The MMDA World Series is in full swing and the No. 3 Stars (104-58) hold a 3-2 advantage against No. 1 Bethlehem (119-43). Head over to the MMDA Blog for recaps on each Series game.
Round Two Recap: No. 1 Bethlehem defeated No. 4 Cape Cod in seven games, and No. 3 Northwest defeated No. 7 St. Louis in six games.
Round One Recap: In bracket one, Bethlehem defeated Kalamzoo and Cape Cod dispatched with Mohawk Valley. Both series lasted five games. Over in bracket two, Northwest bested California 4-1, and in the biggest upset of the postseason thus far, No. 7 St. Louis upended No. 2 Northeast in five games. So we're left with:
The conclusion of the second round also finalized the draft order through pick No. 18.
13. Knights
14. Roadrunners
15. Jive
16. Huskies
17. Bombers
18. Breakers
Regular Season Complete
Oct. 13, 2008
Bethlehem maintained its edge, finishing with the best record in the MMDA for the fourth consecutive season. One hundred-nineteen wins is a lot, but it's only the second-hightest total achieved in the past four seasons. The most? Bethlehem's 122 wins in 2007.
Four other teams eclipsed 100 wins, including the other three division winners: Mohawk Valley, Northeast and Northwest. Cape Cod's reward for winning 103 games: a wild card berth, but at least they were seeded ahead of Mohawk Vally. Speaking of which, the Jive bested its previous record of 96 wins, set in 2007, by reaching 102 this season.
Remember back in 2006 when no MMDA club finished with 100 losses? That was awesome. But it certainly didn't happen in 2008—Tampa Bay lost 118 times. In fact, the Bats' .272 road "winning" percentage saved its pitchers countless innings by (presumably) nullifying the bottom of the ninth inning nearly 75 percent of the time. No team has lost as many games as the Bats since Pacific Coast also lost 118 games back in 2002.
The other three 100-game losers: Cary, Kiel and Northern Lehgih.
Postseason Trades
- The Huskies traded 1B Derrek Lee, SS Yunel Escobar and SS Jeff Keppinger to the Bats for 1B Lance Berkman and Beaz 6.
- The Knights traded RHP Trevor Hoffman to the Bombers for Bombers 5.
- The Dirtnappers traded 2B Brian Roberts to the Pilots for OF Adam Lind and RHP Braden Looper.
- The Bulldogs traded LHP B.J. Ryan to the Beaz for RHP Octavio Dotel and OF Ryan Freel.
- The Bats traded RHP Kyle Farnsworth to the Crows for C Dave Ross.
- The Knights traded RHP John Smoltz, RHP Ian Snell and 3B Jorge Cantu to the Bats for RHP Vicente Padilla and SS Jeff Keppinger.
- The Black Sox traded OF Elijah Dukes to the Bats for 1B Jason Giambi, 2B Josh Barfield, RHP Josh Fogg and LHP Chuck James.
- The Black Sox traded RHP Geoff Geary to the Stars for 2B Chris Burke, LHP Pedro Feliciano and Stars 5.
- The Knights traded RHP Carlos Zambrano, 3B Troy Glaus, RHP Heath Bell and LHP Garrett Olson to the Bulldogs for 3B Alex Gordon, LHP Jamie Moyer and Bulldogs 4.
- The Breakers traded SS Julio Lugo and 2B Esteban German to the Black Sox for 3B Ron Belliard.
- The Bulldogs traded LHP Zach Duke, 2B Tadahito Iguchi and C Ronny Paulino to the Black Sox for Black Sox 5 and Stars 7.
- The Huskies traded LHP Bobby Seay and Beaz 6 to the Bombers for Pilots 5.
- The Bats traded OF Mark Kotsay and Bats 7 to the Jive for 2B Freddy Sanchez, 3B Brandon Inge and Jive 7.
- The Bats traded OF Jeremy Hermida to the Huskies for OF Corey Hart and RHP Pat Neshek.
- The Black Sox traded RHP Jeremy Guthrie to the Bats for RHP Edwin Jackson and 2B Jose Lopez.
- The Dirtnappers traded RHP Matt Cain, OF Adam Lind, Dirtnappers 5 and Dirtnappers 7 to the Bulldogs for 3B Troy Glaus, LHP Garrett Olson, RHP Kyle Davies and Bulldogs 1.
- The Bats traded OF Corey Hart to the Dirtnappers for RHP Adam Wainwright.
- The Dazzlers traded RHP Brad Lidge to the Pilots for Knights 1.
- The Beaz traded Beaz 4 to the Black Sox for Stars 5 and Black Sox 6.
- The Dirtnappers traded RHP Chien-Ming Wang to the Bats for RHP Mike Pelfrey.
- The Beaz traded LHP B.J. Ryan to the Bombers for OF Ryan Spilborghs.