Initially, the organization had one franchise -- the Hampton Whalers -- who in their first season of play won the Kaiser Division title before falling to the Kutztown Rockies, 8-2, in the ACBL championship game on August 9. This came after the Whalers started their season with an 0-6 record only to win eight of their last nine and finish 19-21. That left them in a tie with the Peekskill Robins, against which Hampton owned the tiebreaker, thus setting up the division championship against the Metro New York Cadets. With the winner going on to the title game, the Whalers plated two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to win 2-1.
The individual accolades were in great number. Phil Klein (Youngstown State), not only lead the ACBL in earned run average by posting a 1.02 ERA but also threw the first perfect game in league history, setting down all 21 hitters in a 7-0 victory over Metro N.Y. on July 13, 2008. Additionally, left-hander Andrew Guarrasi of New York Tech finished fourth in ERA (1.70) and second in strikeouts (57). At the plate, Alan Parks (Charlotte) stole 22 bags to rank third in the league; more impressively, he did so in 22 attempts.
