Lincecum this close to perfect

Wow, how about that game from Tim Lincecum? The Las Vegas Rat Pack starter nearly had the DMBL's first perfect game until that jerk Jermaine Dye decided to break things up with a single in the 9th inning. It was the only baserunner the Falcons would get in the 2-0 defeat. Meanwhile, Lincecum struck out 16 batters and improved to 11-1 in perhaps the league's most dominant start ever.

Well, we're going to do awards today, since it's a short week. Let's start with the batters. This week's JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week goes to Marietta's Orlando Hudson, who hit an impressive .433 (13-30) with 10 runs scored and 7 RBIs. Hudson carried a .455 on base percentage with a .767 slugging. Enjoy some smooth Villars during the break, Orlando!

Hudson's teammate Brian Giles had an odd line this week - the outfielder had a decent week, .324, with a .900 OPS, scoring a whopping 16 runs. However, for some reason, Giles only had one RBI during the last week and a half. Other top performers: D.C.'s Brian McCann (.400/.462/.771, 3 HR, 10 RBI), Hillsborough's Freddy Sanchez (.400/.404/.511, 10 R) doing a bang up job replacing Ron Belliard, then winning his job; Hoboken's Hanley Ramirez (.406/.472/.531), Amityville's Dioner Navarro (.429/.447/.629) and Newark's Chipper Jones (.375/.458/.688, 10 R, 15 RBI).

Well, looking over the past week+ and really, yesterday's start just seals the deal for Las Vegas' Tim Lincecum. Lincecum was the only 3-0 pitcher over the period and put together a 0.72 ERA, while striking out 31 in 25 innings and allowing 13 baserunners for an 0.52 WHIP. Yeah easy call to give him this week's Literal Videos Pitcher of the Week Award.

A few pitchers seemed on the path to rejuvenating their struggling seasons - Arkansas' Johan Santana (2-0, 0.56, 0.69), D.C.'s Todd Wellemeyer (2-0, 1.26), and Hillsborough's Felix Hernandez (1-1, 1.20). Other top performers: Hoboken's Clayton Kershaw (1-0, 1.29) and Mark Buehrle (1-0, 1.80), Amityville's Jon Lester (1-0, 1.13), and Newark's Joe Saunders (2-0, 1.80) and Chien-Ming Wang (2-0, 1.88). The top reliever of the week was Marietta's Mariano Rivera, who closed out 5 games with 5 saves and held a 1.35 ERA in 6.2 innings.

Big Day o' Trades

Yesterday was a big day in the DMBL Hot Stove league, as three trades were consummated.

The Hillsborough Hired Hitmen were at the center of two of them. The Hitmen sent promising outfielder Chris Young to the Philadelphia Endzone Animals for a 3rd pick in this year's draft and a 7th round pick in next year's. Young spent all of 2007 in Hillsborough's AAA affiliate. Young has a good combo of power and speed that the Animals plan to put to good use.

The Hitmen also sent another prospect, shortstop Stephen Drew, to the Sardine City Straphangers for their 10th round pick. The Straphangers will probably leave incumbent Khalil Greene unprotected with the acquisition of Drew. Like Young, Drew spent all of 2007 in AAA and both players will be rookie-elligible for '08.

The third trade of the day involved the Mighty Men, who have been one of the most active teams over the offseason. The Mighty Men sent veteran reliever Trevor Hoffman to the Blue Ridge Bombers for second baseman Orlando Hudson. Hoffman will anchor the Bomber bullpen and bring his veteran leadership to the team's young pitching staff. Hudson had been ruled superfluous with Richie Weeks and Dan Uggla also available to play second. It is the first trade for the Bombers since Tom Zagenczyk took over the team back in October.