Stanton eclipses career strikeout record, breaks into top 10 career HRs

Giancarlo Stanton supplanted Alex Rodriguez in the record books, setting a new DMBL mark for career strikeouts.

End of the line: David Ortiz

On the eve of the start of a new season, some players won't be back for 2018, hanging up their DMBL cleats for good.

2017 Mitchell Award candidates

Here are 12 candidates, and then some, who could be worthy of your support on the ballot for the annual Kevin Mitchell Award honoring the league's most valuable batter.

Kershaw's dominant playoff run ends with MVP

Clayton Kershaw was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2017 DMBL playoffs after completing an utterly dominating postseason run in which he won two games in each round of the playoffs, including the Game 7 clincher for the Hoboken Cutters.

Cutters, Kershaw crush Straphangers in Game 7 to win second World Series title

Clayton Kershaw capped a dominant postseason run with his second shutout of the World Series for Hoboken in a 12-0 blowout of Sardine City in Game 7. It's the second DMBL World Series title in five years for the Cutters, who came back from a game down for the third consecutive round.

Cutters force Game 7 behind Scherzer

For the first time since 2010, there will be a Game 7 in the DMBL World Series.

Grandal's 9th inning HR ties Game 2, Ortiz wins it in 10th for Cutters

Yasmani Grandal's 9th-inning home run off Koji Uehara tied the game and an inning later, David Ortiz's fourth hit gave Hoboken a 6-5 victory over Sardine City in Game 2 of the DMBL World Series.

Hoboken edges Sardine City in Game 1 behind error, Kershaw 1-hit shutout

The Hoboken Cutters left 11 men on base but managed to score one run on an error. That was enough for Clayton Kershaw, who limited Sardine City to one hit in their World Series debut, facing the minimum 27 batters in a 1-0 Game 1 victory that was almost the first perfect game in playoff history.

Scherzer shuts down Tucson in Game 7 win

There will be a new champion crowned in DMBL this season.

Cutters force Game 7 with Kingsnakes

Clayton Kershaw won his fourth start of the postseason and his second elimination game to will No. 3 Hoboken to a Game 7 against 2nd-seeded and defending champion Tucson with Friday night's 5-1 victory.

Cruz clubs two homers for Tucson

Reigning postseason MVP Nelson Cruz went 4-for-4 with two home runs to help Tucson beat Hoboken, 5-3, evening their semifinal series with Hoboken at 2-2.

Kershaw shuts down Tucson

Clayton Kershaw limited Tucson to 2 hits over 7 innings and the bullpen held on for 4-1 win at Hoboken in Game 3, to take a 2-1 lead in the Best-of-7 semifinal series.

Hoboken comes back to beat Hopatcong 5 in games

Can a 1st-round series be epic even if it's not a Best-of-7? Third-seeded Hoboken and No. 6 Hopatcong tried to find out in the opening round.

Opening week review

Grand slams galore and a six-player trade highlighted the opening week of the 2017 regular season.

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.

A Big Sunday For Halladay & Howard

Ryan Howard belted his 300th career home run on Sunday afternoon, becoming the 22nd player in league history to get to 300. He's the second player to reach 300 during this season, with a few more possibly still to come in 2012. Rowdy's Lance Berkman pelted No. 300 earlier this year and sitting on the cusp of 300, going into Wednesday's matchups, are Hoboken's David Ortiz at 298 and Bridgewater's Carlos Beltran at 297.

Howard has hit 14 home runs in 54 games (after Tuesday's win) since coming to Vancouver from Philly in exchange for a first-round pick. Used mainly as a DH, with some time at 1B, Howard has a line of .250/.311/.515 during his time in Vancouver after hitting just 12 home runs in 77 games with Philly, including .226/.315/.412.

In game one of Sunday's doubleheader, Howard launched a solo home run after teammate John Mayberry's solo home run, chasing Marietta starter David Price in the fourth inning for this 300th. The Fisters ultimately fell, 9-7, to the Mighty Men.

