MLCS Game 7

Philadelphia at New York, Rudy Baker vs. Stuart Coppolla.

Paul White connects for another 1st inning HR, and gives Philadelphia the early 1-0 lead. That's the way the score stayed until the bottom of the 4th. With 1-out, Brett Solo doubles. Manfred then singles into the gap, drives in Brett Solo, and advances to 2B on the throw home. Chad White grounds out but Mahatma Russell launches a 2-run HR to right to make it 3-1. Roy Brown follows with a solo HR to make it 4-1.

That's the way the score stayed until the 7th, behind solid pitching from Coppolla, and 2 scoreless innings from Kyle Bonderman. In the top if the 7th, Philadelphia gets a leadoff 2B from Ruiz, prompting NY to go to the bullpen for Jaret Benser. Benser will try for the 3-inning save apparently.

Benser gets Moochie Henson to pop up for the 1st out. Then Jimmy Taylor singles to the gap, with Ruiz being held at 3B, as Philadelphia looks for the big inning with Balboni and White due up. Balboni then comes up small, slapping into the inning-ending 4-6-3 DP.

In the bottom of the 7th, lefty James Willits gets 2 quick outs then gets into trouble. Urbano and Buckley single, and Keith Lee walks to load the bases. Dale Jaeger then comes in to face Brett Solo, who works the bases loaded walk to force in a run and make the score 5-1. Mueller then pops up to end the inning.

Both teams fail to threaten or score in the 8th. In the 9th, Philadelphia has their 7-8-9 bitters due up:
Mike Christenson: single
Jerry Ruiz: pop up to 3B
PH Corey Sloan: 2-run HR to right
Jimmy Taylor: pop up to 1B

with 2-out and the score 5-3, Philadelphia sends it's two best hitters to the plate. The hope is for Balboni to reach base and setup a power vs. power matchup with Paul White.

Balboni: strike out looking to end the game and the series. NY wins the game 5-3 and advances to the world series for the 4th straight year, setting up a rematch of the 2007 World Series against Utah.

Coppolla goes 6-7-1-1-0-4 and gets the win, Benser goes 3-4-2-2-0-2 for the save.

Dale Jaeger makes himself a household name with a dominating postseason, pitching in 8 games, with 5 saves, 9 innings, 2-hits, 0 runs, 3-walks, and 15 strikeouts. Benser was as good as advertised, pitching in 7 games with 1-win, 3-saves, 11 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs for a 2.45 ERA, 1-walk, and 13 strikeouts.

MLCS Game 6

Philadelphia at New York, Oswalt vs. Mazdahonda

Philadelphia wins 4-2 and never trails in the game. Paul White goes yard again, and Jimmy Taylor takes one for the team with a bases loaded 2-out hit by pitch (he's fine). Oswalt 7-5-2-2-2-1 gets the win, Jaeger gets the 4-out save. The series is tied at 3, and Philadelphia forces a game 7.

MLCS Game 5

Pedro Lewis vs. Charlie Zito. Paul White hits a solo HR in the first, and Philly cruises behind Zito, leading 3-0 in the 9th, with Zito working on a 1-hitter. Here's the 9th:

Buckley: 6-3 groundout
Keith Lee: strikeout swinging
Brett Solo: double
Mueller: infield single
Chad White: 3-run HR to left center
Roy Brown: flyout

Bottom of the 9th: Rudiger Rocker on the mound
Jimmy Taylor: bunt to 3B, mishandled, 1-base error
Rocky Balboni: 2B, runners to 2nd & 3rd
NY pulls the infield in
Paul White: strikeout looking
Corey Sloan: strikeout swinging
-----------
NY pulls Rudiger for Benser
Chavez: line out to 2B

Top 10, Zito pitches a 1-2-3 inning. He finishes 10-4-3-3-2-12.

Bottom 10:
Ron Foreman: 2B
Bulger: strikeout looking
Ruiz: strikeout swinging
PH Gruber: pop out to 1B
--------

11th inning: neither team stages a rally as Devarez shuts down NY, and Benser shuts down PHI.

