Week Two (March 26, 2001)
Meet The New Boss (Same As The Old Boss)
Two weeks into the season, two perennial powerhouses sit atop the standings.
The Sugar Bears lead the Hanover Division on the strength of a six- game winning streak that included a 33-11 thrashing of the Philadelphia Endzone Animals. Just a half-game behind Newark are the Phoenix Dragons, a team that has already won three extra-inning games this season.
In the Morris, the Arkansas Golden Falcons finished the week riding a four-game win streak behind the league's stingiest pitching staff, with just 40 runs allowed. The upstart Vatican City Cardinals fell to second after a perfect 6-0 start, dropping four of their last six. Vancouver has finally battled its way back to .500 thanks to a three-game sweep of Philadelphia.
The Crunch With Punch
Newark's powerful offense has been led by teammates Carl Everett and Manny Ramirez, 1-2 in homeruns and RBIs... Arkansas's Phil Nevin is hitting .425, with a league-leading .875 slugging percentage and 10 extra-base hits... Columbia's Frank Thomas is hitting .447, including a blistering .667 (10-for-15) against southpaws.
Arkansas's Randy Wolf hasn't given up an earned run in his first two starts this season... The secret to Phoenix's success has been its steller bullpen, led by Mike Venafro: 2 H, 0 BB, 0 ER and 8 K in 7.1 IP, good for a win and two saves... Vancouver's Greg Maddux has three complete games, a 1.73 ERA and two wins, but his teammates are scoring just 3.7 runs per game for him
Did Anybody Bring a Can of Raid™?
Malaria struck two players this week, downing Kentucky catcher Darrin Fletcher for a month and Carolina's Jim Edmonds for two weeks. "Helping" the Center for Disease Control with their investigation into the malaria outbreak, Stanhope reliever Matt Herges was snooping through a CDC bag when he accidentally pricked his finger on a syringe. He will be out two weeks with a "mild" case of Anthrax... Newark ace Randy Johnson, upset after starting the season with a 6.06 ERA, washed down a bottle of No-Doze with 17 cups of coffee after losing Sunday against Stanhope. Doctors say he won't be able to fall asleep again for at least two weeks.
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.