May 26, 2003  

Orange Alert: No Games Monday

Games scheduled for Memorial Day were postponed after Donald Rumsfeld told the league that there was "chatter in the system" about a possible terrorist attack against one of the league's teams. Rumsfeld refused to say which team may have been the target of the alleged threats, saying it could set off a panic in the team's home city. A highly-placed source in the administration said it was "one of those H teams... I can never tell any of them apart." However, Monday came and went with no terrorist attack. "I can't figure it," said Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge. "They talk about doing one thing and then they don't do it, or they do something completely different. It's almost as if these terrorists are trying to deliberately mislead us." Monday's cancellations will be played Tuesday by tacking an extra day to the end of the league schedule.

Brooklyn Express

The Brooklyn Bean Counters have been on a tear, winning five out of seven games this week -- including an eight-game winning streak that ended with a 9-8 loss Friday night -- and have won 10 of their last 12. The Beanies, after sinking as low as second-to-last place in recent weeks, have battled their way back to .500 and a tie for the sixth-best record in baseball... The only other team to go 5-2 this week were the Harrison Rats, started the week having lost four out of their last five before reeling off four straight wins. The Rats are now just a game out of fifth-place in the Hanover Division after the Hoboken Cutters dropped three out of eight this week... The second-place Stanhope Mighty Men took two-out-of-three against the first-place Newark Sugar Bears this week, but still lost a half-game in the standings as they 2-3 in their other games to finish the week at 4-4. The Sugar Bears won 4 out of 7 this week to open up a 5-game lead... The Mighty Men better look over their shoulders, because the Honolulu Sharks are now almost as close to second place as Stanhope is to first. The Sharks won five out of eight games this week to move within 5-1/2 games of Stanhope and a virtual tie for the fourth-best record in baseball... The Phoenix Dragons went 3-5 to fall 15 games below .500, 2-1/2 games ahead of the worst record in baseball.

While five out of seven Hanover teams were .500 or better this week, only one Morris Division squad could manage a winning mark: The Philadelphia Endzone Animals, who bounced back from an 0-2 start to the week to win their final three games... The Carolina Mudcats remained at .500 after splitting their eight games this week, while the Hillsborough Destroyers managed to briefly climb above the break-even point after starting the week at 4-1 -- only to lose their next three straight to fall back to 32-34, a game behind the Mudcats. The only other Morris team without a losing record this week were the Tijuana Banditos, who went 3-3 but still have the worst record in baseball, 20 games below .500... The Arkansas Golden Falcons, despite having their first losing week (3-4) since opening the season at 2-3, can coast with a 12-game lead in the division, a game-and-a-half up on the Sugar Bears for the best record in baseball. The Vancouver Iron Fist also went 3-4, meaning they're now closer to last place than they are to first... The woeful Columbia Rattlesnakes continue to fall out of contention at a break-necking pace. The 'Snakes are now just three games out of the worst record in baseball after going 1-5 this week. They've lost 12 out of their last 21.

