Champions Travel to Pittsburgh in April

Decided to fly to Pittsburgh to take on Todd Ventresca’s Gamblers.  Because Todd couldn’t make it to Chicago for the IAL Playoff & Draft weekend in March, it seemed like the thing to do.  On Friday after Todd picked me up from the airport & I checked into the motel, we headed over to Damon’s for dinner, and to watch hockey at the bar.  On Saturday Todd umpired a doubleheader then headed over to play shum APBA.

Game #1 featured Champs ace(?) Tim Lincecum matched up against C.C. Sabathia for Three Rivers.  Maggs Orodonez hit a one out first inning solo shot to give the Gamblers an early lead.  Matt Wieters for them & Gordon Beckham for us, traded late game 2-run blasts.  C.C. went the distance for the complete game win over The Freak, whose record stands at 0-6.

Chicago scored seven runs, without the benefit of a longball off reliever Nate Robertson (Is that you Nate? That’s the punchline to a joke, but what’s the joke?) in the 10^th inning of a 2-2 game to make a winner out of last year’s Cy Young Award winner Matt Cain.

Brett Myers left game #3 trailing 3-1 after six innings to John Lannon (my favorite Beetle).  Each team added five spots over the last three innings and the Gamblers had the series lead 2-1 at home.

On the bump for the Champs in the fourth game was Mark Buehrle, who threw a 2-hit shutout.  Gamblers rookie Jhoulys Chacin was the tough luck loser.  El Caballo squeezed home the game winner in the 7^th, 1-0 Good Guys.  Tied at two games apiece.

A funny thing happened in the 7^th inning of game five.  With the Champs leading eight to zip, rookie lefthander Madison Bumgarner was due to hit in the top of the 7^th.  Manager Mallasch looked down his bench, looking for a pnch-hitter, one was announced, however Manager Ventresca was good enough to let the clueless Champs skipper know his pitcher had a no-hitter going.  Todd let me call back my pinch-hitter.  Of course Bumgarner gave up a base-knock before retiring another batter and was lifted to get pen workhorse Josh Beckett some work.  Beckett only lasted 2/3 of an inning before giving way to closer Sergio Romo.  Romo pitched the rest of the way and Chicago managed to hang on to an 8-6 victory.

Game #6: A rematch of Sabathia vs Lincecum ended in the bottom of the 12^th when Carlos Lee nailed a three-run bomb off Gamblers lefty Andrew Laffey, for a walk-off dinger.  Big Boy Jose Mijares picked up the win.

Gamblers batters staked Brian Matusz to a first inning four to nothing lead in the 7^th game, tacked on a couple more runs, and Brian went the distance shutting out the Champs 6-0.  Prince Fielder launched two solo drives, Adrian Beltre added one of his own, and Shane Victorino clubbed a 2-run shot to pace the attack.

Howie Kendrick broke a 1-1 tie with a 6^th inning granny off Brett Myers, Chacin was masterful, and the Gamblers evened up the series at four, with a 6-1 win.

Frenchy Francoeur broke game #9 wide open with a three-run 6^th inning longball, putting the Champs up 7-2.  Mark Buehrle went the distance for the victory and series win.

On Sunday we went to PNC to see the Buccos play host to the Colorado Rockies.  Todd rooted for the Pirates, despite the fact that one of his APBA hurlers, Jhoulys Chacin started for the Rox.  Pittsburgh lost a close one to Colorado.  The weather was perfect, 80 degrees in April, can’t beat that!

Todd drove me back to the airport after the game.  Special thanks go out to Todd for everything, it was a great weekend, and I highly recommend a trip to the Burgh, lotsa funn!!!

Hall of Fame Candidate: Craig Biggio

This is the first in a series of articles about candidates for the Illowa League Hall of Fame.

Craig Biggio came into the IAL in the expansion draft of 1997, taken by the State Street Sluggers.  He was immediately dealt to the Aurora (now Three Rivers) Gamblers.  Despite missing what would have been the first eight seasons of his career if he had been drafted when first eligible (probably 1989) he played 11 excellent seasons, exclusively playing for the Gamblers.

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Champs Stay Hot in July

The Chicago Champions record stood at 56-22 heading into July, mostly due to beating the teams in the West, we were below .500 (8-10) against Eastern teams.  This did not bode well facing the Three Rivers Gamblers, with the most explosive lineup in the IAL.

Things didn’t look good when their ace, C.C. Sabathia, beat our ace, Tim Lincecum, 3-0 in game one.  A 4^th inning bases loaded sacrifice fly off the bat of Jason Bay provided the only run, until rookie Matt Wieters belted a 7^th inning two run shot off fellow rookie reliever Ryan Perry, to give the Gamblers some insurance, C.C. went the distance, allowing four hits, striking out nine.

