Week 6 - May 3, 2004  

Of Bears and Men

After a 7-1 week, the Newark Sugar Bears have claimed a tie for 1st-place overall and now have a 3½-game lead over the Phoenix Dragons, who had been on top of the Hanover Division for the last three weeks. But the Sugar Bears just can't put any daylight between themselves and the tenacious Stanhope Mighty Men, who bounced back from two losses at the start of the week to reel off six more wins in a row. In just two weeks, the Mites have gone from 12-13 to 25-15, the third-best record in baseball and just 1 game behind the Sugar Bears for the division lead... The Dragons, meanwhile, dropped five out of eight to fall from 1st to 3rd in the division, and from 4th to 6th overall... No other team in the Hanover Division had a winning week. The Harrison Rats came closest, splitting their six games to remain at .500, tied for 8th overall... The Westwood Deductions still have the worst record in the DMBL, but they do have reason to celebrate: Their 3-5 performance was their best of any week this season, they've finally broken into the double-digit win column, and they're riding a two-game winning streak... The Hoboken Cutters are still having trouble getting into first gear, going 2-6 this week, including a three-game losing streak... The Honolulu Sharks continue to spiral toward the bottom of the standings after dropping six out seven this week. The Sharks have lost 21 out of their last 28 games.

The hottest team in Morris Division are the Carolina Mudcats, who went 5-2 this week and 9-5 over the last two weeks to move within a half-game of the Vancouver Iron Fist, who have clung to the best overall record since the start of Week 3. But the Fist dropped two out of six this week, and now four teams are within a game of the league's best record: Newark, Stanhope, Carolina and the Columbia Rattlesnakes, who continued their recent hot streak by going 5-3. The 'Snakes have won 11 out of their last 15... The Tijuana Banditos were the only Morris team to keep pace with the 'Cats, winning five out of seven to finally climb one game above .500, while the Arkansas Golden Falcons fell to the break-even point after dropping six out of eight, including a three-game sweep at the hands of the Sugar Bears... The Philadelphia Endzone Animals started off the week with four straight wins but ended it with three straight losses, while the Hillsborough Destroyers could only tread water at the back of the pack, splitting their eight games this week.

Inside the numbers: The aptly-named Mighty Men led the league in offense for a second-straight week, with 51 runs scored, and now lead the league in offense with 237 runs, 4 runs ahead of the Sugar Bears. The Rattlesnakes have given up the fewest runs, just 155 -- 12 fewer than the next-best Iron Fist. But which team has the biggest difference in runs scored and runs allowed? Find out in our upcoming first-quarter edition of Number Crunch with Cecil Fielder.

The Sticks of Stanhope

Last week, we copped out and gave the OmahaSteaks.com Batter of the Week Award to the entire Mighty Man offense. This week, we shipped another case of steaks to Stanhope, but this prime-grade beef will be delivered directly to Nick Johnson, a minor-league phenom who is finally getting a chance to play every day. "Nick the Stick" earned his steaks this week by leading the league in OPS (1.343), hits (14), runs (10), batting average (.483), on-base percentage (.515), runs created (12.9) and total average (1.800). On the season, Johnson leads the DMBL in on-base percentage (.458) and leads the Mighty Men in batting average (.360), slugging percentage (.654), OPS (1.112), doubles (12), triples (2), runs scored (35) and walks (24). But if not for the designated hitter rule, he might still be in Triple-A Stroudsburg -- the Mighty Men already have a pretty good first baseman named Todd Helton, who is swinging a pretty big stick of his own (.387, 1.085 OPS, 4 2B, 5 RBI this week; .323, .952 OPS, 9 HR, 25 RBI overall). And Helton is just 29 years old, so he could be manning that position for a long time. But manager Graig Nettles has found a way to get Helton and Johnson into every game so far this season. "You want to call it a problem? Sure, it's a problem," Nettles said. "I've got the two best first basemen in baseball. It's a problem any manager would love to have."

Hillsborough could get back into the hunt in a hurry if Alex Rodriguez (.258, 1.194 OPS, 6 HR, 12 RBI) and Carlos Delgado (.367, 1.244 OPS, 4 HR, 8 RBI) can continue to stay hot at the same time. Not to be out-done, Phoenix's Nomar Garciaparra (.406, 1.129 OPS) and Garret Anderson (.382, 1.067 OPS, 3 HR, 8 RBI) are also doing their best dynamic-duo impression. Tijuana's Edgar Renteria has a 27-game hitting streak, just five behind the all-time DMBL record of 32 set by Newark's Jim Eisenreich in 1997. Renteria, who hit .370 with a .922 OPS this week, said he's just taking the hits one game at a time. But he did say he's already been approached by the folks at Rolling Rock should he happen to hit his way to game No. 33... Teammates Mike Sweeney (.407, 1.278 OPS, 3 HR, 7 RBI) and Travis Lee (.421, 1.526 OPS, 4 HR in 19 AB) are also swinging hot bats for the Banditos.

Also hot: Carolina's Aubrey Huff (.417, 1.250 OPS, 6 R), Harrison's Derrek Lee (.364, 1.193 OPS, 3 HR, 6 RBI), Hillsborough's Adrian Belre (.333, 1.193 OPS, 3 HR), Philly's Jose Guillen (.429, 1.166 OPS, 2 HR, 6 RBI) and Scott Rolen (.348, 1.187 OPS, 3 HR, 7 RBI), and Vancouver's Steve Finley (.429, 1.216 OPS, 2 3B, 5 RBI).

