2001 PLAYER / PITCHER OF THE WEEK #01

Snow and Gonzalez hit solo homers in the 5th for Castle Rock to extend the lead to 6-2. They add a run in the 6th and 7th and then Gonzalez hits a grand slam in the bottom of the 8th to make it a 13-2 game. Dondero adds two in the top of the 9th and the final is 13-4, Castle Rock. A rude welcome from the Hounds.

WP: Burkett (1-0)
LP: Sparks (0-1)
S: Rogers (1)(went three innings in relief)

Luis Gonzalez goes 3-5 with two HRs a double and 5 RBI.

Dondero brings in Mariano Rivera to start the 8th, and Sweeney touches him up for a solo HR. In the bottom of the 9th, Wilton Guerrero delivers a pinch-hit single and Rivera is facing Bonds with two outs and a runner on 1st, up 4-3. Barry delivers a clutch double, scoring Guerrero and we are tied at 4-4. Jermaine Dye follows it up with an RBI single and Castle Rock gets the come from behind win, 5-4. A tough loss for Dondero, who got a good start from Wise, and had the right pitcher on the mound with Rivera.

WP: Pineiro (1-0)
LP: Rivera (0-1)

Jarvis is out of the game and Castle Rock keeps piling on. Gonzalez adds a homer of his own to make it 14-4 after just three innings. It’s just a hit parade after that, as both teams are hitting at will, even after Castle Rock puts in its subs. Unfortunately, Bichette and Izturis both suffer long-term injuries in the bottom of the 6th for Dondero. Even Sal Fasano gets in on the action for Castle Rock, delivering a 3-run homer for the Hounds to make the score 25-8! That is how the game would end, as Castle Rock scores 25 runs on 24 hits, 7 walks and 4 errors from Dondero. Luis Gonzalez goes 5-6 with 4 RBI and Mike Sweeney goes 3-4 with 2 RBI and 2 walks.

WP: Pettitte (1-0)
LP: Jarvis (0-1)
S: Rogers (2) (again goes 3.2 IP in relief)

WP: Davis (1-0)
LP: Santana (0-1)

Reggie Sanders gets Dondero out to the early lead with a 2-run homer in the top of the first. Dondero adds another in the 6th. Meanwhile, Paul Wilson is looking like Clemens out there, holding the Hounds to 0 runs on 5 hits through seven innings. He has been upgraded to a 20 to start the 8th. Valentin adds an insurance home run in the top of the 8th to make it 4-0 and Dondero will add three more to make it 7-0. That’s how it ends, as Paul Wilson magically goes the full 9 innings and shuts out Castle Rock! The final is 7-0, Dondero as they avoid the series sweep and get their first franchise victory.

WP: Wilson (1-0)
LP: Durbin (0-1)

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Hello everyone, Ernie Harwell here with broadcast partner and longtime friend Paul Carey. We are about to open another MWWL season, with Chicago taking on the Southlake Stealers.

It’s a cold blustery day here on the Eastern Coast of South Lake in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. We are warm and toasty inside the newly built Richard M. Nixon Mega Sportsplex where the roof will be closed today. With a cost just north of $3.2B the ownership has spared no expense for the fans of this newly minted franchise. Well except perhaps on payroll.

The Stealers will be led this year by their staff ace, and I use that word cautiously, Darryl Kile. After 3 tough years out in Portland he is excited to return to the AL Central where he saw some success with Detroit and Cincinnati in the past.

The offense will be built around Carlos Beltran and an aging Roberto Alomar. Beltran hopes a change of scenery from the mist of Portland will also help his game. He came out of the gate hot his Rookie season, but the last two have been disappointing to say the least.

This team will need to play a scrappy brand of ball if they want to contend until at least the mid-season break. Pulling the strings from dugout steps will be first time manager Sarge Stauffer. It was a surprise hiring when he was plucked out of the Rockies Organization since most people had no idea who this young man was; including most people inside the Rockies Organization.

His work will be cut out for him as you couldn’t pick a more difficult team to start your career off against. The World Champion Chicago Demolition traversed the lakes to begin the defense of their crown. Bringing with them fireballers Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez and slugger Carlos Delgado. Vegas has them as the odds-on favorite for the AL Central again this year.

The Veteran Skipper for Chicago has named Roger Clemens the Opening Day Starter over Pedro. Of course picking Rocket or Pedro to face is like asking do you want to die by firing squad or hanging. Neither is a fun choice to face.

