Days 81-90: Monterrey and Henderson continue to go neck-and-neck in the Central!

Monterrey and Henderson are dead-locked in first place.  Backwoods extends their lead to 1.5 games over Jimmy, with a 7-3 record lately.  Getting Jimmy With It also went 7-3, and are sneaking towards the top.  PED-Co remains 7.5 games over Dublin in the West.



Mo might have added some weight in his
later career, but it didn't affect his standout
defense, as proven by the picture above

Mmm, Mo wants Mo'!

Player of the block?  It is Midland's Mo Vaughn!  The menacing slugger went 21 for 39, a .538 average with 4 HRs and 17 RBIs.  Other contenders include Bastard Tom Gordon, who recorded four saves in five shutout innings, and B.J. Surhoff who hit .372 with 7 HRs.

Day 81  Backwoods continues to win, getting 2 Dean Palmer HR's today.  Chipper Jones 2-run homer lifted Brooklyn over PED-Co, B.J. Surhoff hit 2 homers for Jimmy.  Game of the day features Rocco defeating Henderson on a walk-off wild pitch from Henderson's Gregg Olson

Day 82  Fort Wayne blew a 3-1 lead in the 9th when the Fremonts pieced together a rally featuring a Ken Griffey home run, hit by pitch, double, and finally (mercifully?) a Cal Ripken single.  Verona Ridge tops Dublin 5-4, Mo Vaughn's 3 hits help the Goombies beat Jimmy, and Backwoods wins their 5th straight game.  The Juicers put up 5 runs in the second and seventh innings to win 11-10 over the Buttheads.

Day 83  Backwoods wins again, six in a row!  Both Juan Gonzalez and Fernando Vina knocked in three runs.  Pedro Martinez wins again for Midland, striking out 10 and moving to 11-4 on the season.  Steve Woodard (Avenue) went the distance for Dublin, and the Rickeys were able to beat Greg Maddux and the Replicas (great name for a band, man).

Day 84  Aztecs break the Backwoods winning streak, but Las Vegas is on a streak of their own.  They beat Fort Wayne again and take back first place from the Bastards.  Johnny Damon racked up three hits for Dublin, and Jimmy's Brian Anderson outdueled Midland's Mike Mussina.

Day 85  Only two players had hit three HR's in a single game so far this season, but today two more joined them as Verona's Henry Rodriguez and (of course!) Shawn Green of Las Vegas each went yard three times!!! Several others had strong performances - Monterrey's Jeff Cirillo had 4 hits and 6 RBIs, and PED-Co's Sammy Sosa went 4 for 5 and hit his 31st home run.    Fort Wayne edged Verona Ridge 7-6 in 12 innings, on a Robin Ventura walk-off sacrifice fly.  Greg Swindell won his 4th for Midland, and the Bastards got a combined shutout from Mark Gardner and Tom "Flash" Gordon. 

Day 86  Buttheads explode for 5 runs in the bottom of the 9th, highlighted by a Carlos Delgado walk-off grand slam!  Fort Wayne got 4 runs in the top of the 9th to top Verona Ridge, Juicers beat Dublin as Chan Ho Park improves his record to 11-1.  Aztecs eke past Henderson 4-3 to tie again for first place.  Jimmy gets 3 hits and 3 RBIs from B.J. Surhoff. 

Day 87  Tim Salmon belts 2 HRs and racks up 4 RBIs for Fort Wayne, Goombies beat the Buttheads in a slugfest featuring a combined 17 runs, 27 hits, and 7 HRs! Vlad Guerrero hits a 2-run homer to push PED-Co over Dublin.  Chuck Knoblauch gets 4 hits for JImmy, Juan Gone's three-run homer lifted Backwoods over Rocco, and Monterrey topped Henderson to take sole possession of first place in the Central. 

Day 88  Fort Wayne wins their 4th in a row, Dublin's Jeff  Bagwell knocks two out of the park, and Nomar gives the Bastards a homer and four ribbies.  Jimmy wins on a B.J. Surhoff walk-off homer, Juicers get 2 HRs from Sammy Sosa and edge Vegas 7-6.  Rocco beats Verona 8-7 when Albert Belle lofts a 2 run homer in the bottom of the 9th!

Day 89  Another day, another walk-off from Rocco's Albert Belle! Dublin gets three hits apiece from Will "The Thrill" Clark and Johnny Damon.  Todd Helton and red-hot B.J. Surhoff combine for seven RBI's for the Juicers, Chipper Jones HR is the difference for Brooklyn, Kerry Wood is lit up for three homers by Las Vegas.  Fort Wayne wins #5 in a row!

Day 90   Todd Helton with a walk-off HR for Jimmy, Goombies get 2 taters from Mo Vaughn and another outstanding performance from Greg Swindell.  Barry Bonds belts two HRs for the Bastards, and Juan Gonzalez and Nomar Garciaparra added one each.  The Rickeys stopped Fort Wayne's reign of terror, 10-9.  Curt Schilling gets win #11 for the Juicers, and Verona Ridge ace Justin Thompson gets his 7th win of the year