Jimmy Rollins gapped a two out 3^rd inning triple to plate Carlos Lee all the way from first base and Josh Beckett made that run stand up, winning game two, 1-0.  J.B. matched Sabathia, allowing four singles, K’ing 13, and the series was even.

In the 3^rd contest Matt Cain took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the 9^th.  Jeff Francoeur scored twice & Jason Monroe, aka Justin Morneau, knocked two solo shots into orbit, to account for the four Champ tallies.  But trouble came a knocking in the bottom of the 9^th, pinch-hitter Magglio Ordonez laced a two basehit, Shane Victorino drew a base on balls, and Dustin Pedroia cut the lead in half with a double to the gap, plating two.  Cain’s night was through when Ryan Braun singled & stole second, putting the tying runs at 2^nd & 3^rd, with nobody out.  Prince Fielder trotted to firstbase, after taking four wide ones from Ryan Perry.  Jose Valverde induced Derek Jeter into a 6-4-3 DP, now the potential tying run was just 90 feet away.  Righthanded reliever Sergio Romo, a C* XY, was summoned to replace Valverde, an A* XY, playing a little APBA here, to face Jason Bay, who cooperated with a 55-8 to end the ball game, 4-3, 2-1 Chicago series advantage.

Rookie Brad Bergesen out dueled Mark Buehrle, going the distance, for a 6-0 Gambler victory, knotting the series at two.  Prince Fielder provided the only offense Three Rivers would need, with a 1^st inning two run Monster Blast!  Then a walk & five singles, would plate four more runs in the 5^th to chase Buehrle to the showers.

Jason Marquis was the beneficiary of an offensive explosion in the 5^th contest, cruising to a 13-3, complete game victory.  Jason Monroe knocked in six, launching two balls into orbit in the process.  Fielder hit a two run bomb in a losing effort.  Aaron Laffey was rocked!  Champs were up 3-2, heading to Crackerjack Park.

In a repeat of the 1^st game matchup, C.C. was again facing The Freak, things looked bleak, as Chicago trailed 3-0 heading into the bottom of the 5^th.  In the 2^nd inning, Prince & Garrett Jones hit back-to-back pokes to set off the fireworks.  In the bottom of the 5^th Miguel Olivo joined the fun with a three run, pinch, bomb to tie the game at three.  Ryan Perry was called on to quell the Gamblers offense, holding Three Rivers scoreless for a couple of frames.  Another pinch-hitter, this being rookie, Alcides Escobar, came off the pines, ripping a single & a steal, to plate Felipe Lopez, who doubled with two outs in the bottom of the 7^th.  Hidecki Okajima & Jose Valverde held the Gamblers scoreless over the final two innings, to make the slim lead stand up.  Chicago had a 4-2 series advantage, with three games to play.

The Champions overcame an early two run first inning deficit, ripping three long balls, one by Josh Beckett (1^st of the year for my pitchers), Carlos Lee, and a two run two out shot in the 7^th off the leftfield foul pole by rookie Gordon Beckham.  The two 7^th inning runs game Beckett some breathing room, boosting the lead from a one-run margin to a three-run cushion.  Chicago hurlers made it stand up, 6-3 win, 5-2 lead, with two to play.

Matt Wieters provided a clutch RBI single in the 6^th to break a two all tie.  Brian Sanches was called on in the 8^th to face Alex Rodriguez with the tying run on 2^nd, Sanches did his job, stranding the runner, and preserving the 3-2 victory.  Jason Marquis was the hardluck loser for Chicago.  Heading into the series finale, the series lead was down to 5-3.

A 5^th inning error & another in the 6^th, contributed to seven runs, off Aaron (I’m not Laughing) Laffey.  Jeff Francoeur lined a 2-RBI bases loaded single and Jimmy Rollins drove in three with a double & a sac fly.  Matt Cain went six, while Clay Zavada & Sergio Romo threw three scoreless innings for a 7-3 finale winner, closing out the series, Champs 6 – Gamblers 3.

This series was played over SKYPE on a sunny day, with me in Waupaca & Todd in Pittsburgh.  It was supposed to be a rainy Monday, Rainy Days & Mondays always get me down, but the weather men were wrong (like my Dad says, 50-50 chance of rain).  But I was glad to get the series in and am so thankful for SKYPE, it makes long distance APBA seem like you’re playing in the same room, minus the aroma often times provided by Papa Bunch, which isn’t a bad thing, in my opinion, hopefully SKYPE never adds the smell feature, don’t know if there would be that much of a demand for it anyway.

