Brain cancer claims former 1st rounder

Chris Duncan, a former 1st round pick who spent three seasons in the DMBL, died Friday after battling brain cancer for several years. He was 38.

In memoriam: Yordano Ventura, Andy Marte

The baseball world, and by extension the DMBL world, lost two players last month to tragic car accidents in the Dominican Republic: Yordano Ventura, who was just 25, and 33-year-old Andy Marte, who was drafted as a budding prospect in the mid-2000s but never made the DMBL.

R.I.P. Jose Fernandez

The DMBL recently lost a budding superstar in Jose Fernandez, who was killed in a boating accident in September.

R.I.P., Ryan Freel

Former DMBL player Ryan Freel died today at the age of 36, apparently after shooting himself in the head with a shotgun inside his Florida home, according to an ESPN report.

Freel had played for five DMBL organizations over a four-year career as a utilityman. He retired following the 2008 season with a career .254 BA (.322 SLG, .313 OBP) in 1,760 AB.

Freel came into the league in 2005 with the Columbia Rattlesnakes after being drafted in the 4th Round (#50 overall), but he disappointed after hitting .242 (.600 OPS) in 529 at-bats. The following year he was taken in the 5th Round (#62) by the Las Vegas Rat Pack and had his best season, hitting .287 (.714 OPS) with 74 R, 19 2B, 5 3B, 3 HR, and 14 SB in 551 AB. The Honolulu Sharks drafted him the following year in the 9th Round (#113) of the 2007 draft and he had his worst season, hitting just .225 with a .598 OPS in 502 AB. He went undrafted in his final season, 2008, but the Hoboken Cutters signed him in May after an injury to Travis Buck. Freel hit .270 (.587 OPS) in 37 AB with the Cutters before he too went down with an injury. He was released a month later but was picked up a month later by the D.C. Bushslappers, where he would hit .270 (.602 OPS) in 35 AB.

R.I.P. Jeriome Robertson

It's been a bad couple weeks for former DMBL pitchers! After the tragic death of Jose Lima, now comes word that Jeriome Robertson was killed Saturday in a motorcycle crash. He was just 33 years old.

Robertson played just one season in the DMBL, pitching for the Hillsborough Destroyers in 2004 (0-2, 12.79 ERA, 2.37 WHIP in 19.0 IP). The Destroyers had selected him in the 10th Round (#135 overall) in that year's draft; it was the only time he was on a DMBL roster.

Remembering Jose Lima

Jose Lima didn't have a huge impact on the overall DMBL landscape - he only pitched in 3 seasons. Lima was signed as an undrafted free agent on May 1, 1998 by Carolina, but only lasted three months and was released in July. But Lima's mother called Mudcats owner Chris Pucci at home and made him feel bad about cutting the pitcher and in August, the Mudcats signed him back. While the contract specifically prohibited the Mudcats from cutting Lima, it didn't say anything about trading him. So the next year, the Cats sent Lima off to the New York Amazins (who would become the Hawaii Volcanoes later that year) in a deal for Kenny Rogers. The Amazins didn't hold onto him for too long and shipped him off to Jerusalem in a massive trade for, among others, legendary catcher Mike Piazza.

Lima was welcomed with open arms and a fresh bowl of matzoh ball soup. He soon got his chance to pitch, earning a prized spot in the Rabbis rotation and finishing with a very solid 12-10 with a 4.20 ERA. The Rabbis finished second in the Hanover Division that year with 98 wins, but were eliminated in the first round by Lima's arch enemy Carolina Mudcats.

2000 would be Lima Time as the Rabbis won the Hanover Division with 103 wins and continued on to win their first ever World Series championship. Lima regressed a bit, going 15-7, but with a 4.96 ERA. It was the last full season Lima would pitch.

Fresh off the championship season, Lima's contract had expired and the Rabbis elected not to resign him. He was drafted by the Golden Falcons in the 6th round of the Supplemental Round. There apparently wasn't much demand for Lima. He was released during spring training and did not pitch at all that season. In 2002, there were no offers, so Lima signed up with the independent Newark Bears (not affiliated with the Sugar Bears). In 2003, Vancouver signed him to a minor league deal and he pitched for their Triple A team in Tacoma. He was drafted in 2004 again in the Supplemental Round by Newark. But Newark cut him before the season began. Lima's mother again got on the phone and pleaded with Newark's owner Craig Garretson. "I know he sucks, but please give him a chance" Garretson recalls she told him. So the Sugar Bears signed Lima again in June. Lima pitched in 7 games and was disastrous (2-3, 7.04) and Newark released Lima in August.

