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 Just call him Mr. 1,000. Mariano Rivera of Marietta last week became the first pitcher in DMBL history to appear in 1,000 games. He worked a perfect two innings Thursday night to save Jason Marquis' 6-4 win over Las Vegas. Trevor Hoffman ranks second with 810 career appearances. Rivera holds two other longevity records for relievers. His 10th save of the year Tuesday night was the 365th of his career, keeping him way ahead of the next closest pitcher (Billy Wagner, 290). He also has 85 career wins, the most among relievers, but with 1,029 strikeouts he still trails Hoffman (1,083) and Troy Percival (1,081) in that category.
Blue Ridge won again yesterday, their 8th straight win. Carlos Zambrano held his former team, the Mudcats, to only 1 one run on 3 hits in 8 innings, in the 6-1 victory. Kendry Morales was 3-4 with 2 RBIs on the offensive side. The Bombers remain 1/2 game out of first as Vancouver held their ground. Kevin Millwood shut down the Hitmen 3-1, surrendering 1 run and 5 hits in 8.1 innings. John Lackey shut out the Ant Slayers 8-0, giving up only 5 hits and striking out 7 to improve to 5-4 on the year. Hideki Matsui and Marco Scutaro were both 3-5 for the Sardines, who won their 3rd straight game. The Straphangers are now 3 games under the .500 mark. Pujols Watch: Albert Pujols hit his 37th homer of the season for Philly yesterday in their 7-5 win. Pujols also drove in 5 runs. We'll be tracking Albert's run at the McGwire record, since he doesn't appear to be slowing down at all.
Here's the latest from Diamond Mind Baseball. Of particular interest to us is the "2010 Season" section. Version 10 might be nice, but it isn't necessary for DMBL to survive next year.
Diamond Mind Baseball News
DMB is going all electronic. Starting June 1st, DMB will open its new integrated website and online store. From then on, orders will only be taken via the new online store and will no longer be accepted via phone, fax, email, or postal mail. Products will be available by download only; we will no longer provide “hard” (cd) copies. All technical and customer support will be via email to dmb_support@imaginesports.com.
Version 10 Release
DMB version 10 is complete and ready to go, although we did hit a few snags along the way. It's been in final beta for two months with virtually no problems discovered. In the meantime we've been reworking some of the help pages and tweaking and making minor revisions to the greatly expanded play-by-play library. We expect this new release to be up to our standards for quality and reliability, but rest assured that if any bugs are discovered that were missed during testing, we'll try to get a patch up ASAP. As usual, if you're in the middle of a league, v10 will be able to convert it so you'll be able to continue it with the new version. It's also possible to keep both version 9 and version 10 on your system, as they will not interfere with each other.
Unfortunately, David Pyke, who had been providing outstanding tech support, resigned recently due to personal reasons. David, you will be missed and we hope you'll be able to rejoin us in the future!
David’s resignation has complicated the release of version 10. In addition to handling the current technical support calls, he also was going to cover the inevitable increase in volume that arises with a new release. He had been setting up the online store for DMB as well. Although Luke handled tech support before we hired David, he is unable to cover the current load, let alone pick up the increased load of a new release. We have temporarily suspended technical and customer support until a replacement is recruited. Please be patient for now.
As a result, we are looking for a new, experienced tech/customer support person who can hit the ground running. Given that Luke does not have time to provide extensive training, the new tech support person really needs to be someone who already knows the game well, especially NetPlay (port forwarding) and Stats Transfer. The candidate should also be competent in Windows XP, Vista, and 7 and their security settings. When we last posted for this position a few years ago, we had a number of fine applicants and are hoping someone from the community can take this on (or maybe a combination of time from two or three people). If you’re interested, think you’re qualified, and are certain you can commit the time, please send your resume and qualifications to Luke (lkraemer@diamond-mind.com).
On April 30th, we also had to say goodbye to Pat Morgan, the DMB office manager who's been answering your calls and email and processing your orders over the years. Pat began another part-time job last year, which she loves. She was asked to go to full-time, which she was eager to do, and already stayed on temporarily to continue processing orders the old, manually intensive way. Because she could no longer do so, we had to suspend all DMB sales until the new store is up and running.
2010 Season
Some of you have raised concerns that the delays in version 10 foreshadow that DMB will no longer be producing new seasons. These concerns are unfounded we plan to produce the 2010 season this year just like every year. Though Luke has been working part-time for the Red Sox and will continue to do so during the MLB regular season, he'll dive into the 2010 season work once the season is over, and we expect it to be released in December as usual.
We also have some new specialty sets that will be coming out as well.
Thanks!
