Glaus ousted from Newark

The champagne bottles haven't even emptied before the first trade of the season was completed. Newark sent platoon third baseman Troy Glaus to Philadelphia for outfielder J.D. Drew. Glaus returns to the place where it all began. Glaus began his career in 2000 for the Philadelphia Eagle Wings, sharing time at third base with Scott Rolen before being sent in a trade to Columbia before the 2003 season. Newark, who just lost in the DMBL World Series, said they couldn't get Glaus out of there soon enough. "It's all his fault" said Sugar Bears skipper Don Mattingly. "If it wasn't for that miserable bastard, we'd be the ones celebrating." Glaus hit a pathetic .182 in the playoffs, but with a respectable .763 OPS in 11 at bats. "I'm tired of making excuses for Troy" said an irate Butch Garretson after the Series. "Every day 'Oh I didn't get enough at bats' or 'What about Salty? It's downright pathetic." Glaus was puzzled by the statements. "I don't even think I got in enough games to be the sole reason we lost, but I guess they're entitled to their opinions" said Glaus on his way out of the stadium. Incumbent third baseman Chipper Jones is looking forward to taking on both ends of the platoon once more. "At least now I don't have to split my time with that has-been" said Jones. "By the way, he's also a terrorist and he kicks puppies for fun."

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!"

Game 7: Hill vs Big Game

Vancouver and Newark take it to the field one last time to decide the 2008 DMBL Champion. Newark will send "Big Game" James Shields to the mound for the third time this series. Shields was destroyed in game one in the Cereal Bowl, but earned the win in game 4 in Vancouver (despite giving up 5 runs in 6 innings). Meanwhile, Rich Hill will make his first start of the postseason. Hill, who only made 10 starts all season - including 3 starts against Newark - earned this start with three solid appearances in the final round. Hill was not even on the active roster in the series against Las Vegas, but manager Darren Daulton thought he would be more of an asset against the Sugar Bears than veteran Greg Maddux. In Hill's first appearance, he earned a 4-inning save in Vancouver's 13-5 rout in game 1, allowing only one hit. Hill pitched again in game 4, making a key strikeout to end a Sugar Bear rally, but giving up a solo home run the next inning. Finally, Hill pitched 2.1 scoreless innings in game 5, allowing one hit and striking out 4. Hill is notorious for not being economical with his pitches, so Chad Billingsley and Zack Greinke are prepared to go if Hill appears to falter.

There will be a game 7!

For only the 6th time in DMBL history a World Series will go the full 7 games. The last time was 2004 when Newark began their 4-year streak by defeating Arkansas.

Vancouver took an early lead in game 6 when David Ortiz doubled in Curtis Granderson to give the Fist a 1-0 lead. But both pitchers were solid and did not give up any runs through the next 4 innings. That is until the bottom of the 5th when the bottom fell out for Javy Vazquez. Andre Ethier began the inning with a double down the line, then Michael Young and Granderson got back-to-back hits to make the score 2-0 Vancouver. Todd Helton smashed a base hit scoring two more runs, chasing Vazquez out of the game. Ortiz came through again and extended the lead to 5-0 with an RBI-single. A Carlos Guillen error led to another run, while another scored on a fielder's choice, making it 7-0 when the inning was over and done with. In the inning, the Sugar Bears surrendered 6 runs on 5 hits, 2 errors and a wild pitch.

But Vancouver was soon to face their own problems. Chipper Jones lined a double with one out the next inning, then scored when Matt Stairs followed it up with another double. Manny Ramirez then hit a 2-run homer to make it 7-3. Later in the inning, Nick Swisher hit another 2-run homer to bring the Sugar Bears to within 2 runs. The Fist dugout was sweating...

Troy Glaus hit a solo home run in the 7th to make the score 7-6, but that's as close as the Sugar Bears would get. Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia made a costly error that led to an insurance run for Vancouver in the 8th. The two-headed closing monster of Vancouver - Manny Corpas and Billy Wagner - retired the side in the 9th to close out the win and force game 7.

Sugar Bears look to wrap it up today

Once again, Vancouver finds itself down 3-2 in this playoffs. Last time, they were able to rebound against the Rat Pack. Can they do it again? Against the Sugar Bears?! The series returns to Vancouver where Ben Sheets will take the mound for Vancouver and Javier Vazquez goes for Newark.

Newark pushes Vancouver to the brink

The Sugar Bears won the crucial game 5 yesterday in Newark 6-3. Randy Johnson shut down the Iron Fist offense for 5 innings, allowing only 1 earned run on 6 hits and striking out 9. The Sugar Bears jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when Carlos Guillen hit a single with the bases loaded in the first. Vancouver scored a run in the 2nd on a Todd Helton single, then tied it up in the 3rd on a Moises Alou double. Bobby Abreu gave the Sugar Bears the lead with an RBI-double in the 4th and Guillen extended the lead with a 2-run homer in the 5th. David Ortiz homered in the 8th to make it 5-3, but Newark got the run back in the bottom of the inning. Brian Shouse made it interesting in the 9th by walking the first two batters, but they were left stranded. The teams are off today, returning to Vancouver tomorrow.

Vancouver takes the lead

Once again, Vancouver jumped on the scoreboard early and held the lead, taking game 3 by a 6-3 final. Todd Helton drove in the first run with a double in the second inning. David Ortiz would bring him home on a sac fly, giving the Fist a 2-0 lead. Helton extended the lead with a 2-run homer in the 3rd to make it 4-0. Chipper Jones finally put the Sugar Bears on the board with a solo home run in the 4th, but Andre Ethier answered him with one of his own. The Fist made it 6-1 when Moises Alou hit an RBI-single in the 5th. Chipper Jones hit his second homer of the game in the 6th, but again, no one was on base for him. The Fist held the lead until the 9th, when Yadier Molina hit a pinch hit home run to make it 6-3, but that was all for Newark.

The teams will meet again today for Game 4 where Chad Billingsley will start for Vancouver. Billingsley has started two regular season games against Newark, both at the Cereal Bowl. He's 1-0 with a 3.46 ERA and 1.54 WHIP. The Sugar Bears are still undecided, possibly opting to go with game 1 starter James Shields over Chien-Ming Wang. Shields, of course, was roughed up in game 1, not even escaping the second inning. Perhaps Mattingly may choose to play Shields rather than subject him to another beating in front of the home town faithful.