Week 6 - May 2, 2005

And That's the End of the First Quarter!

Every team has passed the 40-games played mark, meaning we're now 25 percent of the way through the 2005 season. Take a look at the first-quarter standings in depth in an all-new edition of Number Crunch With Cecil Fielder!

The Philadelphia Endzone Animals set the pace this week, winning seven out of eight games this week to move into 4th place overall. But they were the only team to make up any ground on the Newark Sugar Bears, who went 6-2 to pad their league-best record... The Arkansas Golden Falcons remained in 2nd place overall after splitting their eight games this week, while the 3rd-place Carolina Mudcats moved a game closer after going 5-3... The 5th-place Honolulu Sharks also went 5-3 this week, meaning they've won 10 out of their last 13 games... The Columbia Rattlesnakes hung onto 6th place overall after dropping five out of eight this week... Just a half-game out of the post-season picture are the Vancouver Iron Fist, who went 5-3, and the Hoboken Cutters, who remained at .500 after splitting their eight games this week.

The only team below .500 that got a step closer to the break-even point this week were the Hillsborough Destroyers, who won five out of their eight games to move up two places in the overall standings, from 12th to a 10th-place tie... In fact, the team they're now tied with was the only other lower-half team that was able to even tread water: The Las Vegas Rat Pack, who went 4-4... The Stanhope Mighty Men had another bad week (2-6) and have lost 11 out of their last 15, falling from a 6th-place tie all the way to 9th place... The Phoenix Dragons, who went 6-1 a week ago, gave it all back and one more after going 1-7 this week and are now in 12th... The Tijuana Banditos went 3-5 to remain in 13th place, while the Westwood Deductions are dead-last after going 2-6.

Arkansas's Big Mo

The Golden Falcons are taking their time with 23-year-old rookie Wily Mo Pena, easing him into the league by using him mostly against southpaws. But there might be "mo" playing time for Wily after his huge week: 11 hits, 6 home runs and 11 RBIs -- in just 19 plate appearances! Despite the limited playing time, Pena led the league in home runs, total bases (30) and runs created (19.1), tied for the league lead in extra base hits (7) and tied for second in RBIs -- and if he had enough plate appearances to qualify, would've led the league in BA (.611), OBP (.632), SLG (1.667), OPS (2.298), secondary average (1.111) and total average (4.429). And, in a week when the Golden Falcons had just four wins, Pena had the game-winning RBI in three games -- including a two-out, pinch-hit solo home run in the bottom of the 8th off Eddie Guardado, breaking a 3-3 tie in what would be a big 4-3 win over Vancouver. The huge week earned the rookie his first-ever case of free steaks as the OmahaSteaks.com Batter of the Week... Other huge weeks from part-timers: Arkansas's Lance Berkman (.400, 1.367 OPS, 2 HR, 5 R in 18 PA); Hillsborough's Carlos Delgado (.583, 2.320 OPS, 4 HR, 8 RBI in 19 PA); Phoenix's Jeff Conine (.333, 1.667 OPS, 2 HR, 2 RBI in 6 PA) and Stanhope's Eli Marrero (.500, 1.143 OPS, 2 HR, 3 R in 14 PA).

Among players with enough plate appearances to qualify, Hillsborough's Termel Sledge led the league in OPS (1.316), mostly thanks to his league-high .923 slugging percentage. Sledge hammered four triples -- giving him five on the season, which is just one less than league-leader Ben Broussard of the Rattlesnakes, who had three this week -- and also was tied for first in extra base hits (7), tied for second in runs (8) and tied for fourth in RBIs (10)... Philly's Jose Guillen is riding a 17-game hitting streak -- the longest active streak in the DMBL, and already tied for fourth-longest this year -- and hit .310 (.897 OPS) with 2 2B, 2 HR and 6 RBI this week... Also en fuego: Arkansas's Barry Bonds (.308, 1.240 OPS, 2 HR, 6 RBI); Carolina's Aubrey Huff (.333, 1.116 OPS, 3 HR, 13 RBI) and Aramis Ramirez (.303, 1.081 OPS, 4 HR, 8 RBI); Hillsborough's Jason Varitek (.500, 1.221 OPS, 5 2B, 8 R); Honolulu's Johnny Damon (.344, 1.229 OPS, 4 HR, 9 RBI); Las Vegas's Carlos Beltran (.400, 1.280 OPS, 2 HR, 9 R); Newark's Jim Thome (.300, 1.212 OPS, 2 HR, 7 RBI); Philly's Scott Rolen (.333, 1.211 OPS, 3 HR, 7 R); Tijuana's Vladimir Guerrero (.343, .943 OPS, 2 HR, 8 R); and Vancouver's Moises Alou (.333, .944 OPS, 1 HR, 10 RBI).

