Poovey clinches series on 1st ever playoff no-hitter

Poovey Farms punched their ticket to the semi-finals in historic fashion with the first no-hitter in the DMBL playoffs.

A look at the playoff race down the stretch

Entering Sunday's doubleheader, there were three different ties involving eight teams across the standings with about a dozen games remaining for most teams.

Wells throws Newark's 2nd no-hitter

After two near misses for no-hitters the past two Sundays, Tyler Wells finished the job and threw the second no-hitter in Newark Sugar Bears' history but the first for the franchise in almost a quarter century.

Philly wins 2024 draft lottery

The last time Philadelphia selected No. 1 overall -- in the pre-draft lottery days of 2002 -- they struck gold with a generational talent in Albert Pujols.

2022 draft lottery results

In the first year of the league's 20-team field, 12 teams missed the playoffs and entered the 2022 draft. 

Hillsborough chasing HR record

Hillsborough has been leading the league in home runs all season and with less than 30 games remaining, the Hit Men are within striking distance of breaking the record for team home runs in a season.

Another Sunday, another no-hitter

Brick City's Scott Feldman shut down the Allentown Mules, 4-0 on the road in Sunday's game one, tossing the second no-hitter in the DMBL this season and the second in as many Sundays. Last week, Bridgewater's Homer Bailey no-hit Sardine City.

It's the first no-hitter for Brick City since moving from Newark, and the 13th in league history. As the Sugar Bears, Newark saw a no-hitter by Randy Johnson against Kentucky in 2001.

The 31-year-old Feldman struck out five and walked none but hit three batters -- losing his chance at the DMBL's first-ever perfect game. Leading off the 3rd inning, Feldman hit Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who was erased when Mark Trumbo hit into a 5-4-3 double play in the next at-bat. With one out in the 7th, Feldman nailed Mike Trout and leading off the 9th hit pinch-hitter Neil Walker, who like Salty was eliminated on a GDP, this time 6-4-3 by Jimmy Rollins.

The 6-foot, 7-inch Hawaii native improved to 3-0 in tossing his first shutout of the year, lowering his ERA to 2.74 on the season. He was backed by home runs from Avisail Garcia and Gordon Beckham. John Lackey also went the distance for the Mules but allowed 4 runs on 7 hits while striking out 7 to take the loss.

Allentown may be hitting a league-low .223 through Sunday's doubleheaders but the Mules still feature a lineup that includes Trout, Adrian Gonzalez and Giancarlo Stanton.

The surprise pitching gem stole the headlines from Sunday's other big story, on the batting side: home runs by Pedro Alvarez in three straight at-bats in Durham's 7-4 victory at Empire City.

Career Retrospective: Chris Carpenter

If it's the last that the DMBL will see of Chris Carpenter he certainly went out in a blaze of glory.

Carpenter, who will turn 38 later this month, recently said he fears that he may never pitch again after continuing symptoms from a blot clot in his shoulder. And don't confuse him for the soon-to-be 48-year-old Cris Carpenter, whose career consisted of eight relief appearances in 1993 with Austin.

Carpenter arguably saved his best seasons for last, tasting postseason glory in two of his final three years. He was on the mound in Game 7 to clinch the Bridgewater's first title in 2010, striking out 10 and walking two while going the distance to secure a 7-1 win over Newark. Marietta's rotation was so stacked last season that he didn't make an appearance in the Mighty Men's four-game sweep of Vancouver in the DMBL World Series.

The New Hampshire native pitched nine seasons across 13 years in the DMBL. He broke in with Columbia as the first pick of the fifth round in the 1999 draft. He spent two seasons there (only 34 starts) before a brief three-game stint with Philly in 2001. After few years off, Carpenter came back strong in 2005 when Tijuana made him its first-round selection (11th overall, after Khalil Greene and before Danny Kolb). He made the move with the franchise to South Boston, and won a career-high 17 games in 2006 before splitting 2007 between South Boston and Vancouver. The Gang dealt him straight up to the Iron First for Prince Fielder.

Then, Carpenter was hit with the injury bug again, taking off 2008 and 2009 before finishing his career with a flourish. Bridgewater (which still played in D.C. at the time) wisely plucked Carpenter in Round 7 of the 2009 draft as an ineligible player, since he was still recovering from Tommy John surgery. He returned in glorious fashion, going 16-10 with career bests of 3.59 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and nine complete games, in leading them to the postseason.

