Last Sim of the Season; What to Watch For

Well here we are!  There are 4 days left in the regular season and what a wild ride it has been.  Not 1 of the 6 divisions have been clinched yet and there are still 4 playoff spots to be taken. So what's at stake?

NL EAST
Much like last year, the NL East race might go down to the season's final day.  At the moment, Niagara Falls leads Baffin Island by 1 game.  The Frenzy will visit Boston for a 4 set while Baffin will stay home and welcome Plymouth to town.  If you remember last season, these two played a one game playoff for the division.  The Beavers are looking for their 9th NL East division title while if the Frenzy can hang on, this would be their 1st.  The division winner would clinch the 2 seed and play the NL South winner in the Divisional Round while the loser will clinch Wild Card spot #2 and be the visiting team in a 3 game set against the other Wild Card winner,  which will be Los Angeles or Irvine.

NL WEST
After winning the division comfortably by 16 and 17 games over Irvine the last two seasons, 3 games separates the two with just 4 games left to play.  Both will be at home, Los Angeles welcomes Maui meanwhile the Bandits of San Francisco will be visiting Irvine.  If the Bruins can take care of business they will win their 14th division title in 16 years.  Irvine is looking for their 2nd division title, while their only one came in 2021.  The winner of the division will be rewarded with the #1 seed and will await the winner of the Wild Card round.  The team that places 2nd will be rewarded with the #1 Wild Card seed and will host either NFF or BAF.

NL SOUTH
Two years removed from a World Series win and one year removed from the best record in the BSA, the Hendersonville Hitmen find themselves 2 games up on the resurgent New Orleans Looters, who are attempting a worst to first story.  The Hitmen lead by 2 and will welcome the Looters for a 4 game series to end the season.  The Looters will need to take 3/4 to tie for the division and a series sweep to win it outright.  The Hitmen are looking for their 15th division title in 16 season, with their only blemish coming in 2021 when Orlando took home the crown.  The Looters are looking for their 1st division title and 2nd playoff appearance.

CL EAST
The best division in baseball.  They will have 3 teams finish with at least 96 wins.  Atop of the division and on the verge of clinching are the St. Louis Browns.  The Browns lead the division by 4 games with just 4 to play over the Greenville 84ers.  St. Louis will travel to Chicago where only 1 win is needed to clinch their 1st division title in team history.  The 84ers welcome Madison where they will need a 4 game sweep and 4 losses from St. Louis just to tie the division.  If the miracle happens, they will win their 11th division title.  The winner will be the #1 seed in the CL playoffs, meanwhile the loser has already locked up the #1 Wild Card.

CL WEST
Almost identical to the East, the St. Charles Sheens lead the Portland Philosopher Stones Kings by 4 games with just 4 to play.  Unlike the East these two will play each to finish off the season as the Sheens travel to The Kallipolis for a 4 game set.  One win for the Sheens will give them their 4th division title and third in a row.  If Portland can sweep and then cause a 1 game playoff and win again, they would win their first division title and their first playoff appearance.  Their 93 wins are already 13 ahead of the franchise's best 80, set back in 2010.  Portland is in the Wild Card race, explained below.

CL CENTRAL
After a close race all season long the Toronto Titans hold a 4 game lead with 4 games to play over the Springfield Stars.  The Stars had their chance in the last series, but the Titans won the last 2 games of the series to push Springfield on the brink of elimination.  The Titans will travel to rival Austin for 4 while the Stars go to Kalamazoo.  The Titans are looking for their 12th division title while Springfield is looking for a miracle to take home their first title.  Their only playoff appearance was a Wild Card berth in 2011.

CL WILD CARD
The 1st Wild Card position has already been clinched by St. Louis/Greenville, but we have a two team battle for the 2nd.  Jersey Shore currently leads Portland by 1/2 game as both teams are playing amazing baseball.  Jersey gets an off day before heading to New York to finish their season, while Portland welcomes St. Charles for 4 games. The Jersey Shore is looking for their 8th playoff spot, while Portland is still searching for their 1st.

TRIPLE CROWN WATCH
Santiago Marquez, or Q, of Orlando is still in contention for the NL Triple Crown.  If you remember last year he led the league in RBI, but finished 2nd in AVG and 3rd in HR.  With 4 games to play he leads the NL in AVG and HR but trails Ruben Calderon of Los Angeles by 6 RBI.  It would take some huge games, but it is still in reach.

RECORD WATCH
There are a few season records that could be in jeopardy going into our final 4 days.  Jeff Daniels of Portland is 10 hits shy of Dave Dodd's record of 239 hits set back in 2021.  Daniels needs to average 2.5 hits per game in his last 4 to tie.  Ronnie Brown of Boston sits at 166 singles on the season.  The current record is held by his teammate Rob Whitley who singled 175 times back in 2016. Brown would 9 in his final 4 games to tie.  Meanwhile in Boston, Bill Wilson has been a doubles machine and currently sits with 61 for the year.  The record of 67 was set by Jin-yu Son way back pre-BSA in 2007.  The current day BSA record is 63 set by Dan Best in 2014.  Derek Davidson currently sits at 156 RBI on the year and is 10 behind Dave Dodd's record of 166 set in 2021.  Thought it is a long shot, Davidson has 4 games.

On the pitching side of things, Irvine closer Kuang-Yin Yue sits at 48 saves with 4 games to play.  The current BSA record for saves is 50, which is shared by 4 players.  2 will give him a tie with this foursome while 3 would give him the outright record.  Jose Rivera of San Fran and Armando Lopez of Niagara Falls have both appeared in 101 games this season, which turns out is a new BSA record for appearances in a season.