Delgado calls it quits, but will he get the call?

Carlos Delgado announced his retirement from baseball last week after trying to come back from a hip injury that kept him out of the DMBL last season.

A native of Puerto Rico, Delgado last appeared in the DMBL in 2009 with the Carolina Mudcats, which means he'd be eligible for the DMBL Hall of Fame beginning in 2014. The 38-year-old could make a compelling case for enshrinement, ranking among the all-time leaders in home runs and runs scored. Only 11 players have appeared in more DMBL games.

Delgado played 14 consecutive seasons, breaking in with the Norfolk Ewes in 1997. The converted catcher played in no fewer than 128 games from 1997 until 2007. He played for five different franchises  in the DMBL, mostly with the Hillsborough (two different franchises, the Destroyers and Hit Men), though he won his only Kevin Mitchell Award in 2001 with the Vatican City Cardinals when he put career highs with a monster season: .345/.455/.653, 208 hits, 41 home runs, 138 RBIs, 59 doubles, 153 runs, 122 walks. He matched his career high in home runs the previous year when he was with Hillsborough, and hit 39 homers when Vatican City relocated to Wanaque in 2002.

Taken in the second supplemental round in 2008 by Sardine City but released before the start of the season, Delgado signed later that year with Carolina. He contributed somewhat to the Mudcats that year, appearing in 25 games, but had one more season in him. In 2009, he had 34 home runs and 98 RBIs (to put him over 1,000 for his career, only the 22nd player to do so) while batting .280 and slugging .502.

A look at Delgado's career stats, with all-time ranking in parentheses -- do they read "Hall of Fame"?

Games: 1,701 (12th)
Batting: .265
OBP: .355
SLG: .516 (17th)
OPS: .871
AB: 6,035 (28th)
H: 1,597 (35th)
2B: 361 (20th, tied with Ray Durham)
HR: 370 (16th, recently passed by Albert Pujols)
RBI:  1.075 (21st)
Runs: 1,027 (11th, soon to be passed by Pujols)
Strikeouts: 1,571 (10th)
Walks: 844 (18th)

No. 400 for Chipper

Newark's Chipper Jones continues to fill out his ballot for a spot in the DMBL Hall of Fame, launching his 400th career home run Thursday night. His 8th inning solo home run off J.J. Putz tied the game at 5-5 but the Sugar Bears eventually lost, 8-5, at Miller Park in Carolina. He's the ninth player in league history to reach 400.

Chipper entered the season with 396 home runs, good for 9th all-time, and now trails former teammate Mike Piazza by six homers for the 8th spot. The longtime Sugar Bear ranks in the league's all-time top 10, if not top 5, in most major hitting categories.

Pettitte moves into 6th all-time in career starts

New Jersey's Andy Pettitte very nearly had his 40th career complete game Monday night but settled for passing Mike Mussina into 6th place in career starts with 394. He now trails Curt Schilling (399) by five starts for 5th and is approaching 1,600 career strikeouts, which would put him just outside the top 10 in all-time strikeouts. David Cone ranks 10th with 1,601 K's and and after Monday's start Pettitte is just four away.
Johan Santana of Arkansas is the active leader in strikeouts, and sits 9th all-time with 1,647.

Manny sets all-time mark for doubles

In what's been a historically bad start for Newark, Manny Ramirez has given Sugar Bears fans something to cheer about with some history of his own.
 The longtime Sugar Bear passed Edgar Martinez as the all-time DMBL leader in doubles with 494 when he smacked a two-bagger off Bridgewater's Joel Pineiro Monday night. Ramirez matched Martinez two games earlier with his 493rd career double, off Philly's Matt Garza. Earlier this season, he became the fourth player in league history to appear in 2,000 games.

Ramirez likely will soon become the first DMBLer to hit 500 doubles and is also closing in on 500 career home runs, a mark reached by only two others (Alex Rodriguez  and Barry Bonds). He'd be the first to hit 500 doubles and 500 homers.

In other all-time categories, Ramirez ranks 1st in strikeouts (the only one with 2,000+), 2nd in RBIs, 4th in runs, 4th in games played, 5th in hits and 7th in walks.

Rivera notches 400th save

Mariano Rivera continued to solidify his case for the DMBL Hall of Fame by recording his 400th save. He finished off a 3-0 win at home over the New Jersey Buddahs last week to preserve the victory for Francisco Liriano. He's all alone in first place on the all-time saves list, way ahead of his closest rival, Billy Wagner of Las Vegas, who entered the season sitting at 290 saves. No one else has even 200 saves. Rivera is the only DMBL pitcher to crack 1,000 appearances, entering this season with 1,047.
He's also closing in on 1,100 career strikeouts (he started the year with 1,091), inching closer to Trevor Hoffman, who tops all relievers with 1,119 K's.

2010 Gold Gloves

Digging through the Subway receipts and old soy sauce packets in a drawer at DMBL headquarters, the 2010 Gold Glove Awards were unearthed as league executives this week presented the belated accolades. Fielding percentage isn't the only indicator of solid leather and to avoid making a mockery of the defensive awards (You listening, Rafael Palmeiro?), all stats were taken into account in the selection process.

PITCHER: Jason Marquis, Marietta
Marquis led all pitchers in assists per game (1.37) and total chances per game (2.10) in his 28 starts.
Honorable mentions to Newark rookie Brad Bergesen, who led all pitchers in total chances (45) and along with Sardine City's Josh Johnson led the league in assists (31). Philly's C.C. Sabathia led all pitchers with 18 putouts, along with Jordan Zimmermann of Sardine City and Carlos Zambrano, who did it despite being cut by Blue Ridge midseason and playing briefly for New Jersey.

