Salem over Montreal (4-1)
Hero: Chad Lamb, Salem's staff Ace, took the mound in Game 1, and deciding game 5, going 8 innings a piece while giving up only 1 earned run. He did allow 3 additional runs to cross the plate in game 3, 2 the direct result of errors in the field, while the 3rd was taked on following one of the errors. In those 16 innings, he allowed only 10 hits, 6 walks while striking out 11 of Montreal's hitters.
Chump: Pat Politte, Montreal's dominating lefty, took the mound in games 2 & 5, lasting only 6 & 5 innings respectively while giving up 7 hits a piece, and 5 runs a piece. For a man who's name is often mentioned in the Cy Young race, and deservadly so, this postseason would best be forgotten.
Syracuse over Little Rock (3-2)
Hero: Sergei Hollandsworth earned all of his 1.8 millon dollar salary as Syracuse's bench coach in these playoffs. Down 0-2 to New York, Hollandsworth inspired his players for 3 straight wins to come back and steal that series. Down 0-2 to Little Rock, Syracuse again bounced back to win 3 straight, then a series clinching game 7 to win the series. Hollandsworth smooth handling of the personalities w/n the Cuse's locker room tempered the fustration with early defeats and paved the way for come backs in both series (Translation, in such an up & down series, no one really stood out individually)
Chump: For the 2nd straight season, Syracuse's opposing training staff in the NL championship round earned chump status for failing to keep their players properrly stretched and loosing multiple players to series ending injury. If 18 millon in training wasn't enough for Boise last season on Syracuse's poorly maintained playing diamonds, Little Rock's 13 million wasn't going to cut it either. Message to NL contenders for next season, if you want to get past the Cuse, be preparred to drop 20 millon on your training department or chance having the Don of Syracuse take out your players one by one.
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