Cole garners postseason MVP honors

The Livingston Lords of Swing claimed their 3rd DMBL title, becoming the first team in 15 years to win go back-to-back, Gerrit Cole added to his trophy case, and after a lengthy, stellar career Albert Pujols finally got his DMBL ring.

Pujols reaches 600 HRs, becomes all-time leader in games, ABs

In his final DMBL season, Pujols has settled in as primarily a platoon DH vLHP, with a few games at 1B, for Livingston, where he's had a bit of a resurgence, relatively speaking. The Dominican native also has reached some historic marks in the league's record books this year.

Miggy joins 500-HR club

Miguel Cabrera became the 5th player in DMBL history to reach 500 home runs, doing it as a member of the Empire City Trojans after bouncing around the league the past few seasons.

End Of The Line: Mark Buehrle

End Of The Line is an occasional offseason series that will take a closer look at the career of DMBL players leaving the league after the 2016 season. Today, we look at Mark Buehrle, who burst on the scene in 2002.

Pujols becomes 4th to reach 500 HRs

Albert Pujols, who compiled perhaps the DMBL's best decade by an offensive player, this season became the fourth player in league history to reach the hallowed 500 home run level, joining Jim Thome (531), Alex Rodriguez (595) and Barry Bonds (689). He's also closing in on his 500th double, a feat accomplished by just three players as well: Todd Helton (507), Manny Ramirez (538), and Chipper Jones (561).

The blast was a highlight of what's been a down year for Pujols in his first with a new franchise, the Saskatoon Shields. The historic homer came off Hopatcong's Ubaldo Jimenez, a solo shot in the 7th inning of what was eventually a 5-3 win for the Shields. The next active player is Hoboken's David Ortiz, who on Monday night tied Jason Giambi for 14th all-time with 378.

Pujols matched Manny Ramirez with 498 home runs (5th all-time) when he blasted his 12th homer of the year. That was a first-inning blow off Justin Masterson in a game Saskatoon eventually triumphed, 4-3, over Marietta in an Aug. 8 extra innings matchup. He passed Ramirez with a solo shot, his 13th of the year, off Allentown's John Lackey, in a 5-4 loss in an Aug. 13 game.

Pujols was on a trajectory for the Hall of Fame after Philly took him with the first overall pick of the 2002 draft. He was beaten out for the Pat Listach Rookie of the Year Award that season by Hoboken's Joel Pineiro, who was selected 4th overall, but routinely played 160 games a year and mashed home runs by the 40s for the next decade. Pujols averaging more than 40 a year for his first 12 seasons, including a career-high 64 in 2010 when he won his second consecutive Kevin Mitchell Award as the league's most valuable batter, the only player to do that besides Bonds.

After the Philly franchise folded this past offseason, Saskatoon grabbed him in the 14th round of the four-team dispersal draft and he hasn't been able to regain the magic yet, though he doesn't have the supporting cast he's had in previous years either.

Pujols has a respectable but mortal 17 home runs and 63 RBI for a Shields squad that scores a league low 3.7 runs per game and dealt its best hitter (Yan Gomes) at the trade deadline. He's hitting career lows of .215/.284/.365 and is on pace for his worst year by far. Only two other seasons has he not driven in 100 RBI -- 99 in his sophomore season of 2003 and 97 in 2012. He's also on pace for a career-low in home runs, which was his rookie year of 2001, when he blasted 29.

Helton joins Pujols in 2,000-hit club

Todd Helton's big four-hit day in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader included a double, home run, and the final hit -- a 9th-inning single off Charlie Furbush of Las Vegas in the 8-7 road win -- was the 2,000th of his career. Helton becomes the second player to reach 2,000 career hits during this season, some two weeks after Philly's Albert Pujols achieved the mark.

Helton hasn't hit for much power since he was with Vancouver in 2008, where he belted 18 homers. He hit a career-high 44 home runs with Marietta in 2002, and eclipsed 30 home runs twice in his career (31 in 2003 and 36 in 2000). It remains to be seen whether he has enough power left to reach 300 career homers this season, however, it would appear he has his sights set on playing in the DMBL in 2013.

