(AP) WASHINGTON--There would be no comeback this time
for the Washington Sea Dogs.
A projected Game 7 pitchers' duel between two of the
top pitchers in baseball instead turned into a 15-8
slugfest as the Punxatawney Groundhogs put away the
Sea Dogs to become Defiant League Champions.
"We fought the good fight, got it to Game 7 - we were
just beaten by an experienced group of champions,"
Weiner said.
Indeed, Punxatawney, who will represent the Defiant
League for the third time in the PVBL Championship
Series, outplayed and outmanaged Washington throughout
the series. Punxatawney won their four games by a
combined margin of 44-12, ran wild against rookie
catcher Einar Diaz and basically outplayed Washington
in all aspects of the game.
"The fact is, they jumped on top of our pitching staff
early and often, and nobody did that during the
regular season," Weiner said.
Indeed, Game 7 was a microcosm of the entire series.
Though the two teams finished with the two best ERAs
in the league, only the first game finished with less
than nine runs.
Knoblauch, however, tried to take the onus off the
pitching staff.
"We just didn't score enough in the games we could
have won," captain Chuck Knoblauch said. "It's not
like we didn't score, but we didn't score enough
consistently."
But Joey Hamilton, making his first LCS appearance,
was extremely apologetic for his own performance.
"I'm extremely disappointed in the way I pitched in
the series," said 19-game winner Joey Hamilton, who
managed just 3+ combined innings in Games 4 and 7
combined. "I just didn't have it for some reason; I
don't know why."
Part of the problem with the Washington pitching staff
seemed to be the inexperience of the Washington's two
top starters. Shawn Estes was a fifth option on
Washington's 1999 superteam; this year, he was asked
to be a stopper, coming off a late-season injury.
Joey Hamilton had never before pitched in the
playoffs.
In addition, Weiner's management can easily be called
into question. He gave several quick hooks to
struggling starters. His Game 7 removal of John
Burkett will be memorable for a long time, as
Burkett's replacement and eventual Game 7 loser Dwight
Gooden allowed eight runs in just over two innings.
"I did what I felt was needed at the time," Weiner
said. "What I really wanted to do was pitch Estes if
Hamilton struggled, but Shawn was very clear with me
that he wasn't ready to pitch in Game 7."
The irony of Hamilton's quick hook in Game 7 is that
Punxatawney manager had the luxury of knowing that the
game was tied - and thus resolved to keep his ace
starter in the game. Lieber pitched four shutout
innings after the first and was never really
challenged.
After the wild first inning ended with the score tied
at 4, Washington allowed runs in the third and fourth
innings.
Down 6-4 and dealing with a ineffective Dwight Gooden,
Weiner elected to stay with his struggling swingman.
It proved to be a mistake, as Gooden allowed six runs
in the fifth inning as Punxatawney scored eight to
blow the game open.
"It's all my fault," Gooden said. "I was just
terrible, I couldn't throw a pitch to save my life,
and I was just awful. I can't believe I let the team
down like this."
Would Punxatawney have collected anything from John
Burkett, who relieved Hamilton and doused the fire for
1.2 innings? Burkett himself scoffed at the notion.
"I can't imagine anyone stopping Punxatawney today,"
Burkett said. "They were overwhelming."
Punxatawney will face the Galena Hamsters in the PVBL
Championship Series. Galena dominated the Enterprise
League this season, winning 106 games, 15 more than
their closest competitor, a record. The Hamsters
became the second team to finish first in both runs
scored and runs allowed in their league.
The Hamsters will undoubtedly throw 21-game winner
Kevin Appier against the Groundhogs. Punxatawney's
starter for game 1 is unannounced as well, but will
likely be 13-game winner Rocky Coppinger.
Sea Dogs End-Of-Season Notes:
The vote's officially in - the toughest offseason in
the PVBL will be Washington's offseason.
"The choices we have to make this year are
nerve-racking," GM Aaron Weiner said.
First on the agenda is the decision - was the 2001
season a success? Weiner, and much of the world,
would argue yes.
"Let's put it this way: We just won 102 games and
made it to Game 7 of the World Series," Weiner said.
"We lost 12 games outside our division (out of 58).
We played our division, one of the toughest in
baseball, to more than a push. Where's the problem?"