The Demolition wasted no time in striking back. In the top of the third a lead off single by Renteria followed by a walk to Justice set the table. After getting Stewart to pop up it looked as if Kile might be ok by coaxing Anderson to ground one to third, however, Russ Johnson decided to throw one way past Conine at first bringing home the tying run. Justice would score one batter later when Kile uncorked a wild pitch. Demolition with a 2-1 lead.

The Stealers would lean into their new star in the third. With Alomar on second and Conine on 1st with two outs, Beltran rips a double down the right field line to plate both guys and re-take the lead. End of 3 its Stealers 3-2.

The score stayed the same with a series of 1-2-3 innings by both pitchers, until with one out in the 7th Justice hit a double, ending Kile’s day. Kile apparently likes being back in the AL Central as he went 6.1 innings, yielding 4 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts and 2 unearned runs.

Sarge called on Paul Shuey to get out of the jam, and that he did. Getting the next two batters out stranding Justice at second.

A two-out single by Nunez in the 7th was the end of the day for Clemens as well. Roger with a similar line as Kile going 6.2 with 5 hits, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts, giving up 3 runs in total.

Zimmerman was brought in to face Johnson, but Stauffer countered with Shawn Wooten. As effectively as Shuey shut down the Demolition, Zimmerman did the same dispatching of Wooten.

Having removed Russ Johnson for Wooten, Sarge went a controversial route moving his DH Nunez into the field to play third. This meant the Stealers would lose their DH and the pitcher would have to bat for himself. A gutsy move in your first game managing; one sure to be questioned. But it proved moot as Baez would come in for a quick 6 out save and never have to come to the plate himself.

After the game when asked about the move Stauffer replied “Ever since I saw the 1996 All-Star game when Finley had to bat due to a lack of players, I stressed to all our guys to be ready to contribute any way possible at any time. That is why we worked on pitchers batting all spring training long. Luckily, we didn’t need to see if that practice was well spent or not.”

Final Score Southlake 3, Demolition 2
WP: Kile 1-0
LP: Clemens 0-1
Hold: Shuey 1
Save: Baez 1
Big Boy Restaurants’ Big Boy of the Game: Carlos Beltran 2/4 with 2 RBIS

Southlake starter Schoeneweis didn’t even get an out in the second inning as he surrendered 6 runs on 7 hits in just one inning of work. Relievers Irabu, White and Miceli gave up 11 more runs over the remainder of the game.

Stewart led off with a single and continued to hit all game long, going 4 for 5 with 3 runs. That would normally earn Big Boy Restaurants’ Big Boy of the game, but David Justice decided he wanted that hardware, going 3 for 5 with 5 RBIs.

Pitching was suspect for the Demolition as starter Rapp couldn’t go five innings as he gave up 7 runs through 4 innings allowing Nelson Cruz to swoop in for a vulture win. But when you can score at will like the Demolition can, pitching perfection is rarely needed.

Victory did not come without a cost for the Demolition. A Texas Leaguer in the third inning led to a collision between Anderson scampering out and Higginson barreling in. The result left both players on the ground in pain. Anderson will be unavailable for the next two days while Higginson is gone for the remainder of the series. Ouch, that is a big blow to lose Higgy and his .400 batting average.

WP: Cruz 1-0
LP: Schoeneweis 0-1
Big Boy Restaurants’ Big Boy of the Game: Justice — Chicago

In the third the Demolition put the first two batters on. Castillo bared down and it looked as if he was going to work out of the jam, unfortunately for him he had to face Delgado in order to do that. Delgado proving why he is a perennial MVP candidate came through again plating a run on a single.

Milwood would struggle in the third as well. After back-to-back singles to start the inning, he walked the next man, loading the bases with no one out. Russ Johnson would follow with a walk of his own to halve the lead. Bases still loaded with no outs. Millwood would get Conine to bounce into a 6-4-3. While this dampened the rally it did plate the tying run. The score tied after 3 innings.

Chicago kept on hitting. Hits by Johnson and Renteria put runners on first and second with no outs in the 4th. Hocking playing in place of the injured Anderson popped up to Alomar. Justice hit a slow roller to Eckstein for out number two, and Stewart lined out to Beltran to escape the jam for Southlake.

