Week 1 - March 29, 2004  

Opening Day!

And we're off! The 2004 season officially got underway at noon on March 23 with a game between the Iron Fist and the Golden Falcons at Quisenberry Memorial Field, with the first pitch of the season thrown out by  Former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the national anthem sung by William Hung. And what else would you expect between these two arch-rivals but an instant classic, with the Iron Fist coming back with five runs in the 9th to beat the defending world champs, 10-7.

But the big news in the DMBL's opening week was made by the Harrison Rats, who posted the league's best record (4-1) while leading the league in runs scored (39) and run-differential (+18). Even more impressive was who the Rats beat: Last year's second-worst team (67-95) took a pair off the Stanhope Mighty Men and two more off the Honolulu Sharks, both Hanover Division rivals who reached the post-season last year. Both teams are off to rough starts, with the Mighty Men going 1-2 and Honolulu 1-3... The Newark Sugar Bears won four out of six, while the Phoenix Dragons won two out of three... The Hoboken Cutters split their six games, all at home... The Westwood Deductions, formerly known as the Brooklyn Bean Counters, got off to a 2-3 start under their new name.

Over in the Morris Division, the Columbia Rattlesnakes went 5-2 to jump out to an early lead, followed by the 3-2 Carolina Mudcats. Vancouver and Arkansas each went 3-3 after Opening Day, putting the Vans at 4-3 and the Arks at 3-4... The Philadelphia Endzone Animals dropped three out of five, while the Hillsborough Destroyers went 2-5... The Tijuana Banditos are 2-4, with all six games being decided by a single run.

Next week, the Golden Falcons will kick off an 11-game road trip that includes five games against Vancouver, while Harrison begins an 11-game home stand that includes successive series against Stanhope, Newark and Arkansas.

The Story of Corey

The year's first OmahaSteaks.com Batter of the Week Award goes to Harrison 3B Corey Koskie, who helped pace the league's top offense in Week 1 with a DMBL-leading .571 BA, .667 OBP, 1.595 OPS and 2.571 total average. Koskie also ranks in the top 3 in slugging percentage (.929) and runs created (8.9)... The guy who has been chowing on free steaks for the better part of two years, Arkansas's Barry Bonds, is off to another hot start, hitting .407 (1.336 OPS) with 4 HR, 10 R and 8 RBI, and a league-leading 11.6 runs created. He has a hit in all seven games to start the season... Harrison's Gary Sheffield, who was en fuego during spring training (.370, 1.192 OPS, 10 HR, 29 RBI), continues to scorch the ball, hitting .400 with a 1.378 OPS (.478 OBP, .900 SLG) with 3 HR, 8 R and 6 RBI in the early going... Also off to hot starts: Philly's Jose Guillen (.444 BA, 1.389 OPS, 2 HR, 6 RBI), Stanhope's Todd Helton (.571 BA, 1.571 OPS), Tijuana's Edgar Renteria (.440 BA, 1.201 OPS), Vancouver's Sammy Sosa (.414, 1.314 OPS, 4 HR, 7 R, 5 RBI, 9.9 RC) and Westwood's Andruw Jones (.444, 1.333 OPS, 2 HR, 6 RBI).

Saving for the Savior

From 1999-2001, Matt Mantei was one of the best set-up men in baseball, going 19-9 with a 3.87 ERA and 346 Ks in 274.2 innings for the Sugar Bears and the Vatican City Cardinals. Following the 2001 season, the Cards were sold and moved to Wanaque -- but Mantei didn't. Hearing "The Call" while playing in the Holy City, the 28-year-old flamethrower quit baseball to devote himself fully to the Lord's Church. Brother Mantei spent the next two years working in missions from Ghana to Guyana to New Guinea. Last November, Mantei was assigned to a parish in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, where the only religion is baseball. Seeking a way to reach the locals, Mantei took to the pitcher's mound and shook the rust off his slider to better spread God's Word. As it happened, Columbia Rattlesnakes' scout Bobby Thigpen was touring the local diamonds looking for talent and offered the local parish $5,000 and two priests to be named later and soon Mantei was on his way back to the States. After a brilliant spring training (8.1 IP, 0 ER, 4 SV, 16:3 K:BB ratio), Mantei has continued to dominate now that the games count, going a perfect 3-for-3 in save opportunities (0 R, 1 H, 2 BB in 3.1 IP) to win the RandomURL Pitcher of the Week Award and help lead the 'Snakes to first place... Another former star who hasn't pitched in the bigs since 2001, Carolina's Rod Beck, is also off to a perfect start (2 SV, 0 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 4 K in 3.0 IP)... Newark's trio of John Smoltz, Keith Foulke and Scott Schoeneweis have combined for 3 wins, 2 saves, 9 Ks, 0.00 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in the first six games... Also shutting down the competition were Arkansas's Byung-Hyun Kim (1 SV, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB in 6.2 IP) and Hoboken's Rheal Cormier (0 R, 2 H, 2 BB in 5.1 IP).