Lima was again drafted in the Supplemental Round by Hoboken in 2005 (round 9), then cut during spring training. And that was it for Lima. For his career, Lima finished 29-20 with a 4.79 ERA in 72 games. Lima passed away over the weekend at the age of 37 of a heart attack. Hopefully for him, there's a Supplemental Round in the afterlife.

Cutters farmhand dies in tragic accident

Stunning news as Hoboken Cutters farmhand Nick Adenhart was tragically killed in a car accident last night. Adenhart was leaving a minor league game in which he had a superb outing, but his hopes and dreams of reaching the DMBL are now over. The Cutters drafted Adenhart in the 6th round of the 2009 draft. R.I.P.

Todd Wellemeyer and Roy Halladay dueled to a 1-0 final, with the O-Bombers ending the Mudcats' 5-game winning streak. Halladay went the distance in the loss, giving up 7 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 7. Wellemeyer didn't make it all the way through, but held the Cats to 6 hits in 8 innings. It was his first win of the season after losing his first 5 decisions. The lone run scored in the 3rd when Dan Uggle doubled in Jay Bruce.
Derek Lowe shut out the Iron Fist on 6 hits last night, sending the defending champions careening out of first place and into third. The Rats only managed 7 hits, but still scored five runs to give Lowe all the run support he'd need. It didn't help that Fist starter Chad Billingsley walked 5 in 5.2 innings. Carlos Pena was the offensive hero, going 2-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

The third shutout of the night belonged to Hillsborough's Felix Hernandez. Hernandez, perhaps finally ready to fulfill some of that promise, pitched 6.1 innings, holding the Bombers to 3 hits and striking out 6. The Hitmen gave him plenty of run support - Aubrey Huff was 3-4 with his 11th home run and 3 RBIs to lead Hillsborough to a 9-0 victory.

Philadelphia is now on a three day transaction streak. It all started Monday when the Animals cut Jeremy Affeldt and signed Jose Veras. The next day, the team felt they needed a bigger veteran presence and signed Ken Griffey and cut Matt Joyce. Yesterday, the club picked up Micah Owings and dumped Joe Blanton. Why? "Just for the heck of it" said club owner/GM Anthony Pucci. "I'm spinning the wheel to see who we can cut tomorrow!"

Hoboken, Honolulu improve their position

Hoboken kept at it with a 5-0, 2-hit shutout of South Boston yesterday. Boof Bonser gave the Cutters 7.2 innings and struck out nine. Chris Duncan's three-run homer in the third gave the Cutters all the runs they needed. Hoboken moved into sole possession of fifth place, a half game ahead of idle Hillsborough.

Meanwhile Honolulu took game one against Vancouver by a 2-1 margin. Cliff Lee outduelled Jake Peavy to improve to 5-7. Honolulu moved into a virtual tie with the Hitmen, though Hillsborough is percentage points ahead of the Sharks. Vancouver slipped back to 1 1/2 games out.

Newark pounded the crap out of D.C. yesterday 18-0. Slapper fans criticized the Sugar Bears for beating up on the reanimated corpse of Josh Hancock (2 IP, 9 H, 8 ER), but Newark manager Don Mattingly pointed out that no one showed them any mercy when zombie Darryl Kile took the mound for them several years ago. Carlos Guillen was 4-5 in the game and Jim Edmonds and Nick Johnson each had four RBIs.

Remembering Rod Beck

This past weekend, former DMBLer Rod Beck passed away. "Shooter" was a key member of the early Arkansas World Series run in 1993 and 1994. Although he didn't win in those seasons, Beck finally earned that World Series ring in 2001 as a member of the Newark Sugar Bears. Beck's finest season was either 1994 with Arkansas (12-6, 3.04 ERA, 11 saves, 113 K) or in 2004 with Carolina (3.69 ERA, 34 saves). Beck ended his career after that 2004 season with 91 career saves, a 3.74 ERA in 381 appearances. Beck also spent time with the Philadelphia Eagle Wings and the Louisiana Lightning. Beck was 38 years old.

Carolina and Vancouver played a marathon 14-inning game yesterday, with the Mudcats winning in the bottom of the 14th on an Aramis Ramirez homer that led off the inning. Brian Sweeney, taking one for the team, had already pitched four innings and began his fifth when he surrendered the solo shot. Carolina's bullpen held Vancouver hitless for the final seven innings of the game, while Vancouver surrendered only four hits in the final seven.

