Week 7 - May 8, 2006

I'm Not Dead Yet!

For the second time in three weeks, it was a good week to be a bad team as the two best performances were turned in by the squads that started the week in last place in their respective divisions. Meanwhile, with eight of the other 12 teams posting a record within one game of .500, it was pretty much a week of treading water -- the only change in the division standings was a flip-flop between the teams at the bottom of the Morris.

Leading the charge up the basement steps in the Hanover Division, the Westwood Deductions tied for the league's best record, winning six out of seven games. Westwood's wild week ended on a high note, riding a three-game winning streak. They're still in last place overall, but suddenly they're now just a game out of a three-way tie for 11th... The Honolulu Sharks are one of those teams in that logjam after a 2-5 record... The Marietta Mighty Men finally started to move back toward .500 after going 4-3. The Mites are now 2 games out of a tie for 6th place, now shared by the injury-plagued Hoboken Cutters, who went 3-4, and the high-flying Phoenix Dragons, who went 5-2 to finally climb above .500 for the first time all season... The Las Vegas Rat Pack held onto 2nd place in the division and 2nd place overall despite a 2-5 week. The Newark Sugar Bears actually managed to gain a game on them in the standings despite going 3-4. Both the Rats and the Bears ended the week on four-game losing streaks.

Emerging from the depths of the Morris Division, the South Boston Gang had their second straight six-win week, this time losing just one game as they crawled percentage points ahead of the D.C. Bushslappers, who went a respectable 4-3. At 7 games under .500, S.B. and D.C. are technically in a tie, along with the Sharks, for 12th place. The Gang's incredible performance over the last two weeks -- 12 wins in 13 games -- includes three-game sweeps of Newark and Las Vegas! And while South Boston is the hottest team in baseball right now, the coldest are the Hillsborough Hired Hitmen. Just two weeks ago they were a half-game out of the Morris Division lead; now, after losing six out of seven this week, and 10 out of their last 12, they're just 2 games ahead of Westwood for the league's worst record... Another reeling team are the Philadelphia Endzone Animals, who actually were the division leaders just three weeks ago. Now they're a game under .500 after dropping four out of seven... For a third straight week, the Arkansas Golden Falcons went 4-3, good enough to put them just a half-game out of the Morris Division lead... Maintaining their tie for the division lead and the league's 3rd-best record, the Vancouver Ironfist and Carolina Mudcats each went 3-4.

Marietta's Mighty Morgan

The Mites had their first winning week since Week 4 thanks to some terrific numbers from "the G-men" -- Ken Griffey Jr. (.441, 1.324 OPS, 3 HR, 6 RBI) and Brian Giles (.406, 1.281 OPS, 3 HR, 10 R). But this week's delivery from OmahaSteaks.com goes to Morgan Ensberg, who the Batter of the Week Award after hitting .448 (1.288 OPS) with 3 HR, 8 R and 8 RBI. He also knocked in the winning run in two of Marietta's four wins this week. On the season, the 30-year-old third baseman is hitting a solid .275 (.858 OPS) with 10 HR, 29 R and 42 RBI -- all the more impressive when you consider the guy he was traded for, Carlos Lee, is hitting just .198 (.639 OPS) for Hillsborough. "The steaks look nice, but I came to this team to get to the playoffs," said Ensberg, who played for 11th-place Hoboken in '04 and 12th-place Hillsborough in '05. "I'll grill 'em when we reach a wildcard berth." Marietta's just two games out of a tie for 6th, but just to be on the safe side, Morgan, you ought to put those in the deep freezer.

It was a good week at the hot corner, as lots of third basemen turned in stellar performances: Carolina's Aramis Ramirez (.333, 1.115 OPS, 2 HR, 7 RBI); Hoboken's Miguel Cabrera (.370, 1.229 OPS, 3 HR, 10 RBI); Las Vegas's Mark Teixeira (.345, 1.022 OPS, 2 HR, 7 RBI); Phoenix's Melvin Mora (.375, 1.236 OPS, 3 HR, 8 RBI); and Westwood's Bill Mueller (.346, 1.105 OPS, 5 2B, 6 R).

