Dynamic Duos

Dave asked me a little trivia question earlier today:

"Now that the John Smoltz-Chipper Jones tag team has been busted up, after 16 years together, which pair of active teammates has played together the longest?"

The answer of course is

Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees. Curiously enough, both pairs play on the same teams in the DMBL (Newark and Marietta, respectively) and have done so for quite a while.

Which DMBL duos have played together the longest?

* For the sake of this conversation, we have left out players on Sardine City and New Jersey, since those teams are made up from the ashes of two defunct teams. Other teams that simply changed owners, like D.C., Las Vegas, and Blue Ridge were considered.

While Smoltz and Chipper have been together for an impressive 9 seasons, we will limit this to those duos that have spent at least 10 seasons together.

Bobby Abreu and Chipper Jones and Bobby Abreu and Manny Ramirez, Newark. The three Sugar Bear teammates have been together since 1999 when the Sugar Bears acquired Abreu from the Jerusalem Rabbis. Of course, Chipper and Manny were already on the roster when Abreu was acquired - more on them later. All three are expected to return to the Newark roster this season.

Barry Bonds and Curt Schilling, Arkansas. Bonds is the only player left over on their original roster from the inaugural 1991 draft. Schilling joined the team midseason in 1998 in a blockbuster deal with Vancouver. With the likely possibility that Bonds will retire, this one looks like it's over.

Billy Wagner and Greg Maddux, Vancouver. Maddux is probably the second-longest tenured player in the league after Bonds. He's been on the team since 1992 when the Fist signed him off the waiver wire. Wagner was drafted in 1997. Wagner will likely rejoin the team, but Maddux has noted that he will retire after this season, ending a stellar DMBL career. Maddux has already been tapped as the club's pitching coach, pending his official retirement.

Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, Marietta. The duo is up there, not only in MLB, but also in DMBL. Both were high draft picks of the Jerusalem Rabbis in 1997 and have lived through the club's moves out of Jerusalem, to Stanhope and finally to Marietta. With both players expected to be retained by the club for years to come, these two will probably hold the record eventually.

Chipper Jones and Manny Ramirez, Newark. Yep, they've been together even longer before Abreu showed up on the scene. Ramirez was acquired from Toledo in the 1997 offseason and has been an integral part of the Sugar Bear lineup since. And that's not even the top duo in Newark.

Chipper Jones and Randy Johnson, Newark. Johnson was the first pick selected by Newark in the dispersal draft that created the Sugar Bears back in 1996. Jones was selected in that year's draft. Though Johnson missed some time due to injury, the duo has been in Newark since the beginning. Both are expected back in Newark next season, when they will officially take the title from our winning duo.

Barry Bonds and Pedro Martinez, Arkansas. Martinez was acquired from the Louisiana Lightning in a blockbuster deal during the 1994 season. Martinez did not play in the regular season, but was on the roster for the team's World Series run. The 1995 season was wiped out because of the player strike, so the two only appeared together in a regular season game in 1996, but the extra time gives these two the lead. With Bonds retiring and Pedro's status up in the air, it's likely that this duo's time is up, but what a run!