After bringing Bridgewater its first championship, Carpenter was dealt to Marietta in a complex, three-way deal involving Las Vegas, which included the likes of Josh Hamilton, David Price, Mark Teixeira and Alex Gordon, among others.

Carpenter made his name as a gutty workhorse in the clutch, eclipsing 200 innings in his last three seasons, including a career-high 234.3 (and career-high 179 Ks) in 2011 with the Mighty Men. Over his career, he averageD one complete game every eight starts; his 26 complete games (along with seven shutouts) rank in the top 20 all-time, in just 221 career starts (11.75 percent CG %). His seven shutouts ties him for 20th all-time, with seven other pitchers, including several still active.

Carpenter is 88-73 (.537), which ranks him about 30th in all-time wins, tied with Jason Schmidt, one better than Hideo Nomo and Henderson Alvarez, and one behind David Wells. He posted six winning seasons and lost precisely 10 games in four different seasons (only one of which was under .500). Interestingly, Nomo was the last pick of the 4th round in 1999, by Arkansas, just before Carpenter. He has a career ERA of 4.67 ERA and WHIP of 1.39.

Hall of Fame? Not quite. Damn fine career? You bet!

Wild Day Ends Regular Season

After 162 games, and a myriad potential tiebreakers heading into yesterday's finale, the 2012 playoff teams have been determined:

#1 Marietta, 107-55
#2 Vancouver, 92-70
#3 Hopatcong, 90-72
#4 Amityville, 89-73
#5 Hoboken, 87-75
#6 Newark, 87-75

Amityville will host Hoboken to open the playoffs on Wednesday while Newark will visit Hopatcong to open their best-of-five series on Thursday, a rematch of the three-game set this past weekend.

Hoboken beat Marietta, 5-2, eliminating Hillsborough and Bridgewater (despite their 8-6 extra-inning win over Philly). The Cutters clinched the playoffs outright when Rowdy's bullpen blew a lead and lost 5-2 to St. Louis. A Pipers' win would have forced a playoff. Hoboken jumped into the #5 seed when Newark lost to Hopatcong, 5-4, finishing with the same record but a 6-4 advantage over the Sugar Bears during the season.

Young Snatches Batting Title From V-Mart

Michael Young caught Victor Martinez on the final day of the season to win the batting title, .333 to .332.

Batting out of the five-hole, Rowdy's third baseman collected 2 hits in 3 at-bats, including an all-important walk in his final plate appearance. Young was on-deck when Carl Crawford ended the game on a flyout to center. He finished the season with a league-high 222 hits in 672 at-bats (.333333).

Batting cleanup for the Mallers, Martinez went 1 for 5 to finish the year with 161 hits in 485 hits, for a batting average of .331958.

Season Finale Playoff Scenarios

The final playoff spots will be determined one way or another today, the last day of the 2012 season.

If the playoffs were to start today, the seeds would look like this:
#1 Marietta, 107-54
#2 Vancouver, 92-70
#3 Hopatcong, 89-72
#4 Amityville, 88-73
#5 Newark, 87-74
#6 Rowdy, 86-75
#6 Hoboken, 86-75
 -----------------------------------
#8 Bridgewater, 85-76, 1 game back
#8 Hillsborough, 85-76, 1 game back

Marietta and Vancouver have locked up the top two seeds, meaning a first-round bye and hosting the second round of the playoffs. If the standings hold, there would be a one-game playoff between Hoboken and Rowdy for the 6th and final seed.

Other scenarios going into Saturday's season finale:
Hopatcong
The Floating Fish clinched their first-ever division title after Thursday's win over Newark and they control their own destiny when it comes to a 3rd seed.
* Win -- clinches #3 seed outright and would face the #6 seed in the first round.
* Lose -- clinches #3 seed if Amityville also loses; if Amityville wins, they go to tie-breakers to determine #3 seed.

Amityville
The Ant Slayers also clinched their first division title earlier this week so they can't do worse than a #4 seed, but they need Hopatcong to lose if they have any hopes to jump to #3.
* Win -- hope Hopatcong loses to Newark to finish in a tie at 89-73, forcing a tie-breaker for the third seed.
*  Lose -- even if Hopatcong loses, Amityville finishes a game behind at 88-74, in the #4th seed, which would face the #5 seed in round one.

Newark
* Win -- clinches #5 seed. The Sugar Bears could finish with a better record than Amityville if the Ant Slayers lose, but as a division winner, Amityville would be the #4 seed.
* Lose -- clinches #5 seed if Rowdy and Hoboken lose but if either wins, they finish in a tie with them, so there's the potential for a three-way tie at 87 wins.

