Games 1, 2,
5 and 7 are home games
for
the higher seeded team in this best-of-7 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, meaning the fourth starter will be skipped if the first
starter
is ready to pitch. Since there are off days after games 2, 4, 5 and 6,
some
game 1 starters will be available in game 4 on three days' rest.
Benched
starters can be moved to the bullpen.
The two teams that survive this
series
will go on to play the 15th annual DMBL World
Series.
Newark Sugar Bears (#1,
111-51) vs. Arkansas Golden Falcons (#6, 86-78)
These two teams seemed destined to do battle for all
time -- like Cain vs. Abel, Tom vs. Jerry, Britney vs. her baby. It's hard to imagine a
post-season that doesn't feature a throw-down between the Newark Sugar Bears
and Arkansas Golden Falcons. In fact, there
hasn't been one since 2001! This year's battle is the fifth straight
and the seventh overall. The lifetime series is tied, three to three,
with Newark defeating Arkansas in the '02, '04 and '05 World Series.
Arkansas has only defeated them once in the World Series, in '03. But
ominously for this year, the Falcs have won in their two other
post-season meetings in the preliminary rounds -- and both times,
Newark was the higher seed! The third-ranked Falcons beat the
second-place Sugar Bears in '96, and pulled off the same trick, #3 over
#2, in '98.
History, however, does appear to point in
Newark's favor: The top-ranked seed has
never lost in the second round
series since the adoption of the three-tier playoff format in '97; the
Sugar Bears haven't lost in the second round since 1999; the Sugar
Bears have beaten the Golden Falcons in two straight World Series; four
of the
seven games will be played in Newark, where the Sugar Bears this year
posted the second-highest home winning percentage in league history
(.765); and the Brick City Bombers were the hottest team in baseball
over the fourth
quarter, going a ridiculous 33-6 (.846 W%), including wins in 16 of
their final 17 games. However, the Falcons also are a hot team, ending
the season with seven straight wins, and they can't be worried about
home-field advantage after winning all three road games in the first
round against a tough Carolina team. The Golden Falcons also are the
one team that isn't intimidated by Newark's post-season resume, having
been here a league record 14 straight seasons. And the two teams split
the season series, six games apiece.
The Golden Falcons, after defeating the
Mudcats in five games, are now a phenomenal 6-1 in first-round
match-ups (not including six byes). But they're an even better team in
the second round, with an amazing 7-1 record. In fact, their only loss
in the second round came in 2001, when they fell in seven games to
second-ranked Vancouver. The Falcons were a very balanced team this
year, tying for
5th in runs scored (768) and ranking 4th in runs allowed (768) for a
fifth-best +79 run differential.
The Sugar Bears are a little more lopsided:
They combine a mediocre pitching staff (814
runs allowed) with the most prolific
offense in baseball, averaging 7.05 runs per game (1142 runs for).
That's enough firepower to easily post the league's best run
differential at +328 -- more than 200 runs better than the runner-up!
But they did find balance in winning: They were the best team at home
(.765) or on the road (.605), against
lefties (.732) or righties (.669), in the first half (.651) or second
half (.722).
It all starts with their lineup, which, as
the rabbis
wrote, "is awesome and full of dread." Nick Johnson
won the batting title
(.360) and also led the league in OPS (1.079), OBP (.444), total
average (1.201) and RC/27 (11.8), despite missing more than a quarter
of the
season to injuries. Chipper Jones had another
great year, hitting .339 (1.050 OPS) with 49 2B, 104 R and 100 RBI. Carlos Guillen followed up last year's
record-breaking .398 campaign by hitting .342 (.827 OPS) with 124 runs
scored. And Craig Counsell came
out of nowhere
to steal the starting job at second base after hitting .327 (.848 OPS)
with 23 doubles and 72 runs scored in just 367 AB. The outfield is just
as potent, with Manny Ramirez (.283, .861 OPS,
32 HR, 125 RBI), Bobby Abreu (.332, .993 OPS,
24 HR, 98 R), Milton Bradley (.325, .969 OPS,
38 HR, 108 RBI) and Hideki Matsui (.289, .809
OPS, 23 HR, 107 RBI).
