Week 20 - Aug. 5, 2007

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The Newark Sugar Bears became the first team to clinch a playoff berth, and they did it in convincing fashion, winning five out of their six games this week. The Sugar Bears could drop all 23 games remaining on their schedule and they'd still be no worse than the No. 4 seed. Their magic number to clinch the Hanover Division is down to 3, and to clinch the league's best record is 13. They also won 100 games for a third straight season... Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Endzone Animals have a magic number of 9 to clinch a playoff spot and 11 to clinch the Morris... Matthew's Mighty Men of Marietta held onto the top wildcard seed despite going 2-6 this week. The Mites, after ending their 10-game winning streak, had five straight losses this week before salvaging the final game of a four-game series against Philly on Saturday night... The D.C. Bushslappers couldn't make up much ground as they could only manage to go 3-4 this week to remain in 4th... The Hillsborough Hired Hitmen also failed to capitalize, going 2-3 to remain 1½ games behind the Bushslappers.

The sixth and final playoff spot continues to change hands on almost a weekly basis. This week, it's the Honolulu Sharks taking control after going 4-1 to jump up from 7th place and pick up a 1½ game lead over  their pursuers. In fact, the Sharks are now just a half-game behind Hillsborough for 5th and 2 games behind D.C. for 4th... The Hoboken Cutters went 4-3 to move up from 8th into a 7th place tie with the Vancouver Iron Fist, who went 2-4 to drop out of 6th... Once again, the Carolina Mudcats refuse to go quietly into that good night, winning five out of six games this week (including five in a row) to move to 4½ games of the final playoff spot. They've got a great chance to move up next week, as six of their next nine games are against the two teams at the bottom of the standings... The Arkansas Golden Falcons had another bad week, dropping four out of six games to fall 8½ games out.

The rest of the teams are pretty much playing out the string, though the lights are officially out on just one team at this point. The South Boston Gang went 5-3, their second straight winning week, to climb into 11th place, 12 games out of the playoffs... New Jersey Team Buddah dropped six out of seven, including four in a row, to drop from 11th to 12th... The Sardine City Straphangers split their six games this week, gaining a little breathing room over the Las Vegas Rat Pack, who went 2-5 to remain in last place. The Pack became the first team to become officially eliminated from playoff consideration this week; the Hangmen will be mathematically out of it with their next loss or Honolulu's next win. The Buddahs are eyeing a "tragic number" of 11, while South Boston's is 12.

Wanna Touch McCann?

For the second straight week, we're honoring someone who had a big week at the plate -- as well as behind it. Honolulu's Brian McCann had a huge week, hitting an even .500 (10-for-20) with 4 HR, 10 R and 12 RBI in just 5 games this week. McCann's 1.715 OPS, 12.R RC and 2.364 total average helped power the Sharks to a 4-1 record and roar back into the post-season picture and earned the catcher the JRCigars.com Smokin' Batter of the Week Award. McCann got support from Miguel Tejada (.571, 1.482 OPS, 7 RBI) and the table was set by Johnny Damon (.400, .928 OPS, 7 R). Overall, the Sharks scored 8.4 runs per game this week, outscoring every team in the league -- even the mighty Sugar Bears could only manage 7.7... McCann, a 23-year-old catcher in just his second season, was part of a crowded backstop situation in Honolulu in spring training, as the team also had Japanese import Kenji Johjima and veteran Jason Kendall. But for the most part this season, those two have been fighting for PT -- usually starting only against lefty pitchers -- while McCann has been putting up some very good numbers (.305, .915 OPS, 34 2B, 23 HR, 82 RBI)... McCann wasn't the only catcher raking this week, as Hoboken's Josh Bard (.438, 1.283 OPS, 3 HR, 8 RBI) also put up some big numbers while working the dish.

If you've heard of the "Three True Outcomes," then you must be familiar with Hillsborough's Adam Dunn. The "Three True Outcomes" are the three results that can happen involving only the pitcher and the batter -- a walk, a strikeout or a home run. (Actually there's four, if you also count a hit-by-pitch, or five, if you count ground-rule doubles, or six, if you consider a pop up or line drive caught by the pitcher, or...) Dunn is a classic TTO player, with 15 homers, 48 walks (and one HBP), and 95 strikeouts in 312 plate appearances, meaning 51 percent of his at-bats wouldn't require any other players on the field. Dunn took it to another level this week, as he came up 16 times -- and 10 times had a "true outcome" (3 HR, 4 BB, 3 K). His six other times at the plate resulted in two hits (both doubles) and four outs (fly ball to right, pop up to first, sac fly to left and a ground out to second).

This week's top batters, by more conventional outcomes: Arkansas's Justin Morneau (.407,  1.317 OPS, 4 HR, 16 RBI); Carolina's Travis Hafner (.409, 1.627 OPS, 4 HR, 8 R); Las Vegas's Mark Teixeira (.357, 1.347 OPS, 4 HR, 10 RBI); Newark's Chipper Jones (.455, 1.227 OPS, 3 2B, 6 R) and South Boston's Vlad Guerrero (.467, 1.316 OPS, 4 HR, 11 RBI).

