1997 PLAYER / PITCHER OF THE WEEK #20

Chilli_Davis97Ismael_Valdes97Tino_Martinez97Wilson_Alvarez97

NAME TEAM AVG SLG G AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI K W IW SB CS HBP
DAVIS,Chili HWE  AL .304 .826 6 23 7 0 0 4 8 11 3 3 0 0 0 0
                                   
NAME CLUB G W L S ERA IP R ER H K BB IBB WP BK HB HR
VALDES,Ismael DET  AL 2 2 0 0 1.20 15 2 2 7 11 6 0 1 0 0 0
                                   
NAME TEAM AVG SLG G AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI K W IW SB CS HBP
MARTINEZ,Tino MGH  NL .478 1.130 6 23 11 0 0 5 7 12 1 1 0 0 0 0
                                   
NAME CLUB G W L S ERA IP R ER H K BB IBB WP BK HB HR
ALVAREZ,Wilson SLS  NL 2 2 0 0 0.60 15 1 1 7 16 1 0 0 0 0 0

Chicago Demolition @ Castle Rock Hounds

Series Preview: Big series at Castle Rock this week, as the Demolition faces off against the Hounds. Castle Rock sits just a half-game above Chicago in the wild-card standings as the series begins. Two evenly matched teams….should be a fun series.
Game #1: Clark vs. Sager in Game 1. Chicago strikes first with a 2-out RBI double from Charles Johnson to score Renteria in the 3rd. But, Snow returns the favor with a 2-out double to score Bonds in the bottom half to tie it at 1-1. Castle Rock adds one in the 4th, but Chicago breaks through with three runs in the 6th to take a 4-2 lead. Not to be deterred, the Hounds score three in the bottom of the 6th, highlighted by a two-out pinch-hit two-RBI double from Sean Berry. Carlos Delgado ties it up with a solo HR in the 8th, and we are at 5-5. Chicago loads the bases in the 8th, but Dreifort strikes out Phillips to end the rally. In the 9th, Chicago gets a two-out rally, as Cirillo doubles home Delgado. It is 6-5, Chicago. Chicago sends three relievers to the mound in the 9th, but it was a magic combination. Despite Bonds getting into scoring position, the Hounds couldn’t plate a run, and the final was 6-5, Chicago.

WP: Wilkins (1-1)
LP: Benitez (3-5)
S: Radinsky (13)

Game #2: Geremi Gonzalez vs. Brian Bohanon in Game 2, with Chicago holding a slight pitching edge. Clark hits a homer in the first and Chicago takes on two runs in the 1st and three in the 3rd to take a comfortable 5-0 lead. It’s a hit parade for Chicago, as they get 11 hits off of Bohanon in just 5 IP. Bonds gets a double in the 7th to narrow the gap to 6-3. Luis Gonzalez adds a solo shot to make it 6-4 in the 8th, and the home crowd begins to file back into their seats. But, the Demolition bullpen closes it down again, and the final stays at 6-4. Chicago does lose Tony Phillips for 4 games with a HBP.

WP: Gonzalez (5-12)
LP: Bohanon (8-4)
S: Radinsky (14)

Game #3: The Hounds are desperate for a victory after dropping the first two, but they are facing off against The Rocket in this one. Hermanson on the bump for Castle Rock. The Hounds strike first with a Luis Gonzalez solo HR. Tom Goodwin gets a clutch two-out single to score Renteria in the 5th and tie it at 1-1. But, it seems to be Luis Gonzalez’s day, as he hits another solo HR to make it 2-1 in the 6th. Snow adds an RBI double in the 7th to make it 3-1. Benitez finishes off Chicago, and the final is 3-1, Castle Rock. Clemens strikes out 12 in the loss.

