Some DMBL sportswriters have dubbed 2001 "The Year of the Reliever." Vatican City's bullpen, for example, is 23-6 (.793), while its starters are 26-33 (.441); Stanhope has 28 wins from its relievers and 24 from its starters. Two relievers are among the league leaders in wins and another reliever has enough innings to qualify for fifth in ERA. But did you know which single-season relief records are actually likely to fall this year?

Despite all the hoopla surrounding relievers this season, last year was truly the year of the reliever. Nearly every single-season fireman mark was set in 2000, and only a handful of marks are likely to be challenged this season.

Stanhope's Ray King, 10-1 in the first 91 games of the season, is on a pace for 17 wins -- just enough to edge past Vancouver's Jeff Zimmerman, who notched 16 wins in 2000. Other relievers with a shot at the record are Stanhope's Matt Herges (9-5), Vancouver's Jose Jimenez (7-0) and Brooklyn's Robb Nen (7-6).

Vatican City's Matt Morris leads the league in relief innings, with 91 in his team's first 88 games; Stanhope's Matt Herges has 85 IP and Arkansas's Scott Williamson racked up 65.2 IP before breaking down June 17. If Morris and Herges can avoid Williamson's fate and survive the second-half of the season, they'd pile up about 160 innings -- far short of the single-season relief innings record, Ramiro Mendoza's astounding 241.2 IP without a single start for Phoenix last year. In fact, three relievers in DMBL history have pitched 200 innings in one season: Mendoza, Charlotte's Mark Eichhorn (202 in 1994) and Norfolk's Bob Patterson (200 in 1996).

Jeff Nelson has appeared in 59 games for Phoenix this year, with 89 games played. That projects to 108 appearances -- nowhere near Carlos Reyes' 122 in 2000. In fact, 108 games would rank Nelson 9th. Last season, eight pitchers had 100 or more relief appearances; this year, only Nelson and teammate Jim Mecir are maintaining that pace.

Earned run average is almost impossible to project, but no reliever's first-half numbers compare to John Wetteland's 1.01 ERA in 71.1 IP in 1999, the relief record (minimum 50 IP). In fact, no DMBL reliever has ever posted a lower ERA with more than 10 IP. Stanhope's Mariano Rivera (1.13 in 56 IP), this season's leader in relief ERA (minimum 25 IP), would have to post a 0.80 ERA -- 5 earned runs in the same amount of innings pitched -- in the second half to pass Wetteland. Other leading relievers: Harrison's Greg Swindell (1.60), Brooklyn's Robb Nen (1.70) and Newark's Rod Beck (1.94).

Regular readers of Did You Know already know that there's no closer on pace to break Billy Wagner's save record of 41, set (you guessed it) in 2000. But with 21 saves in his team's first 91 games, Stanhope's Mariano Rivera is on pace for 37 saves, enough to slip past Jeff Shaw (36 last year) for second place. Carolina's Bob Wickman (20) and Vatican City's Kazuhiro Sasaki (19) project to 36 and 35 saves, respectively.

One relief record that will almost surely fall this year is the one nobody wants. Harrison's Derek Lowe, tied for fourth in saves, also has 9 blown saves -- just three shy of the single-season record (12), set by Waikiki's Mitch Williams in 1993 and tied by Honolulu's Heath Slocumb in 1998. Other relievers on a pace to set the record for failure are Phoenix's Troy Percival (7), Philadelphia's Curtis Leskanic (6) and Vancouver's Armando Benitez (6). Benitez is unlikely to keep blowing saves, however -- his struggles have already cost him the coveted closer's role.

You probably already know that no player is on pace to match Mark McGwire's incredible 84 homeruns in 1996. But did you know where this year's leaders stack up against other DMBL records?

At the All-Star Break, most teams have played roughly halfway through their season. Who appears to have the best shot of cracking some single-season records?

