Friday, November 27, 2009

World Series Games 4-6

Game 4: Utah got off to a strong start against Pedro Lewis, pitching on 3 days rest. Lou Zamuda doubled home a run in the first, and in the 2nd Jason Blaylock and Jim Sanchez each stole bases, with 3 singles leading to two runs. Utah took a 4-0 lead into the 7th inning as David Burke pitched brilliantly. Manfred Mueller and Glen Porter hit solo homers in the 7th and 8th innings, but Burke was able to go the distance, allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, and no walks in a 4-2 victory, and the series was tied.

Game 5: Jack McDermott came back from a weak game 1 start to shut down New York for 8 innings. Utah scored in the 3rd off Mazdahonda on a Del Holdsworth double and a Frank Lewis 2 out, 2 run single. Jason Gonzalez added a 2 run homer in the 6th, and New York only managed on run in the 9th. Chris Grimes finished the game for a 5-1 victory.

Game 6: Back in New York, Utah had a chance to end the series. Keith Langford took on Stuart Coppolla. Del Holdsworth and Doug Dodson led off with singles, and Frank Lewis and Lou Zamuda followed with doubles, down 3-0, New York went to a quick hook on Coppolla, bringing in Fritz Jones. Utah didn't get any more runs in the first, but Holdsworth added a 2 run homer in the second. New York made it close with a Chad White RBI in the 3rd, Roy Brown's homer in the 4th, and Paul Hagan's homer in the 6th.

New York had a chance for more in the 6th, but Keith Lee lifted an infield fly with 2 on in the 6th. Things got interesting when Jason Gonzalez dropped the popup. Lee was out on the infield fly rule, but Jimmy Urbano and Rickey Buckley tried to advance, and Buckley was thrown out in a rundown to end the inning. New York did add a run in the 7th to make it a 5-4 game, but Utah went back to Grimes in the 8th inning. Grimes got Glen Porter to pop up, struck out Urbano, and Buckley flew out to center. Back out for the 9th, Grimes struck out Lee, Brett Solo flew to center, and Chad White grounded to Lou Zamuda to end the game and make people wonder, When did Chris Grimes turn into Mariano Rivera?

World Series Games 1-3

The first game in New York looked like a total mismatch. Pedro Lewis pitched 6 1/3 shutout innings. New York got off to a 1-0 start on a Keith Lee first inning homer. Lee added a 3 run homer in the 5th to make it a 10-0 game, and the final score was 10-2.

Game 2: New York got off to a 4-1 lead in the second inning after 5 consecutive hits off Keith Langford. Utah tried to rally back, but could not overcome spectacular New York defense. In the 6th with runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out, Lou Zamuda hit a fly ball that Chad White had to run back on. White teporarily lost the ball in the lights, stumbled, and recovered to throw a strike to home plate, throwing out the speedy Del Holdsworth. Jaret Benser finsihed the game for a save, and Suzuke Mazdahonda pitched 7 1/3 innings, allowing 1 run and striking out 10.

Game 3: Heading back to Utah, the Utes got a better starting effort from Tom Groovine, going against Stuart Coppolla. The old lefties battled to a 2-2 tie in the 8th. New York took a 3-2 lead and put runners on 2nd and 3rd in the 8th against Chris Grimes, the saving Ute. Grimes intentionally walked Keith Lee to pitch to Brett Solo, struck him out, and got Manfred Mueller to ground out to 2nd. Utah tied the game in the bottom of the 8th on a Jason Gonzalez double, though Lou Zamuda was thrown out trying to take the lead. In the 10th inning though, Ryan Ballard singled in Doug Dodson to beat Jaret Benser 4-3.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Superior League MVP

In a unanimous choice, the award goes to triple crown winner Joe Young of Baltimore. Joe hit .351 with 55 homeruns, 153 RBI, 229 hits, 47 doubles, 150 runs scored, and a .678 slugging percentage.

Mark Crawford finished second with a .331 average, 47 homers, 128 RBI, and 41 steals.

Votes:
56 Joe Young
23 Mark Crawford
13 W. Gehrig Bear
8 Frank Lewis
4 Jacen Solo
4 Jason Gonzalez
4 Chris McMullen

Major League MVP

Winning for the first time is Cobra center fielder Chad White. Chad hit 32 homeruns, led the league with 120 RBI, stole 35 bases, and played his usual excellent defense in center.

The voting:

38 Chad White
27 Hank Crowell
19 Brett Solo
16 Keith Lee
10 Pedro Lewis
7 Manfred Mueller
5 Derek Howe
4 Miguel Tejawa