WP: Hermanson (9-9)
LP: Clemens (16-7)
S: Benitez (23)

Game #4: It’s Pedro Martinez vs. Andy Pettitte in an old NY-BOS rivalry matchup. Tony Clark breaks it open with a three-run shot in the 3rd. But, J.T. Snow hits a three-run HR of his own, and Castle Rock takes a 4-3 lead in the 5th. So much for the pitcher’s duel. Dale Sveum adds a clutch two-out single in the 6th to make it 5-3. Chicago threatens in the 7th, getting runners to 2nd and 3rd, but Pettitte gets out of the jam. In the 9th, Pettitte gets pulled after Womack doubles home Nevin. It is 5-4, runner on 2nd and nobody out when Benitez enters the game. Stocker flies out, one down. Goodwin flies out, two down. Hunter flies out, three down. The final is 5-4, Castle Rock.

WP: Pettitte (16-4)
LP: Martinez (15-5)
S: Benitez (24)

Game #5: Stottlemyre vs. Dickson in this one. Demolition race out to an early 3-0 lead in the first behind a couple of questionable fielding decisions and walks by the Hounds. Meanwhile, Stottlemyre is cruising, giving up only three hits and no runs through 7.2 IP. Dickson also settled down, not allowing anything after the outburst in the first inning. Chicago adds two insurance runs in the 9th to make it 5-0, and that is how it ends.

WP: Stottlemyre (11-7)
LP: Dickson (7-8)
S: Wagner (14)

Game #6: Castle Rock hoping to salvage a series split in the finale, while Chicago is looking to surge ahead in the wildcard standings. Sager vs. Clark in a rematch of Game 1. Castle Rock commits three errors in the first three innings, and Chicago takes advantage to take a 2-0 lead. But, Hamelin ties it up with a 2-run homer in the 4th. But, Chicago storms right back to take a 4-2 lead in the 5th. Levis delivers a pinch-hit RBI single for Castle Rock to make it 4-3 in the 6th, but Wilkins gets out of a bases-loaded situation to keep the one-run lead. Chicago loads the bases in the 7th, but Dreifort gets Goodwin to ground out to stave off the rally. it is 4-3 going into the bottom of the 9th. Huskey leads off with a single and Wagner is pulled for Radinsky, who comes in to face Bonds. Barry moves Huskey over to second with a ground out. Snow pops up for the second out. Easley grounds out to end the game and Chicago gets the game and series victory, 4-3.

WP: Sager (6-2)
LP: Clark (10-4)
S: Radinsky (15)

Series Summary: Chicago takes the series 4-2. In a very strange twist, the only two games that Castle Rock wins are the Chicago starts by Clemens and Pedro. It’s a strange game. Chicago jumps ahead of Castle Rock by 1.5 games in the wildcard standings, but we still have a ways to go.