Barry Bonds (2001) vs. Mark McGwire (1997)
Barry Bonds is already well on his way to setting the single-season slugging average record, with a .776 mark in his team's first 81 games. If he can maintain this pace, he'll shatter McGwire's record of .718, set for Newark in 1997. But Bonds has much farther to go in the homerun department. During the first half, he hit one out in about 46 percent of his games -- a pace for 75 homeruns, if he played in 162 games. But he's already missed 16 games this season, so even playing every game in the second half, Bonds projects out to 67 homeruns.

Nomar Garciaparra (2001) vs. Deion Sanders (1993)
Phoenix's Nomar Garciaparra is on pace to come close to two records Deion Sanders set with the Cheyenne Warhawks: Single-season batting average (.384) and most hits (295). With exactly 81 games to go, Nomar would need 165 hits in the second half to beat Deion's record. He had 350 at-bats over the first 81 games of the season; if he collected another 350 at-bats, he'd have to hit .471 the rest of the way to beat Deion's record. If Nomar does collect 296 hits in 700 at-bats, his season batting average would be .423 -- more than enough for the single-season batting average record, also held by Neon Deion. In fact, to set the batting average record, Nomar "only" needs 269 hits in 700 at-bats, or 138 hits in the second half, and he'd post a .3843 batting average to Deion's .3841. Garciaparra also is tied for the league lead in doubles, with 33; he needs 37 more to beat Terry Shumpert's record 69 for the Jerusalem Rabbis last year.

Jason Giambi (2001) vs. Gary Sheffield (1997)
With 96 walks in his first 79 games, Honolulu's Jason Giambi is walking 1.2 times per game, a pace for 101 walks if he plays every game in the second half. That'd give him 197 walks on the season -- more than enough to eclipse the record 176 walks Mark McGwire drew for Newark five years ago. But his .476 on-base percentage is weighed down by his disappointing .285 batting average -- Giambi actually has more walks (96) than hits (76)! If he can get his batting average up to .300 while continuing to draw walks at his record pace, he should be able to just edge past the .491 OBP Gary Sheffield posted with the Louisiana Lightning in 1997.

Pedro Martinez (2001) vs. Randy Johnson (1996)
Pitching every fifth day, Pedro Martinez has 171 strikeouts in 17 first-half starts. If he remains healthy and keeps mowing down the opposition at that clip, he'll end the season with 342 strikeouts -- not quite enough to beat either Randy Johnson's 349 for Newark in 1996, or Rob Deer's 357 (as a batter) for the Waikiki Keys in 1993.

Other records that could fall:

You may know that the Morris Division leads the alltime All-Star series 5 games to 2, but did you know which player has appeared in the most All-Star Games?

Tony Gwynn has appeared in seven All-Star Games. Gwynn made the team back in 1992 and appeared in seven consecutive midsummer classics through the 1999 season, missing only the 1995 season, when there was no All-Star Game, due to the player strike.

After Gwynn, seven other players have appeared in six All-Star Games: Craig Biggio (1992, 1996-2000); Juan Gonzalez (1994-2000); Ken Griffey (1991-1992,1994,1997-1998,2000); Edgar Martinez (1991-1993,1996,1998-1999); Mark McGwire(1993,1996-2000); Mike Piazza (1994-2000), and Frank Thomas (1992-1998)

Gwynn's consecutive All-Star Games played streak could be threatened, as Gonzalez and Piazza both have active streaks of six. Piazza is the probable starting catcher for the Hanover Division this year and will likely tie Gwynn's record.

Four pitchers are tied at five for most All-Star appearances by a pitcher, but only Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson are likely to be voted onto this year's squad. Roberto Hernandez and John Wetteland are the other two. Maddux leads all pitchers with five consecutive appearances.

More All-Star Did You Know:

If you saw last week's question, you already knew that 19 franchises have taken the field in DMBL history. But did you know how many teams were founded but folded before Opening Day?

Six teams were established in the DMBL but never made it to the field!

The Rhode Island Rockets and Calgary Cougars were on the schedule for the inaugural 1991 season, but their ownership groups couldn't get financial backing in time for the inaugural draft and the league commenced with six teams and a 150-game schedule.

