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NL North S8 in Review

The Fargo Woodchippers won their 8th straight division title and have now claimed Capra's best regular season record in 7 of 8 rounds(goybyruss' Richmond Revenoors won 108 games in S4). Brett Tracy won his 8th straight Cy Young(yawn). Bully ace Tyler Henderson had another great campaign saving 49 contests, but will be 36 next season(and joining Alexander Frye, Diego Ozuna, and Jesus Lima in the north of 35 club) in what may be his final tour with the Chippers.
At the dish, Ismael Acosta, Trenidad Prieto, and John Clayton combined for 130 bombs. Aside from turning gray, Fargo did have one weakness this season: they were only 42/79 in stolen base attempts.

The North Stars of Minnesota claimed their 3rd wild card berth, but turned this one into an NL flag and World Series appearance. Their rotation is youthful with Craig Schwartz, Jacob Wallace, Kelly Grace, and Eugene Wilkins all under the age of 30 and turning in double-digit victories. Elsewhere, free-agent signing Thomas Simon(310/376/570) and 21 year-old rookie Santos Flores(301 w/ 91 ribbies and 64 thefts) provided the offensive leadership, though, like the pitching staff, depth was the rule here as 8 players finished the season in double-digit homers and 3 players had more than 35 stolen bases.

The Tacoma Typhoon continued their impressive turnaround under typhoon26, who has now taken a team with 5 straight seasons under .450 to 82 and 92 wins, respectively. This ballclub had been cruising to a wildcard spot until dropping 7 of their final 9 contests. Youngsters Claude Long and Alex Mendoza provided the offensive firepower, averaging 34 homers and 28 stolen bases between them. The real leader of the team, though, was clearly staff ace Paul Martin, who at 17-5 with a 2.52 earned run average, garnered Cy Young consideration.

In a brilliantly tough division(92, 93, and 106 wins ahead of them), the Toronto Beavers maintained their dignity with a 72 victory season. Walt Cashman chipped in another 200 hits, and youngster Julio Martin went yard 37 times, though his 20/126 BB/K ratio is of concern. The Beaver staff has a steady closer in Vinny Kondou, and the rotation carried respectable ERAs, but in between the Beavers were a sloppy mess.

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