12th inning:
Chad White: 2B
Benser: Bunted towards 1B, Paul White throws to 3B, runner is safe
-------
PHI pulls Devarez, puts in Steve King

NY pinch hits Glen Porter for 3B Jerrod Smith
Porter: bloop single to SS, NY leads 4-3.
-------
PHI pulls King for Jaeger, who gets them out of the inning with 2 infield pop ups and 1 strikeout.

Bottom 12
Benser gets a 1-2-3 inning with 2 K'S and NY wins game 5 by a score of 4-3.

NY bullpen goes 5-3-0-0-1-10

MLCS Game 4

Pearce vs. Savage. NY takes a 2-0 lead in the 1st, but coughs up 3 runs in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by a Rocky Balboni triple. In the 2nd, Balboni hits a 2-run HR to make it 5-2. NY comes right back with RBI singles in the 3rd to make it 5-4. In the 4th, Balboni gets a 2-out RBI single to make it 6-4. Meanwhile, Savage settled down to go 7-10-4-3-1-7. In the 8th, Balboni puts the game out of reach with another HR. Balboni goes 4-4 with 3 runs, 2 HR, and 6 RBI, and Philadelphia wins Game 4 by a score of 8-4. The series is now tied 2-2.

MLCS Game 3

Game 3 Coppolla vs. Rudy Baker. Philadelphia jumps all over Coppolla and leads 9-1 in the 4th after putting a 7-spot on New York in the 4th. Homers by Balboni, White, and Foreman lead the way. Many question why Coppolla was allowed to pitch to Paul White with 1 on and 2 out in the 4th after 5 runs had already scored. It seems NY has given up on this game and wanted to save their bullpen. But someone forgot to tell the NY offense to stop. In the 5th, Keith Lee hits a 2 out 2 run single. 9-3. In the 6th, Gonk Droid hits a 2-out 3-run HR. 9-6. In the 7th, Brett Solo hits a solo HR. 9-7. No sign of Jaeger yet...

In the 8th, Philadelphia goes to their best setup man Alex Devarez.
Mahatma Russell: groundout 5-3
Roy Brown: infield single
Gonk Droid: walk
PH Glen Porter: walk to load the bases
-----------
Philadelphia pulls Devarez for Stephen "Brad Lidge" King and NY pinch runs Dallas Knight Jr. for Gonk Droid at 2B.

Ricky Buckley: 2 run single, runners to 1st and 3rd

9-9

Keith Lee: flyout 7

Brett Solo: bloop single to left

10-9
-----------
Philadelphia finally goes to Jaeger who gets Manfred Mueller to strike out to end the inning.

New York immediately goes to their closer in the 8th, and Jaret Benser responds with 2 perfect innings to save the game.

NY wins 10-9 and shocks Philadelphia. NY bullpen goes 5-1-0-0-1-6, while Philadelphia's bullpen minus Jaeger goes 2-4-4-4-2-1.

Superior League Championship Series: Game 7

Charlotte sends 22 year old rookie Felix Reyes to the mound, and Utah goes with 40 year old Tom Groovine.

Charlotte scores first when Jacen Solo reaches on a Lou Zamuda throwing error, steals second, and scores on a single by his brother Anakin. Jason Blaylock homers in the 2nd to tie the score. Utah takes a 2-1 lead as Ryan Ballard homers in the 6th. In the 7th with one out, Tommy Miller singles and manager Mark Roberts sends in pinch runner Gumby Reese. Reese steals 2nd and 3rd, and clearly getting into Groovine’s head, Tom throws a wild pitch to allow Reese to score. Groovine gets the next two hitters, but in the eight, Charlotte again gets a speedy 1 out baserunner as Jacen Solo singles and steals 2nd and 3rd. Anakin drives him in with a deep drive to center for a sac fly and a 3-2 Charlotte lead.

Reyes pitched a strong 7 innings, allowing 6 hits, one walk, and two runs, and left with a chance at another series ending win as the Hawks went to the bullpen. In the bottom 8th, Frank Lewis singled with one out off Tom Borgula, and Battletrap pinch ran with Romulo Vizcaino. Lou Zamuda lifted a pop fly to center, and Sergio Perez dropped it for an error, Vizcaino going to third. Ryan Ballard singled to tie the game before Charlotte went to Javier Cavazos. Jason Gonzalez struck out and Jason Blaylock flew out to left to end the inning.

