 |
 |
Week 1 (March 11, 2002) | |
|
A Dim Beginning to 2002 The season started with a whimper, not a bang, as the defending Morris Division champion Vancouver Iron Fist had to cancel their home opener after a bulb burned out somewhere in the vast recesses of the Iron Dome's ceiling. It took a crew of 30 electricians more than 8 hours to find and replace the faulty bulb, but Vancouver fans had to be pleased with the result -- a masterfully pitched 2-1 win over their original franchise rival, the Columbia Rattlesnakes. Vancouver is the early leader in runs scored and in runs differential, but they gave up sole possession of first place after the Tijuana Banditos thumped them, 8-3, Sunday in Vancouver. The two teams are virtually tied for first, though Tijuana is ahead on percentage points... Streaking back into contention after opening the season 0-2, the Arkansas Golden Falcons won four straight games to move into a third-place tie with the 5-3 Carolina Mudcats, each a half-game back of first. The newly-named Rattlesnakes are in last place, but got off the schneid of a 0-5 start by taking two in a row from the Wanaque Wolverines, who fell to sixth place. The Honolulu Sharks opened the season on a four-game winning streak to pull out to an early lead in the Hanover Division, but by week's end it was the Newark Sugar Bears back on familiar ground -- sporting the best record in Diamond Mind Baseball. The Bears swept the Sharks in three straight games to dump Honolulu into second place, 1 1/2 games out. The Phoenix Dragons took two-out-of-three from the Hoboken Cutters this weekend to swap places in the middle of the pack, while the sixth-place Brooklyn Bean Counters, after opening the season with three straight losses, finally turned things around by taking two from the fifth-place Matthew's Mighty Men of Stanhope. The Harrison Rats, after a season-opening 1-6 road trip, fell to last place. Slammin' Sammy!
Hot at the Hot Corner: Carolina's Aramis Ramirez(.344, 5 HR, 6 RBI), Arkansas's Phil Nevin (.455, 3 HR, 8 RBI) and Newark's Chipper Jones (.350, 2 HR, 5 RBI)... Wanaque's star shortstop, Alex Rodriguez, is mired in an awful slump (2-for-23) and went 0-for-9 in Sunday's doubleheader... Stanhope rookies Alfonso Soriano (.450, .522 OBP, .900 SLG) and Shawn Wooten (.462, .481 OBP, .654 SLG) haven't had trouble adjusting to major-league pitching... Honolulu's Jason Giambi (.400, 3 HR, 3 RBI) and Miguel Tejada (.333, 4 HR, 8 RBI) each take 7-game hit streaks into Week 2, along with Hoboken's Brian Giles (.375, 2 HR, 5 RBI). The Perfect Percival
Columbia's Aaron Sele left the first game of the season with the score tied 1-1 and a runner on second, only to see the bullpen blow the game, 2-1. So he held onto the ball in the second game of the season, giving up 0 ER and 5 hits in the CG win... In the 'pen, Ramiro Mendoza has been Harrison's garbage man extraordinare, posting a 1.00 ERA and 0.889 WHIP in three appearances... Brooklyn relievers Robb Nen, Vladimir Nunez and Felix Rodriguez have combined for a 1-0 record with 2 saves, no runs, 10 K and 5 baserunners in 10 IP, while Stanhope's Mariano Rivera, Matt Herges, Al Levine and Ricardo Rincon have combined for 0 ER, 0.804 WHIP and 10 K in 13.2 IP... Newark closer Keith Foulke (0-1, 54.00 ERA) is off to a horrible start. He blew his first save opportunity of the season by giving up three infield singles and then walked in the winning run. It was deja vu all over again in his second save chance Sunday, when he gave up two walks and hit a batter to load the bases. This time he was lifted for co-closer Arthur Rhodes (1-0, 1 SV, 1.80 ERA), who gave up a run but preserved the 8-7 victory. Manager Don Mattingly insists there's no closer controversy in Newark, and Foulke says he's eager to return to the hill for a shot at nailing down his first save of the year. Tied to the Trainer's Table Wanaque's Dan Wilson and Phoenix's Corey Koskie were outed this week after their perverted bondage games went a little too far and landed each on the disabled list. "I thought I had left enough slack in the line that Danny could still wiggle his little finger to give me the 'stop' sign, but I guess it was probably too tight," said 'Master Corey'. "Next time I'll take the ball gag out of his mouth before I start dripping wax on his willie." Wilson will miss about a month while doctors try to restore circulation to his extremities, while Koskie will miss about a week's worth of games with what a team trainer described as "sympathy pains". Philly's Jose Vidro has the dubious honor of being the first player injured in 2002, leaving the season opener against Hoboken with a tooth ache. He'll miss two weeks... The season just didn't start quick enough for the Banditos' Shannon Stewart, who went nuts on the team bus on the 20-hour drive from Wanaque, N.J., to Tijuana. A team spokesman said management will look into chartering a plane for future road trips... Stanhope shortstop Derek Jeter, hoping to rebound from a disappointing 2001, was off to a miserable 2-for-13 start when he finally opted to see an optometrist about a botched laser surgery job after the 2000 World Series that left his right pupil stuck in the corner of his eye. "I tried to just gut my way through it but I ought to have this checked out," said Jeter, speaking to a locker he thought was a reporter. Team docs hope he'll be back on the diamond and better than ever by the end of next week. TWIB may have Ozzie Smith, but we have the better Smith! Zane Smith, former pitcher for the San Antonio Slingers and Sacramento Seahawks, now writes this column exclusively for the Diamond Mind Baseball League. Click Here for past articles. | |
Vancouver's Sammy Sosa established himself as
the league leader in batting average (.464), slugging
percentage (1.143), hits (13), runs (9), RBIs (12),
doubles (4), home runs (5), OPS (1.607) and a host of
other categories to claim the season's first 
Phoenix's Troy Percival is the