Week 3 - April 12, 2004  

It's Too Early to Panic...

...But it's not too early to care. Most teams have about 20 games under their belt at this point, and it should be remembered that 20 games represents only about one-eighth -- or a little over 12 percent -- of the DMBL season. Still, it's important to remember that the teams that would finish first place in each division and the team that would finish last overall had already staked those places in the standings by Week 3 last year.

But it's still early enough in the season that a hot week can dramatically change a team's place in the standings. The Vancouver Iron Fist, in a three-way tie for third place last week, rode a DMBL-best 6-1 record to claim first place overall, nine games over .500. And the Tijuana Banditos, tied for 12th overall with a 5-8 record last week, went 5-2 to jump five places in the standings. The Carolina Mudcats also won five out of seven to climb into 2nd in the division, 5th overalll... The Hillsborough Destroyers have begun playing like a team that has reached the playoffs for three consecutive seasons and began the climb back toward .500 after going 4-3 in a week that included five road games. The ever-dangerous Arkansas Golden Falcons are right behind them, just one game under .500 now after winning four out of seven... Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Endzone Animals -- the team that the preseason experts said would finally end their streak of six straight years of finishes in 9th place or worse -- dropped five out of eight for their third-straight losing week. And then there's this item from the Nostradumass Department:  Last week, we told you that the surprising Columbia Rattlesnakes would keep hope alive thanks to a cream-puff schedule in Week 3. They went 2-5.

The Phoenix Dragons flew into a Hanover Division first-place tie (second overall) after winning five out of eight this week; the Harrison Rats went 4-3 to keep pace... The Sugar Bears remained in third place in the division, fourth overall, despite going 3-4... The Honolulu Sharks fell to .500 after a 3-5 week, while the Stanhope Mighty Men were happy to meet them at the break-even point after going 4-3... The Westwood Deductions continued to struggle, dropping five out of seven, while the Hoboken Cutters dropped seven out of eight to claim the worst record in baseball, nine games under .500.

Oddly enough... Who would've guessed that Newark would lead the league in fewest runs allowed (73) but rank just seventh in runs scored (100)? Or that Arkansas's vaunted pitching staff would be league's second-worst (111)?... Here's a tip for beating the Sugar Bears: Get 'em early. They're 12-0 when ahead or tied after seven innings, but 0-9 when behind..

The Usual Suspect

Our Batter of the Week sponsor didn't have to do much research to figure out where to send the free steaks this week. Arkansas's Barry Bonds had exceptional numbers over the first two weeks of the season but was edged out in the balloting by voters hoping to "give somebody else a chance," but this week, not even the most jaded voter could overlook Bonds's production. He led the league in batting average (.571), on-base percentage (.581), slugging percentage (1.143), OPS (1.724), extra base hits (8), total bases (32) and runs created (19.2), and he's riding a seven-game hitting streak. He also had 16 hits -- four doubles, four home runs -- for 8 R, 10 RBI... Nobody has chewed more beef from the good people at OmahaSteaks.com than Bonds over the last three seasons, when an "average" season for Bonds has been a .339 BA, 1.260 OPS, 59 HR, 150 BB and 156 RBI. It looks like Bonds will be "average" again this year, as he's leading the league in batting average (.400), hits (34), runs (22), runs created (34.8) and total bases (68) and ranking in the top five in most of the other major categories.

