Four In A Row!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the Fourth year in a row, the Hill Valley Lightning Bolts are the AARBL World Series Champions.  After defeating the Peoria Chiefs three years in a row, the Lightning Bolts found a new foe in the Wilmington Hornets, however, the result was the same, a Hill Valley Championship.  In an expansion season in which 8 games were added to the schedule, and two teams were added to the playoffs, the mighty Bolts did not miss a beat, as they set a record for wins in a season with 112 wins.  After winning the Western Division by 27 games over the Kansas City Athletics, Hill Valley met wild card winner Peoria in the inaugural Division Series and after splitting the first two games at home, ripped off three straight at Peoria to earn a spot in the World Series.  In the East, the Wilmington Hornets were almost as dominant, as they bettered the Chiefs and the Des Moines Dusters by ten games.  In the Division Series, the Hornets squeaked by the Dusters in seven games before meeting Hill Valley in the World Series.

In the World Series, it looked as though Hill Valley would cruise to the title as it won the first three games.  However, the Hornets refused to go quietly, and after six games, the series was all square.  Unfortunately for the Hornets, that's where the magic ended as the Bolts claimed their fourth straight title.  In the end, it was role player Ed Bouchee who made the biggest impact for the Lightning Bolts, and his .364 average, with 2 home runs and 6 RBIs was enough to earn MVP honors for the Series.

During the regular season, Hill Valley was led by outfielder Mickey Mantle, who joined former Peoria Chief Ted Kluszewski as the only repeat winner of the AARBL MVP Award. Mantle also walked away with his first Babe Ruth Award as he led the Lightning Bolts to their 4th straight championship and was largely responsible for the Bolts' league record 112 wins.  A nightmare for opposing pitchers all year long, he compiled a .301 batting average, with a league best 59 home runs and a league best 160 RBI.  Also pouring on the offense were slugging first basemen Jim Gentile of the Peoria Chiefs (.331, 48 HRs, 132 RBIs) and Norm Cash of the Carolina Grays (.360, 43 HRs, 125 RBIs).  On the pitching side, Jim Archer of the Peoria Chiefs won the Rookie of the Year Award, and Bob Purkey of the Wilmington Hornets won the Cy Young Award with a 21-6 record with a 2.86 E.R.A.  Hill Valley reliever Hoyt Wilhelm was the Rolaids Reliever and Don Schwall of the Atlantic City Diamond Aces threw the season's only no hitter.