[Ben E Lou]

2005 POST-SEASON REPORT

POTENTIAL FREE AGENTS/CONTRACT EXTENSIONS
SP Dewey Baumer—An interesting choice here. Adams, Castonguay, Cruz, Haruhiko, Lopez could make an excellent rotation, but Baumer has been so steady, and is only 28. I sign him for 5 years at $5.8M per year.[/b]
RF Ronald Feely—He’s been a steady force in RF, and at the plate, with 96 HR’s and 294 Rbi’s over the last three seasons, and he’s 29 years old. I sign him to a $5.75M-per-year deal for four years.
2B Tyrone Sweeney—He’s the only one of the three who gets a big raise percentage-wise over his arbitration salary. He jumps to $4.25M per year, for 3 years.

All three of these salaries are faily mild jumps. The three guys made $11.75M combined this year. They’ll make $15.8M next year. Not bad!

PLAYOFF REPORT

DIVISION SERIES VS. PITTSBURGH

Pittsburgh Info
The Pirates won a fairly weak NL Central with a 84-78 record. They were 17th in hitting and 11th in ERA. They have two primary offensive weapons in LF Jerry Grimmer (4/10/9, .240, 40 HR, 108 RBI) and CF Scott “Cowboy” Betton (4/9/8, .276, 36 HR, 101 RBI, 30 SB). They also had no real staff ace. They had four guys in the rotation 27 and under, and a 35-year old. The best season of the bunch was turned in by 25-year-old Richard “Stinky” Ammon: 11-6, 3.75 ERA. The other four had either a losing record and/or an ERA over 4.00. The bullpen was their strength, boasting five guys with ERA’s of 3.08 and below. Closer Angelo Ibanez had 34 saves, 3 blown saves and a 2.96 ERA. On paper, we should win this series hands down, especially if our pitchers can contain Grimmer and Betton.

Game 1
We open at home, and send Castonguay out there against 24-year-old Juan Maldonado (9-11,4.64). We jupm on the youngster in the bottom of the first. Wuest walks with two outs, and Feely takes him deep. The Pirates come back with one in the top of the third, but we strike for two more in the bottom, this time on a Swensen walk followed by a Wuest 2-run shot. Pitt closes to 4-3 in the top of the 5th, but we break it wide open with 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th, the big blow being a grand-slam by Harry Reid. Wuest gives us two more in the bottom of the 8th with another 2-run shot, and from there we coast to an 11-5 win in game one.

Game 2
For Game 2, it is Adams against 25-year-old Lawerence “Mirror Man” Midgett (8-16,3.95). This time Scott “Cowboy” Betton stings us for a 3-run shot in the top of the first, and they add another in the 2nd to take a 4-0 lead, which is where things stand until the bottom of the 3rd. Camacho leads off that inning with a homer, and Wuest doubles in Swensen later on to cut the lead to 4-2. Adams continues to hold ‘em right there, and in the bottom of the fifth the offense explodes for SIX runs, four on an Erwin grand slam, and 2 on a Mangan 2-run shot, and we lead 8-4. Feely adds a 3-run shot in the bottom of the 6th, and that’s all the scoring. Expos 11, Pirates 4

Game 3
After a day off, we head up to Pittsburgh, looking for the sweep. Baumer takes the mound against Ammon, and Ammon fares better than any of their starters to date. We open the scoring in the top of the third on a Tyrone Sweeney solo homer, but their SS, Kevin Slama, who had only one homer all year, answers with a solo shot of his own to tie it. Harry Reid gets another solo shot in the top of the fourth, and there things stand until the bottom of the eighth, when the bullpen gives up a walk, HBP and then back-to-back doubles to give the Pirates a 4-2 lead. We refuse to go quietly though. Feely leads off the inning with a double, and after Erwin is intentionally walke, Reid draws a free pass as well, loading the bases. However, Ibanez gets Camacho to ground into a double play, scoring a run, and gets Mangan to ground out to end the game, and we fall 4-3.

Game 4
We send Stickles to the mound for this one, saving Castonguay in case there’s a game 5, or he can start the opener of the NLCS. The strategy pays off wonderfully, as Stickles gives us 7 2/3 innings, allowing 3 runs, while the offense has another big day. Swensen hits a 2-run homer, and Feely a solo shot. Add in several doubles, and you get a Montreal 11-4 win to advance to the NLCS!

NLCS vs. LOS ANGELES

LA Info
The Dodgers won the NL West with a 90-72 record, and then swept the Mets in the Division Series. They are similar offensively to us, with seven players hitter 20+ homers, but with no one over 31. Leadoff hitter and star-in-the-making 23-year-old Roy Wilson had 22 HR’s, 37 SB’s and scored 94 runs. Their leading RBI guy, with 95, was 1B Robert Price, but they had 7 guys with 71+ RBI. Their rotation looks like it can make up favorably with ours as well when everyone is healthy, which they are now. Their bullpen appears to be their weakness. Their closer is 24-year-old Carlos Jimenez (6-9, 33sv,4.36ERA,8bs). I feel like if we can get to their ‘pen, we can do some damage.

