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 rotation, 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 even if they would not ordinarily be considered eligible as relievers.

The top-ranked Newark Sugar Bears take on the fourth place Philadelphia Endzone Animals, while the second-seeded Vancouver Iron Fist face the third-ranked Las Vegas Rat Pack.

The two teams that survive this round will face off in the 17th annual DMBL World Series.

The World Series That Wasn't

Newark Sugar Bears (#1, 114-48) vs. Philadelphia Endzone Animals (#4, 96-66)

Last year, the Philadelphia Endzone Animals cruised to their first-ever Morris Division title, just as the Newark Sugar Bears battered the competition en route to their seventh-straight Hanover Division crown. A showdown between the division winners -- which is what had happened in every DMBL championship since 2000 -- was eagerly anticipated. But a funny thing happened on the way to the World Series -- the third-seeded Matthew's Mighty Men of Marietta took out the Animals in a thrilling seven-game series to face the Sugar Bears instead. This year, the World Series that wasn't will finally happen as the fourth-ranked Endzone Animals swept their way through the first round to take on the top-ranked Sugar Bears in Round 2. Newark won the regular season series, 7 games to 5, including the last three games in a row. Newark won four of the six games in Philly but the two teams split the six games in Newark, so maybe the Animals don't mind playing the extra road game.

Philly owner Anthony "Bocci" Pucci got a small taste of revenge in the first round by sweeping the D.C. Bushslappers, who are owned by the younger brother of Marietta's owner. But maybe the only way to truly get over his team's 2007 exit from the post-season is to reach the World Series this year -- and to go through the World Champions to do it! The Endzone Animals are the most balanced team in the post-season, combining the fourth-best offense (971 runs scored) and the fourth-best defense (785 runs allowed) for the third-best run differential (+186); they're also balanced when it comes to home/away splits, with an identical 48-33 record whether on the road or at the Eagle's Nest. They employed that nice balance in the first round, getting solid starting pitching, tough relief work and timely hitting to take out the Bushslappers.

Craig "Butch" Garretson's Sugar Bears have won four straight World Series titles, and six out of the last seven. This year's team may not be quite as good as last year's squad -- which may have been the best team in league history -- but it's still pretty damn good. This year's Sugar Bears won 114 games, the fourth-most in league history; they also set the league record for best home winning percentage (.802). They scored the second-most runs in league history (1,268) and also posted the second-highest run differential in league history (+473). They can pitch a little, too -- they allowed 795 runs, which is 6th best in the league (and only 10 more runs than the Endzone Animals gave up).

But don't kid yourself -- this team is all about the hitting. The Sugar Bears embody their "The Crunch with Punch" slogan with a vengeance. They led the league in runs scored by 292 runs -- the ninth straight season they've led the league in runs, and the fifth straight year they've cracked the 1,000-run plateau. They led the league in BA (.323), OBP (.404), SLG (.551), OPS (.954), hits (1940), doubles (426), home runs (286), walks (823) and strikeouts (1409) -- basically everything except triples and stolen bases. In fact, in true Moneyball fashion, they ranked 13th in both stolen bases and bunts. The heart and soul of the offense is team captain Chipper Jones, who followed up last year's Kevin Mitchell Award-winning season with another strong campaign (.385/.472/.680, 45 2B, 29 HR, 127 R, 132 RBI). Jones won the batting title and finished second in OBP, SLG, OPS, RC/27 and Total Average -- all while playing a very good third base (first in total chances per game and double plays per game and third in fielding percentage). Chipper usually hits clean up, where he is bookended by a pair of slugging lefties -- DH Jack Cust (.326, 1.075 OPS, 48 HR, 163 R, 128 RBI) and 1B Matt Stairs (.344, 1.029 OPS, 34 HR, 141 R, 161 RBI). That's a heart of the lineup that would strike fear in any pitcher, but wait -- there's more. The outfield is LF Hideki Matsui (.334, .967 OPS, 47 2B, 27 HR, 126 R, 123 RBI), CF Nick Swisher (.320, 1.023 OPS, 52 2B, 38 HR, 155 R, 148 RBI) and the most expensive platoon in baseball history in RF, Bobby Abreu (.342/.419/.583 vs RHP) and Manny Ramirez (.328/.435/.525 vs LHP). The Sugar Bears also platoon behind the plate with Jarrod Saltalamacchia (.326/.362/.501 vs RHP) and Yadier Molina (.276/.328/.472 vs LHP) and at second base with Mike Fontenot (.323/.368/.420 vs RHP) and Marco Scutaro (.259/.367/.374 vs LHP). The team also finds a way to get lefty masher Troy Glaus (.304/.420/.616 vs LHP) into the lineup by benching Jones or one of the lefties. The shortstop is Carlos Guillen (.322, .934 OPS, 33 HR, 150 RBI). With all those platoons, there's not much room for reserves, but utility man Mark DeRosa (.217, .629 OPS in 60 AB) is a one-man bench with his eligibility at 2B, 3B and OF. The team also used Luke Scott (5-for-21, 1 HR) as a back-up outfielder down the stretch but he may not make the post-season roster. The team's numbers are better vs RHP (.340/.412/.583, .714 W%) than against LHP (.273/.380/.454, .674 W%).