Brad is Rad

Philly's Brad Radke started the week with solid numbers (4-3, 3.56 ERA, 10.1 R/9) -- but not what you'd consider Ben McDonald material. But then he threw a 1-0 five-hit shutout on Monday, and a 1-0 four-hit shutout on Sunday. Ben who? Big Brad's back-to-back shutouts moved him into first place in ERA (2.59) and shutouts (3), second place in wins (6-3), tied for second in R/9 (9.8), and to the top of the list when it comes to early favorites for the league's top pitching award. But for now, Radke says he'll just savor winning the Guess-the-Google Pitcher of the Week Award. "It's way too early to start thinking about end-of-the-year awards," Radke said. "Although if anyone wants to send their vote for me in early, I won't complain..." Radke's biggest competition for the PotW Award may have been teammate Doug Davis, who gave up just 1 earned run (0.84 ERA), with 7 H and 4 BB in 10.2 IP, in notching two victories this week. Other top starters: Arkansas's Pedro Martinez (2-0, 2.45 ERA, 10.4 R/9, 17 K in 14.2 IP); Columbia's Livan Hernandez (1-1, 1.06 ERA, 6.4 R/9, 16 K in 17.0 IP); Honolulu's Kenny Rogers (2-0, 1.59 ERA, 7.9 R/9, 14 K in 17.0 IP); Newark's Dave Bush (1-0, 1.64 ERA, 6.5 R/9, 4 K in 11.0 IP). 

This week's top relievers were Arkansas's Brad Lidge (3 SV, 0 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 4 K in 3.1 IP); Columbia's Joe Nathan (2 SV, 0 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 K in 2.0 IP); Hillsborough's Chad Cordero (1 W, 1 SV, 0 R, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 K in 7.0 IP); Hoboken's Shingto Takatsu (1 SV, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 5 K in 5.0 IP); Las Vegas's Juan Rincon (0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 10 K in 6.0 IP); Newark's Akinori Otsuka (1 W, 1 SV, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 7 K in 7.1 IP); Tijuana's Eric Gagne (1 W, 1 SV, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 11 K in 7.1 IP); and Vancouver's Billy Wagner (2 SV, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K in 2.0 IP).

Medic! MEDIC!

There were more injuries this week than in a season finale of E.R. An amazing 11 players went down with injuries that will sit them out a week or longer. Seven of the 11 came from teams at the back of the pack, making it all the more difficult for those teams to get back into the playoff picture.

The hardest hit team was Phoenix, which had to put three players on the shelf this week, joining star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra on the trainer's table. After losing Garciaparra on Sunday, the Dragons lost Mark Grudzielanek on Monday and Troy Percival on Tuesday. Another infielder was taken out on Sunday when Shea Hillenbrand was diagnosed with a bad case of fleas. "I knew I should've cut off my mullet," Hillenbrand mused between furious scratching fits. All four players play key roles on the Dragons, but the hardest guy to replace might be the one likely out for the longest: Percival. His 4.22 ERA is actually the lowest on the team, his 12.2 R/9 ranks second, and his 3.6 K:BB ratio ranks third. "I'm not having a great year, but goddamn," Percival sighed. "We are getting corn-holed out there." In fact, the Dragons' 266 runs allowed are the most in the Hanover Division, and their 5.70 team ERA is third-highest in baseball.

