. Manhattan scored just 3.2 runs per game, a full run lower than their previous floor. Pair this with the league's worst pitching staff and you easily get to 98 losses, the most in club history. However, in the warped world of the '94 UL, that tied with 13th in the league, meaning five other teams were just as bad.
The season started well enough. At 25-32 on May 31, the Sox weren't exactly world-beaters, but they were only six games out of the Hex. Then the calendar flipped to June and the wheels came off. A nine-game losing streak was following by a six-game losing streak, then another six-game losing streak. All told, starting June 1, the team went on a 14-44 slide that had them 7.5 games out of eighth place in the East.
The bright spots were few and relative. Ed Sprague was the team WAR leader, with 2.9. He hit .246-28-54. Tom Brunansky was the #2 WAR guy; he hit .233-20-42. Veteran Bob Horner joined the team in mid-May and gave fans something to cheer for when his 8 home runs in August suddenly turned the media's attention on the all-time home run race (see Horner's Corner, below). The best pitching WAR belonged to Melido Perez, and he was 5-17, 4.71. As I said, few and relative.
The last time this team had a downturn—in 1990-91—they won 89 games and made the playoffs the next year. Don't be surprised if the '95 Gray Sox do the same. The rebuild is already in full swing. In 14 trades, Manhattan managed to acquire both established stars and a raft of picks. They added SS Barry Larkin, 3B Chris Sabo, 3B Gary Gaetti, LF Vince Coleman; SPs Pat Hentgen, Roger Clemens, Bill Wegman, and Mike Scott; and RPs Gregg Olson and Cris Carpenter. And the Sox have 19 picks in the seven-round 1995 draft, including nine in the first three rounds.
Father Time is catching up to the Washington Monuments. While new GM Jason Gudim has made some big moves in his two years—trading away fan favorites Bret Saberhagen and Wade Boggs could not have been easy—most of the roster is over 30 and on the wrong side of the development curve. However, the roster is loaded with national fan favorites (Ryne Sandberg, Teddy Higuera, Will Clark) and at least one sentimental bozo (Kirby Puckett), making further moves more difficult. LF Gregg Jefferies was the only regular and Tom Glavine the only starting pitcher under 29.
The pitching, in particular, regressed in '94, finishing 13th in runs allowed, its worst showing since 1982. Both Kevin Tapani and Randy Johnson's ERAs bloated by a over a run to 4.06 and 4.79, respectively. Johnson and 36-year-old free agent Charlie Lea co-led the league with 18 losses. The bullpen was worse, ranking 15th compared the the rotation's 13th. First round pick Bryce Florie was a bright spot, notching 18 saves with a 3.86 ERA in 53 appearances.
Ryne Sandberg hit .293 and had a 7.9 WAR and led the team in most offensive categories. At age 34 and with gradually declining salaries through 1997, he may be the club's best trade capital. Looking ahead, Washington has the 5th best minor league system, including the #3 overall prospect, C Mike Lieberthal and the #15 prospect SP Sterling Hitchcock.
A team that started the season with mid-table expectations hit a midsummer slump, which initiated a teardown, which contributed to the longest losing streak in UL history. The Canoeists were 41-39 on June 25, then fell into a 1-18 descent that turned out to be just their second worst slump of the year. Larry Walker, Bret Boone, Junior Felix, and Luis Gonzalez were all sent packing in a flurry of deadline trades, and then performance on the field went from bad to worse. Montreal was 15-65 from June 26 on and lost 24 straight through Sept. 19 before winning four of their last seven.
The pitching was the biggest problem, ranking next-to-last in runs allowed and dead last in starting pitching. Ron Robinson's 3.83 was the only ERA under 4.00, and Jack Armstrong led the club with a measly eight wins. The offense fared slightly better; Bip Roberts finished 4th in batting (.317) with his eighth straight .300 season.
Despite Atlanta's greatest pitching season of all time, what made them the winningest team in three decades was not their pitching, but their dramatically improved offense. Atlanta was already a historical good pitching team last year, with a league-best 3.3 runs per game and a 118 RA+. But the offense improved from 17th to 3rd this year, an almost unheard of 14-spot leap, thanks to some deft trades and development boosts.