We realize the delays in version 10 have been frustrating, and we apologize for making you wait. We hope the new playing time limit capability, additional play-by-play, and other features are worth the wait. In appreciation for your patience, we will be charging only $14.95 for version 10. However, this special price will be available only for 90 days. The new online store will not have the ability to distinguish those who have purchased DMB in the past, so there will be no special upgrade pricing once this 90-day period expires. Version 9 owners who have not purchased version 10 during this period will need to pay the full price thereafter, which will then be $29.95.
Blue Ridge kept putting the pressure on Vancouver with their 7th straight victory yesterday, a 6-5 win over Carolina. Carl Crawford was 3-4 and Kendry Morales had 3 RBIs to lead the Bombers to victory. Blue Ridge now sits a mere 1/2 a game back of idle Vancouver. Meanwhile in the Hanover Division, Marietta is starting to feel some pressure from their division mates. Las Vegas won 9-3 against the Mighty Men yesterday to move to within 3 1/2 games of first. Carlos Pena hit 2 homers and drove in 3 runs and Alex Rodriguez also contributed a home run. The Rats are now tied with Newark for second place. Bridgewater outslugged the struggling Endzone Animals 12-9. The Mallers were trailing as late as the 8th inning, but they scored 5 runs to take the lead. Derrek Lee was 2-4 with 5 RBIs. Meanwhile Adam Lind was 4-4 with 4 runs and Albert Pujols was 4-5 with 5 RBIs for the Animals. Pujols hit his league leading 35th and 36th home runs of the season, putting him on pace for 92 home runs, which would obviously break Mark McGwire's DMBL record.
 Jose Lima didn't have a huge impact on the overall DMBL landscape - he only pitched in 3 seasons. Lima was signed as an undrafted free agent on May 1, 1998 by Carolina, but only lasted three months and was released in July. But Lima's mother called Mudcats owner Chris Pucci at home and made him feel bad about cutting the pitcher and in August, the Mudcats signed him back. While the contract specifically prohibited the Mudcats from cutting Lima, it didn't say anything about trading him. So the next year, the Cats sent Lima off to the New York Amazins (who would become the Hawaii Volcanoes later that year) in a deal for Kenny Rogers. The Amazins didn't hold onto him for too long and shipped him off to Jerusalem in a massive trade for, among others, legendary catcher Mike Piazza. Lima was welcomed with open arms and a fresh bowl of matzoh ball soup. He soon got his chance to pitch, earning a prized spot in the Rabbis rotation and finishing with a very solid 12-10 with a 4.20 ERA. The Rabbis finished second in the Hanover Division that year with 98 wins, but were eliminated in the first round by Lima's arch enemy Carolina Mudcats. 2000 would be Lima Time as the Rabbis won the Hanover Division with 103 wins and continued on to win their first ever World Series championship. Lima regressed a bit, going 15-7, but with a 4.96 ERA. It was the last full season Lima would pitch. Fresh off the championship season, Lima's contract had expired and the Rabbis elected not to resign him. He was drafted by the Golden Falcons in the 6th round of the Supplemental Round. There apparently wasn't much demand for Lima. He was released during spring training and did not pitch at all that season. In 2002, there were no offers, so Lima signed up with the independent Newark Bears (not affiliated with the Sugar Bears). In 2003, Vancouver signed him to a minor league deal and he pitched for their Triple A team in Tacoma. He was drafted in 2004 again in the Supplemental Round by Newark. But Newark cut him before the season began. Lima's mother again got on the phone and pleaded with Newark's owner Craig Garretson. "I know he sucks, but please give him a chance" Garretson recalls she told him. So the Sugar Bears signed Lima again in June. Lima pitched in 7 games and was disastrous (2-3, 7.04) and Newark released Lima in August. Lima was again drafted in the Supplemental Round by Hoboken in 2005 (round 9), then cut during spring training. And that was it for Lima. For his career, Lima finished 29-20 with a 4.79 ERA in 72 games. Lima passed away over the weekend at the age of 37 of a heart attack. Hopefully for him, there's a Supplemental Round in the afterlife.