And who's not: Arkansas's Andres Galarraga (.172, .366 OPS in 31 PA); Carolina's Richie Sexson (.080, .348 OPS in 27 PA); Newark's Mike Piazza (.100, .432 OPS in 22 PA); Stanhope's Derek Jeter (.139, .302 OPS in 37 PA); Vancouver's Sammy Sosa (.087, .247 OPS in 25 PA)... And most guys would love to have what passes for an "off week" for Barry Bonds: .250 BA, .879 OPS, 3 HR, 7 RBI.

Throwin' Smoltz

Newark's league-best 7-1 record was greatly helped by its bullpen, led by reigning Rolaids Relief Pitcher of the Year Award winner John Smoltz, who was a perfect 4-for-4 in save chances this week. Smoltz gave up just 1 hit, no walks and no runs in 5 IP while striking out 7 to record his DMBL-leading four saves and win the Player Appreciate Pimp Name Generator Pitcher of the Week Award.  Two of Smoltz's supporting cast also posted 0.00 ERAs: Keith Foulke picked up a win and a hold and retired all 15 men he faced, while Jack Cressend recorded a save while giving up 4 hits, 1 walk and 5 Ks in 5 IP, stranding six out of seven inherited runners... Meanwhile, Columbia's Matt Mantei (3 SV, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K in 2.1 IP) has yet to give up a run this season, giving up 5 hits, 7 walks and 15 strikeouts in 14.1 IP... Other top relief efforts: Harrison's Shigetoshi Hasegawa (2 SV, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K in 2.2 IP), Hillsborough's LaTroy Hawkins (0 R, 4 H, 0 BB, 6 K in 6.1 IP) and Tijuana's Jose Valverde (1-0, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 6 K in 4.1 IP).

With a quarter of the season behind us, let's take a look at the Relief Points Leader Board. Remember, it's 2 relief points for a win or a save, -1 point for a loss or a blown save.

Relief Points Leader Board
Reliever	ERA	W	SV	L	BS	Pts
Wagner, VAN	3.20	0	14	0	2	26
Hasegawa, HAR	0.87	0	10	0	0	20
Rivera, STP	3.18	0	10	0	1	19
Mantei, COL	0.00	1	8	0	1	17
Beck, CAR	1.46	2	8	1	2	17

Columbia's Mark Buehrle was brilliant in winning both his starts this week -- a 7-1 laugher over Phoenix on Wednesday and a 3-0 gem over Vancouver on Sunday. Buehrle gave up just 1 earned run, 10 hits and 2 walks while fanning 8 in 15 IP... This week's other two-start winners: Carolina's Tim Hudson (1.23 ERA, 10.4 R/9 in 14.2 IP); Newark's Carl Pavano (1.69 ERA, 10.7 R/9 in 16.0 IP); and Tijuana's Javier Vazquez (2.25 ERA, 11.3 R/9 in 16.0 IP).

Winless in Westwood: The Deductions' Al Leiter was cuffed around for 10 hits (2 home runs) in 5.2 IP and was handed his sixth loss in his eighth loss of the season this week. But Harrison's Vicente Padilla and Hillsborough's Victor Zambrano each won for the first time this week, leaving Leiter as the only regular starter without a win this season.

I Know Why You Plague Me

Bacterial bugs continue to infest the DMBL, with at least three more players going down with the plague this week, all on Saturday: Arkansas's Jason Phillips, Honolulu's Einar Diaz and Newark's Randy Johnson are all down for the count, at least for the next two-to-three weeks, while they're quarantined and checked for signs of the deadly plague. Ordinarily, the Big Unit being out for at least four starts would be grounds to alert suicide hotlines all over Sugar Bear Nation, but most fans quietly breathed a sigh of relief when they got the news: Johnson has been downright brutal this season. He's lasted a grand total of just 4.2 innings over three starts this season, and in those 4.2 innings he's been pounded for 21 hits (4 home runs) and 13 earned runs, a ridiculous 25.07 ERA and 46.3 R/9. "I hope I don't have the plague, but I hope I've got something that would explain why I can't get anybody out," Johnson mused. "I feel like I'm possessed by the spirit of Tanyon Sturtze."

In fact, if Johnson's season is over, he will have the highest single-season ERA in DMBL history by a pitcher with three or more starts. The obscure record is currently held by Kevin Foster, who didn't get a decision while posting a 17.65 ERA in three starts (20 H, 6 BB, 17 ER in 8.2 IP) for the Sugar Bears in 1996; the worst performance by a pitcher with at least five starts was turned in that same year by Norfolk's Jeff Fassero, who went 0-4 with a 17.51 ERA (34 H, 6 BB, 24 ER in 12.3 IP). If you're curious, the actual DMBL record for highest single-season ERA (minimum 162 IP) is exactly 9.00, set by Sacramento's Mark Gardner in 1997. Gardner gave up 181 earned runs in 181 innings (275 H, 79 BB) while compiling a 5-17 record.

Speaking of viruses, fans are warned to watch out for the dreaded Sasser virus, which is infecting computers across the world. If your computer has this virus, it will double-clutch and then throw the ball into centerfield.

This week's other moves: Arkansas signed OF B.J. Surhoff and C Vance Wilson; Carolina released OF Alex Sanchez and 2B Warren Morris, and signed swingman Jake Westbrook; Newark signed 3B Robin Ventura; Stanhope released OF Tike Redman and signed 3B Vinny Castilla off waivers from Arkansas; and Vancouver released 3B Eric Munson and signed SP Kris Benson.

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.