Week 22 - Sept. 9, 2008

A Note To Our Readers

We continue filling in for long-time host Zane Smith, who took off to cover the Olympic Games for Al Jazeera. After leaving Beijing, Zane was going to spend a few days on vacation in New Orleans before coming back to TWIDMBL. We last heard from Zane as he was boarding up his hotel windows in preparation for Hurricane Gustav. Fortunately for everyone involved, Zane and the Gulf Coast came out of it just fine. This weekend, Smith went to Boston to give his old pal Tom Brady a pre-game pep talk. "I told Tom not to have 'happy feet' in the pocket. Just stand there and if someone is coming for your knees, don't move a muscle -- it's actually safer to be standing still rather than in motion." Last we heard from Zane, he was hiding out from a mob of angry Patriots fans. We hope he'll escape in time for the post-season. In the meantime, this week's guest host was supposed to be former Arkansas Golden Falcon Lonnie Smith, but he said he couldn't take a break from stalking John Schuerholz. Filling in for our fill-in is former Cincinnati Bengal and Calgary Stampeder Akili Smith.

One Week Left!

We're down to the home stretch as every team has between 6 and 10 games remaining. But even as we come to the final week, there's still much to be decided, including first place overall, the Hanover Division title, post-season seeding, the final playoff spot and, perhaps the closest race of all, last place overall!

The race for the Commissioner's Cup and the Hanover Division title is now one and the same. The Newark Sugar Bears, after a 4-2 week, need just one more win to clinch both the top overall record and the division title. But the Las Vegas Rat Pack wouldn't make it any easier on the Sugar Bears as they went a perfect 4-0 this week to keep their slim division title hopes alive. If the Rats win their final nine games -- and the Sugar Bears lose their final eight -- the two teams would be tied at 109-53, requiring a one-game playoff for the division title (and No. 1 seed in the post-season). The loser would still get to the big dance as the top wild card. Because the Rat Pack won the regular season series between the two teams, 7 games to 6, the game would be played in Las Vegas.

The Vancouver Iron Fist were eliminated from any chance of posting the league's top record after a 3-2 week, but champagne corks were popping in Canada anyway as they clinched the Morris Division title with Sunday's win over the Philadelphia Endzone Animals. It's the seventh division title in Vancouver's history. The Iron Fist are guaranteed the No. 2 seed and a first round bye; the Animals, who went 3-3, did manage to clinch a playoff berth this week. Their magic number to clinch the fourth spot -- which would give them home field advantage in the first round -- is 3.

The battle for the final two wild card spots is still one of the league's closest races of interest, and don't forget that there's still a dark horse team with a chance of sneaking in with a hot final week. The D.C. Bushslappers claimed sole possession of fifth place with a 4-1 week, including a two-game sweep of the Hitmen in their final regular season meeting. The Slappers snapped a two-week tie with the Hillsborough Hired Hitmen, who went 2-2. The Bushslappers still have a shot at grabbing the #4 seed, although any combination of 3 losses and/or Philly wins would end that hope. On the other hand, just one more win would clinch at least the No. 6 seed for the Slappers. The Hitmen, on the other hand, are now 1½ games behind D.C. with nine games remaining on their schedule. In seventh place -- but not quite eliminated yet -- are the Tampa Bay Plunkers, who went 2-3. The Plunks have a "tragic number" of 3 to be eliminated from post-season contention.

