Transcript:
Howdy folks, it’s Divergent League Update for March 5th 2021, but in Divergent League we’re all the way back on September 28th, 1993.
Well, with regards to the regular season it’s all over the but the crying… for everyone except the Orioles and Blue Jays, who are all tied up at the end of regulation. We’ll need a tiebreaker to see who wins the AL East. More on that in a moment.
But first, as is tradition, here come the dingers!
We’ve got our Home Run King for 1993, and he is the Big Hurt. Frank Thomas finished the regular season with 52 home runs, 5 more than runner-up Mark McGwire’s 47. Also in the running were Fred McGriff with 43, Barry Bonds with 38 and Mo Vaughn with 36.
Thomas also led the bigs on Ribbies this season, with a total of 136. White Sox teammate Tim Raines is in second place with 124.
Both guys are top of the chart for MVP honors in the AL, with McGwire and Bonds leading in the NL.
Sticking with the stats, Wade Boggs will end this season with our highest batting average at a strong .365, with teammate Kirby Puckett coming in on his heels at .343. Pucket also led the league hits with 224.
Over in the NL, the Phillies John Kruk took the crown with a .328 average, edging out rookie Mike Piazza’s .323. Cal Rip’s 184 hits leads that league, with Butler and Piazza coming in at 182.
Puckett’s 49 doubles was enough to lead everyone in the majors this season, with the Angels Chad Curtis coming in 2nd at 46. Tim Raines lead the AL in Triples with 15.
The Expos Marquis Grissom lead the NL in both Doubles with 44 and Triples with 16.
Continuing with the White Sox dominance, The Bug Hurt and Rock Raines led the league in runs, too, with 119 for Thomas and 106 for Raines. The Lenny Dykstra and Barry Bonds led the NL with 115 and 109.
Those Angels Curtis and Polonia won out in the Stolen Base category, with the Blue Jays Rickey Henderson coming in third with 44. Nails took the NL crown for the Phillies, and Grissom came in third over there with 37.
Bonds and Thomas were both walked over 100 times this year and lead their leagues.
Taking a look at the pitchers, we continue our theme of White Sox dominance with Jack McDowall leading the AL and Orel Hershiser leading the NL both with 18 wins.
Atlanta’s Greg McMichael has 56 saves with Philadelphia’s David West and the Expos John Wetteland also passing there 50 save mark. Gregg Olson led the AL with 51 for the Orioles, Roberto Hernandez came in second with 47.
In the National League Earned Run Average category, Andy Benes finished with a 1.90 ERA, John Smoltz with 1.92, and Bret Sberhgen with 1.93.
The Texas Rangers Kevin Brown finished the season with a 1.97 ERA to lead the AL, just a few points ahead of Jack McDowall and Mike Mussina.
Chuck Finley threw 9 shutouts for the Angels, 3 more than the White Sox Alex Fernandez in 2nd place. Saberhagen and Smoltz led the NL with 6 and 5.
Unsurprisingly Randy Johnson ends the season 268 strikeouts, leading the AL and the Bigs, ahead of McDowell with 221. John Smoltz and Jose Rijo battled in the NL, with Smoltz taking the crown at 215.
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And now the standings! We start out there with a mystery: Who will win the AL East?
The Blue Jays an Orioles ended the regular season with identical 88-74 records. They’ll face-off in a 1-game playoff tonight for all the marbles. The Yankees ended the season at 79-83, and did not quality for the postseason despite a strong finish.
In the AL Central the White Sox and Tigers are both heading to the postseason, with the Sox winning the division at 98 and 64. The Royals came in third.
In the West, the CPU-controlled Astros took the division beating out the 2nd place Rangers by 8 games. The Mariners finished 4th.
As for the AL Wild Card, the Tigers are in but we’ve got a three-way tie for the 2nd Wild Card spot! The Royals, Blue Jays , and Orioles are all set at 88-74. Tonight’s Orioles / Blue Jays game will settle the score there.
Onto the National League, the Braves went on a huge streak at the end of the season, unseating the Phillies from first place, but not depriving them of a Wild Card spot. Likewise, the Expos are in for the NL Wild Card too.
The Cardinals took the NL Central in a walk, after a 1-9 season-ending collapse by the Cubs. The Reds finished last.
A-way out west, the Giants beat out The Dodgers by 4 games.
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It’s been a long season, and the easy part is almost over. From here on out, every game counts. We’ll se you this evening for the Jays / Orioles tiebreaker, and on our continued schedule for the most consequential playoff games.
I’m the Commish and I’ll see you next week.