Changing Sheets

The most impressive starting pitcher this week was former Mudcat uberprospect Ben Sheets, one of just two pitchers to win both his starts this week. Sheets had been in Carolina's organization since 2001, when he was drafted in the fifth round (#60 overall) after winning gold with the U.S. Olympic Team in 2000. But despite the hype, in all that time the 'Cats gave him just one start in the DMBL (and was pounded for 10 hits and 5 runs in 4.1 innings) as other prospects jumped ahead of him on the organization's depth chart. This off-season, the Iron Fist grabbed Sheets as a Rule 5 draft pick and told him he'd be getting the ball every fifth day. Right out of the starting gate, Sheets rewarded their confidence by notching his first two big-league wins, posting a 1.53 ERA and an 0.91 WHIP over 17.2 innings. Sheets, still just 24, says he owes his new-found success to the tutelage of pitching coach Dennis Eckersley and veteran ace Greg Maddux. "I'm not going to kid anybody -- our fans know this could be a long season," Eckersley said. "But with Sheetsie, Hardie (Rich Harden), Ollie (Oliver Perez), Meshy (Gil Meche), Peav-o (Jake Peavy) and the Brettster (Brett Myers), we've got some incredible talent, all under 25, and the makings of another Vancouver dynasty."

Another blast-from-the-past heard from this week: Jeremi Gonzalez, who hasn't pitched in the DMBL since going 6-11 with a 5.13 ERA for Honolulu in 1998. He's resurfaced with the Endzone Animals and threw one of two shutouts in the opening week, scattering five hits and a walk in a 5-0 blanking of no less than the world champion Golden Falcons. Hillsborough's Kevin Millwood had the other shutout, a two-hit gem against the Rattlesnakes on Opening Day. This week's other top starter was Columbia's Mark Buehrle (3.60 ERA, 1.27 WHIP).

Catching Some Injuries

Although he wears the most protection of any player on the diamond, the catcher is usually also the one most vulnerable to injury. That maxim was proved yet again as two of the league's star receivers, Columbia's Ivan Rodriguez and Carolina's A.J. Pierzynski, were put out of action on the first two days of the season. Pudge should be back before the team's five-game road trip kicks off Friday; Pierzynski, who strained his elbow throwing down to second base after the pitcher's warm-up tosses, will be out until at least next week. Arkansas's Ronnie Belliard also will miss some time; after hitting .353 with a 1.024 OPS in Spring Training, Belliard was unhappy with the news that he'd be splitting at-bats with Adam Kennedy in a second base platoon and announced Sunday that he needed some time off to "get his head together."

The Unkindest Cuts of All

Roster cut-downs are routine occurrences at the end of preseason; as predictable as the cherry blossoms in Washington D.C., "red tags" will bloom in locker rooms every spring. But still, some fans (not to mention sports agents) were surprised, confused or even outraged by some of the names that appeared on the waiver wire.

Three protected players were released: Arkansas's Trevor Hoffman, whose contract was voided after he failed his physical and will miss the entire season with a shoulder injury; Columbia's Mike DeJean, who posted a 20.25 ERA, 27.0 R/9 this spring; and former All-Star Vinny Castilla, who hit a disappointing .220 (.604 OPS) for Hoboken and left the team after it was announced he'd lost his starting job to rookie Morgan Ensberg.

Other former All-Stars sent home early: John Franco ('98), one of the few remaining members of the "Class of 1991," cut by Harrison despite picking up a save and allowing no runs in two appearances this spring; Andres Galarraga ('94, '97), released by Hoboken just two years after he hit .315 (.368 OBP, .512 SLG) in a triumphant comeback from cancer; Jose Lima ('00), sent packing by the Sugar Bears after they determined it indeed is not, after all, Lima Time; and Phil Nevin ('02), released by Arkansas after he dislocated his shoulder diving to catch a baby that fell from a fire escape.

And then there's Brian Schneider, who went from Rookie of the Year candidate and All-Star reserve last year to the unemployment line this year. After an impressive debut with Vancouver (.278, .801 OPS, 50 2B in 137 G), Schneider was released by the Fisters in January after an undisclosed off-field incident. Whatever happened, it was apparently bad enough that he went untouched in the draft until the 14th round, when he was taken by Newark with the 187th pick and given the unenvious assignment of trying to make a team that already had Mike Piazza and Paul Lo Duca at catcher. Schneider admits now that the pressure of trying to out-hit those two got to him, and was released after hitting just .194 (.598 OPS). He said he'll take advantage of this unexpected time off to work on his swing and study tapes of pitchers to be ready for when The Show comes calling again.

Speaking of former All-Stars, what was up with the way Arkansas jerked around Kris Benson this spring? The former can't-miss prospect who went 16-6 with a 3.84 ERA for the Bean Counters three years ago may never reach that level again after surgeries to his elbow and shoulder, but he still deserves to be treated with respect. The Golden Falcons brought him to camp as a non-roster invitee after picking him up in the expansion draft, but gave him just one start before releasing him on March 9. Benson says he was weighing several offers from other teams a week later when Arkansas called to say they wanted him back in camp the following morning. He hopped the next plane to Florida, only to be released again four days later without being given another appearance. Benson says he's considering legal action against the world champions for "falc'ing up" his preseason.

But the Golden Falcons' front office should get a hand for the classy way they handled the retirement of Dan Wilson. After spending parts of four seasons (1998-2001) in Arkansas,  Wilson went to Wanaque in 2002 and then to the Japanese League in 2003. The 34-year-old catcher decided to hang it up this season, but wanted to go out as a Falc. The team gave him one last start behind the plate in Spring Training, and Wilson drilled an RBI double and gunned down a baserunner before leaving the game to thunderous applause. "Not many players can walk away from this game on their own terms," Wilson said after the March 9 press conference in Little Rock to announce his retirement. "I can." Wilson, in 1,899 career ABs, hit .253 with 91 2B, 46 HR and 247 RBI and was regarded as one of the game's best pitch callers. There's already buzz that he will be named to a coaching position somewhere in the Arkansas organization.

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.