Week 1 - March 28, 2005

And They're Off...

It was definitely a week that belonged to the Morris Division. Only one Morris Division team had a losing record at the end of the first week -- the Vancouver Iron Fist. The Carolina Mudcats started the strongest. Though the Cats lost their first game, they won their next seven games. Philadelphia also had a strong week, winning six of their first eight. Another year, another new owner for Hillsborough. The change seems to have done them good, as the Hitmen have started out 5-2. Last year's World Series runner up, the Arkansas Golden Falcons finished 4-2. Columbia had a decent start at 4-3 and Tijuana evened out their record at 4-4.

The defending champion Newark Sugar Bears own the best and only winning record in the Hanover Division at 4-3. The surprising Hoboken Cutters are off to a 4-4 start. The Mighty Men had an up and down start, but are only one game out of first at 3-4. The Phoenix Dragons are sitting in the middle of the pack in the Hanover Division at 3-5. Both the Las Vegas Rat Pack and the Honolulu Sharks are sitting at 2-6 and Westwood rounds out the bottom at 1-6.

The divisons finally begin playing within each other on Wednesday when the Falcons and Animals face off and Vancouver and Carolina also meet. The Sugar Bears and Rattlesnakes face off in the only non-divisional matchup.

Hillsborough Hired Hitman

He's seen his team's ownership change a number of times, but Carlos Delgado has been a rock in Hillsborough's lineup. He's off to a ridiculous start, leading the league in home runs(5), batting average(.458), on base percentage(.594), slugging percentage(1.208), walks(8), and second in runs(10) and RBIs(11). And that's why he gets 2005's first Omaha Steaks Batter of the Week Prize. Teammate Juan Pierre is also off to a great start, hitting .444 with 10 runs scored and 16 hits. The most interesting thing about Pierre, though, is his Deion Sanders impression -- leading the league with four triples in the first week...Newark had a big offensive week from Chipper Jones(.400, 3 HRs, 12 RBIs, 1.356 OPS)... Carlos Beltran of Las Vegas got off to a good start this season (3 HR, 9 R, 8 RBI, .333 AVG, .667 SLG)... Rookie Victor Martinez put in an early bid for the Listach Award (.385 AVG, 2 HR)...Last year's Mitchell Award winner, Barry Bonds picked up right where he left off last year (.421 AVG, .577 OBP, .632 SLG), but it was teammate Larry Walker who put up the impressive numbers(.483 OBP/.880 SLG, 3 HR, 11 R)...Carolina's Jim Edmonds hit 4 homers with 8 runs scored, 8 RBIs and a 1.279 OPS this week...Other notable hitters: Columbia's Rocco Baldelli(.375, 7 RBIs), Aaron Rowand of Hoboken (.394, 7 R, 7 2Bs, 1.096 OPS), Honolulu's Sean Casey(.429, 5 2Bs), Phoenix's Ichiro Suzuki(15 H, 7 R), Las Vegas's Carl Crawford (4 SBs), and Todd Helton(1.136 OPS, 3 HR, 8 R, 8 RBI) of Stanhope.

Brad is Rad

Week one featured a lot of great pitching performances. Arkansas' Roger Clemens won his two decisions and had a 1.84 ERA and 17 K this week. Tijuana's Aaron Harang was very impressive with a miniscule 0.60 ERA and a 2-0 record, but walked 10 batters in 15 innings. Honolulu's Roy Oswalt also went 2-0 on the week with a 1.80 ERA and 14 Ks in 15 IP. But the judges decided to give the coveted Save Toby Pitcher of the Week prize to Philadelphia's Brad Radke. Radke also won his two decisions and compiled a small ERA(1.69). Radke collected 12 strikeouts in 16 IP, including a complete game... Las Vegas' Orlando Hernandez was the other starter who won two games this week.

A few relievers managed to vulture a couple victories this week: Luis Ayala of Hillsborough (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 7.2 IP) and Rudy Seanez of Carolina (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 2.2 IP, 3 K). Francisco Cordero, Jason Isringhausen, and Joe Nathan each collected three saves.

All Quiet on the Transaction Front

After last week's flurry of cuts, it was pretty quiet in the DMBL. Stanhope claimed Kazuo Matsui off waivers after Westwood sent him packing. Matsui played in the Westwood farm system last year and was protected, but apparently the club liked what they saw from shortstop Jose Reyes and second baseman Mark Bellhorn and Matsui was on the outside looking in... The first trade of the regular season also was relatively minor. Newark sent outfielder Preston Wilson to Westwood in exchange for a 15th round pick next year. Wilson was immediately assigned to AAA Long Island.

The DMBL was mostly healthy in the first week. Honolulu closer Danny Kolb was slapped into submission after he freaked out when he thought he saw a spider in the clubhouse spider. Kolb ended up missing two games recovering from the embarrassment... Westwood's Raul Ibanez was so excited about the season beginning that he tripped over the dugout steps and missed the weekend series. He's expected to rejoin the squad Tuesday.

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.