The catching duties are shared by Gregg Zaun
(.280, .781 OPS, 14 HR, 65 RBI in 454 AB) and Michael
Barrett (.272, .873 OPS, 11 HR, 50 RBI in 191 AB). The team doesn't
platoon as much as it once did, but they still have lefty-mashers Jeff DaVanon (.360, .965 OPS, 2 HR, 31 RBI in 150
AB) and Damion Easley (.345, 1.095 OPS, 15 HR,
57 RBI in 168 AB), plus newcomers Ryan Church
(.344, 1.142 OPS, 15 HR, 48 RBI in 192 AB) and Mark
Loretta (.304, .725 OPS, 5 2B, 33 R in 168 AB). After hitting a
spate of injuries earlier this year, the Sugar Bears filled out their
Triple-A team with veterans who could step in, leaving them with a
number of choices for the remaining bench jobs: Marcus
Giles (.226, .649 OPS, 7 2B, 4 SB in 137 AB); Jimmy
Rollins (.281, .704 OPS, 3 2B, 10 R in 57 AB); or Trot Nixon (.241, .717 OPS, 1 HR, 6 RBI in 29
AB), plus rookie Nick Swisher (.167, .548 OPS,
1 HR, 9 R in 54 AB).
While the Sugar Bear lineup is largely
intact from last year's World Series champions, the Falcons present a
much different look on offense, starting with the absence of Barry Bonds. But the team returns several players
from last year's runners-up, including Kenny Lofton
(.283, .676
OPS, 62 R, 26 SB), Lance Berkman
(.262, .818 OPS, 27 HR, 99 RBI) and David Wright
(.299, .911 OPS, 47 2B, 32 HR, 113 R, 117 RBI). Returning from last
year's squad, but playing a larger role this year, are David DeJesus (.312, .854 OPS, 31 2B, 82 R, 5
SB) and Bobby
Crosby (.254, 13 HR, 60 RBI). The biggest new addition on offense
is Coco Crisp
(.285, 39 2B, 76 R), who was acquired in the off-season from
Hillsborough. The rest of the roster is a mix of youngsters and
veterans fighting for the remaining playing time. The catchers are Javier Valentin (.279, .898 OPS, 27 HR,
78 RBI) and Brad Ausmus (.265, 2 HR, 21 RBI in
181 AB); the second base job is split between Antonio
Perez (.261, 4
3B, 52 R, 13 SB) and Aaron
Hill (.261, 6 2B in 142 AB); and Rafael
Palmeiro (.243, 17 HR, 44
RBI) and Juan Encarnacion
(.242, 10 HR, 39 RBI) share a 1B/DH platoon with Berkman. The bench
consists of 3B Adrian Beltre (.255, 4 HR, 11
RBI
in 55 AB); OF Jose Cruz Jr. (.247, 7 HR, 28
RBI in 170 AB); 1B Justin
Morneau (8-for-51, 3 HR, 6 RBI); 1B Ben
Broussard (1-for-17); and OF Casey Blake
(.256, 7 HR, 21 RBI in 90 AB).
The Falcs had a terrific one-two punch in
the first round from future DMBL
Hall of Famers Roger Clemens
(15-8, 2.51 ERA, 8.6 R/9) and Pedro Martinez
(18-10,
3.20 ERA, 9.8 R/9). But after the dynamic duo, who knows? The Falcs
tried Brad
Penny (13-8, 4.93 ERA, 13.0 R/9) in Game 3 and Danny
Haren (8-11, 5.05 ERA, 12.9 R/9)
in Game 4, but the team lost both starts. (Haren allowed 3 runs, 2
earned, on 6 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings; Penny was pounded for 5
earned runs on 7 hits and a walk in just 1.2 innings). Either or both
could be back in the rotation in the second round, or the team may turn
to lefty Odalis Perez (6-1, 4.62 ERA, 12.0 R/9
in
8
starts with Arkansas). It's unlikely they'll consider Ervin
Santana (2-12, 5.88 ERA, 14.8 R/9) or Curt
Schilling, who missed the entire season.
