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Showing posts with label cole hamels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cole hamels. Show all posts

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Dunn finishes career on walk-off HR

Adam Dunn finished a productive if not storied DMBL career in stunning fashion, hitting a walk-off home run off Tom Koehler in the bottom of the ninth to give Hopatcong a 5-4 win over Philly in the 2015 regular season finale. It's one of the more memorable finishes to a career since Mike Mussina tossed a complete game in his final start to push Marietta past Newark in Game 7 of the 2009 DMBL World Series.

Dunn, who last year announced this would be his final season, was signed twice by the Floating Fish this season, both times to fill in at first base for an injured Joey Votto. In 40 games, he batted just .140/.225/.322, but smacked 6 home runs.

It wasn't a great final season but it was enough to get Dunn past Todd Helton on the all-time home run list. He finished just one home run short of becoming the 27th player to reach 300 for his career. Dunn also finishes with 1,615 career strikeouts, 11th-most in DMBL history, trailing Bobby Abreu (1,642) and just ahead of Barry Bonds (1,607).

It's as good a time as any for a career retrospective of The Big Donkey, who was dealt five times and played for nine teams during his 13 seasons.

The giant, left-handed slugger was drafted by the now-defunct Phoenix Dragons as an ineligible prospect in the 4th round of the 2002 draft. After a middling 2003 season for Phoenix, Dunn was let go but picked up by Hillsborough in the 2nd round of the 2004 draft.

It wasn't until 2005 when he really made his mark, knocking 55 home runs and 150 RBIs and following up with 46 dingers and 127 RBIs in 2006 -- the two highest marks of his career. He also played in 162 and 163 games, respectively, those two seasons. Surprisingly, Dunn would never reach 100 RBIs again but he did keep on slugging.

Hillsborough sent him to Arkansas in a blockbuster deal during the 2008 offseason. The Hit Men sent Dunn with Alex Rodriguez, Jeremy Bonderman, Ian Snell and Jonathan Broxton to Arkansas for Dan Haren, Nick Markakis, and four draft picks: a 7th in 2008, 4th and 7th in 2009, and a 5th in 2010.

Dunn never completed the 2008 season in Arkansas, slugging .529 in 92 games but batting just .220. The Golden Falcons shipped him to Philly at the deadline for Jonathan Sanchez and a 2010 3rd rounder. He didn't end up spending much time in Philly either. That offseason, the End Zone Animals traded Dunn to Hoboken, along with a 9th rounder in 2009 and a 6th in 2011, in exchange for Scott Kazmir.

Dunn enjoyed two consistent seasons in Hoboken, with 37 and 35 homers and 79 and 80 RBIs, respectively, but again ended up going elsewhere. The Cutters sent him and Hillsborough's 5th round pick in 2011 to Amityville for Matt Cain and a 2012 6th rounder.

Only months later, there would be one more trade in the cards for Dunn before spending his final seasons bouncing around as free agent/draftee. Blue Ridge acquired him from Amityville with a 12th rounder in 2012 for Cole Hamels and a 2012 4th rounder.

In all, Dunn was traded five times in deals that totaled 10 players and 11 draft picks (6 coming back, 5 going with him).

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Showdown for the Kruk Division

Don't look now but there's another race to watch in the remaining days of the 2012 season.

After four straight wins -- including Tuesday night's no-hitter -- Hopatcong has tied Amityville for the third playoff seed. The Ant Slayers clinched the Drabek Division the other night. Coupled with Newark's loss on Wednesday, the Floating Fish go into tonight's season-ending series versus the Sugar Bears with a two-game lead in the Kruk Division.

After Wednesday's results, if the playoffs started today:
#1 Marietta*, 106-53
#2 Vancouver*, 92-68
#3 Amityville*, 88-71
#4 Hopatcong, 88-71
#5 Newark, 86-73
#6 Rowdy, 86-74
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hoboken, 85-74 -- 1/2 game back of No. 6 seed
Bridgewater, 85-75 -- 1 1/2 back
Hillsborough, 83-76 -- 2 1/2 back

In an amazing coincidence, every team in the Kruk and Van Slyke divisions won Tuesday night as every team in the Drabek and Fisk divisions lost, leaving the playoff race essentially intact, other than the official elimination of Sardine City.

Should Hopatcong and Amityville remain tied for the No. 3 seed at the end of 162 games, the tiebreaker is head-to-heard record, which would go to -- no one! The two teams split 10 games this season! Both teams also are 21-18 within their respective divisions as they face off against division foes this weekend. If the tiebreaker gets that far, Hopatcong currently has a run differential of +114 while Amityville has a margin of +96.

Of course, those tiebreakers all get thrown out the window if Newark sneaks away with the Kruk Division, the only division still undecided. (FYI, Sugar Bears are 4-6 versus Amityville). With a two-game lead, Hopatcong needs just one win in their head-to-head matchup versus the Sugar Bears this weekend to clinch it. Head-to-head this season, Hopatcong holds a 7-4 advantage against Newark. Scheduled starters for both clubs look like this:
NWK @ HPG
Harrison (6-8, 3.91) v. Peavy (0-0, 0.00)
Baker (12-11, 3.47) v. Cain (13-8, 3.44)
Lohse (14-8, 3.37) v. Luebke (13-8, 3.70)
In a surprise move, Hopatcong opted to give Jake Peavy his first start of the season in Game No. 160 over Tim Stauffer, who's struggled much of the year, going 5-17 with a 6.41 ERA and 1.59 WHIP.

