Week 5 - April 26, 2004  

Shower Power

April showers are supposed to bring May flowers, but this week they brought misery on league pitchers. Earned run averages were destroyed as seven teams passed the 40-run plateau -- heights usually attained by just one or two teams in a typical week -- and one team scored an astonishing 9.7 runs per game.

That team was the Stanhope Mighty Men, who earned their adjective by scoring a mighty 68 runs this week en route to a perfect 7-0 record. The Mites also gave up just 30 runs, which means they blew out the competition by an average of 5.4 runs per game. Stanhope has won seven straight to jump from 4th to 2nd in the Hanover Division, leap-frogging the Newark Sugar Bears, who went 4-3. The Phoenix Dragons remained in 1st place in the Hanover, and a half-game ahead of Newark and Stanhope, by going 4-3 as well... The Harrison Rats had been tied for the league's fourth-best record last week, but fell all the way back to 8th and a .500 record after a disastrous 1-6 week... The Honolulu Sharks continue to sink in the standings, dropping five out of six. The Sharks have gone 6-15 (.286 W%) over the last three weeks... The Hoboken Cutters had their best week since Week 1, going 3-3 to climb out of last place overall and finally break into the double-digit wins column -- a milestone that continues to elude the woeful Westwood Deductions, who dropped six out of seven and are riding a six-game losing streak.

The Columbia Rattlesnakes continue to astound the experts, winning six out of seven games this week to move into a tie for 2nd place overall with the Carolina Mudcats, who went 4-3. The 'Snakes have won 10 out of their last 13 games and are riding a six-game winning streak... Another surprise team, the Vancouver Iron Fist, put together another impressive week (5-2) and still have a 3-game hold on the best record in baseball... The defending DMBL champion Arkansas Golden Falcons went 5-2 this week and have gone 13-7 over the last three weeks... The Tijuana Banditos took a step back toward .500 with a 4-3 week... The Hillsborough Destroyers and Philadelphia Endzone Animals continue to bring up the rear in the Morris Division. The Destroyers dropped five out of seven, while the Animals had the misfortune of playing the Mighty Men six times -- and lost all six. Philly's only highlight this week was Monday night's 12-2 trashing of Columbia -- which was, ironically, the Rattlesnakes' only loss this week.

The week ahead: The Mighty Men have a great chance of extending their seven-game winning streak as their upcoming schedule looks like a cakewalk: Three games against 9th-place Tijuana, three games against last-place Westwood and then three games against 13th-place Hoboken. But the Dragons also get a break from the schedule-makers, with three against the Cutters and two against the Ducks... Carolina and Columbia face off for a big three-game series that could decide second-place in the Morris Division, at least for this week... The Sugar Bears and Golden Falcons will play for the first time since the seventh game of the DMBL Championship Series last year. Newark gets three games this week, followed by three in Arkansas next month..

Feeling Mighty

If a player hit .306 with a .429 OBP and a .518 SLG, he'd warrant serious consideration for the OmahaSteaks.com Batter of the Week Award. But what happens when an entire team puts up those kind of numbers? Free steaks for everyone, of course! Every Mighty Man will get a taste, of course, but Stanhope batting coach Ryne Sandberg will be handing out the choicest cuts to Todd Helton (.379, 1.334 OPS, 4 HR, 11 R, 12 RBI), Mike Lowell (.313,  5 HR, 9 R, 12 RBI), Brad Wilkerson (.417, 4 R, 6 RBI in 12 AB), Nick Johnson (.333, 1.012 OPS, 9 R, 6 RBI), Derek Jeter (.310, .474 OBP, 7 R), Milton Bradley (.345, .424 OBP, 9 RBI) and Jorge Posada (.286, 1 HR, 7 R, 7 RBI). Sandberg said the team's offensive explosion started with patience at the plate -- as a team, Stanhope drew 54 free passes this week, 20 more walks than any other team. Jeter (9 BB) and Posada (8 BB) led the walk parade. "When you start working the count, good things happen," said Ryno, who posted a career .355 OBP in six DMBL seasons with Austin, Jerusalem and Toledo. "Even if you don't get the base on balls, you're still making the pitcher work, you're seeing all his pitches, you're making him throw you a pitch you can hit. I tell these guys, 'This game is hard enough without you helping them by getting yourself out.'" Stanhope's ridiculous 68 runs scored this week jumped them from the middle of the pack in runs scored to a third-place tie, with the Mudcats, at 186 RS; Vancouver and Arkansas are tied for the league-lead at 193.

In a normal week, Hoboken's Dmitri Young would be grilling up some free prime rib right about now. Young led the league in batting average (.519), on-base percentage (.552), slugging percentage (.963), OPS (1.515), triples (3) and runs created (14.6), with 7 R and 6 RBI... And, of course, no discussion of the league's top hitters would be complete without another monster week from Arkansas's Barry Bonds (.385, 1.215 OPS, 2 HR, 6 RBI) or Carolina's Aubrey Huff (.471, 1.368 OPS, 3 HR, 6 R, 7 RBI). Also en fuego: Hillsborough's Adrian Beltre (.400, 1.124 OPS, 5 2B, 6 RBI) Honolulu's Sean Green (.389, 1.421 OPS, 3 HR) and Vancouver's Jeff Bagwell (.300, 1.164 OPS, 3 HR).