Game 1
In the opener, we send out Castonguay against Urso Ramos (14-4,2.28). Ramos missed 5 weeks in August and Sept with a ruptured biceps tendon, but posted a 2.76 ERA in Sept and Oct after his return. He’s been a steady guy, with 125 career wins, a 3.02 lifetime ERA and a 0.90 WHIP. All that having been said, our offense gets the jump on him early, as Wuest follows a Swensen double with a homer in the bottom of the first. The Dodgers make it close, and tie it at 4-4 in the top of the 8th. However, we get to their ‘pen, as expected, for two runs in the bottom of the frame, and Mamolejo shuts ‘em down in the 9th to give us a 6-4 victory to take a 1-0 series lead.

Game 2
Adams takes it to the hill against Justin Ward (10-5,2.35).Ward won the Cy Young in 2003 and 2004 but missed 9 weeks this year with two different injuries. The Dodgers jump on Adams for two in the top of the first on a homer by SS Mark Seabolt (.273-25-94). We tie it at 2-2 in the bottom of the 5th, but LA gets back-to-back homers off of Adams to lead off the 7th, and lead 4-2. Sweeney singles in Mangan in the bottom of the inning to cut it to 4-3, but this time their bullpen holds up, and we fall 4-3.

Game 3
The NLCS shifts out to the west coast. And it is Baumer vs. 23-year-old Ernesto Gallegos (12-10, 3.71). We flex our muscles and send the rookie to an early shower in the second inning, and then breeze to a 12-3 win. Feely has a big day, going 4 for 5 with 2 homers and 6 RBI, and Wuest scores 5 runs.

Game 4
Stickles is on the hill against game 1 starter Ramos for this one. In the early going, it is a pitchers’ duel, but the Dodgers score a single run in the 4th, 5th and 6th innings to give them a 3-0 lead. Erwin homers in the top of the 7th to cut the lead to 3-1, but the Dodgers get a three-run homer in the bottom of the 8th off of Brandl, and hand us a 6-2 loss to tie the series at 2-2

Game 5
Game 2 starter Ward comes back against Castonguay, and combines with the ‘pen for a 5-hit shutout. We fall 6-0, putting our backs against the wall heading back to Montreal.

Game 6
It is Adams vs. Gallegos for this one. WE open the scoring on an Erwin homer in the bottom of the second, but the Dodgers answer with 3 in the top of the third. Solo shots by Feely and the fourth and Camacho in the eighth tie the score though. Marmolejo gets out of a bases-loaded one-out jam in the top of the ninth with no runs scoring, but we’re unable to win it in the bottom. Marmolejo gives up a solo shot to lead off the 10th, and we go down 1-2-3 in the bottom to lose the game 4-2, and get eliminated.

The Dodgers lose a 7-game World Series to the Chisox.

SEASON RECAP
American League Rookie Of The Year Award:
Dennis Dennis (NYY)!
He batted .279 in 563 AB, with 6 homers and 40 RBI.

National League Rookie Of The Year Award:
Billie Kakuzo (SD)!
He batted .278 in 500 AB, with 15 homers and 63 RBI.

American League Cy Young Award:
Antonio Rosas (CWS)!
He had a record of 21-7 with an ERA of 2.17 and 2 shutouts.
In 36 games started, he pitched 261.1 innings, fanning 206 and walking 42 batters.

American League MVP Award:
Ronald Demuth (TOR)!
He batted .301 in 585 AB, with 48 homers and 142 RBI.

National League Cy Young Award:
Tito Galarza (SF)!
He had a record of 24-7 with an ERA of 2.43 and 6 shutouts.
In 34 games started, he pitched 251.2 innings, fanning 254 and walking 41 batters.

National League MVP Award:
Hugo Reyes (NYM)!
He batted .296 in 568 AB, with 38 homers and 120 RBI.

American League Gold Glove Award Winners:
Pitcher: Mauro Uribe (BOS)
Catcher: Bill Villasenor (MIN)
First Base: Emanuel Whaley (MIN)
Second Base: Fred Murray (BOS)
Third Base: Brock Hettinger (BOS)
Shortstop: Simon Fuentes (MIN)
Leftfield: John Hayes (TB)
Centerfield: Michael Sylvain (TB)—Superfly wins his third Gold Glove!
Rightfield: Matthew Wellman (CWS)

National League Gold Glove Award Winners:
Pitcher: Keith Ewers (SL)
Catcher: Filiberto Amezcua (MIL)
First Base: Sang Womack (PIT)
Second Base: Israel Fleita (PIT)
Third Base: Richard Reel (PIT)
Shortstop: Samuel Acosta (ARI)
Leftfield: Daniel Hazley (SL)
Centerfield: Eduardo Reyes (HOU)
Rightfield: Elmer Connors (NYM)

MANAGER UPDATE

This was a pretty good year. I think I made the owner happy. I more than met his expectations!
Hearing around the league, and it looks like my reputation rose to Average Manager!

THOUGHTS
Well, we were clearly good enough to go all the way. We just didn’t get it done when we needed to. Most all of the key players are either in or about to hit their prime, and very few guys are dropping off just yet (but I’m crossing my fingers on 34-year-old CF Wuest.