Round 1 Recap

Sardine City owned Vancouver in the regular season, winning 9 of their 12 meetings throughout the season. Things looked to continue the same way after game one. Sardine City pounded Vancouver 9-4 behind Daric Barton's 4-5, 3-RBI night. Iron Fist starter Roy Oswalt was shelled for 6 runs in 5.2 innings. But Vancouver came right back in the next game, 6-4, salvaging a 1-1 split in the series. Vancouver scored 5 runs in the first inning and the Straphangers never recovered. Zack Greinke held them to just 4 hits in 7.2 innings. The series shifted to Sardine City, but Mat Latos quieted the Straphanger crowd with a dominant effort (8 IP, 6 H, ER, 5K) to win the game 6-1. With the series on the line, the Straphangers were determined not to go down quietly. The Sardines jumped out to an early 4-2 lead, but Vancouver tied it up in the 5th. Josh Willingham hit a solo homer in the 9th to give the Fist the 5-4 lead and Joaquin Benoit retired the side in the bottom of the 9th to win the series for Vancouver.

Hoboken came up just shy of winning the Hanover Division title, so they were expected to breeze through round one. The franchise has only won one playoff game in their previous two appearances, so the Cutters were hoping to improve on their previous record against Carolina. Game one was a battle as the two teams traded leads and eventually ended up in extra innings. Rookie Mike Stanton proved to be the hero with a walk-off solo homer in the 10th inning to give the Cutters a 1-0 series lead. Winning game one appeared to give Hoboken some confidence as they easily dispatched the Mudcats in game two 8-3. Stanton had a huge game (4-5, home run, 3 RBIs) and Jhoulys Chacin gave a solid effort (7.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 5 K). The Mudcats were on the brink when they returned to Carolina for game three, but they pulled off a 7-5 win anyway. The Cats actually held a 7-2 lead, but Hoboken had a brief comeback attempt in the 9th. Rookie Stephen Strasburg turned in an impressive performance, holding the Cutters to one run on three hits in seven innings, while striking out seven. Game four was another battle, this time between starters Clay Buchholz and C.J. Wilson. Both starters gave up only one run and struck out 7 each, but neither was awarded a decision. It was fitting that the series both began and ended in extra innings. This time it was Ian Kinsler who drove in the winning run in the 10th with a double that scored Hanley Ramirez. The Cutters had won their first post-season series in franchise history.

Vancouver advances to face the number one seed, Philadelphia, starting tomorrow. Vancouver won 7 of their 13 regular-season games. Hoboken, meanwhile, faces Las Vegas, whom they have also beaten 7 out of 13 games.

Who's going to win the batting title, eh?

A first basemen from Canada is assured of winning the 2011 DMBL batting title. It's just a matter of whether it's the one from the East Coast (Toronto, Ontario) or the West Coast (New Westminster, B.C.). Fans in New Jersey and Arkansas have something to root for in the final few games of the season.

New Jersey's Joey Votto (originally from Toronto) is making a case for the Kevin Mitchell Award -- as well as a Sabrmetric triple crown -- despite Team Buddah not being in the playoff hunt, and British Columbia native Justin Morneau of Arkansas is hot on his tail for the league lead in batting average.

Entering the final two games of the season, Morneau (.33558) trails Votto (.337308) by less than 2 percentage points. Votto's season, however, ends in today's matchup at Blue Ridge against probable starter Tommy Hunter while Morneau is at home, scheduled to face Marietta's Francisco Liriano, followed by Chris Carpenter in the season finale.

Morneau is all but guaranteed to lead the league in hits, holding a 202-198 advantage over Votto, who's among the top 10 in walks. If he can replicate the 2-for-4 performance from his last game in the final two (going 4-for-8), Morneau would finish at .337704, and would have to hope for Votto to go 1-for-3, as he did in yesterday's game, which would leave Votto at .337288.

If Votto can secure just two hits -- almost regardless of how many at-bats it would take him -- Morneau would need a serious two-game tear to catch him. Votto finishes at .337837 if he goees 2-for-5, and .337268 if he goes 2-for-6.

If Morneau can manage 3 hits in his final two games, he needs to do it within the span of 5 at-bats, to remain above .337 (.337726 if he goes 3-for-5).

Pettitte takes the mound for the final time

Andy Pettitte is scheduled to start Thursday in the season finale for New Jersey in what will be the final appearance of his DMBL career.

Pettitte will complete his 16th consecutive season in DMBL, the last three with New Jersey. His longest tenure -- seven seasons -- was spent with his original franchise, breaking in with Jerusalem in 1996 and moving with the team to Stanhope in 2001. He spent the 2003 and 2004 seasons with Newark before three years with Carolina, and a single season with the Tampa Bay Plunkers.

