Week 11 - June 7, 2004  

Trading Places

A week before the All-Star Game, someone decided to shuffle up the Hanover Division! Four of the seven teams in the division moved up or down in the standings, with two teams moving two rungs, and the division's two worst teams suddenly making a move out of the DMBL basement. At the top of the standings, the Newark Sugar Bears snapped their tie with the Stanhope Mighty Men to claim sole possession of the Hanover Division lead as well as the best record in baseball after a league-best 5-2 record. Stanhope appeared to have the upper hand after taking two-out-of-three from the Sugar Bears in Newark this week, but they struggled against the rest of the league: While the Mites went 1-3 against other opponents, the Sugar Bears were a perfect 4-0 to claim a 2-game lead in the division... At the bottom of the standings, the Hoboken Cutters and the Westwood Deductions each went 4-3, continuing their long, slow creep back to .500. The Cutters are now in 12th place overall, 10½ games out of 6th place, while the Deductions have finally climbed out of the league's basement, finding themselves in a tie for the league's worst record... Meanwhile, the Phoenix Dragons remain tied for 3rd place in the division despite dropping five out of seven this week. But now they're tied with a different team: The Honolulu Sharks, who won four out of seven games this week to jump into the 3rd-place tie from 5th place. The team that had been tied for 3rd, the Harrison Rats fell to 5th place (and 10 games below .500) after dropping six out of seven this week. Since the blockbuster trade with Stanhope, Harrison has gone 7-15 (.318 W%), the worst winning percentage in baseball.

Meanwhile, it was a pretty uneventful week in the Morris Division, where the standings were identical to last week except for a flip-flop between the 5th and 6th place teams -- the Tijuana Banditos moved up one rung in the division after winning four out of seven, while the Philadelphia Endzone Animals dropped five out of six, including four straight... Otherwise, the Morris Division looked the same. The Arkansas Golden Falcons remained atop the division after winning four straight games to begin the week -- making it 14 out of 15 over the last three weeks -- but ended the week with two straight losses. They've now climbed into a tie with Stanhope for the league's second-best record... Meanwhile, the Carolina Mudcats kept pace, also going 4-2... The Columbia Rattlesnakes remained in 5th place overall, after winning four out of seven, while the 6th place Vancouver Iron Fist lost a game in the standings after splitting six contests... The Hillsborough Destroyers finally snapped their seven-game losing streak with three straight wins to end the week -- making it a 3-2 record this week -- but it wasn't enough to avoid winding up in a tie with Westwood for the league's worst record.

The Stars Will Come Out: The 13th annual All-Star Game will be played on Monday, June 14, at Quisenberry Memorial Park in Little Rock, Arkansas. The host team, the defending champion Golden Falcons, are sure to have several representatives, as are the Sugar Bears, the Mighty Men and the Mudcats. Or will they? Pick your dream team by filling out your All-Star Ballot today!

Sweet and Lowell

The Mighty Men lead the league in offense (6.1 RS/G), OPS (.843), SLG (.481), and home runs (112), so it's only fitting that Stanhope batters also lead the league in crates of steaks from the good people at OmahaSteaks.com. Mike Lowell gets the fourth delivery of steaks to Stanhope after leading the league in OPS (1.563), home runs (5), extra base hits (6), runs created (11.7), slugging percentage (1.080), isolated power (.640), and total bases (27). Overall, the Mites' third baseman hit .440, scored 8 runs and knocked in 9 more. He's also riding an 8-game hitting streak.

Plenty of Newark fans were disappointed that Jim Thome, the defending Mitchell Award winner, came up just short in the balloting for his first Batter of the Week Award this season. "The Thome-inator" finished right behind Lowell in most offensive categories this week, hitting .429 with a .571 OBP and .905 SLG (1.476 OPS), with 3 HR and 7 RBI. But Thome said he doesn't need the weekly honor. "I'd have been honored to get it, but in all honesty, I'll take the wins," he said. Thome is having a fine season (.281, .937 OPS, 14 HR, 38 RBI), but he will have to turn it up a notch over the second half if he's going to be in the running for a second-straight Mitch. Meanwhile, Thome's teammate Marcus Giles continues to build his case to win the Pat Listach Rookie of the Year Award, hitting .464 (1.210 OPS), with a league-high 13 hits, plus 3 2B, 1 HR, 9 R and 5 RBI. Giles is far and away the leading candidate to start at second base for the Hanover Division at next week's All-Star Game, leading all DMBL second baseman in batting average (.333), hits (103), runs (58), doubles (27), extra base hits (40), stolen bases (9), stolen base percentage (.900), total bases (168) and runs created (65.5) -- and those are just the categories in which he ranks among the Top 10 in the DMBL!

This week's other top batters: Arkansas's Andres Galarraga (.320, 10 RBI); Carolina's Aubrey Huff (.440, 1.100 OPS, 1 HR, 6 R); Columbia's Ivan Rodriguez (.375, 1.361 OPS, 4 HR, 8 RBI); Harrison's Melvin Mora (.409, 1.321 OPS, 3 2B, 7 RBI) and D'Angelo Jimenez (.379, 1.057 OPS, 1 HR, 4 RBI); Hillsborough's Jose Cruz Jr. (.375, 1.375 OPS, 2 HR) and Raul Mondesi (.444, 1.190 OPS, 4 RBI); Hoboken's Greg Myers (.444, 1.287 OPS, 8 R, 5 RBI); Honolulu's Miguel Tejada (.393, 1.112 OPS, 2 HR, 6 R); Phoenix's Javy Lopez (.417, 1.295 OPS, 6 RBI); Vancouver's David Ortiz (.421, 1.211 OPS, 2 HR, 5 R); and Westwood's Raul Ibanez (.448, 1.174 OPS, 5 2B) and Matt Stairs (.357, 1.188 OPS, 3 HR, 7 RBI).

