The games 1, 2 and 5 -- if necessary -- will be home games for the higher seeded team in this best-of-5 series. Injuries are turned off for the playoffs, meaning a player can be injured only for that particular game, but can return for the next game. Pitching rotations are on a four-man skip rotation, meaning the fourth starter will be skipped if the first starter is ready to pitch. Since there are off days off games 2 and 4, some game 1 starters will be available in game 4 on three days' rest.

The top seed to survive this round will take on the Morris Division champion Arkansas Golden Falcons; the lower-seeded survivor faces the Hanover Division winners, the Newark Sugar Bears.

Stanhope Mighty Men (#3, 94-68) vs. Hillsborough Destroyers (#6, 81-82)

Bouncing back from a 92-loss season last year, the 2000 DMBL Champion Mighty Men are back in the playoffs for the fifth time in their eight-year history. After flirting with first-place in the Hanover Division throughout the first-half of the season -- they were 6½ games behind Newark as recently as mid-July -- the Mites settled for a tie for second-place tie in the overall standings and the league's top wildcard position. It wasn't that Stanhope cooled off -- they went 17-11 (.607) to end the season -- but they couldn't keep up with Newark's .750 pace down the stretch. They'll take on another red-hot team in the Destroyers, who posted the league's second-best record (behind Newark) over the final quarter of the season to battle their way all the way back from 12th place to force a one-game playoff against the Vancouver Iron Fist, and they're riding the momentum of that thrilling 6-3 win into the post-season. Hillsborough, as you probably already know, is here for the third-straight season under its third owner, but GM Scott Boehler is the guy who built this franchise, running it from 1998-2000.

On paper, this looks like a slam-dunk for Buck Showalter and his Mighty Men. Stanhope compensates for the league's fourth-worst pitching staff (777 runs allowed) with the third-best offense (795 runs scored), for a fifth-best +18 run-differential. Hillsborough, meanwhile, is in the middle of the pack when it comes to offense (723 RF, 9th) and just above average in defense (716 RA, 6th), for a seventh-best +7 run-differential. It should be noted, however, that Hillsborough's 81-82 record (.497) is the worst of any playoff team in DMBL history, and that they've lost nine out of their 12 games against Stanhope during the regular season. It also doesn't bode well for the Destroyers -- the second-worst road team in the playoffs at 34-48 (.415) -- have to play three of the five games in Stanhope, where the Mighty Men are 51-30 (.630).

But the Destroyers, as they proved against Vancouver on Sunday, are a very dangerous team in a short series. They've got a terrific front three in Ben McDonald Award candidate Kevin Millwood (20-4, 2.67 ERA, 11.6 R/9), a pitcher they'll hope to send to the mound twice, and workhorses Bartolo Colon (16-16, 3.61 ERA, 12.5 R/9) and Jeff Weaver (12-11, 3.86 ERA, 11.2 R/9). The three combined for 28 complete games this season, the most of any threesome in baseball, and that's critical because the bullpen sucks. Aside from LaTroy Hawkins (5-3, 5 SV, 1.66 ERA, 9.2 R/9), no one else in the 'pen has an ERA under 3.49 or a R/9 under 11.2. Closer Jorge Julio (4-10, 16 SV, 4.09 ERA, 14.4 R/9) has blown 9 saves this year, but no one else proved capable of handling the job either.  The bullpen ranked dead last in the DMBL in save percentage (.553). 

Stanhope, despite finishing 11th in runs allowed -- by far the worst of any playoff team -- has some great arms of its own. The Mighty Men also have a McDonald Award contender in Tim Wakefield (19-9, 2.96 ERA, 8.9 R/9), plus late-season addition Derek Lowe (7-2, 2.58 ERA, 10.2 R/9 in 9 games with Stanhope; 17-8, 3.09, 10.0 overall) and likely third starter Matt Clement (17-6, 3.96 ERA, 11.7 R/9). Those three matchup well against Hillsborough, the only playoff team that actually has a losing record against right-handed starters (59-67). If the Double-M rotation can cancel out Hillsborough's Big Three and the managers have to turn to their relievers, this series is as good as over: Stanhope's bullpen, led by Mariano Rivera (3-3, 37 SV, 2.54 ERA, 10.4 R/9) and Joey Eischen (2-3, 3.49 ERA, 10.8 R/9), has blown just 12 saves all year, tied for the fewest in baseball, and they have the league's second-best record when leading or tied after seven innings (85-11). 