There were other "usual suspects" on the batters' leader board this week: Carolina's Aubrey Huff (.393, 1.202 OPS, 3 HR, 7 RBI), Harrison's Melvin Mora (.500, 1.405 OPS, 2 HR, 6 RBI), Philly's Albert Pujols (.361, 1.230 OPS, 4 HR, 10 RBI) and Phoenix's Javy Lopez (.360, 1.247 OPS, 4 HR, 13 RBI), but it's nice to see some new faces, such as Philly's Matt LeCroy (.458, 1.267 OPS, 2 HR, 5 RBI), Stanhope's Nick Johnson (.409, 1.461 OPS, 3 HR, 7 RBI) and Vancouver's Alex Cintron (.393, 1.057 OPS, 1 HR, 7 R),

It's not surprising to see a monster game from Honolulu's Jason Giambi, who hit .435 (1.563 OPS) with 3 home runs and 10 runs scored this week, but it is suprising to see him get three-quarters of the cycle -- and miss on the measly single! Giambi, who didn't have a triple all of last year (and has only eight in his seven-year career), got that out of the way first, leading off the second inning with a three-bagger off Westwood's Runelvys Hernandez. He got halfway to the cycle in his next at-bat, hitting a solo home run off Hernandez with one out in the fourth. After drawing a walk in the fifth, Giambi came up for the fourth time to lead off the eighth inning and promptly laced a double just inside the first base bag. But entering the top of the 9th, the Sharks were leading 6-1 so it would have taken a valiant comeback by the visiting Ducks to give Giambi a chance to come up to the plate for a fifth time in the bottom half of the frame. Things were looking promising when Shane Halter led off the 9th with a home run and Ben Molina followed it up with a single, but Honolulu's Ugueth Urbina shut down the rally with two strikeouts and a pop fly to end the threat and Giambi's shot at the Schwinn. 

Feeling Rattled in Columbia

Columbia's fade from first can't be blamed on their pitching staff; they posted an impressive 2.10 ERA and 10.4 R/9 this week. But the anemic offense scored just 21 runs in seven games, giving the hurlers a measly 3 runs per game to work with. None was more cheated than Sidney Ponson, who picked up two losses despite allowing just 3  earned runs (1.69 ERA, 6.2 R/9) in 16 innings -- because the offense scored him just one run all week. Indeed, two of Ponson's runs were charged to him after closer Matt Mantei came in with men on first and second and a 1-0 lead and promptly gave the game away on two walks, a single and a wild pitch. The other loss came when Westwood's Steve Trachsel and Oscar Villarreal combined for a two-hit shutout. Ponson is 1-4 this year despite a 2.43 ERA and a 10.5 R/9. We feel your pain, Sidney, and recognize your efforts with the Nice Try, But... Pitcher of the Week Award. His teammate Miguel Batista also deserves a shout-out after pitching a complete-game 3-1 win over Westwood on Monday, then coming out of the 'pen as Columbia's seventh pitcher of the game two days later in a 14-inning 7-4 loss to Hillsborough. On Sunday, Batista pitched in his third game of the week and was left in for 100 pitches before finally getting yanked in the seventh after giving up 5 earned runs, 8 hits and 3 walks in the 5-3 loss. Understandably, he was a little tired...

Starters who fared better: Arkansas's  Pedro Martinez (2-0, 2.92 ERA, 12.4 R/9, 3 BB, 12 K in 12.1 IP); Carolina's Roy Halladay (2-0, 3.38 ERA, 7.9 R/9, 2 BB, 11 K in 16 IP); Tijuana's Ryan Franklin (1-0, 1.59 ERA, 6.9 R/9, 0 BB, 11 K in 17 IP) and Westwood's Steve Trachsel (1-1, 2.92 ERA, 10.2 R/9).

Philly RP Danny Kolb may have been elected chairman of the Animals' bullpen committee this week after three flawless appearances, retiring all 15 men he faced, including five strikeouts. On the season, Kolb has pitched 6.2 innings and has allowed just 1 hit, 3 walks and 2 runs... Other top relievers: Arkansas's Byung-Hyun Kim (2 SV, 1 ER, 9 H, 2 BB in 10 IP); Hoboken's David Riske (1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 8 K in 5.1 IP); Honolulu's Rafael Soriano (1-0, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 6 K in 5.2 IP); Phoenix's Joe Borowski (2-0, 0 R, 7 H, 2 BB in 6 IP); Tijuana's Eric Gagne (1 W, 2 SV, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 K in 3 G); and Vancouver's Billy Wagner (3 SV, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 5 K in 4.2 IP).