This week's JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week goes to Hoboken's Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera hit .483 (14-29) with a .545 OBP and .897 slugging. Cabrera hit 4 homers, scored 7 runs and drove in 10 runs. Hoboken recently had a tough 7-game losing streak, but salvaged the week by winning their last three games. Cabrera got most of his big numbers toward the end of the week getting hits in 13 of his last 18 at bats. Cabrera's big competition this week came from Vancouver's Ryan Ludwick (.444/.474/.917, 5 HRs, 13 RBIs). Other top batters: Marietta's Adrian Gonzalez (.391/.545/.913, 4 HR 8 R), Blue Ridge's Jason Bartlett (.500/.542/.727), Sardine City's Evan Longoria-Parker (.407/.515/.852, 3 HR, 11 RBI), New Jersey's Joey Votto (.458/.536/.833) and Franklin Gutierrez (.455/.478/.864, 3 HR), and Carolina's Aramis Ramirez (.379/.471/.793, 3 HR, 8 R, 7 RBI). This week's Lost Pitcher of the Week Award goes to Philadelphia's Homer Bailey. Bailey, a perpetual future star prospect, finally shows some glimmer of all the hype he's received over the years. Bailey was 2-0 with an 0.69 ERA and 0.92 WHIP this week, striking out 12 in 13 innings. Not bad for an injury fill-in, huh? That's right, Bailey is only in the rotation because of a month-long injury to Philly ace Roy Halladay. Other top hurlers: Carolina's Barry Zito (2-0, 1.29, 16 K, 1.00 WHIP), Newark's Ted Lilly (1-1, 1.93), Arkansas' Cliff Lee (2-0, 3.55), and Marietta's Mike Adams (0-0, 1.42, 11 K, in 6.1 IP, 0.32 WHIP). The hardluck loser of the week is Vancouver's rookie Mat Latos who was 0-2 despite a 2.63 ERA and 1.02 WHIP.
 New Jersey's Vladimir Guerrero matched Mike Piazza for 7th all-time in home runs Friday night at Home Depot Stadium. His 9th homer of the season, coming after a Seth Smith bomb off Marietta's John Danks to start the sixth inning, was No. 406 for his career. Guerrero had been jockeying with Newark's Chipper Jones (393) for a number of seasons on the home run list but has pulled away in the last year or so. Once he passes Piazza, Guerrero will have to target the 2011 season to try to catch No. 6 Ken Griffey, Jr. (444) and No. 5 Sammy Sosa (446).
New Jersey's winning streak finally came to an end at 6 games. Hillsborough defeated Team Buddah 7-3 behind the pitching of Dan Haren, who improved to 8-2 with an 8-inning effort in which he struck out 8 and gave up 2 runs. Justin Upton hit a 3-run homer in the 7th to give the Hitmen the offense they needed to end Buddah's run. Meanwhile, Vancouver keeps winning and Hoboken keeps losing. The Cutters dropped their 7th straight, a 9-4 decision to the Fist. Ryan Ludwick was 4-5 with 2 homers and 6 RBIs to lead Vancouver to their 10th win in their last 12 games. Ricky Nolasco and Hiroki Kuroda dueled in a 0-0 game for 6 innings, but Nolasco was pulled after hitting the 100-pitch mark. Unfortunately for the Falcons, Jeremy Affeldt allowed 2 runs to score on a Jacoby Ellsbury single and Jorge Cantu sac fly respectively. The Falcons couldn't get any runs across and the Ant Slayers won the game 2-0. Jason Bartlett (4-4) and Andrew McCutchen (3-6, 4 RBI) led the Bombers to an 11-2 thrashing of Sardine City. McCutchen was a double away from hitting for the cycle. Rookie hurler J.A. Happ improved to 7-2 with a solid 7-inning effort. Blue Ridge currently sits in second place in the Morris Division, 3 1/2 games out of first. Ichiro Suzuki was 5-6 with 4 RBIs as the Mighty Men unleased their firepower against the Mudcats to the tune of a 15-7 victory. Chone Figgins was 3-5 with 2 triples and Kurt Suzuki was 3-4 with 2 RBIs as Marietta avoids the sweep.
Vancouver and Hoboken battled it out with Vancouver edging the Cutters 11-10 in 10 innings. Both teams got on the board early and often, leading to a 9-7 Vancouver lead after 4 innings. The Cutters clawed back and eventually tied it up on a two-run home run by Adam Dunn. The Iron Fist scored what would be the winning run off a Michael Cuddyer single in the 10th. Ronald Belisario finished the game off for his 12th save. Cuddyer ended the game 4-6 with a triple and 4 RBIs and Brad Hawpe was 4-4 with 2 doubles for the Cutters. Jon Lester held the Falcons in check, limiting them to 3 hits over 7.1 innings, while striking out 11. Matt Kemp was 3-4 with 2 homers and 5 RBIs for Amityville in the 9-1 win. New Jersey extended their winning streak to 6 with a 6-5 win over Hillsborough. Everyone in the Buddah lineup got one hit except Seth Smith, who had 2 hits. Bridgewater won an important victory against the Rat Pack, ending their 3-game losing skid. Rookie Tommy Hanson held the Rats to only 4 hits in 7 innings to earn his 5th win of the year. Hanson struck out 9. Aramis Ramirez was 5-5 with 2 homers and 3 RBIs to lead the Mudcats to an 11-6 win over the Mighty Men. The Mighty Men lost ground to both Las Vegas and Newark, who won 6-5 over Philadelphia. The Mighty Men's lead shrunk to 4 games over second-place Newark. Vegas is one game behind the Sugar Bears.