One of those six founding teams, the Maine Lobsters, would change uniforms many times, becoming the San Antonio Slingers (1992), Sacramento Seahawks (1993-1997), New York Mets (1998) and Hawaii Volcanoes (1999-2000) before folding after the 2000 season. Add one more name to the list: Following the 1998 season, the team was going to remain in New York but, after being threatened with a copyright infringement lawsuit, agreed to change its name to the New York Amazins before the start of the 1999 season. But the legal battle raged on for months and evetually its owners gave up and sold the team; it was moved to Hawaii.

The Newark Crimewave's owner announced following the 1991 season he would move the team north and become the New England Minutemen. But after spending the off-season in the frigid Northeast he opted for a warmer climate and moved the team to Florida to become the Tampa Bay Sweat Sox.

New England lost its second franchise prior to the 1999 season. The new owner of the Louisiana Lightning intended to move the team to Massachusetts and become the Boston Buzzards. But the Boston Red Sox refused to yield its rights to the region and vetoed the move. The team then sought a move to Northeastern Pennsylvania, even printing up uniforms as the Wilkes-Barre Barons, but a proposed stadium deal fell through. The team remained in Pennsylvania but took the name Keystone Gamblers.

More Did You Know:

Paul Barbosa is the only owner involved in three distinct franchises: He owned the Newark Crimewave/Tampa Bay Sweat Sox from 1991-1994, but dropped out of the league following the 1995 strike. Barbosa returned to the league in 1997 as the owner of the expansion Lisbon Diabos, but sold the team and it was renamed the Philadelphia Eagle Wings. Barbosa's bought his third team, the Toledo Mutthens, in 2000 and renamed it the Kentucky Hillbillies.

The Toledo Mutthens were one of the three teams that drafted off the Tampa Bay Sweat Sox roster following the 1995 strike, so in a sense Barbosa is back where he started. But no player went directly from the Tampa Bay Sweat Sox to the Toledo Mutthens to the Kentucky Hillbillies. Tom Candiotti, Will Clark and Terry Pendleton were the only Tampa Bay players drafted by Toledo in 1996, and all three were gone by the end of the season.

Ryan DeRonde was one of the league's eight founding owners in 1991 but his team, the Calgary Cougars, folded before the inaugural draft. DeRonde took over the Maine Lobsters before the end of the 1991 season, then moved the team to Texas where it was known as the San Antonio Slingers.

Some of these names live on: The Calgary Cougars play as a field hockey team and a basketball team in Canada; the New England Minutemen were a Major League Soccer team; a student rocket-building program in Rhode Island is called "Rhode Island Rockets for Schools"; the Internet Baseball League has a Boston Buzzards franchise; the Continental Basketball League had a Wilkes-Barre Barons team, and the Philadelphia Phillies still have the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons minor league team.

Barry Bonds (ARK), Ken Griffey Jr. (VAN) and Edgar Martinez (VAN) share the record for most years spent with the same franchise -- 10+ years, as all three have never left the franchise that drafted them when the league was founded. But did you know which player has played for the most teams?

GREGG JEFFERIES, who has played for nine of the 19 franchises in league history. Jefferies, who was drafted by the Columbia Crusaders in 1991, has also been a Golden Falcon, a Key, a Rabbi, a Shark, a Mudcat, a Sugar Bear, a Volcano and an Iron Fist. He retired after the 1999 season having played for every original franchise except the Harrison Rats (Austin Outlaws) and Tampa Bay Sweat Sox (Newark Crime Wave), and every team based in the 50th state (Hawaii, Honolulu and Waikiki). Next on the list is Joe Girardi, who played for eight teams but only seven franchises -- he played for the Cheyenne Warhawks and their successors, the Norfolk Ewes, 1993-1997. No other player on the list has played for more than seven teams or franchises; a total of 13 men in DMBL history have played for six or more franchises.

