September 1, 2003  

Mudcats In; Sharks Next?

The Carolina Mudcats made the playoffs for the third time in their seven-year history, clinching at least the No. 4 seed in the playoffs by winning five out of seven this week. But their dreams of a first-ever division championship were dashed the following day, when the Arkansas Golden Falcons clinched their second straight Morris title with a win Sunday to cap a 5-2 week. Meanwhile, the Stanhope Mighty Men are still in second place overall, but only a game ahead of Arkansas, after losing four out of seven this week; it doesn't really matter to Stanhope, though, as second place overall is good only for bragging rights as the division winners get the top two seeds, and Stanhope has already clinched the top wild card spot... The best team in baseball, the Newark Sugar Bears, won six out of seven this week, including five straight, as they continue to pad their record for posterity... Those four are in. Four other teams are out: The Phoenix Dragons, who were eliminated after dropping both ends of Sunday's doubleheader and remained in 11th place overall after a 2-4 week; the Harrison Rats, who went 2-6 (including a five-game losing streak) and are now tied for 12th place with the Columbia Rattlesnakes, who went 3-3 to move up from 13th place a week ago; and, still stuck in last place, the Tijuana Banditos, who fell to 30 games under .500 after losing five out of eight this week. The Banditos can clinch the worst record in baseball if they lose the four games they have left on their schedule.

Now, on to the games that matter! The Honolulu Sharks missed their chance to clinch at least the No. 6 seed in the playoffs after losing six out of eight this week, and nine of their last 12. But they've managed to whittle their magic number for their first-ever playoff spot down to just 3. The Sharks can claim the No. 5 seed with 5 wins and/or losses by the teams chasing them... Despite a mediocre 3-3 week, Brooklyn Bean Counters moved up from 7th place overall to 6th. Their magic number for the final playoff spot is 5... The Beanies swapped places in the standings with the Vancouver Iron Fist, who lost five out of seven this week and 16 over their last 23. They're now two games under .500, a game behind the Bean Counters. If Brooklyn runs the table to finish the season, the Iron Fist are out of the playoffs for the first time since 1992... Other than the Sugar Bears, this week's hottest team were the Hillsborough Destroyers, who are mounting a furious charge from the back of the pack after winning six out of their last seven and nine of their last 12. But the Destroyers, with six games left, also will need to do some scoreboard watching this week as they need help if they want to get into the big dance for the third straight year... The Philadelphia End Zone Animals guaranteed themselves a losing season after splitting eight games this week, falling from eighth place overall into ninth. Their tragic number is down to 3... Another team that had a .500 week, the Hoboken Cutters, are just about out of hope. The Cutters, who went 3-3 this week, will be mathematically eliminated from the post-season with their next loss, or Brooklyn's next win... For more about the playoffs, see the latest edition of Number Crunch.