All tied up at 3, heading to the 9th inning. Again with one out, Mike Connor tripled to center. Ed Klutts singled through a drawn in infield, but Tom Groovine stayed in the game and had enough to strike out Ruben Carter and Fidel Duenas.

Charlotte closer Rob Porter took the mound in the bottom 9th, 3 outs away from the world series, and tried to silence the deafening Ute crowd. Leading off was 40 year old Kermit Holmes, the great leadoff hitter of the legendary Ute championship teams. Holmes will retire after the season, and could be taking the last at bat of his Hall of Fame career. Holmes could not get things started, and grounded out to Jacen Solo.

Catcher Jim Sanchez was next, and hits a slow roller to shortstop Duenas. Fidel tried to scoop and throw in one motion, but couldn’t get a handle on it and Sanchez was safe, representing the tying run. Jayson Thomas, a speedy backup outfielder, came in to run. Utah tries the hit and run, and Del Holdsworth executes perfectly, chopping the ball to short and through for a single as Duenas broke towards second to cover the bag.

With runners at the corners and one out, Doug Dodson worked the count to 3 and 2 before taking a pitch that looked low, but was called strike 3. Charlotte was now only one out away from the world series, and batting next was not Frank Lewis, but the whiff happy Nick McConroy since Lewis had been removed for a pinch runner earlier. McConroy shocks the crowd by blooping a hit into left field to tie the game and bring up none other than Lou Zamuda.

With the crowd screaming louder than ever, a mix of “Ute” and “Lou”, Porter left a fastball about belt high, and Lou Zamuda send it far, deep, and way out to the second deck in right field, bringing Utah once again to the World Series.

13 fans happily gave their lives cheering for the Utah win, dieing of burst lungs.

MLCS Game 2

Another pitchers duel between Lee Harvey Oswalt and Mazdahonda. Philadelphia rallies to take a 3-0 lead in the 4th, higlighted by a Jerry Ruiz triple and costly Mazdahonda throwing error. Mazdahonda settled down and went 8-5-3-1-3-11, to keep the game 3-0 until the 9th. Philadelphia decides to let Oswalt go for the complete game. Here's the 9th inning:

Keith Lee: pop out
Brett Solo: infield single
Manfred Mueller: infield single
Chad White: single to load bases
Mahatma Russell: bases loaded walk
------------------
Philadelphia goes to the bullpen with Dale Jaeger
Roy Brown: strikeout swinging
Gonk Droid: groundout 4-6

Philadelphia wins the game 3-1 to even the series at 1 game apiece. Oswalt gets the win, 8.1-5-1-1-4-3, Jaeger his 4th save of the postseason.

Major League Championship Series

Game 1: Charlie Zito vs. Pedro Lewis. Great pitching matchup that lives up to the hype. New York scores first on a 2 out RBI double by Keith Lee in the 5th. Philadelphia ties it in the 6th on a Rocky Balboni double. In the 6th, Manfred Mueller hits his 4th HR of the postseason to give New York the 2-1 lead. That ended up being the final score of the game. Pedro goes the distance for the win, 9-4-1-1-0-7, and Zito goes 7-4-2-2-4-6 in defeat.

Major League Cy Young

Pedro Lewis wins the award as the only 20 game winner for 2009. Pedro went 20-6 with a 2.74 ERA and 277 strikeouts. He only allowed 7 homeruns in 243 innings.

Derek Howe finished 2nd with an 18-8 record and 2.44 ERA, followed by Suzuke Mazdahonda (19-5, 2.94), Wayne Gardella (17-5, 2.72), and Javier Mercedes (19-10, 3.08)

The voting:
Lewis 34
Howe 15
Mazdahonda 9
Gardella 5
Mercedes 1

Superior League Championship Series

Game 1:

Charlotte jumps off to a 4-0 start in the first with 2 run homers by Anakin Solo and Mike Kelso. Dave Fitzgerald shuts down the Ute offense, and Charlotte goes on to a 12-1 victory. Kelso homered twice and drove in 5 runs.

Game 2:

Utah, facing fill-in starter Bobby Torres, gets off to a 4-0 first inning start. Keith Langford goes the distance in an 8-4 Utah win. Ryan Ballard homers and drives in 3.

