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.

Amityville's 10-run inning makes Ants of Hillsborough

Players of the week will be announced next Tuesday...

The Ant Slayers scored 10 runs in the 7th inning to rally past the Hired Hitmen 12-5 yesterday. The Slayers started the inning off with a solo Pat Burrell home run and capped it off with a three-run Clint Barmes homer. Torii Hunter and Garrett Atkins also homered in the inning. Burrell was 3-4 in the game.

Las Vegas rallied back from a 2-0 deficit in the late innings to secure a 3-2 victory over Blue Ridge. Alex Gordon's triple in the 7th led to the Rats' first run of the game. Then Chris Davis and Richie Sexson hit solo home runs to give the team the lead. Trevor Hoffman sent down the Bombers in order to record his 7th save.

The Landsman brothers battled it out to an 8-7 final in extra innings. Marietta took a 5-3 lead in the 3rd when Brandon Phillips hit a triple that scored Adrian Beltre. Phillips would score on a fielder's choice. D.C. took the lead in the 6th when Casey Kotchman hit a 3-run homer, giving the O-Bombers a 7-5 cushion. D.C. got in trouble the next inning though and Marietta tied it up on an Adrian Gonzalez RBI single. Finally, in the 10th, Marietta won the game on a walk-off single by Brian Giles.

Newark battled back from a 6-0 hole but the Falcons pulled it out. Arkansas led 6-0 in the 6th, but Newark chipped away until they tied it up in the 8th. But David Wright hit a two-run shot that gave the Falcons the lead back in the 9th. Ramon Vazquez hit a solo homer to lead off the 9th for Newark, closing the gap to 8-7, but Bobby Abreu grounded into a double play to end the game.

Jesse Litsch won for just the second time this season as he limited Vancouver to only one run on 5 hits in 7 innings. Litsch improved to 2-10 on the season. Chad Billingsley took a tough loss as he gave up only one earned run (and one unearned) in 5.2 innings. Billingsley struck out 8 while giving up 4 hits and 3 walks.

Joba Chamberlain was spectacular once again striking out 11 in 7 innings, giving up zero runs and 3 hits in a 9-1 Sardine City victory over Philadelphia. Conor Jackson hit two home runs in the game.

Jackson leads Sardines to victory

Blue Ridge stole one away from the Falcons yesterday. The Falcons posted a quick 4-0 lead but the Bombers came back and knotted the game in the 5th. The Falcons took the lead again in the 8th when Lance Berkman doubled in Ray Durham. But Joakim Soria couldn't hold it down in the 9th. He started the inning with a walk and a single. A sac bunt put the runners in scoring position and pinch hitter Hunter Pence came through with a bloop into center field that scored both runners, giving the Bombers a 6-5 victory.

Conor Jackson was 3-3 with 4 RBIs, including a triple, a homer and a stolen base to lead the Sardine City Straphangers to a 10-4 drubbing of Carolina. Evan Longoria also had 3 hits in the game and Alexei Ramirez was 2-4 with a triple and 2 RBIs. Cole Hamels evened his record at 3-3 with an 8-inning performance, limiting the Cats to 7 hits and one earned run.

The Sugar Bears offense was firing on all cylinders in yesterday's blowout win against Las Vegas. J.D. Drew was 3-4 with 2 homers and 5 RBIs, Bobby Abreu also hit 2 homers, Chipper Jones went 3-5 with a measly one homer 2 RBI and Mike Fontenot (yesterday's goat) was also 3-5. In total, the Sugar Bears hit 8 home runs (and Vegas hit 4 in defeat) in the 16-9 victory.

Scott Kazmir 2-hit the Hired Hitmen for 7 innings before giving way to Dan Wheeler, who preserved the 8-0, 2-hit shutout for the Endzone Animals. Kazmir struck out 8 Hitmen and walked 3. Albert Pujols was 4-5 with a homer and a double and 3 RBIs.

Wheeling and dealing...