He's won double-digit games in nine of his 16 seasons, reaching a career-high 15 in four different years. This will be the fourth straight season, and fifth in the last six, that Pettitte has made at least 32 starts.

Although he recently passed Greg Maddux and David Wells to move into 2nd place all-time in losses, Pettitte remains a better than .500 pitcher for his career, thanks to ranking 11th all-time in wins. He enters today's finale at 146-143 (.505).

Heading into his final start, Pettitte's career DMBL rankings are as follows (*active league leader):
- 5th in games started*
- 9th in innings pitched*
- 11th in strikeouts
- 16th in complete games
- 7th in shutouts
He'll be eligible for the DMBL Hall of Fame in 2016.

Time running out for Manny's 500th

Manny Ramirez's walk-off home-run off Joel Peralta on Sunday kept alive Marietta's playoff hopes against Carolina, but also his own chance at reaching 500 career home runs.

Heading into the final three-game series at Arkansas on Wednesday, Ramirez now has 12 homers on the year and 497 for his career (while Marietta sits three games behind Carolina for the sixth and final playoff spot). Ramirez is assured to finish his career 4th on the all-time home run list (behind Thome, 410; A-Rod, 555; and Bonds, 689), and would be the 4th player to reach 500 home runs.

Ramirez has said this will be his 16th and final season in DMBL, meaning he would be eligible for the Hall of Fame starting in 2016. He's played at least 132 games every year but one since 2000 and has never played fewer than 104 games in a season since breaking in with Toledo in 1996. He joined Newark in 1997 and was a key cog in the Sugar Bear dynasty until being dealt to Marietta this season, after which he announced his impending retirement.

Morrow - no hitter? not quite...

You may have noticed it, but Brandon Morrow thoroughly dominated the Las Vegas Rat Pack in yesterday's 7-0 win. But what you may have missed is that Morrow pitched 8 innings of no-hit ball, only to exit in the 9th inning with the no-hitter still intact! The Vegas crowd loudly booed when Takashi Saito emerged on the mound to start the 9th inning. The game had long been out of hand and the few remaining in the crowd had hung around to witness history. In true karmic fashion, Joe Mauer led off the inning with the first hit of the game for the Rats. Although Saito did manage to complete the game and preserve the shutout, Morrow had been robbed of his place among such DMBL luminaries as Juan Guzman, Brett Myers, and A.J. Burnett. Manager Joe Torre declined to speak to the press after the game. So why was Morrow removed? Morrow did manage to throw 115 pitches, though that doesn't seem like an especially high number, particularly when chasing a historic achievement. Morrow walked five in his 8 innings, suggesting that maybe he was losing it but Morrow struck out all three batters he faced in the 8th and had retired the last 7 batters. Morrow did not appear to have any kind of injury either. Whatever the reason, Torre may need armed protection when the Straphangers return home to host the Rat Packs on Sunday.

Chasing Bonds

When the season started, it looked all but certain that Barry Bonds would lose his grip on the league's all-time hit record (2,575). With roughly 30 games to go in the 2011 campaign though, it looks more likely that Bonds will hold on to the mark for at least one more season. And depending on how off-season personnel moves play out, it could be longer than that.

Marietta's Derek Jeter and Manny Ramirez, Vladimir Guerrero of New Jersey and Newark's Chipper Jones are the active leaders in hits, ranking second through fifth. Going into the season, Jeter looked like the surest shot, as the only other player above the 2,500 mark (2,507). But the majority of playing time as the Marietta shortstop this year has gone to Cezar Izturis, leaving Jeter with just 40 starts, 78 games in all, and a measly 45 hits, putting him at 2,553 -- 22 hits from Bonds with 31 games to play.

The other three players all went over 2,500 career hits within the past few weeks but the numbers don't seem to add up for a legitimate run at Bonds in 2011. Ramirez has no more than 31 games remaining in his DMBL career and entered the week with 2,517 hits -- 58 behind Bonds. Guerrero and Jones currently are separated by just five hits, 2,516 for Vlad (trailing Bonds by 59), 2,511 for Chipper (64 behind Bonds). Guerrero's Team Buddah has 29 games to play while Chipper's Sugar Bears has the fewest of the quartet -- 27.

For 2012, only Jeter currently stands a shot at finding some playing time, and that's likely only against lefties. Ramirez already has announced his retirement at the conclusion of 2011 while Guerrero and Jones need to get hot if they don't want to avoid hoping for sentimentality to find a roster spot in 2012.

As long as we're looking toward 2012, it might be safe to say that another player might reach Bonds at some point next year. Alex Rodriguez of Las Vegas has 103 hits so far this season, 6th all time with 2,414 hits -- 161 behind Bonds. Ivan Rodriguez, getting some playing time with Amityville of late, is the only other active player in the all-time top 10, at 2,367.

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).