No one else can reach the post-season, but there's still pride on the line -- not to mention the final standings to determine the most balls in the draft lottery! The Arkansas Golden Falcons hung onto 8th place overall after splitting their four games this week. They can finish anywhere between 7th and 11th. With 84 losses and 10 games to go, they've already guaranteed the worst finish in their illustrious franchise history; the previous record of 82 losses was set last year... One team still hoping to avoid a worst-ever finish are the Hoboken Cutters, who won four out of five this week to move up one spot in the standings to 9th place overall. The Cutters have to win 6 out of their final 8 games to avoid setting a new franchise low... The Sardine City Straphangers lost all four of their games to fall into 10th place. The lowest they could finish is 12th; a real hot streak could send them as high as 7th... The Carolina Mudcats continue to plummet toward the bottom, going 2-5. They're now as close to 10th place as they are to 14th place -- 5½ games. Either outcome is still possible... The Blue Ridge Bombers went 3-4 to remain in 12th place, 2½ games ahead of Matthew's Mighty Men of Marietta, who posted the same record... New Jersey Team Buddah picked up a game in the standings in the race for the league's worst record after going 2-5. They're now 2½ games behind Marietta and 5 behind the Bombers. If they lose 5 of their remaining 8 games, they will clinch last place -- and the best shot at the No. 1 overall pick in next year's draft.

The Week Ahead

How will the final week of games play out? Let's take a look at the schedule.

Playoffs: The Sugar Bears need just one more win to clinch the league's top record and an eighth straight Hanover Division crown; they have three games in Hoboken against a feisty Cutters squad and then three games in Vancouver in a possible World Series preview. But sandwiched in between are two games at home against last-place New Jersey, which if all else fails should provide a soft spot for a crash landing. The Sugar Bears have gone 10-1 against Team Buddah this year... To snatch Newark's title away, the Rats would have to win out: They have three games at home against a 7th place Tampa Bay team fighting for a playoff berth, but after that it's smooth sailing with three against 10th place Sardine City and three against 12th place Blue Ridge, two teams they've gone a combined 15-4 against in the regular season... Vancouver is locked in as the No. 2 seed no matter what happens over the final week... The Endzone Animals can split their remaining six games and still clinch the No. 4 seed. They have two games against sibling rivalry Carolina, a make-up game in Hoboken from an August rain out and then close out the season with three games at home against 13th-place Marietta.

In or Out? D.C. and Hillsborough have the closest playoff race remaining and the final week presents some intriguing match-ups -- including a chance for Tampa Bay to sneak in as the final wild card team. The Bushslappers have two games at home against Morris Division champion Vancouver, followed by two road games against the swooning Mudcats. They finish out the season with four games at home against 9th place Hoboken. The Bushslappers have a winning record against all three teams, but it's close -- 6-5 against Vancouver and Carolina, 5-3 against Hoboken... On paper, Hillsborough has a slightly easier schedule: Three at 8th place Arkansas, then two at home against 12th place Blue Ridge and four at home against 10th place Sardine City. Hillsborough has dominated the Golden Falcons (9-1) and has had a slight edge over Blue Ridge (6-5), but have had trouble with the Straphangers this year (2-6)... Tampa Bay is one of only three teams with as many as 10 games left on their schedule, and they have to run the table -- and get some help -- to reach the post-season. Three more losses will knock them out of contention and they'll be challenged right off the bat with a three-game series in Las Vegas that starts Monday. The Plunkers split their 10 games with the Rat Pack this season but have won the last three contests against them. That's followed by three games against 13th place Marietta, another team they've gone 5-5 against this year, but again they've played better against recently, having won three out of their last four. Their season concludes with four games at the Golden Falcons, a team they've gone 3-5 against this year, including 0-2 in Arkansas.

Draft Lottery: Team Buddah has a 2½-game "lead" on the league's worst record, and thanks to their losing record against Marietta, going 3-5 over their final eight games would clinch last place and the most balls in the draft lottery for the first pick in next year's draft. They open up with three home games against Sardine City, a team they've gone 5-5 against, followed by a five-game road trip: Two in Newark and three in Carolina. They've won just 1 game in 11 tries against the Sugar Bears, but have gone 5-4 against the Mudcats... The Mighty Men were in last place almost all season but now find themselves in 13th. They just finished a six-game road trip and, following tonight's game at home against Blue Ridge, close out the year with six more on the road: Three at Tampa Bay, who they've gone 5-5 against, and three at Philly, who they've beaten just three times in nine games this year... Blue Ridge, in 12th place, has that one game in Marietta, followed by two in Hillsborough and then three at home against Las Vegas. They have losing records against both teams (5-6, 3-6)... The only other team with a shot at finishing last is Carolina; three more wins will guarantee a record no worse than 13th. The Mudcats open the week with two games against Philly, a team they've gone 4-7 against this year but they never want to lose to their big brother's squad. Next it's two games home against D.C., a team they've played relatively tough (5-6). If they get beat up in those four games, it could be that last place will be decided by the final series of the year: New Jersey at Carolina. The two teams have been pretty much even all year, with the Buddahs winning five and the Mudcats four. With the first overall pick potentially on the line, that could be a game worth watching.