The biggest move was the acquisition of Wade Boggs, which paired alongside Tony Gwynn, gave the Red Blobs to two greatest hitters in UL history by career average. And Boggs did not disappoint, batting .346 and posting a 5.8 WAR despite missing the last two months to injury. The club got massive contributions from SS Jose Valentin (24), C Charles Johnson (22), and LF Manny Ramirez (22), and CF Rondell White (22). Valentin was a top-5 defensive infielder and led the club with 8.4 WAR. Johnson was a top-3 defensive catcher and hit 21 HR and 66 RBI. Manny hit 29 HR and 69 RBI and surpassed 3.0 WAR for the first time. and White led the club with 32 HR and 92 RBI and posted a 5.4 WAR. One of the many amazing things about this team is that if you take away Gwynn and Boggs, the other six regulars are all 25 or under.
Of course, we must spend some words describing the Hilltoppers' pitching. Their 2.7 runs against, 2.57 team ERA were the best and 1.07 WHIP 2nd best in UL history. Pedro Martinez's 0.74 WHIP, .209 OOBP, and .475 OOPS set a new single-season records. His 1.80 ERA ranks 5th best all-time and the best since 1970. His 12.3 K/9 is 4th best, but his 12.6 last year set the record. And his 340 strikeouts is tied for 11th all-time, but the most in the five-man rotation era and the most since Whitey Ford in 1966.
Back to the team level, Atlanta had three pitchers in the top 10 in ERA, wins, and WAR, so we should say something about Fernando Valenzuela and Darryl Kile. Fernie, of course, won the Cy Young last year while leading the league with a 2.28 ERA. This year, he led the league with 22 wins trimmed his ERA seven points to 2.21, trimmed his WHIP two points to 0.96, and increased his strikeouts to 274. In short, Valenzuela is an improved Cy Young winner. Kile, a 25-year-old righthander, was 17-7 with a 2.74 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 4.8 WAR. His last three ERAs (4.79, 3.10, 2.74) show that he is one of the fastest-developing young hurlers in the game.
Some other tidbits. With a historically excellent rotation, the bullpen does not get a lot of recogniation. But check this out: Atlanta's 2.54 ERA also ranked 1st, Arthur Rhodes had a 1.69 ERA and 2.1 WAR in 63 appearances, middle reliever Mike Maddux 1.84, and Steve Howe had 33 saves with a 2.97 ERA.
If we are comparing the '94 Hilltoppers with the '63 Superbas, the only other team to win at least 100 games, we find some similarities and differences. At the aggregate level, Brooklyn had a +2.3 run differential to Atlanta's +1.8. Brooklyn's R+ and RA+ (indexed measures of runs per game compared to league average, which is 100) were 121 and 132 compared to Atlanta's 120 and 128.
Like Atlanta, Brooklyn's offense featured two of the best hitters of all-time, Mickey Mantle and Granny Hamner. Mantle would hit .340 the year and averaged 110 RBI per 162 games. Hamner hit over .350 three years in a row and had a .323 career average and close to 2600 hits. But that '63 lineup also got key contributions from Hall of Fame 2B Felix Mantilla, 1B Jim Gentile, and RF Al Kaline.
The pitching featured the legendary trio of Burdette, Conley, and Ford, who had WARs of 10.9, 10.6, and 9.0 and combined for a 67-17 record. Pedro, Fernie and Darryl have WARs of 9.5, 7.0, and 4.8 and combined for a 58-19 record.
Brooklyn's big three:
Conley, Burdette and Ford rank 4th, 5th, and 8th in career WAR.
Burdette won 305 games and nine UL titles, and two World Series MVPs, and had the Playoff MVP named after him.
Conley won 309 games, four Cy Youngs, eight UL titles, two World Series MVPs, won 20 games eight years in a row, was once 26-3, and had the best career ERA in UL history (2.74).
Ford won 263 games, one Cy Young, and six UL championships, including a final one at age 39 with the 1968 Manhattan Gray Sox.
Atlanta's big three:
Pedro is 22 years old and already has 41 wins, a 2.05 ERA, 823 strikeouts, and 21.0 WAR. Only Gooden had better numbers by age 22. Conley didn't debut until he was 23, Ford was 24, and Burdette was 25. In short, Pedro has 41 more wins at his age than the Burdette-Conley-Ford trio combined.
Fernie is 33 years old and won his first Cy Young last year. He is 177-121 with 68 WAR and has won five Ullies.
Kile is 25, has a career losing record (36-41), a 3.50 ERA, and 10.5 career WAR, and one All-Star appearance.
As for age, the following Hilltoppers are 25 or younger: Charles Johnson, Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez (22); Greg Colbrunn, Jose Valentin (24); Bret Boone, Darryl Kile (25).
Brookyn's youngest key players were 28 (Mantilla and Gentile). Burdette and Hamner were 35, Ford 34, Amoros and Landrith 33, and Mantle 31.