Rowdy
* Win -- clinches a minimum of a one-game playoff depending on Hoboken's outcome and eliminates Bridgewater and Hillsborough. The Pipers would secure #6 seed outright if they beat St. Louis and Hoboken loses to Marietta, and they would tie Newark for #5 seed if Sugar Bears lose.
* Lose -- hope Hoboken loses also, to force a tie; if Hoboken wins, Rowdy is out. If Bridgewater and Hillsborough both win, they tie Rowdy in this scenario.

Hoboken
* Win -- clinches at least another game to play and knocks out Hillsborough and Bridgewater. If Rowdy also wins, it sets up a one-game playoff for the #6 seed. If Newark also loses, the three teams finish in a tie for the two wild card seeds. A tie-breaker is avoided if Rowdy loses and the Cutters do no worse than the #6 seed.
* Lose -- root for Rowdy to lose to St. Louis, to set up that one-game playoff.

Bridgewater and Hillsborough
* Win -- The gentle neighbors to the west are in the same boat; they need losses by Rowdy and Hoboken to finish in at least a tie for the #6 seed. There's the potential for a four-way tie at 86-76. The Mallers phace Philly while the Hit Men take on Amityville.
* Lose -- See you in 2013.

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)

Tomlin Tosses No-Hitter For Hopatcong

In a year of many firsts for the Hopatcong franchise, Josh Tomlin threw the first no-hitter in Floating Fish history Tuesday night, downing Livingston 5-0 in the midst of a heated pennant race. It was the second no-hitter in the league this season and the 11th in league history. Just last month, Ubaldo Jimenez and Jason Motte combined to fire Sardine City's first no-hitter.

The Floating Fish gave Tomlin some breathing room with single runs in each of the first three innings and Tomlin ended up facing the minimum 27 batters. He walked Jimmy Rollins leading off the fourth but B.J. Upton promptly grounded to second for a double play. Tomlin's only other blemish, another leadoff walk, this time to Danny Espinosa in the 6th, also was erased via the twin killing, when Justin Smoak grounded to second to end the inning, after Jonathan LuCroy reached on a fielder's choice. Smoak later flied out to left to end the game.

Adding to the excitement, Brett Gardner pulled off a rare steal of home in the 6th inning, with Chase Headley taking second base, and the Floating Fish faithful packing The Mud Hole were on their feet the rest of the way. While Hopatcong improved to a franchise-record 87-71, remaining a game ahead of Newark in the Kruk Division, the first-year Livingston Last Place dropped to 47-111, long ago clinching the most balls in the draft lottery.

Tomlin struck out 5 and walked 2, improving to 16-7 and lowered his ERA to an even 3.00, and WHIP to 1.04 (both categories are second in the league trailing only Justin Verlander). He's been among the Floating Fish's most consistent pitchers all season, leading the squad with 16 wins and 5 complete games, including 2 shutouts. Perhaps it was the all-star snub that fueled Tomlin's fire all season. Despite a 9-3 and a 2.80 ERA at the break, as well as being among the league leaders in QS%, R/9 and OPS, Tomlin wasn't selected though he did receive votes.

The 27-year-old righthander was taken by Hopatcong with the 3rd pick of the 5th rounder (67th overall) this year. Last season, he made 28 starts for Newark, after the Sugar Bears used a supplemental 7th round pick (77th overall) on him. He finished 2011 with a respectable 1.14 WHIP and 4.08 ERA but a not-so-respectable 6-15 record for a Newark team that lost a franchise-record 113 games.

And Down The Stretch They Come!

Fewer than a dozen games remain in the 2012 DMBL season for most teams and while there's some uncertainty left as to seeding, the real drama looks like who will clinch the final few playoff spots.

The Marietta juggernaut (100-52) wrapped up its division last week and will secure the top seed. With their divisions safely in hand, Vancouver (87-66, with a magic number of 1) and Amityville (85-67/4) could battle for seeding in the final week. The difference between a No. 2 and No. 3 seed is a first-round bye.

The only division that seems to be left up for grabs is the Kruk, which also looks like it'll play a major role in determining the wild cards; it's conceivable that three of the four teams could be in the postseason. Newark, Hopatcong and Bridgewater have traded wins and losses for a few weeks, staying with a few games of one another.

Entering Thursday's action, the Sugar Bears held the division lead by just 1/2 game over the Floating Fish, who were only a 1/2 game ahead of the Mallers for the 6th and final playoff seed. After Thursday's games, it was Hopatcong (82-70) leading the division by a 1/2 game over Newark (82-71) and Bridgewater (82-71)!

