#11/12 Seeded Teams
#12 1977 Toronto Blue Jays
Original Season Record: 54-107, .335, 7th place, AL
Star Attractions: Not much given they were an expansion team. Roy Howell, a 23-year old third baseman, provided hope for the future, hitting .316 with an .837 OPS (128 OPS+), while 38-year old Ron Fairly provided experience and some offensive punch with a team high 19 HR while serving as the primary DH.
Also Featuring: Bob Bailor was a jack of all trades utility man who was plugged into wherever he was needed on a given day and was a solid hitter with a .310 average and a team best 15 SB. Corner outfielder Otto "the Swatto" Velez added 16 home runs.
Potential Pitfalls: Pitching, pitching and more pitching. The team ERA was an ugly 4.57 and not a single starter had an ERA below 4 - in fact two starters had ERAs above 6. There was also severe lack of depth in the everyday lineup with three primary starting position players with ghastly OPS+ of 40, 60 & 71 respectively.
#11 1959 Washington Senators
Original Season Record: 63-91, .409, 8th place, AL
Star Attractions: Camilio Pascual was robbed of the Cy Young award because he played for the last place Senatorss who were essentially ignored by the fans and media. Nevertheless, he led the league in WAR at 7.8, was second in ERA at 2.64 and strikeouts at 185 and had an impressive 17-10 record in spite of his lackluster supporting cast.
Also Featuring: While the Senators scored the second fewest runs in the AL that season, they did launch the second most home runs in the league, with Harmon Killebrew winning the HR title with 42, and JIm Lemon and Bob Allison also joining the 30-HR club.
Potential Pitfalls: So how did a team with all that power still prove to be so mediocre in run production? How about a league worst .237 batting average and league low .308 on base percentage? In short, when Washington was not hitting homers they were completely inept offensively. And while Pascual's incredible season kept some of the overall pitching numbers in the middle of the pack, the pitching was decidedly mediocre when he was not on the mound.
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