In theory, if a player got just one hit every game, he'd set the consecutive game hitting streak record -- and hit somewhere around .200. Vancouver's Michael Young put that theory to the test this week, hitting just .226 (7-for-31) in his team's seven games to extend his consecutive game-hitting streak to a season-high 24. That's just nine games shy of the DMBL record set last year by Phoenix's Ichiro Suzuki, and in fact, it was the Dragons that finally snapped Young's streak on Sunday with an 0-for-5. Over the 24-game streak, Young had just eight multi-hit games. When it started, he was hitting .259; when it ended, .277. "It was nice, but truthfully, a lot of those were lucky hits," Young admitted. "My swing's a little off right now. I've got to quit that slow-pitch softball league."

This week's other top batters: Arkansas's Lance Berkman (.391, 1.186 OPS, 3 2B, 5 RBI); Newark's Manny Ramirez (.370, 1.174 OPS, 2 HR, 8 RBI); South Boston's Rickie Weeks (.381, 1.328 OPS, 3 HR, 6 R); Vancouver's J.D. Drew (.316, 1.115 OPS, 1 HR, 4 R); and Westwood's Derrek Lee (.357, 1.066 OPS, 2 HR, 7 RBI).

If I Had A Hammer...

South Boston may be the best team in baseball over the last two weeks, but you wouldn't know it from their offense. During their 12-1 run, the Gang has scored 4.8 runs per game -- not bad, but not the kind of performance you'd expect from a .923 winning percentage.  Their secret to their success, obviously, has been a defense that's yielded just 3.2 runs per game over that same streak. This week, the team posted a 2.71 ERA and 10.6 R/9 -- both tops in the league, by a wide margin. With a team average that good, they obviously got great performances up and down the roster. Relievers Mike MacDougal, Huston Street and Mike Timlin combined for 2 wins and 2 saves, with 0 ER, 8 H, 4 BB and 7 K, in 8.2 IP; starters Dontrelle Willis and Josh Towers had one great start each, combining to give up just 1 ER, 11 H and 2 BB with 13 K in 13.1 IP; and Aaron Harang picked up a win in two solid outings (2.93 ERA, 8.2 R/9, 13 K in 15.1 IP). But this week's top performance out of South Boston was turned in by their staff ace, Chris Carpenter. The 31-year-old right-hander won both his starts while posting a 2.08 ERA and 7.3 R/9, with a ridiculous 15 Ks to 1 BB in 17.1 IP. Carpenter's two wins included a masterful performance against the vaunted Sugar Bear lineup (2 ER, 9 H, 0 BB, 5 K in 9.0 IP), as well as a 4-hit, 10-K gem against Honolulu. It was more than enough to earn him the Star Trek + Bohemian Rhapsody + Anime Pitcher of the Week Award! Carpenter is enjoying by far the best start he's ever had in what's been, so far, a disappointing career for a guy taken with the first pick in the 5th round (#57 overall) by Columbia in 1999 when he was a 24-year-old phenom. Carpenter lasted just two seasons with the Crusaders, posting a 10-15 record with a 6.10 ERA. Released by Columbia, he signed a minor-league deal with Philly in 2001, pitched in just three big league games (0-0, 6.35 ERA) and was released again. The Cutters took him in the following year's supplemental draft, but cut him in spring training. He'd spend the next three years pitching semi-pro ball in Nigeria, until the Banditos came knocking last year. Working with veteran pitching coach Dennis Martinez, Carpenter went 6-10 with a 5.12 ERA and 13.3 R/9 -- not Hall of Fame numbers, but at least a step in the right direction. But this season he's really turned it on, going 8-2 with a 3.13 ERA, 10.1 R/9, 8.1 K/9 and 7.8 K:BB ratio (9 BB, 70 K).

