Week Four (April 1, 2002)  

Can't Get Enough of That Golden Crisp

The Newark Sugar Bears continued their assault on the DMBL, ripping off another five straight wins to run their record to a gaudy 23-5, the best mark in baseball, and thus far lead the league in both most runs scored (182) and fewest runs allowed (79) for a +103 differential. The Sugar Bears have had three runs this season of five or more consecutive wins... The Brooklyn Bean Counters fell briefly below .500, but rebounded to end the week with three straight wins, moving into second place in the Hanover Division and sixth place overall. A game behind them are the Hoboken Cutters, who dropped five straight this week. The Cutters rebounded in a big way behind a combined no-hitter Sunday to climb back to .500, while the Honolulu Sharks went 3-3 to move just a half-game behind them. The Stanhope Mighty Men finally took a step toward .500 with a 4-2 week, moving ahead of the Phoenix Dragons. Owners of the worst record in baseball a week ago, the Dragons went 3-4 to climb into 6th place thanks to a dreadful 0-7 week by the Harrison Rats, plunging them into 7th place in the Hanover Division and 13th place overall.

In the Morris Division, the Arkansas Golden Falcons still sit atop the pack, going 6-1 to open up a 2 1/2 game lead on the Tijuana Banditos, who went 5-3. The defending division champions, the Vancouver Iron Fist, also had a 5-3 week and are now 4 1/2 games back, and only 1 game ahead of the hard-charging Wanaque Wolverines, who won seven straight games this week and 10 of their last 15 to post the fifth-best overall record. The win streak came to an end in a big way Sunday with Hoboken's no-hitter... Bringing up the rear, the Philadelphia Endzone Animals, Columbia Crusaders and Carolina Mudcats all went 2-6 -- and all three have won just 3 of their last 10 -- to fall to the bottom of the standings. The Mudcats have the worst record in baseball, a half-game behind Harrison.

Who IS This Guy?

Who's the league's top pitcher so far? It's not Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson or Greg Maddux, but... John Thomson?! The latest in a long line of former phenoms to be rehabilitated in the Brick City -- from Mike Grace to Steve Parris to Mike Thurman to Woody Williams -- Thomson went 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA and 0.88 WHIP this week, including a shutout on Sunday, to claim his first Fat Chicks In Party Hats! Pitcher of the Week Award. Thomson leads the league in ERA (1.44), wins (6), runners per 9 (7.2) and innings pitched (50) and is tied for the league lead in winning percentage (1.000), shutouts (1), complete games (3) and quality starts (6)... But the Big Three haven't relinquished their claim to the McDonald Award just yet. Martinez went 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA and 0.85 WHIP, striking out 21 in 13 IP; Maddux went 1-0 in two starts, with a 1.59 ERA, 0.71 WHIP and 11 K in 17 IP; and Johnson won his only start, striking out 12 in 8 IP... the only other pitchers this week to win both their starts this week were Randy Wolf, who 2.51 ERA and 0.84 WHIP over 14.1 IP for Tijuana, and Arkansas's Roger Clemens, who put up a 4.50 ERA and 1.50 WHIP... Hoboken's Joel Pineiro was unhittable for eight innings against Wanaque (8 IP, 5 BB, 0 H, 0 R), but Philadelphia touched him up for 8 hits, 4 runs and the loss on Tuesday. On the week, he posted a 1-1 record with a 2.40 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 7 K in 15 IP... Stanhope finally started the climb back to .500, and it starts with starting pitching: Kerry Wood, Andy Pettitte and Rick Reed combined to go 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 22 Ks in 24 IP.

This week's top reliever was Arkansas closer Octavio Dotel, who was almost untouchable in five appearances: He picked up a win and 4 saves, allowing just 2 hits, 1 walk and no runs, and struck out 8 in 7.2 IP. He moved into a tie for the save lead (7) with Brooklyn's Felix Rodriguez, who has stolen the closing role from Robb Nen. This week, Rodriguez picked up two saves and didn't allow a run in three appearances; Nen gave up 11 hits, 3 walks and 7 earned runs in four games, allowing 2 HRs in 3 IP... Mariano Rivera went 2-for-2 in saves this week, giving up just 1 hit, no walks and no runs in 4.1 IP... Carolina won just two games this week, but they can't blame the bullpen. Bob Wickman gave up one hit, no walks and no runs, picking up a win, a save and 8 Ks in two appearances; middle relievers Mike Lincoln and Scott Strickland combined for 3 hits, 2 walks and a 0.00 ERA over 10 IP... Tijuana's Jeff Fassero picked up three saves and allowed no earned runs in 4 games, while Keith Foulke was one of four Newark relievers to post a 0.00 ERA, nailing down two saves in what's been a roller-coaster season thus far... Wanaque's 7-1 week is owed to the bullpen, which went 4-0 with 5 saves. Antonio Alfonseca, LaTroy Hawkins and Bret Prinz gave up no runs, 6 hits, and one walk over 10 appearances.

