NOTES FROM THE COMMISH
Once again, the Seattle Mariners have captured the PSCB title, a surprising
4 games to 1 over the outstanding Los Angeles Angels of a Neighborhood
just North of the Center of Anaheim.
The M's took game 1 of the series 3-2, on the strength of an 8th inning
tie-breaking solo home run by regular season MVP Carlos Pena. Strong
pitching performances by staters Gil Meche and John Lackey could not
decide the matter, leaving it up to the bullpens. Hideki Okajima gave
up the game winner for the Angels, who rallied to put two on in the
9th before George Sherrill slammed the door.
The Angels rallied back in game 2 to shut out the M's 7-0. CC Sabathia
cruised to the win after a 5 run first put the game out of reach.
Game 3 saw the Big Unit shut out the Angels through 7 on the way to
a crucial 2-1 victory for the M's. The Unit was the difference maker
in the Angels LCS triumph over the Indians, and he continued his clutch
work for the M's in this series. Victor Martinez' solo homer in the
7th put the M's ahead to stay.
Game 4 saw the Mariners chase Ted Lilly early, jumping out to a 9-0
lead after 3 innings, before coasting to a 13-6 victory. Bronson Arroyo
pitched six strong innings to earn the win while 8 different Mariners
collected two hits or more in the biggest offensive explosion of the
series.
The deciding Game 5 was again decided by the bullpens, with the Mariners
squeaking out a 3-2 win for the clincher. Jose Guillen's 9th innings
solo home run off of Phil Hughes broke a 2-2 tie before Russ Springer
closed out the Angels in order in the bottom half of the final frame
to the 2008 season.
Hard to pick an MVP, but Victor Martinez gets the nod for his deciding
home run in Game 3, and his 2 crucial rbi's in Game 5.
Congrats to the Mariners and Manager Lloyd Stevens, as well as to
Scott Felt and the runner-up Angels. I would tell you how many times
Lloyd has captured the title, but that would simply embarrass the
rest of the league!
The Summer Draft will be held before the end of this month. Since
your commissioner is laid up at home with a bum foot for the next
few days, he will get the draft list out by Friday. The Developmental
Cut list will therefore be due on or about July 20th, and the draft
will probably commence about a week later, by email.
I will confirm that schedule when I send out the draft list in the
next two days. If anyone has availability issues, please let me know
ASAP.
The Trading season is now open! No draft picks can be traded, so any
trades that involve draft picks should be kept to yourselves until
after the Summer Draft is complete.
Any trades that you'all have tried to report in the last few weeks
have been ignored! Re-report them now for official approval.
Ernie
Ernie