For Whom Beltran Tolls

Four weeks ago, the Bean Counters were sixth in their division and 12th overall, with a punchless lineup that ranked among the worst-five teams in most batting categories. But then they traded a second-round pick to the Endzone Animals for a 25-year-old switch-hitting outfielder, Carlos Beltran. Scouts rave about Beltran's raw tools and athleticism, but the highly touted prospect has already been with seven teams in his first three DMBL seasons (Honolulu, Hawaii, Arkansas, Hoboken, Kentucky, Philadelphia and now Brooklyn) as managers quickly grew frustrated with Beltran's me-first attitude. Ignoring the "uncoachable" label, the Animals snatched Beltran off the waiver wire two years ago and told him to just go out and hit. He enjoyed a breakthrough season last year (.302, .503 SLG, 36 2B, 12 3B, 25 HR, 81 RBI, 20 SB) and it looked like the troubled man-child had finally blossomed into a legitimate star. This season, however, Beltran was hitting .225, the Animals were spiralling toward another bottom-5 finish and young sluggers Albert Pujols, Vernon Wells and Randall Simon had passed him in the hearts and minds of the Philly faithful. So, on April 28, the Animals sent Beltran and a fifth-round pick to Brooklyn for a second-rounder. Since the trade, Brooklyn has gone 17-11 (.607) and their offense has jumped from the bottom to the middle of the pack in most categories. This week, the Bean Counters' offense exploded for a league-high 53 runs, with Beltran leading the team in just about every category to win his first OmahaSteaks.com Batter of the Week Award. Beltran hit .480 (12-for-25) with 3 HR, 8 R, 8 RBI and 4 SB, a .552 OBP and a .840 SLG for a 1.392 OPS -- ranking among the top two batters in BA, OBP, SLG, SB and OPS, and leading the league in runs created per 27 outs (27.3) and total average (2.231). Raul Ibanez (.267, 1 HR, 11 RBI) and Darin Erstad (.414, .452 OBP) also had big weeks for the Beanies.

Honolulu's climb into contention has been largely fueled by the league's fourth-best offense, keyed by the red-hot Shawn Green, who came up just short of some free steaks after hitting .355 (11-31) with 9 R, 9 RBI and a .474 OBP, leading the league in home runs (6), OPS (1.441), slugging percentage (.968) and runs created (14.9). The homerin' Hebrew leads his team in batting average (.311), OPS (1.081), slugging percentage (.682), homers (26) and RBIs (76), and is tied for the team lead in doubles (20) and runs (54); among the league leaders, Green ranks third in SLG, second in RBIs, third in HRs and fourth in OPS... While Jim Thome is getting most of the attention -- and deservedly so (.369, .516 OBP, .955 SLG, 36 HR, 78 RBI in 198 AB) -- for driving Newark's league-best offense, Manny Ramirez is having a hell of a season himself, hitting .323 (1.003 OPS) with 16 2B, 20 HR and 62 RBI. Ramirez, who already put together this year's longest batting streak (24 games), is now riding the longest active streak with hits in 15 straight games. Over the streak, he's hit an even .400 (24-60), raising his batting average 16 points, with an 1.136 OPS, 10 walks, 4 doubles, 5 home runs, 14 runs and 11 RBIs. The last time Ramirez went hitless was the June 4 win over Stanhope in which he went 0-for-4 -- but he did draw a walk and score a run. In fact, there's been just two games all season where Ramirez hasn't reached base by way of a hit, walk or hit-by-pitch. This week, Ramirez went 10-for-30 with 2 HR, 8 R, 4 RBI and a .996 OPS, while Thome went 8-for-24 with 4 HR, 6 R, 7 RBI and a 1.281 OPS. Jeremy Giambi (.323, 1.045 OPS, 4 2B, 6 RBI) and Chipper Jones (.310, 1.015 OPS, 3 HR, 10 R, 9 RBI) also had big weeks for the Shugs... Bad news for pitchers: Barry Bonds is back (.320, 1.205 OPS, 3 HR, 6 RBI), while Larry Walker (.382, 1.224 OPS, 5 HR, 8 R, 12 RBI) and John Olerud (.355, .975 OPS, 2 HR, 9 R, 6 RBI) continue to bash for Arkansas... Harrison's Mike Sweeney had a huge week (.484, 1.335 OPS, 4 2B, 8 R, 13 RBI), supported by Andruw Jones (.333, 2 HR, 7 RBI) and Edgardo Alfonzo (.310, 1 HR, 7 R) as the Rats try to scurry out of the league basement... Joe Randa (.429, 1.253 OPS, 3 HR, 10 RBI), Ryan Klesko (.406, 1.191 OPS, 1 HR, 8 R) and Brian Giles (.400, 1.204 OPS, 2 HR, 7 RBI) were among the league's best triple-threats this week, but not even that level of offensive firepower could overcome a brutal performance by the pitching staff (6.69 ERA, 1.46 WHIP)... Other hot batters: Brad Fulllmer (.342, 1.059 OPS, 3 HR, 6 R, 9 RBI) and Ray Durham (.324, .425 OBP, 8 R, 7 RBI) for Hillsborough; Cliff Floyd (.296, 1.036 OPS, 2 HR, 7 R) for Stanhope; and Vlad Guerrero (.391, 1.245 OPS, 3 HR, 9 RBI) and Austin Kearns (.360, 1.149 OPS, 3 HR, 8 RBI) for Tijuana.