Barry, Barry, Barry

Arkansas's Barry Bonds had 11 walks and a hit-by-pitch last week, giving him just 18 at-bats in 7 games.

And he still hit 4 HRs with 12 RBI.

"It's Barry's world, we're just living in it," said Vancouver's Sammy Sosa, who hit .467 with a ridiculous 1.648 OPS, blasting 6 HRs with 2 2B, 9 R and 13 RBI. Most weeks that'd be enough to win the OmahaSteaks.com Batter of the Week Award -- but it was Barry taking home the free steaks for the second time this season. In addition to the 4 HRs, 12 RBI and 11 BB, Bonds had 12 Rs and 2 SBs, hitting .500 with a league-leading 1.222 slugging percentage, for a mighty 1.899 OPS. He now leads the league in 14 offensive categories, including a 1.677 OPS... Sosa's 6 HRs give him 17 in the season's first 28 games -- a pace for 98 HRs, 14 more than Mark McGwire's six-year-old record.

Big Mac's old team are still cranking out the runs without him. The Sugar Bears again led the league in offense this week, pounding out 49 runs in seven games. Chipper Jones (.367, 3 HR, 9 R, 8 RBI) and Manny Ramirez (.333, 3 HR, 6 R, 8 RBI) continue to be the team's leading producers... Just as Bonds hasn't been seeing much to hit, Honolulu's Jason Giambi has been pitched around a lot this season. He drew 7 free passes last week -- giving him 21 on the season -- but still bashed 2 doubles and 2 HRs for 9 RBIs... Phoenix's Luis Gonzalez was another steak candidate this week, smashing 5 HRs for 7 runs, 12 RBIs and a 1.363 OPS... Alex Rodriguez came up empty with the bases loaded in the 8th inning in Sunday's no-hitter, but he had an impressive week nevertheless: .485, 1.480 OPS, 4 HR, 9 R, 8 RBI... Carlos Beltran (.433, 1.333 OPS, 3 HR) and Alberto Pujols (.364, .927 OPS, 1 HR) are leading a youth movement in Philadelphia... Columbia's Trot Nixon slammed 4 HRs with 6 R and 7 RBI, slugging .913... Trying to get some offense going, the Hoboken Cutters have been moving Roberto Alomar around the lineup. He hit .367 with seven extra-base hits last week -- three doubles, a triple and three homeruns -- but only collected 5 RBIs.

The Brooklyn Shuffle

The first trade since spring training was pulled off Thursday, when the Sugar Bears sent catchers Mike Lieberthal and Ben Davis, starting pitcher Woody Williams and a 3rd round draft pick to Brooklyn for catcher Paul Lo Duca and a 10th round draft pick. Lo Duca had struggled with the Bean Counters (.240, .582 OPS in 75 ABs), but quickly fit in with Newark's lineup: In his first week, he already has more HRs (2) and RBIs (5) than he did all month with Brooklyn.

Williams, a career minor league journeyman who broke through with a 14-5 season for the Sugar Bears in 2001, was initially assigned to Triple-A Long Island, but he hopes to return to the bigs soon -- especially if Paul Abbott continues to struggle (0-2, 8.17 ERA, 2.01 WHIP).

Davis will be used in a platoon at catcher with Jason LaRue. If one or both of the young catchers fails to pan out, the team has Lieberthal, a fan favorite who hit .252 with 11 HRs with Brooklyn last year, waiting in the wings next season. Lieberthal is expected to miss the entire 2002 campaign after suffering a knee injury in spring training. "It's great to be back in Brooklyn," Lieberthal said after the trade was announced. "The Bean Counters have this really hot assistant trainer, I'm sure I'll be doing a lot of bending and stretching if you know what I mean."

Medic!

Fourteen players went down with injuries, though several (Marlon Anderson, Marty Cordova, Stan Javier and Larry Walker) missed only a handful of games. Hardest hit was the Harrison rotation, which lost Shane Reynolds for two starts and Steve Trachsel for one... Two of the league's top sluggers -- Philly's J.D. Drew (.292, 1.124 OPS, 7 HR, 17 RBI) and Carolina's Tony Clark (.340, 1.127 OPS, 4 HR, 8 RBI) will miss about two weeks after an incident involving a barber's chair, scissors and a lot of tequila... Two young hurlers off to great starts, Vancouver's Brian Lawrence (1-1, 1.65 ERA) and Columbia's Mark Buehrle (2-1, 3.09 ERA), will miss at least two turns each... Arkansas utility man Joe "Mini Mac" McEwing will be out two weeks after head-butting the Iron Fist mascot between innings. "Who knew it was really made out of iron?" a dazed McEwing asked... another utility man, Mark Loretta, was so inspired by the scene in Pearl Harbor when Jon Voight, as a polio-stricken Franklin Delano Roosevelt, stands up on his own that Loretta infected himself with the disease so he too can stand up. "If I can do this," gritted Loretta through his teeth, "we can find... a way to... win!" The Wolverines responded by winning seven straight, but Loretta will be out at least until mid-April.

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.