Zack Greinke was at it again last night, holding the Cutters to just 1 hit and 1 run in a complete game, 4-1 victory. Greinke struck out 10 in the game (his 100th of the season), improving to 10-0 on the season (and 10 apparently being the magic number of the night, Joe Thatcher saved his 10th game of the season as well). Greinke's ERA falls to a league-leading, microscopic 1.87 and is now tied for most complete games in the league (3). Vancouver extended their division lead to 3 games with the victory. Those slugging Buddahs continued their offensive showing with a 13-3 drubbing of Hillsborough. Vlad Guerrero was 3-4 with a homer and 4 runs scored and Franklin Gutierrez continued his hot streak with a 3-5 night. The Buddahs have now won 5 in a row. Another hot cellar-dweller is Arkansas who won their 3rd straight with a 5-3 slaying of Amityville. Cliff Lee, who had been struggling this season, pitched a solid 7 innings, giving up only 1 earned run and lowering his ERA to 7.30. Philly survived a bigtime comeback from Newark yesterday to escape with a 7-6 win. The Animals had a 3-0 lead in the 8th, but Newark scored 2 in the bottom of the inning to bring them within one. The Animals knew they'd need some insurance so they scored 4 runs in the 9th to open up a 7-2 lead, but the Sugar Bears clawed back, capped by Adrian Beltre's 3-run homer that brought Newark to within one. Unfortunately for them, Asdrubal Cabrera popped out to center with two runners on base. Sardine City scored 9 runs in the final two innings to stage a successful comeback against Blue Ridge and win 11-9. The Bombers were up 7-2, but Sardine City rallied to tie the game up at 7. Blue Ridge scored two more runs to retake the lead, but the Sardines kept rolling. James Loney started it off with a solo homer with one out, then Blue Ridge fell apart, giving up a 3-run homer to Willie Harris. Mike Wuertz struck out 3 of the 4 batters he faced to earn his 13th save.
Carolina, who's been in a bit of a freefall since being in first earlier this season, scored an important win over first place Vancouver. Barry Zito held the Iron Fist to 6 hits and no runs in 7 innings and struck out 9 en route to a 2-0 victory. Mat Latos pitched an impressive game for the losing end, giving up only 1 earned run on 3 hits in 7 innings, but it wasn't enough. The win was just the 3rd in the last 10 for Carolina. Jason Bay's 2 home runs propelled the Mighty Men to a 7-5 win over Hoboken. Alberto Callaspo was also 3-4 in the game for the Mighty Men, who preserved their 5 game lead in the Hanover Division. The Mighty Men have dealt with injuries to their outfield, but have continued to play top shelf ball, currently riding a 3 game winning streak. The Mallers slump continued as they were mercilessly shelled by the Sugar Bears 13-3. Jorge Posada was 4-5 with 3 RBIs and Mike Cameron had 5 RBIs for Newark. Brad Bergesen held the Mallers to just 5 hits. The Mallers have now fallen into 4th place in the Morris Division. Last week the Mallers lost 7 in a row to fall out of first place and hope that these last two games aren't an indication of a new streak. Franklin Gutierrez hit 3 home runs - but drove in only 4 - to lead Team Buddah to a 7-5 win over Amityville. The Buddahs' offense has apparently awoken in the last few games, as the 7 runs was the lowest total in their last 5 games. The Buddahs have won the last 4 games, scoring 8 runs twice and 16 once. Buddah also score 8 runs in their last loss to Hoboken. They've got a long way to go, however, sitting 16 1/2 games out of first and 11 1/2 out of a playoff spot. Remember when Alex Rodriguez was struggling for the Rat Pack shortly after being acquired from Amityville? Well that seems like a long time ago now with A-Rod tearing the cover off the ball. A-Rod is now hitting .284/.357/.670 since joining the Rat Pack with 11 homers and 22 RBIs. Yesterday, A-Rod again led the offense with 2 homers and 5 RBIs, but the Rats dropped a 9-7 decision to Sardine City.
