Since BARB began in 2003, the Eastern Division has arguably been the league's most dominant, accounting for five of the loop's seven world champions and (with only one exception) usually contributing the wild-card team as well. Brooklyn, the original Delta V's and Worcester have all had multiple appearances. The only club outside the East that has shown consistent success is Chris Melkonian's Yuma Firebirds. No wonder four-time champ Andrew Haynes has christened the East 'the division of death.' As the saying goes, iron sharpens iron.
So, it doesn't exactly come as a surprise to see that the 2010 World Series (belated as it is) comes down as a matchup between East-winning Worcester and wild-card champion Frostbite Falls. Each club clinched a berth in commanding fashion:
FROSTBITE FALLS 6, YUMA 1
WP: Brett Anderson (1-0, 1.00)
LP: David Price (0-1, 18.00)
Carlos Beltran's second HR of the playoffs (but only his ninth overall this year) was a three-run shot in third off young David Price, while rookie Brett Anderson went all the way to win the duel of fourth starters to help the Squirrels finish off the defending world champs 3-1 in front of their home town fans.
The Squirrels had taken the first two games on the road, besting Yuma aces C.C. Sabathia and Roy Halladay when the Firebirds (like so many other clubs) were burned in RBI situations by Frostbite's superstar 1B Albert Pujols. But, in this fourth game, it was Anderson's pitching that shut down Yuma with an early lead.
Yuma actually scored first against Price, putting together three straight singles with two out to score Vlad Guerrero. But that didn't mean Anderson wasn't dealing: the singles were more of the dink-and-dunk variety that just scooted under the gloves of Michael Young and Jose Reyes.
It was the veteran Michael Young who started things off in the bottom of the frame for Frostbite Falls, singling with one out to center. C Brian Schneider was plunked by an 0-2 pitch to push Young to second, and (perhaps a bit wild in the strike zone) Price then elevated a 2-1 fastball that Beltran YANKED just inside the left-field foul pole for a three-run jack! FROSTBITE led, 3-1!
That was pretty much it for Yuma's offense: Anderson would allow a pair of leadoff singles to Joey Votto in the 4th and 7th innings, but in each case induced Ryan Braun to tap back to the infield for a rally-killing double play ball. Price would depart in the fourth having allowed five runs, with Jayson Werth adding a leadoff HR in the third and Young collecting an RBI double later in the frame. Beltran, who doubled to start the fourth, would score a fifth insurance run in the fourth when Pujols hit a slow roller off reliever Huston Street: FROSTBITE 6, YUMA 1!
Thus, young Brett Anderson was allowed to start the ninth having thrown only 96 pitches, but with Joakim Soria warming. Denard Pan singled and reached second with two down when Evan Longoria double-clutched Joey Votto's hard smash, but with two down Braun hit Anderson's 104th pitch the same way he had hit every other pitch in the game....on the ground, to an infield, in this case, Michael Young! Young's peg to first was routine, and this series belonged to the Flying Squirrels!
So, it doesn't exactly come as a surprise to see that the 2010 World Series (belated as it is) comes down as a matchup between East-winning Worcester and wild-card champion Frostbite Falls. Each club clinched a berth in commanding fashion:
FROSTBITE FALLS 6, YUMA 1
WP: Brett Anderson (1-0, 1.00)
LP: David Price (0-1, 18.00)
Carlos Beltran's second HR of the playoffs (but only his ninth overall this year) was a three-run shot in third off young David Price, while rookie Brett Anderson went all the way to win the duel of fourth starters to help the Squirrels finish off the defending world champs 3-1 in front of their home town fans.
The Squirrels had taken the first two games on the road, besting Yuma aces C.C. Sabathia and Roy Halladay when the Firebirds (like so many other clubs) were burned in RBI situations by Frostbite's superstar 1B Albert Pujols. But, in this fourth game, it was Anderson's pitching that shut down Yuma with an early lead.
Yuma actually scored first against Price, putting together three straight singles with two out to score Vlad Guerrero. But that didn't mean Anderson wasn't dealing: the singles were more of the dink-and-dunk variety that just scooted under the gloves of Michael Young and Jose Reyes.
It was the veteran Michael Young who started things off in the bottom of the frame for Frostbite Falls, singling with one out to center. C Brian Schneider was plunked by an 0-2 pitch to push Young to second, and (perhaps a bit wild in the strike zone) Price then elevated a 2-1 fastball that Beltran YANKED just inside the left-field foul pole for a three-run jack! FROSTBITE led, 3-1!
