BWAL TOP 15 — NO. 1: WILLIE BURGER

Nine games.

One championship.

Twenty-six hits. Twenty-five RBIs. Five home runs. One hundred and thirty-four strikeouts.

One season that may never be matched.

At No. 1 on the BWAL Season 4 Top 15 is Willie Burger—the most dominant player of Season 3 and the author of what may be the greatest individual season in the history of any BAL sport.

Not just BWAL history.

BAL history.

Burger led the league as a hitter. He dominated it as a pitcher. He delivered in the playoffs, controlled the championship and carried the Titans through the most successful season in franchise history.

In a sport where one great pitcher and one great hitter can win a game almost by themselves, Burger was both.

"He was our offense, our ace and the guy we trusted in every important situation," Titans captain Johnny Besecker said. "There were games where it felt like Willie was going to find a way to win no matter what happened. I've never seen one player control an entire season like that."

Burger did not simply finish first in one or two categories.

He dominated the entire statistical leaderboard.

His Season 3 offensive rankings were almost absurd:

• First in games played: 9
• First in at-bats: 52
• First in hits: 26
• First in singles: 19
• First in home runs: 5
• First in RBIs: 25
• First in batting average: .500
• First in slugging percentage: .827
• Third in runs: 15
• Third in OPS: 1.421
• Ninth in on-base percentage: .594

Burger recorded nine more hits than any player outside of teammate Johnny Besecker and finished five hits ahead of the next-closest hitter. His 25 RBIs were five more than second-place Dylan Atkinson and more than double the total of nearly every other player in the league.

He also led the BWAL in home runs while batting exactly .500.

Power hitters are not supposed to win the batting title.

Batting champions are not supposed to lead the league in home runs.

Burger did both.

"He didn't give you an area to attack," Dragons legend Will Byler said. "If you challenged him, he could hit it out. If you tried to be careful, he would stay patient and still find a way to put the ball in play. Five home runs with a .500 average is ridiculous."

Burger's offensive season would have been enough to place him near the top of this list by itself.

Then came the pitching.

His Season 3 pitching rankings were just as overwhelming:

• First in ERA: 0.29
• First in WHIP: 1.47
• First in strikeouts per inning: 2.63
• Second in innings pitched: 51
• Second in pitching strikeouts: 134
• Only 20 hits allowed in 51 innings
• Only two home runs allowed all season

Matt McCleary threw more innings and recorded more total strikeouts, but nobody was more efficient than Burger.

Burger allowed only 15 earned runs across 51 innings. He struck out 134 batters—an average of more than 2.6 strikeouts per inning—and surrendered just 20 hits.

For every hit Burger allowed as a pitcher, he recorded nearly seven strikeouts.

That is complete dominance.

"Matt had an unbelievable season on the mound, but Willie was operating at another level," 8 Balls legend Ronnie Swantner said. "He gave you almost nothing to hit, and then he would come up the next inning and drive somebody in. It felt unfair."

The clearest example came against the 8 Balls early in the season.

At the plate, Burger collected three hits, launched two home runs and drove in six.

On the mound, he pitched seven innings, recorded 16 strikeouts and did not allow an earned run.

Two home runs.

Six RBIs.

Sixteen strikeouts.

Zero earned runs.

In the same game.

That may have been the most dominant all-around performance of Season 3, but it was not an isolated event.

Against the Dragons, Burger collected five hits in six at-bats while recording 19 strikeouts across seven scoreless innings. Later in the season, facing the 8 Balls again, he produced three hits, a home run, three RBIs and two runs while pitching nine innings with 23 strikeouts and only one earned run.

Across those three performances, Burger recorded 11 hits, three home runs and nine RBIs at the plate.

On the mound, he pitched 23 innings, struck out 58 batters and allowed only one earned run.

"He could win the same game three different ways," Cherrypickers star Dylan Atkinson said. "He could shut you down, hit the home run or keep finding contact until the runs came. You weren't preparing for one strength. You were preparing for everything."

That is what made Burger's Season 3 different from every other great BAL season.

Most dominant seasons come with a clear identity.

A scorer takes over the BBAL.

A quarterback or defender controls the BFAL.

A hitter carries an offense in the BWAL.