Yeah it was no contest this week for the JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week. Blue Ridge's Kendry Morales blew away all competition with his stellar week. Morales hit .556 (20-36) this week with a .568 OBP and 1.194 slugging, hit 5 doubles, 6 home runs, scored 13 runs and drove in a whopping 20! We're going to send Kendry two boxes of smokes this week. Some notable runners up: Bridgewater's Brian McCann (.458/.462/1.125, 4 HR, 12 RBI), Hillsborough's Carlos Gonzalez (.480/.500/.880, 2 3Bs, 7 R), Vancouver's Ryan Ludwick (.375/.423/.833, 3 HR, 7 R, 8 RBI), and New Jersey's Seth Smith (.379/.419/.966, 4 HR, 10 R, 14 RBI). This week's Laugh Man Pitcher of the Week Award goes to Newark's Marc Rzepczynski. Rzepczynski was 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 1.08 WHIP, holding his opponents to only 5 hits in 12 innings of work. Other top pitchers: Blue Ridge's Gavin Floyd was 1-0 with a 3.07 ERA and 1.09 WHIP and struck out 21 batters in 14.2 innings, Vancouver's Kevin Millwood (2-0, 2.45), Philadelphia's Jered Weaver (1-1, 2.93, 13 K), Las Vegas' Rich Harden (2-0, 3.09, 17 K), and Carolina's Burke Badenhop (8 IP of relief, 0.88 WHIP, 6 K).
For those of you who don't follow this stuff -- OK, just about everybody on the planet -- Diamond Mind Baseball was purchased a couple years ago by a company called Imagine Sports. (Diamond Mind Baseball isn't just the name of our league; it's the name of the company that makes the software that Yaro uses to simulate our seasons.) Ever since it was purchased, people have been concerned that they would stop supporting the software and just switch to an online-only model. That hasn't happened yet, but on Thursday, the owner of Imagine Sports made the following announcement: It’s no secret that Imagine Sports acquired Diamond Mind for strategic reasons connected to its online games, not because we wanted to own a pc sports game business. The online games have been and always will be our priority, and, yes, Tom knew that when he sold the company. Nonetheless, we always thought that we could keep the PC game business going for you all, as we figured it could at least cover its costs. To demonstrate that and as a show of good faith, we tried to change very little (at first), and we put out version 9c, for which you had been waiting for awhile before we were around. We continued the season disks every year, on time and with the same quality you’d come to expect (or at least we hope we did).
After getting 9c done, however, we were not really sure where to go with game. I think it showed in our communication, and our indecision led to mistakes. To be clear, however, there was never any attempt to mislead you, nor was any product offering ever held back for any reason other than it not being complete (despite some claims here to the contrary,) including version 10.
It’s also clear that I have never been able to relate well to this community, nor have I communicated effectively with it. I’m sorry about that. Rest assured, however, that I do appreciate your passion for the game, and it’s the primary reason we’ve kept it alive. It’s also clear, however, that it will not thrive again under the management of Imagine Sports, given our online focus. Therefore, we started exploring strategic alternatives for the PC game over a year ago, including licensing, development and marketing partnerships, and even an outright sale of the PC game business. We had significant discussions with at least three parties interested in the PC game. None of those discussions came to fruition, unfortunately. However, we will now make a renewed effort to work out some sort of arrangement with the hope of finding someone or some company who wants to make this game its priority. Any of your suggestions or ideas to that end are welcome, and I’ll schedule a chat to discuss those ideas after v10 is released.
Until we do find that other party to take over, we will continue selling the game and disks via the new store, and we intend to produce the 2010 season disk as usual (and, to be clear, Luke’s contract with the Red Sox carves out time in the fall for him to do it). So what does this mean for DMBL? Yaro can continue sim'ing the game with or without Version 10... that really won't make any difference. Version 9c works just fine. The problem is the 2010 season disk (and season disks beyond that). In the last paragraph, the owner says "we intend to produce the 2010 season disk as usual" -- well, intend is always a troubling word in PR speak, isn't it? So we'll see. If DMB doesn't release a 2010 season disk, we can always hope that someone releases a "homebrew" version... Stephen Drake has done a number of previous seasons, maybe he'll step up again. If worse comes to worse, maybe we can start over in 1991. I have a feeling Cecil Fielder won't be the first pick this time. ;)
Zack Greinke improved to 9-0 on the season with a masterful performance against Philadelphia yesterday. Greinke held the Animals to 2-hits in a complete game shutout, walking one and striking out 14. Greinke lowered his ERA to a league-leading 1.94 and extended his strikeout league. Greinke now has 90 Ks on the season. Meanwhile, Vancouver poured on the offense, scoring 8 runs. Every starter got a hit except slumping Chase Utley. Hillsborough held off a late rally by Bridgewater and won 7-5, retaining control of the Morris Division by 1/2 a game. Wandy Rodriguez gave the Hitmen 6.1 innings of shutout ball, holding the Mallers to 5 hits and striking out 7, but the bullpen almost gave it all up for him. It looked like the final inning would be no problem as the Hitmen retired 2 of the first 3 batters, but soon Hillsborough got into trouble. With runners on first and second Felipe Lopez lined a single that scored Erick Aybar, then Derrek Lee followed up with a 2-run double. After intentionally walking Carlos Beltran, George Sherrill finally got Jose Lopez to pop up and end the game. Well Hoboken's Edwin Jackson gambit didn't pay off, at least not right away. Jackson was hammered for 5 runs in 4.1 innings against the Sardines, but the Cutters escaped with a 7-6 victory anyway. The Cutters, who were down 5-0 at one point, clawed their way back, until in the 9th inning, they were trailing 6-5. Jose Bautista, who had entered the game earlier when Michael Young left with an injury, hit a two-run walkoff homer to win the game. Meanwhile, Newark, who grabbed Blue Ridge's other castoff Chris Iannetta, also got a victory despite not getting anything from their new merchandise. Iannetta was 0-3, but was hit by a pitch and scored in his Newark debut. And of course there's Blue Ridge, who did the casting off, who got pummeled by Amityville 9-2. Matt Kemp was 4-5 with 3 RBIs and Nelson Cruz hit 2 homers and also drove in 3 runs for the Ant Slayers. Jon Garland, who replaced Jackson, was hit for 6 runs in 6.1 innings, giving up 10 hits and 2 walks, while striking out only one.