The Return of Big Red

Remember John Thomson? Two years ago he came out of nowhere to lead the Sugar Bears to their second-straight DMBL Championship, going 18-6 with a 3.91 ERA. But just as quickly Thomson disappeared, spending the entire 2003 season in seclusion in Nepal. "I had some deep thinking to do," said Thomson, who climbed the world's most formidable mountains to find solace with nature. "Everyone was asking, 'Who is John Thomson? Where did he come from? Where will he go?' And in trying to come up with the answers, I realized I myself did not know them."

Sixteen months after he disappeared, Thomson walked into Newark's spring training camp, sporting a two-foot beard, an ass-long pony-tail and a wicked change-up. He's had a solid season (7-5, 4.06 ERA, 12.9 R/9, .600 QS%), but this week he really turned it on, one of only three starters to win both his starts this week, while posting a 2.63 ERA, 11.2 R/9 and a 9:3 K:BB ratio in 13.2 IP. "To quote the great 16th century Korean commander, Admiral Yi Sun-shin: 'In all things, I have sought clarity. I face the troubles and problems of life and death willingly. Virtue, integrity and courage are my priorities. I can be approached, but never pushed. Befriended, but never coerced. Killed, but never shamed.'"

Um... so anyway, the other two-win starters this week were Thomson's teammate, Andy Pettitte (3.21 ERA, 12.2 R/9, 11 K, 6 BB in 14 IP) and Columbia's Sidney Ponson (2.16 ERA, 10.3 R/9, 15 K, 3 BB in 16.2 IP)... Arkansas's Curt Schilling pitched the game of the week, a dominating 3-hit shutout of Hoboken. But his Pitcher of the Week dreams were dashed in his next outing, giving up 8 H, 6 R (4 ER), 3 BB in 7 IP.

Hillsborough's LaTroy Hawkins fanned 10 batters in 6 relief innings this week, giving up 2 H, 0 BB and 1 ER, and stranded all three inherited runners. But he didn't get a win, a save or a hold to show for his efforts. Other impressive relief outings: Hoboken's Curtis Leskanic (1-0, 2 SV, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 5 K in 6.0 IP); Honolulu's Rafael Soriano (2-0, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 10 K in 5.2 IP); Newark's John Smoltz (2 SV, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 7 K in 4.2 IP); Philly's Francisco Rodriguez (1 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 10 K in 6.1 IP); Tijuana's Eric Gagne (2-0, 0 R, 6 H, 2 BB, 10 K in 6.2 IP).

Ut-Oh, Odalis!

Westwood has been playing much better baseball over the last few weeks, winning 16 out of their last 26 (.615 W%), while the Iron Fist have gone 11-20 (.355 W%) over the same stretch. But that's no reason for Odalis Perez to start talking trash at a party with past and present Vancouver sluggers! After having a few too many beers, Perez started spouting off to the other guests about how the once-mighty Iron Fist are now comprised of nothing but has-been hitters and never-will-be pitchers. "In about two seconds, he's getting housed by Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio and Jay Buhner," one eye-witness said. The vaunted "Killer B's" lineup of the mid-1990s Iron Fist left Perez in such bad shape that he'll likely miss at least the next month for facial reconstructive surgery. And, perhaps luckily for Perez, his jaw will be wired shut for much of that time, so he won't be able to get himself into deeper trouble... Phoenix hurler Brandon Webb (7-3, 3.66 ERA, 13.4 R/9) is so confident that he'll be selected to this year's All-Star Game that he will sit out the next week to rest his arm, work on his post-game interview quotes and getting some extra dental work done... Hillsborough's Jason LaRue also will miss some time due to dental problems after trying to open a bottle of Pete's Wicked Ale with his teeth. "I t'out it wuf a twift-off," a toothless LaRue moped... Honolulu's  Ted Lilly got capped in a drive-by but luckily just got winged in his non-throwing arm, and could be back soon after the All-Star break. The suspected gun man, Tijuana's Travis Lee, will be under house arrest during the police investigation... The death of Jersey City Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham has inspired Sugar Bear shortstop Carlos Guillen to make a bid at City Hall. "My first order of business will be to fill in all those damn potholes," said Guillen, a long-time Jersey City resident. "Or maybe it would be to pick up all that garbage. Or find jobs for all those homeless people. Or clean up the graffiti. Or put an end to all that gang violence. Or... sheesh! Who the hell would want to be mayor of this crap-hole?" 

In other news this week, Carolina released OF Grady Sizemore and RP Scott Sauerbeck and signed RP Danny Graves; Hoboken released RP David Weathers; Newark signed SP Jeff Suppan and SS Omar Vizquel and released RP Brian Meadows; Philly released 2B Jose Vidro and RP Scott Schoeneweis and signed SP Doug Davis; and Vancouver released C Brian Schneider.

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.