Beltran would continue his hot start to the season leading off the 4th with a single. Singleton would follow with a textbook hit and run to put runners at the corner with no outs. An infield pop up from Macias produced the first out. Chicago played defensively for the double play against the slow running Ben Davis. Instead, Davis squared to bunt and was drilled by the pitch, loading the bases.

Staying in DP depth against a slightly faster Eckstein was a risky move but one Coach Stray was willing to make knowing his team’s hitting prowess. Sarge instead called for the squeeze bunt which Eck pulled off with precision. Stealers now lead 3-2.

After a scoreless 5th, Renteria had a one out infield single in the sixth. Hocking came through this time with a hit and run putting runners on the corner with just one away. Sarge stayed with Castillo who struck out Justice and got Stewart to dribble one back to the mound, ending the inning. Stealers were still up 3-2 after 6.

After 6 strong innings scattering 6 hits, 2 freebies, 4 strikeouts and 2 runs Stauffer called to the pen and brought out Paul Shuey. Shuey shined getting the next 6 outs without much trouble at all. With Justice to start followed by the top of the order to lead off the 9th inning, Sarge went to closer Rob Nen.

Nen walked Justice to start the inning, putting the tying run aboard. The Demolition pinch ran Eli Marrero. Sarge countered by inserting Wooten behind the dish. We are unsure if the Chicago Skipper saw that defensive change. If he had, then his next call may have been different. Instead, he put on the hit and run sign. Stewart whiffed at the air and Wooten threw a bullet to nail the runner.

With a chance at redemption Stewart lined a single to right. Tying runner again on base with one away this time. Ducey playing in place of Higginson drew the second walk of the inning. Sarge had seen enough of his Alex Lange wanna-be in Nen and called on Danys Baez to see if he could squash the Demolition comeback.

Baez facing the heart of this dangerous lineup. Phil Nevin stepped to the plate confidently only to walk away 3 pitches later. His 4th strikeout on the day. Things don’t get easier. Carlos Delgado already with both RBIs for Chicago today sends one deep to left. The roof still closed due to weather meant less carry on the ball as it lands harmlessly in Singleton’s glove for the 3rd out of the game and the series lead.

Final Score Demolition 2 – Stealers 3

WP: Castillo 1-0

LP: Millwood 0-1

Hold: Shuey (2), Nen (2)

Save: Baez (2)

Big Boy Restaurants’ Big Boy of the Game: D. Baez – Southlake

Those looking for a pitching showcase were not disappointed. Pedro went 6 innings giving up just 3 hits, a walk and 4 strikeouts. But the Showcase came from the other dugout tonight as Chuck Finley placed dibs on the pitcher of the week for Week 1 of the season throwing a complete game 4 hit shutout with 11 strikeouts against the dangerous Demolition lineup.

Southlake took the lead in the first inning on a solo shot by Alomar, who had entered the game batting a robust .093. That was really all the run support Chuck needed and he went to work dazzling the fans.

The only real threat occurred when Delgado led off the 2nd with a double, but Finley stranded him there. Whenever he needed a big strikeout, that slider was moving and there for him all day. Tony Clark was particularly vulnerable to it as he had 3 Ks on the day.

In addition to Alomar’s shot, the Stealers played small ball for a run in the 5th against Pedro. A Renteria error in the 7th followed by a Double by Singleton against Cruz finished out the scoring for the Stealers who ensured a series victory with the 3-0 final.

Final Score Demolition 0 Stealers 3
WP: Finley 1-0
LP: Martinez 0-1
Big Boy Restaurants’ Big Boy of the Game: C. Finley – Southlake

Whatever is in the water in Southlake is working wonders. David Cone struck out the side in the first inning. Unfortunately, in between those strikeouts was a Russ Johnson double, a wild pitch and a Conine single to stake Southlake to a 1-0 lead early.

Chicago bats are too good to just lay down. With two outs in the second inning, Justice hit a double and Ducey follows it up with a single to tie the game.

Things started to get heated in the bottom half of the inning. With one man on, Cone drilled catcher Ben Davis who had to leave the game due to a bone contusion. In fact, he is gone for the next five games as well. The wildness didn’t end there as Cone followed that up with another walk. With bases loaded a squeeze bunt scored one run. A Russ Johnson double plated the other two runners. Conine went yard to make it a five-run inning and a 6-1 Southlake lead after two.

Smoltz was having no problems getting the first two outs, but the third out was the albatross around his neck. A two out single by Clark in the third gave Johnson the impetus to go deep himself to cut the lead in half to 6-3.