The Tennessee native turns 39 next month and currently ranks 25th all-time with 282 homers (including just 6 this year) but is surrounded by five other active players from 21st to 26th. Helton stands 6th all-time in doubles, with 483 (including 14 this year), approaching Barry Bonds at No. 5 (487). Chipper Jones is the only active player with more two-baggers (519).

Helton spent the prime of his career with Stanhope/Marietta after being the first overall pick of the Brooklyn Bean Counters in the 2001 dispersal draft (followed by Brian Giles and Mike Piazza). The first-year franchise shipped off the first baseman (along with reliever Rich Garces) in exchange for six players: catcher Mike Lieberthal, first baseman Tino Martinez, pitchers Steve Parris and Turk Wendell and outfielders Steve Finley and Bobby Higginson. In seven seasons with the Mighty Men, Helton hit more than 40 doubles in all but two, including a career-best 63 in 2001, but never reached 200 hits. During that span with the Mighty Men, he averaged 44 doubles and 27 homers per year.

The Iron First acquired Helton from Marietta before the 2008 season for outfielder Jason Bay, first baseman Conor Jackson and a 4th-round pick in 2009. Left unprotected the following season, he was snapped up by Bridgewater in the 8th round of the 2009 draft by D.C./Bridgewater, where he played until getting shipped back to Vancouver this past offseason. The Iron First also got third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and two 8th-round picks in exchange for starter Zack Greinke and a 4th-rounder.

2k hits for Pujols, 200 SBs for Ichiro

Albert Pujols became the 14th player in DMBL history with 2,000 career hits. Philly's main man reached the milestone during the week leading up to the all-star break. While he homered off Roy Oswalt later in the game, it was a first-inning single that turned out to be 2k for Pujols. The Endzone Animals eventually topped Las Vegas for an 11-8 win, thanks to 10 runs in the last two frames, capped by a walk-off David Wright grand slam.

The first overall pick of the 2002 draft is on track to pass Mike Piazza (2,025) and Jeff Bagwell (2,047) and if he can pick up his current pace slightly (now 88 hits in 88 games), Pujols could surpass current free agent Bobby Abreu (2,089) for 11th all-time by season's end. Catching Ken Griffey, Jr. -- 10th with 2,176 hits -- would have to wait until the 2013 campaign. The Dominican native is still a few seasons away from challenging all-time hits leader Derek Jeter, who took that crown earlier this year.

(Trivia question: Who was selected second overall in the 2002 draft, after Pujols? Answer at the end of this post.)

Pujols had a career-low 161 hits in 2011, a year after his career-high 208 (when he won his second straight Mitchell Award), and has averaged 192 hits per season. He has been remarkably steady, logging at least 600 at-bats in each of his 10 seasons and playing an average of 160 games per year.

Two other players could reach the 2,000-hit mark this year: Vancouver's Todd Helton started the second half of the season needing just 13 more hits while Pujols' teammate, Ichiro Suzuki, was 29 hits away.

Ichiro reached his own career milestone this week. The Japanese import stole his 200th career base on Monday night, in the first game after the all-star break. The theft broke a tie with Chuck Knoblauch for 8th all-time. Ichiro started the year tied with Otis Nixon and Alex Rodriguez, each with 197 stolen bases.

(Trivia answer: The now-defunct Honolulu Sharks selected Oswalt -- way!)

Pujols passes Chipper into 8th place

Philly slugger Albert Pujols leapfrogged Chipper Jones into 8th place on the all-time home run list with two homers in Wednesday night's 11-9 loss at home to Amityville. It was the 5th and 6th round-trippers of the year for Pujols, who now has 413 home runs. Chipper has one so far this season, for a career total of 412, good for 9th all-time.

The first overall pick of the 2002 DMBL draft, Pujols is far from the active league leader in home runs. Ahead of him, and still playing this season, are Vlad Guerrero of Rowdy (436), Newark's Jim Thome (514) and Alex Rodriguez of Las Vegas (563).