You may have known that three players in DMBL history have stuck with the teams that initially drafted them in 1991. But there's one player who, until this season, was still with the team that drafted him -- 10 years after that team folded! Did you know who he is?

Three players have never strayed from the team that drafted them in 1991: Barry Bonds (Arkansas Golden Falcons) and Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez (Vancouver Iron Fist).

But the player who stuck with the same team for 10 seasons, even though the team never stayed in the same place very long, was Roberto Alomar. Alomar was drafted by the Maine Lobsters in 1991 and remained with that franchise for 10 seasons -- though it became the San Antonio Slingers, Sacramento Seahawks, New York Amazins and Hawaii Volcanoes. When the franchise finally folded for good in 2000, Alomar was taken in the expansion draft by the Hoboken Cutters -- his second franchise, but sixth team.

In addition to Alomar, Bonds, Griffey and Martinez, there are 34 players on teams in 1991 still in the league today: Rick Aguilera (VAT), Sandy Alomar (VAT), Kevin Appier (COL), Harold Baines (free agent), Andy Benes (VAT), Craig Biggio (KEN), Jeff Brantley (free agent), John Burkett (NWK), Ellis Burks (KEN), Jose Canseco (free agent), Will Clark (ARK), Roger Clemens (PHI), David Cone (free agent), Eric Davis (NWK), Delino DeShields (CAR), Chuck Finley (COL), John Franco (HBK), Ron Gant (free agent), Joe Girardi (STP), Mark Grace (BRK), Rickey Henderson (free agent), Randy Johnson (NWK), Doug Jones (free agent), David Justice (HON), Barry Larkin (ARK), Ramon Martinez (free agent), Fred McGriff (HAR), Mark McGwire (NWK), Rafael Palmeiro (KEN), Cal Ripken (free agent), Gary Sheffield (HAR), B.J. Surhoff (HAR), David Wells (PHX) and Matt Williams (HAR).

More Did You Know:

You probably know Stanhope's Matt Herges leads the league in relief wins, with 6. But did you know who holds the DMB record for most wins in relief?

Jeff Zimmerman, 16-5 out of the 'pen for Vancouver last year, holds the single-season record for most wins in relief.

Only four pitchers have more than 40 career wins without a career start: Rick Aguilera (44-38), Dennis Eckersley (41-35), Roberto Hernandez (48-34) and John Wetteland (41-41).

This year's leading vultures are Stanhope's Matt Herges (6-3), Vatican City's LaTroy Hawkins (5-0), Brooklyn's Robb Nen (5-3) and Columbia's Mike Williams (5-3).

The Hoboken Cutters, in the midst of a 10-game losing streak, have been on both ends of the roller coaster: The team reeled off a five-game win streak, April 13-17, but followed that run up with a five-game losing streak, April 18-22. The Cutters have had four losing streaks of at least three games, and three streaks of winning three or more games. Hoboken's current losing streak is the longest in the league this year; they've tied Vatican City's 10-game winning streak, March 25-April 5, for longest run of the year.
Longest streaks of the year:

Win
10: VAT (3/25-4/5)
8: NWK (4/30-5/7), STP (4/7-4/14)
6: NWK (3/20-3/26), VAT (3/14-3/19)
5: CAR (5/6-*) HBK (4/13-4/17), PHX (4/19-4/24)

Lose
10: HBK (5/1-*)
7: PHI (4/7-4/13)
6: KEN (3/14-3/19), PHI (5/1-5/6)
5: CAR (3/23-3/28), CAR (4/6-4/10), HAR (4/14-4/18), HBK (4/18-4/22), PHX (5/6-5/10)
*Active streak

Mike Sirotka won his first game of the season Friday. He was 0-6 in 9 starts. Sirotka probably didn't know that he was just three more bad starts (and a season-ending injury)from setting a league record: Most starts without a win!
Who holds the record for most starts in a season without at least one win?

So if Sirotka's season had ended before Friday's game, he would've finished in a three-way tied for third place on this list (0 wins in 8 GS). As it is, now he can only shoot for the Bosio/Sutcliff loss record.