Week Eleven (May 20, 2002)  

Morris Movers!

Another week, another five wins for the Arkansas Golden Falcons, now 40 games over .500 and on pace for a record-shattering 122-40 season. The Golden Falcons still lead the pack by 18 games, but the three teams right behind them were shaken up this week thanks to strong efforts by the Tijuana Banditos (5-3) and Wanaque Wolverines (5-2). The Philadephia Endzone Animals held their ground with a 4-4 week. Meanwhile the Vancouver Iron Fist have free-fallen down into fifth place with a 2-6 week. The Carolina Mudcats (3-2) and Columbia Crusaders (3-4) swapped sixth and seventh place.

The Newark Sugar Bears held their 12 game lead atop the Hanover Division with a 4-3 week. The second-place Hoboken Cutters(4-4) held on tightly to their position. The Honolulu Sharks remained in a wild card spot, despite a 3-5 week. The hottest team in the Hanover Division is the Phoenix Dragons who ended week at 5-3. The Mighty Men of Stanhope(4-3) and Brooklyn Bean Counters(4-4) stood their ground, while the Harrison Rats remained ice cold at 1-6.

Teeing Off in Tijuana

Is the Fountain of Youth in Tijuana? The Bandito Bombers pounded out a league-best 56 runs this week, led by 39-year-old Paul O'Neill, who in his first week back in baseball led the league with a .579 batting average, .600 on-base percentage and 1.263 slugging percentage. He also had 4 HRs, 8 runs and 9 RBIs, all in just 19 at-bats, to win his first OmahaSteaks.com Batter of the Week Award. O'Neill, who topped .300 three times during a nine-year career with the Columbia Crusaders, announced his retirement on the eve of Opening Day after he was released in Spring Training by the Newark Sugar Bears. He was coaxed out of retirement by Banditos' physical trainer Jack LaLanne, who has been getting great production from ageless wonders Rafael Palmeiro (9 R, 3 RBI), Scott Brosius (5 R, 7 RBI) and Ellis Burks (2 HR, 5 R, 5 RBI, 1 SB). Even whipper-snappers Bret Boone (.333, 3 HR, 8 R, 10 RBI) and Vladimir Guerrero (.324, 4 doubles, 8 runs, 5 RBIs) joined in the offense fiesta.

Newark's Cliff Floyd, who has gotten hot with the weather, had every reason to expect free steaks this week. The Sugar Bear hit .480 with a 1.519 OPS, slamming 4 doubles, 3 HRs, 9 runs and 10 RBIs, and has the league's longest active hitting streak at 16 games. Teammates Jim Thome (.400, 1.305 OPS, 3 HR), Jeremy Giambi (.400, 1.160 OPS, 2 HR) and Manny Ramirez (.286, 2 HR, 7 RBI) continue to give notice to All-Star voters that the "Crunch With Punch" should be well-represented on May 26... Wanaque's Alex Rodriguez has cranked it up a notch, hitting .385 (1.330 OPS) with 3 HRs, 7 R and 8 RBI in his last 7 games, thanks to Carlos Delgado finally giving him some protection in the lineup, slamming 4 HRs for 10 runs, 7 RBIs (.310, 1.114 OPS).

Sharks fans can also argue that Jason Giambi deserved those free steaks: He pounded out a league- best 5 HRs plus 4 doubles (1.035 SLG) for 6 runs, 11 RBIs and 9 walks. Giambi hit .379 with a 1.560 OPS. Teammates Shawn Green (.303, 1.153 OPS, 4 HR, 9 R, 9 RBI), Miguel Tejada (.355, 1.186 OPS, 3 HR, 8 R, 6 RBI) and Dmitri Young (.391, .481 OBP, 1 HR, 4 R) also had steak-worthy numbers... Philly's trio of third basemen -- Albert Pujols (.333, 1.259 OPS, 3 HR, 8 R, 8 RBI), Troy Glaus (.320, 1.071 OPS, 1 HR, 4 R, 4 RBI) and Scott Rolen (.324, .814 OPS, 1 HR, 6 R, 4 RBI) -- are pounding the ball no matter who plays the hot corner... Arkansas's Barry Bonds, still fuming over his five-day "retirement" last week, celebrated his return to the DMBL with a huge week, hitting .429 with a .556 OBP and 1.000 SLG (4 HR, 9 R, 11 RBI), with 8 walks and three more intentional passes. Teammates Phil Nevin (.364, 1.175 OPS, 4 HR, 6 R, 9 RBI) and Juan Gonzalez (.250, .971 OPS, 3 HR, 6 RBI) also played a hand in Bonds's welcome-home party... Harrison's Reggie Sanders hit just .267, but slammed 2 doubles and 4 HRs for 5 runs and 8 RBI. Another all-or-nothing slugger was Hoboken's Richie Sexson, who went just 6-for-27 (.222) -- but four of those hits were HRs, good for 5 R and 12 RBI. Teammates Brian Giles (.321, 2 HR, 6 R, 10 RBI), Mike Piazza (.303, 2 HR, 7 R, 6 RBI) and Mark Kotsay (.355, 4 R, 4 RBI) also had big weeks.