In the fourth inning the Stealers tried to rally but Chicago’s skipper had seen enough pulling Cone after just 3.2 and bringing in Cruz to kill any hopes of adding more runs. After doing his job in the 4th inning, the Stealers tagged Cruz for a run in the fifth to extend their lead. Cruz settled in for a clean sixth inning. Smoltz had also settled in, yielding no more runs through the 7th inning.

Zimmerman replaced Cruz in the bottom of the 7th. Johnson greeted him with his 4th hit of the day. Making a big turn at first it appeared Zimmerman took exception to the aggressive baserunning, To send a message he drilled Conine with the next pitch. Angel Hernandez immediately ejected Zimmerman to the boos of the fans in attendance.

Zim was replaced by Billy Wagner who got Alomar to pop up for an infield fly rule out. More words were exchanged between Roberto and Wagner. Wagner sent the bird flying toward the Stealers with emphatic delivery, as he drilled Beltran with the next pitch. This led to benches clearing and Wagner joining Zimmerman for an early shower. A post-game MRI showed no major damage, but it looks as if Beltran will be unavailable for a few days at least.

The Stealers added a run in that inning to bring the lead up to 8-3. Not wanting to risk his own starter being ejected Sarge went to the pen bringing in newly acquired Danny Graves. Graves pitched effectively resulting in two clean innings to cap the victory.

Final Score Demolition 0 Stealers 3

WP: Smoltz 1-0

LP: Cone 0-1

Big Boy Restaurants’ Big Boy of the Game: Russ Johnson – Southlake

MULLETS 5 / 7 / 0
CRABS 4 / 5 / 1
WP – Hernandez (1-0)
LP – Hudson (0-1)
S – Sasaki (1)

MULLETS 6 / 9 / 1
CRABS 2 / 7 / 0
WP – Person (1-0)
LP – Appier (0-1)

MULLETS 9 / 12 / 1
CRABS 2 / 5 / 0
WP – Leiter (1-0)
LP – Williams (0-1)

MULLETS 8 / 11 / 0
CRABS 2 / 6 / 1
WP – Adams (1-0)
LP – J. Johnson (0-1)

MULLETS 0 / 5 / 0
CRABS 7 / 13 / 1
WP – Suppan (1-0)
LP – Burnett (0-1)

Tough opening day for Brad Penny as he gives up 3 homers in 6.2 innings. Biggio hits 2 homers for the Mad Hatters. Also, Alou and Griffey tack on homers. Aaron Boone has a homer and 3 RBIs for Michigan.

w,Tapani
s, Nelson
l, Penny

Vinny Castilla has a 3 hit day. Plesac earns the win and Wickman gets the save. Casanova hits a homer for Danbury.

w, Plesac
s, Wickman
l, Lopez

Bobby Witt comes in in the 4th and picks up the win. Palmeiro with 4 RBIs. Michigan hits 3 homers. Alou and Casanova hit homers for Danbury

w, Witt
l, Bere

Bob Wickman is the goat once again like he is most seasons. He blows a 3 run lead and gives up 6 on 2 homers. Brosius and Surhoff with 3 RBI for Michigan. Casanova hits 2 homers and has 6 RBIs.

w, Seanez
l, Wickman

Bob Wickman is the goat once again like he is most seasons. He blows a 3 run lead and gives up 6 on 2 homers. Brosius and Surhoff with 3 RBI for Michigan. Casanova hits 2 homers and has 6 RBIs.

w, Seanez
l, Wickman

HLW 3 BDB 4

W: Rodriguez (1-0)
L: Matthews (0-1)

HLW 7 BDB 15

W: Wells (1-0)
L: Garcia (0-1)

HLW 0 BDB 4

W: Marquis (1-0)
L: Miller (0-1)

HLW 8 BDB 4

W: Mulder (1-0)
L: Hampton (1-0)

HLW 6 BDB 9

W: Groom (1-0)
L: Acevedo (0-1)

FINAL SCORE: GLA 2 – VAL 0
W – Park, L – Moyer

FINAL SCORE: GLA 6 – VAL 5
W – F. Rodriguez, L – D. Patterson

FINAL SCORE: GLA 2 – VAL 3
W – Towers, S – Meacham, L – Borbon

FINAL SCORE: GLA 8 – VAL 0
W – Williams, L -Yoshii

FINAL SCORE: GLA 3 – VAL 2
W – Sturtze, S – Rodriguez, L – Baldwin