Game 3:

Felix Reyes, the hero of the Baltimore series, tried to do it again. His team gave him a 2-0 lead against Tom Groovine. Reyes pitched his way in and out of trouble, walking 8 in 5 2/3 innings but getting a few timely double play balls. Lou Zamuda tied the game with a 2 run homer in the 4th, Jason Blaylock put Utah ahead with a 6th inning homer, and Utah torched the Charlotte bullpen for an eventual 12-4 victory. Utah walked 11 times, led by 4 from Frank Lewis, and Blaylock added 3 hits and 4 RBI.

Game 4:

This one was a classic pitcher’s duel. Mike Conner singled in Carlos Merejo in the second for a 1-0 lead. Utah tied the game in the 5th when Fidel Duenas threw a Kermit Holmes groundball past Anakin Solo and into the dugout. Dave Fitzgerald went the distance for a 9 inning, 3 hit performance, striking out 9. Charlotte won as Jacen Solo hit David Burke’s 1st pitch in the 9th for a homer and a 2-1 win.

Game 5:

Ryan Ballard hit a 3 run homer in the first inning off John Herbert, but those were the only runs scored until the 9th. Herbert pitched 8 innings and kept his team in the game, allowing no more runs. Jack McDermott pitched 8 shutout innings for Utah, allowing 6 hits and 6 walks. He received some strong defensive support. In the 5th, after walking the first two hitters, Kermit Holmes made a spectacular diving catch and doubled the runner off second. With the bases loaded in the 7th and one out McDermott got Tommy Miller to pop up and struck out Fidel Duenas.

He ran into more trouble in the 9th, allowing one run to score and the tying runs on base when Chris Grimes came in to strike out Duenas for the final out.

Game 6:

Larry Patterson returns from the disabled list and allows only 3 runs through 6 innings as Charlotte beats Utah 11-5 to force a game 7. Keith Langford allowed 6 runs before being chased in the 4th and the Utah bullpen could not keep things close. Jacen Solo homered and knocked in 3.

MLDS Game 5 New York @ LA

Pedro Lewis vs. Eric Rodriguez. Brett Solo hits a 3-run HR in the top of the 2nd, and New York never looked back. They win the game 9-3, and take the last 4 games from LA. Pedro gets the win, going 7-4-2-1-3-11. Lee, Solo, Mueller, and Brown go deep for New York, who hit 11 HRs in the series. Manfred Mueller gets the series MVP, hitting .545 with 3 HR, 8 runs, 8 RBI, and 3 doubles.

New York will now face Philadelphia in the Championship Series. For the 1st time in a long time (maybe ever?), New York will not have the better 4-man rotation.

Superior League Cy Young

It's a close vote between a pair of 19 game winners. Bobby Martinez of Charlotte went 19-7 with a 3.11 ERA, and Paul Finch went 19-9 with a 3.08 ERA and 235 strikeouts. In a close vote, the award goes to Martinez.

The voting:

Martinez 25
Finch 22
J Dirte 5
E Henson 4
C Anderson 3
T Groovine 3
T Everett 1
J Callahan 1

MLDS Game 4 Denver @ Philadelphia

Denver turns to game 1 starter and ERA champ Derek Howe on 3 days rest and Philadelphia goes with Roscoe Savage. Denver scores on a wild pitch in the 1st, and Philadelphia scores on a 2-out Joey Renseller error in the 2nd. It stayed 1-1 until the bottom of the 6th, when Paul White connected for a solo HR. In the 7th, Jimmy Taylor singled home Jerry Ruiz to make it 3-1. Roscoe Savage cruised through 8 innings, going 8-5-1-1-3-6. Dale Jaeger pitches a 1-2-3 perfect 9th to give Philadelphia the 4 game sweep. Philadelphia outplayed Denver in every facet of the game in this series. Jaeger gets the series MVP going 3.2-1-0-0-0-7 with 3 saves in 3 appearances. Denver bats only .191 in the series while Philadelphia bats .345. Philadelphia's team pitching line is 36-25-9-9-11-35.