Most years, the Sugar Bears settle for a
mediocre starting rotation -- just good enough to get through five or
six innings, by which time the offense has likely bludgeoned its way
through the other team's fourth or fifth reliever. This year, the team
turned its closer back into an ace, as John Smoltz
returned to the rotation for the first time since 2000. The 39-year-old
right-hander proved he's still up to the challenge as he led the league
with a 22-5 record, and posted a 3.79 ERA, 12.0 R/9. Veteran Randy Johnson had another solid season (16-7,
4.69 ERA, 12.6 R/9, 180 Ks in 213.0 IP), but Kevin
Millwood (11-8, 5.73 ERA, 13.8 R/9) and David
Bush (10-9, 7.45 ERA, 16.7 R/9) struggled. As a result, the team
had to turn to a couple of rookies: First-round draft pick Chien-Ming Wang (11-6, 4.80 ERA, 13.5 R/9) and
mid-season acquisition Zach Duke (5-1,
3.40 ERA, 13.6 R/9 in 9 starts with Newark; 13-9, 4.37 ERA, 13.7 R/9
overall). Despite their lack of experience, Wang, 25, and Duke, 22,
will join Smoltz and Johnson in the playoff rotation; Millwood and Bush
are unlikely to even make the post-season roster.
The Sugar Bear bullpen, on the other hand,
has always been a team strength. Since 2001, Newark has had Smoltz, Keith
Foulke and Arthur Rhodes as the end-game
triumverate. But
Smoltz is
now in the rotation, Foulke is out for the season and Rhodes left for
Vegas. This year, Newark's no-name bullpen features plenty of depth,
with Matt Wise
(8-5, 12 SV, 2.92 ERA, 9.7 R/9) and Scot Shields
(10-2, 14 SV, 3.30 ERA, 12.6 R/9) the de facto closers. The set-up work
is done by Brian Shackelford (4-1, 2 SV, 3.76
ERA, 11.8 R/9)
and Scott Eyre (2-3, 7 SV, 5.80 ERA, 14.5 R/9)
from the left side and Scott Linebrink (2-0,
3.42 ERA, 12.2 R/9 in 16 games with Newark) and Tom
Gordon (5-1, 8 SV, 5.65 ERA, 13.3 R/9) from the right.
Arkansas probably has
the better bullpen, with flame-throwing closer Brad
Lidge (2-6, 23 SV, 3.38 ERA, 10.9 R/9, 110 K in 77.1 IP) set up by
rookie righty Fernando Rodney
(3-4, 5 SV, 4.38 ERA, 12.4 R/9) and veteran lefty Eddie
Guardado (0-1, 1 SV, 3.24 ERA, 9.7 R/9 in 26 G with Arkansas). The
long men are Rudy Seanez (4-3, 3 SV, 4.99
ERA, 14.0 R/9) and Aaron
Heilman (9-8, 4 SV, 17 holds, 4.38 ERA, 13.3 R/9 in 105 games).
The bottom line: The
Golden Falcons have been playing with house money for two weeks now. No
one expected them to reach the post-season, yet here they are, after
winning back-to-back one-game playoffs and then topping the No. 3 seed
in the first round. All the pressure is on the Sugar Bears, who are
heavily favored not just as the league's top-ranked team but also as
the two-time defending world champions. Do the Falcons have yet another
miracle up their sleeves this year? Or will the Crunch With Punch bring
Arkansas's dream season to an abrupt end? It's hard to imagine this
series ending in any way other than extra innings in the seventh game.
Whatever the outcome, the rivalry is sure to be renewed next
post-season!
