2001 PLAYER / PITCHER OF THE WEEK #21

NAME	TEAM	AVG	SLG	G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	K	W	IW	SB	CS	HBP
HELTON,Todd	HWE AL	.407	1.148	6	27	11	2	0	6	12	13	3	5	0	0	1	0

NAME	CLUB	G	W	L	S	ERA	IP	R	ER	H	K	BB	IBB	WP	BK	HB	HR
BROWN,Kevin	FWP AL	2	2	0	0	1.50	12	2	2	5	9	3	0	0	0	1	1

NAME	TEAM	AVG	SLG	G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	K	W	IW	SB	CS	HBP
BOONE,Bret	MIC NL	.375	.656	6	32	12	1	1	2	6	13	5	1	1	0	0	0

NAME	CLUB	G	W	L	S	ERA	IP	R	ER	H	K	BB	IBB	WP	BK	HB	HR
HALAMA,John	MGH NL	2	2	0	0	0.96	9.1	1	1	3	4	7	0	0	0	0	0

Gladstone Gladiators @ Long Beach Titans
Series Summary:	Gladstone sweeps Long Beach.

Chicago Demolition @ Iowa Giants
Series Preview:	Chicago comes in First place Central Division Iowa third place Eastern Division.
Series Summary:	Not much of series Chicago pounds the ball takes 5 of 6.

Southlake Stealers @ Castle Rock Hounds
Series Preview:	Southlake visits Castle Rock for a six-game tilt. The Hounds are looking to improve their wild card placement while the Stealers are stuck in a bind, 21 games back in the Central and 15 back in the wildcard.
Game #1:	Castle Rock chases Will Cunnane aftetr just 2.0+ innings, with a 6-2 lead. The Hounds continue to pile it on from there, also taking advantage of 4 Southlake errors (leading to 7 unearned runs). Both Wilton Guerrero and Mike Sweeney get 4 hits and Bonds walks 3 times. The final is 15-4, Castle Rock. WP: Jesus Sanchez (2-0) LP: Cunnane (0-7)
Game #2:	Ben Petrick gets Castle Rock on the board first with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 2nd. But, Southlake comes storming back to take a 4-2 lead behind a string of singles and Glover calms down on the mound for the Stealers to hold off the Hounds. Castle Rock gets within one run, but Ben Davis hits a homer to extend the Southlake lead, and the final is 6-3 Souhtlake. WP: Glover (5-6) LP: DeJean (4-4) S: Leskanic (7)
Game #3:	Castle Rock jumps on Chuck Finley early, plating 7 runs in 4.2 IP, highlighted by two triples from Jermaine Dye. Pettitte goes 7 for Castle Rock, allowing just 1 earned run and the final is 8-3, Castle Rock. Dye has 4 RBI and Benji Gil picks up 3 o fhis own. WP: Pettitte (10-8) LP: Finley (5-14)
Game #4:	Bonds gets his first homer of the series in the first to give Castle Rock a 2-1 lead. That is 48 on the year, but he is on pace to fall short of his 73 from that season (probably about 62). The score stays 2-1 until the bottom of the 6th, when Michael Barrett delivers a clutch 2-out, 2-RBI double to give Castle Rock a 4-1 lead. Southlake gets the tying run to 3rd in the 8th, but DeJean is able to get Macias to ground out to end the rally. Benitez comes on to finish it off in the 9th and Castle Rock escapes with a 4-3 victory. WP: Carpenter (3-6) LP: Haynes (5-10) S: Benitez (7)
Game #5:	Both John Burkett and Terry Adams bring their A game in this one. Burkett goes 7 IP and gives up 3 earned before being pulled to start the 8th. Adams gets pulled after Castle Rock gets runners on 1st and 3rd with one out in the bottom of the 8th and the score is tied at 3-3. Michael Barrett greets Curtis Leskanic with a 2-RBI double to give Castle Rock a 5-3 lead. Leskanic proceeds to intentionally walk Bonds to load the bases, but the gamble pays off as Dye flies out to end the threat. Newly-acquired Mike Matthews gets his first save of the season and the final is 5-3, Castle Rock. WP: Quantrill (5-6) LP: Adams (9-10) S: Matthews (1)
Game #6:	Southlake jumps out to a 2-0 lead, both runs scored by Shawn Wooten off RBIs from Marlon Anderson and Dan Wilson. Castle Rock cuts the lead in half with solo HR from Bonds (#49). Dye puts Castle Rock in front with a 2-RBI single in the bottom of the 5th. But, Southlake is not going away easily, as they tie it on a bases loaded walk from Blum in the top of the 6th. And, Wooten then delivers a bases loaded, 3-RBI double and Southlake suddenly has an 8-4 lead. It’s a 6-run inning 6th for the Stealers. The Hounds are able to get the tying run to the plate in the 9th, but Hasegawa closes the door for Southlake, and the Stealers take the series finale, 8-6. WP: Schoeneweis (11-6) LP: Sanchez (2-1) S: Hasegawa (1)
Series Summary:	Castle Rock takes the series over Southlake by a 4-2 margin. Bonds gets his 48th and 49th homers and pushes his walk total to 126.

