August 25, 2003  

Hammerin' Hanover

The Newark Sugar Bears clinched at least a tie for the Hanover Division title and the Stanhope Mighty Men secured a playoff berth as both teams won six out of eight this week, beating up their Morris Division rivals in the process. Meanwhile, the Arkansas Golden Falcons -- who lost three straight to the Sugar Bears this week -- have whittled their magic number for their second straight division title down to 2 games... The only other team to win six games this week also came from the Hanover Division: The lowly Harrison Rats, who will be eliminated from playoff contention with their next loss, but continue to put up a hell of a fight on the way down. The Rats won six out of eight this week, including big wins over several playoff hopefuls, to move up from a last-place tie into 12th overall... The lights are officially out for the Columbia Rattlesnakes and the Tijuana Banditos, who were both mathematically eliminated from the post-season this week. The Rattlesnakes split their eight games this week to move up from a last-place tie into 13th, while the Banditos dropped five out of seven to fall from 12th to last, a game behind the 'Snakes for the worst record in baseball.

Wildcard Standings
4th	Carolina	80-70	.533	+4½
5th	Honolulu	78-71	.523	+3
6th	Vancouver	76-75	.503	---
7th	Brooklyn	75-75	.500	½
8th	Philadelphia	70-78	.473	4½
9-T	Hoboken	70-81	.464	6
9-T	Hillsborough	69-80	.463	6
11th	Phoenix	68-83	.450	8

Meanwhile, it's still a race in the middle of the field, where the eight teams between 4th and 11th are separated by 12½ games. The fourth-place Carolina Mudcats had the best week of the post-season contenders, winning five out of eight to open up a little breathing room from the rest of the pack. Carolina's magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 8... In fifth-place, the Honolulu Sharks split their eight games to remain 1½ games behind the 'Cats, but a comfortable 3 ahead of the sixth-place Vancouver Iron Fist, who started the week at 4-1 -- but then lost three straight to close it out. Nevertheless, it was good enough to edge a game over .500 and climb from 7th place last week into 6th this week. Vancouver's wins included two big victories over the Brooklyn Bean Counters, who fell into seventh after dropping five out of eight... The Philadelphia Endzone Animals are now 4½ games out of the playoffs -- and 8 games below .500 -- after a 2-5 week. But they have an excellent chance to make up some ground this week as they play six games against teams behind them in the standings -- including the Rats three times -- and have a huge home game against the Bean Counters on Thursday... The Hoboken Cutters are 6 games out of the playoffs after a 5-3 week, moving into a 9th-place tie with the Hillsborough Destroyers, who went 3-5... It's just about all over for the Phoenix Dragons, who went 4-4 this week. Their tragic number for elimination from the post-season is down to 4.

Trophy Talk

Phoenix's John Lackey took another step toward the Pat Listach Rookie of the Year Award with two huge wins this week as the Dragons continue to scratch and claw to keep their dimming playoff hopes alive. Lackey survived a line drive to the face and some shakey bullpen support to win his second FurniturePorn.com Pitcher of the Week Award, co-sponsored by TelephoneSex.Net. Lackey opened up his two-win week with an awesome four-hit, one-run complete-game win over the Mighty Men, coming within four outs of a shutout of the league's third-best offense until an Alfonso Soriano solo shot with two outs in the eighth inning. Five days later, Lackey again took the hill as the Dragons stuck the dagger in the hearts of the Rattlesnakes, officially knocking them out of the post-season. Lackey allowed eight hits -- but no walks and just one earned run -- in the first six frames, but then was sent to the hospital after a scorching line drive off the bat of Ramon Vazquez clunked off his forehead. Tests revealed just a mild concussion, and within 30 minutes Lackey had commandeered a TV in the hospital ER as the bullpen nearly squandered his 7-1 lead, giving up seven hits, four walks and five runs, but the Dragons held on for a nailbiting 8-7 win. Lackey, who might miss a start while recuperating, said the pain of getting hit in the head was nothing compared to watching the bullpen nearly cost him his chance to tie for the league lead in wins at 18-7. Lackey, who also ranks fourth in ERA (3.02), tied for fifth in quality start percentage (.667) and tied for sixth in winning percentage (.720) and fewest HR/9 (0.6), looks like the best chance for pitchers to win the ROY for the third straight year. And, with this year's only no-hitter to his credit, he also could be the second straight rookie to win the Ben McDonald Award.