The Endzone Animals won't back away from a slugfest with the Sugar Bears, as they pack a potent lineup of their own. They have an awesome threesome in Albert Pujols (.283, .851 OPS, 48 2B, 31 HR, 121 RBI), Mark Teixeira (.299, .903 OPS, 39 2B, 32 HR, 110 RBI) and Magglio Ordonez (.359, .985 OPS, 50 2B, 29 HR, 126 RBI). The trio really delivered in the first round, combining to go 18-for-40 (.450) with 7 2B, 4 HR, 9 R and 16 RBI. One guy who didn't carry his regular season success into the first round is catcher Jorge Posada (.315, .950 OPS, 42 2B, 30 HR, 102 RBI), who hit just .167 with 0 RBI against D.C. Joining Pujols in the infield is SS Jimmy Rollins (.266, .820 OPS, 45 2B, 21 3B, 22 HR, 113 R, 97 RBI, 17 SB), 2B Kelly Johnson (.271, .830 OPS, 8 HR, 41 RBI) and 3B Mike Lamb (.292, .819 OPS, 14 HR, 51 RBI); in the outfield with Ordonez are a couple platoons, J.D. Drew (.275/.382/.456 vs RHP) and Chris B. Young (.316/.391/.789 vs LHP) and Adam Dunn (.242/.333/.573 vs RHP) and Gary Sheffield (.295/.400/.693 vs LHP). The bench is Dioner Navarro (18-for-36, 1 HR, 9 RBI), Scott Rolen (.269, .650 OPS), Orlando Cabrera (2-for-4) and rookie outfielder Adam Lind (0-for-3). Oddly enough, though Philly hit a lot better against lefties (.325/.389/.558) than against righties (.275/.343/.471), they somehow posted a slightly better winning percentage against righties (.600 W%) than against lefties (.568 W%).

The Animals have a top-notch starter in Brandon Webb (17-10, 4.11 ERA, 12.4 R/9), and he didn't disappoint with a stellar Game 1 performance against the Bushslappers (1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 K in 8.0 IP). In Game 2, Philly turned to Matt Cain (13-5, 4.80 ERA, 14.3 R/9), a 22-year-old right-hander in his second year in the DMBL. Cain turned in an able performance (2 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 6 K in 7.0 IP). They saved Johan Santana, coming off a rough regular season (13-11, 5.23 ERA, 13.0 R/9), for Game 3 -- and the Bushslappers weren't impressed (5 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 4 K in 2.2 IP). But D.C. crushed lefties, while the Sugar Bears sometimes struggle with southpaws. Will pitching coach Dave Righetti go back to Santana for Game 3 -- or even Game 2? Assuming Santana stays in the rotation, the team might need one more starter. The team will choose between Kyle Kendrick (3-5, 4.63 ERA, 13.8 R/9, .455 QS%), Yovani Gallardo (11-9, 5.76 ERA, 13.6 R/9, .350 QS%), Jay Bergman (7-7, 5.38 ERA, 14.0 R/9, .429 QS%) and Aaron Harang (3-3, 5.10 ERA, 13.8, .300 QS%).

