Heros and Chumps...

Heros and Chumps of the divisional play-in series



Tacoma over Iowa City (3-2)

Hero: Al Smith. With the road team taking all 5 games of this set, Al Smith continualy came up big each night gong 8 for 22 at the plate w/ a pair of homers, 6 runs scored and 5 rbi. Al set the pace in game 2 w/ 4 rbi, and scored the winning run to close out the series, getting on base ahead of a Cory Witt homer in the 7th

Chump: Ted Wilson. Filling in at CF, a position he's ill equiped to handle, Ted managed to boot 5 errors in the series. While he put up some nice numbers in the 2 Iowa City wins, he managed just 1 hit in 13 at bats in the 3 losses. Perhaps a return to his more comfortable LF position will help not only his mental state, but also his bat next season.





Salem over Jacksonville (3-0)

Hero: Galahad Dale. Taking the mound for Salem in Game 3, Galahad was given the opportunity to close out the series and give the Witch Doctor's pitching staff some much needed rest prior to round 2. Additionally, Salem was starring in the face Jesus Fernedaz and Oscar Bauman for potential games 4 & 5. Dale responded with 9 innings of 1 hit, 1 run baseball while striking out 5 and walking just 3 verse the potent Jacksonville offense.



Chump: Oscar Baumann. While most of Ripkenville was eargerly anticipating the expected pitching dual between Jacksonville Ace Oscar Baumann and Salem ace Chad Lamb, Baumann was spending too much time on the talk show circuit pimping his bid for an unprecedented third straight Cy Young award. All that patting himself on the back must have worn out his highly prized arm as immediatley walked 3 batters, gave up 3 singles allowed a stolen base and gave up 4 runs in the first inning. Oscare would settle down and allow only 1 additional run on 3 hits over the next five inning, however the damage was done as his opposition on the mound, Chad Lamb, was in the midst of an 8 inning, 3 hit gem. Setting the tone for what would be a series sweep, Baumann was last seen taking a bat to the Gatorade bucket.



San Diego over New York (3-1)

Hero: Frank Manzillo. Frank's 16th inning blast in game 4 propelled the San Diego Zonkey's into a round 2 matchup with Syracuse. Frank hit .444 over the 4 game set while scoring 5 runs.



Chump: Carlos Zurbaran. While trailing 2 games to 1, but with a 1 run lead and 2 outs, a 5th game seemed almost certain for the New York Evil Empire. That is until Carlos turned an otherwise routine groundball off the bat of Ramon Campos into an error. Further complicating the matter, Zurbaran failed to cover second base on the following pitch as Campos quickly stole second base, setting up the game tieing single to right field off the bat of pinch hitter Horace Finley. When Manzillo's 16th inning blast cleared the center field wall, New York residents were all ready referring to Zurbaran with the same affection Boston residents have held for Bucky Dent and Aaron Boone. With nearly 17 millon due to Carlos F'n Zurbaran over the next 2 seasons, look for his name to crop up on the rumor mill next season.



Little Rock over Portland (3-0)

Hero: Sean Flores and Blake High. Its not often that your pitching coach and bullpen coach get the nod for series hero, then again its not often in the high pressure of the playoffs that your pitching staff gives up 2, 1 and 1 run over 29 innings. Geoff Rolen, Bronson Brown, and Brett Borders were particularly leathal to the Portland attack paving the way into round 2.



Chump: Jay Paronto. Not only did Jay give up the game lossing 2 run blast in the 10th inning of game 1, but Jay managed to turn a 3-1 defecit heading into the 9th inning of deciding game 3 into a sure 6-1 deficit. As this 10 year vet nears the end of the line, he'd like to be remembered for more than the two hit batters and two 2-run homers he provided Portland in his 2 innings of work this postseason. There's always the senior PGA tour Jay, time to look up John Smoltz.