Speaking of the McDonald, Stanhope fans have their hopes pinned on Tim Wakefield, who won in his only game this week (1 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 4 K in 7.1 IP) to improve to 18-7 (2.81 ERA, 8.8 R/9) and set the franchise record for wins. Wakefield eclipsed the previous record, Kevin Tapani's 17-8 mark in 1998, and still has about three starts remaining this season. Teammates Matt Clement (2-0, 2.35 ERA, 1.17 WHIP) and Derek Lowe (2-0, 2.04 ERA, 1.13 WHIP) also had big weeks as the Mighty Men won six out of eight. Wakefield is right there with Lackey, Hillsborough's Kevin Millwood (17-4, 2.68 ERA, 11.5 R/9) and Arkansas's Curt Schilling (17-6, 2.96 ERA, 9.0 R/9) in the race for the Ben McDonald Award, but the toughest competition could come from the league's top two closers: Brooklyn's Robb Nen (3-3, 40 SV, 2 BSV, 1.50 ERA, 8.6 R/9) and Newark's John Smoltz (4-1, 39 SV, 3 BSV, 0.67 ERA, 7.4 R/9). Nen edged ahead in the save race after a perfect 3-for-3 week (1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 K in 3.2 IP), while Smoltz -- who hadn't pitched in nearly three weeks to rest up for the post-season -- went 1-0 with 2 saves (0 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K in 2.1 IP). Smoltz still leads in Rolaids Relief Points (2 points for wins and saves, -1 for losses and blown saves) with 82, but Nen is right behind him at 81. Either closer has a good chance of breaking the league record for saves (41) and relief points (86) set by Vancouver's Billy Wagner three years ago. Honolulu's Ugueth Urbina (9 W, 30 SV, 3 L, 4 BSV) ranks third with 71 RP, and Stanhope's Mariano Rivera (3 W, 36 SV, 3 L, 6 BSV) is fourth with 69.

It was a great week for scavengers as three relievers picked up a pair of wins out of the 'pen. Harrison's Brian Boehringer led the way, going 2-0 while allowing no runs, 2 hits and 2 walks in 5 IP; Columbia's Chris Hammond went 2-0 while allowing 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB and 6 K in 7.2 IP. Carolina closer Jose Mesa also picked up two wins -- along with a loss and a save -- in his four appearances this week (1 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 K in 6.1 IP). In May, Stanhope rookie Brandon Villafuerte was 7-0 and looked like a sure bet to challenge Jeff Zimmerman's league record of 16 relief wins, set in 2000 with Vancouver. This week, Villafuerte made one appearance -- and gave up 5 hits, a walk and three earned runs before being mercifully yanked, without recording an out for an infinite ERA and WHIP. Over the last four months, Villafuerte has gone 0-3 and has seen his ERA balloon up to 4.75, ending his shot at the record books. With just two weeks left in the season, it's unlikely that anybody will come close to Zimmerman's record -- Brooklyn's Steve Reed is closest, at 10-1, but he'd need six wins in 12 games just to tie it... This week's other two-win pitchers were all starters who survived some rough outings: Carolina's A.J. Burnett (3.86 ERA, 1.71 WHIP) and Phoenix's Kaz Ishii (4.61 ERA, 1.96 WHIP).

Barry's Bombs

Speaking of award winners, Barry Bonds wants to keep the Kevin Mitchell Batter of the Year Award right where it is -- in his trophy case. Even as the rest of the Golden Falcons stumbling toward the finish line, Bonds put up numbers last week worthy of his record-breaking 2002 campaign, leading the league in OPS (1.445), home runs (5) and runs created (13.6), and tying for first in SLG (.931), total bases (27) and isolated power (.517). He also scored 7 times and knocked in 9 more while hitting .414 (12-for-29) to win the OmahaSteaks.com Batter of the Week Award for the third time this season... Barry's toughest competition for the award continues to come from Newark -- though Jim Thome (.280, .899 OPS, 1 HR, 8 R, 3 RBI) has cooled off somewhat, Bobby Abreu (.313, 1.087 OPS, 3 HR, 6 R, 8 RBI) and Manny Ramirez (.258, 2 HR, 7 R, 11 RBI) are on fire and Jeremy Giambi continues to do a credible impression of his big brother (.444, 1.358 OPS, 3 HR, 8 R, 6 RBI). Jason Giambi had a pretty good week himself (.406, 1.147 OPS, 7 R, 7 RBI), leading the league with 9 doubles for the Sharks..