CATCHER: Joe Mauer, Las Vegas

Mauer led the league in putouts per game (8.84) and total chances per game (9.17) while throwing out 20 would-be base-stealers for a .697 clip and just six passed balls in 106 starts.

Yadier Molina of Arkansas had impressive numbers as well, trailing only Mauer in most categories while putting up a 1.000 fielding percentage and less than six passed balls, but made fewer starts, despite appearing in 136 games for the Golden Falcons.

Honorable mention also goes to Marietta's Kurt Suzuki, who led the league in baserunners gunned down with 25 (.753); Philly's Victor Martinez, who was tops in putouts (1,122) and total chances (1,164).

FIRST BASE: Prince Fielder, Carolina

Another razor-thin race, Carolina's Prince Fielder edged Marietta's Adrian Gonzalez and Adam LaRoche of Amityville. Fielder led the league in total chances (1,478), chances per game (9.31), putouts (1,834) and putouts per game (8.72) while making 162 starts and sporting a .997 fielding percentage and being in on 162 double plays. Considering his reputation for his girth, you might be surprised that he was even in the running for Gold Glove. Or you might just say it was a long time coming for Prince.

Gonzalez was right behind him in most every category with 1,435 chances (8.95/game) and 1,337 putouts (8.34/game) and a .994 fielding percentage. LaRoche was tops in fielding percentage (.999) but appeared in only 134 games.

Honorable mention also goes to Kendry Morales, who split his year between Blue Ridge and Newark, led the league in assists (119) but also committed 11 errors for a .992 fielding percentage.

SECOND BASE: Dustin Pedroia, Carolina
Not quite the runaway race that shortstop was, but still a wide margin for Carolina's Dustin Pedroia as he led all second basemen in total chances (826/5.17), assists (524/3.28) and double plays (138) and fielding percentage (.995), all while starting 162 games for the Mudcats.

Honorable mentions go to Vancouver's Chase Utley, who was second in most categories including chances (825/5.09) and assists (503/3.10) and double plays (135), but also was second in errors (16), for a .981 fielding percentage. Robinson Cano of New Jersey and Marietta's Alberto Callaspo led the league in total putouts (312) and matched Hillsborough's Ben Zobrist for most putouts per game (2.03).

SHORTSTOP: Troy Tulowitzki, Carolina
This was probably the least suspenseful race because Tulowitzki led all shortstops in every major category: 795 total chances/5.0 per game; 224 putouts/1.41 per game, 559 assists/3.52 per game, and 118 double plays. He was among a number of iron men shortstops, making all 162 starts, while ranking third in fielding percentage (.985) with 12 errors.
Honorable mention: Hoboken's Hanley Ramirez finished second to Tulo is most every category but committed 21 errors, which isn't bad, especially when you look at league leader Miguel Tejada's 37 E's. Vancouver rookie Elvis Andrus also made 162 starts and was among the league leaders in this bunch.

THIRD BASE: Scott Rolen, Vancouver

This was the toughest race to call with Bridgewater's Ryan Zimmerman and Vancouver's Scott Rolen neck and neck in virtually every category. Zimmerman led the league in total chances (407/2.55), just ahead of Rolen (403/2.49), who was tops with 297 assists (1.84) to Zimm's 281 (1.76). Zimmerman also had the most errors (23) and double plays (40).

Evan Longoria of Sardine City and Alex Rodriguez of Las Vegas tied for the lead in putouts (109). Longoria also had the best fielding percentage (.969), just ahead of Rolen (.968). Then you had Adrien Beltre of Blue Ridge and Marietta's Chone Figgins, who got some consideration for their per-game averages but didn't quite make enough starts to warrant the hardware. Beltre qualified for a league-leading 2.62 total chances per game while Figgins was second in assists per game with 1.83.

LEFT FIELD: Franklin Gutierrez, New Jersey

Gutierrez only committed four errors for a .989 fielding percentage, led all left-fielders with 2.55 chances per game and trailed only Matt Holliday in total chances. His 10 assists were fourth-best and Gutierrez patroled New Jersey's left field in 158 games; only three left-fielders played all 162 games.

Honorable mention goes to Marietta's Jason Bay, who led all left-fielders with 16 assists and along with Ryan Braun of Sardine City and Newark's Manny Ramirez finished with a 1.000 fielding percentage.

CENTER FIELD: Denard Span, Hoboken
There's no shortage of speedy center fielders to choose from. New Jersey's Shane Victorino led the league with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage but it was Hoboken's Denard Span who led all centerfielders by a wide margin in total chances (510/3.22) and putouts (493/3.11) in 162 starts. Despite his 7 errors (third most), he had a .986 fielding percentage and was third with 10 assists.

Andrew McCutcheon of Blue Ridge had the high mark with 13 assists. Honorable mentions also go to Carlos Beltran of Bridgewater, who was second in total chances (420/2.98) and putouts (407/2.89) and Vancouver's Adam Jones and Hillsborough rookie Carlos Gonzalez.

RIGHT FIELD: Hunter Pence, Blue Ridge
Right field is where the arm is, so it would be easy to hand this year's Gold Glove to Nelson Cruz of Amityville, who led the league with 10 assists. You could also go with the wily veteran Ichiro Suzuki of Marietta, who was second in total chances per game (2.52) and putouts per game (2.42). But he made only 124 starts and committed seven errors for a .972 fielding percentage.

Meanwhile, New Jersey's Seth Smith was the only right fielder to start 162 games and he had a sterling 1.000 fielding percentage and was second in total chances (349/2.23), total putouts (340/2.17), and assists.

We went with Pence for his solid .990 fielding percentage (4 errors) while leading all right fielders in total chances (384/2.55) and putouts (378//2.51). Honorable mentions also go to Newark's J.D. Drew and Nick Markakis of Sardine City, who also sported 1.000 fielding percentages.