PREVIOUS LEAGUE NEWS:

2013 END OF YEAR REPORT:
We are now getting ready for Season XIX (19) of the NASBL. That is mindboggling!

But before we move on, here's a recap of last season. In the American League, Toronto, Texas, and California won their respective divisions, and Minnesota, Tampa Bay, and Boston won the wild card spots. In the National League, the division winners were Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and San Francisco, and the wild card spots went to Chicago, Atlanta, and Arizona. The AL crown came down to the two best teams in the league, Toronto and Texas, and the Blue Jays -- after years of dominating during the regular season but faltering in the playoffs -- finally punched their return ticket to the World Series. In the NL playoffs, Pittsburgh pulled off a comeback for the ages -- down 3 games to none and 5-2 in the seventh inning of Game 4 against a strong San Francisco club, the Pirates rallied to win Game 4 and then proceeded to take the next 3 games to stun the NASBL world. In the World Series, the Pirates once again displayed heart and determination, but ultimately Toronto's stellar lineup was too much to overcome. For Toronto, it was their second NASBL championship, with the first coming back in 2006.

The winners of last year's player awards were runaways across the board. In the NL, Chicago's Andrew McCutcheon (.367, 34 HR, 105 RBI, 24 SB) and San Francisco's Adam Wainwright (21-5, 2.44 ERA, 188 K) won the MVP and Cy Young awards, respectively. In the AL, Texas swept the honors, with Mike Trout (.345, 39 HR, 112 RBI, 50 SB) winning MVP and Felix Hernandez (22-5, 2.54 ERA, 253 K) taking home the Cy Young.

2012 END OF YEAR REPORT:
Believe it or not, we are now getting ready for Season XVIII (18) of the NASBL. We may need to stop counting pretty soon for the sake of the veteran owners in the league -- it just makes us feel old!

First, here's a recap of last season, when we expanded the playoffs to six teams in each league. In the American League, Toronto, Detroit, and California won their respective divisions, and Seattle, Tampa Bay, and Kansas City won the wild card spots. In the National League, the division winners were Atlanta, St. Louis, and San Francisco, and the wild card spots went to San Diego, Houston, and Pittsburgh. The AL crown came down to Toronto and California -- and the Angels continued their inexplicable postseason mastery of the Blue Jays to advance to the World Series. In the NL playoffs, the Astros upset the Cardinals but could not repeat the feat against the Braves in the NLCS. So for the first time in the history of the NASBL, the same two teams met in the World Series in consecutive years. And just like last year, the Braves were one win away from the title but ultimately could not hold off the Angels. California's back-to-back championships mark just the second time that has happened in the NASBL, with the other being the Philadephia Phillies back in 2001-2002.

St. Louis' Matt Kemp (.308, 39 HR, 116 RBI, 42 SB) won the NL MVP award handily, and San Diego's David Price (19-8, 2.49 ERA, 240 K) similarly dominated the NL Cy Young voting. In the AL, Kansas City's Justin Verlander (18-10, 2.37 ERA, 259K) cruised to the Cy Young award, with teammate Michael Pineda finishing second. The only close race was between Toronto's Miguel Cabrera (.354, 36 HR, 108 RBI) and California's Jacoby Ellsbury (.306, 37 HR, 132 RBI, 33 SB) for the AL MVP award -- while both received an equal number of 1st place votes, Cabrera earned more overall points to win the honor.

2011 END OF YEAR REPORT:
It's hard to believe, but we are now gearing up for Season XVII (that's 17 to you non-Romans) of the NASBL. I don't know what's scarier to contemplate -- that this league has been around for that long or that 1996 (when the league started) was that long ago.

But before we turn our attention to the upcoming season, first a quick recap of Season XVI. In the AL East, Toronto once again cruised to a division title. The AL Central was a battle between two juggernauts, with the Indians ultimately claiming the division crown (and the best winning percentage in the NASBL) and the White Sox settling for the wild card. The California Angels once again won the AL West pennant. In the NL East, Atlanta won the division going away. The Cardinals had the best record in the NL and handily won the NL Central, while the Cubs took the wild card slot (so in both leagues, the Central division winner had the best record in the entire league and the Chicago team won the wild card). The NL West was a three-team dogfight that was ultimately won by San Francisco.