Brooklyn's Brian Jordan led the league with a .500 batting average (14-for-28) -- 13 singles and a double, for just 2 runs and 3 RBIs, while Harrison's Reggie Sanders made the most of his 11 at-bats this week, hitting .455 (5-11) with 2 HR, 4 R and 5 RBI... With Mike Piazza gone to the Sugar Bears, Hoboken's Brian Giles isn't getting much protection in the lineup -- he drew a league-high 10 walks this week -- but he made pitchers pay when they did give him something to hit, going 8-for-25 (.320) with a double and three homers for 7 R, 6 RBI and a 1.234 OPS. Teammate Ryan Klesko (.370, 4 2B, 5 R, 5 RBI) is finally getting hot and could keep opposing pitchers honest... Phoenix's Ichiro came very close to claiming some Kobe beef from OmahaSteaks.com after his week: .459, 1.137 OPS, 2 2B, 2 HR, 8 R and 9 RBI, plus a league-high 11 game hitting streak. Teammate Adam Kennedy also is red-hot, hitting .419 (.987 OPS) with 9 R, 9 RBI.

Don't give that Listach Award to a pitcher just yet. After Tijuana's Josh Phelps tore up the league last week, rookie Brian Schneider went on a hot streak. Vancouver's backstop hit .414 (1.383 OPS) and slugged two doubles, two triples and three homers for 7 runs and 7 RBIs. On the season, the sixth-rounder is hitting .283 (.817 OPS) with a league-leading 49 doubles. Another Fist rookie, Bobby Kielty, also had an impressive week, hitting .433 (1.186 OPS) with 2 HR, 6 R and 6 RBI, while drawing 8 walks... Who else is hot: Carolina's Jim Edmonds (.273, 1.141 OPS, 2 HR, 6 R, 3 RBI) and Randy Winn (.324, 1 HR, 4 R, 7 RBI); Columbia's Placido Polanco (.371, 1 HR, 8 R, 9 RBI); Hillsborough's Carlos Delgado (.414, 1.259 OPS, 2 HR, 7 R, 4 RBI); Honolulu's Jacques Jones (.412, 1.003 OPS, 5 2B, 8 R); Philly's Jose Vidro (.423, 1.098 OPS, 5 R, 4 RBI) and Scott Rolen (.269, 3 HR, 4 R, 8 RBI); and Stanhope's Tim Salmon (.440, 1.182 OPS, 2 HR).

Getting Gant

Ron Gant, a member of the fast-fading 1991 inaugural class of players, joined his seventh DMBL team this week when the Iron Fist picked him up to finish out the season after Moises Alou went down with a torn ACL. Gant, who is only a year older than the 36-year-old Alou, admitted that this stint with Vancouver will likely be his last hurrah. "I can't see myself doing this (stuff) again next year," said Gant, who has spent most of the last few years hanging on in the minors and with Japanese League teams. In fact, over the last four seasons, Gant has played in just four games in the majors -- two with Hoboken last year, going 0-for-2, and then two with Newark this year, without getting an at-bat. That means the last time Ronnie got a hit was in 1999, when he was playing for the Keystone Gamblers (and hit .218). Alou, meanwhile, wasn't having a great season (.241, .632 OPS in 174 ABs) and decided to shut it down now and have his knee operated on, so he'll be back at 100 percent by the start of spring training next year. The Iron Fist also activated SP Brett Myers and released OF Bobby Higginson... This week's other season-ending injury was to Hoboken's Ricky Gutierrez, whose career may be over after doctors determined the cause of his chronic shortness of breath was the fact that he has the lungs of a 92-year-old man. Literally! Gutierrez went to the hospital to have his tonsils removed last year, and due to a chart mix-up they swapped his lungs with the old-timer's. "Somewhere out there is a little old man who has my lungs," Gutierrez wheezed. "But I don't think I'll be able to find him unless he's on the first floor somewhere. Oy, I've got to sit down." The Cutters signed infielder Dave Berg, formerly of the Iron Fist, to take Gutierrez's roster spot.

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.