Guerrero Warfare

Vlad Guerrero hates losing. But over his six-year DMBL career, he's played for just two teams with a winning record -- last year and in 2000 -- Guerrero has endured quite a bit of it. This year, helplessly watching his Banditos spiral to the worst record in baseball, Guerrero's had to take out his frustration on opposing pitchers, putting up numbers that make DMBL Rotisserie players drool (.315, 197 H, 30 HR, 100 R, 100 RBI, 25 SB). Guerrero had another impressive week amidst the carnage, leading the league in home runs (5), RBIs (11) and total bases (26) to win his first OmahaSteaks.com Batter of the Week Award... Newark's Jim Thome has broken out of his late-season slump in a big way, hitting .308 (1.102 OPS) with 4 HR, 6 R and 10 RBI, while the third base platoon of Bill Mueller and Edgardo Alfonzo had a truly ridiculous week: The pair combined to hit .607 (17-28) with a .656 OBP, .821 SLG (1.477 OPS) for 7 R, 7 RBI... Speaking of dynamic duos, Arkansas's Barry Bonds (.455, 1.366 OPS, 4 2B, 6 R, 8 RBI, 9 BB) and Lance Berkman (.364, 1.391 OPS, 4 HR, 9 R, 8 RBI, 5 BB) drove opposing pitchers crazy, but the rest of the team hit just .261... How would this outfield have looked a couple years ago: Reggie Sanders, Carl Everett and Gary Sheffield. The Rats' ageless threesome combined to hit .363 this week (24-66) with 5 HR for 11 R, 8 RBI... Vancouver's Edgar Martinez had just 13 plate appearances, but he made good use of them, picking up four hits (1 2B, 2 HR) and four walks for a ridiculous 1.837 OPS. Martinez has been reduced to a platoon role with David Ortiz, who hit just .176 (3-for-17) -- all singles. As a team, the Iron Fist hit just .206 this week... Stanhope's Bernie Williams hit .391 (1.157 OPS) while drawing 8 walks, while teammate Cliff Floyd hit .435 (1.111 OPS) with a league-high 5 doubles... Also hot: Harrison's Derrek Lee (.300, 1.050 OPS, 3 2B, 2 HR, 7 R, 8 RBI); Hillsborough's Ray Durham (.400, 1.137 OPS, 4 2B, 2 3B, 7 R); Hoboken's Brian Giles (.286, 1.175 OPS, 4 HR, 6 RBI).

Philly's Albert Pujols continues to rack up monster numbers in his sophomore campaign, hitting .375 (1.194 OPS) with a double, a triple and 3 homers this week for 9 runs, 7 RBIs. He also has a hit in 12 straight games. But hitting streaks sometimes don't mean much: Columbia's Robert Fick and Honolulu's Jacques Jones are tied with the league's longest active streak at 16 games each, but this week Fick hit just .259 (.569 OPS) for 2 R, 3 RBI, and Jones hit .258 (.593 OPS) for 3 R, 0 RBI.

Smoltz: Saving History

John Smoltz made the record books this week after recording four saves -- including three on consecutive days -- to smash Billy Wagner's three-year-old league record of 41 saves. Smoltz, who now has 43 saves on the season, also passed Wagner's league record of 86 relief points (Wins x 2 plus Saves x 2 minus Losses minus Blown Saves), which he also set during the 2000 campaign with Vancouver. Smoltz now has 90 relief points (4 wins, 43 saves, 1 loss, 3 blown saves) with six games remaining on Newark's schedule. He also is likely to set the league record in save percentage (.935), minimum 25 save opportunities. Smoltz's four-save performance earned the hairy hurler the Name That Beard Pitcher of the Week Award... Even more remarkably, if he can avoid a complete melt-down at the end of the season, Smoltz also will set the DMBL record for lowest ERA ever (0.64) by a pitcher with more than 5 IP in a season.

Relief Points Leader Board
Reliever	ERA	W	SV	L	BS	Pts
Smoltz,NWK	0.64	4	43	1	3	90
Nen, BRK	1.53	3	41	4	3	81
Rivera, STP	2.54	3	37	3	6	71
Urbina, HON	3.09	9	30	4	5	69
Mesa, CAR	3.26	6	34	8	7	65

If not for Smoltz, Brooklyn's Robb Nen would be enjoying a taste of the record books right now: He tied Wagner's old save record the same day Smoltz passed it. But it was Nen's only save in what was otherwise a bad week (0-1, 1 ER, 7 H, 1 BB in 4.2 IP)... Philly's late charge has been helped by some strong bullpen support, with Armando Benitez, Darren Holmes, Scott Williamson and Alan Embree combining to go 2-0 with 3 SV without allowing a run this week... Carolina's Jose Mesa jumped onto the relief points leaderboard with a six-point week (1 W, 2 SV), while Newark's Jayson Durocher led all relievers with two wins (0 R, 1 H, 1 BB in 3 IP). Durocher, who started the year at 4-5 with Hoboken, is 6-0 since joining the Sugar Bears and is now tied for the league lead in vulturing wins with Brooklyn's Steve Reed (10-1).