The Destroyers have two of the most dangerous hitters in baseball in Alex Rodriguez (.270, .875 OPS, 55 HR, 124 R, 133 RBI) and Carlos Delgado (.226, .785 OPS, 24 HR, 73 R, 68 RBI), though neither one came close to his career best. But Delgado finished the season strong, going 11-24 (.458) in his final six games, and A-Rod finished in the top 10 in many offensive categories during an "off year." Beyond those two, however, the Destroyers have one of the worst offenses in baseball, hitting just .239 (.694 OPS) as a team -- both ranked second-worst in baseball -- and without a .300 hitter. Behind A-Rod and Delgado, the team's best hitters were Brad Fullmer (.270, .873 OPS, 24 HR, 93 RBI), Mark Loretta (.282, .758 OPS in 202 AB), Dan Wilson (.277, .718 OPS in 191 AB) and Ray Durham (.254, .718 OPS, 37 2B, 109 R), which isn't exactly Murderer's Row. But they do generate runs on the basepaths, with Durham (25 SB), Juan Pierre (22 SB) and Roger Cedeno (11 SB), leading the league with 81 SBs as a team, which could prove troublesome especially for Wakefield -- baserunners were 16-for-17 when he was on the mound this season.

The Mighty Men, as befitting the league's third-best offense, can beat teams in a number of ways: They rank third in batting average (.272), third in OPS (.762), second in SLG (.427), first in doubles (304), fifth in HRs (171) and second in SBs (78). The team's best hitter is veteran Bernie Williams (.319, .832 OPS, 15 HR, 97 R, 83 RBI), but Todd Helton (.285, .882 OPS, 31 HR, 101 R, 96 RBI), Cliff Floyd (.297, .873 OPS, 36 2B, 85 R), Johnny Damon (.294, .820 OPS, 75 R, 17 SB), Tim Salmon (.291, .866 OPS, 41 2B, 85 RBI) and Derek Jeter (.284, .736 OPS, 79 R, 14 SB) make this a potent lineup from top to bottom. And if struggling sluggers Alfonso Soriano (.238, .659 OPS, 23 HR, 79 RBI, 28 SB) and Mike Lowell (.219, .610 OPS, 35 2B, 81 RBI) catch fire, Hillsborough's playoff dream will quickly turn into a nightmare. Damon, Soriano and Jeter will all get a chance to do some running in this series, especially when Jason Varitek is behind the plate for Hillsborough -- baserunners were 34-for-40 (.870 SB%) against him this season, making him one of the worst throwers in baseball.

So the numbers all point to this year's best Cinderella Story coming to a quick end in the first round of the playoffs. But don't forget that last year, this franchise (as the Wanaque Wolverines) swept the higher-seeded Hoboken Cutters in a first-round shocker, and in 2001 the No. 6 seed pulled off the miracle upset of the No. 3 seed in the first round (though it should be noted the team that lost were these same Destroyers -- when they were known as the Vatican City Cardinals). In fact, there's been a first-round upset every year since 1996 -- and that year, both top seeds were knocked out. Plus, if you believe in Bill James's Pythagorean Theorem, Stanhope is the league's luckiest team, 11 games better than their run-differential says they "should" have been and just 1½ games better than the Destroyers' expected record, so maybe their luck is about to run out.

And finally, there's those reports of hordes of toads that started invading Hillsborough, right after they beat Vancouver on Sunday. Maybe they know something that we don't?

Carolina Mudcats (#4, 88-74) vs. Honolulu Sharks (#5, 82-80)

The DMBL's first-ever post-season match-up between marine mascots involves a catfish against a great white. No contest, right? Especially when you consider that the No. 5 team has upset the No. 4 team in every year of the three-tiered post-season, which began in 1997 -- six straight years! That's just one of the many intriguing aspects of this terrific first-round matchup that pits these two franchises -- both founded as expansion teams in 1997 -- against each other in the post-season for the very first time. The Mudcats reached the playoffs in '99 and '01 as a wild-card team and both years advanced to the second round, so their fans won't be happy with anything less than a shot at the World Series; it's also doubtful that the Fin fans will be satisfied with a quick exit after the team came a game short of their first-ever playoff appearance last year. 