Memorial Day... For Pitchers

It was a week dominated by offense -- seven teams cracked the 40-run plateau, six teams hit double-digit home runs and five teams had ERAs above 5.00 -- so understandably, some pitchers had some ugly lines this week: Pedro Martinez was bombed for 11 earned runs, 12 hits (3 doubles, 5 home runs) in six innings against the Mighty Men on Sunday but he got still got the win as five Stanhope pitchers combined to give up 19 hits and 15 runs (9 earned); Hoboken's Mike Mussina got lit up for an 18.90 ERA, 2.40 WHIP this week; Newark's Andy Pettitte was blasted for 10 hits and 7 earned runs in 2.1 IP; and Tijuana's Chuck Finley lasted just two innings after giving up seven hits, three walks and six runs. So perhaps it's fitting that this week's Pitcher of the Week is Stanhope's Elmer Dessens (0-2, 15.19 ERA, 3.75 WHIP), who was brutalized in the 15-12 loss to Arkansas (1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 1 BB, 0 K). All but one of those seven runs were unearned because of a generous ruling by the hometown official scorer. In Elmer's other start this week, he was bombed for 11 hits, 8 earned runs and five home runs as the Mighty Men fell to Newark, 9-5. On the week, Dessens gave up 3 doubles and 6 homers in just 5.1 IP, a whopping 1.081 slugging percentage! Outside of Dessens' double-trouble outings, the Mighty Men can take solace in another strong week from Mariano Rivera (2 SV, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 R in 4.2 IP) and Tim Wakefield (1-0, 2.57 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 13 K in two starts)... Carolina's Tim Hudson, last week's PotW, had two more brilliant outings (2-0, 1.10 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 14 K in 16.1 IP), as did teammate Barry Zito (1-0, 0.57 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 13 K in 15.2 IP). Hudson joined Brooklyn's Woody Williams (2-0, 3.00 ERA, 0.93 WHIP) and Newark's Ismael Valdes (2-0, 5.74 ERA, 1.15 WHIP) as the only two-game winners this week.

Raising the White Flag?

The Mudcats' front office continues to slash payroll, even as though the team has battled all the way from 13th place to the middle of the pack. Last week, the team designated for assignment 24-year-old 3B Aramis Ramirez -- who was coming off a career year in '02 (.288, 37 HR, .518 SLG) -- in order to restructure his contract. Ramirez is back in the fold after agreeing to a 50-percent cut in base salary, and Mudcat faithful can only hope the front office is using the same ploy on another fan favorite: Rondell White, the team career leader in at-bats (2654), runs (394), hits (763) and doubles (148), who was handed his walking papers this week after riding the pine all season (1-for-6, 1 RBI). White, 30, entered the league in '96 with the Louisiana Lightning, hitting .257 (9-for-35) with a .612 OPS, and remained a fringe player for the next two seasons with the Lisbon Diablos and Philadelphia Eagle Wings. But he was traded to the Mudcats before the start of the '99 season (for Jeromy Burnitz) and quickly established himself as one of the team's most dependable performers, playing just about every day and putting up 90+ runs, 185+ hits, 34+ doubles and 20+ HRs each season. White was in the final year of the five-year, $20 million contract he signed after joining the Mudcats, but his $6 million option for next year would've kicked in if he was still on the roster June 1st. "We love Rondell, but we've got to make room for our younger guys," said manager Lenny Dykstra.

