(AP-Pensacola, FL)
TML Biff Barnes Highlight Reel - September 2009
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Heat is On in the Steinmetz & Gehrig!

For the third consecutive season, there is a
potential for a tie in the Gehrig, as current
leader Rocky Mountain (15-13 in September) saw
their lead diminish to only 1 game over both
Toxic Waste (18-10) and Lake Wobegone (16-12).
The Toxins have a slight schedule advantage in
that the other two square off in a season-
ending 7-game series! In the Steinmetz, a
late-season surge by 'Skayuna (19-9) and
Mudville (16-12) closed the gap on division
leader Valparaiso (15-13). Only 2 games
separate all three contenders! Valparaiso
has a strong schedule advantage, as the
other two play each other in the final
October series *and* Valparaiso plays the
bottom two teams in the division.

In the Gatto, both Rensselaer (19-9) and
Beverly (19-9) are heading to post-season.
It's just a matter of which one wins the
division. The playoff race has been long
over in the Ruth, as Walla Walla (24-4) and
Danny Way (20-8) remain well out in front.
Walla Walla, with 114 wins, has a shot at
the all-time TML regular season wins mark
of 121, set by Penscola (Danny Way) in 1993.
Ironically, Walla Walla may end up breaking
the record *at* Danny Way in October!

------------------------------------------------

Toxic Waste's Mark Teixeira went into his first
slump of the season, hitting only .233 in his
28 September games. This ends any chance at the
"Triple Crown," though he still leads the TML
in RCs by a fair margin, with 149. The latest
batting leader is Cheticamp's Aubrey Huff at
.338, only 4 points ahead of Oklahoma's Magglio
Ordonez. Teixeira is 3rd at .331. The HR lead
was taken over by Arkansas' Ryan Ludwich with
39 HRs. Burleigh's Mannny Ramirez is only 1
behind. And, the RBI lead was taken over by
Walla Walla's David Wright at 123, one ahead
of Teixeira. Madison's Ichiro Suzuki leads
the TML with 201 hits. Ichiro has now posted
200+ hits in *every* one of his 8 TML seasons!
Brandon's Ryan Braun hit for the cycle in an
8-3 win at Rocky Mountain.

In pitching, Walla Walla's A.J. Burnett still
leads the TML with a 23-5 record and a 2.76
ERA. Joining him in the "20-win Club" are
teammates Cliff Lee (21-4, 2.77) and Ryan
Dempster (20-4, 2.47). Jeremy Guthrie (18-4)
and Cole Hamels (17-9) need to win all their
remaining starts to give Walla Walla an
unprecedented five (5) 20-game winners! A
lot of their success rides with "Ace" closer
Jonathan Papelbon (39-39 SVO, 0.77). Rocky
Mountain's Tim Lincecum still leads in whiffs,
with 264. The ERA leader is Valparaiso's
Ben Sheets at 2.37. Lake Wobegone's Brian
Fuentes (1.25) has a big lead in SVs with 47.
Mudville's Mike Mussina tossed 4 shutouts in
September to take over the season lead with
6. Toxin Greg Maddux posted his 10th victory
of the season, giving him 10+ wins in *every*
one of his 21 TML seasons! Maddux leads the
TML in career wins with 372.

There were two team 1-hitters in September,
one by Cheticamp and the other by Oklahoma.
There were 5 2-hitters during the Stretch!

Below are some awards and tid-bits from
September 2009 in the TML American.

================================================

** Player of the Month **

(RS) Carlos Pena
.329, 25-76, 5-1-10, 62 TB,
21 R, 29 RBI, 24 BB, 33 RC






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** Pitcher of the Month **

(RM) Tim Lincecum
7-0, 2.24, 8 GS, 56.1 IP, 45 H,
2 HR, 20 BB, 64 K, .218 OAVG




Honorable Mention: Mike Mussina (M9) who
went 4-1, 1.60, with four (4) CG-shutouts!
-----------------------------------------------

** Best Pitching Performance of the Month **

Pitcher of The Month Tim Lincecum teamed up
with closer Joe Nathan to combine on a 4-hit,
1-0 shutout of the River Rats. This salvaged
a 2-5 series for the Chinooks and kept them
in 1st place by 1 game. This also served to
keep frustration high for Greg Maddux, who
has suffered more losses against the Chinooks
throughout his career than to any other TML
team.