Blue Ridge, trying to shake things up Tuesday, released pitcher Edwin Jackson and catcher Chris Ianetta. Ianetta was just the backup catcher, though it seemed he was doing an adequate job (.241/.313/.552, 3 HRs in 29 ABs). But Jackson...Jackson was a solid part of the Bombers rotation. Jackson was 4-2 with a 4.21 ERA so it was a bit surprising to see him let go. Well as soon as he hit the waiver wire, his agent was getting calls left and right. Four teams had a filed a waiver claim with the commissioner's office for Jackson. Hoboken happened to be in the right place at the right time, as far as the standings go, and were awarded the claim for Jackson. Jackson will replace Anibal Sanchez in the rotation. Jackson first appeared on the DMBL scene back in 2004 when Harrison drafted him in the 4th round. Jackson stayed in the minors all year but was no protected for the 2005 draft. Harrison must have seen something in the young hurler, so they drafted him again in 2005, this time with their 7th round pick. This time Jackson did not last with the club and was released in May. Would the Rats take him again in 2006? This time it was Vancouver who took a flyer on the pitcher in the late stages of the Supplemental Rounds, but he didn't even make it to Opening Day. By 2007, after being draft three times as an ineligible player, teams had begun to give up on Jackson. No one signed him in '07 but in 2008, Marietta took a chance with their 15th round pick. Jackson would finally see some action in 2008, getting into 5 games, but no starts. Jackson ended up 0-2 with a 4.82 ERA and 2.14 WHIP in 9.1 innings. Marietta was unimpressed and left him unprotected. Blue Ridge drafted Jackson in 2009 in the 8th round and he was protected for the first time for the 2010 draft. So Jackson now signs for the 6th time in his short career and tries to find a home. Will it be Hoboken?
Hillsborough took over sole possession of first place in the Morris Division with a 6-0 blanking of Philadelphia. Felix Hernandez held the Animals to 3 hits and 1 walk and struck out 10 to improve to 5-1 on the season. The Hitmen have now one 3 straight and have a 1/2 game lead on idle Vancouver. Michael Young was 4-4 with 3 RBIs and 2 homers to lead the Cutters to a 6-4 victory over Amityville. The Cutters are trying to work their way back into the race and have now won 7 of their last 10 and are only 5 games under the .500 mark. Marietta and New Jersey slugged it out as the Mighty Men edged Team Buddah 12-11. The Mighty Men took an early 5-0 lead, but the Buddahs scored 6 runs in the 3rd to take the lead. The Buddahs extended the lead to 8-5, but Marietta inched back and tied it back up at 9-9 in the 6th. In the 7th, Seth Smith hit a two-run homer to give Jersey the lead back, but Taylor Teagarden and Derek Jeter hit homers in the bottom half to give Marietta the 12-11 lead that would serve as the final. Teagarden (2 homers) and Adrian Gonzalez (1 homer) both finished with 3 RBIs and 3 hits each and Alberto Callaspo also had 3 hits for the Mighty Men. Smith had 4 RBIs and 3 hits for the Buddahs
This week, the JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week Award goes to Las Vegas' Curtis Granderson. Granderson has been manning the leadoff position for the Rats ever since Yunel Escobar was hurt and he's been taking full advantage. Granderson batted .407/.393/1.111 for the week. Yes, his OBP was lower than his batting average. Granderson also hit 3 doubles, 2 triples and 4 homers, scored 7 runs and drove in 12. His main competition was Carolina's Troy Tulowitzki, who hit .565 with a .643 OBP and 1.043 slugging. He had 6 extra base hits (2 homers), scored 5 runs and had 9 RBIs. Other batters of note: Las Vegas' Alex Rodriguez has woken up out of his slump (.375/.429/.969, 6 HR, 9 R, 10 RBI) and Hillsborough had a trifecta of stars: Carlos Gonzalez (.440/.481/.840, 12 RBI), Juan Uribe (.458/.500/.708, 7 R), and Casey McGehee (.440/.481/.600, 9 RBI). This week's Dads on Vacation (yeah yeah I