Carolina got here behind the league's stingiest pitching staff, giving up just 639 runs this season. But they scored just 706 runs, fourth-worst in baseball and the fewest of any team still alive, for a third-best +67 run-differential. The Sharks, on the other hand, have the most balanced attack of any playoff team, ranking fifth in runs scored (744) and fifth in runs allowed (715) for a fourth-best +29 run-differential. Both teams are among the league's best defensively, with Carolina ranking first and Honolulu second in fielding percentage. The Mudcats handily won the season series, 8 games to 4, and have home-field advantage in Game 5 -- a key factor because the Sharks have the league's third-worst away record (30-51) and are by far the worst road team in the playoffs.

As mentioned above, these teams are linked in many ways, and another factor they share is each experienced a dramatic turn-around this year. Over the first half, the Sharks were tied for the fourth-best record in baseball at 44-30 (.524), while the Mudcats were 4 games behind them at 38-42 (.475) and stuck in a seventh-place tie. But the Mudcats caught fire over the second half, posting the league's second-best record (50-32, .610), while the Sharks faded just as quickly after posting the worst second half of any team that would reach the playoffs (38-40, .487). What happened? For both teams, the difference was in offense: The Mudcats, who scored a league-worst 307 runs over the first half, jumped all the way to third-best (399 runs) over the second, while the Sharks dropped from the fourth-best offense (406 runs) all the way to fourth-worst (338 runs). Making the double reversal all the intriguing, neither team made a major change on offense from the first to the second half.

The Sharks managed to stay in the post-season picture thanks to their pitching staff, which  improved from 11th over the first half (400 runs allowed) to second-best over the second (315 RA) as their young rotation -- comprised of some of the best young arms in baseball -- began to turn their potential into production. Against Carolina, southpaw Mark Mulder (11-18, 3.34 ERA, 11.9 R/9) and righty Roy Oswalt (14-14, 3.45 ERA, 11.3 R/9) will probably each start one of the first two games, but who will they start in Game 3: Freddy Garcia (13-9, 4.49 ERA, 11.5 R/9, 138 K, 57 BB) or Russ Ortiz (11-8, 4.29 ERA, 13.0 R/9, 93 BB, 92 K)? The Sharks might be better off going with Ortiz, even though Garcia has allowed fewer baserunners and piled up more strikeouts: Freddy went 1-2 with a 5.50 ERA, 1.50 WHIP in four starts against Carolina this year, while Russ was 2-1 with a 2.41 ERA, 1.18 WHIP in three games against them. Closer Ugueth Urbina (9-4, 31 SV, 3.07 ERA, 10.7 R/9), lefty Ray King (2-0, 2.08 ERA) and righty John Riedling (6-2, 6 SV, 3.16 ERA) are the highlights of an otherwise mediocre bullpen that ranked 9th in save percentage (.635) and 11th in inherited runners who scored (.357).

But if Honolulu's young guns make scouts salivate, Carolina's starting rotation would make them positively drool. Mudcats GM Chris Pucci has made pitching a priority for his franchise, and that commitment is evident by looking at who he took with his first pick in the last three drafts: Roy Halladay in 2002, Barry Zito in 2001 and Tim Hudson in 2000, (Pucci did it again in this year's draft, using his second pick to take SP Carlos Zambrano, a 21-year-old right-hander who looks like he'll have a bright future in the DMBL.) The Mudcats would be wise to start the southpaw Zito (10-11, 3.08 ERA, 12.4 R/9) twice in this series, as the Sharks are just 14-28 (.333) against lefties this season, the worst record against LHP of any team in the DMBL! The other three games will be started by some combination of Hudson (16-9, 3.47, 12.4), Halladay (15-9, 3.47, 12.4) or fourth starter Cory Lidle (15-9, 3.56, 11.7), who posted nearly identical numbers. Mid-season addition SP A.J. Burnett (6-4, 3.67, 13.0), picked up in a trade from Philadelphia, isn't likely to see action. Though the names in the Carolina bullpen aren't likely to strike fear -- especially not closer SP Jose Mesa (6-8, 35 SV, 3.23 ERA, 11.6 R/9) -- the numbers say this is one of the best 'pens in baseball, ranking first in preventing runners from scoring (.280) and second in save percentage (.729).