MLDS Game 4 New York @ LA

Pearce vs. Mulder on 3 days rest. NY takes a 1-0 lead in the 3rd on a Ricky Buckley 2-out RBI single. In the 5th, Keith Lee makes it 2-0 with a 2-out RBI single of his own. Solo HRs by Mueller and Brown in the 6th make it 4-0. Meanwhile, Pearce is dominating LA and leaves with a line of 7-3-0-0-4-6. New York leads 7-0 in the 8th, until Soprano hits a 3-run HR for LA. NY responds with a 4-run 9th to win game 4 11-3. Mueller goes 4-5 with 2 HRs and 5 RBI. Mulder goes 7-9-6-6-2-7 and takes the loss.

MLDS Game 3 Denver @ Philadelphia

Ijawa vs. Baker. Denver takes their first lead of the series in the top of the 2nd on a Kyle Broslofski solo HR. The lead wouldn't last long. Philadelphia scores 3 in the 2nd, 2 in the 3rd, and 4 in the 5th on the way to a 10-4 win. Rocky Balboni homers for Philadelphia and LF Mike Christenson goes 3-4 filling in for Corey Sloan against the lefthander. Baker gets the win, 6-4-3-3-1-10 and Ijawa takes the loss (2-9-5-5-2-2. Philadelphia now leads the series 3 games to none.

MLDS Game 3 New York @ LA

Coppolla vs. Blackburn. New York puts up a 6-spot in the 3rd, and never trails in the game en route to a 10-4 win. Brett Solo, Chad White, and Gonk Droid hit homers for New York, while Brent Johnson provides the LA offense with a 3-run HR. Coppolla gets the win, 5-5-3-3-0-6. New York now leads the series 2-1.

MLDS Game 2 Philadelphia @ Denver

Oswalt vs. Hyde. Philly has this one all the way and wins 6-1 behind a dominant performance from Oswalt (7.2-2-1-1-5-7). Jimmy Taylor goes 4-5 and Rocky Balboni hits a 3-run HR in the 7th inning to put this one out of reach. Dale Jaeger strikes out all 4 batters he faced to notch his 2nd save. Philadelphia leads the series 2-0 as we head to Philadelphia for game 3.

MLDS Game 2 LA @ New York

Baret vs. Mazdahonda. LA takes a 2-0 lead on an RBI double from Delmon Jefferson in the 1st, and an RBI triple from Damon Lewis in the 2nd. New York takes a 5-2 lead in the 3rd and knocks out Baret, primarily by running the bases loaded offense. LA trims the lead to 5-4 in the 8th, but Roy Brown homers in the bottom of the 8th to give New York an insurance run. Karst Benser saves it for New York, who takes game 2 6-4. Brown goes 3-5 with a HR, double, and 5 RBI. The series is tied at 1 game apiece as we head to LA for game 3. LA will be at full strength for the 1st time in the series, getting Alphonso Soprano and Brent Johnson back. Soprano will be making his 1st appearance in the series, and Brent Johnson will return after leaving game 1 early after getting hit by a pitch.

MLDS Game 1 Philadelphia @ Denver

Zito vs. Howe. Philly scores 3 in the 1st on a 2 run single by Corey Sloan and double by Ron Foreman. Denver cuts it to 3-2 on a 2 run HR by Butters. A sac fly in the 3rd by Chavez makes it 4-2. Howe leaves with 10 hits and 4 runs in 4 1/3 innings. Denver gets to within 1 run, but Phillys bullpen closes out the 4-3 win. Zito Gets the win 7-7-3-3-0-3 and Jaeger gets the save. For Denver, Butters goes 3-3 with a walk and misses the cycle by a single.

Major League Division Series - Game 1 LA @ NY

LA picks David Mulder to face New York's 20-game winner Pedro Lewis. This game is a pitchers duel all the way, with no score until the 7th. With 2 outs, Julius Alfonso works a walk against Pedro. Hank Crowell then hits a double to give LA a 1-0 lead. With 2 outs in the 9th, Hank Crowell hits a solo HR to make it 2-0. New York never rallied, and Mulder pitches a complete game, 1-hit shutout. He faces one batter over the minimum, with the only New York hit being a leadoff single by Ricky Buckley, that bounced right past Mulder. Mulder complained of seeing aliens all day, but it didn't seem to affect his performance..

