2008 World Series Game 2

From New York, Dave Lefevre vs. Suzuki MazdaHonda. Dave Lefevre is shaky early on, allowing 4 hits through the first two innings, but no one is able to score. In the top of the 3rd, Miami takes the 1-0 lead when Damon Nkik beats the double play throw to first, allowing Quilvio Gato to score. In the bottom of the inning, New York gets 3 more hits, and gets one of them to score to tie the game.

In the 4th, Miami scores a run as Eli Moreno hits into a 4-6-3 DP to thwart a rally. In the bottom of the inning, Dave Lefevre allows MazdaHonda to take him deep to tie the game. Its the first homerun in a World Series game since....well, Joe Blanton in MLB, not sure who in APBA. With 2 out, Keith Lee drives home Ricky Buckley (who doubled) with a single.

After 4 innings, the score is 3-2 New York. With Dave Lefevre set to lead off the 5th, Miami pinch hits with Ronald Young who grounds out. Dave finishes the game 4-11-3-3-0-5, an erratic and ineffective performance that has typified his post-season career.

In the 6th, Miami is able to tie the game with a mini-rally fueled by a Clyde Frogg walk, Vince Lewis single, and then an Eli Moreno RBI single. The rally ends with Jim Concepcion hitting into an inning ending 4-6-3 DP.

The game was still tied in the 8th, as the New York and Miami bullpens continued to trade zero's. In the bottom of the 8th, Manfred Mueller led off with a walk. Miami then summoned their bullpen ace, Bob Belardi for the first time in the series.

Belardi induced Justin Lewis to hit into the force play. With the pitchers spot due up, New York pinch hits with former Ute great, Leon Wolf. Wolf ripped a double to right and then Ricky Buckley follows with a walk to load the bases.

Tim Griffin then singled to right to make it 4-3. Keith Lee follows with a single of his own and 2 more runs score, but Keith Lee is out trying to take second on all of the throws. Brett Solo then grounds out to end the inning.

In the 9th, New York goes to Benser again. Benser delivers the 1-2-3 inning and New York wins game 2 by a score of 6-3. MazdaHonda goes 6-8-3-3-2-7, Bill Wright gets the relief win with 2 perfect innings, and Jaret Benser picks up his 2nd save of the series.

The series now shifts to Miami for Games 3, 4, and 5, with the DH rule in play. It should be noted, that New York lost games 1 and 2 in 2006 against Miami, but still rallied to win the series. This is little consolation to Miami though, who still have yet to face either Pedro Lewis or Roger Chillingworth.

2008 World Series Game 1

From New York, Miami sends rested RH Bill Greene to face New York's Stuart Coppolla. New York's best pitchers, Roger Chillingworth and Pedro Lewis are unavailable until game 3, due to the 7 game series against Denver.

In the first inning, Brett Solo's 1 out double plates Jason Foster. In the 2nd, a Ricky Buckley 1 out single makes it 2-0. Miami is able to get 1 back in the 3rd, when Brian Kaat walks, steals second, and is driven home by a Matt McCoy double.

For the next few innings, Bill Greene and an assortment of Miami relievers shut down the New York offense. Unfortunately for Miami, Stuart Coppolla is able to do the same to the Miami offense.

In the bottom of the 8th, New York adds an insurance run courtesy of a 2-out, solo homerun from Tim Griffin. With the score 3-1 going into the 9th, New York summons bullpen ace and former standout starting pitcher Jaret Benser. Benser strikes out McCoy and gets pinch hitter Vince Lewis to fly out to Chad White in centerfield. After a walk to Clyde Frogg and a balk to move him to second base, Benser induces a flyout to left field from pinch hitter and jawa (and potential tying run and of course), Bubba Lewis.

New York wins game one 3-1. Coppolla goes 8-5-1-1-1-8 for the win and Benser gets the save.

2008 Major League Awards

Rookie of the Year:
1. Reggie Stocker, OF, Alaska - Was the overwhelming pre-season favorite, and no one ever seriously challenged him for this honor. Hit .260-31-109, with a .350 OBA and .519 SLG. Also had 45 doubles.
2. R.D. Phillips, P, Hollywood - Went 14-8 with a 3.22 ERA. 184 innings, 171 hits, 54 walks, and a solid 151 K's. The future looks good for this 21-year old lefty.
3. Kenny Anderson Jr., OF, Florida - Although he only debuted in August, this rookie put on quite a show. He stole bases at a rate not seen since his father's historic 2000 season. Led both leagues with 98 steals in only 50 games played, and he did so at a 75% success rate. Great defender, but needs to improve his on-base skills (.257 Avg and .282 OBA).

Cy Young:
1. Roger Chillingworth, New York - Although he only pitched in 18 games this season, he had a dominant and historic run. He went 13-1 with a 1.99 ERA in 104 innings. He allowed only 75 hits, 43 walks, while striking out 95 batters. He also surpassed Walter Johnson on the all time career wins list, passing Walter's 417 wins, and finishing the year with 421 wins. Adding to Roger's candidacy, he joined the Cobra when they were struggling in June, and was the main factor that helped them win the division. This is Roger's 7th Cy Young award, tying him with Roger Clemens for the most in history.
2. Pedro Lewis, New York - Pedro had a another fine season, going 19-10 (tying with Zito for the lead in wins) with a 3.o3 ERA. He also struck out 229 batters in 228 innings.
3. Craig Sanders, Denver - Craig received a surprise 1st place vote from one of the voters (who shall remain nameless) which propelled him up the list. He had a great year in Denver as a setup man, going 11-1 with a 2.48 ERA in 112 innings. He allowed only 83 hits, 41 walks, struck out 97 batters, and chipped in with 9 saves when closer Luther Trautwein was unavailable.