Batter, Pitcher of the Week Awards

Due to our contract with sponsor JRCigars.com, only Zane Smith can pick the Batter of the Week and Pitcher of the Week Awards. As a result we've had to turn over the selection of those awards directly to the Commissioner's Office. Check out this week's winners in an upcoming entry in the DMBL News Blog.

The Swish

Newark's Nick Swisher is having by any measure a superb season -- .320/.430/.593, with 52 2B, 38 HR, 155 R and 148 RBI -- and he had yet to miss a game. In fact, he leads the league in plate appearances, with 749. But the hard-working outfielder also is a team player, and with Newark's division title nearly in hand, he said it was time that some other players get into the lineup. "I remember in Little League everybody had to play by the end of the game. I feel bad that I've been hogging all the ABs," Swisher said. "It's time to give someone else a chance." Swish says he'll likely sit out the rest of the season so Luke Scott (16 AB) and Mark DeRosa (53 AB) can see some more playing time over the team's final eight games... D.C.'s battle with Hillsborough for the No. 5 seed suffered a setback this week as reliever Ron Mahay "tweaked a hammy" during Thursday night's Giants-Redskins game. "I was getting a beer and I heard from the kitchen that they were back from commercial, and I felt a little twinge as I ran back in," the setup man said. He vowed to be back in time for the post-season. "I already got a little fridge to keep next to the easy chair in the living room," he said. Mahay was replaced on the roster by Javier Lopez -- the left-handed reliever, not the catcher... Two other injuries are likely more about players looking to get early jumps on their off-season vacations. Carolina reliever, who was added as the Mudcats made a late attempt at a wildcard run, is having a fine season (3.60 ERA, .167 IR%) and with the Mudcats officially eliminated, has been shut down for the remainder of the season. "He's getting some big outs right now, and frankly we'd rather see him getting those outs next year," bullpen coach Dwight Gooden said... Matt Diaz, on the other hand, almost certainly won't be back with Marietta next season after posting a miserable .626 OPS. With nothing to play for this year or next, Diaz exercised a little-noticed clause in his contract that gave him six personal days. "Screw this season, man," Diaz said of his team's 58-97 record. "I'm going to Disney World!"

Stay classy, Hoboken: With their '08 season over, the Cutters decided to pay their respects to one of the league's all-time great players with New Jersey roots. Hoboken released second baseman Mark Ellis in order to sign Craig Biggio to a one-week contract. Biggio, a Seton Hall University product and a member fo the '07 Cutters, had started the year tied with Roger Clemens for most seasons played with 16. But while Clemens has enjoyed a resurgent year with Arkansas (6-7, 4.38 ERA, 12.9 R/9), Biggio had remained a free agent all season -- meaning Clemens would retire with the record. With one at-bat on Sunday, Biggio now remains tied with Clemens for the all-time record, each with 17 seasons played. "This just goes to show that Mark Hrywna is the league's classiest owner," a teary-eyed Biggio said after going 1-for-4 in his first 2008 action. Clemens, we can imagine, thinks otherwise... The Cutters also activated Ryan Church and released Shawn Green... Blue Ridge needs to win at least two of their final six games to avoid losing 100 games in their inaugural season. That just got a little easier as Adam Wainwright came off the D.L., replacing Paul Byrd. In fact, Byrd was "Plan C" after Wainwright's original replacement, Tim Redding, also went down with an injury.