Hoboken picked up their fifth straight victory by routing the Mighty Men in Marietta yesterday. Omar Vizquel was 4-6 and Miguel Cabrera and Josh Bard each hit a homer and drove in three runs in the 11-5 victory.

Grief too much to bear for Reyes

Perhaps no one was affected by the news of Josh Hancock's demise more than teammate Jose Reyes. Reyes tried to play through the pain yesterday, but after legging out a double in the top of the 10th, Reyes asked to be taken out of the game. "I just couldn't go on pretending nothing was wrong" said Reyes after the game. Despite the fact that Hancock pitched in the game, and pitched well (2.1 IP, 0 runs), Reyes still opted out. "Maybe it was seeing him out there, a lifeless shell of what he was, that pushed him over the edge" said manager Kevin Elster. Reyes will take the rest of the week off to grieve. When asked to comment on the situation, the Josh Hancock zombie could only respond "brains....".

Meanwhile in Vancouver, Granderson-mania is running wild. The recently recalled rookie was 2-2 last night with a triple, raising his average to .800! Granderson has been subbing for the injured J.D. Drew. Granderson was so excited that he had to leave the game last night and will probably be rested tonight against lefty Johan Santana.

Hoboken's Vicente Padilla improved to 5-0 yesterday after an impressive 7 inning start in which he limited the Straphangers to two runs on eight hits and three walks. Padilla struck out seven.

Jered Weaver made his return from injury yesterday and looked good despite not factoring into the decision. Weaver pitched 8 innings, allowing 9 hits and 4 runs (2 earned), one walk and eight strikeouts. Reliever Tom Gordon blew the save for Weaver after the Sharks went up by one on a three-run ninth inning, but Gordon couldn't hold on to the lead and Team Buddah scored two to win the game on a Jacques Jones RBI-single in the ninth.

R.I.P. Josh Hancock

D.C. Bushslappers middle reliever Josh Hancock died tragically in a car accident over the weekend. He will however courageously continue through the end of the season, or however long, D.C. wants him, to pitch through his contract this season. "That's just the kind of guy Josh was" said teammate Dan Wheeler. Perhaps on his darkest day, he was given a spiritual boost when called on to pitch in the 16th inning of a marathon game with the Mighty Men. Hancock allowed the tying run to score, but pitched the 17th inning to record his third win of the season. Though not technically a rookie, Hancock was in his first season in the DMBL. He was drafted by Vancouver in the 2007 draft, but did not make the team out of spring training. D.C. later signed Hancock to bolster their relief corps. Hancock is not the first to fulfill his contract after dying. Mike Darr and Darryl Kile both were drafted and played after their deaths, though they were not very effective. "Vell, vat do you expect? Zey ver dead?" said former Sugar Bears team physician Otto von Frankenstein.

Jason Schmidt had a big day Friday night against South Boston. Schmidt pitched a complete game 4-hit shutout of the Gang to improve to 5-2 on the season. Schmidt is now tied with Tom Glavine for #15 on the all-time shutout list and his three strikeouts tied him with Bartolo Colon at number 14 with 1220 in his career. He also moved past Andy Benes on the all-time win list to number 24, one behind Colon.

J.D. Drew's injury Saturday opened the door for Curtis Granderson to get his first DMBL starts of his career. Granderson was called up from AAA Tacoma and immediately had an impact. Granderson was 3-4 in both games of yesterday's doubleheader against New Jersey, including two doubles and a triple. Granderson has now earned a shot at proving he belongs on the roster. "We'll let him play out J.D.'s injury and see where he stands when he comes back." said Ironfist manager Darren Daulton. Granderson will initially sit against lefties.

Weekend Roundup

Arkansas' Justin Morneau is at it again. Saturday, Morneau went 3-3 with 7 RBIs in the second game against Marietta and now is leading the league with 18 RBIs. The Falcons also said good-bye to Corey Lidle, who struggled in his start Friday. Lidle complained of a "dead arm" and after pitching coach Bret Saberhagen determined that not only his arm was dead, Lidle was let go. Lidle was upset, citing the fact that Darryl Kile and Mike Darr got to play after they had expired, but perhaps Lidle will get another chance yet.

Hillsborough's Ryan Howard hit a pair of homers on Sunday to take the league lead with 7 homers. Howard, of course, is the reigning Pat Listach Rookie of the Year. Though a platoon guy last year, Howard figures to become a full timer this season after proving last year that he can handle DMBL pitching.

First round pick Joel Zumaya of New Jersey got both wins in Sunday's doubleheader.