That was pretty much it for Yuma's offense: Anderson would allow a pair of leadoff singles to Joey Votto in the 4th and 7th innings, but in each case induced Ryan Braun to tap back to the infield for a rally-killing double play ball. Price would depart in the fourth having allowed five runs, with Jayson Werth adding a leadoff HR in the third and Young collecting an RBI double later in the frame. Beltran, who doubled to start the fourth, would score a fifth insurance run in the fourth when Pujols hit a slow roller off reliever Huston Street: FROSTBITE 6, YUMA 1!
Thus, young Brett Anderson was allowed to start the ninth having thrown only 96 pitches, but with Joakim Soria warming. Denard Pan singled and reached second with two down when Evan Longoria double-clutched Joey Votto's hard smash, but with two down Braun hit Anderson's 104th pitch the same way he had hit every other pitch in the game....on the ground, to an infield, in this case, Michael Young! Young's peg to first was routine, and this series belonged to the Flying Squirrels!
PUJOLS...AGAIN
This is starting to sound like a broken record, but once again the best hitter of his generation came up big in the clutch for Frostbite Falls. He not only drove in runs in three of four games and collected his 14th BARB postseason HR, 1B Albert Pujols hit .400 overall in the four games. He and his teammates will now take their wild-card act to the 2010 World Series.
WORCESTER 7, CASSELTON 2
WP: Adam Wainwright (1-1, 3.29)
LP: John Danks (1-1, 0.87)
The Eliminators .300-hitting lineup put five straight batters on with two out in the bottom of the first to cash in a Casey McGehee throwing error, a four-run inning, and Adam Wainwright worked six solid frames to win his duel with young John Danks, and cap a three-game comeback at home after being down 0-2 in their series with Central champion Casselton.
Hanley Ramirez reached when McGehee airmailed a throw to first. Danks then struck out both Carl Crawford and Mark Teixeira, and appeared to be one pitch away from any damage. But Delmon Young hit a 1-2 pitch over SS J.J. Hardy for the first run, and Danks seemingly collapsesd. Cano hit a long drive to right center than got Young to third, Joe Mauer walked on four straight to load the bases, Derek Jeter rolled one through the infield to score Young, and unlikely playoff MVP Nolan Reimold capped the inning with a two-run single!....all with two out!!!
What a letdown! Wainwright, the loser of Game 1, took a shutout into the sixth while his teammates continued to whittle away at Danks and (beginning in the 4th) the depleted Casselton pen: Cano hit an RBI double in the third to plate Young, Reimold led off the fourth with a single and scored on a Teixera trickler, and Jeter pushed a 3-2 pitch up the middle in the fifth to score Cano with two down. Nothing earth-shattering, but base hit after base hit, adding three insurance runs before Casselton could manage even one against Wainwright....and even there they had help, with Worcester's tiring ace uncorking a pair of wild pitches as part of a two-run sixth.
Still, the game never seemed in doubt. Heath Bell, the goat of Games 1 and 2, fanned three in two scoreless innings to bridge the gap to the ninth, where Joba Chamberlain fanned two more! For the first time ever, the razor-thin (but razor-sharp) roster of the Worcester Eliminators had reached the BARB World Series. When Michael Cuddyer tapped back to the mound, the hulking "Joba" pumped his fist with one hand as his glove hand corraled the nubber. His excited peg to first was a little high, but pulled down expertly by Teixeira! GAME OVER!
WORCESTER 7, CASSELTON 2!!
REIMOND UNLIKELY MVP IN STAR-LADEN LINEUP
In the 2010 regular season, the Worcester Eliminators put together some amazing statistics. For example, they got an MVP-quality season from C Joe Mauer, who hit .352 to win the BARB batting title while smacking 31 bombs. But Mauer was just one of seven Worcester regulars to hit .300 or higher:
If Worcester had any glaring weakness in 2010, it was the club's lack of depth. Like a razor, their lineup was very sharp...but very thin. The loss of CF Grady Sizemore early in the season and the season-ending concussion experienced by Jason Bay (.234, 23 HR, 66 RBI) meant that the Eliminators had little bench strength, and very little wiggle room on their roster due to payroll considerations. Free agent Delmon Young, originally signed just as insurance, ended up playing in 81 games, while fourth OF Nolan Reimold played RF in 125 games.
Yet, despite hitting only .235 in the regular season, it was Reimold who shined in the post-season, earning MVP honors! Reimold led all hitters with seven hits, including a Game Three HR, and added a key walk to load the bases in the nail-biting, 1-0 Game Four. Reimold finished with a .412 average, 4 RBI and 6 runs scored to lead all batters.
Now, Reimold, Rivera and company will face 'The Freak' and 'The Machine' in a best-of-seven series to determine (gasp...finally!) the 2010 BARB World Series!
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