The New York Stars entered the season with a storied history, having won a title in 1932 and securing a couple of third-place finishes thereafter. However, their previous season's record of 72-82 had ended a remarkable streak of 13 consecutive winning seasons. Nevertheless, their loyal fans held high hopes for a successful campaign. The Brooklyn Kings, on the other hand, had suffered the heartbreak of back-to-back second-place finishes by a mere game. Yet, their steadfast supporters embraced their unwavering spirit, and the Kings emerged as a formidable force in the '36 season. And let us not forget the New York Gothams, the wealthiest of the three New York City franchises, basking in the glory of their World Championship victory in '35, their first in four decades.
Oh, the expectations were high in the city that never sleeps! New York fans had grown accustomed to success, and all three clubs were regarded as top-tier organizations. The Gothams and Kings were particularly favored to dominate their respective leagues, ensuring that the baseball universe revolved around the grand city. But, my dear readers, fate had other plans in store.
Both leagues featured good pennant races once again - and for the second straight year, the contenders were identical as well. As were, ultimately the pennant winners, though the World Championship Series' results were flipped this time around.
In the Federal Association, the New York Gothams and St. Louis Pioneers were the class of the circuit and the Gothams eked out the pennant by a two-game margin (after winning the '34 flag by five games over the same Pioneer club).
The perception around the Gothams has been that they have the best rotation in the Fed (if not FABL as a whole) with multiple Allen-Award-winning arms in the rotation. Rabbit Day, Jim Lonardo, Hardin Bates being the aforementioned men with the hardware joined by (for a limited engagement, another Allen winner in Milt Fritz - he was ultimately traded to the Chicago Cougars), highly touted prospect Curly Jones and Jack Elder. The rotation produced, as expected, and the Gothams allowed the fewest runs in the FA.
The Gothams got strong seasons from perhaps the most underrated receiver in baseball, John Wicklund (.329-23-101) as well as outfielders Moxie Pidgeon (.306-28-120) and Mahlon Strong (.343-24-116) as well as 3B Johnny McDowell (.338-2-67). That added up to the third-best run scoring lineup in the FA.
The #1 team on that list was the St. Louis Pioneers. With former Gotham farmhand 1B Fred McCormick (.369-27-161) and batting champ/Whitney Award winning 2B Freddie Jones (.389-8-89, 145 runs) leading the way, the Pioneers plated 959 runs, the most in either league. And the pitching was good too - with an Allen-Award-winning performance from Sam Sheppard (28-7, 3.13 over 41 starts and 336 innings) and a solid season from David Abalo (17-12, 3.92), the Pioneers were mid-pack in run prevention which meshed nicely with their outstanding lineup to power them to 91 wins, just two shy of the 93-win Gothams.