The White Sox played the Buccos in Pittsburgh in interleague play this year, but truth be told, I wasn’t really following my boys all that closely at the time, the series kind of snuck up on me, as I’d pretty much written them off, and was waiting for GM Kenny Williams to mercifully pull the plug on this boring baseball team.  But then something happened, the boys started winning, and I really can’t explain it, it’s more than playing weak National League teams (Pirates, Cubs, & Nats, cuz we also beat the Braves).  And I don’t think it has much to do with Omar Vizquel taking over for injured Mark Teahen at third, although the 43 year old has definitely provided a spark.  No, it seems to be more about pitching, quality starts & not just three runs over six innings, and lights out relief pitching has really done the trick.  I have to tell you, I was a skeptic when in the offseason we jettisoned Jim Thome & Jermaine Dye in an effort to get faster, because we also got rid of speedsters Scott Podsednik & Chris Getz, replacing Scotty with leadoff man Juan Pierre.  But I didn’t see how bringing in Andruw Jones & Omar Vizquel would add to our team speed.  But now I am a believer, of course the team still hits home runs, Alex Rios, Paul Konerko, & Carlos Quentin are still playing in this bandbox of a ballyard.  The homers are flying out of here, but this club is also playing defense & taking the extra base.  I don’t know where the White Sox will end up, especially losing Jake Peavy for the year, but I’m a believer and very excited about watching the Good Guys in Black play a little baseball, they’ll cut your heart out, LET’S GO WHITE SOX!!!

Three Rivers Gamblers- Final 2009

A new year is upon us and that means that it’s the end of another Illowa regular season. The Gamblers finished up with a 9 game set against the Chicago Highlanders. On a blistery Sunday afternoon I hooked up with Rob over Skype to play.

The Gamblers needed to just not get blown out in this series to make the post season. We came in with an 81-71 record and in second place but things were tight. A bad series and we could find ourselves looking in from the outside.

The series got off to a good start as C.C. Sabathia went the distance for his 13^th complete game and 7^th shutout of the season. Glaus and Bay hit solo shots, a two-run triple by Braun and a run scoring single by Jeter accounted for the scoring as Three Rivers won 5-0.

Manager Moore must have said something to his team after game 1 because they came out smacking the ball in the next 4 games scoring 32 runs and winning the remaining games at Iron City Field. Chris Davis is an especially good listener apparently. He had 9 hits – one single, 2 doubles, 2 triples and 4 homers and drove in 13 runs as the Highlanders sprinted to a 4-1 series lead.

The Gamblers had a meeting of their own following game 5 and basically were told it was time to show what they were made of.

In game 6 C.C. put the team on his shoulders again and went out and threw five perfect innings before leaving with a strained something and a 4-0 lead. The Gambler pen preserved the shutout as C.C. finished his season with his 22^nd victory.

In game 160, extra innings are the last thing teams want to see but that’s what we got in Highlanderville. Armando Galarraga went 9 strong innings yielding just 2 runs and Mark Guthrie and the Highlander pen did the same as the game was knotted at 2 after regulation. Julian Tavarez was summoned from the apparently thin Chicago bullpen to pitch the 10^th. A pinch hit single by Mags plated Prince and Craig Breslow shut the door in the bottom half for the 3-2 Gambler victory.

The Highlanders bounced back in game 8 to win 6-5.

In the season finale Scott Kazmir earned his 16^th victory against just 4 loses as Three Rivers ended the season on a high note winning 10-4.

The Highlanders won the series 5-4 but the Gamblers pretty much sewed up a playoff spot. The Hitmen will have to win all 9 games this month to tie Three Rivers. Nothing is impossible that’s for sure.

Some highlights from this season:

· Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder both topped the 40 homer mark and 100 RBI mark with 43/127 and 41/109 respectively.

· Dustin Pedroia got 200 hits and hit 58 doubles while driving in 91 runs and scoring 111.

· Derek Jeter surpassed 2300 hits in his career.

· C.C. Sabathia set career marks for wins, innings, complete games, strikeouts and shutouts.

· Ryan Braun is the first Gambler to hit 30 homers and drive in over 100 RBI’s in his first two seasons.

Later,

Todd

Three Rivers Gamblers – December

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everybody!

December had the 2 series for the Gamblers – the Kernels and the Hitmen. First up were the Keith Smith and the Kernels.

The Gamblers came out of the gate hitting scoring twice in the first and once in each of the second and third innings to take the early 4-0 lead. The Kernels plated two in the bottom of the 4^th and then the Gamblers put up a five spot in the fifth to make it 9-2. With C.C. on the hill all was looking good. In the bottom of the 6^th Ryan Howard took C.C. deep. Beltran followed with a single and then Wright and Ethier went back to back. Fukodome and Navarro each singled and after Burrell fanned, Robby Cano singled home Fukodome to chase Sabathia. Jensen Lewis put out the fire as the Kernels closed to within two. The Gambler pen shutdown the Kernels over the last 3 innings as Three Rivers went on to win 11-7.