Superior League Division Series

New York vs Utah

Game 1:

Elladan Corinvar throws a complete game shutout, striking out 9 Utes, and NYK scores 3 early runs off Jack McDermott to win 3-0. Del Holdsworth gets hurt crashing into the fences attempting to make a catch in the first inning, and Ryan Ballard complained of back spasms after the game, so Utah may be short handed for the rest of the series.

Game 2:

Utes chase NY starter John Barton in the third, loading the bases, getting a sac fly from Lou Zamuda and a 3 run homer from Jason Gonzalez. Kermit Holmes, leading off once again due to the injury to Holdsworth, scored 3 times, as did Frank Lewis, and Zamuda drove in 3 for a 13-5 Ute win. Tom Groovine pitched 7 innings for the win, as a trio of 40+ year old Utes relive the glory days of the 1990’s.

Game 3:

Knights jump all over Ute starter David Burke, Ho Chi Fat hits a 2 run homer in the first, and New York adds on 5 runs in the 9th off the Ute bullpen to hold on to a 12-7 win.

Game 4:

Keith Langford pitches 7 2/3 innings to lead the Utes to a 6-2 win to even the series. Doug Dodson and Nick McConroy homer, and Lou Zamuda adds an RBI triple.

Game 5:

Lou Zamuda hits a grand slam, both starters are ineffective, and Utah takes a 3-2 series lead with a 10-8 victory. NY loads the bases in the 9th with one out against Chris Grimes, the saving Ute, but Grimes is able to induce a popup and weak grounder to end the ballgame.

Game 6:
Groovine scatters 3 hits over 6 innings, and Lou Zamuda, who hit .458 for the series, gets 3 hits including another triple and scores two runs. Utah wins 8-3, and decade after Eddie left to party like it’s 1999, these old Utes are still in the hunt for a league championship.

Baltimore vs Charlotte

Game 1:

Charlotte gets 3 early runs off Storm Morris but Baltimore knocks out Bobby Martinez in the third inning on the way to a 10-5 victory. Joe Young homered and scored 3 runs, Kobe Jones had 3 RBI, and even Trent Weaver added a 2 run homer.

Game 2:

Larry Patterson injured his shoulder and had to leave the game after 3 innings. Doug Lefevre pitched 5 solid innings for the win, and Baltimore made a close game into a blowout with a 6 run eight, highlighted by W Gehrig Bear’s 3 run homer.

Game 3:

This started as a strong pitcher’s duel between Enrique Aguayo and Joseph Smith Langford. Langford, however, had to leave the game after 4 innings due to injury, the second straight Charlotte starter to get hurt. Dave Cronin broke a 1-1 tie with a solo homer in the 7th, and Jesse Myers and Joe Young put Baltimore up 4-1 with RBI doubles in the 8th. In the bottom 9th, closer Craig Haren walked Anakin Solo before striking out Merejo and Kelso. Tommy Miller singled, Jackie Garrison worked a walk, and then Mike Conner drove a pitch to center field for a stunning, game ending grand slam. Baltimore leads the series 2-1, though Charlotte will continue the series down two starting pitchers.

Game 4:

Dave Fitzgerald shuts down the Baltimore offense with a complete game 3 hitter. Fidel Duenas does the damage against Jojo Lewis with 3 doubles and 3 RBI.

Game 5:

Charlotte’s incredibly bad luck with pitching continues, as staff ace Bobby Martinez has to leave after the first inning. They score 5 runs off of Storm Morris, get 3 scoreless innings from Tom Borgula, and 4 innings of one run, 5 strikeout ball from Cameron Miller, and with a 6-1 game are one away from advancing to the SLCS.

Game 6:

Charlotte finishes off Baltimore 5-1. Charlotte gets 4 runs off Doug Lefevre in the first 3 innings, and injury replacement starter Felix Reyes shocks the world with an 8 1/3 inning, 1 run performance. Reyes shut down the middle of the Baltimore offense, Joe Young, Gehrig Bear, and Kobe Jones were a combined 0 for 12 against him. Rob Porter finished the 9th to advance the Hawks to the SLCS.

Major League Rookie of the Year

In a unanimous vote, Conn the Barbarian of the Florida Penguins wins rookie of the year. Conn led major league rookies with 24 homeruns, tied for the lead with 67 RBI, and even stole 21 bases, showing speed that distinguishes his game from that of his famous father.