Other than Smoltz's assault on the record books, every other pitching record appears to be intact for this season -- except for one other. Hillsborough's Bartolo Colon, who won his only start this week with a complete-game three-hitter, has tied the all-time record for most decisions in a season with 31 (15-16). Colon, who could have two more starts this season, has gone deep enough in games to either pick up the win or the loss in 31 of his 32 starts. Newark's Randy Johnson had set the record three years ago with 31 decisions, though he accomplished the feat in a much happier fashion (22 wins, 9 losses). Last year, Joe Mays -- who started the year with Brooklyn and ended it with Stanhope -- tied Johnson's record by going 16-15. Both Johnson and Mays had 33 starts in their 31-decision years. The 30-decision plateau has been cracked only five other times -- twice by Greg Maddux. Second this year is Honolulu's Mark Mulder, with 28 decisions (11-17), followed by several pitchers with 27. Colon, understandably, leads the league in complete games (11), tied for second in shutouts (3) and tied for 11th in wins -- but is also tied for third in losses... This week's tough-luck loser award goes to Tijuana's Chuck Finley, who went 0-2 despite posting a 1.80 ERA, 1.20 WHIP in 15 IP. He lost both games by scores of 3-1 -- with his defense committing two errors in each game... Other top starters this week: Carolina's Barry Zito (2-0, 0.61 ERA, 0.89 WHIP in 14.2 IP); Hillsborough's Kevin Millwood (2-0, 2.93 ERA, 1.37 WHIP in 15.1 IP); Hoboken's Joel Pineiro (1-0, 2.30 ERA, 0.96 WHIP in 15.2 IP); Newark's Brian Meadows (2-0, 1.84 ERA, 1.23 WHIP in 14.2 IP); Philly's Paul Byrd (2-0, 3.07 ERA, 1.02 WHIP in 14.2 IP); Stanhope's Tom Glavine (2-0, 1.13 ERA, 1.00 WHIP in 16 IP) and Tijuana's Jeff D'Amico (2-0, 2.08 ERA, 1.15 WHIP in 17.1 IP).

Winn Some, Lose Some

Randy Winn's bid to set the modern record in triples came to an end a week early when the Carolina speedster found himself breaking out all over in ugly red welts this week. A trip to the dermatologist revealed the hives were popping up because he was stressed out by all the media hype surrounding his assault on the three-baggers' record. Winn has 19 triples, just one behind Juan Uribe's DMB Era record of 20, set last year with Phoenix. (Of course, no one is ever going to come close to the all-time record of 62 triples -- that's right, 62 triples -- set by Cheyenne's Deion Sanders in 1993.) After consulting with a psychiatrist, Winn has decided to sit out the rest of the regular season to be back at 100 percent for the post-season. "Who cares about the modern record for triples," an itchy Winn mused. "The only record that matters is 62. That's my goal for next year!"

Mike Piazza, who quit baseball about a month ago to become a nurse, grudgingly agreed to return to the Sugar Bears for the playoffs. Piazza, who hasn't ruled out retiring for good at the end of this season, said he'd be back with two conditions: "One, KMS Hair Stay in the clubhouse. It's formulated to give a wide variety of flexible hold and shine options and will not leave hair feeling sticky... Two, get rid of Ismael Valdes. I don't like the way he stares at me while I'm in the shower, but then when I walk over he won't even talk to me. He's a total c-tease."

Though the Newark front office claimed Valdes -- 13-5 with a 3.88 ERA, 11.4 R/9 -- was released due to a "bookkeeping error," whatever the reason, he's now off the team. And our sources in the Brick City report that a generous array of KMS hair care products are now available in Newark's locker room... In other comings and goings, the Rattlesnakes activated back-up catcher Geronimo Gil and released Einar Diaz, who went 0-for-4 in his only appearance. No one gets much playing time behind Ivan Rodriguez, who has been behind the plate for 146 of Columbia's 156 games this season.

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.