Johnson Comes Up Big

The Endzone Animals are used to getting great performances from their big three of Johan Santana (15-2, 3.48 ERA, 10.1 R/9), Erik Bedard (16-6, 3.54 ERA, 12.9 R/9) and Brandon Webb (13-7, 4.23 ERA, 12.0 R/9), but those last two spots have been a little shaky with rookies Josh Johnson and Matt Cain.  This week Cain was handed a loss and a no-decision despite two solid outings (2.63 ERA, 10.5 R/9 in 13.2 IP), but Johnson came up big with two terrific starts (2-0, 1.32 ERA, 6.6 R/9 in 13.2 IP) to win the HornyManatee.com Pitcher of the Week Award. The 22-year-old right-hander was 7-8 with a 5.25 ERA before this week; now he's 9-8 with a 4.91. "Josh may not be in the running for the Pat Listach Rookie of the Year Award but he's gaining some valuable experience," pitching coach Dave Righetti said. "He is a big part of our plans for next season."

Not only does Philly GM Anthony Pucci have a nice Johnson, he also has a terrific Putz! J.J. Putz picked up two wins while allowing just 1 run on 5 hits (1.29 ERA, 6.4 R/9) with 0 BB and 8 K in 7.0 IP. Putz, the set-up man for closer Francisco Rodriguez, has 7 wins, 7 saves and 17 holds against a 1.95 ERA and 7.5 R/9... This week's other top relievers: D.C.'s Joe Nathan (1 W, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 7 K in 5.1 IP); Honolulu's Tom Gordon (2 W, 1 SV, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 8 K in 5.0 IP) and Chad Bradford (2 W, 0 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 0 K in 7.0 IP); New Jersey's Bobby Jenks (0 R, 1 H, 2 BB, 10 K in 6.1 IP); Newark's Cla Meredith (2 SV, 0 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 K in 4.1 IP); and South Boston's Huston Street (1 W, 1 SV, 0 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 6 K in 5.2 IP).

Sori About That!

The Sugar Bears have had Rafael Soriano for just two months and he's already on his second stint on the 15-day Disabled List. The reliever says the sore shoulder that has been bothering him since Spring Training is flaring up again. But considering he has a 5.54 ERA and 14.5 R/9 in 13.0 innings with Newark, maybe Soriano going on the Disabled List is the best thing he can do for the team.

The Golden Falcons continue to be beset by injuries. Last week they lost Roger Clemens, Chris Coste and Bob Wickman; now it's Eric Hinske and Orlando Cabrera. Hinske, who was signed last month, will likely miss the next three weeks after undergoing LASIK eye surgery. Hinske apparently tried to save a few bucks by using the LASIK@Home "do it yourself" kit. "I installed my own wireless router without any problem so I figured how hard could it be?" Hinske said... Meanwhile, Cabrera is out at least a week. "I figured, what the hell, everyone else is getting a vacation," he said.

Meanwhile, two teams that are still in the thick of the playoff hunt had two costly losses this week. Honolulu's Jeff Francis will miss a few starts after an ill-advised sight-seeing trip to Salem, Massachusetts during the team's three-game series against South Boston. "Those guys don't play," Francis said after being tied to the stake and set on fire. The quirky left-hander thought it might be funny to show up with a broom and a black cat, and before he knew it, he was on trial... He was found guilty of attempting to re-animate a corpse and sentenced to burn, but luckily his attorney Ben Matlock appealed and was able to get the sentence reduced to a $1,000 fine and two weeks in jail. He will likely miss three starts... The most compelling witness against Francis was Carolina's Rocco Baldelli, who was in fact attacked by zombies that same day. "I'm just walking down the street and all of a sudden I'm getting attacked by Harry Caray and Darrin McGavin," Baldelli said. The outfielder, who is hitting .302 with an .825 OPS for the Mudcats, might be back for the last week or two of the season, but says he will definitely be back in time for the post-season. "I don't care if I come back as a zombie myself, we will make the playoffs and I will be there!" he vowed.

Last Chance

There's always a lot of roster shuffling at the end of August. Not only are teams allowed to promote some farm team players as rosters are expanded to 30 men, but also it is the deadline to be eligible for the post-season roster. (Free agents signed after the roster expansion day can be used in the regular season, but not the playoffs.) So after a couple weeks of relative quiet following the July 15 trading deadline, there was a flurry of activity this week.

First up, the Golden Falcons brought in some reinforcements by re-signing Aaron Hill. The utility infielder had been protected by the Falcons, but cut in June after hitting just .212. He was then signed by the Endzone Animals, but cut a few weeks later after going just 3-for-18 with them. Now he's back with the Falcs, but so far it's been the same ol' same 'ol (3-for-17, all singles)... The Cutters also dropped a second baseman they had protected this spring, Mark Ellis. The veteran was hitting just .236 (.683 OPS). He was replaced on the roster by Jose Valentin, who is off to a hot start (.273, .748 OPS)... And in other second base news, the Endzone Animals picked up Todd Walker and released prospect Mike Pelfrey. It's Walker's third stint with the Endzone Animals this season; the utility man also can play first and third and is having a solid season at the plate (.306 BA, .342 OBP, .407 SLG in 108 AB)... The Sugar Bears also bulked up their bench, signing C Brian Schneider and IF Alex Cora. Both had briefly been with Newark earlier this year. To make room, the Sugar Bears said good-bye to veteran Kevin Millwood, who had lost his spot in the rotation after a disastrous first half (6.93 ERA, 17.3 R/9).

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.