As we head into the much anticipated CBL playoffs, it seemed worthwhile to take a look back at the best regular season team in CBL history, the Minneapolis Millers. By posting it here, nobody has to read it, but I still get to brag!
- The Millers beat the previous wins record, 113, by 15 games, finishing 128-34.
- The team started 12-9 before finishing 116-25.
- The Frontier League record for losses is 33, one below the Millers total of 34. However, that record was set back in 2015, when the league played just 82 games. The Millers lost 1 more game while playing 80 more.
- The team’s +446 run differential is the best in baseball history, 35 runs better than the 1939 New York Yankees.
- The pitching staff finished with 1,779 strikeouts, surpassing the previous CBL record of 1,717 set by the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in 2023.
- The offense scored 1,036 runs, becoming the second team to surpass the 1,000 run mark in CBL history. The 2031 Millers scored 1,002 runs.
- The offense also became the first offense in CBL history to finish with a .300 batting average. The previous CBL record was .288 set by the same 2031 Millers.
- The Millers went 27-2 in September, winning 7 more games over that span than Cambridge (4), Connecticut (4), Indianapolis (6) and Philadelphia (6) combined.
- Joe Terry pitched 25 2/3 innings for the Millers, posting a 1.40 ERA, while going 4 for 4 in save opportunities. Sorry, Tim.
- Millers table-setters Honoria Gutierrez and Chris Stranathan combined to steal 100 bases this season, while the rest of the team stole just 57.
- Don Kaiser finished 24-3, narrowly missing the single-season wins record of 25 set by Stephen Strasburg way back in 2021. Kaiser’s .889 winning percentage was a new CBL record, though.
- The FL’s second place finisher, Erie, was closer in the standings to the league’s 9th place team (34 games) than the Millers (35 games).
- The Millers became the first team in history to finish the season with a winning record against every single team they played.
Even if this team manages to somehow choke again in the playoffs, it’s been an incredible season in the Frozen Tundra.