Weiner's words seem reassuring, but they're a
smokescreen for the underlying questions surrounding
the team.
The short list:
1) The bullpen.
Washington's bullpen has fallen under scrutiny all
year, sometimes fairly, sometimes unfairly. But the
facts still remain: closer John Wetteland has fallen
in effectiveness, and despite stretches by individual
players, there were no dominating bullpen performances
by the Sea Dogs.
"Yes, the bullpen is a question we'll have to address
in the offseason," Weiner said. "We're not overly
concerned; not a single pitcher we carried in the
playoffs had an ERA of more than 4.53."
Weiner said that bullpen help will be a major priority
in the upcoming free agent plan, but that Washington
will not trade prospects for bullpen members.
"We had good seasons out of several guys, and we're
hoping that John (Wetteland) can recover next season
and deliver a dominating performance."
Some baseball people think that Wetteland might have
felt somewhat self-important this season due to the
fact that Washington chose to protect him in last
year's draft rather than hold on to Matt Williams.
2) Age.
While many things have changed on the Sea Dogs, one
thing remained the same - the team had the oldest
average age in the PVBL. Of the playoff roster, the
only Sea Dogs under 30 were Dave Nilsson, Mickey
Kelly, Joey Hamilton and Shawn Estes.
Rumors are spreading that future Hall of Famer Harold
Baines is likely to retire after 21 seasons in the
majors. Jim Eisenreich is no longer a major
contributor. And key guys like Jeff King and Scott
Brosius may begin to slow down after this season.
There is a silver lining in the cloudy future,
however. Washington has assembled an excellent group
of hitters in their farm system, and they expect to
have two amateur draft picks next season to augment
the hitting with pitching.
"To put it simply, we believe we have a very bright
future," Weiner said. "All that remains to be seen is
if we can assemble a team on the field to win it all."
But will the Sea Dogs be as tough next year without
important contributors still with the team? The
answer seems yes, with Kelly's dramatic improvement
and the addition of Nilsson, who contributed little to
the Sea Dogs' 102 wins.
3) Lack of competition.
Why would lack of competition be a troublesome factor
for the Sea Dogs - and is the claim correct?
Washington's 102 wins last year were not a mistake.
Very few baseball people thought the Sea Dogs capable
of a 100-win season.
The reason for Washington's success is unfortunate.
It appears that the Defiant League is on the fall.
Take out the outliers - Phoenix's 115 wins and Tampa's
102 losses. The .500+ teams averaged 92+ wins, while
the -.500 teams averaged 71- victories a 21 game
difference. Add in Phoenix's 115 wins, and the gap
becomes greater.
Compare that to the other league. If you remove the
outliers - the league-worst Deadwood Outlaws and the
dominant EL champion Galena Hamsters - where NO team
lost more than 92 games or won more than 91 games -
roughly the league averages in the Defiant.
(For the sake of statistical accuracy, the EL .500+
teams averaged 87 wins and the sub-500 teams averaged
72 wins, with one .500 team. 15 wins is not a major
difference, as about one can attribute 11 games to
luck.)
The DL gap is legitimate as well. The top six teams
had the top five offenses and the top five pitching
staffs, the four playoff teams overlapping in both
categories.
Because the Sea Dogs were so far ahead last year (3rd
offense, 1st pitching), the front-office sentiment
might be to start rebuilding early, which would cost
Washington a few games now, but add to them down the
road.
Who could be targetted? Washington has made few plans
to re-sign the disappointing Eric Young, and Roger
Cedeno, who had a huge year in the minors, seems to be
a possible candidate to take the job of either Reggie
Jefferson or Larry Walker.
"We're looking at a lot of options right now," Weiner
said. "I'm not going to name any names, but it's
possible that we won't be the same team next season."
Jefferson especially was the target of trade rumors
until his huge playoff performance. He's now
considered an integral part of the Sea Dogs' success.
If Walker or Jefferson departs, it would leave a
lineup centered around Nilsson, Knoblauch, Kelly and
whoever's left. Cedeno and Brosius would be the
supporting cast.
Sounds good, but would it be enough against the
wild-card foes? That's the question on the mind of
the Washington GM.
"If we can get enough for our players, we might
consider moving them," Weiner said. "It would be a
big step in looking toward the future."
