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Pastime Baseball League
September Review (cont.)

Southern League Report

It may not have had quite the heat that the Northern League East race between New York and Louisville had, but the Southern League had a pair of battles to carry it through much of September.

The month began with the Orlando Orcas holding a 1 1/2 game lead over the defending champion New Orleans Knights. But when Orlando started the month 12-3, it seemed New Orleans had been put aside. The Orcas, however, lost their next six, including three straight at home to New Orleans, to make the race tight again. Orlando wouldn't be denied though, winning six of their last seven - including a pair in New Orleans - to lock up the division.

Pitching, pitching, pitching. It all comes down to that, and Orlando got it in the season's stretch run. Tim Keefe and Al Javery each went 4-1, with ERAs of 2.74 and 3.02, respectively. Larry Cheney went 3-1, 3.55; while Bill Hoffer went 3-2, 3.75. Aaron Harang made two spot starts, went the distance in both, won both and posted a 1.00 ERA. Offensively, the Orcas were led by Sam Crawford as always. The star hit .310 with 6 homers and 20 RBI. Buck Freeman hit .383, though was sidelined for 10 days with an oblique strain.

To a man, the New Orleans Knights will say they thought they would catch Orlando. After the sweep, the expected the Orcas to wilt under the pressure of a pennant race. Some will grumble that the losses of Ross Barnes (.311-12-81) and Fred Carroll (.237-5-49), whose defense means more than his offense, hurt them immensely. But that's an oversimplification. The following averages tell the real story: Prince Fielder (.175), Evan Longoria (.213), Lave Cross (.171), Topsy Hartsel (.091) and Jack Rowe (.238). The pitching was good, but not good enough to make up for that.

The Memphis Strummers went 16-11 to get out of the cellar, and while he'll probably fall short of his third consecutive Outstanding Hitter Award, Oscar Charleston (.338-32-105) did all he could, batting .343-6-23 with a 1.092 OPS in September. Cupid Childs and Otto Krueger joined Charleston in posting a .400-plus OBP for the month, and Cap Anson hit .336 with a .387 OBP. But the league's worst pitching staff continued a poor showing, despite good signs from Tim Lincecum and Lady Baldwin.

They closed the gap to within five games briefly, and the fans in Alabama had postseason dreams. In the end, the Airmen ended up in the cellar, where they have resided in each of the PBL's three seasons. Barry Zito's (15-8, 3.97) ruptured finger tendon didn't help, but certainly wasn't solely responsible for the 3-14 stretch in the second half of the month that crippled their season. The bright spot was Jimmy Rollins' 29-game hitting streak, tying Ginger Beaumont of Sacramento for the longest in PBL history.

The San Antonio Sheriffs got within a game and a half of the Los Angeles Idols, and skeptics touted the idea that San Antonio's brilliant pitching would outduel the Idols' awesome lineup down the stretch. In the end, Los Angeles went 15-11, San Antonio went 11-16, and the race was done relatively quickly.

Likely Outstanding Hitter Mike Donlin (.358-32-121) had an abundance of help. That conversation starts with the unconscious September of Southern League batting champion Cal McVey, who batted a ridiculous .505 in September, getting 55 hits in 109 ABs, scoring 30 runs and posting a 1.214 OPS. Justin Morneau hit .371 and Heinie Groh hit .356. As for the pitching: John Clarkson (3-1, 2.32), Scott Kazmir (3-0, 3.09) Larry Corcoran (3-2, 3.32) and Brian Lawrence (2-3, 3.52) showed this team can pitch when it has to, an ominous sign for the awaiting Orlando squad.

San Antonio suffered much the same fate as New Orleans did in the east. Buck O'Neil hit .326 and Jeremy Hermida hit a surprising .307. No other starter topped .270 in September, and while Jimmy Williams' homerless .223 was tough to take, leadoff man Scott Podsednik's .142 was crippling.

The Arizona Sandmen had fallen too far out, but went 35-23 over the last two months to make it to .500 for the season. The shift of Jose Reyes to second base to make room for Willie Wells after the Sandmen drafted Wells before last season now looks like a brilliant move. This tandem is offensive brilliance together atop the order. In September, Wells hit .406 with a .463 OBP and 14 doubles. Reyes hit .366. Adrian Gonzalez continued his development as well, knocking 7 homers and driving in 26 on the month. Ben Sanders went 5-1 with a 2.08 ERA to get to the 20-win for the first time, after winning 18 each of the last two years. He, Anibal Sanchez, Dan Casey and Justin Verlander combined to go 14-6 with a 2.69 ERA in September.

The Las Vegas Bosses are the Sacramento of the Southern League. The franchise is in disarray, wrapping up a putrid 61-101 season after years of 74 and 73 wins. Tommy Holmes hit .341. Chone Figgins hit .282. Next highest? Corey Hart at .240. Hart led the team with 13 homers, though Ryan Howard hit 12 in less than half a season. Jouett Meekin led with 12 wins. Lip Pike, who hit 36 homers last season with 118 RBI, broke his ankle in May hit 10 for the season. There is a lot of work to be done here. It remains to be seen if skipper Danny Murtaugh and general manager Julio Villegas will be around to do it.

AWARDS

Player of the Week
9/5 SS Jimmy Rollins - Alabama Airmen
9/12 SP John Clarkson - Los Angeles Idols
9/19 1B Justin Morneau - Los Angeles Idols
9/26 CF Oscar Charleston - Memphis Strummers

Batter of the Month
C Cal McVey - Los Angeles Idols

Pitcher of the Month
SP Ben Sanders - Arizona Sandmen

Rookie of the Month
1B Justin Morneau - Los Angeles Idols