In the AL playoffs, Cleveland dispatched Toronto while California squeezed by Chicago. Over in the NL, Atlanta defeated San Francisco, while the Cubs upset the defending champion Cardinals. California and Atlanta then prevailed in their respective league championship series to set up a rematch of the 2007 World Series. The Braves were one win away from the crown, but then the Angels reeled off three straight to take home their third championship in five years.

Finally, there was some hardware to be handed out. The White Sox swept the AL awards, with Josh Hamilton winning MVP and Usbaldo Jimenez unanimously winning the Cy Young. In the NL, St. Louis' Joey Votto took home the MVP trophy and Atlanta's CJ Wilson won the Cy Young.

2010 END OF YEAR REPORT:
Happy new year, everyone! We are now getting ready for Season XVI of the NASBL. But first, a quick recap of the exciting finish to Season XV:

In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals (109-53) and Pittsburgh Pirates (108-54) cruised to easy division wins. Pittsburgh finished 10 games ahead of NL Wild Card winner Atlanta (98-64), while St. Louis finished a whopping 22 games ahead of a solid Chicago Cubs squad (87-75). Meanwhile, the NL West was a streetfight that came down to the last day of the regular season, with Arizona (90-72) ultimately prevailing over San Francisco (89-73).

In the American League, Toronto (109-53) once again handily won the AL East for what seemed like the 100th year in a row. Kansas City (108-54), bolstered by blockbuster deals throughout the season, easily won a traditionally tough AL West division. An upstart Detroit club, buoyed by the most controversial NASBL trade in years (the acquisition of Mark Teixeira for two virtual no-names), had shots at both the AL Central crown and the AL Wild Card, but in the end the Tigers (92-70) fell just short of the Chicago White Sox (97-65) and the California Angels (97-65) for the two postseason spots.

In the NL playoffs, St. Louis' pitchers shut down the powerful Arizona lineup in a 4-game sweep. Meanwhile, Atlanta shocked division rival Pittsburgh with a 4-2 playoff victory. In the AL, Kansas City easily handled California, 4 games to 1. But Chicago added to Toronto's history of postseason disappointments by upsetting the top seed in 7 games.

In the championship series, the Cardinals dispatched the tough Braves squad, 4-2. In the AL, the White Sox showed that their victory over the Blue Jays was no fluke, upsetting the powerful Royals squad 4-2. Thus, the NASBL crown came down to two Midwest teams, the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox. Amazingly, St. Louis was trying to win a championship just one year after coming out of the New Owner Draft and suffering through a 102-LOSS season. Meanwhile, the White Sox were back in the World Series for the first time since 2002, when they were still the Seattle Mariners.

Each game of the "I-55 Series" was close and featured good pitching on both sides. But each time, the Cardinals made the plays when they counted, and they swept the White Sox, who just did not have enough left to overcome a third 100+ win playoff opponent. The World Series MVP was Javier Vazquez, who started and won 2 of the 4 games, going 14.1 IP and posting a 3.14 ERA. Congrats to Mike Itagaki and his St. Louis Cardinals on their first NASBL title!

2009 END OF YEAR REPORT:
It was another exciting season in the NASBL, filled with big trades, memorable performances, tough pennant races, and playoff upsets.

In the National League, the defending champion Pittsburgh Pirates (97-65) once again won the East while the upstart Chicago Cubs (86-76) took the Central crown. Going into the season, the NL West looked like it would be a fierce battle -- instead, the LA Dodgers (112-50) posted the best record in the entire NASBL and won the division handily. Meanwhile, San Diego and San Francisco posted identical 88-74 marks, forcing a one-game playoff for the wild card spot that the Padres won.

The Toronto Blue Jays (109-53) were once again the class of the American League, running away with the AL East title. The season was twice as sweet in Chicago, as the White Sox (90-72) matched their cross-town rival Cubs by winning the AL Central. The West traditionally has the toughest pennant races in the AL, and this year was no different. The California Angels, Kansas City Royals, and Texas Rangers battled each other the entire season and all deserved playoff spots. In the end, though, the Angels (105-57) prevailed and the Royals (99-63) won the wild card, leaving the tough-luck Rangers (96-66) without a chair.

In the first round of the NL playoffs, the Dodgers dispatched the Padres in 5 games. However, the Cubs stunned the league by knocking off the Pirates in a 7-game series for the ages. The Cubs held their own against the Dodgers in the NLCS, but the clock struck midnight in Game 6 and the Dodgers won the NL crown.

