Pastime Baseball League Friday, Oct. 23, 2009
PLAYOFF PREVIEW
SOUTHERN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Memphis Strummers (106-56) vs Arizona Sandmen (89-73)
LEADERS
Oscar Charleston .353 AVG Nap Lajoie .313
Cap Anson 25 HR Nap Lajoie 27
Oscar Charleston 131 RBI Nap Lajoie 113
Oscar Charleston 28 SB Nap Lajoie 23
Jesse Tannehill 2.55 ERA Ben Sanders 2.79
Jesse Tannehill 23 W Clark Griffith 19
Tim Lincecum 274 SO Clark Griffith 180
Dick McBride 25 SV Jose Valverde 30
They scored the most runs in baseball. They allowed the fewest. They have the league's best player since the All-Star Break in Oscar Charleston, and not only have a 23-game winner, but have three other starters who 19. They are the Memphis Strummers, and if you're a fan of the Arizona Sandmen, it becomes very tough to make a case.
But here's an attempt, and it starts and ends with one stat: 16-2. That is what an Arizona club that once led by 6 games, played below .400 ball for two months to blow that division lead, and trailed by 4 1/2 games on Oct. 1 did to earn their place in the postseason.
"They will not be intimidated" one rival manager said of the Sandmen. "They could have mailed it in once they blew their lead, and instead they surged. If Memphis underestimates them they'll lose."
Charleston's been great, there's no question. But look at what Nap Lajoie did in October to carry Arizona: .386 average and a .771 slugging percentage, banging out 10 doubles and five homers while driving in 22 runs. In his last 10 games he's had five in which he drove in 3 runs, and another in which he drove in 2.
Prediction: How much of a factor is Arizona's stretch run compared with Memphis putting it on cruise control after dispatching the semi-threat of New Orleans? Not enough. Memphis has too much in every aspect of the game for the Sandmen to contend with. What Arizona did is to be admired, but it ends here.
Strummers in 5.