The drought is over, the Champs are once again Champions of the IAL. Chicago had won ten championships in the first twenty two years, then there were a dozen years (six years no playoff berth) with no rings. There were only two other years in team history when the Champs did not qualify for postseason play. Fourteen years the Champions have either finished first or won the World Series. But they have never had a 100 win campaign. It was great to win it all again, in a season in which the franchise achieved it’s 3,000 victory (ending the 2009/10 year with 3,063 total wins. Speaking of milestones, future Hall of Fame hurler Greg Maddux announced he would be hanging it up when postseason play ended, with a league record of 354 career wins.
PLAYOFFS
Game 1: Featured a matchup of aces, C.C. Sabathia for the Three Rivers Gamblers, opposed by Chicago Champions phenom Tim Lincecum. The Gamblers opened the scoring in the 4th when Derek Jeter scored, after reaching base on an error, on a Dustin Pedroia double. Justin Morneau went yard & Ryan Doumit clubbed a two run shot in the bottom of the 4th to put Chicago up two. Another error led to another unearned run off The Freak, a walk & an error put runners at the corners, a doubleplay produced the fifth inning run that cut the lead to 3-2. Rookie Matt Joyce, pinch hitting for B.J. Upton, nailed a two run triple in the bottom of the 7th, then scored on a Jimmy Rollins base knock to put the Champs up four. In the top of the 8th, with runners on 2nd & 3rd and only one out, Lincecum gave way to Joey Devine. Pedroia got one in with a sac fly and Ryan Braun followed with a run driven in on a single & a steal. A double by Felipe Lopez in the bottom of the 8th expanded the lead to three, who knew that one run would prove to be the difference. Cory Wade was called on to close it out after Devine, feeling a little jittery, walked Jason Bay to open the 9th. Big Hurt, Frank Thomas (also a future HOF’er calling it quits at postseason’s end) came through with a two out two run monster blast to cut it to one. But it wasn’t to be, when Jeter bounced out the game was over, 7-6 Champs.
Game 2: Scott Kazmir didn’t have it for the Gamblers as the Champions got to him for five first inning runs. Giving Greg Maddux a five run cushion, is like money in the bank. In the 2nd, after Troy Glaus hit a two out solo blast off the leftfield foul pole, Chicago responded scoring a run to keep the lead at five. A two run shot by Doumit in the 7th, 4 RBI’s on the day, put the game officially on ice, as Maddux allowed only the one run over six innings. Thomas hit another pinch homer in the 8th, but it was much too little, far too late, 8-2 Champs.
Game 3: Rookie Armando Galarraga took the hill for the Gamblers, facing elimination. Chicago took an early 1-0 1st inning lead when an error by Maggs Ordonez, with 2 outs, allowed JRoll to score, it would be a foreshadowing of things to come. With runners on 2nd & 3rd, nobody out, against a tiring Galarraga, pinch hitter Matt Joyce stepped in, team trailing by two. Joyce lined a basehit to left, when Ordonez airmailed his throw plateward, far too late, two runners scored, two tie the game, and the potential winning run moved into scoring position. Armando got back to work, retiring the next three Champ batters in order, and when Prince Fielder’s moonshot came down to earth, far into the night, the Gamblers manager was off the hook for not replacing Maggs with a defensive replacement, 4-3 Gamblers.
Game 4: When Matt Joyce clubbed a two run homer in the 4th, Chicago was in front 3-0, but Three Rivers was not done yet, coming up with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame, courtesy of a two run Jason Bay longball & a Prince RBI single. It quickly became a battle of the bullpens, still knotted at three, heading into the 9th. Pinch hitter Miguel Bombon Olivo connected on a high Jensen Lewis fastball & drove it high over the centerfield wall for a two run homer, and when Jose Valverde pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th, it was time to get ready for the World Series, 5-3 Champs.
World Series
Game 1: The Champs would score four runs off Daisuke Matsuzaka in the 2nd thanks to a Ryan Doumit two run longball & a 2-RBI single by Jimmy Rollins, just like that Tim Lincecum was staked to a four to zip lead. Dan Uggla would cut the lead to two in the sixth, when his deep drive landed on the righfield foul line for a 2-RBI triple, moments later scoring an a Brian Giles sac fly to left. Back to back doubles by The Freak & JRoll in the bottom of the 6th, put Chicago up by a couple. The Rising Bamm Beanos, in their 1st World Series appearance, were not done yet, tying the game at 5 in the eighth. In the bottom of the tenth, El Caballo facing a tiring Brad Lidge (entering his 3rd inning of work), and sent the home humans home happy by hitting a walkoff homer, 6-5 Champs (in extras).
Game 2: Jair Jurrjens had a one run lead on Greg Maddux, thanks to a two out RBI double off the bat of senior citizen, Giles. Rookie Ian Stewart tied into one in the bottom of the 5th to tie the ballgame at one. Former Champion outfielder Matt Kemp came up with one out, runners on 2nd & 3rd, & battled Joey Devine for a sac fly as Alex Gordon was able to slide in just ahead of the throw by B.J. Upton, and the Bamm Beanos took that one run lead into the bottom of the 9th. Jonathan Papelbon was trying for a two inning save, Grady Sizemore lined a single to right, followed by a one out single by Carlos Lee (Bobby Crosby was sent in to run for the big man), & Crosby would score on a 2-run game winning double off the bat of ARod, 3-2 Champs.
Game 3: Alex Rodriguez started over where he left off, turning around a 3-0 fastball with two on in the first off rookie starter Chris Volstad (Datslov backwards), staking Josh Beckett to a three run lead. Mark Teixeira lined an RBI single in the 4th to close the gap to two, not long after Beckett was lifted for a pinch hitter and the game was turned over to the bullpen. Champ hitters exploded for 5 runs off Volstad in the 6th, 2-run doubles by Lee & Doumit. They scored another five spot in the 8th, Grady Sizemore with a 3-run bomb, 13-3 Champs.
Game 4: Doumit’s RBI double provided The Freak with a 1-0 2nd inning lead over The Ageless Wonder Jamie Moyer. Garrett Anderson, the Little Dog BEING the Big Dog, lined a homer to right in the 6th to tie it at one. Neither starter would answer the 8th inning bell. Moyer was lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 7th. Victor Martinez was called on to bat for Lincecum with the go ahead run on 3rd with one out, but was given an intentional pass, Felipe Lopez went in to run, and up stepped JRoll. Jimmy ripped a single to leftcenter off Lidge, putting the Champs up one, with runners still at the corners. Lidge fanned Sizemore, before Justin Morneau knocked the stuffing out of one, for a three run blast, the game, and the World Series Championship, 5-2 Champs!
Ryan Doumit was the postseason MVP, going 5 for 15, with three doubles & two homers, 7 RBI’s & 4 runs in the playoffs, and 5 for 14, with three doubles & a homer, & five ribbies in the World Series.