Greatest NASOMA Teams

MLBTV has these shows listing the top 10 (or 20 or 40) for different areas. One of their latest is the top 40 teams ever (although it certainly seemed like the top 40 of the last 50 years). Their top 5 were:
5. 1986 New York Mets
4. 1970 Baltimore Orioles
3. 1961 New York Yankees
2. 1975 Cincinatti Reds
1. 1998 New York Yankees

So I decided to list our own greatest teams ever, but with the difference being that I limited the list to one team from each franchise. (Also not true, as the Strangers and Drillers are technically the same franchise, so let's call it one team from each manager).

With apologies to those not listed, here they are...

10. The 2006 Fungoes (94-68) - This was probably not the greatest Fungo team, but it was the one that won it all. Hard to tell how, though, by looking at the final stats. The team hit .249 and had a 3.68 ERA. They outscored their opponents by less than 40 runs. The leading home run hitter had a .222 batting average. The second leading winner on the mound only won 12 games and had a 5.17 ERA. Somebody named Jesse Crain led the team in saves. And yet, the team won the league championship in 6 games over the FFTs.

9. The 1987 Strangers - The Strangers won two titles, and I don't know a lot about either team, but this one swept the World Series in 4 games over the #1 seeded Mavs. Some stars of the team were Ozzie Smith and Ryne Sandberg. This was also the last Stranger team. The 2-headed manager took over in 1988, the irritating Hybrids won 99 games with them in 1989, and then they became the Drillers.

8. The 1988 Bandits (98-70) - Wade Boggs, Kal Daniels, Tony Gwynn, Jose Canseco, Kirby Puckett... This was an offensive juggernaut. The team batting average was .286. The pitching staff wasn't great, but Mike Scott won 20 and had a 3.77 ERA. Bob Welch won 18. The Bandits were not able to make the trip down for the playoffs, but with the Oilers at the wheel, they defeated the Buckeyes in the second round; then with the Buckeyes taking over as proxy, the Bandits beat the FFTs in 7 games to win the Series.

7. The 2010 VivaZaPastas (97-65) - There were probably better Zap teams, but this team won their second title while winning more games than the 2004 champs. The 1-2 punch of Zach Greinke and Josh Johnson was the strength of the 2010 squad, which beat the Rhinos in 5 games to earn the title.

6. The 2008 Killer Bees (102-60) - The team hit .291 with a .365 OBP and a .502 SLG. Carlos Pena hit 66 homers with 145 runs scored and 155 RBI, but he wasn't the only great hitter in this lineup. Joining Pena were Chipper Jones, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, and Brad Hawpe. The pitching staff wasn't as impressive, but a solid bullpen led by Heath Bell (16-4, 21 saves, 1.97 ERA) took the team to the NASOMA title.

5. The 1985 FFTs (104-64) - The FFTs won their third title in six years with this club. The pitching was dominant, and while Fernando Valenzuela (24-12) and Phil Niekro (20-12) gave the FFTs a terrific rotation, the key was Orel Hershiser who threw 176 relief innings, going 20-7 with 15 saves and an ERA of 2.56. Pedro Guerrero led the team in batting (.320) and RBI (91).

4. The 2001 Drillers (105-57) - The second of back to back champions, the 2001 Drillers were led by Barry Bonds (.334, 51 HR, 136 RBI), Nomar Garciaparra (.354, 70 doubles), Vladimir Guerrero (.334, 44 HR, 141 RBI, and Trevor Hoffman (46 saves, 2.14 ERA). In the finals, the Drillers beat the Sidewinders in 5 after first defeating the Zaps in 5.

3. The 1994 Buckeyes (102-62) - In 1995, 1996, and 1998, the Buckeyes had better regular season records, but failed to reach the World Series each year. The 1994 group was led by Albert Belle (.314, 54 HR, 142 RBI) on offense and starter pitchers Andy Benes (22-11) and John Burkett (19-6). The World Series was a rare chance for the Inmates to finally best the shriveled testicle gang, but they couldn't do it, losing in 5.

2. The 1998 Sidewinders (109-53) - 1998 was a weird year. There were FOUR teams winning 100+ games, but the Snakes still managed to dominate. Pedro Martinez (24-7) and Mike Mussina (22-8) led the staff. The batting order was balanced, but Frank Thomas (.310/.428/.625) was the key. The Sidewinders rolled thru the post season, beating the Inmates in 6 games and the Pastas in 5. And unless I'm mistaken, this was the year that ended with the question "How's your infield?" in the deciding game of the Series. The score at the time was something like 24-1.

1. The 2009 Warpigs (126-36) - Well, of course I'm going to pick my own team. I wanted to pick the 2002 team which won 117 games and is the only one to feature both Mark McGwire and Albert Pujols, but it's hard to argue with 126 wins. The team hit .289/.373/.513 and was led by Pujols (.351, 43 HR, 138 RBI), Chipper Jones (.363, 38 HR, 106 RBI), and Manny Ramirez (.319, 36 HR, 102 RBI). The pitching staff had an ERA of 3.32 and had 5 pitchers with 17+ wins (Cliff Lee 22-5, Justin Duchscherer 18-2, Rich Harden 17-4, Jesse Litsch 17-4, and Ervin Santana 17-8). The Pigs beat the Rhinos and the Buckeyes in the playoffs.