Who's Hot: Brooklyn's Bobby Higginson (.350, .458 OBP, 5 R, 5 RBI, 1 SB); Carolina's Rondell White (.400, 1.155 OPS, 2 HR, 4 R, 3 RBI); Columbia's Vinny Castilla (.440, 1.280 OPS, 3 HR, 7 RBI) and Magglio Ordonez (.387, 1.054 OPS, 2 HR, 5 R, 5 RBI); Phoenix's Luis Gonzalez (.344, 1 HR, 7 R, 4 RBI) and Paul Konerko (.387, 1.051 OPS, 2 HR, 8 RBI); Stanhope's Bernie Williams (.333, 1.061 OPS, 3 HR, 11 RBI), Todd Helton (.353, 1.142 OPS, 2 HR, 6 R, 5 RBI), Tino Martinez (.333, .455 OBP, 1 HR, 3 RBI) and Shawn Wooten (.407, 4 runs); and Vancouver's Edgar Martinez (.300, .440 OBP, 1 HR, 3 RBI).

Domo Arigato, Sasaki-Sama

Wanaque closer Kazuhiro Sasaki still isn't dominating hitters the way he did the first time around the league last year, but he did rebound from two disasterous outings last week (0-1, 27.00 ERA, 3.60 WHIP) by converting three straight save opportunities in a sweep of the Honolulu Sharks. Sasaki entered each game with a one-run lead and yielded no runs, one hit and no walks to close out all three victories. His performance in three nail-biting wins earns him the Stadium Pal Pitcher of the Week Award. Teammate Bret Prinz also deserves a nod, picking up a win and two saves in four appearances despite yielding 6 hits, 3 walks and 3 runs... Tijuana's Randy Wolf (7-4, 3.18) was the league's top starter this week, going 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 9 Ks in two starts. Both his victories were perserved by closer Jeff Fassero, who picked up a league-leading four saves but blew a chance sweep a three-game series in Newark when the Sugar Bears tagged him for two runs to hand him his first loss of the season.

After opening the year at 2-5, Carolina's Mike Mussina (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.15 WHIP) has won two straight starts to pull his record within one game of .500, and his 3.26 ERA ranks 9th in the league. Cory Lidle (1-0, 1.29 ERA, 1.43 WHIP) and Tim Hudson (1-0, 2.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP) also had good weeks... Newark's bullpen blew John Thomson's chance to tie Kevin Brown and Roger Clemens for the league lead in wins, though the team did come back to win it in extra innings. On the week, Thomson was 1-0 with a 2.81 ERA, 1.13 WHIP in two starts... Columbia rookie Mark Buehrle was slapped around for the second straight time, dropping his record to 5-4 and jumping his ERA over a half a run. The southpaw has been hammered for a 6.75 ERA and 1.78 WHIP since throwing his second complete-game shutout of the season two weeks ago... Phoenix got great efforts from Jamie Moyer (1-0, 1.88 ERA, 0.84 WHIP) and Jason Bere (1-0, 2.45 ERA, 0.89 WHIP) as the team continues to climb back into contention... Stanhope's Mariano Rivera continues to be automatic, picking up a win and a save in four appearances (0.00 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 4 Ks). Meanwhile, Rick Reed (3-9, 7.02 ERA) picked up his first win in four starts with a five-hit, eight-inning effort against the Rattlesnakes... Vancouver's Billy Wagner struck out 5 in 3.1 IP, picking up a win and a save in two appearances.

Pierre Today, Gone Tomorrow

After an off-season that saw an incredible nine trades, the first trade in early two months was pulled off this week. The fourth-place Phoenix Dragons shipped Juan Pierre to the second-place Hoboken Cutters for Garret Anderson. We turn to former Vatican City Cardinal GM and DMBL correspondent Jeremy Berger for analysis.

"This is what's known in the business as a 'challenge trade', two division rivals swapping players at the same position. It seldom happens but in this case I think it was the right move for both teams. The Dragons had way too many guys who do what Pierre does -- Ichiro, Kenny Lofton, Jason Tyner -- but only Luis Gonzalez to drive them in. The Cutters, on the other hand, have all boppers and no true lead-off hitter. They've tried Roberto Alomar, Mark Kotsay and even Ryan Klesko at the top of the order, all guys who should be coming up with men on base. So far, the trade has worked out great for both teams: Anderson is hitting .357 (.786 SLG) with 2 HRs and 4 RBIs in his first four games in Phoenix, while Pierre is hitting .421 (.450 OBP) with 8 hits, a walk and two runs scored for Hoboken. It's the rare example of a real 'win-win' for both teams."

Hi Paul! Bye Paul!

After spending a month on the disabled list, Newark catcher Paul Lo Duca rejoined the team Friday and promptly went 5-12 over his next three games -- then took himself out of the lineup again. "I was only home for a month. That was barely enough time to remember which cable station is which," Lo Duca said. "I figure with the All-Star break coming up now is a good time to catch up on Matlock reruns." The Sugar Bears released Shane Spencer (yes, again) and picked up Brook Fordyce (yes, again) to make due until after the break... Another player stretching the All-Star Break into a very long weekend is Phoenix's Corey Koskie, who sprained his wrist slamming his phone down after getting a call during dinner from a telemarketer.

Columbia's Trot Nixon is pissed that he hit a slump that started the same day the All-Star ballots were released. "This is just bullcrap, man, all season I'm right behind the big boys, Sosa and Bonds, and then I hit a two-week slump and all of a sudden it's, 'Bonds and Sosa and...?' Nixon was hitting .307 with 15 HR, 33 R and 37 RBI the day before the ballots were released, .182 (6-33) with 5 runs, 1 RBI and just one extra-base hit -- a homer -- since. He was so pissed about the slump that he announced he will sit out the next two weeks, though he hinted that he might make an appearance at the All-Star Game "if the voters show they love me"... Just when Honolulu could count on the return of Craig Biggio, another player went down for the count: Dmitri Young will miss two weeks after serving as a celebrity judge at the 126th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. "Some of those bitches were filthy," Young said. "What? No, a bitch is a female dog! Get your mind out of the gutter!"

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.