After last year's (relatively) disappointing 87-win season, the Dark Reds rebounded to familiar territory: 98 wins for the 6th time in 11 years. The bounce was equal parts offense and pitching, as both improved a couple spots to 4th and 6th.
Barry Bonds (.306-52-135) is the fifth batter to win back-to-back HR and RBI titles, and his two-year HR tally of 101 is second only to Craig Robinson. Former Monuments Gold Glove catcher Rich Gedman (.290-25-79) had his best WAR season (8.3) as did iron man 2B Tony Phillips (7.2), who has played in 1,917 out of a possible 1,928 games since becoming a regular in 1983.
Joe Magrane (21-4, 2.24, 1.04 WHIP) put up Cy Young numbers (in any other year) and Dave Schmidt started 32 games for the 9th time in 10 years. The bottom of the rotation featured some new faces. Shawn Hillegas was 9-6 in 22 starts, including a no-hitter on May 1; and 24-year-old Angel Miranda—a 2nd round pick in 1993—was 10-3, 2.44, third in WAR among rookie hurlers and posted a 0.95 WHIP in 18 starts, including 6-1 down the stretch, when he allowed two or fewer runs in his last six starts. Alejandro Pena led all relievers with a 2.9 WAR, despite a league-high 12 blown saves.
Back-to-Back HR and RBI Titles
Yrs ΣHR ΣRBI
Craig Robinson MAN 1977-78 129 274
Barry Bonds STL 1993-94 101 259
Tom Grieve DEN/MAN 1974-75 96 268
Bob Horner DET 1981-82 95 271
Orlando Cepeda BOS 1972-73 94 256
The Outlaws extended their league-record playoff run to 14 years—barely. L.A. won just 88 games, fewest since 1980, and didn't clinch until the penultimate day of the season. In the Year of the Pitcher, L.A.'s staff ranked just third, with only two of the top 16 ERAs. Meanwhile, the run production shrank from 4.3 to 3.7 per game, and the team had a losing record in both extra-inning and one-run games for the first time in six years.
Ace Floyd Youmans had a career-best 2.43 ERA and led the staff with 289 Ks; Greg Swindell (15-13, 2.63, 1.07 WHIP) bounced from last year's off-season and 35-year-old southpaw Bruce Hurst set career marks with 17 wins and 2.92 ERA. In the pen, closer Todd Frohwirth had his third straight 30-save campaign. The offense was midtable in almost every category. Rey Sanchez led the team with a .286 batting average, Frank Thomas with 33 HR and 97 RBI, and Andy Van Slyke stole 41 bases and was 9th in WAR. The question is, do the Outlaws have enough gas to get past St. Louis and Atlanta and return to the World Series for the first time since 1991?
After last season's great leap forward—26 more wins—1994 was more about consolidation. Last year, the Flamingos briefly flirted with the pennant race but finished five games out of the Hex; this year they were on L.A.'s heels and were not eliminated until Sep. 29, finishing just two games behind the Outlaws. The overall metrics were unchanged: a mid-tier offense paired with a top-third pitching staff. The big story at Ponce de Leon was the emergence of Mike Mussina as an elite ace. Moose went 22-5, 2.23 with 267 Ks; he led the league in wins, shutouts (6) and innings pitched (270.2). Those are Cy Young numbers any other season, but in the Year of the Pitcher that might only get him 3rd place in Cy voting. Pete Smith also turned the corner (3.21 after 5.40 last year) and 32-year-old Jay Tibbs (3.03) had his first sub-4.00 ERA in a decade.
The offense was again focused on speed, with 168 stolen bases (2nd), led by Roberto Alomar's 56. The 25-year-old $15 million second baseman struggled in his first year in South Florida batting .266 with a .725 OPS, 50 and 115 points under his career averages. Ivan Calderon also had an off-year, slugging just .762 after last year's .914; and Mark McGwire's OPS likewise dropped 66 points to .737. The bright spots included SS Kevin Elster's 2.9 WAR and Ruben Sierra's .800 OPS.
After years of climbing—from Semi Series loss to World Series loss to World Series win—the Colts looked like the new power in the West, with several key pieces still young and developing. Instead, Chicago took a giant step backwards, winning just 83 games, 14 less than last year and its lowest win total since '88. The decline was so sudden and so dramatic that Colts management ran GM Steve Haugh out of town—following assault allegations involving a furry club—and he landed with the hapless San Francisco Spiders. So what went wrong?