Burger controlled both halves of the game.

When the Titans were in the field, he could prevent the opponent from scoring. When they came to the plate, he could create the runs himself. He did not need to wait for the ball to find him or rely on someone else to finish the play.

He started games.

He finished games.

He decided games.

"Wiffle ball gives a true two-way player the chance to control everything, and Willie took complete advantage of that," Grant Conway said. "He wasn't just helping us win. He was dictating how the game was played."

Burger's greatness became even more obvious when the postseason arrived.

In the semifinal against the Dragons, he recorded four hits, including a home run, drove in two runs and scored three times.

Then he took the mound and delivered seven innings with 20 strikeouts while allowing only two earned runs.

With the Titans one victory away from their first championship appearance, Burger produced one of his finest complete games of the season.

But the defining performance came in the championship against the 8 Balls.

Burger did not record a hit in the final.

It did not matter.

He drew two walks, drove in a run and scored twice. Then, on the mound, he delivered seven innings, struck out 16 and did not allow an earned run.

The league's most productive hitter won the championship without needing a hit.

The league's most dominant pitcher made sure the Titans did not need many runs.

"That championship showed why he was the MVP," McCleary said. "Even when we kept him from getting a hit, he still got on base, scored twice and shut us down from the mound. You can do almost everything right against him and still lose."

Burger's two postseason games completed one of the greatest playoff runs in league history.

Across the semifinal and championship, he produced four hits, one home run, three RBIs, five runs and three walks.

On the mound, he threw 14 innings, recorded 36 strikeouts and allowed only two earned runs—a 0.14 postseason ERA.

He struck out 36 batters in 14 innings when the Titans' season was on the line.

Then he left the field as a champion.

That championship matters when discussing the greatest season in BAL history.

The numbers were extraordinary, but they were not empty. Burger's dominance directly created victories and ended with the Titans lifting the trophy.

He was not a great player on an average team.

He was the driving force behind the champion.

"I may have been the captain, but Willie was the engine," Besecker said. "We had a great team, but his season gave us something nobody else had. Any time we needed a win, we knew the best hitter and one of the best pitchers in the league were the same person."

Burger finished first in eight offensive categories and three major pitching-rate categories.

That means he led the league in 11 different areas across hitting and pitching:

• Games played
• At-bats
• Hits
• Singles
• Home runs
• RBIs
• Batting average
• Slugging percentage
• ERA
• WHIP
• Strikeouts per inning

He also finished second in innings and pitching strikeouts, third in runs and third in OPS.

There was almost no statistical category in which Burger was not among the league's best.

His numbers become even more impressive when separated into what he produced and what he prevented.

At the plate, Burger was responsible for 25 RBIs and scored 15 runs.

On the mound, he allowed only 15 earned runs all season.

Burger drove in 10 more runs than he surrendered.

He scored as many runs himself as he allowed.

That may be the best summary of his season: Willie Burger created more offense than opponents could create against him.

There is no real case that Burger should be lower than No. 1.

McCleary's combination of career power and pitching earned him the second spot. Grant Conway brought championship intelligence and complete production. Swantner added elite on-base ability, defense and unmatched aura.

But Season 3 belonged to Burger.

No player hit for a higher average.

No player hit more home runs.

No player drove in more runs.

No qualified pitcher posted a lower ERA, a better WHIP or more strikeouts per inning.

And no player had a greater effect on who won the championship.

The only debate left is how this season compares with the greatest performances across the entire Besecker American League.

There have been legendary BBAL scoring seasons, dominant BFAL performances and historic championship runs. But it is difficult to find another player who controlled as much of his sport as Burger did in Season 3.

He was the best hitter.

He was the most efficient pitcher.

He was the playoff star.

He was the champion.

He was No. 1.

"This wasn't just a great wiffle ball season," Besecker said. "This was one of the greatest seasons we've ever seen in anything under the BAL. When people look back at Season 3, they're going to remember it as Willie's year."

That is Willie Burger entering Season 4: the reigning standard of BWAL greatness and the player every future two-way star will be measured against.

He did not merely help the Titans win.

He gave them an advantage in every inning, from both sides of the ball, until the championship belonged to them.