9/16/2009, TX08-RM08, Metrodome
______________1_2_3__4_5_6__7_8_9____R_H_E
River Rats____0_0_0__0_0_0__0_0_0_-__0_4_1
Chinooks______0_0_0__0_0_1__0_0_x_-__1_7_0

River Rats_______IP__H__R_ER_BB__K___ERA
Maddux_L_7-12___8.0__7__1__1__2__5___4.49

Chinooks_________IP__H__R_ER_BB__K___ERA
Lincecum_W_16-8_8.0__4__0__0__4_10___2.94
Nathan_S_38_____1.0__0__0__0__0__2___1.45
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** Best Offensive Performance of the Month **

Diamond Cat Brian Buscher belted a GRAND SLAM,
capping a 7-run 9th inning, leading his team
to a 15-11 come-from-behind victory on the
road at the Avalanche! Buscher drove in
nearly half the D-Cats runs!

9/15/2009, PC08-AV08, Fenway Park
______________1_2_3__4_5_6__7_8_9_____R__H_E
Diamond Cats__2_1_2__3_0_0__0_0_7_-__15_14_3
Avalanche_____0_0_3__5_0_0__0_3_0_-__11_16_2

Diamond Cats________AB__R__H__BI___AVG
Buscher 3b___________6__3__3___7___.281

1st:_2-RBI-HR;_2nd:_K;_4th:_RBI-1B;_5th:_E4;
8th:_K;_9th:_GWH-GS-HR!
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** Overtime Game of the Month **

The longest extra-inning game of the month
saw the BigWeezMachine score a run in the
top of the 18 inning and retired the Super-
cells in order in the bottom half. The
'Machine had scraped up a pair of runs to
tie the game in the 9th off Supercell
closer Bobby Jenks.

9/16/2009, BZ08-OS08, AT&T Park
_________123_456_789_012_345_678___R__H_E
'Machine_000 002 002 000 000 001 - 5 16 0
S-cells__110 100 010 000 000 000 - 4 16 1

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** The At Bat Saver Game of the Month **

In the see-saw battle of the year, the Thunder
Cats finally held off the Haymakers and posted
a thrilling, yet tiring, 15-inning, 15-14 win!
The game ended when Haymaker Curtis Granderson
was thrown out at home plate on a 2-out double
by Andy LaRoche! The two teams combined for
29 runs, 51 hits and totaled 138 at bats!

9/20/2009, DT08-GL08, Camden Yard
______________123 456 789 112 345____R__H_E
Thunder Cats__200 070 100 211 001 - 15 24 1
Haymakers_____002 313 100 211 000 - 14 27 0

Thunder Cats________AB__R__H__BI___AVG
Quintanilla__ss______7__3__5___4___.294
Hoffpauir__rf________8__1__5___1___.386

Haymakers___________AB__R__H__BI___AVG
Granderson__cf_______7__2__6___1___.245
================================================

Up next ...October highlights and post-season
preview!

Staff Columnist - Biff Barnes

(AP-Flushing, NY)
TML Biff Barnes Highlight Reel - August 2009
=================================================

The Steinmetz Tightens!

Steinmetz Division leader Valparaiso (12-18 in
the Summer Stretch) had a tough Stretch and
watched their once large lead, dwindle to only
3 games over 'Skayuna (17-13) and 5 games over
Mudville (19-11). On the other side of the
Oceanic Confernence in the Ruth, both Walla
Walla (23-7) and Danny Way (22-8) continue to
pull away from the pack. Both could clinch
playoff berths in September.

In the Atmospheric Conference, the Gehrig is
still a 4-way fight between Rocky Mountain
(17-13), Lake Wobegone (16-14), Toxic Waste
(15-15) and Traffic (18-12). Only 5 games
separate all four teams! In the Gatto,
Rensselaer (19-11) leads Beverly (20-10) by
1 game. Leaderless Maine (19-11) is still
in the hunt, but is 7 games out.

-----------------------------------------------

Toxin Waste's Mark Teixeira is making a run at
the "Triple Crown", now leading in batting at
.353 and RBIs with 108, and is tied for second
in HRs with 31, only 1 HR off Duluth's Miguel
Cabrera! Tex is also tied for the lead in
doubles (42) with Cheticamp's Aubrey Huff.
Maine's Johnny Damon is second in batting at
.345 and Cabrera is second in RBIs with 105.
Madison's Ichiro Suzuki is on his way to yet
another 200-hit season, now leading the TML
with 173 hits.

