Week 2 - April 3, 2006

The Song Remains The Same

Ten of the 14 teams in the league this week finished within a game of .500, leaving most teams right where they were in the opening week.

The team that saw its fortunes improve most dramatically were the Vancouver Ironfist, which won four of its six games this week to jump from the middle of the pack to 5th overall and 2nd in the Morris Division -- a game behind the first-place Carolina Mudcats, who remained atop the division despite a 4-4 record this week. The Philadelphia Endzone Animals were able to inch a half-game closer after going 4-3, while the Arkansas Golden Falcons crawled out of last place in the division to 5th place (but still 10th overall) after a 4-3 performance. It was bad news for the rest of the division, as the D.C. Bushslappers and South Boston Gang each went 3-4, and the Hillsborough Hired Hitmen fell all the way to last in the Morris and second-worst overall after dropping five out of their six contests this week.

It was a little more competitive in the Hanover Division, where just one team had a losing record. The best performance was turned in by Matthew's Mighty Men of Marietta, who went 4-2 to match the Ironfist for the week's top record. The Mites started the week tied for 8th overall; their hot week moved them up two spots to a tie for 6th, though they're still 4th in the division. The top dog remained the Newark Sugar Bears, who entered the week riding a five-game victory streak, but then alternated wins and losses all week long for a frustrating 4-3 record -- though still good enough for a one-game lead overall and in the division for the league's best record. The Hoboken Cutters and Las Vegas Rat Pack kept pace with each other, remaining tied for 2nd in the division and 3rd overall, after each went 3-2. The Phoenix Dragons, who were tied with Marietta last week, fell a half-game behind the Mighty Men after going 4-3. Meanwhile, the Honolulu Sharks rebounded from the worst start in baseball by splitting their eight performance good enough to float past the Hitmen and the Westwood Deductions, who went 1-5 to slide to the worst record in baseball.

Have A Happy Halladay

Last week, he won two games and came within nine outs of a no-hitter, yet was denied Pitcher of the Week honors. This week, Carolina's Roy Halladay finally earned his prize by becoming the first pitcher to reach four wins. The 28-year-old righty again won both his starts, posting a 2.93 ERA and 12.3 R/9 while striking out 14 in 15.1 IP. On the season, Halladay is a perfect 4-0 in four starts, with a 2.84 ERA and 9.9 R/9 in 31.2 IP, plus an impressive 26:7 K:BB ratio. Halladay is hoping to bounce back from a sub-par 2005 campaign (12-9, 4.09 ERA, 1.46 WHIP) after finishing fourth in the Ben McDonald Award voting in 2004 (18-7, 3.62 ERA, 1.11 WHIP). And while he'd like the Big Mac on his mantel at the end of this season, for now he'll have to settle for the Ask A Ninja Pitcher of the Week Award.

The only other two-start winner this week was Honolulu's Jeff Suppan, and though he gave up just 4 earned runs in his two starts (2.77 ERA), he did allow 13 hits and 7 walks in 13.0 IP... Two hurlers threw shutouts this week: Hoboken's Jae Seo (4 H, 2 BB, 7 K) and, for his team's only win this week, Hillsborough's Felix Hernandez (5 H, 0 BB, 8 K)... This week's other top starters were Arkansas's Brad Penny (1-0, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K in 8.0 IP); Carolina's Barry Zito (1-0, 2 ER, 11 H, 7 BB, 8 K in 15.2 IP); D.C.'s Kris Benson (1-0, 2 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 4 K in 7.1 IP); Hoboken's Jon Garland (1-0, 1 ER, 2 H, 5 BB, 2 K in 7.0 IP); Newark's Randy Johnson (1-1, 3 ER, 12 H, 2 BB, 10 K in 15.1 IP); and Philly's Doug Davis (1-0, 2 ER, 11 H, 4 BB, 17 K in 17.1 IP).