Philly also got nice work from all but one of its relievers in the first round. The gold star goes to closer J.J. Putz (7-3, 26 SV, 3.28 ERA, 9.4 R/9, 82 K in 74.0 IP), who in Game 3 pitched five innings -- yes, a closer who pitched five innings! -- to close out the Bushslappers. (Hey, the Animals knew if they won that game, they wouldn't need Putz for the rest of the week!) Putz picked up a win and a save in the three games, allowing just one hit (0 R, 0 BB) while striking out 4 in 6 IP. Jon Rauch (3-1, 1 SV, 3.01 ERA, 10.5 R/9, 83 K in 89.2 IP) and Justin Speier (3-3, 2 SV, 4.66 ERA, 11.4 R/9, 37 K in 38.2 IP) also pitched well in the first round, combining to throw 4.1 scoreless innings. Veteran Jason Isringhausen (2-3, 2 SV, 3.38 ERA, 10.3 R/9 in 30 games with Philly) was the only problem in the 'pen, allowing 3 H, 2 BB and 2 ER in his only appearance. Chad Cordero (9-1, 2 SV, 3.16 ERA, 11.6 R/9, 102 K in 77.0 IP), Octavio Dotel (1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 5 K in 5.1 IP) and Jason Frasor (3.95 ERA, 12.2 R/9, 26 K in 27.1 IP) weren't needed in the first round.

The Sugar Bear starters spend most of Spring Training undergoing rigorous psychological training to withstand the trauma of pitching in the Cereal Bowl. It does make life somewhat easier when the offense gives you 7.8 runs per game to work with. Making the most of his run support was Javier Vazquez, who went 21-5 despite a 4.19 ERA. (His 11.3 R/9, 9.8 K/9 and 5.5 K:BB ratio all testify that those 21 wins weren't complete luck, however.) Vazquez vies for the title of team ace with James Shields, who went 14-6 in 28 starts (3.99 ERA, 12.3 R/9, 10, 4.11 ERA, 12.4 R/9). You can count on both of those guys being in the post-season rotation. The third spot might go to last year's World Series MVP, Chien-Ming Wang. The Taiwanese sinkerballer went 18-6 (but with a 5.06 ERA and 14.4 R/9) in the regular season. Wang allowed just 14 HRs in 201 IP -- a league-best 0.6 HR/9. It's truly remarkable considering he pitches half his games in such an offense-happy park. And allowing baserunners doesn't bother Wang too much either -- he led the league in double plays induced, with 51. But if Wang is in the rotation, what does that mean for future DMBL Hall of Famer Randy Johnson? The Big Unit was 13-5 this year (3.99 ERA, 12.8 R/9) and struck out 195 men in 158.0 innings -- not bad for an old man. With those four, it likely means no room for veteran John Smoltz (12-6, 5.12 ERA, 13.6 R/9), youngster Joe Saunders (5-1, 2.86 ERA, 14.7 R/9 in 6 starts) or perennial Sugar Bear sixth man Dave Bush (1-1, 4.50 ERA, 10.5 R/9 in two starts). The Sugar Bears have a lot of good options for the rotation, but remember: in the post-season, it's quality, not quantity.

For years, the Sugar Bears followed a three-tiered approach to team building -- great offense, good bullpen, and whatever's left over goes to the starting rotation. The offense is still great, but the last two have swapped spots. This year's rotation was talented and deep, but the bullpen is an eclectic mix of veterans and youngsters with few defined roles. The most intriguing option in the 'pen is rookie Jared Burton, who has a 2.71 ERA, 8.2 H/9 and 0.4 HR/9 -- but also an astounding 50 walks, 8 hit batsmen and 10 wild pitches in 83 innings. Still, something must be going right as Burton has 7 wins, 3 saves and 14 holds. A less stress-inducing option is Manny Delcarmen, taken in the 2nd round (#26 overall). The hard-throwing right-hander has 8 wins, 12 saves and 17 holds, with a solid 3.10 ERA and 12.0 R/9 to go along with his 103 Ks in 98.2 innings. The setup work is performed by righties Rafael Soriano (4.55 ERA, 11.2 R/9) and Joaquin Benoit (5.33 ERA, 13.7 R/9) and lefties Scott Downs (4.68 ERA, 13.3 R/9) and Brian Shouse (5.50 ERA, 18.0 R/9). Veteran Chris Ray usually handles the odd jobs (5.18 ERA, 14.0 R/9). Late in the year the team added Matt Thornton (0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K in 4.0 IP), a key component of last year's bullpen battling to come back from a Guitar Hero addiction; he'll likely be left off the post-season roster, unless he's needed to perform a Jimi Hendrix-style rendition of the National Anthem.