Hollywood Vampires @ Hampton Huskies
Series Preview:	A team that gutted itself over a few seasons to build a strong team for this season means up with a team that gutted itself only to find itself now gutless … Hollywood revs up the steamrollers to crush Hampton.
Game #1:	An unclose game made to look close by Shinjo’s three-run homer in the bottom of the 9th, but otherwise it was all Vampires as the undead took down the Puppies 8-5. Roy Hallday was solid for six innings for Hollywood while his opponent, Barry Zito, was as solid as a bowel movement after binge-eating green chicken curry and didn’t make it out of the 5th inning. Menechino (11) homered for Hollywood as part of his three-hit attack with former Husky Brian Daubach driving in three runs with two singles and a sac fly. Shinjo, for his part, did well coming into the game late and going 2/2.
Game #2:	A bit of a shocker as the Huskies turned Cujo on Wade Miller’s ass and ripped him for six runs in 4.2 innings en route to a 8-1 win over Hollywood. Cliff Floyd drove in the only run off Dustin Hermanson in the 3rd ining with his 39th double of the year in a battle of former Expos. Scott Hatteberg swung the big bat for Hampton with his 4th homer of the year and a single to drive in three runs. Hampton’s Steve Cox was beaned by Miller and knocked out of action for almost three weeks. Yay.
Game #3:	Bruce Chen allowed at least two baserunners every inning but somehow managed to survive more than five inings and wound up winning his 5th of the year as Hampton edged the Vampires 5-4. Paul Konerko made a great comeback attempt but was all alone when he smacked a homer off Matt Mantei in the 8th. That made it 5-3 and then in the 9th he drove in another run but that was it as the rally fizzled and Jason Grimsley fanned Gabe Kapler to end it. Derrek Lee (17) had the lone homer for Hampton.
Game #4:	Roy Oswalt improved to 11-1 as Konerko had another big game homering and driving in three as Hollywood downed the Huskies 7-4. Another former Husky, Jeromy Burnitz (whom we traded cuz of how he spelled his first name), had two hits and drove in two against his old team. The Huskies power stroke was in evidence despite the loss with JD Drew (22), Shea Hillenbrand (6) and Luis Lopez (2) all going deep. Polar opposite to Oswalt, Darren Dreifort, took the loss to drop to a svelte 2-16 with a 8.07 ERA. Spectacular!
Game #5:	Perez outduelled Freddy Garcia thanks to two home runs by Gabe Kapler and another by Brian Daubach as the Vampires exsanguinated the Huskies 4-2. Cliff Floyd had three hits and drove in the other Hollywood run while Daubach also walked twice in addition to hitting his 10th homer. JD Drew scored once, drove one in and had two hits for the only Husky of note in the contest. Keith Foulke saved his 31st of the season for the good team.
Game #6:	Barry Zito was as good in the series finale as he was bad in the first game. He threw a 3-hitter with 12 striekouts as Hampton ended with a series-tying 1-0 win. Roy Halladay was almost as good as he held Hampton to one run on five hits over seven innings. The lone run of the game was scored in teh 3rd inning when Jerry Hairston walked, stole 2nd and then scored on Curtis Pride’s single into right field. A somewhat costly but overall irrelevant injury for Hampton in the game as JD Drew slammed into the wall chasing Kevin Millar’s deep fly ball. The hit went for a double and Drew headed to the hospital where he’ll be accepting visitors for the next 3 weeks. Quite awesome considering he just came off a two-week trip to the DL.
Series Summary:	A surprise series split as the Huskies got bit by the Vamps but turned around and bit right back.

Fort Worth Panthers @ Corktown Bootleggers
Series Preview:	I’d say a very large late season series between the top 2 teams in the American League. Corktown currently sits with the 1 seed.
Game #1:	Fort Worth 8-3
Game #2:	Fort Worth 11-2
Game #3:	Corktown 7-5
Game #4:	Corktown 5-4
Game #5:	Fort Worth 8-4
Game #6:	Fort Worth 6-0
Series Summary:	Fort Worth dominated the series, but Corktown was able to salvage a couple close games. The Panthers now own a 1 game lead, which will be huge knowing Chicago is likely the opponent. Chicago also very well in the mix for any of the top 3 seeds.

