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Marietta and Newark kick off the 2009 DMBL World Series today. Marietta will send John Danks to the mound and Newark assigns Joe Saunders for the task in a battle of lefties. Let's take a closer look at the two teams.

Offense

Newark is well-known as an offensive juggernaut, but that is probably more a carryover of their days in the old stadium. Make no mistake, however, the Sugar Bears are still a lethal force with the bat. The Sugar Bears tied for the league lead in OPS (.834 with Hillsborough) and led the league in runs scored (966). The Sugar Bear lineup features such offensive studs as Chipper Jones (.307/.408/.448), Manny Ramirez (.288/.345/.548), and Bobby Abreu (.285/.372/.447), but it's the unheralded no-names that have been the traditional hallmark of the franchise. This year it's not different with the likes of Mike Fontenot (.290/.364/.447) and Ramon Vazquez (.276/.359/.422) playing big roles in the lineup. Newark is also well known for maximizing their platoon capabilities. Edgar Renteria and Asdrubal Cabrera have made the most of their limited at bats. If there is a weakness in the lineup, it's probably in the first base/designated hitter platoons. Jason Giambi, and Jack Cust have posted poor batting averages, but have delivered with a mean power stroke, hitting 78 homers between the two of them.

Marietta's offense is nothing to laugh off however. Josh Hamilton has been a beast (.321/.374/.558) in the lineup and Adrian Gonzalez (.297/.352/.554) and Kevin Youkilis (.288/.353/.520) have also been great contributers. First round pick Milton Bradley has been a mild disapointment, but has been good in the playoffs (.356/.453/.689). Catcher has been a black hole for the Mighty Men as neither Geovani Soto nor Kurt Suzuki have showed much with the bat.

Pitching

Newark and Marietta were 3rd and 4th respectively in team ERA and 2nd and 4th in team WHIP.

Newark's pitching staff was anchored by Chien-Ming Wang, who had a career year with a 21-4 record, 3.32 ERA, and 1.26 WHIP. Justin Duchscherer has been solid since his acquisition from Blue Ridge, but the rest of the staff has been merely adequate. Again, Newark's strength lies in its bullpen, particularly rookie Joey Devine, this year's Eckersley Award winner. Newark's pen featured 7 relievers, 5 of which had ERAs less than 3.00.

John Danks anchors a solid, if unspectacular Marietta staff. Danks finished 19-6 with a 3.46 ERA, but no other pitcher finished below a 4.38 ERA. Marietta is another team that prides itself on a great bullpen. Anchored by future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera (8-3, 1.73, 29 saves), the Mighty Men bullpen stacks up very well against the Sugar Bears' staff.

So does anyone want to post some predictions?