If Carolina's pitching staff doesn't get the job done, however, the Mudcats are in serious trouble. Despite their second-half improvement, the team scored the fourth-fewest runs this season (706). But they were in the middle of the pack in OPS (.717, 8th) and they do have some power, with the third-most home runs (185). The team's best hitter is probably 25-year-old Aubrey Huff (.294, .803 OPS, 30 HR, 94 R, 87 RBI), whose good but not great stats actually were the team highs in batting average, OPS, hits and runs scored; he also was tied for the team lead in homers and finished third in RBIs. The rest of the lineup is mostly big white guys with good power, low batting average and lots of strikeouts, like Richie Sexson (.254, 21 HR, 95 RBI, 139 K), Jim Edmonds (.247, 20 HR, 70 RBI, 146 K), Pat Burrell (.243, 30 HR, 88 RBI, 138 K) and Mark Bellhorn (.228, 29 HR, 72 RBI, 161 K), though speedy outfielders Randy Winn (.275, 19 3B, 89 R, 16 SB) and Torii Hunter (.251, 19 HR, 74 R, 12 SB) help provide another dimension to the offense. But this offense isn't good enough to get by with zero production from SS Rich Aurilia (.222, .606 OPS in 518 AB) and C A.J. Pierzynski (.229, .532 OPS in 512 AB); they'll have to step it up in the post-season to their 2002 levels.

The Sharks' offense was just the opposite: While the Mudcats ranked fourth-worst in runs scored despite being around the league average in OPS, which means their offense didn't score as many runs as it probably should have, the Sharks managed to score the fifth-most runs (744) despite ranking ninth in OPS (.715), ninth in OBP (.319) and 10th in slugging percentage (.396). That's because most of their offense is being generated by just one guy: Jason Giambi (.308, .977 OPS, 40 HR, 112 R, 128 RBI, 91 BB), who led the team in BA, OBP, SLG, R, RBI and BB. But "The Giambino" can't do it all by himself, and sluggers Shawn Green (.272, .896 OPS, 43 HR, 122 RBI), Jacques Jones (.275, .738 OPS, 23 HR, 74 RBI) and Miguel Tejada (.285, .746 OPS, 22 HR, 88 RBI) have done a great job of protecting him in the lineup this season -- incredibly, Giambi hasn't drawn a single intentional pass all year. For this offense to really be productive, though, the table-setters will have step up: Eric Young (.268, .319 OBP) and Jason Kendall (.230, .273 OBP) have to do a better job of getting on base for the big guns in the lineup behind them. The Sharks also could use any kind of production from Aaron Boone (.190, .574 OPS in 399 AB), who lost his starting job to Joe Randa (.291, .652 OPS in 172 AB) but could provide a tremendous boost if he can get on track in the post-season.

It was a tale of two seasons for both these teams, with Honolulu starting strong and fading after the break, and Carolina stumbling out of the gate only to close as one of the hottest teams in baseball. So what happens now that we're into the "second season," the playoffs? Both teams have excellent starting rotations, though Carolina has a slight edge there, as well as the better bullpen; Honolulu clearly has the better offense, built around one of the best sluggers in baseball. The key to victory for the Sharks is to steal one of the first two games to break Carolina's homefield advantage as well as snap their second-half momentum. But this series is heavily tilted toward the Mudcats, as long as they can keep Giambi from beating them -- and forget what happened to the last six No. 4 seeds.

Newark Sugar Bears (#1, 111-51) and Arkansas Golden Falcons (#2, 94-68)

Meanwhile, the division champion Sugar Bears and Golden Falcons get to sit this round out, sip margaritas and wait for their opponents. Newark will face the lowest-seeded team that survives the first round, meaning Arkansas will face Stanhope if they advance, or the winner of the Carolina/Honolulu series if Hillsborough pulls off the upset.  During the bye week, the Falcs will stay sharp by playing scrimmages against Mark Zotti and the Bedminster A's, while the Sugar Bears will take on the Midwest team from the Little League World Series.