A Pox On Both Your Houses

In the third inning of Thursday's game against Arkansas, Iron Fist slugger Sammy Sosa pulled up at first base huffing and puffing after beating out a double-play. The home crowd's applause for Sosa's hustle quickly turned to gasps when the All-Star outfielder crumpled to the dirt. The game had to be stopped for 15 minutes as an ambulance slowly backed onto the field, then strapped Sosa onto a guerney and drove him to an area hospital. Finally, the diagnosis: Smallpox, the highly contagious illness caused by the variola virus. League officials struggled to contain the outbreak but it was already too late: By Sunday, seven more players -- Stanhope's Cliff Floyd, Hoboken's Ryan Klesko, Phoenix's Bernie Williams, Philly's Johann Santana, Newark's Scot Shields and Harrison's Frank Thomas and Melvin Mora -- came down with the pox, though it turned out to be its less dangerous cousin, chicken pox. But the Centers for Disease Control says the news isn't as good for Honolulu's Joe Randa and Phoenix's Rafael Betancourt, who will be out of commission possibly for the rest of the month with a virulent strain known as big pox. The CDC won't even try to guess as to what kind of pox is ailing Philly's Mark Prior, who has flu-like symptoms and so many bumps on his face that he can't even put his glasses on. It's all too much for Westwood rookie Jose Reyes, who has become obsessed with the disease and now refuses to enter a DMBL stadium until the outbreak is over. Ironically, Sosa -- "patient zero" -- showed tremendous improvement over the weekend and could be back on the field later this week. In an unrelated story, doctors say they now believe that steroids may be an effective cure against smallpox.

In this week's only non-pox related injury news, Vancouver 2B Jeff Kent jumped for joy after being told of the size of his IRS tax refund check and strained his hamstring. As if that wasn't bad enough, IRS agents were also impressed at the size of the refund and have begun an audit of Kent's records. "They got nothing on me," Kent told reporters from the trainer's table. "Eyeblack and chewing tobacco are legitimate business expenses in this line of work."

Muddying Up the Waiver Wire

The front office for the Carolina Mudcats is probably rethinking their latest promotion, "Be Our General Manager For a Day!", in which the lucky fan sitting in Tier Reserve Section 22, Box 634, Row K, Seat 26 was named the team's Acting GM. Life-long Mudcat fan I.P. Freeley was all too happy to take the team up on their offer and immediately released veterans Paul Shuey and Tom Wilson. "Shuey stinks!" Freeley explained to astonished reporters at a hastily-arranged press conference. "I was at a game last year where I said he would strike the next batter out and instead he gave up a base hit. I looked like an idiot in front of all of my friends. There's no way he's staying on my team. And as for Wilson, he just sucks." Instead, Freeley offered three-year contracts to 29-year-old second baseman Warren Morris and 30-year-old catcher Vance Wilson. "These are young, exciting players who I think will really get the fans excited," Freeley said. "Also, I have their rookie baseball cards, and as long as they're free agents the cards are basically worthless." When the front office opened for business on Monday, the Carolina executives quickly went to work, releasing Morris to re-sign Shuey. Luckily, the medical staff also cleared A.J. Pierzynski to return to the lineup that morning, so the Mudcat front office didn't have to decide which Wilson it wanted.

This week's other comings and goings: Arkansas activated Ronnie Belliard and released Marlon Anderson; Harrison added Jack Wilson after Frank Thomas went on the 15-day disabled list; Newark signed catcher Michael Barrett to a minor league contract, releasing former Iron Fist hurler Brad Radke; Philadelphia added pitchers Pat Hentgen and Adam Eaton, cut outfield prospect Laynce Nix and put pitcher Mark Prior on the DL; and Vancouver picked up outfielder Aaron Guiel and put Jeff Kent on the DL.

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.