Newark manager Don Mattingly may have been a great glove man in his own right, but that doesn't mean he puts a high priority on defense. If you can hit, the Sugar Bears will find a place to play you. The Sugar Bears were second-to-last in fielding percentage (.981) and had the second-most errors (117). But while they botch some of the routine plays, they also make some of the tougher ones -- they ranked 4th in double plays (181) and tied for 4th in total chances (6057). Their catchers were a study in contrasts -- Molina has one of the strongest arms in baseball (5 CS in 12 attempts) while Saltalamacchia has one of the weakest (15 CS in 56 attempts). It works out to a rather average .696 SB%. The Animals aren't defensive wizards, but they're in the top 5 in fieldign percentage (.984). Their catchers are terrible at throwing out base runners (.824 SB%) but the Sugar Bears seldom run anyway.

The bottom line: One of these years the Sugar Bears won't reach the World Series. Will it be this one? In the 11-year history of the three-tiered playoff format, the top-ranked team has never been upset. The Endzone Animals demonstrated they're a quality team as they easily took care of the Bushslappers, but the Sugar Bears represent a far tougher challenge. The Animals will put up a fight, but we expect to see the Newark Sugar Bears do their usual smash-and-bash and advance to a league record eighth straight World Series.

Who's the Best of the West?

Vancouver Iron Fist (#2, 104-58) vs. Las Vegas Rat Pack (#3, 106-56)

How does the No. 3 Las Vegas Rat Pack have a better record than the No. 2 Vancouver Iron Fist? Easy, the division champions are automatically the top two seeds. Is this the first time this has ever happened? Nope. It happened in 1994, when Hanover Division champion Austin Outlaws went 93-69 but were the No. 2 seed ahead of No. 3 Arkansas Golden Falcons (98-64). There also have been three years (1993, 1999 and 2003) when the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds had identical records. In an ominous note for the Iron Fist, in each of those years except '03, the "underdog" No. 3 team beat the division winner!

The Pack knocked off the sixth-seeded Hillsborough Hired Hitmen in four games to advance to the second round for the first time in team history. Their only previous trip was in '06, as the No. 5 seed, when they were eliminated in the first round (3 games to 2) by Matthew's Mighty Men of Marietta. Following that defeat, Owner/GM Eric Wickstrom instituted a front office purge that would make Josef Stalin jealous. He fired almost everybody, up to and including manager Morris Buttermaker, and named himself manager. He then embarked on a rigorous rebuilding regime, trading older players in order to stock up on prospects and draft picks. The team survived a painful '07 as they piled up 110 losses to finish dead last, but the payoff came just a year later, as Wickstrom won the Ian Rintel Front Office Executive of the Year Award by leading the franchise to a 54-win turn-around and the top wild card seed in '08. The Rats compiled the league's second-best record despite a fourth-best +182 run differential -- probably due to the fact that they won so many one-run games. They were a league-best 31-11 in one-run contests, which was just one win shy of tying the league record. The Rats combine the league's second-best offense (976 RF) with the fifth-best pitching staff (794 RA). The Rats were this year's best road team, going 53-28 (.654 W%), and were tied (with Vancouver) for the second-best home record at 53-28. In the first round, the Rats went 1-1 at home but 2-0 on the road.

Commissioner Yaro Zajac will do his best to remain impartial as his Iron Fist advance to the post-season for the third time in four years. Vancouver has been to the playoffs 13 times in their 17-year history, with three World Series titles -- but none since 1994. Zajac has had a space on his shelf for that fourth trophy for 14 years now, but to do it he'll first have to knock off the Rats. The Fisters are led by the league's stingiest pitching staff (696 runs allowed) and the third-best offense (973 runs scored, just 3 less than the Rat Pack), for a second-best +277 run differential. While the record books say the Rats finished the year with two more wins, Pythagoras would beg to differ -- judging from their runs scored/runs allowed differentials, the Iron Fist should have gone 107-55, while the Rats should have gone 97-65. The Fisters tied the Rats for the second-best home record (53-28) and finished 2 games behind them for the second-best road record (51-30).

Do the schedule-makers have it in for the Rats? In the first round the Rats drew Hillsborough, the team they had their second-worst regular season record against (5-7). In the second round, they draw the Iron Fist -- the team they had their worst regular season record against (3-9)! Vancouver dropped the first three games against the Rats (all in the Iron Dome), but then won the next nine in a row, including a perfect 6-0 record at The House. Speaking of which, each team's home stadium is an exact replica of Seattle's Safeco Field, right down to the retractable dome. Both teams are pretty good whether at home or on the road, but it will be interesting to see all the games played in the same stadium.