Both first-round matchups in the AL playoffs were hard-fought, with the Blue Jays knocking off the Royals in 6 games and the Angels squeaking by the White Sox in 7 games. That set up a rematch of last year's ALCS between California and Toronto. And for the second consecutive year, the Angels pulled off the impressive sweep to advance to the World Series.

The 2009 NASBL World Series pitted the Dodgers against their Southern California neighbors, the Angels. The first 5 games were nail-biters, with 2 going into extra innings and all 5 games being decided by exactly 2 runs. The Angels then battered the Dodgers in Game 6 to take the NASBL crown -- their fifth championship in league history. Jimmy Rollins was the series MVP -- in addition to his gold-glove defense, Rollins hit .471 with 2 HR, 6 RBI, and 3 SB.

2008 END OF YEAR REPORT:
Lucky 13. Like the 12 before it, Season XIII of the NASBL was an exciting ride. Four of the eight playoff teams were not decided until the final week of the regular season. But as competitive and hard-fought as the regular season was, the postseason was surprisingly decisive, as no series reached the full seven games and many ended in sweeps. In the first round of the AL playoffs, the Toronto Blue Jays got by the Kansas City Royals and the California Angels defeated the Detroit Tigers. In the NL, both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds swept their first-round opponents (the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants, respectively). In a rematch of last year's ALCS, the Angels once again beat the Blue Jays, this time in a clean sweep. The Pirates and Reds also met in the postseason for the second year in a row, and this year the Pirates avenged last year's painful Game 7 collapse by routing the Reds in five games. That set up a showdown between the two hottest teams in the NASBL -- the Angels had won 22 of their last 24 games (including the regular season and postseason) while the Pirates had dominated the NL playoffs. In the end, however, this contest between the two former college buddies (and rematch of the 2005 NASBL World Series) was no contest at all, as the Pirates annihilated the Angels in four straight games to finish a mind-boggling 12-1 in the 2008 playoffs. Congrats to Emery on his third NASBL title in six seasons!

Then it was time to hand out some individual hardware. For the first time in the NASBL, the managers voted for the league MVP and Cy Young winners. In the NL, Arizona's Vladimir Guerrero celebrated his first season in the Senior Circuit by hitting .373 with 38 HR and 151 RBI and being named MVP. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh's Jake Peavy (20-7, 3.00 ERA, 284 K) squeezed past New York's Scott Kazmir to win the Cy Young. In the AL, California's Alex Rodriguez (.329, 160 R, 58 HR, 145 RBI, 15 SB) was named MVP and Toronto's Dan Haren (25-4, 3.62 ERA, 230 K) was the nearly-unanimous choice for Cy Young.

Thanks to everyone for being part of the league this season. Now it's time to get started on Season XIV. Who's in?

2007 END OF YEAR REPORT:
Season XII ended in dramatic fashion, as the California Angels scored four runs in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the World Series to beat the Atlanta Braves 7-6 and win the NASBL crown. Carlos Beltran, who hit .316 with 3 HR and 7 RBI in the five games, was named World Series MVP. In addition to big postseasons by Beltran (7 HR, 14 RBI), Alex Rodriguez (.324, 6, 11), Vladimir Guerrero (.319, 6, 12), and Jesse Crain (17.1 IP, 0.00 ERA), California's late-season acquisitions really shined. Mike Mussina was Mr. October with a perfect 6-0 record with a 1.85 ERA, Brian McCann drove in 15 runs, Bobby Abreu had a .425 OBP, and Luis Castillo hit .377 and played sparkling defense.

The entire postseason was hard fought and full of drama. In the first round of the playoffs, three of the four series went the full seven games. In the AL, the Angels defeated the Chicago White Sox, and the Toronto Blue Jays squeezed by the Cleveland Indians in a 10-inning Game 7. In the NL, the Atlanta Braves upset the San Diego Padres, and the Cincinnati Reds came back from a 7-0 hole in Game 7 to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates. The second round was even more exciting, as both series went the full tilt. In the AL, the Blue Jays stormed back from a 3-1 series deficit to force a Game 7, but the defending champs fell just shy in their bid to repeat. The Braves-Reds series was one for the ages, with two runners being thrown out at the plate in the ninth inning of the deciding game.

Congrats to all the playoff teams and thanks to everyone for a great Season XII! And special thanks to Paul, who is retiring as Game Commissioner after three terrific seasons.