Valdosta Bombers @ Baltimore Blue Crabs
Series Preview:	Wild Card hopefuls Valdosta and Baltimore square off in Charm City. Baltimore sits 2.5 games ahead of Valdosta in the hunt for the final N.L. Wild Card Spot, but Baltimore is beginning a 5-week stretch that will find them playing a top 2 team from the N.L. East or Central each week.
Game #1:	A one-run victory for the Bombers in the opener. Manny Ramirez had 3 hits and knocked in all 3 Valdosta runs. BOMBERS 3 / 7 / 1 CRABS 2 / 6 / 0 WP – Moyer (16-2) LP – J. Johnson (13-5) S – Baez (8)
Game #2:	Valdosta “bombs” Baltimore starter Tim Hudson for 10 runs, 7 earned, on 11 hits, enroute to a 14-1 win. Manny Ramirez is the offensive star, again, with a pair of homeruns and 4 RBIs. Bobby Abreu had 4 hits, including a pair of doubles and a homerun. BOMBERS 14 / 16 / 1 CRABS 1 / 5 / 4 WP – Towers (10-10) LP – Hudson (9-13)
Game #3:	Bombers take a 5-0 lead into the bottom of the 8th, when Jimmy Rollins pops a grand slam to pull the Crabs within a run. But Rollins, batting with the bases loaded and 2 out in the 9th, can’t make magic happen again, and Valdosta holds on to win 5-4. Bobby Abreu and Richie Sexson go deep for the Bombers. BOMBERS 5 / 5 / 0 CRABS 4 / 6 / 1 WP – Lyon (5-3) LP – Santos (1-3) S – Manzanillo (10)
Game #4:	Using a relentless offensive attack, Valdosta scores in the first 6 innings and 7 of 9 to win 10-6. Eric Chavez and Mark Grudzielanek each had 3 hits in the win. Chipper Jones and Sean Casey had 3 hits apiece for the Crabs. BOMBERS 10 / 15 / 1 CRABS 6 / 13 / 0 WP – Yoshii (11-7) LP – Dempster (4-6)
Game #5:	Baltimore takes out its frustration on former Crab Kevin Appier, scoring 7 runs in the second, to finally win one. Chipper Jones and Mark Mclemore homer for the Crabs. Manny Ramirez hits another one for the Bombers. BOMBERS 3 / 7 / 0 CRABS 9 / 9 / 0 WP – Williams (9-9) LP – Appier (10-8)
Game #6:	Jamie Moyer bests Jason Johnson for the second time in the series as Valdosta wins the finale 3-1. Manny Ramirez completes his onslaught on Baltimore pitching with 3 more hits and 2 RBIs. Chipper Jones hit homerun #33 for the Crabs. BOMBERS 3 / 9 / 0 CRABS 1 / 4 / 2 WP – Moyer (17-2) LP – J. Johnson (13-6) S – Manzanillo (11)
Series Summary:	The series couldn’t have gone much worse for Baltimore, as they begin a critical 5-week stretch losing 5 of 6. Valdosta now finds themselves in the 2nd wildcard spot, 1.5 games ahead of the Crabs.

Danbury Mad Hatters @ Flora-Bama Mullets
Series Preview:	Tickets were hard to find as the Mullets fans packed Pensacola stadium to see their new ace make two starts against Danbury.
Game #1:	Griffey took the Big Unit deep in the first for a two run homer and then Danbury added two more in the 2nd for 4-0 lead. Flora-Bama rallied back to tie it at 4-4 after five innings. Hatters got to Johnson again for two more runs in the 7th, but the Mullets rallied for three in the bottom of the 7th to give him is first win as Mullet. Flora-Bama 7-6 W – Johnson 19-1 L – Bere 7-7 S – Sasaki #18
Game #2:	Womack’s rbi double in the second was the only hit for the Hatters. The Mullets tied it in 3rd, but left the bases loaded. Smith continued to strand Mullets until Piazza finally took him deep for a three run homer in the 7th. Flora-Bama 4-1 W – Person 16-6 L – Smith 3-9
Game #3:	Berkman rbi double and Piazza rbi single put the Mullets up early. It was all Schilling needed as he tossed a one hitter. Flora-Bama 5-0 W – Schilling 14-10 L – Wright 3-12
Game #4:	Alou smacked a three run homer off Beckett in first. Berkman’s three run homer in the 3rd tied it. Mullets took the lead on a Piazza solo in 6th. Hunter doubled and then two bunts added an insurance run in the 7th. Sasaki closed out the 9th. Flora-Bama 5-3 W – Charlton 5-1 L – Tapani 8-7 S – Sasaki #19
Game #5:	Alou rbi double in 1st gave Danbury a brief lead. The Mullets exploded for 6 in the 2nd with homers from Perez and Olerud. Johnson left after five due to the blowout and Hampton picked up a four inning save. Flora-Bama 8-4 W – Johnson 20-1 L – Lopez 5-11 S – Hampton #1
Game #6:	Thome and Casanova went deep in the 1st to give the Hatters a 3-0 lead. Hunter solo in 2nd and Piazza rbi double in the 3rd chipped away at the lead. Mullets loaded the bases in the 5th and Piazza walked to tie it, but Juan Gone hit into a double play. Alou’s homerun gave the Hatters the lead in the top of the 6th. Kennedy’s two rbi double put the Mullets on top 5-4. Cedeno tripled to drive in two and then scored on a sac fly in the 7th for a Danbury 7-5 lead. Mullets got one back in the 7th and tied it in the 8th on Hunter’s second homerun. Griffey got a pinch hit double in the 9th and two sac flies gave the Hatters the lead again 8-7. Seanez pitched the final 1.2 innings for the win. Danbury 8-7 W – Seanez 2-2 L – Sasaki 5-4
Series Summary:	Danbury rallied late in game six to avoid the sweep. The Big Unit was roughed up in his first start, but looked Cy-Youngish in his second start. Tori Hunter was the hitter of the series.