Vancouver Ironfist (#2,
96-66) vs. Matthew's Mighty Men of Marietta (#4, 91-71)
In the first-ever
match-up of a No. 2 seed and a No. 4 seed, the Morris Division champion
Vancouver Ironfist will face Matthew's Mighty Men of Marietta. These two teams
have met in the post-season twice before, and both times the Ironfist
came out on top. In 1998, the fifth-ranked Jerusalem Rabbis -- as the
Mighty Men were then known -- fell to the top-ranked Fisters in a
hard-fought second round series that went the full seven games. And in
last year's first round, the sixth-ranked Mighty Men (then playing in
Stanhope) fell to the third-seeded Ironfist, 3 games to 1. The regular
season series was won handily by the Ironfist, 8 games to 4, coming out
on top in their last four meetings on the season.
The Ironfist return for their
second-straight post-season, erasing back-to-back years of playoff
limbo. Before the 2003-2004
drought, the Ironfist had been to the playoffs in nine straight years.
Four of their last five playoff appearances came as the No. 3 seed, but
this year -- for the first time since 2001 -- they returned in style as
the Morris Division winners, their sixth division title in franchise
history. In those five previous appearances as the division winner, the
Fisters reached the World Series four times.
It looked like the Ironfist were going to
reach the post-season, but until the final two months of the year, it
appeared their trip would start with the wildcard round; they started
August with a 69-53 record, 4 games behind the Carolina
Mudcats for the division lead. But like a prize-winning
thoroughbred, Owner/GM Yaro Zajac had held
back his Ironfist until the final turn, then poured it on for the home
stretch. As the 'Cats slumped to a 20-22 record over the final quarter,
the Fisters went 27-13 (.675 W%) to zoom past them and easily claim
their sixth Morris Division title (but first since 2001). This year's
team is perhaps the most extreme to ever win a division; in fact, no
team that has finished last in runs allowed (915) has ever finished
above .500, let alone reached the post-season. To finish 30 games over
.500, this team must score runs by the truckload, and they do: a
second-best 1007 runs scored this season, good for a fourth-best +92
run differential.
This is the fourth consecutive year the
Mighty Men have
reached the
post-season, and the eighth time in the last nine years. However, it's
the first time since 2003 that Owner/GM David
Landsman's team has reached the second round. After chasing the Las
Vegas Rat Pack for much of the second half of the season, the Mites
finally passed them in the standings, claiming fouth place overall and
second place in the Hanover Division. Then they put away those same
Rats in the first round, winning a tough five-game series. The Mighty
Men rank only behind the Sugar Bears and Ironfist on offense, scoring
930 runs this year. They also ranked 3rd in batting average, OBP, OPS,
home runs and walks.
But unlike the Ironfist, the Mighty Man pitching staff ranks a
respectable 6th (810 RA), giving them a second-best +120 run
differential.
The Mighty Men lived up to their name in
the first round, pounding the Vegas pitchers for 31 runs in five games
(6.2 rpg). The team leader, of course, was Derek
Jeter (.287, .755 OPS, 13 HR,
107 R), who hit .389 with an .899 OPS in the first round. The rest of
the lineup is a mix of old and new faces: OF Brian
Giles
(.331, .958 OPS, 27 HR, 141 R, 11 SB),
OF Ken Griffey Jr. (.291, .875 OPS, 37 HR, 122
RBI), 1B Todd
Helton
(.281, .875 OPS, 23 HR, 90 RBI) and C Jorge Posada
(.250, .748 OPS, 16 HR, 65 RBI), plus 2B Ray Durham
(.280, .730 OPS, 15 HR, 79 R), have all been with the
Marietta/Stanhope/Jerusalem franchise during its previous runs. But the
newcomers are making a huge impact, most impressively rookie
OF Jonny Gomes (.335, 1.158 OPS, 23 HR, 68 RBI
in 65 G with Marietta; .276, .896 OPS, 42 HR, 110 RBI overall), who hit
3 home runs and drove in 7 runs during the first round. Off-season
pick-up Morgan Ensberg (.273, .895
OPS, 42 HR, 122 RBI), who had a league-record 38-game hitting streak
this year, knocked in 5 runs in the first round. Newcomers Scott
Podsednik (.302, 9 R, 9 SB in 22 G with Marietta) and Victor Diaz (.254, 20 HR, 77 RBI) platoon in
center field, and Matt LeCroy (.324, 2 HR, 9
RBI in 16 G with Marietta) usually starts at
first against
tough lefties. Coming off the bench are OF Wily Mo
Pena (.255, 10 HR, 21 RBI in 149 AB), C Bengie
Molina (.228, 2 HR, 8 RBI in 57 AB) and utility infielder Nick Punto (.232, 7 2B, 21 R in 138 AB).