Guerrero needs just 10 home runs to reach slammin' Sammy Sosa for 6th all-time with 446, and another dozen to catch the legendary Ken Griffey, Jr. for No. 5, at 448.

Manny Ramirez, who has decided to take the year off to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and get back in shape for the 2013 DMBL season, ended last year stuck with 498 home runs; only three others have more than 500 career home runs: In addition to Thome and A-Rod, Barry Bonds, who finished with more home runs than anyone in DMBL: 683 home runs.

Pujols the 10th player to reach 400 home runs

Philly's Albert Pujols became the 10th player in DMBL history with 400 home runs, the second to reach the milestone this season. Chipper Jones of Newark hit No. 400 earlier this season.

The historic dinger, a solo shot, came off Cliff Lee in the first inning of a 3-2 win at Arkansas last week.  Pujols is in line to pass Mike Piazza soon for 9th all-time in homers, with 406, and Jones, who starts the week in 8th place with 409. New Jersey's Vladimir Guerrero is in sight but likely a target for 2012, with 431 home runs in 7th place.

It was the 34th home run of the season for Pujols. He enters play this week with 35 home runs and 88 RBIs. While his 10th season line totals of .250/.317/.505 are virtually all career lows and way off his annual averages (.307/.366/.574), Pujols has been one of the most consistent and best hitters in the DMBL since being the top overall pick in the 2002 draft.

Pujols has averaged almost 41 home runs and 129 RBIs over his first nine seasons and has driven in at least 108 RBIs every year but his second (99). Last year he put up career highs in SLG (.677), OPS (1.046), HR (64), RBI (160), runs (128) and hits (208), in winning his second straight Kevin Mitchell Award. He's also been remarkably healthy, racking up no fewer than 600 at-bats while playing in an average of 159 games each season (a career low 147 in 2009).

Blue Ridge streak hits 8, Pujols Watch continues

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.

Blue Ridge catches fire

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.

Greinke stymies Buddahs, improves to 8-0

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.

Season leaders finally honored

This week's JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week was a no-brainer. After putting up monster numbers all year, yet never enough to win the prize, Albert Pujols put together one of the biggest week's in the history of the DMBL. Pujols hit .533 with a .622 OBP and 1.467 slugging for a ridiculous 2.088 OPS. Pujols also slammed 9 homers, scored 11 runs, and drove in 14. We're sending Albert not one, but two boxes of cigars this week.

Others of note, but who didn't really have a chance: Arkansas' Martin Prado (.484/.529/.710, 7 R), Carolina's Dustin Pedroia (.448/.529/.690, 7 R) and Aramis Ramirez (1.147 OPS, 8 R, 10 RBI), Hillsborough's Casey McGehee (.429/.447/.657, 11 R, 11 RBi, 5 2Bs), Amityville's Rajai Davis (.417, 8 R, 7 SB), Las Vegas' Joe Mauer (.452/.571/.548, 9 R, 10 BB), and Marietta's Derek Jeter (.480/.536/.720).

This week's PlaidStallions.com Pitcher of the Week was a little closer, but in the end, there was little doubt who deserved it. Vancouver's Zack Greinke is also having a great season and managed to put together a superb week. Greinke was 2-0 in his two starts, including a complete game. Greinke also snuck in a brief relief appearance. Greinke had a 1.04 ERA and 0.69 WHIP this week, as well as 17 strikeouts in 17.1 innings.

Other top starters: Hillsborough's Justin Verlander (1-0, 1.26, 14 K, 1.12 WHIP), Vegas' Tim Lincecum (1-0, 1.93, 11 K), Philly's Roy Halladay (2-0, 2.87), Blue Ridge's Edwin Jackson (1-0, 1.93), New Jersey's Rick Porcello (2-0, 1.29, 13 K, 1.07 WHIP), and Sardine City's Josh Johnson (1-0, 1.20, 14 K, 1.07 WHIP).

We have to give honorable mention to a couple of relievers: Bridgewater's Jonathan Papelbon (3-0, 1.69, 0.75 WHIP) and Vancouver's Guillermo Mota (3-1, 1.69).