Michigan Mauraders @ Manhattan Gas Hornets

Series Preview: 2nd place teams butt heads – NL Central Michigan comes to Manhattan (NL East) for a six-pack, let’s pop the top…
Game #1: This game belongs to Brad Radke as he tosses a no-no through 7, well almost, he had given up a hit to Ray Durham in the 6th. And he had a nice 2 run lead when Michael Tucker triples in one and then scores on a Bernie Williams singled in the 3rd. But then Benito Santiago leads off with a single in the bottom of the 8th. Neon Deion Sanders comes into PR – steals 2nd and with 1 out Durham gets his 2nd single of the game scoring Sanders. Dave Martinez singles in Durham and then Tino Martinez launches a big 2 run homer (22) to put the Gas Hornets on top and John Wetteland keeps it that way in the 9th.
MIC 2-7-1 LP Bob Wickman (2-3) BS (5)
MGH 4-5-1 WP LaTroy Hawkins (2-0) S Wetteland (21)
Game #2: A similar, but slightly different scenario in game 2. Rick Reed is pitching well for the Gas Hornets and so is Shawn Estes for Michigan. In the 3rd Derek Jeter and Tino Martinez get singles with Tino driving in Jeter for the game’s 1st run. Cal Ripken a SF in the 5thto tie it. Then Jim Edmonds gets an RBI double in the 6th to go up 2-1. However, the Gas Hornets tie it up in the 8th on another Jeter/Tino singles combo and we go to extra innings. Mike Morgan in for the 10th on the mound for the Mauraders and for the 3rd time in the game, Jeter and Tino hook up singles for the game-winner – Tino getting all 3 RBIs in the game.
MIC 2-4-1 LP Morgan (3-2) 10 innings
MGH 3-7-0 WP Ricardo Rincon (1-1)
Game #3: There was no question in this game. Mike Gardner faced 11 batters in 1.1 innings, giving up 6 hits, a walk, and 6 runs – 3 of the hits were 1st inning homers to Tino Martinez (22), Matt Stairs (27), and Benito Santiago (5). In Stairs’ next ab he homers (28) off Mike Morgan. Ray Durham gets 2 singles and 2 doubles and Matt Morris and some scrubs limit Michigan to 2 runs – Brett Boone collects 2 of the 5 Mauraders hits.
MIC 2-5-0 LP Gardner (4-11)
MGH 11-16-0 WP Morris (16-5)
Game #4: This game appeared to have a familiar ring to it. Michigan tags Tim Wakefield for 4 runs in the 4th as his control was subpar. Brett Boone drives in 2, Brady Anderson doubles in 2 and they add a 5th on a Jim Edmonds double. Gas Hornets begin to chip away as they get single runs in the 4th, 5th and 8th innings. Homers by Matt Stairs (29) and Tino Martinez (24) account for 2 of them. So it’s 5-4 going into the 9th and Manhattan calls on Ricardo Rincon (sub 1.00 era coming into the game) to pitch the 9th to keep Michigan close. Not good! Rincon faces 5, hits 2 of them, gives up 3 hits including a Rafael Palmeiro grand slam (25). LaTroy Hawkins gets the mercy relief and gives up a 2 run homer to Mike Lieberthal (13) and 6 Mauraders scores in the 9th as they win 11-6, we tried in the bottom half, but only got the 2 we would have needed had we held them…..
MIC 11-12-3 WP Livian Hernandez (7-1)
MGH 6-10-0 LP Wakefield (9-10)
Game #5: So that sets the tone for game 5 – more hits (26) and runs (16) in one that goes down to the wire. Michigan cracks first with 2 in the 1st – Vinny Castilla 2 run homer (22) – 3 hits, 3 RBIs in the game. But the Gas Hornets get 1 back in the bottom half, and 1 more in the 2nd to tie, and 1 in the 3rd to take the lead. Tino having another good game gets 3 hits, 2 RBIs, and a homer (25).
Then Michigan plates 2 in the 4th to retake the lead, but Manhattan counters with 2 in their half and 2 more in the 5th for a 7-4 lead. That gets cut to 7-6 when Rafael Palmeiro homers (26) for 1 in a 2 run 6th. Then the Gas Hornets add 2 more in the 8th to go to the 9th with a comfortable 9-6 lead and a John Wetteland save – except he gives up 4 FOUR hits – fortunately for the home crowd it only turns into 1 run and Manhattan sneaks into the clubhouse with a 9-7 win.
MIC 7-13-0 LP Charles Nagy (8-9)
MGH 9-13-0 WP Jay Powell (3-2) S Wetteland (22)
Game #6: So can game 6 be simple? Well, Kevin Tapani made the 1st 5 simple, scattering 5 hits and no runs while his mates scored 2 runs – one was a Tino Martinez solo homer (26) off starter Brade Radke. That was the 5th game of the series in which Tino homered – and in the one he didn’t, he had 3 hits and 3 RBIs! POW maybe?? Carlos Reyes comes in for 1.1 innings of scoreless work and Ricardo Rincon got his act back together to close out the 7th. Jay Powell got the 8th done and Neon Deion Sanders triples in an insurance run in the 8th. It helped as Rafael Palmeiro clubs another homer (27) in the 9th off Powell. Mike Lieberthal doubles and John Wetteland has to be called on to strike out the final batter – Brett Boone – to end the game.
MIC 1-8-0 LP Radke (12-6)
MGH 3-8-1 WP Tapani (6-0) S Wetteland (23)
Series Summary: Manhattan works some miracles to get a 5-1 series win. Tino Martinez has a week where he raises his average from .292 to .302. (11 for 22, 5 homers, 7 runs, 12 RBIs)!
We’ll need that a MORE next week as we face the best in the NL – Winnipeg and their GOLD eyes!!