Top to bottom, the Ironfist lineup is one
of the most dangerous in baseball, with several players vying for the
top honors. The fan favorite is 29-year-old
shortstop Michael Young, who led the team in
batting average (.331), runs created (140.6), hits (237), triples (6)
and runs scored (137); he also smacked 45 doubles and 23 home runs,
knocked in 98 and posted an .898 OPS, and played in every game this
season. However, stat-heads seem to favor
OF J.D.
Drew, who was tops on the team in OBP (.419), SLG (.634), OPS
(1.062) and RC/27 (10.8), plus he hit 40 home runs. However, purists
point out he missed 20 games due to injury, and often sat against tough
lefties. Opposing pitchers apparently think 1B David
Ortiz is the team's most dangerous hitter, as he led the team in
intentional walks (12) and total walks (107); despite hitting just
.232, he also led the team in home runs (47) and RBIs (127). Those
three are supported by a mix of old and new: young'uns OF Jason Bay (.261, .813 OPS, 30 HR, 125 RBI, 11
SB), C Victor Martinez (.308, .803 OPS, 15 HR,
85 RBI) and 2B Chase Utley (.276, .814 OPS, 17
HR, 84 RBI); and veterans OF Moises Alou
(.309, .908 OPS, 27 HR, 95 RBI), 1B/2B Jeff Kent
(.276, .811 OPS, 47 2B, 102 RBI), 3B Eric Chavez
(.262, .801 OPS, 22 HR, 86 R) and OF Rondell White
(.360, .933 OPS, 11 HR, 70 R in 347 AB). The bench is comprised of C Ramon Castro (.195, .686 OPS in 159 AB), 3B Mike Lowell (.246, .738 OPS in 130 AB) and
utility man Michael Cuddyer (.225, .589 OPS in
71 AB).
It seems hard to believe that the Vancouver
pitching
staff allowed the most runs in the league this year. (They actually
finished
second-to-last in ERA, at 5.24, but allowed 23 more unearned runs.)
There's no arguing their 5.65 runs allowed per game is too high, but
they actually finished around the middle of the pack in key peripheral
categories like R/9 (12.5), K/9 (6.6), QS% (.420) and OPS allowed
(.788), and actually led the league in lowest BB/9 (2.3) and best K:BB
ratio (2.9). Their worst sin was the longball (1.5 HR/9, 14th), the
bullpen (.440 IR%, 14th) and the defense (.980 fielding percentage,
tied for last; .764 SB% allowed, 10th). Look past the numbers and
you'll see the Ironfist rotation features some of the best young arms
in baseball with Jake Peavy (18-4, 4.53 ERA,
11.8 R/9), Ben Sheets (12-13, 5.04 ERA, 11.9
R/9) and Brandon McCarthy (10-9, 6.60 ERA,
14.8 R/9), all under the tutelage of pitcher/coach Greg
Maddux (13-15, 6.67 ERA, 12.9 R/9). The
team also made of
the shrewdest trade deadline moves this season when they picked up
27-year-old southpaw Mark Buehrle for the
stretch run. Buehrle went 9-1 (3.56 ERA, 10.5 R/9) in 11 starts for the
Fisters, finally giving them a reliable starter alongside Peavy. Those
two will pitch the first two games; the other games would be started by
Sheets and/or Maddux, with McCarthy either in the bullpen or off the
roster entirely. It would be a surprise -- and a mistake -- if they got
cute and called on Matt Morris, who was bombed in a handful of
emergency starts (1-5, 6.59 ERA, 15.8 R/9); Woody
Williams, who pitched
decently in one (2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB in 6.0 IP); or Mark
Hendrickson or Gil Meche,
who each spent the season in the minors. Brandon
Claussen was released after
posting just 7 quality starts in 21 games (6-4, 6.14 ERA, 14.0 R/9).