know it was Mother's Day yesterday, but we don't want to humiliate mom after her day) Pitcher of the Week goes to Arkansas' Johan Santana. Santana started off the season on a rough note, but has recently straightened himself out and now boasts a respectable 4-4 record with a 3.82 ERA. In fact, it wasn't too long ago that Santana was 1-4 with a 6.98 ERA. This week, Santana went 2-0 with a 1.10 ERA in two starts. Other top pitchers: Las Vegas' A.J. Burnett could have easily won the prize this week (1-0, 0.82 ERA, 0.91 WHIP), but we went with the "story" player. We're slaves to the ratings, what can I say? Marietta's Joel Pineiro (1-1, 1.20, 1.00), Vancouver's Zack Greinke (1-0, 2.77, 14 K) and Bridgewater's Erik Bedard (1-0, 2.31, 11 K) also had noteworthy weeks. Three relievers had excellent weeks as well, starting with Newark's Kiko Calero, who was 1 hit shy of pitching 4.2 perfect innings and earning a win and 3 saves. Vancouver's perfect save season continued thanks to pitchers like Ronald Belisario who also pickedup 3 saves with a 0.94 WHIP. Chad Qualls returned from the DL for New Jersey and doesn't seem to have any rust - 3 saves, 0.80 WHIP.
Carolina rallied in the 9th to steal a victory from Hillsborough. Down 5-3, Jeff Francoeur led off the inning with a double, then scored on a Troy Tulowitzki single. Prince Fielder then gave the Cats the lead with a 2-run home run, his 13th of the season. C. J. Wilson struck out the side in the bottom of the 9th to nail down his 6th save. Ricky Nolasco and the Falcons shut out Vancouver yesterday 3-0, holding the Fist to just 4 hits and striking out 12 batters. After losing 5 straight, the Falcons now won two in a row but have a long way to go to get back into the competition. The Falcons sit 10 1/2 games out of 1st, but with Johan Santana and Cliff Lee starting to pitch better, it's too early to count them out. Newark evened their record at 22-22 with a 10-7 win over Amityville. Mark Rzepczynski held the Ant Slayers to one run on 5 hits in 6 innings despite walking 6. The Ant Slayers made it closer than it appeared by scoring 6 runs in the 8th, but fell short. Will Venable and Manny Ramirez were each 3-4 with 4 RBIs, with Venable hitting two homers. Nice pitchers duel in Philadelphia where the two teams were held to a combined 7 hits. Philly's Matt Cain held the Buddahs to 3 hits, but gave up 2 runs and took the loss. Andy Pettite earned the win with 6.2 shutout innings, giving up just 3 hits and walking 7. Unfortunately for Philly, they lost more than the game, as Adam Lind was lost to injury for at least a week. Blue Ridge, a surprise contender so far, took down the first-place Bridgewater Mallers 8-2 behind a stellar performance from rookie J.A. Happ. Happ pitched 8 innings and held the Mallers to 5 hits and 2 runs while striking out 8. Aaron Hill hit a grand slam in the 2nd inning - it was his 7th of the year.
Marietta pounded the Mallers yesterday 14-3, breaking their 6-game winning streak and dealing Ryan Rowland-Smith his first loss of the year (including spring training). Derek Jeter was 4-4 with 3 runs scored and Mark DeRosa and Alberto Callaspo each had 3 hits. Sardine City got revenge for Monday's pummeling by pounding the Animals 14-7. The Sardines tallied 21 hits, including 4 each from Ryan Braun and James Loney. Unfortunately for the Straphangers, they lost leadoff hitter Nyjer Morgan for over a month. When he was chasing down a fly ball in the 9th, field security mistook him for a crazed fan that had ran out on the field. The security team tasered Morgan into submission before realizing they'd made a huge mistake. "My bad" said one of the security guards in a press conference after the game. Speaking of beatdowns, the Rats kept their winning streak alive at 5 with a 15-7 rout of Blue Ridge. Alex Rodriguez has seemingly woken from his slump, contributing another home run in the game. Curtis Granderson was 3-6 with 4 RBIs, a double and a homer run and Joe Mauer was 3-6 with 2 homers and 3 RBIs.