Winnipeg Goldeyes @ Steel City Sluggers

Series Summary: Sluggers can only win two against a tough Goldeyes squad.

Detroit Stars @ Corktown Bootleggers

Series Summary: Corktown and Detroit Split the Michigan Ave Series. 3-3

Long Beach Titans @ Santa Rosa Beach Bums

Series Preview: Santa Rosa Beach welcomes the Long Beach Titans to the panhandle. The Bums and Wings appear to be in a rebuild, we suspect a competitive series.
Game #1: The Titans choose Holmes (-2-3, 6.20) to face Bums Smoltz (12-5, 2.54). In the 1st, Titans Santangelo was beamed and King drew a walk before Hammonds doubled them home 2-0. In the 4th Bums Whiten doubled, Thomas walked and Caminiti banged an RBI double. MacFarlane followed with an infield grounder that Thomas scored on. Game reset. In the 7th, Strawberry and Smoltz reached and Alomar dropped in an RBI single, Bums 3-2.
Long Beach 2 6 1 LP: Holmes 2b: Hammonds; HBP: Santangelo; SH: Holmes; Sb: Hammonds.
Santa Rosa Beach 3 10 0 WP: Smoltz 2b: Whiten, Caminiti.
Game #2: The Titans turn to Holt (7-5, 4.31) and the Bums Rosado (7-12, 3.86). Titans strike fast again, in the first Hammonds and Justice doubled for one. King later singled to make it 2-0. Still in the 1st, after the Titans filled the bases Difelice banged a 2-run single, 4-0. An Alomar single and Caminiti double got one on the board for the Bums in the bottom half. Titans Justice singled, advanced, and scored on a Smith single, 5-1 in the 2nd. King then put a 2-run homer on the board to chase Rosado. The Bums score three in the 6th and one in the 7th to pull within five.
Long Beach 13 17 1 WP: Holt 2b: Hammonds, Justice, King, Santangelo, Mack; HR: Smith, King.
Santa Rosa Beach 6 9 2 LP: Rosado 2b: Caminiti 2, Sanders; HR: Fasano.
Game #3: With the series even the Titans call on Cordova (7-5, 4.47) and the Bums Beech (4-10, 6.28). With 2-out Justice rips a solo shot and the Titans are on the board again in the 1st. The Bums aren’t so dramatic as Alomar walked and Thomas and MacFarlane singled to tie the game in the bottom half. Titans regain the lead in the 3rd on a Blauser leadoff homer. Smith followed a couple of batters later with his own, 3-1 Titans. Titans Samuel banged a homer with one aboard in the 4th, 5-1. So much for a tight series. Titans have better pitching and hitting. In the 6th Bums, Thomas doubled and scored on a couple of infield grounders, 5-2 Titans.
Long Beach 5 11 0 WP: Cordova HR: Samuel, Blauser, Justice, Smith; SH: Cordova 2; S: Mesa.
Santa Rosa Beach 2 8 0 LP: Beech 2b: Thomas, MacFarlane.
Game #4: The Titans give Perez (9-5, 2.70) the ball and the Bums go with Clark (2-5, 7.02). Clark filled the bases in the 1st and walked Hill for one. Oliver then lifted a sacrifice fly for the second. Boggs singled for the third. Titans take a 3-0 lead in the 1st. Yawn. Bums Loretta and Thomas stroked back-to-back doubles in the bottom half, 3-1. Clark filled the bases again in the 2nd, this time with 0-out. This time the Titans could not convert. Clark filled the bases yet again in the 3rd, excruciating yawn. The Titans could not convert. Titans Hill banged a 2-run double in the 4th, 5-1. Perez banged his second hit of the game to make it 6-1. And scored on a Hammonds single. Bums Miller then filled the bases and walked Hill to make it 9-1. Miller filled the bases in the 9th. A bit repetitive. Titans pull Peters who went 2 hits, 2 walks, and an out on the day.
Long Beach 11 19 2 WP: Perez 2b: Blauser, Nunnally, Hill, Baerga, Perez; SF: Oliver 2.