MVP:
1. Hank Crowell, 3B, Los Angeles - Crowell was the unanimous choice, joining Jake Cisco as the only players to ever win the triple crown. Crowell just dominated every hitting category this year, going .336-48-129 with a .413 OBA and .645 SLG. 2nd place in each category was Ryan Harris hitting .329, Brett Solo with 42 homers, and Miguel Tejawa with 122 RBI. Crowell created 10.4 runs per game, and also led the league in hits, runs, and basically every sabremetric offensive statistic. He also played gold glove defense at 3B. Did I mention he was 27 this year?
2. Brett Solo, SS, New York - Brett followed up his 2007 MVP campaign with another great year, hitting .279-42-114 and stealing 30 bases against only 5 CS. He's also a gold glove caliber defender at shortstop.
3. Rocky Balboni, CF, Philadelphia - Rocky finally lived up to his great potential, having a career year at .298-31-120, and swatting a league leading 60 doubles. He's also a gold glove caliber defender in CF. At 25, he may be able to duplicate or exceed this season again.

2008 Superior League Awards

Rookie of the Year:
1. Jabba Robinson, P, Las Vegas - Dominant stats and solid W-L, ERA for a rookie pitcher
2. Luke Ford, OF, Chicago - The force is not as strong in this one as you might think, he is a solid hitter, but refuses to play defense. He is more of a career DH type.
3. T. Sullivan, P - Didn't pitch much, but did help his team to the playoffs. Once he shakes the wildness, he could be a future Cy Young award winner.

Cy Young:
1. Storm Morris, Baltimore - 20 wins and pitching for the best team in the league gets it done. His 2nd award (also won in 2001 with Florida).
2. Andy Parsons, Baltimore - winning 17 games in relief deserves a "wow".
3-T. Don Law, Toledo - 14 wins and a league leading 2.83 ERA only gets 3rd place. Had he pitched for Baltimore, he may have run away with his 2nd award.
3-T. Kevin Millhouse - 17 wins and a 2.98 ERA. Like Law, on a 100-win team, he could have won this award as well.

MVP:
1. W. Gehrig Bear - OF/1B, Baltimore - He was the best player on the best team all year.
2. Joe Young - DH, Baltimore - Another dominant season and this time, he gets to go to the post-season. Has won this award multiple times before, so he is happy to see Bear get his.
3. Andy Parsons - P, Baltimore - When you win 106 games, you should have the top 3 players in MVP voting.
4-T. Hal Glover, 1B, Louisville - May be the best hitter in the league, another batting title to add to his collection.
4-T. Alvaro Samuel, OF, Las Vegas - Mini-Pujols keeps up the great hitting.

Superior League Championship Series

Game 3: Miami dominates 10-1 to take a 3-0 series lead. Dave Lefevre pitches the best playoff game of his career, going 7 strong innings and allowing only 1 run.

Game 4: Baltimore staves off elimination for at least one day, winning 5-4. Darin Elam's 9th inning single off Bob Belardi seals the deal.

Game 5: Miami wins 5-4 to win the series 4 games to 1, and advances to their 2nd world series in 3 years. Clyde Frogg's 3-run 7th inning homerun reminds all fans of his cousin Sand Frogg's homerun in Game 6 of the 2002 World Series for the Angels. With 2 out in the 9th, Bob Belardi allowed a double to Joe Young, and then issued a walk to W. Gehrig Bear, and was visibly out of gas. RJ Duke pulled Belardi and went to Jay Lansing, who induced a harmless comebacker from Kobe Jones to end the game.

Miami will face New York in a rematch of the 2006 World Series, often considered the greatest 7 game series ever played.

Major League Championship Series

Game 3: New York wins 4-1 with homers by Ricky Buckley and Chad White.

Game 4: New York wins 4-3 behind a key homerun by Keith Lee, and Jaret Benser getting the final 4 outs to preserve the 1-run lead. New York leads the series 3-1 now.

Before Game 5, Brad announces that he will leave Denver to go back to New York and start reviewing game film for the upcoming world series, as he feels the Denver team has been beat.

Game 5: Kei Ijawa dominates New York with a complete game, 2-0 shutout. Ijawa's line is 9-4-0-0-1-10. Stan Marsh hits a key homer and the series shifts back to New York.

Game 6: Roger Chillingworth vs. Bill Neuman. New York takes a 4-2 lead into the top of the 7th. Eddie decides to go to money closer Jaret Benser for the final 3 innings, feeling its too important to trust this game to anyone else. In the top of the 7th, Stan Marsh hits a 2 run homer to tie the game. In the 9th, Denver rallies for a run, highlighted by a key pinch hit by Ron Vineyard (at Harvey the Robot's insistence) and an RbI single by Jack Hollis. Luther Trautwein shuts down New York in the 9th to preserve the 5-4 win.

Game 7: For the 3rd time in the series, both ace pitchers square off, Steven Hyde vs. Pedro Lewis. Its a pitchers duel all the way, and in the top of the 7th, its a 1-1 game. The two best teams in the league all year, for game 7 of the league championship series, it doesnt get any better than this.

In the top of the 9th, Denver rallies with runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. New York goes to Rudiger Rocker (aka the "wild thing") and he strikes out Hoffman. Then Harvey the Robot suggests they pinch hit with Ron "the masher" Vineyard. Rudiger gets him to line to short, with Brett Solo making a great leaping catch to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 9th, Denver gets the first 2 out. Then, Manfred Mueller singles. Justin Lewis then lifts a high pop fly to short left. The shortstop Ozzie Gaedell and leftfielder Jason Hopper collide trying to catch the ball, and by the time anyone realized what had happened, Manfred scores the series winning run without a throw.

New York wins the game 2-1, and the series 4-3.

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