Hopatcong will make the trip down 280 to Newark for a season-ending three-game series that potentially could crown the division champion -- or maybe the division's lone playoff representative. But before that, the Floating Fish have to go down 287 to Bridgewater this weekend in a three-game set that could provide some separation. Probable starters in the series line up like this:

HPG - Collmenter (12-12, 4.54) v. BRI - Beachy (16-5, 4.52)
Stauffer (5-16, 6.15) v. Lincecum (6-1, 2.93 w/ BRI; 13-6, 3.28)
Cain (12-8, 3.53) v. Vazquez (1-6, 5.67 w/ BRI; 8-10, 3.43)

As for the wild cards, current Van Slyke runner-up Rowdy (83-70) enters Friday's games with a slim one-game lead on Newark and Bridgewater, with division rival Hoboken (81-72) just two games behind. That scenario sets up a playoff-like atmosphere at Rowdy this weekend where the Cutters come in for three games. The pitching matchups in Rowdy appear to be:

HBK - Jurrjens (14-13, 4.34) v. RWD - Gallardo (8-11, 5.65)
Kuroda (5-10, 5.67) v. Sabathia (13-10, 4.91)
Kershaw (13-5, 3.57) v. Wilson (12-8, 4.01)

Until this week, Hillsborough (78-74) and Sardine City (79-75) were still in the thick of the hunt and while there's been some separation in the past few days, these two just won't go away - both still stand within 3 1/2 games of the final seed after winning Thursday night with 10 and 9 games to go, respectively. Hillsborough faced among the most daunting final two weeks, with eight of its final 14 games against playoff contenders. Rowdy has nine of its final 13 against contending squads.

Betancourt makes 500th appearance in relief

Relief pitchers don't usually get much press -- especially those who aren't closers -- but only 11 relievers in DMBL history have done what Newark's Rafael Betancourt accomplished last week: the Venezuelan native made his 500th career appearance. And it was a memorable one, a 3-2 win over Blue Ridge at the Cereal Bowl on Saturday. He tossed two hitless innings in relief of Matt Harrison and picked up the win.

Francisco Rodriguez was the last reliever to reach 500 appearances, doing it as a member of Marietta, which acquired him last year from Newark (Rodriguez, by the way, was shipped off for the sixth time in his career this past weekend, going from Las Vegas to Bridgewater as part of the Tim Lincecum-Chris Sale trade).

Prior to F-Rod, it had been three years since a pitcher reached 500 appearances: longtime Hoboken Cutter Jason Isringhausen did it in 2008 before getting dealt to Philly. Next up figures to be Joe Nathan, who's appeared in 18 games this season for Las Vegas, leaving him just 12 games away from 500.

Betancourt appeared in 82 games for Marietta last season, matching the career high he set in his rookie year with Phoenix in 2004. The Sugar Bears plucked Betancourt with the first pick of the third round of this year's draft.

Over his first seven seasons (he took 2009 off), Betancourt averaged 67 appearances primarily as a set-up man. He may have a paltry 14 career saves but boasts a stellar record of 42-16 (.724) entering the 2012 campaign.

K-Rod cracks top 10 in all-time appearances

Francisco Rodriguez passed Jason Isringhausen to move into 9th all-time in appearances, with 542. K-Rod tossed two scoreless innings of relief in Sunday's game one, a 7-6 home win over Amityville.

With 31 appearances this year, Rodriguez is on pace to move into the top 5 in 2012. He passed Rick Aguilera (513) earlier this season to break into the top 10 and also is second among active pitchers, trailing only Mariano Rivera (1,156). Isringhausen is active, with 541 appearances, but hasn't signed on with a franchise this season. A busy year and K-Rod could very well reach Billy Wagner, who's 4th all-time with an even 700 games; he's averaged 64 appearances over his first eight seasons.

Though he hasn't yet recorded a save, K-Rod is enjoying a fine season in his return to Las Vegas, who selected him at the end of the 6th round this year. He's 1-2 with a 2.47 ERA and 1.02 WHIP, but even more impressively, only 4 of 24 inherited runners have scored (.167).

K-Rod also stands 8th all-time in saves with 128 but hasn't been a full-time closer since his days with Blue Ridge (2008-2010). He needs only two saves to match Roberto Hernandez for 7th all-time.