Just one Marietta starter had a win this week -- and that was Mike Hampton, who notched the W despite giving up 10 hits and 5 earned runs in 7.0 IP -- yet the team went a Hanover Division-best 4-2. But they got some great bullpen work, including two wins from Trevor Hoffman (0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 4 K in 4.0 IP) and three more saves from Mariano Rivera (0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 4 K in 5.0 IP)... This week's other top relief performances: Arkansas's Fernando Rodney (1 W, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 6 K in 5.2 IP); Carolina's Francisco Cordero (1 W, 1 SV, 0 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 11 K in 5.1 IP); Honolulu's Derrick Turnbow (3 SV, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K in 4.1 IP); Newark's Scot Shields (1 W, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 6 K in 4.2 IP); and Vancouver's Billy Wagner (3 SV, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 K in 4.1 IP).

You Must Have Me Confused With Some Other Sweeney

What a strange season it's already been for Mark Sweeney. The first baseman already had two dubious honors even before the seasons tarted -- he's this year's oldest rookie (36) and also won the Jeff Reboulet Perseverance Award as the player with the most MLB at-bats logged before becoming eligible for DMBL play. He was drafted in the 6th round (#74 overall) by South Boston, only to be released at the end of spring training; then was promptly signed by Arkansas, where it appeared he'd be third on the depth chart behind Lance Berkman and Justin Morneau. Yet so far this season, Morneau has been riding the pine and Berkman's been the DH, making Sweeney the starter at first base. Over the first week, Sweeney hit just .200 and slugged .320, and the lack of production at first base was largely blamed for Arkansas's 2-4 start. But George Brett stuck with the minor league veteran and this week Sweeney rewarded his manager's patience, exploding for 3 doubles, 3 home runs and a league-best 1.572 OPS. He also led the league in slugging percentage (1.050), isolated power (.600), total average (2.000) and secondary average (.750), and ranked in the top 10 in batting average (.450), on-base percentage (.522), runs (6), RBIs (6), extra base hits (6), runs created (10.4), total bases (21) and AB/HR (6.7). He's also riding a five-game hitting streak. For his efforts, Sweeney goes from the waiver wire to the OmahaSteaks.com Batter of the Week award.

It was a pretty good week for rookies, with Hillsborough's Robinson Cano (.375, 1.221 OPS, 3 HR, 7 R, 8 RBI) and Ryan Howard (.412, 1.471 OPS, 3 HR, 5 RBI); Las Vegas's Jonny Gomes (.364, 1.209 OPS, 3 HR, 5 R) and South Boston's Dan Johnson (.360, 3 2B, 4 RBI) also turning in solid performances.

This week's other top batters: Arkansas's Javier Valentin (.350, 1.217 OPS, 2 HR, 8 RBI) and David Wright (.433, 1.181 OPS, 7 2B, 8 R); Hillsborough's Adam Dunn (.318, 1.309 OPS, 4 HR, 7 RBI); Hoboken's Mark Ellis (.500, 1.413 OPS, 1 HR, 3 RBI in 16 AB); Las Vegas's Chone Figgins (.450, 1.226 OPS, 3 R, 2 SB) and Mark Teixeira (.438, 1.359 OPS, 2 2B, 4 RBI); Marietta's Brian Giles (.370, 1.006 OPS, 3 2B, 6 R); Newark's Nick Johnson (.423, 1.478 OPS, 3 HR, 8 R); Phoenix's Todd Walker (.429, 1.055 OPS, 1 HR, 6 R); and Vancouver's Victor Martinez (.458, 1.212 OPS, 1 HR, 8 RBI).

The Battle of Wits Has Begun

There weren't any transactions this week, and just one player went down with an injury -- Hoboken's Jon Garland, who made the mistake of going in against a Sicilian when death is on the line. But the hurler will likely only miss one or two starts as he had fortunately spent the past few years building up an immunity to iocane powder. Rookie Scott Kazmir, who went 2-1 but with a 5.47 ERA in spring training, will be recalled from Triple-A Weehawken to take Garland's next turn in the rotation.
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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.