The Gamblers once again struck early in game 2 scoring four times in the first the last two coming on a Prince Fielder blast. Aaron Laffey yielded just 3 runs on 3 hits as the Gamblers won 6-3.

In game 3 Three Rivers drew first blood again scoring 2 in the fourth. The Kernels came back in the bottom half with 3 grab their first lead of the series. But the Gamblers came right back in the top of the 5^th with a three spot to go ahead for good. The Kernels mounted another come back attempt closing to within one but Craig Breslow shut the door in the 9^th as the good guys won 8-7.

Brandon Webb took the hill in game four against his old team. He dominated the Gambler bats through four innings allowing just one hit. However, Webb had a blister issue and had to leave after four. Nobody seemed to notice that Webb was gone as Jarrod Washburn allowed only an unearned run. The Kernels offense put up 10 runs to win 10-1.

The Kernels got another fine pitching performance in game 4 as Joe Blanton allowed just 3 hits and two runs as the Kernels won 6-2.

Three Rivers Gamblers- October

The Gamblers took on the mighty Champions this month and won a tough, hard fought series 5-4.

In game 1, it was C.C. vs. The Freak. The Gamblers struck quick with 2 in the first. A solo homer by Morneau halved the lead in the 4^th. Sabathia went yard in the 5^th to make it 3-1. But the Champions chipped away with one in the 6^th and one in the 7^th to tie it up. With C.C. and The Freak hitting the showers it was up to the bullpens. In the bottom of the ninth, Morneau doubled home Sizemore to end it as the Champs took game 1 4-3.

In game 2 it was all Gamblers as Mark Buehrle was a generous host serving up meatballs to the Gambler hitters. Both teams scored a run in the 1^st but Three Rivers got four in the 4^th and three in the fifth to put the game away as they went on to win 9-3 and even the series.

In game 3 the two teams matched each other run for run over the 1^st three innings with both teams scoring a run in each of the first two innings and each scoring 2 in the third. A Prince Fielder RBI double in the 7^th and a Shane Victorino RBI double in the 8^th gave the Gamblers a two run lead going to the bottom of the 9^th. However, Felipe Lopez hit a two-run shot off of Jose Arredondo to send the game into extra innings. The big man came through again for the Gamblers as Fielder singled home Pedroia and Craig Breslow came on to close it out in the 11^th for the Gambler victory.

It was the Champions turn to strike early and often in game 4. They sent John Lannan to the showers in the 2^nd inning after 7 hits and 6 runs. The Champs went to and easy 9-5 win to even the series at 2 games each.

Josh Beckett and the Champions bullpen shutdown the Gamblers in game 5 allowing just 4 hits and 1 run as the Gamblers wasted a good outing from Aaron Laffey losing 3-1.

After the Champs took 3 of 5 at their home park the series shifted to Iron City Field. It was round 2 for the Freak and C.C. The Champs held a slim 2-1 lead going to the bottom of the 4^th when Bay singled to start the inning and Glaus followed with a double and Zaunie smacked a three run dinger to put Three Rivers up 4-2. In the bottom of the 6^th Zaun doubled to get things going and C.C. followed with his second homer of the series to drive the Freak back to the shower tent. The Champs didn’t give up scoring one in the 7^th and 2 in the 8^th to close within one. But new Gambler closer Craig Breslow pitched a scoreless 9^th to give the Gamblers the 6-5 victory.

Three Rivers came out swinging again against Mark Buehrle scoring 12 times in the first 4 innings. Armando Galarraga earned his 10^th victory as the Gamblers won 12-4 and went up 4-3 in the series.

Matt Cain and Scott Kazmir had their A games going but the Champs had just a bit more ‘O’. Jose Guillen’s pinch single to score Bobby Crosby in the 7^th put the Champs up 2-1 and the Champion bullpen did the job as they evened the series going into game 9.

Two 2-run homers, one by Pedroia and the other by Glaus gave John Lannan all he needed in game 9 as he bounced back from his game 4 shellacking to surrender just 6 hits and 2 runs over 8 innings to earn the victory and give the Gamblers the 5-4 series win.

The Gamblers are now 71-64 with 27 games left to play. There is no rest for the weary as Three Rivers faces the Kernels, Hitmen and Highlanders down the stretch. With the race so tight each series feels like the playoffs. It’s going to be an interesting stretch run!

Later,

Todd