In a word: offense. The team dropped from 5th to 11th in run production. Alan Trammell's OPS dropped 100+ points to .641, Gary Sheffield's 93 points to .775, and Albert Belle's 155 points to .788, and Benito Santiago's a stunning 215 points to .563. On the other hand, Sheffield (24) and Belle's (26) drops look like simple off-years, and young hitter John Olerud (25) continues to develop. Also, CF Eric Davis had his second best season, hitting 41 home runs and producing 9.3 WAR.
Chicago again was a top-3 pitching staff (aided by the league's best defense). All five starters had ERAs 3.30 or under. Terry Mulholland (16-6, 2.50) had a career year, leading the team in wins and ERA. Steve Cooke, at the tender age of 24, had another stellar campaign (15-9, 3.02), and newcomer Donovan Osborne was effective (3.29, 1.05 WHIP) while leading the staff in innings.
In the final analysis, 83-77 is not a horrible record, and the new Colts GM will have a lot of star-level players to work with.
This was the year the Leones were supposed to make a move and fight for a playoff berth. After four straight fourth place finishes, averaging 4.5 games out of the Hex, Havana added several big-dollar signings, including six-time All-Star CF Lenny Dykstra, two-time All-Stars SS Scott Fletcher and LF Dan Pasqua, and former Boston ace Roger Clemens. A 44-27 start found Havana in 2nd place, 3.5 games ahead of St. Louis and L.A. But two straight losses at Sportsmans Park, followed by home sweeps at the hands of San Francisco and Detroit signaled the beginning of a decent that would land the team in sixth place. Havana was 33-56 from mid-June.
Dykstra had the worst OBP (.335) and OPS (.690) of his career, Dan Pasqua had his lowest SLG (.440) and the offense slumped to its lowest output in eight years (3.8 R/G). Under .500 at the trade deadline, GM Lance Mueller dealt Clemens and C Mike Stanley to Manhattan and Keystone for draft picks.
On the plus side, Shane Mack (.297-23-75, .815) and Howard Johnson (.277-39-106, .850) again produced 6.0+ WAR seasons. HoJo tied for 9th in both HR and RBI and Mack ranked 4th in outfield defense. Sergio Valdez had an off season (4.05) but as the only starter under 30 figures to be a key part of future rotations as the club shifts focus into rebuilding mode.
A crumbling stadium around a crumbling team is the best way to describe the '94 Spiders campaign. The Arachnids not only suffered their 12th losing season in 14 years, but lost a club record 102 games. The club's future at Seals Stadium was already in question when a major earthquake on June 4 damaged the "Queen of Concrete." The club hired former Chicago Colts GM and World Series winner Steve Haugh to clean up the mess, both literally and figuratively. Haugh's first move was dealing longtime SS Barry Larkin to Manhattan.
Rookie LF Garret Anderson hit .287 with a 3.0 WAR, but youngsters 3B Travis Fryman (.753 OPS) and CF Bernie Williams (.677) both regressed a bit. The young pitchers showed signs of progress, with 26-year-old Tommy Greene (3.70) and 25-year-old Kevin Foster (3.80) leading the staff in ERA, while 25-year-old Frank Castillo led with 202 strikeouts.
Denver continued the teardown that it started last season, dealing away SP Bill Swift, 2B Jeff Kent, LF Luis Polonia, and CL Norm Charlton and netting 2B Delino DeSheilds, LF Luis Gonzalez, SP David West, and several draft picks.
The 14ers lost a franchise record 103 games thanks largely to the second-worst offense. 2B Mark McLemore and C Rick Wilkins' development stalled, and the youngers CF Brian Hunter, C Mike Matheny, and 3B Robin Ventura all looked overmatched at the big league level. Utility man Kurt Stillwell hit .285 and put up 2.0 WAR and veterans Ozzie Smith and Tim Raines hit 2500 and 2000 career hits, respectively. New pitchers Charles Nagy and David West showed some promise, and RP Bryan Hickerson (1.22 in 50 games) was a pleasant surprise and garnered the club's lone All-Star appearance.
After a 17th place overall finish last year, Seattle finished dead last in 1994 thanks to a 14-game losing streak that coincided with Montreal's 24-game skid. Historically known as a hitting team in a hitter's dome, the R's offense hit rock bottom this year, finishing last with 3.0 runs per game. Alvin Davis (.258-17-85) was the only hitter with more than 8 HR and 63 RBI.
A major rebuild is likely in the offing, with several big stars ending contracts—Willie McGee, Chris Brown, Rickey Henderson, and Alvin Davis—and two of the first nine picks in the draft.