"Once again, they remind us their name is Mud," writes The Charlotte Observer. "Maybe they don't like to re-order merchandise -- when a player's jersey sells out at the concession stands, they just cut him. Or maybe it's the DMBL's version of the Witness Protection Program -- when the fans start recognizing a player, whether it's White or Tony Clark or Greg Vaughn (or Roger Clemens or Mike Mussina or John Smoltz) -- it's time for him to move on." Green noted that, with White, Clark and Vaughn gone, the active career leader in most offensive categories becomes Rich Aurilia -- who joined the team in 2001.

Other Comings and Goings

In addition to releasing White and re-signing Ramirez, the Mudcats -- perhaps stung by that Charlotte Observer column -- added two former Mudcats this week: 3B Vinny Castilla, who played for the Mudcats in '99-'00, and RP Scott Strickland, who had been with the team for the two previous seasons. The Mudcats also dumped SS Alex S. Gonzalez -- just a week after signing him -- to ink 2B Jerry Hairston Jr, but then five days later, dumped Hairston for veteran Mark Grudzielanek. The Carolina front office said the flurry of moves was due to a clerical error. "We told the secretary last week to send in a move picking up Grudz, but somehow she typed Gonzalez," said a team official. "So we told her to try it again, and this time she typed Hairston. I think her fingers are on the wrong keys or something."

Maybe there was something to that stuff about The Curse of Darryl Kile. A week after sending No. 57 off to Pitcher's Valhalla with one last start in a Sugar Bear uniform, the Newark starting rotation was intact for the first time in a month after Brian Meadows came off the D.L. Friday night. The team also released veteran infielder Damian Easley, who was hitting just .170 with a .405 OPS... The last-place Banditos finally got some good news this week, with both SP Randy Wolf and 2B Bret Boone coming off the D.L. To make room, the team bid good riddance to Carlos Silva (1-1, 4.91 ERA, 15.5 R/9) and Pokey Reese (.145 BA, no walks, no extra-base hits in 55 AB)... The Mighty Men signed 24-year-old rookie Milton Bradley out of the PONY League and assigned him to Triple-A Stroudsburg, making room by cutting fellow rookie Jason Jennings... Philly keeps juggling their rotation, activating Paul Byrd and cutting Andy Ashby (again), and dumping Jeff Suppan to sign rookie Tim Redding... Kenny Lofton isn't done yet. The 36-year-old outfielder, a 10-year DMBL veteran, was signed by the Golden Falcons to provide depth and veteran leadership for Triple-A Bridgewater. They made room on the 40-man roster by designating prospect Eric Munson for assignment.

Getting Silly in Philly

Philadelphia's Benito Santiago broke in with the Tampa Bay Sweat Sox in 1992, and things were a little different back then: Rookies were expected to wait hand-and-foot on veteran players, getting water and carrying their bags in the name of "paying your dues." So the 37-year-old catcher was more than a little pissed when rookie pitchers Mark Prior and Johan Santana refused to polish his shin guards. He decided to punk them with a classic baseball hazing stunt: Hiding in their locker to scare them when they opened the door! Unfortunately, Santiago picked the locker that belongs to Justin Thompson, who hasn't been seen in the bigs since the '99 season. A week later, a clubhouse attendant finally discovered the emaciated and raving Santiago, who had nothing to eat for seven days except Thompson's discarded jockstraps. He'll be out until sometime after the All-Star Break, with C Gary Bennett signed to backup new starter Michael Barrett... This week's only other notable injury was to Harrison SP Steve Trachsel, who is in the midst of a fine season (4-4, 3.72 ERA, 10.9 R/9). Frustrated by his team's division-worst offense, Trachsel went to the ESPN Great Outdoor Games to scout out some manly men to bring some power to the Rats' lineup. Unfortunately, Trachsel got between Jason Wynyard's ax and a piece of pine. Timber! He'll miss at least three weeks as doctors attempt to re-attach his face.

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.