Dynamic Duos: It's twice as nice when two hitters are red-hot at the same time, like Carolina's Randy Winn (.455, 1.069 OPS) and Richie Sexson (.414, 1.331 OPS, 4 HR, 8 RBI), Newark's Marcus Giles (.406, 1.160 OPS, 8 R, 4 RBI) and Bill Mueller (.367, 1.208 OPS, 3 HR, 8 RBI), and Tijuana's  Edgar Renteria (.367, 1.024 OPS, 3 2B, 7 R) and Bret Boone (.321, 1.268 OPS, 5 HR, 10 RBI).

Livan It Up In Columbia

The Mighty Men built their gaudy record by out-scoring every other team in the league. But how did Columbia win six out of seven, scoring just 26 runs on the week? Pitching and defense, of course! The Rattlesnakes allowed a league-low 21 runs this week, or just 3.0 runs per game. Most impressive was rotation anchor Livan Hernandez, who allowed just one earned run over two complete games of work (2-0, 0.50 ERA, 0.78 WHIP in 18 IP) to win the Baskin Robbins Free Scoop Night Pitcher of the Week Award. Livan also has to be considered one of the early favorites for the Ben McDonald Pitcher of the Year Award as he's now leading the league in ERA (1.19) and innings pitched (60.1) and ranks in the top three in strikeouts (42), wins (6-1) and home runs per 9 IP (0.3). Teammates Sidney Ponson (1-0, 1 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 6 K in 9 IP) and Mark Buehrle (1-0, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K in 7 IP) also were impressive... Other top starters: Arkansas's Roger Clemens (1-0, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 11 K in 8 IP); Harrison's Jerome Williams (1-0, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K in 5.1 IP); Hillsborough's Bartolo Colon (1-0, 1 ER, 4 H, 8 BB, 5 K in 7.1 IP); Newark's Eric DuBose (1-0, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K in 7.2 IP); and Vancouver's Greg Maddux (1-0, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 K in 6.2 IP).

Vancouver's Ben Sheets won his only start despite not having his best stuff (4 ER, 9 H, 3 HR in 8 IP) but remains a perfect 7-0. But one pitcher did ruin his "perfect" season this week: Hoboken's Darrell May finally won his first game on the season with a 4-3 nail-biter over the Banditos. May improves to 1-5 in his first seven starts. Meanwhile, the Banditos have sent veteran Hideo Nomo (0-4, 8.46 ERA, 16.9 R/9 in his first five starts) to Triple-A Lexington to work on his delivery, meaning there's just three pitchers in regular rotations who have yet to pick up their first wins: Harrison's Vicente Padilla (0-4, 8.53 ERA, 19.2 R/9 in 6 starts), Hillsborough's Victor Zambrano (0-4, 6.86 ERA, 17.4 R/9) and Westwood's Al Leiter (0-5, 6.45 ERA, 17.2 R/9 in 7 starts).

Vancouver's Billy Wagner notched a league-high 4 saves this week (0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 K in 4.1 IP) and has a big lead in the saves department, with 12 in 14 opportunities. Harrison's Shigetoshi Hasegawa ranks second with 8 saves, followed by Arkansas's Byung-Hyun Kim, Carolina's Rod Beck and Stanhope's Mariano Rivera, all tied with 7. This week's other top relievers: Phoenix's Troy Percival (1-0, 0 R, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K in 8 IP); Stanhope's Paul Quantrill (2-0, 0 R, 5 H, 1 BB, 5 K in 7 IP); Tijuana's Eric Gagne (1-0, 1 SV, 0 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 13 K in 7.1 IP).

And Stay Out!

Just when the pox epidemic appeared to have faded, with just two mild cases diagnosed this week (Carolina's A.J. Pierzynski and Hillsborough's Matt Morris), the league is now faced with an even more serious disease: the bubonic plague. Doctors are baffled and now there is growing concern that the league has been exposed to biological weapons. "We're certainly concerned and we're looking into the possibility," said former weapons-of-mass-destruction hunter Scott Ritter, now the DMBL's director of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons security. The first patient diagnosed with the Black Death was catcher Miguel Olivo, who shares Vancouver's catching duties with Chad Moeller. The league is taking the drastic step of setting up quarantine stations in every league clubhouse. "Anyone who gets the sniffles, we throw 'em in the room 'til they either die or get better," Ritter said. The first player banished was Columbia 2B Luis Castillo, who was given a week of isolation when he burped after eating a taco. "Who knows what the symptoms are? We have to be sure," Ritter said. "It's tough love, you know?" In the meantime, doctors are optimistic that Olivo will survive the illness and could even return sometime this season, once he learns to walk again. "And if he doesn't, that's OK too," said Vancouver hitting coach Andy Van Slyke. "I mean, let's not get too worked up over this. It's just Miguel Olivo for cripes' sake." In the meantime, the Iron Fist have brought back Brian Schneider to split time behind the plate with Moeller. Schneider hit .278 with 50 doubles as a rookie last year, but the Iron Fist declined to offer him arbitration after an undisclosed off-field incident. He later showed up in Sugar Bear camp as a non-roster invitee but was released after hitting .194 in spring training. Schneider still won't say what he did this off-season, but swears it will never happen again. "No way, no how," Schneider said. "I don't even own a cat anymore. Er... forget I said that."

This week's other comings and goings: Arkansas added 3B Vinny Castilla and cut utility infielder Chris Stynes; Carolina re-signed 2B  Warren Morris to fill in for the injured Mark Grudzielanek; Harrison dumped SP Jeremy Bonderman and SS Jack Wilson and added 1B  Paul Konerko; Hoboken released prospect Jason Bay and signed infielder Brian Roberts; Vancouver dumped SP Jeff Weaver; Newark released OF Mark Kotsay; and Stanhope dropped RP Chad Fox.

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.