The Iron Fist offense is anchored by one of leading candidates for The Kevin Mitchell Award in designated hitter David Ortiz. Big Papi led the league in OBP (.484), SLG (.714), OPS (1.198), walks (155), intentional walks (36), runs created (204.1), RC/27 (14.2), total average (1.473), secondary average (.652) and isolated power (.371); he was 2nd in HRs (51), RBIs (156), extra base hits (107) and total bases (402); and also was 3rd in doubles (56), 4th in BA (.343), and 5th in runs scored (135). While Ortiz provides the power, the spark comes from CF Curtis Granderson, who set the modern era record with 33 triples. Granderson (.326/.378/.608) also slammed 35 doubles and 16 home runs, scored 101 runs and knocked in 91. Curtis's 10 steals led the team; with his speed, he obviously could have stolen more, but manager Darren Daulton would rather see the big sluggers come up with ducks on the pond, rather than running into outs on the basepaths. Granderson usually platoons in CF with Ryan Spilborghs (.333/.373/.500 vs LHP). In right field is the team's other RBI man, Moises Alou (.328/.372/.467), who led the team with 216 hits and was second with 123 RBI (35 2B, 19 HR). In left field, Andre Ethier (.302/.359/.457 vs RHP) platoons with Jose Guillen (.308/.404/.546 vs LHP). Up the middle the team has a pair of young stars in Chase Utley (.299, .860 OPS, 54 2B, 120 R, 85 RBI) and Michael Young (.270, .632 OPS, 23 2B, 79 R, 52 RBI); on the corners are veterans Todd Helton (.274, 45 2B, 18 HR, 110 R, 90 RBI, .824 OPS) and Mike Lowell (.310, .838 OPS, 24 HR, 83 R, 94 RBI). Behind the plate is Victor Martinez (.259, .746 OPS, 31 2B, 16 HR, 74 RBI), who is backed up by Ryan Doumit (.262, .773 OPS, 5 HR, 14 RBI in 107 AB). On the bench are utility men Maicer Izturis (.323/.375/.415 vs LHP) and Jose Lopez (0-for-6), plus outfielder Josh Willingham (.243/.307/.398 in 103 AB). The Fisters put up better numbers against righties (.305 BA, .870 OPS) than lefties (.278 BA, .786 OPS), yet they had a slightly better winning percentage against southpaws (.659 W% vs LHP, .636 W% vs RHP).

Most teams would be happy just to have a Mitch contender, but not the Iron Fist! Those greedy Canadians also have the leading Ben McDonald Award candidate in Jake Peavy, who won the Pitching Triple Crown -- wins (24), ERA (3.19) and strikeouts (257). He also led the league in winning percentage (.857), R/9 (9.8), OPS allowed (.602), shutouts (4), quality starts (23), QS% (.697), and innings (231.1). Peavy will likely be followed in the post-season rotation by Zack Greinke (15-5, 4.23 ERA, 12.2 R/9) and Ben Sheets (9-9, 4.75 ERA, 11.3 R/9). If they need a fourth starter, they have an interesting choice in youngster Chad Billingsley (13-7, 4.51 ERA, 14.1 R/9) and future DMBL Hall of Famer Greg Maddux (8-11, 5.02 ERA, 13.2 R/9). The Rats were better against lefties than righties this year, so it's unlikely they'll even consider Rich Hill (3-3, 5.19 ERA, 15.2 R/9 in 10 starts) or Scott Olsen (3 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 2 K in 5.0 IP in his only start).

At least we know the fisters aren't going to get The Rolaids Dennis Eckersley Reliever of the Year Award -- which is awarded by points, not by votes. That award already went to D.C.'s Jonathan Papelbon. But wouldn't you know it, they do have a reliever in the mix for another award! Setup man Hideki Okajima is being talked up for the Pat Listach Rookie of the Year Award after a sensational DMBL debut. Okie-Doke led the league with 20 holds, plus had 7 wins with 4 saves; he also had a 2.10 ERA, a 9.0 R/9 and a 4.4 K:BB ratio. Most impressively, the lefty led the league in inherited runners scored with .081 -- just 3 out of his 37 inherited runners came around to score. The Iron Fist picked up an interesting right-handed complement to Okajima in Akinori Otsuka, who went 1-0 with 3 saves (1.42 ERA, 9.0 R/9) in 15 games with the Fisters. Pitching coach Erik Hanson called them "the best two things to come out of Japan since Honda and Toyota." The Fisters also employ a double-barreled option at closer, with Billy Wagner (4-3, 9 SV, 4.53 ERA, 14.0 R/9) paired off with Manny Corpas (2-4, 24 SV, 2.41 ERA, 9.5 R/9). Providing depth are veterans Matt Herges (11-1, 2.85 ERA, 10.7 R/9) and Troy Percival (5-3, 3 SV, 4.34 ERA, 11.9 R/9). Overall, they combined to form the league's best bullpen, leading the DMBL in save percentage (.759) and IR% (.244).

