Monday Musings

Week One is now finished and there is a brand new This Week in the DMBL article going up tonight. Zane wraps up all the events this week in the DMBL. OmahaSteaks are out as the Batter of the Week sponsor...who is the new sponsor?

The Sugar Bears got off to a ridiculous start, but have seemingly come back down to earth. The Sugar Bears were swept in Hillsborough and have not broken the 10-run mark since Wednesday. Not that they have to. The Sugar Bears followed up their sweep by winning their doubleheader against D.C. Sunday and are now sitting comfortably in first place in the Hanover Division.

Meanwhile in the Morris Division, the Endzone Animals suffered their first loss to Team Buddah. The Animals are still sitting in first, but only by one game over the Falcons and two over the Iron Fist and Hired Hitmen. The Morris Division currently has the teams with best four records in the league. This prompted talk of realigning the divisions. The current divisions were first instituted in 1997 when the league expanded for the last time to 14 teams. Maybe the time is right for realignment in 2008?

Sardine City finally broke out of their slump. The Straphangers won their first victory in franchise history Saturday against the Falcons. The game had been delayed when the Arkansas janitor had locked the keys to the stadium in his car and it took seven hours for AAA to respond and get the keys out. Falcons owner Stump Matiash was irate. "If I had known I would have flown down a few boys from Newark to get the car opened." said Stump in a post-game interview. The Sardines won the game 11-3 and carried the momentum into their next series against Carolina, sweeping the Sunday doubleheader against the Cats. "I guess we were the better fish today" said Sardine City manager Bucky Dent.

New Jersey also won their first game, though it took them a little longer. The Buddahs faced a stiff challenge, facing the lone undefeated team in the league. The Endzone Animals already beat the Buddahs in game one and were poised to finish the sweep in game two. The Animals climbed out to an early 2-0 lead after four, but the Buddahs came back in the top of the fifth, scoring four runs off starter Matt Cain. The Animals tied it up in the sixth, but Team Buddah reclaimed the lead the next inning. It looked like they could wrap it up in the ninth, but closer Bob Wickman could not hold down the fort and we were off to extra innings. In the top of the 11th, Corey Patterson doubled in Adam Kennedy, giving Jersey a one-run lead. Wickman, who was still in the game, struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the 11th and Michael Cuddyer flew out to Austin Kearns to end the game and secured Team Buddah's first victory.

Almost forgot to mention - team park images and stats are now updated on all team pages.