The Brewster Baseball Association is a league stepped in history. With that history comes the magical records that are often thought as "unbreakable". For example:
- 166 Runs Scored In A Season: Sawyer Silk (1987)
- 87 Doubles In A Single Season: Emile Santos (1986)
- 32 Triples In A Single Season- Milt Linares, Jr. (2010)
- 73 HR in a Single Season: Long Chamberlain (1986)
- 182 RBI in a Single Season: Chamberlain, 1986
- 173 SB in a Single Season: Mons Raider (2033)
- 423 Strikeouts in a Single Season: Steve Nebraska (1976)
- Any other of Nebraska's records, for that matter.
Along with the above "unbreakable" records stands the All-Time Single Season Wins Record. Until 2001 the record was held by Roy Hobbs, Jr. (1978) , Nebraska (1974), and Kurt Stallwith (1976) with 28 wins.
However, in the 2001 season the BBA had one of the most incredible single season efforts by any player. Jessie Wright was an outstanding pitcher already for the Madison Wolves. He'd won 20 games for the first time in his career the year before and along with John Rasmussen figured to form a dynamic duo at the top of the rotation for the powerful Wolves team. No one, not even Madison GM Chris Wilson, expected what was to come for Wright in 2001.
Wright started 36 games, pitched 279 innings, allowing just 204 hits while walking 80 batters and striking out a whopping 302. He was a true workhorse, completing 12 games including 5 shutouts. With a 1.02 WHIP and 3.05 FIP he certainly had an amazing season. Luck certainly helped him that season, as he finished with a 2.16 ERA and a guady 9.2 WAR. One of the finest seasons in league history, for sure.
More amazing than any of those outstanding numbers, however, was his record. He finished 30-2, setting a new single season Wins Record that had stood for over 20 seasons.
Wright would remain a solid pitcher for the next five seasons, but would never win 20 games again. The last part of his career had him playing for several different teams and performing mostly as an "innings eater" type. He never made the Hall of Fame and isn't mentioned when discussing the best pitchers in the long history of the BBA.
But he had that amazing 30-win season, and it could not be taken away from him.
Until maybe now.
Edris Mtume has none of the pedigree of a Hobbs, Jr., a Stallwith, a Nebraska or even a Jessie Wright. He's enjoyed a moderately successful career in a era much different than any of those pitchers experiences, one in which hitting ruled the sport. In six plus seasons with Omaha Mtume was nothing more than a decent starter who could mostly be counted on for an ERA somewhere in the 4's. In his best season (2036) he was 14-11 with a 4.00 ERA and a 5.2 WAR.
He was traded from Omaha to Las Vegas for the 2039 stretch run, starting three games and relieving in three others with mostly disastrous results (7.89 ERA). After the season Matt Rectenwald resigned as the Hustlers GM and went off to Nashville with Brett Schroeder taking over as the new Las Vegas GM.
Schroeder took one look at the Hustlers pitching staff and decided that he would employ a new strategy, one that used the strength of the Las Vegas bullpen to their advantage. The relievers would be used a LOT. As for Mtume, he was now one of the relievers.
It went well for Mtume as a reliever in 2040. He pitched in 60 games, with 134.1 innings and went 15-3 with a 3.42 ERA. Good enough to get him traded at the deadline to Charm City. The Jimmies put him back into a starting role. He pitched in nine games for Charm City, starting eight. The results? An 0-2 record with a 6.07 ERA.
Going into the 2041 season, Mtume was on the trading block after executing his contract year option. Not wanting to pay the $12,070,000 he opted into, the Jimmies were shopping him around the league again. It would end up being the Hustlers who would get him back. Schroeder decided to put him into a workhorse relief role, much like the season prior.
And a workhorse he would be.
April: 13 G, 4-1
May: 14 G, 5-1
June: 13 G: 4-0
July: 11 G, 4-1
He would be named to the All-Star team and going into August was an incredible 17-3, despite not having started a single game.
Then came August. In 15 games he had his worst monthly ERA of the season thus far at 4.88 but still managed to go 8-1 in the month, bringing his season record to an incredible 25-4.
Going into September, there was still no real buzz about the fact that Edric Mtume, of all players, was five wins away from tying a 40 year old record, six wins away from breaking it. September has been even less kind to Mtume than August was, as he has posted a 7.46 ERA in 14 games but has still managed to win 4 more games, while losing one.
Now we're down to the last three games of the Hustlers season. Mtume is 29-5. He's one win away from tying Wright's record, two wins away from breaking it.
Will we witness one of the "unbreakable" records being broken by one of the most unlikely players? Stay tuned- you won't want to miss this!
