The Khalid Killer - The Story of the Greatest Single-Season of All Time

The 90s in Franchise Ball was the most exciting time to be on this site. This electrifying offensive era of baseball saw players reach new heights that were never met in any seasons previous. 100 RBI seasons were happening more than ever. This was the time to be alive. But one man in one season obliterated everyone and showed the world why he might have been the greatest to ever play the game.

Enter Khalid Patel. This player was a household name in the 90s. His electrifying power mixed with his ability to get on base was something that people had never seen before. Sure, players can do both, but this was taking this to a whole other level. So who is this man exactly?

This man joined the league in 83 as a free agent, and would not see the playing field for 3 seasons. He would finally get his shot with the feeder team of the Honolulu Shimakaze, which was the Kure Kantai. He would spend 5 seasons in the Japanese coastal city, where he would show flashes of brightness. However, his numbers were below average, and he would be on the bench for 2 years in 89 and 90.

This prompted the Kantai to let him go, where the St. Johns Codfish would pick him up. This Codfish team was a powerhouse. However, they needed momentum as they were coming off of a 44-win season, which while it isn’t bad, wasn’t as good as their previous 52-win season. And they did not start the season badly, but it wasn’t as good as they would have liked. 12-5. This would put them on pace for 42 wins, which was not what they would have hoped for anyway. The reason why they were doing so bad? They did not start Khalid Patel. They started a man by the name of Landen Fernandez. He was an amazing RF, as he accumulated 85 and 68 RBI’s respectively in his only 2 full seasons in the league. And while he didn’t play badly in 91, he wasn’t playing up to his previous standards set in seasons prior.

So why not let Khalid Patel get a shot? The team needed some momentum as they were on a 2- game losing streak. He got his chance on November 6th, 2020 at 7PM against the Dallas Sluggers. This start was not his first start with the Codfish, but it hopefully was the one that would let the kid show his true talents. Maybe he could have a few decent games, where he could be traded for some youth that could help out the Codfish. Maybe this wouldn’t pan out, and Fernandez would be the guy to go with for the rest of the season. So what happened? Well, his 7PM game was pretty good, where he went 2-4 with an RBI single. And after a 1-5 performance the day after, Khalid Patel understood that if he messed up one more game, then his career was over. So he showed the world who he was.

This kid went off. Not only did the Codfish win 20 of their next 22, but they would only lose 8 more times total after that November 6th, 7PM game. So what did he do to make this drastic change in the team’s play?

Well, he hit a whopping .513 in the season (112 for 213) with 31 HRs and 80 RBIs. In only 213 at bats! If he started the whole season (about 300 AB based on how far they would end up going in the playoffs), he would have ended up with 44 HOMERS and 113 RBIs, which would have been FB records in each category. He was absurd. If we assume he played 53 games (about 4 AB per game), his average daily performance would have been about 2-4 with about 0.6 HRs and about 2 RBIs. This is just absurd! He averaged over 2 RBIs in each GAME and over 2 hits! This has never happened in the league and will never happen in the league again. So how did his career turn out?

Before we answer that, how did the Codfish turn out? Well, the season ended in heartbreak as they lost 8-7 in 12 to the Mount Vernon Boxers in game 3 of the league finals. So where did they go from there?

Well, for starters, they traded Khalil Patel the following season. Wait, read that again. THEY TRADED HIM THE FOLLOWING SEASON. If I was the owner of the Codfish, I am firing everyone in that front office. They decided that Landen Fernandez was a better fit. Now, Fernandez was not bad by any means. He would be a solid playmaker with them for years to come, including an 86 RBI season in 96. But over Khalid Patel? Well, let’s see how he panned out.

He would never be as good as he was in 91, but he was still solid. He had 4 consecutive seasons with an AVG over .320 and over 50 RBIs. He even helped the Demo Yankees win the Season 93 World Series. In Season 96, he would actually be traded to me (The Tacoma Storm, Fury at the time in 96 and Nighthawks in 97-86). He would not pan out in Tacoma, despite his first season with the Fury where he hit 20 homers. He would bounce around to teams like the Warriors and Admirals before ending his career at age 39 with a career BA of .320 with 181 HRs and 487 RBIs.

So when can we see this type of season happen again? The answer is never, you will never see this type of season happen again. Josh (Seattle Admins) has reduced the offensive production and increased pitching production. This only means that this season will be remembered forever. This was one of the greatest single seasons of all time, up there with Samir Hawes’s (San Diego Bombers) and Claudio Ruvalcuba’s (St. Johns Deadly sins) legendary 100 RBI seasons. And this once-in-a-lifetime showing will live on in Franchise Ball history forever.

Thanks for reading. This took me a while to make (research was most of the work), and I hope that you enjoyed it. Good luck in these final few days of the regular season and in the Season 115 playoffs!

Tacoma Storm (and Fury and Nighthawks, and Tarpons too at one point)


https://www.franchiseball.com/player.php?id=626322