In pitching, Walla Walla's A.J. Burnett is
still having an awesome season at 19-3 and a
2.90 ERA. Teammates Ryan Dempster and Cliff
Lee are second in wins, both at 15-4. Rocky
Mountain has the top two strikeout leaders
in Tim Lincecum (200 K) and C.C. Sabathia
(197 K). Madison's Josh Beckett now leads
the TML in shutouts with 5. Lake Wobegone's
Brian Fuentes leads the TML in saves with
39 to go along with a 1.41 ERA.

There was a team no-hitter (see below) and
a 1-hitter tossed by Walla Walla's Cole
Hamels.

There were 10 2-hitters during the Stretch!

Below are some awards and tid-bits from Summer
Stretch 2009 in the TML American.

================================================

** Player of the Month **

(CH) Aubrey Huff
.412, 49-119, 12-1-8, 87 TB,
26 R, 36 RBI, 14 BB, 41 RC

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** Pitcher of the Month **

(AV) Chris Young
5-1, 2.33, 6 GS, 46.1 IP, 35 H,
5 HR, 13 BB, 35 K, .211 OAVG

.

.

.

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** Best Pitching Performance of the Month **

Maine's duo of John Danks and Bob Howry
combined efforts to no-hit the Micmacs!
After 132 pitches and holding a 12-0 lead,
the "brilliant" Maine MP decided "enough
was enough", and brought in Howry for the
final out! When replacement manager G.L.
Itch was asked why he did not allow Danks
to take a chance at the complete game no-no,
his response was, "Too many walks!"

8/7/2009, ML08-CH08, Busch Stadium
_____________1_2_3__4_5_6__7_8_9____R__H_E
Liners_______0_1_0__2_1_1__4_1_2___12_16_0
Micmacs______0_0_0__0_0_0__0_0_0____0__0_0

Liners_________IP__H__R__ER__BB__K__ERA
Danks_W_13-5__8.2__0__0___0___7__5__4.30
Howry_________0.1__0__0___0___0__0__4.78

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** Best Offensive Performance of the Month **

Drench Jason Bay blasted 3 HRs, good for 7
RBIs, in leading his team to a decisive 15-7
victory over the fading Supercells.

8/1/2009, VD08-OS08, AT&T Park
_____________1_2_3__4_5_6__7_8_9____R__H_E
Drench_______2_4_1__2_1_2__0_0_3___15_18_0
Supercells___0_1_1__1_1_0__2_1_0____7_13_1

Drench_____________AB__R__H__BI___AVG
Bay____________lf___4__3__3___7__.240

1st:_2-RBI-HR;_2nd:_BB;_4th:_2-RBI-HR;_5th:_IW;
7th:_F7;_9th:_3-RBI-HR.
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** Overtime Game of the Month **

The longest extra-inning game of the Stretch
went 19-innings before the Avalance edge the
Chinooks 8-7. The teams played for over 10
innings of shutout ball before Hanley Ramirez
blasted a one-out, GWH-Walk-Off-HR.

7/15/2009, RM08-AV08, Fenway Park
_________123_456_789_012_345_678_9___R__H_E
Chinooks_000_420_010_000_000_000_0___7_13_0
Avalnche_100_222_000_000_000_000_1___8_18_2

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** Blowout Game of the Month **

Two days later, Hanley Ramirez was back to
destroying the Chinooks! Ramirez went 3-5 and
drove in 7 runs, leading his team to a 20-1
blowout of Gehrig Division leader Rocky
Mountain! The Chinooks have not had many bad
games this season, but this was one of them.
A 10-run 4th inning by the Avalanche "iced"
the victory!

7/17/2009, RM08-AV08, Fenway Park
______________1_2_3__4_5_6__7_8_9____R__H_E
Chinooks______0_0_0__1_0_0__0_0_0____1__7_1
Avalanche_____0_5_0_10_0_1__2_2_x___20_16_0

Avalanche___________AB__R__H__BI___AVG
Ramirez,Ha______ss___5__4__3__7___.279

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Up next ...September highlights!

Staff Columnist - Biff Barnes