Seven weeks into the 2006 season, Carpenter's in the top 10 in wins, strikeouts, ERA, winning percentage, R/9, K/9, quality starts, innings and complete games, and suddenly people are asking him about his chances of winning the Ben McDonald Award. "Yeah, I just laugh," Carpenter said. "All I know is, I'm not even winning the Chris Carpenter Award!" It turns out Carpenter's career ERA, even factoring in his hot start this year, is 5.21 -- while Cris Carpenter, who had eight relief appearances for Austin in 1993, retired with a career ERA of 5.02. Well, Chris, you'll be happy to know that, at your current pace, you'll end this season with 84 earned runs in 240 innings -- lowering your career ERA to 4.65. Take that, Cris Carpenter!

There was a lot of tough luck going around this week. Arkansas's Roger Clemens had to settle for a 1-1 record despite giving up just 2 runs, 9 hits and 2 walks with 15 Ks in 16.0 IP (1.13 ERA, 6.2 R/9); he came out on the short end of a 1-0 duel with Hoboken's Carlos Silva. But Lady Luck is a fickle mistress, and she was just as cruel to Silva, granting him just that one win despite allowing a 1.98 ERA and 7.2 R/9 in 13.2 innings; in his earlier start, back-to-back two-out errors by Mike Cameron and J.J. Hardy cost him the lead and knocked him out of the game, which was finally won by Vancouver in the 10th inning. Honolulu's Mark Mulder also was betrayed by his defense; a costly error by Miguel Tejada meant a 1-1 week despite a 1.32 ERA, 12.5 R/9. Las Vegas's Freddy Garcia (0-1, 1.13 ERA, 10.1 R/9) also has the right to whine.

This week's other top performers: Arkansas's Brad Lidge (3 SV, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 11 K in 4.1 IP); Marietta's Paul Byrd (1-0, 2.70 ERA, 8.1 R/9, 1 BB, 6 K in 10.0 IP); Philly's John Patterson (1-0, 1.29 ERA, 9.6 R/9, 4 BB, 11 K in 14.0 IP); Phoenix's Jose Contreras (2-0, 1.35 ERA, 8.8 R/9, 6 BB, 14 K in 13.1 IP); and Westwood's B.J. Ryan (4 SV, 0 R, 1 H, 2 BB, 5 K in 4.0 IP).

Good Hunting!

Comings and Goings

As we hurtle through the second quarter of the 2006 season, several teams are looking for reinforcements. A couple veteran pitchers got the call when Hoboken added Tomo Ohka and Vancouver signed Woody Williams. The Fisters dumped busted phenom Oliver Perez, while the Cutters -- who also got back Mike Sweeney from his honeymoon -- released Joaquin Benoit and Rafael Palmeiro. Some were surprised to see Hoboken dump Palmeiro, considering his awesome numbers over the last few weeks (.343, .939 OPS), but others suspect the Cutters were concerned Palmeiro's numbers were a little too good. But that didn't scare off the Golden Falcons, who -- already reaping the rewards of another veteran 1B plucked off the waiver wire with Mark Sweeney (.273, .844 OPS, 8 HR, 20 RBI in 36 G) -- decided to roll the dice with the 41-year-old slugger. We'll see if he gets more of a chance than he did with the Falcs last season, when he was cut after getting just one hit in 9 at-bats -- even though the one hit was a home run. The Falcs made room for Palmeiro by dropping OF Emil Brown... In addition to veteran pitchers, there was a casting call for aging third basemen: Vinny Castilla will get some PT against lefties for Las Vegas while David Bell is out of the lineup, and Edgardo Alfonzo adds some infield depth for Philly until the return of Brian Roberts... In addition to Castilla, the Rat Pack also added young SP Nate Robertson and cut prospect Mike Jacobs. The 25-year-old prospect had 7 2Bs and 11 HRs in 30 games in Triple-A last year, but so far this season he was hitting just .176 with a .640 OPS in East Newark. "Last year Mike set the bar for himself pretty high and, well, he limbo'd right under that bad boy," Las Vegas manager Morris Buttermaker said. "Better luck next year."