BIFF BARNES' BASEBALL BONANZA
(AP-London, England)
TML American Highlight Reel - June 2007
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hhhBeverly and Toxic Waste both put up the best record in the TML last month, going 24-10. Beverly now has a commanding 13-game lead in the Gatto, as Rensselaer (14-20) stumbled badly. Maine (15-19) did not capitalize and remains in 3rd place, but is now 18 games out. The rest of the Gatto is only 3 games behind Maine! In the Gehrig, Toxic Waste took advantage of the turmoil in Mordor (14-20), but did notice surging Traffic (20-14), who took over 2nd place, 6 games off the lead. Mordor slipped to 9 back.

hhhIn the Oceanic Conference, Valparaiso (18-16) barely played over .500 ball, but still managed to extend its lead in the Steinmetz over Crimea (15-19), the latter having saved their best players for the 2nd half and through the upcoming Christmas holiday season! Watch out for Crimea in the 2nd half! Other than Valparaiso, no other team in the Steinmetz broke .500. In the Ruth, Hialeah (23-11) paced 1st place Arkansas (23-11) and remains 6 games behind, tied for 3rd with Cheticamp (20-14). Walla Walla (20-14) slipped to 3 games out, but is still in 2nd.

The Summer Stretch is here and so begins inter-Conference play.
The TML batting lead has changed hands again, now with Carolina's Joe Mauer on top at .356. Ghostwood's Miguel Cabrera is a close 2nd at .352, followed by 'Skayuna's Albert Pujols at .348. David "Big Papi" Ortiz of Oklahoma took over the HR lead from Rocky Mountain's Ryan Howard, 35 to 34. Ortiz also leads in RBI(90), EXBH(53), Walks(80), and is 2nd in RCs(103) to Howard's 104. Toxin Jason Giambi still leads the TML in SLG at .737 and OBP at .485.
Beverly's Roy Halladay (see below) had a great June and is now leading the TML at 13-3 and a 1.74 ERA! Valaparais's Bob Wickman continues to lead in SV with 29, with Toxin J.J Putz right behind at 27. (They were traded for each other in pre-season!)

hhhToxic Waste (46-0) and Burleigh (29-0) are the only teams to have not blown a lead when in the lead after 7 innings. Albany leads the TML in victories (7) when trailing after 7. Rensselaer (0-33) is the only team to have not one at least one game, when trailing after 7. Traffic (21-12) has alread played 33 1-run games. Cheticamp (0-6) is the only team without an extra-inning victory.
Below are some awards and tid-bits from the third month of baseball in the TML American.
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** Player of the Month **

(OS) David Ortiz
.336, 40-119, 10-1-14, 94 TB,
33 R, 35 BI, 31 W, 48 RC

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** Pitcher of the Month **

(BV) Roy Halladay
7-0, 1.46, 8 GS, 2 CG, 61.2 IP,
53 H, 5 W, 32 K, .228

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** Best Offensive Performance of the Month **

yyyyand, ** Blowout Game of the Month **

'Skayuna's Josh Barfield, only batting .229

for the season, went 4 for 7, including 3

HRs (2 Grand Slams!), good for 11 RBIs!

He led his team to a 20-2 road blowout of

division rival Albany. 'Skayuna banged out

23 hits in the game, on their way to a decisive

iiiiiii20-2 victory.

6/29/2007, SS06-AV06, Fenway Park
uuuuuuuuuuuuuuu1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 uuuR iH E
2006 Squires uu3 1 6 1 1 1 3 0 4 - 20 23 0
2006 Avalanche 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 - i2 i6 2

Squires AB R H BI AVG
Barfield 2b 7 3 4 11 .229

1st: 2-run HR; 2nd: 3-1; 3rd: Grand Slam I;
4th: RBI 2B; 6th: F7; 7th: F4;
9th: Grand Slam II
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** Best Pitching Performance of the Month **
There were six 2-hitters and one 1-hitter in June,

but only one was a complete game, that being

Toxin Mark Buehrle, who spun his gem on the

road at division rival Oklahoma. Buehrle walked

none and fanned 2. He only needed 89 pitches for

the complete game.

6/27/2007, TX06-OS06, AT&T Park
jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 jjR H E
2006 River Rats 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 - 3 8 0
2006 Supercells 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 2 1

River Rats jjIP H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Buehrle W 4-4 9 2 0 j0 j0 2 j89 j66 4.32
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** The Dogfight Game of the Month **
Hialeah, despite a 10-run 4th inning and an
18-7 lead, had to hold off division rival Walla

Walla, who came back for 7 runs in their 9th. The

big blow in the Wombat 9th was a 2-out Grand Slam

by Milton Bradley. Wombats Mark Teahen and David

Wright both went 5 for 6, but the day belonged to

Hialeah's Travis Lee, who had a pair of 3-run HRs

and a 2-RBI double, good for 8 RBIs. His reward?

Cut at the end of the month as part of a Waiver

Claim! Tough world, eh?

6/16/2007, WW06-HT06, PNC Park
jjjjjjjjjjjjj1 2 3 j4 5 6 7 8 9 jjjR jH E
2006 Wombats 2 0 2 j3 0 1 0 0 7 - 15 20 2
2006 T-Breds 4 0 4 10 0 1 0 0 x - 19 18 0
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** Overtime Game of the Month **
The longest game in June saw Brandon, come

from behind in the 9th to break the shuout and

tie the game at 2-2. They came up with another

pair of runs in the 15th and held on to beat Maine

4-2. Brandon (10-24) had the worst June in the TML,

but this was one of their few highlights.

6/11/2007, BZ06-ML06, Shea Stadium
hhhhhhhhhhhhhh123 456 789 012 345 kR kH E
2006 BigWeezM 000 000 002 000 002- 4 14 1
2006 Liners hh020 000 000 000 000- 2 12 0
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Up next ... Summer Stretch highlights!
Staff Columnist - Biff Barnes