Whether Newark wins the Kruk or not, the Sugar Bears still have work to do. They hold just a 1/2-game lead on Rowdy for the 5th seed and other squads are hot on their heels. The Roddy Pippers, who are off today, are just 1/2 game up on Hoboken and 1 game ahead of Bridgewater for that final playoff seed.

Rowdy will finish the season with two games at St. Louis and Bridgewater is also off today before a two-game set at Philly tomorrow. Starting tonight, Hoboken hosts three games against Marietta, which already has clinched the No. 1 seed.

Still hanging on to a sliver of hope is Hillsborough, which sent ace Justin Verlander to the mound yesterday for his final start of the season, and sits 2 1/2 games back of Rowdy for the final seed. The Hit Men will be rooting for Philly, Marietta, St. Louis and Hopatcong to win this weekend while they aim for a sweep in Amityville, who they're 7-4 against this season. The probable starter matchups:
HIL @ AMI
Hernandez (15-9, 3.81) v. Lester (16-6, 4.66)
Haren (12-9, 3.49) v. Weaver (14-11, 4.65)
Scherzer (6-16, 6.36) v. Hamels (14-10, 4.16)

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Pitching, pitching, pitching

A record-tying eight starting pitchers were selected in the first round of the 2012 draft, including four consecutive picks from fourth to seventh overall. It's the most starters taken in round one in five years, when half the league's 14 franchises also took starters. The 2000 draft featured eight starters taken, led by Tim Hudson taken No. 1 by Carolina.

This year's record first-round run started with Brandon Beachy at No. 2, taken by the Bridgewater Mallers, and ended with the final pick of the round, 16th overall, by the Hopatcong Floating Fish in Josh Collmenter. The 2007 draft also featured four straight starters taken, that time the first four picks: Jered Weaver, Anibal Sanchez Cole Hamels and Josh Johnson.

Javier Vazquez became at least the fourth starting pitcher to be chosen twice in the first round, and likely the longest time between the selections. Edinson Volquez was taken third overall by New Jersey (now Hopatcong) in 2009 and 12th in 2011 by Bridgewater. Johnson was selected fourth overall twice -- in 2007 by Philly and in 2009 by Sardine City, where he still plays. Juan Guzman went first overall in 1992 to Maine, and again in 2000, sixth overall by Hillsborough.

Vazquez was taken ninth overall by the Kentucky Hillbillies in 2001 and this year was grabbed by the Sardine City Straphangers with the 12th overall selection. Also taken in round one of the 2001 draft? Freddy Garcia, fifth overall by the Honolulu Sharks, who was also selected this year by the Hillsborough Hit Men in the supplemental seventh round.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Huff sets eyes on MVP prize

Yes, we're still recovering from a nice long holiday weekend, but we'll fulfill our solemn duty to name our award winners anyway.

The JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week can go to no other than Aubrey Huff, our first half MVP frontrunner. Sure we'd like to give the award to someone else and spread the love, but when Huff puts up numbers like he does, what can you do? Huff hit .434 with a .500 OBP and .962 slugging (all tops for the two week period). He hit 8 homers, scored 15 runs, and drove in 12.

His competition consisted of Arkansas' David Wright (.390/.463/.780, 6 HR, 18 R, 13 RBI), Hoboken's Adam Dunn (.355/.487/1.097, 7 homers, 9 R, 10 RBI), and Philadelphia's Mark Teixeira (.347/.407/.673, 4 HR, 12 RBI). We have to give a hearty pat on the back ot D.C.'s Casey Kotchman who has admirably filled in for Todd Helton, who is currently on the DL. Kotchman hit .360/.373/.560 this week.

Our Part-time Powerhouse has to be Arkansas' Rick Ankiel who hit 7 home runs in 28 at bats. Ankiel hit .500/.588/1.286, scored 13 runs, and drove in 14 runners. Not bad for a platoon guy!

The pitching side wasn't so cut and dried though, but for the second straight time, we're voting a Sardine City Straphanger to the prize. This time it's lefty Cole Hamels who takes the My Cat Hates You Pitcher of the Week Award. Hamels first start was a 1-0, 1-hit blanking of Amityville. Hamels fell just one out shy of a complete game shutout. But karma is a nasty thing and Hamels ended up on the losing end of another 1-0 duel with Brandon Webb and Philadelphia. Hamels only allowed 3 hits in the complete game loss. In his third start, at least Hamels got some run support - 8 runs in fact! - and got the W in an 8-3 win over Las Vegas. For the two weeks, Hamels was 2-1, with a 1.52 ERA, 0.51 WHIP and 20 strikeouts in 23.2 innings.

Josh Beckett provided the main competition (1-0, 1.52, 0.93 WHIP, 23 K), but there were others: Blue Ridge's Gavin Floyd (2-1, 1.99, 1.01), and Jake Peavy of Vancouver (2-0, 1.48, 1.03).