Yesterday we got another stellar performance from Vancouver's Zack Greinke, pitching 7 innings and holding the Buddahs to 1 run on 5 hits while striking out 9 and walking 3. Greinke improved to 8-0 on the season in the 3-2 win. Also of note... Ron Belisario closed out the 9th to earn his 7th save. Vancouver has now leads the league with 18 saves and has yet to blow a save. This all despite rostering any veteran closers. Belisario and Joe Thatcher (8 saves) have earned the bulk of the team's saves, but 3 other pitchers have 1 save apiece. Bridgewater rolled off their 6th straight victory, a 6-1 defeat of fraternal rival Matthew's Mighty Men. The Mallers have now opened up a 2 1/2 game lead in the Morris Division. Paul Konerko was 3-4 with a double and homer and 2 RBIs and Erik Bedard struck out 7 in 6.2 innings to earn his 2nd win of the year. Meanwhile, Las Vegas has taken advantage of the Mighty Men's struggles, inching up the ranks to 3 games behind the Hanover Division leader. The Rats beat the Bombers 6-1 yesterday behind Alex Rodriguez's 2 homers and 4 RBIs. The team had become increasingly frustrated with A-Rod, who was acquired recently from Amityville. Rodriguez had been 1-24 entering yesterday's game with 15 strikeouts. "Hopefully he woke up from his nonsense" said team skipper Eric Wickstrom. "I know Vegas has just a little more distractions than Amityville, but at least there are no swarms of flies breaking into his home or anything." Old time rivals Arkansas and Newark faced off and, before the game, made a bunch of moves to try to shake their teams out of slumps. Looks like it worked for the Sugar Bears who routed the Falcons 10-4. The Sugar Bears sent the Drew brothers down to the minors along with franchise hero Chipper Jones. The replacements came through in the game - Asdrubal Cabrera had 2 RBIs and Chase Headley was 2-4. Things were 50-50 for the Falcons, as new catcher Jason Varitek hit a 3-run homer in his Arkansas debut, but leadoff hitter Scott Podsednik was 0-5 and new shortstop Julio Lugo was 0-3. Bronson Arroyo gave up 6 runs in 7.2 innings, but earned his first win of the year anyway with the Endzone Animals pounding the Sardines 17-6 yesterday. Four Philly hitters had 3 hits each and Mark Teixeira had 4 RBIs. Yes, Albert Pujols hit his league-leading 25th home run. He now leads in that category by 11 homers.
This week it was a close call for the JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week Award. In the end, we gave it, by a nose, to Hillsborough's Casey McGehee. McGehee batted .500 this week (15-30) with 2 homers and 8 RBIs and 10 runs scored. He also had a 1.298 OPS. His biggest rival this week was Las Vegas' Matt Holliday, who batted .440, but had a 1.356 OPS with 4 doubles, 2 homers, 10 runs, and 7 RBIs. Both players' teams finished the week riding a 3-game winning streak, and both are either in second or tied for second place in their respective divisions. Also, Hillsborough had a secretary named Lincoln and Vegas had a secretary named Kennedy. A few other candidates that were close, but...ahem...no cigar: Bridgewater's Erick Aybar (.524/.583/.714), Amityville's Matt Kemp (.435/.500/.696), Carolina's Magglio Ordonez (.419/.441/.742, 2 HR, 8 RBI), and Marietta's Derek Jeter (.440/.481/.560, 7 R). This week's Superuseless Superpowers Pitcher of the Week prize goes to Hillsborough's Dan Haren. Haren won both games he started this week and held his opponents to an 0.61 ERA and 0.82 WHIP, while compiling 17 strikeouts in 14.2 innings. Oh yeah, he also pitched a complete game shutout of Sardine City on Saturday. Haren had to fight off not one, not two, but THREE Bridgewater pitchers to take this week's honor. Luckily for him, the Bridgewater vote got split up between the three candidates. Andrew Bailey is on pace to challenge John Smoltz's save record. This week he was a perfect 5-5 in save opportunities and didn't give up any runs in his 5 appearances. Teammate Chris Carpenter was 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP, including a complete game and 12 Ks in 17 IP. Finally Josh Beckett was 1-1 with a 1.69 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. Newark's Brad Bergeson also deserves an honorable mention, going 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA and 2 complete games. His 1.11 WHIP and only 9 Ks fell below Haren's marks, but a stellar week for the Sugar Bear nonetheless.
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Just call him Mr. 1,000. Mariano Rivera of Marietta last week became the first pitcher in DMBL history to appear in 1,000 games. He worked a perfect two innings Thursday night to save Jason Marquis' 6-4 win over Las Vegas. Trevor Hoffman ranks second with 810 career appearances.