2006 END OF YEAR REPORT:
Congratulations to Jim Kies and the Toronto Blue Jays, our 2006 NASBL champions! Toronto finished the regular season with the second-best record in the NASBL (113-49) and were the favorites going into the playoffs thanks to their late-season acquisition of Roger Clemens. They defeated the Boston Red Sox in the first round of the ALCS, then swept the Cleveland Indians (who had upset the California Angels in their first round matchup) to advance to the World Series. There they went up against the St. Louis Cardinals, who had knocked off both the mighty Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants (who had defeated the San Diego Padres) to win the NL title. The Blue Jays and Cardinals battled for the full 7 games, with the aforementioned Clemens hurling a 1-0 masterpiece in Game 7 to win the Series MVP award and give Canada its first-ever NASBL trophy.

We are now preparing for Season XII of the NASBL. This offseason brings the biggest change we have ever had in the NASBL -- the introduction of automatic free agency. Fortunately, this will not result in mediocre starting pitchers signing for $10M+ per year. :) However, this should make rebuilding faster and the league more competitive.

So far we have taken roll call and welcomed 3 new members into the league. We just completed our New Owner Draft and are now weeks away from submitting protect lists and beginning our Free Agent Draft. Here is the schedule for the rest of this offseason:

Vote on new rules: 2/17/07
Protect lists due: 2/24/07
Free agent draft: 3/5/07-3/23/07
Opening day: 4/1/06

2005 END OF YEAR REPORT:
After a regular season that saw an All-Star Game no-hitter, a flurry of deals at the trade deadline, and both wild card races go down to the last day, the playoffs had a lot to live up to. And the eight remaining teams in the hunt for the NASBL crown certainly did not disappoint.

In the first round, three of the four series went to seven games, with the winner in each of those series winning the last two games to come back from the verge of elimination. In the Twins-Blue Jays series, the home team won each game -- unfortunately for Toronto, it was Minnesota who had home field advantage. The other AL series featured two familiar playoff foes in the Angels and Mariners, with the Angels prevailing in six games. In the NL, the Brewers squeezed by the Cardinals in seven. And the Pirates stormed back from a three games-to-none deficit to get past the Rockies.

In round two, the Angels and Twins squared off to decide the American League champions. The story of the series was the dominance of the Angels pitching staff, which held the Twins to just nine runs and a .153 batting average over five games. Meanwhile, the Brewers and Pirates, both having survived seven-game series, decided to engage in another one. It was a see-saw battle, but in the end the Pirates' 16 home runs were too much for the Brew Crew.

Thus, the World Series came down to the two best teams during the regular season and the previous two NASBL champions. Although the Angels had pitched their way to the WS while the Pirates had blasted their way in, both teams boasted powerful lineups and strong staffs. Therefore, it was no surprise that this was a close and exciting series, with each game being decided by two runs or less and two games going into extra innings. In Game 6, Pirates starter Jake Peavy hurled a 1-hit shutout to win a 1-0 game and clinch the championship for Pittsburgh.

And so concludes Season X of the NASBL. Congrats to the Pittsburgh Pirates on their second title in three years. Thanks to all league members for being part of our best year yet!

2004 END OF YEAR REPORT:
In a rematch of the 2000 World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals and California Angels squared off to decide the 2004 NASBL World Champion this fall. The Cardinals, after winning a tough regular season pennant race, had easily dispatched the Milwaukee Brewers in the first round of the playoffs and then swept the defending champion Pittsburgh Pirates. Meanwhile, the Angels had backed up their league-best 116 regular season wins by defeating the Texas Rangers and then sweeping the Boston Red Sox to make it to the Series.

Unfortunately for St. Louis fans, California continued their dominance in the World Series, winning all 4 games to claim the title. As a team, the Angels had a 1.083 OPS and a 1.75 ERA in the World Series. Jim Thome was named Series MVP, hitting .389 with 2 HR and 8 RBI in the four games. In their postseason run, California won their last 9 games and went 12-2 overall.

With that, we wrapped up the ninth season of the NASBL. Thanks to everyone for playing! And a special thanks for Phil Taylor for an incredible job as Game Commissioner these past four years – we really appreciate all the time and effort you put in to make the league so smoothly.

Finding a new Game Commissioner will be part of our agenda this offseason. This month, we will be taking roll call for next season. In January, we will discuss and vote on new rule changes. The New Owner and Free Agent Drafts will take place in February and March, and then in April we will begin Season X!