The third trade of the offseason has been completed. This may be the most trades committed in such a short period since the season ended. This time it was Marietta trading with Sardine City. The Mighty Men acquired Kevin Youkilis from the Sardines for Conor Jackson and Brandon Morrow. Jackson was acquired in an offseason deal with Vancouver prior to last season and once again finds himself shipped off during the break. Morrow, taken in round 12 of last year's draft, pitched an incredible 131 games in relief. The 24-year old may have a future in the rotation, but will likely spend the upcoming season in the bullpen. Youkilis had a subpar season with the Straphangers in '08, but is a potential star. Known familiarly as the "Greek God of Walks", Youkilis is an OBP monster who hopes to improve on his (so far) lackluster DMBL career. The trade seems to indicate that the Mighty Men, who lucked into a first overall pick with this year's draft lottery, see themselves as playoff contenders. As for Sardine City, the jury is still out. The team has a solid core of players that could be competitive, but it'll be up to the team's management if they want to go for it this year or play it conservatively and try to build up one more year. This trade certainly can play both ways.

Big Deals rejuvenate cooling Hot Stove league

Well there certainly is a lot of discussion going on around the draft date, especially the time. We'll try to hammer this one out in the next few days.

And remember when I posted something about how quiet the Hot Stove league had become? OOPS, I guess the DMBL gods heard me and forced a couple of trades over the past 24 hours.

First it was Vancouver completing a long-rumored deal that sent outfielder Jason Bay, young first baseman Conor Jackson and a fourth round pick in 2009 to Marietta for DMBL veteran Todd Helton. Helton had been a mainstay in the Mighty Men lineup since 2001, so the fans were very upset at the news. Irate fans called into the Fan's Rude Awakening radio show this morning screaming for owner David Landsman's head. "We could have gotten the same package for Wes Helms" said livid caller Jimbo from Kennesaw. "If Landsman knew what he was doing he could have gotten Prince Fielder and Vlad Guerrero for Helton" said another heated listener. Landsman was too distraught for questions but issued a brief statement that began "Today we say goodbye to a truly Mighty Man." A tearful Landsman departed the scene while upset fans picketed the parking lot. "He was a fan favorite" said manager Graig Nettles.

Meanwhile, Honolulu finally did something about their glut of catchers. The Sharks shipped off Brian McCann to D.C. in exchange for pitcher Mark Buehrle and a third round pick. Buerhle will solidify a solid staff featuring Roy Oswalt and Jered Weaver, while McCann slides right into the starting lineup for the Bushslappers. Kenji Johjima is expected to take over the everyday catching duties for the Sharks.

Reyes of Sunshine

Las Vegas rookie Anthony Reyes put on an impressive showing last night against the Mudcats. Reyes carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning and ended up with a complete game, two-hit shutout of the 'Cats. Reyes struck out 7 and walked two. Bill Hall broke up the no-no leading off the ninth with a single up the middle.

There was an exciting game in Marietta, where Vancouver earned their third straight win - all by one run and two in extra innings. Vancouver jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead in the second by pounding the snot out of starter A.J. Burnett. Marietta started creeping back and eventually narrowed the score to 7-6, but Vancouver extended their lead to 11-6. The Mighty Men erupted in the eighth inning, scoring six runs off relievers Chris Britton and Billy Wagner. The Mighty Men were clinging to a 12-11 lead when they brought in their usually-reliable closer Mariano Rivera, but Mr. Clutch, Conor Jackson came through again and tied the game on a double in the gap. Finally in the bottom of the tenth, Jason Bay singled and Michael Young scored to win the game for the Fist.

As lucky as Vancouver has been, Team Buddah has been just the opposite. The dropped their third straight game, all one-run losses.

The Sugar Bears were held in check for the first time this season. And by "in check" I mean single digit scoring. The potent Newark lineup still put up eight runs against Dontrelle Willis and won the game to improve to 4-0. Michael Barrett hit a grand slam in the first inning to set the stage. Tomorrow the Bears face their first right hander of the season.

Two more waiver claims yesterday. Arkansas snagged Orlando Cabrera from Sardine City and Las Vegas grabbed a couple of middle relievers.