If the 13th-place Banditos are going to make another miracle run at a playoff berth over the next four months, they'll have to get started without their middle infield. Edgar Renteria was placed on the disabled list Wednesday after showing up 15 minutes late to batting practice. An infruriated Renteria explained that he just overslept, but manager Sid Fernandez was more than happy to give Renteria a couple weeks off to think about his horrid start (.227, .553 OPS in 145 plate appearances) and to deliver a message to the rest of the team about promptness. But apparently the message didn't take, because just three days later Orlando Hudson wasn't at the batting cage on time either. But Hudson -- hitting .282 with a team-high .500 SLG, .852 OPS and 12 2B -- was cut a little more slack. In fact, Fernandez waited a whole day before calling Hudson's hotel room to find out where he was, and that's when he discovered that the switch-hitting second baseman had been kidnapped. Hudson, who came up in the Sugar Bears' system, apparently ran into some former fans and they decided he should miss the upcoming series against Newark. The ransom note also demanded that the Banditos start Josh Beckett (0-6, 8.54 ERA).

The Rat Pack also was dealt a double-whammy this week, losing a veteran star in Sammy Sosa and a future star in Mark Teixeira. But while they're each terrific hitters, the two were having awful starts to the season and, like Renteria, might benefit from the extended leaves of absence. Sosa was hitting just .183 (.617 OPS) with 6 HR in 35 games, while Teixeira was hitting .211 (.705 OPS) with 7 HR in 38 games. It does say a lot about Las Vegas's offense woes, though, when you consider that they rank third and fourth on the team in home runs, and that Teixeira's 25 RBIs rank first.

The Golden Falcons signed switch-hitting infielder D'Angelo Jimenez on Monday to provide a spark, and he immediately paid dividends, smashing three hits -- all doubles -- in his first two games. But during Tuesday's game against Hoboken, first base coach Will Clark noticed Jimenez ripping into his third bag of Big League Chew. "I know an addict when I see one," said Clark, who missed almost all of the 1996 season after nearly OD'ing on Jolly Ranchers. "The boy needs help." Jimenez denied that he's got a problem with the shredded bubblegum product. "I can stop any time I want," Jimenez said before shoving a huge fistful of Wild Pitch Watermelon into his mouth. But the Golden Falcon front office immediately sent him to rehab. "We'll start him out on 10 packs a day of original flavor Trident sugarless gum and see if we can step him down from there," said detox therapist Dr. Candy Chew. "He should be able to resume normal baseball activities in about a week."... Also missing about a week's worth of games due to various ailments: Hoboken's Kevin Millar, Stanhope's Derek Jeter and Vancouver's Moises Alou.

Hello and good-bye:  The frustrated Banditos shuffled up their bullpen, releasing Mike Adams (0-1, 8.16 ERA, 17.6 R/9) Alan Embree (6.23 ERA, 13.2 R/9) and Chris Hammond (0-1, 5.51 ERA, 14.9 R/9) and bringing in Erasmo Ramirez, Mike Timlin and Luis Vizcaino. The move has looked good so far, with the three new additions combining to allow 4 ER, 12 H, 3 BB and 10 K in 12.0 IP... Addressing their injury-wracked lineups, the Rats signed 1B Julio Franco and the Banditos signed SS Cesar Izturis... Stanhope activated C Charles Johnson and released C Brad Ausmus... Hillsborough dumped sixth-round draft pick (#71 overall) Michael Cuddyer, who had just seven plate appearances this year (0-6, 1 BB) in order to sign relief pitcher Ryan Wagner (3.65 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 11 K in 12.1 IP at Triple-A)... The Iron Fist also made room for a hot farm hand, dumping P Dewon Brazelton in order to keep OF Laynce Nix (.333, .837 OPS in 39 AB at Tacoma) out of the Rule V draft... Heading in the opposite direction, the Sugar Bears and Golden Falcons both went with veterans to add depth to the bench. Newark released SP Kevin Millwood to bring back 3B Edgardo Alfonzo, who hit .404 with a .994 OPS as a part-timer for the Sugar Bears in '03, and Arkansas cut RP Justin Speier to sign veteran 1B Rafael Palmeiro, a career .275 hitter who has played in every season in the DMBL's history and has been to the post-season five times ('91-'93 with the Austin Outlaws, '00 with the Kentucky Hillbillies, '02 with Tijuana), but has never won a ring. "The chance to end my career with a quality organization like this, and maybe to finally win the whole thing, makes me feel like a 34-year-old kid again," a tearful Palmeiro told reporters.     

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.