Roy Halladay pitched a complete game shutout Sunday afternoon, breaking a tie with Kevin Brown for fourth place all-time in complete games. The righthander now has 71 complete games, trailing only future Hall of Famers Roger Clemens (84), Curt Schilling (87) and Greg Maddux (104). It also was his 22nd career shutout, putting him within two of Brown for second and within 10 of Maddux, the all-time leader with 32 shutouts.

Halladay went the distance in Hoboken's 11-0 thrashing of Sardine City on Sunday, limiting the Straphangers to four hits while striking out five and walking two. It was his first shutout and second complete as a Cutter, improving to 5-4 in 11 starts with a 4.62 ERA since being shipped from Philly, along with a 6th rounder, in exchange for Giancarlo Stanton. Combined, Halladay is now 14-8 with a 3.24 ERA, including seven complete games (second only to James Shields of Newark with nine) and three shutouts.

Six Hits For Coghlan Without a Run, RBI To Show For It

Going 6-for-7 from the leadoff spot, you'd think Chris Coghlan would have played a big part in Hoboken's 7-5 win over Sardine City in 13 innings Saturday night. After all, the rest of the team only managed 7 hits combined.

Amazingly, despite tying the league record for hits in a game (now shared by a dozen players), the Cutters centerfielder managed to not collect a single RBI or a score one measly run.

Coghlan led off the game with a double before getting stranded at third. He grounded out to second for his only out, after J.J. Hardy led off the third inning with a home run. In the fourth, he singled after another Hardy homer, this time a three-run shot off starter Ubaldo Jimenez, only to have Ian Kinsler end the inning one at-bat later.

Coghlan greeted reliever Octavio Dotel with a single to lead off the seventh before Kinsler grounded to short, forcing Coghlan at second. Kinsler got as far as second before the Cutters ended the inning.

In the ninth, Coghlan singled off Daniel Bard with one out, and the Cutters, again, quietly went away, leaving him on first.

Coghlan found himself leading off an inning again, this time the 12th, and doubling again. Jose Bautista advanced him to third with a groundout to second, but after David Ortiz was intentionally walked, Miguel Cabrera struck out to end the inning.

In the 13th, Matt Joyce broke the tie with a two-run home run to give the Cutters the lead. Coghlan then came to bat with two outs, doubling deep to left center. Kinsler followed up with a groundout to second, ending the inning. Totaling up the night, Coghlan had six hits in all -- three doubles and three singles, for nine total bases. But zero RBIs and zero runs scored!

Coghlan was selected with the 14th pick in the 4th round (62nd overall) of this year's draft. He was Hoboken's opening day center-fielder before losing his job to free agent Nate McLouth and getting sent down for part of the season. He's seen some action in left and right field but has made 81 starts in center for the Cutters. After scuffling around .220 most of the season, he's now hitting .263 for the year.

Coghlan had what now looks like a career year during his rookie campaign with Arkansas in 2010, hitting .314 with 30 doubles in 151 games. He was selected 6th overall in that year's draft, sandwiched between two Hillsborough picks: after Carlos Gonzalez and before Gordon Beckham. He tied with Homer Bailey of Philly for 4th in the Pat Listach Rookie of the Year balloting with 3 points (one second-place vote and a third-place vote), ahead of Vancouver's Ron Belisario (1 point). Kendry Morales won the award that year.

Monday Night Long Balls

Offense was the order of the day throughout the league Monday night as two players compiled six RBIs each amidst multi-home games.

Adam Jones blasted three home runs to lead Rowdy Roddy Pipers over division rival Marietta, 10-7, at Bullhead Memorial Stadium. The Pipers centerfielder, acquired in the offseason from Vancouver for two draft picks, homered in his first three at-bats, all off of the Mighty Men's Chris Carpenter: two-run bombs in the 2nd and 6th innings, with a solo shot in the 4th. He capped off his night with a run-scoring single in the 7th, finishing 4-for-4 with 6 RBIs. He was hardly the only Piper with four hits: Prince Fielder and Michael Young each went 4-for-5 to help C.C. Sabathia even his record at 8-8.

