With the season complete we here at McCabe Magazine wanted to take a look back at season 16. It was a season filled with outstanding performances and surprising endings. The biggest surprise for our crack staff was the Seattle Mariners, our predicted World Series champion finishing 78-84 in the highly competitive National League West.
The NL West has produce the American League champion and World Series participant every year since season 13. And the team that has own the NL West is the Arizona Diamondbacks (yoker70). For the third year in a row Arizona has won 100 plus games and was the number one seed going into the playoffs. In another dominating performance by the Diamondbacks (109-53) in season 16, this ended with Arizona winning its second National League pennant, back to back and a World Series title. The D-Backs won the series 4 games to 3 over the Kansas City Royals (TenaciousTYT). Arizona pitcher and Cy Young award winner Vince Garcia (26-4) dominated the major leagues and playoff competition with a 6-0 record, 0.96 Whip and a 1.48 ERA. Arizona second basemen and season 16 MVP Mark Pence destroyed major league pitching during the regular season with 46 Home Runs, 115 RBIs, and 1,115 OPS. Pence were again a big disappointment in the post-season hitting only 1 Home Run, 8 RBIs, with a .220 Batting Average. Pence have a .242 career batting average in 34 postseason games. However, they didn’t need his bat because they had the arm of 27 year-old Vince Garcia, affectionately known in the club house as VG.
BEST PLAYER IN BASEBALL
It is debatable who the best player in baseball is. Some said Garcia and some said Kansas City’s Tony Cortes (LF). It’s McCabe Magazines opinion that Cortes is not only the best player in baseball but the best player of ALL-TIME! Cortes has won the league MVP in seasons 16, 15, 14, and 13. His season 16 stats saw him hit .385, knock 29 Home Runs, with 120 RBIs, and the most amazing stat of all was the rate in which he swipe bases, 42 stolen and only 2 caught. In season 14 the Royals finished in last place in the AL South. Cortes was the most coveted free agent in season 15 and signed a max deal with the Royals. That season Kansas City won the division (tied with Texas) and won the division title outright last season and the American League Pennant. Cortes teams have made the post-season every year since season 6 except for season 9. Cortes hit .481 this postseason but was no match for the National League and World Series Champions Arizona Diamondbacks. The D-Backs have a collection of stars that include Clarence Finley (CF), 48 Home Runs, 138 RBIs, .309 BA, and first-basemen Mario Obermueller, 32 Home Runs, 102 RBIs, with a BA of 302, and 20 game winner Damaso Gomez (20-8). These are the players that make the D-Backs charter members of the 100/100 club year in and year out. We gave VG our postseason MVP award, though a large fraction of our staff here at McCabe Magazine felt that award should have been give to Obermueller with playoff stats of 6 Home Runs, 17 RBIs, and a whopping batting average of .462.
SEASON 16 DIVISION CHAMPIONS
Division winners in season 16 were Toronto Blue Jays (95-67), Boston Red Sox (92-70), Kansas City Royals (94-68), and San Francisco Giants (91-71) in the AL. In the NL we had the Detroit Tigers (101-61), Pittsburgh Pirates (92-70), Richmond Virginians (85-77), and the World Champion Arizona Diamondbacks (109-53). Wildcard winners were Texas Rangers (93-69), Minnesota Twins (92-70), San Diego Padres (94-68), and the Rochester Broncos (83-79). In the playoffs we saw the 2nd seed Kansas City Royals sweep 5th seed Texas Rangers 4-0 for the AL pennant, and the NL number one seed Arizona Diamondbacks swept the 3rd seed Pittsburgh Pirates.
INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS (Season 16)
| Batting Champion: | Tony Cortes (LF), Kansas City Royals | .385 Batting Average |
| Home Run Champion: | Phillip Priest, Colorado Rockies | 63 Home Runs |
| RBI Champion: | Luis Mesa (2B/OF), Boston Red Sox | 147 RBIs |
| Wins Champion: | Vince Garcia (SP), Arizona Diamondbacks | 26-4 Wins |
| ERA Champion: | Vince Garcia (SP), Arizona Diamondbacks | 2.24 ERA |
| Saves Champion: | Rafael Valentin (CIA), Detroit Tigers | 49 Saves |
SEASON 16 HALL of FAME INDUCTEES
Season 16 saw the first two Robert E. McCabe Hall of Fame inductees, St. Louis Cardinals first-basemen Philip Ashby, and San Diego Closer Skeeter Brown.
Phillips Ashby, a 6 foot 2 187 pound out of Midwest City, Oklahoma played 16 years has a pro and 14 as a major leaguer. He finished his career with 503 Home Runs and 1543 Runs Batted In. Listed as a First-Baseman on his induction plaque Ashby played 883 games at Designated Hitter and 719 games in Left-Field. Ashby retired after season 13 and appeared on the ballot in seasons 14 and 15 before getting the required number of to be inducted.
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS |
| 1697 | 6593 | 1049 | 1867 | 258 | 503 | 1543 | 0.283 | 0.911 |
Skeeter Brown is the big leagues all-time saves leader with 525. This 42 year-old right-hander hails from Wenatchee, Washington, and a 22 year pro, 18 in the majors. He is a 7 time All-Star, former Fireman of the Year, and World Series winner.
| G | W | L | SV | SVO | Inn | SO | WHIP | ERA |
| 698 | 17 | 52 | 525 | 611 | 651.2 | 584 | 1.22 | 3.37 |
SEASON 16 OWNER of the YEAR
The Robert E. McCabe Magazine's OWNER of the YEAR goes to; patrickkm of the Detroit Tigers. Patrickkm is the first back to back winner. The amazing stat of this owner is, he won every division at every level. He manages the entire organization not just the major league team. He distributes the budget in a way in which all the teams at every level is competitive. He is the model owner and understands what running a baseball organization is all about. Congratulations!
| Team | Level | W-L | PCT | Finish |
| Detroit Tigers | Major League | 101-61 | 0.623 | 1st |
| W-L | PCT | |||
| Detroit Tigers | AAA | 83-61 | 0.576 | 1st |
| W-L | PCT | |||
| Detroit Tigers | AA | 94-50 | 0.653 | 1st |
| W-L | PCT | |||
| Detroit Tigers | High-A | 110-34 | 0.764 | 1st |
| W-L | PCT | |||
| Detroit Tigers | Low-A | 123-21 | 0.854 | 1st |
| W-L | PCT | |||
| Detroit Tigers | Rookie | 63-13 | 0.829 | 1st |
| W-L | ||||
| Total | 574-240 |
SEASON 16 FINAL POWER RANKI8NGS
| Rank | Team | W-L |
| 1 | Arizona Diamondbacks | 109-53 |
| 2 | Kansas City Royals | 94-68 |
| 3 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 92-70 |
| 4 | Texas Rangers | 93-69 |
| 5 | Detroit Tigers | 101-61 |
| 6 | Toronto Blue Jays | 95-67 |
| 7 | Boston Red Sox | 92-70 |
| 8 | Richmond Virginians | 85-77 |
| 9 | San Diego Padres | 94-68 |
| 10 | San Francisco | 91-71 |
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