Winnipeg Goldeyes @ Manhattan Gas Hornets
Series Preview:	Winnipeg comes to Manhattan with spoiler on their minds as they jockey for position in the lottery. Gas Hornets seek to remain solid in wild card (with diminishing outside hopes for division).
Game #1:	Derek Jeter (3 for 4, 3 rbis, homer [14) and Ron Coomer – 2 homers (11), 3 hits, 3 rbis power Gas Hornets to win in the opener. Rafael Belliard gets 2 hits, rbi in the loss. FINAL MGH 7-4 winners. John Halama (3-0) winner in relief. Tom Glavine (8-8) take the loss.
Game #2:	John Halama (after a brief relief stint in game 1 to get some playing time) comes out and starts game 2 and goes 8.2 innings and tosses a 3 hitter! 6 walks however – but it didn’t hurt as the Gas Hornets blank the Goldeyes. Jason Kendall doubles in 2 in the 7th to spoil the great effort by Paxton Crawford (7 ip, 5 hits, 2 runs). FINAL MGH 2-0 Winners WP Halama (4-0), S Kim (21) LP Crawford (4-2)
Game #3:	Rick Reed keeps the Goldeyes scoreless going tossing a 3 hit shutout for 8.1 innings (9ks). Lots of offense for Manhattan – Jason Kendall a 2 run homer (7) and lots of guys with 2 hits. FINAL MGH 7-0 winners WP Reed (14-3) LP Carl Pavano (1-8)
Game #4:	This might be considered the game of the week as Kip Wells and Steve Sparks face off in a classic pitchers’ duel. Scoreless through 7 but Lee Stevens gets a 2 out triple in the 8th and then scores on a throwing error by Derek Jeter – and sports fans, that’s the ONLY run of the game! (Tough news – Ricky Henderson gets decked and will be going on 10 day DL). You’d never know Wells had only 1 win in his previous 17 decisions. FINAL WGE 1-0 winners WP Kip Well (2-16) LP Sparks (11-5)
Game #5:	Tino Martinez has a 4 for 5 day and 3 rbis and 23rd homer to lead the 15 hit Gas Hornets attack as they in 6 of the 8 innings they batted. Kenny Lofton doubles in 2 in the 9th and Mike Matheny gets 2 singles, but all too little. FINAL MGH 9-4 winners WP Matt Morris (13-7) LP Joe Kennedy (6-10)
Game #6:	2nd Consideration for Game of the Week (in this series). Goldeyes get out to 4-0 lead in the 6th inning. Robin Ventura smacks a 2 run double in the 5th and Lofton and O’Neill drive in single runs. Gas Hornets then scratch some hits together in the 6th for 3 runs and score the tying run in the 8th to send the game to free baseball time. Bottom of the 10th, 2 outs and Ray Durham gets the walk-off homer (14) to make the crowd happy! FINAL MGH 5-4 winners in 10 innings WP Victor Nunez (4-2) LP Justin Duchscherer (1-4)
Series Summary:	Gas Hornets grab 5 of 6 while dealing with OF injuries and player usage. We’re happy with that.

Dondero Oaks @ DeWitt Tigers
Series Summary:	Dondero comes to Dewitt and takes home a series win 4-2.

Michigan Marauders @ Blarney Drive Bandits
Series Summary:	Maruaders take 5 of 6 on the strength of double-digit runs in 5 of the 6 games and winning both that took extras. Last game they tallied 24! Blarney scored 47 runs but just couldn’t keep pace with Michigan’s 81!!

Harper Woods Expos @ California Quakes
Series Summary:	Harper Woods beats down California, taking all 6 games.

Monroeville Maulers @Houghton Penguins
Series Summary:	Houghton and Monroeville split series.