Now in his ninth season, Rodriguez broke in with Philly as a 2nd round pick (20th overall) in 2004. He notched a career-high 34 saves in back-to-back campaigns in 2006 and 2007 and then was shipped to Las Vegas with Erik Bedard in exchange for Mark Teixeira and a 3rd round pick. But it wasn't the last time he'd be traded; in fact, K-Rod has been shipped off to other teams five times in his career.

By July 2008, the Rat Pack exchanged him for Joe Nathan in a deal with then-D.C. (now Bridgewater) but he never threw a pitch for the Bushslappers. Mere weeks later, he was included in a seven-player deal to Blue Ridge. He spent a few good years with the Bombers, who then dealt him to Newark for an 11th-rounder before the start of last season. He didn't spend much with the Sugar Bears either, going to Marietta in a giant eight-player deal early in the 2011 campaign.

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).

BREAKING NEWS: Freddie Freeman Is Not Black

Outrage in Newark tonight as Sugar Bear Third Base Coach Charles Johnson discovered recently acquired Freddie Freeman is not black.

Johnson, making an impromptu visit to the Triple-A Dublin Lucky Charms, spotted the 21-year-old first baseman working out during pre-game warm-ups. Freeman had been acquired last month, along with pitcher Justin Masterson, from the Hoboken Cutters as part of the first rebuilding campaign in Sugar Bear history.

"Who the hell is that white dude and why is he wearing Freeman's jersey?" a perplexed Johnson asked Lucky Charms manager John Thomson.

Even after being told the "white dude" was indeed Freeman, Johnson wasn't convinced, and ordered security to throw Freeman out of the ballpark. It was only until he was shown Freeman's driver's license, passport, and certificate of live birth (long form) that Johnson was finally convinced of the player's identity.

He was clearly disappointed.

"Here I thought we got a young Fred McGriff, and instead it's a young Ryan Klesko," Johnson sniffed.

Not that Johnson should complain about that -- Klesko had a pretty good career as a Sugar Bear.

Still, he intends on filing a complaint with the Commissioner's Office for "false advertising."

"I haven't been this faked out by a player's non-blackness since Khalil Greene," Johnson said. "In fact, I'm still pretty sure that dude is a brother -- just really pale."

No. 400 for Chipper

Newark's Chipper Jones continues to fill out his ballot for a spot in the DMBL Hall of Fame, launching his 400th career home run Thursday night. His 8th inning solo home run off J.J. Putz tied the game at 5-5 but the Sugar Bears eventually lost, 8-5, at Miller Park in Carolina. He's the ninth player in league history to reach 400.

Chipper entered the season with 396 home runs, good for 9th all-time, and now trails former teammate Mike Piazza by six homers for the 8th spot. The longtime Sugar Bear ranks in the league's all-time top 10, if not top 5, in most major hitting categories.

Manny sets all-time mark for doubles

In what's been a historically bad start for Newark, Manny Ramirez has given Sugar Bears fans something to cheer about with some history of his own.
 The longtime Sugar Bear passed Edgar Martinez as the all-time DMBL leader in doubles with 494 when he smacked a two-bagger off Bridgewater's Joel Pineiro Monday night. Ramirez matched Martinez two games earlier with his 493rd career double, off Philly's Matt Garza. Earlier this season, he became the fourth player in league history to appear in 2,000 games.

Ramirez likely will soon become the first DMBLer to hit 500 doubles and is also closing in on 500 career home runs, a mark reached by only two others (Alex Rodriguez  and Barry Bonds). He'd be the first to hit 500 doubles and 500 homers.

In other all-time categories, Ramirez ranks 1st in strikeouts (the only one with 2,000+), 2nd in RBIs, 4th in runs, 4th in games played, 5th in hits and 7th in walks.

Mallers win first Championship

The Mallers took game 7 decisively with a 7-1 final. Both teams started out by scoring one run in the first inning. In the 5th, the Mallers finally got to Javier Vazquez, scoring 3 runs and opening up a 4-1 lead. The Mallers scored 3 more runs in the next two innings to solidify their lead. Chris Carpenter went the distance, allowing 7 hits and two walks while striking out 10. Bobby Abreu was 3-5 with a homer and 3 RBIs and Ryan Zimmerman was 3-4. Abreu and Raul Ibanez were named the co-MVPs of the Series, sharing the Bud Black trophy. Ibanez hit .375 for the series including the tying HR in the game 5 that Bridgewater won 8-7. Abreu's homer in game 7 gave the Mallers the lead. "They deserve it equally" said Jaime Landsman after much deliberation.