Just as both The House and the Iron Dome were built following the same blueprints, it appears the Vancouver and Las Vegas lineups followed the same plan as well. The Rats offense also is built around the DH, but in this case it's a platoon with Jim Thome (.331/.466/.679 vs RHP) and Frank Thomas (.361/.453/.667 vs LHP). The infield is Carlos Pena (.272, 1.025 OPS, 53 HR, 137 RBI), Placido Polanco (.298, .710), Jeff Keppinger (.316, .814) and Chone Figgins (.286, .718, 24 SB). Pena absolutely destroyed the Hitmen in the first round, hitting .533 (2.122 OPS!) with 3 2B, 4 HR and 7 RBI in the four games. Behind the plate is Joe Mauer (.311, .870, 33 2B, 73 R), backed up by lefty-masher Ronny Paulino (.378/.411/.628 vs LHP). The star-studded outfield has Ichiro Suzuki (.317, .731, 28 SB), Vlad Guerrero (.342, .983 in 237 AB with Las Vegas) and Matt Holliday (.309, .916). Las Vegas doesn't have much need for a bench, carrying just 1B/3B Alex Gordon (.289, .820 in 97 AB), 1B Lyle Overbay (3-for-17) and OF Jonny Gomes (.187, .666 in 107 AB).

The Rats went with a first round rotation of A.J. Burnett (15-3, 3.47 ERA, 11.8 R/9), Erik Bedard (16-4, 4.19 ERA, 11.7 R/9), Josh Beckett (5-2, 5.02 ERA, 12.5 R/9 in 10 starts with Las Vegas) and Tim Lincecum (10-6, 5.83 ERA, 14.1 R/9). Of the four, only Bedard took a loss, and he wasn't a disaster (3 ER, 9 H, 3 BB, 7 K in 6.0 IP). The foursome pitched well enough that it would seem unlikely that the Rats would try switching to either youngster Chris Young (12-11, 4.95 ERA, 13.5 R/9) or veteran Orlando Hernandez (10-7, 5.44 ERA, 12.1 R/9).

The Rat Pack has plenty of quality and quantity in its 'pen. Closer Joe Nathan, picked up from the Bushslappers in July, had a 3.83 ERA, 11.1 R/9 and 101 K in 87.0 IP overall; he wasn't as dominant after the trade (0-4, 10 SV, 4 BS, 5.85 ERA) and didn't make an appearance in the first round. The setup duties are handled by Carlos Marmol (8-3, 19 SV, 4.95 ERA, 12.5 R/9) and lefty Rafael Perez (2.82 ERA, 12.5 R/9 in 22.1 IP with Las Vegas). The bullpen's utility man is Rafael Betancourt (11-2, 7 SV, 2.57 ERA, 8.1 R/9, 9 BB, 113 K in 105.0 IP), who pitched brilliantly in the first round (0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K in 5.0 IP). Righties Brian Wolfe (3-0, 1 SV, 3.16 ERA, 8.8 R/9) and Pat Neshek (5-3, 1 SV, 4.39 ERA, 10.6 R/9) and lefties Joe Beimel (4-1, 6 SV, 4.09 ERA, 16.4 R/9), Damaso Marte (1-3, 2 SV, 5.21 ERA, 14.9 R/9) and Eric O'Flaherty (1-0, 1 SV, 4.91 ERA, 12.3 R/9) provide even more depth.

The bottom line: We saw a second-round upset last year in almost the same exact situation -- the top wildcard winner, coming out of the Hanover Division, knocked off the second-seeded Morris Division champ to battle for the World Series title. And last year, the third-ranked Matthew's Mighty Men of Marietta had an inferior record to the Philadelphia Endzone Animals. Can the Rat Pack repeat Marietta's success last year? The Rats started the year as one of the league's best teams and only got better as the season went on, adding Vlad Guerrero, Josh Beckett, Joe Nathan and Rafael Perez in mid-season trades. But they drew a tough Round 2 opponent in a veteran Iron Fist squad that owned them during the regular season. The two teams are very closely matched, but we think the Vancouver Iron Fist will survive this round and head to their second World Series in three years.