Over in St. Louis, two Cutters both blasted a pair of home runs to lead Hoboken to a 13-4 victory. David Ortiz hit a solo shot and a two-run bomb while one of Jose Bautista's two home runs -- his league-leading 34th and 35th -- was a grand slam to help him finish with six RBIs.

It wasn't entirely about the batters though. Traded last week along with two draft picks in exchange for Javier Vazquez, Doug Fister made his second outstanding start for Sardine City, going eight innings for the win. Now 2-0, Fister has yielded only three runs over 16 innings for the Straphangers, after a 3-9 start with a 4.53 ERA for Bridgewater.

Home run No. 300 for Berkman

Lance Berkman became the 21st player in DMBL history to reach 300 career home runs, and doing so against the franchise he broke in with more than a decade ago. Just after teammate Adam Jones was picked off first base by rookie Michael Pineda in the second inning, The Big Puma launched a homer deep down the right-field line.

Next up on the home run list is Rafael Palmeiro at 20th, with 330 home runs, so Berkman has an outside chance at catching him if he can reach 38 round-trippers in 2012.

Berkman had been a stalwart in the Arkansas offense ever since being a 1st round pick (13th overall) in the 2001 draft. He hit no fewer than 24 home runs (4x) in 9 of 10 seasons with the Golden Falcons, including a career-high 39 in 2007, and never hit lower than .800 OPS (if you round up his .799 OPS in 2008).

Released by Arkansas at age 34, Fat Elvis was selected in the 13th round of the 2011 draft by Sardine City but eventually released and ended up scuffling most of last season with Carolina (now Rowdy), where he's manning right field this year.

"Hear that?  Yeah, that was No. 300."

Behind Berkman on the all-time home run list is a real horse race, with four active players closely jockeying all season. Currently, David Ortiz of Hoboken is ahead at 283 homers (8 on the year), followed by a tie between Philly's Ryan Howard (6) and Bridgewater's Carlos Beltran (5) with 281, and Vancouver's Todd Helton at 279 (3).

We have a new champion!

That's right, the Vancouver Iron Fist have unseated the 4-time defending champion Newark Sugar Bears in a tough 7-game series. Vancouver won for just the first time since 1994 and the first time in the DMB Era. Vancouver has appeared 5 times before in the World Series since their last win, but lost to Newark 3 times and Arkansas twice.

As in 4 of the 6 previous games, Vancouver got on the board first. Victor Martinez blasted a 3-run homer in the second inning and Curtis Granderson had an RBI single to give the Fist a 4-0 lead. Chipper Jones, who has hit 4 home runs in this series, then hit a solo home run to put the Sugar Bears on the board. With the score 5-2 in the 5th, Moises Alou dropped in a single to score 2 more runs, extending the lead to 7-2. Vancouver piled on and scored two more runs in the next inning. But count the Sugar Bears out at your own peril. In the bottom of the 6th, the Sugar Bears would score two more runs, then scored two more in the 7th, closing it to 9-6. In the 8th however, David Ortiz hit a big 2-run home run to give the Fist the confidence to close it out. Vancouver tacked on 3 more in the 9th to make it 14-6. Billy Wagner retired the side in order in the 9th to earn his 2nd playoff save. Rich Hill earned the win in his only postseason start, going 6.1 innings and giving up 6 runs. James Shields was roughed up again in the Cereal Bowl, lasting only 2+ innings and giving up 5 runs on 7 hits.

David Ortiz was given the Bud Black Award as the playoff MVP. Ortiz led the team with 7 post-season home runs, including 3 in the World Series, and 17 RBIs. "To be honest" said manager Darren Daulton at the post-game press conference "there were many MVPs on this club. Ben Sheets, Chase Utley, Curtis Granderson, Todd Helton, the list goes on. That's the mark of a great team!"