Second place went to Robert the Bruce of St Louis, who hit 23 homeruns in only 400 at bats. Denver's Ruben Ramirez finishes third. His 2.43 ERA was spoiled by lack of run support, leading to a 6-8 record in 21 starts.

40 Barbarian
13 Bruce
5 Ramirez
2 J Valdez
2 C Lebron
1 K Bonderman
1 C Fett

Superior League Rookie of the Year

In a close vote, the winner is Louisville's new king of the mound, Elvis Henson. Elvis doesn't throw hard, striking out only 76 in 156 innings, but with great control and an ability to keep the ball on the ground won 11 games and posted a 2.94 ERA, which would have led the league had he pitched 6 more innings.

Terrence Hatcher of Orlando finished 2nd with 29 homers and 90 RBI. The voting:

Elvis Henson 24
Terrence Hatcher 22
Kurt Kawasaki 10
Marcos Trujillo 4
Ryan Fitzpatrick 2
Rich Almanzar 2

ML Award Candidates

Here's a listing of the top contenders for the ML Awards in alphabetical order:

MVP
Jake Cisco, RF Hawaii
Hank Crowell*, 3B LA
Joseph Greble, 1B HOL
Brent Johnson*, 1B LA
Keith Lee*, RF NY
Manfred Mueller*, 1B NY
Brett Solo*, SS NY
Chad White*, CF NY

Cy Young
Jason Duckworth, Bay Area
Wayne Gardella, Hawaii
Derek Howe*, Denver
Pedro Lewis*, NY
Suzuke Mazdahonda*, NY
Javier Mercedes, St. Louis
Julio Rodriguez, Detroit
Charlie Zito*, Philadelphia

Rookie of the Year
Conn the Barbarian, Florida
Robert the Bruce, St. Louis
Jason Durazo, Portland
Cody Fett, St. Louis
Casey Lebron, Green Day
Ruben Ramirez*, Denver
Jesus Valdez, Toronto

* Denotes team made playoffs.

Refer to Sean's previous post for the link to complete stats for all teams.

Final Standings and Stats

Are available here.

The playoffs will begin later this week, here are the match-ups:

LA Shockers at NY Cobra
Philadelphia Grays at Denver Rabbits

NY Knights at Utah Utes
Charlotte Hawks at Baltimore Colts

Final Major League Standings

New York wins 7 straight to close the season and win the East by 1 game with 94 wins. Philadelphia takes the wild card for the 3rd straight year with 93 wins. Keith Lee wins the batting title at .317, Brett Solo & Paul White swat 38 homers to tie for the league lead, and Chad White knocks in 120 RBI to lead the league. Pedro Lewis is the only 20 game winner at 20-6, while Mazdahonda goes 19-5. Pedro also leads the league with 277 K's.

In the Central, Denver wins their final 10 games to finish at 89-73, 4 games ahead of Detroit. Derek Howe finishes at 18-8 with a league leading 2.44 ERA.

In the west, a repeat of last years three-way tie for 1st place happens again. Hollywood will travel to Portland for game 1, while Los Angeles will travel to the game 1 winners stadium for game 2.

Game 1: Hollywood @ Portland
Rene St. Claire vs. Joel Camels
Hollywood jumps off to 7-0 lead, highlighted by a homerun for Miguel Tejawa, and a grand slam by George Rivera off a not-fully rested Camels. Portland is also without starting RF and cleanup hitter Willie Rivera and 2B Shadow Russell. Hollywood wins the game 9-4, and it was never really close.

Game 2: Los Angeles @ Hollywood
Tyrone Blackburn vs. Willis Brusstar
LA gets off to a 2-0 lead on a 2-run double by Crowell in the 1st. They lead 4-1 in the 8th and hand the game to their lefty/eighty ace relievers, Randy Wagner and Claudio Franco. Wagner takes care of the lefties in the 8th. In the 9th, Franco allows 2 baserunners with 1 out, and Hollywood pinch hits lefty power hitter Eric Kratz. Kratz bounces into a game ending double play, and LA wins the west.

Division Series
Los Angeles (86-77) @ New York (94-68)

Philadelphia (93-69) @ Denver (89-73)