Santa Rosa Beach 2 6 1 LP: Clark 2b: Loretta, Thomas.
Game #5: The Titans look to win this series with Garcia (8-8, 3.36) and the Bums to save the series calling on a short rested Rosado (7-13, 4.08). Titans Hammonds leadoff the game with a single followed by a Blauser triple, 1-0, followed by a walk to Justice, followed by a walk to King to fill the bases, followed by a Strange double bringing in two. Titans 3-0 after one half. Bums Thomas wasted no time hitting a 2-run homer in the bottom half. Titans Hammonds banged a triple in the 2nd and scored on an infield grounder. Bums Sanders made it a one-run game with a 2-out solo shot in the 6th. In the 7th Bums, Whiten drew a walked and advanced to third on an Alomar single to right. And Thomas went yard, Bums 6-4.
Long Beach 4 8 0 LP: Brocail 2b: Strange, Difelice; 3b: Hammonds, Blauser; SH: Garcia.
Santa Rosa Beach 6 8 0 WP: Rosado 3b: Perez; HR: Thomas 2, Sanders; S: Santiago.
Game #6: Titans still trying to win the series call on Holmes (2-4, 5.94), and the Bums trying to tie up the series go with ace Smoltz (13-5, 2.52). Titans Nunnally started the game off with a single and King followed reaching on an error. Justice ripped a single scoring Nunnally and sending King to third, Titans 1-0 in the 1st. Yawn. Blauser followed with a sacrifice fly to right, 2-0 Titans in the 1st. Double Yawn. Smoltz finally got Boggs and Baerga to stop the Titans where they are most dangerous. In the first. Still in the 1st, Bums Whiten leadoff with a double, Alomar walked, Whiten got picked (idiot), Caminiti walked and Loretta banged an RBI single, 2-1 Titans. Bums Whiten tied it in the 3rd with a leadoff homer. Tied up. Game Reset. Titans place the first two batters in the 4th. Nothing. In the 5th Smoltz drew a walk, stole, and Nothing. Titans place the first two batters again in the 6th. Nothing. In the 7th Nunnally reached, traded places with King, Justice singled sending King to third who scored on a sacrifice fly. Titans 3-2. With 2-out in the 8th. Titans Oliver singled and reached second on a VanderWal error. Rodriguez replaced Smoltz and the Titans call on x-Bum Mack who…. Singled in Oliver. Titans 4-2. Rodriguez then walked Nunnally. Daal replaced Rodriguez. In the bottom half, Alomar drew a walk and Thomas went deep, foul. Then K. Caminiti…ball one. Caminiti…ball two. Caminiti popped up. With Loretta up the Bums decide to go to a heavier bat and call on Sanders, who rips one to deep left field. Justice going back and…one hands it. In the bottom of the 9th Gagne singled and Sutton went yard. 4-4. Game Reset. Who’da thunk those two. In the bottom of the 10th Bums, Alomar singled and stole. Thomas was intentionally walked. First and second no outs. Hasegawa is on the mound to face Caminiti. He walked him to be pulled. Bases loaded. Titans call on Williams. Sanders to the plate for a second chance to be the hero. Infield in. Williams on the mound. Sanders at the plate. Sanders lobes one to left. Santangelo catches it. Alomar is heading home. Thomas goes toward third. Not to be outdone Caminiti heads toward second. Here’s the throw. Here’s the slide. And…safe. Bums win. Bums win. And the crowd goes wild. All twelve of them. It’s mayhem.
Long Beach 4 10 0 LP: Hasegawa HBP: Oliver; SF: Blauser 2; Sb: King Mack; H: Brocail.
Santa Rosa Beach 5 7 2 WP: Daal 2b: Whiten; HR: Whiten, Sutton; IBB: Thomas; SF: Sanders; Sb: Alomar, Smoltz.
Series Summary: The Bums escape with a series split. But it wasn’t that close.