The Fisters 'pen also might be better than
the numbers suggest. While they did allow an
unforgiveable 102-out-of-232 inherited runners to score, for a
league-worst .440 IR%, they
also ranked second in save percentage
(.690) -- mostly courtesy of closer Billy Wagner
(2-3, 29 SV, 2.66 ERA, 10.3 R/9, 21-5, 3.29
ERA,
12.2 R/9), who led the league with an .879 SV%. Wagner's top set-up man
is David Riske
(2-1, 2 SV, 4 holds, 3.12 ERA, 9.7 R/9), but mid-season acquisitions Brendan Donnelly (3-0, 1 SV, 2.05 ERA, 7.4 R/9, 1
BB, 20 K in 22.0 IP with Vancouver) and David
Cortes (2-1, 1 SV, 2.42
ERA, .9.7 R/9 in 22.1 IP) proved to be huge additions. The mop-up men
are Joe Borowski (8-3, 2 SV, 4.18 ERA, 12.1 R/9)
and Salomon Torres (3-2, 1 SV, 5.29 ERA, 13.5
R/9).
The Mighty Men certainly have better
numbers, ranking 6th in runs allowed compared to 14th for Vancouver.
But they have plenty of question marks when it comes to the starting
rotation. A.J. Burnett
(15-8, 3.45 ERA, 12.5 R/9) is a no-brainer, even after going 1-1 with a
4.80 ERA, 13.2 R/9 in the first round; so is Jon
Lieber
(19-7, 4.32 ERA, 12.5 R/9), even though he was pounded for 6 runs (5
earned) in his only first-round start. But who starts Game 3? Mike Hampton
(12-9, 5.32 ERA, 14.7 R/9) was decent in his only first-round start (3
ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 1 K in 7.0 IP), but the Ironfist posted the league's
second-best winning percentage against southpaws (.667). Kerry Wood (9-4,
5.90 ERA, 14.2 R/9) almost certainly took himself out of the running
after his awful performance (6 ER, 5 H, 1 BB in 0.2 IP). There's also Paul
Byrd (9-12, 6.14 ERA, 14.9 R/9), Mike Mussina
(3-0, 6.75 ERA, 17.7 R/9), and Jason Marquis
(1-15, 6.59 ERA, 16.7
R/9), but none inspires much confidence. The only remaining starter on
the staff is lefty Horacio Ramirez, who won
his
only start in the bigs this year (despite allowing 5 ER, 9 H and 3 BB
in 5.0
IP), but if they're going to start a southpaw, they'll go with Hampton.
However, while
there may be a question as to who will start games, there's no doubt as
to who will finish them. Mariano Rivera (7-5,
28 SV, 2.35 ERA,
9.2 R/9,
110 K in 99.2 IP) saved two of the team's three wins in the first round
with five-out saves. As if that weren't enough, his top set-up man is
another DMBL legend, Trevor Hoffman
(7-3, 6 SV, 3.32 ERA, 11.0 R/9). The Triple-Ms can also call on young
guns Dan
Wheeler (4-6, 5 SV, 3.78 ERA, 11.2 R/9) and Chris
Ray (3-2, 1 SV, 6.86 ERA, 15.8 R/9). Expect at least one of the
starters
who
didn't make the rotation to join the bullpen as a long man.
The bottom line:
It's been a wonderful ride for the Mighty Men, who were left for dead
at the season's mid-point only to storm all the way into the second
round of the post-season. But they find themselves in a dangerous
situation -- standing between the Ironfist and a chance to avenge
themselves against one of their greatest rivals, either Newark or
Arkansas. That's a little like standing between a bull and a matador --
while wearing red! It seems unlikely the Mites can pull off the
victory; to do so, they'll need to go toe-to-toe with the Ironfist
lineup, particularly in the three games not started by Burnett or
Lieber.
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