April 1, 2003  

'Shock and Awe' in Newark

The defending World Champion Newark Sugar Bears bombarded the opposition this week, averaging more than 8 runs per game en route to a perfect 7-0 week and an eight-game winning streak to claim the best record in baseball... The Stanhope Mighty Men went 4-4, including two losses to Newark, to fall 1 1/2 games out of first, while the Harrison Rats dropped into third place after going 3-5... The Brooklyn Bean Counters leap-frogged from the basement to the middle of the pack after going 5-1 this week, ending the week on a four-game winning streak... The Phoenix Dragons went 3-4, but actually moved up a rung in the standings after the Honolulu Sharks and Hoboken Cutters each went 2-6.

In the Morris, the Vancouver Iron Fist managed to hang onto first place despite a 3-4 week, but they have to be concerned about last year's division champions, the Arkansas Golden Falcons, who are just a half-game behind after riding a four-game winning streak to a 5-2 record... The Philadelphia Endzone Animals slipped into third after splitting the week, 4-4... The Carolina Mudcats also went .500 this week, winning their first three and losing their last three, while the Columbia Rattlesnakes went 3-4... The Tijuana Banditos, who opened the week in last place and without a win, reeled off four straight wins, then dropped their next three in a row, as did the Hillsborough Destroyers, who fell into last place after a 3-5 week.

Schilling Me Softly

Arkansas's Curt Schilling was lights-out this week, winning both his starts while striking out 18 without walking a batter for a 1.59 ERA, 1.12 WHIP to claim the UrbanDictionary.com Pitcher of the Week Award... Newark's Andy Pettitte has apparently acclimated to his new club, going 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 11 K in his two starts -- including an easy 14-2 win Sunday over his former teammates... Vancouver's Tomo Ohka took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Destroyers on Sunday. The no-no was broken up in the top of the eighth with a pinch-hit, two-out double by Jose Cruz Jr, but the Iron Fist held on for the 1-0 win. The hard-luck loser, Bartolo Colon, went the distance in both his games this week, posting a 0.53 ERA and 0.71 WHIP, but went 1-1 anyway... Brooklyn's Robb Nen, Philly's Armando Benitez and Tijuana's Eric Gagne each picked up three saves this week without allowing an earned run... Arkansas's Byung-Hyun Kim was perfect, closing out both of his save opportunities this week with 1-2-3 innings... Former Rolaids Relief Men Mariano Rivera and Billy Wagner look like they'll be battling for the title again this year, as each picked up a win and two saves without allowing a run, while Newark's Keith Foulke picked up two wins and two holds in his four scoreless appearances.

Two for Thome

The Sugar Bears scored 19 more runs than any other team this week, so it's no surprise that Mark McLemore led the league in runs (11) and Manny Ramirez in RBIs (13). But the OmahaSteaks.com Batter of the Week Award once again goes to Jim Thome, who led the league in OBP (.563), SLG (1.000), OPS (1.563), HRs (4) and walks (10). He also scored 9 runs and drove in 9 more. Two weeks into the season, Thome leads the league in OBP (.603), SLG (1.275), OPS (1.878), RBIs (22), HRs (10), walks (17), extra-base hits (13), intentional walks (4), runs created (33.0) and on and on... Stanhope's Todd Helton tied Thome with 4 round-trippers this week, hitting .303 (1.051 OPS) with 6 R and 9 RBI... Tijuana rookie Josh Phelps hit an even .500 (13-26) with a triple and two homers for 8 R, 5 RBI and a 1.360 OPS... Arkansas's Barry Bonds is off to another torrid start, slamming 3 HR for 7 R and 8 RBI for a 1.374 OPS, while teammate Lance Berkman went just 5-for-25 (.200) this week, but all five hits were for extra-bases -- a double and a league-high 4 HRs -- for 6 R, 9 RBI... Carolina's Aramis Ramirez made the most of his 12 at-bats this week, scorching a single, a double and three homers for 3 R, 6 RBI... Hillsborough's Alex Rodriguez hit just .250, but his 3 HR helped account for 8 R, 6 RBI... Harrison's Andruw Jones (3 HR, 6 R, 7 RBI, 1.205 OPS), Columbia's Ivan Rodriguez (.483, 5 2B, 14 H, 1.259 OPS), Hoboken's Ryan Klesko (3 HR, 7 RBI, 1.072 OPS) and Phoenix's Garret Anderson (.308, 3 HR, 7 RBI) are also hot.

The Tijuana Shuffle

The Banditos, after getting off to an 0-4 start, shook things up in the bullpen by dumping Giovanni Carrara, Braden Looper, Kelvim Escobar and Mike DeJean and signing Chad Zerbe, Paul Quantrill, Justin Speier and Ryan Franklin. The new blood seemed to help as the Banditos won their next four before losing another three straight. On Sunday, they tried it again, this time cutting Danys Baez to take a flyer on the rotting corpse of Darryl Kile... The Cutters gave up on middle infield prospect Bobby Hill, releasing him from Triple-A Weehawken to ink former Destroyer Mike Hampton to a minor-league contract.

Eye on Edmonds

Federal agents arrested Jim Edmonds when he arrived at Bullhead Memorial Stadium carrying a deadly weapon. "Mr. Edmonds tried to walk into a crowded stadium armed with a 34-ounce baseball bat," said Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge. "We can't tolerate that kind of behavior during an Orange Alert." Edmonds was taken to Guantanomo Bay, Cuba, for interrogation... Harrison, after losing 2B Luis Rivas for at least a month after he discovered that there is no Santa Claus, signed Brooklyn cast-off Ricky Gutierrez... Tijuana's Ramon Ortiz will miss at least two starts after an unfortunate incident involving Nair in his shampoo bottle... Philly's Paul Byrd, a reservist with the Iraqi Army, was called up to active duty this week. Scott Williamson is so concerned about his teammate that he says he's watching CNN 24/7. The Animals picked up pitchers Andy Ashby and Armando Almanza until Baghdad falls... The Cutters, needing a backup catcher with Ben Davis still sleeping off his Robitussin overdose, picked up veteran John Flaherty... In Brooklyn, Woody Williams was given a week off to go to Vancouver to help his old buddy Greg Maddux get tunneled out of the ice he's been stuck in for the last week.

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.