Fort Worth Panthers @ New Hampshire Nighthawks

Series Summary: Nighthawks win the first 2. The Panthers win games 3 and 4, Nighthawks take the final 2. Both teams are hoping for brighter days in the coming seasons.

Sugar Land Skeeters @ Blarney Drive Bandits

Series Preview: 1st place Skeeters hoping to add some W’s against the under-performing Bandits.
Game #1: Spiers 3-5 w/ 2 doubles and 2 RBI and Bell 4-5 lead the Skeeter offense while Alvarez tossed a stellar 8 inning 1 hit game.

SLS 6 BDB 2

W – Alvarez (10-9)
L – Wengerts (1-14)
S – Nelson (6)

Game #2: Sugarland loses Pratt for 31 days and also a nail-biter. 1-1 after regulation the Bandits eek one across vs. the tough Myers.

SLS 1 BDB 2

W – King (1-1)
L – Myers (6-2)

Game #3: Similar to game 1, Henry and Heredia tag team for 8 shutout innings and 4 different Skeeters collect an RBI. Nice team effort today for the visitors.

SLS 4 BDB 1

W – Henry (5-6)
L – Wells (6-12)
S – Nelson (7)

Game #4: Johnson takes his turn and delivers a so-so effort to his standards. Blarney bats were enough to help him collect the W.

SLS 3 BDB 5

W – Johnson (14-8)
L – Jones (11-9)
s – Aguilera (9)

Game #5: In what has been a common theme this season, Blarney can’t string hits together to score runs. Sugarland plates 3 in the 2nd and that’s all they would need. Skeeters bang-out 5 extra-base hits.

SLS 4 BDB 2

W – Alvarez (11-9)
L – Oquist (6-9)
S – Nelson (8)

Game #6: Biggio 3-7, Spiers 4-5, Thome 3-3, Bell 3-6, and Merced 3-6. That is really all that needs to be said about this absolute pillaging of Bandit’s arms. 25 hits. Wow.

SLS 19 BDB 1

W – Mercedes (11-3)
L – Wengert (1-15)

Series Summary: Skeeters take 4 of 6.

Hollywood Vampires @ DeWitt Tigers

Series Summary: Hollywood takes 4 of 6.

Harper Woods Expos @ Portland Mavericks

Series Preview: The Harper Woods Expos (68-71) visit the Portland LumberJax 44-67. Expos in the hunt for the AL Central top spot and if not, a wild card spot.
Game #1: Expos win a close one, though lose Roberts for 3 days with the injury.
HWE 6 POR 5
Game #2: Portland jumps to an early lead and hold on, and the Expos have another injury.. this time Bournigal (19 days)
POR 6 HWE 3
Game #3: Portland out hits the Expos 12 to 9 but lost in the scoring column.
HWE 7 POR 3
Game #4: Expos leave no doubt in this one as Chili Davis is HOT with 6 RBIs.
HWE 12 POR 2
Game #5: Extra extra read all about it! Harper Woods wins in the 11th.
HWE 4 POR 2 (11)
Game #6: Another close one, but another Expos win.
HWE 6 POR 4
Series Summary: Expos win 5 of 6 to keep the pressure on in the AL Central and WC race. Portland’s Chuck Knoblauch moves to 8th spot all-time in stolen base streak with 32 straight steals (has not been caught yet this year *knock on wood*)

California Quakes @ Flossmoor Flying Squirrels

Series Summary: The top two teams in the AL play a hard-fought six-game series to an even 3-3 split. Could be an ALCS preview.

4Hampton Huskies @ Valdosta Bombers

Series Preview: Huskies pay a visit to Valdosta.
Series Summary: After playing terrible for the past 3 weeks and knocking themselves out of playoff contention the Bombers decide it’s a good time to get hot. Valdosta takes 5 of 6. Manny Ramirez was red hot, going 11 for 26, 3 HRs, and 12 RBI’s. He’s pretty good!

2Cincinnati OUtlaws @ Stockton Wings

Series Summary:  The Wings lose 5 of 6 to the Outlaws from Cincy.

FIRST GAME FILE
DUE MONDAY 04/01/2024
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