TRADES - Cleveland Makes a Pair of Deals

Cleveland manager Brian Feig was busy again yesterday, making a pair of deals in an attempt to make the Rock 'N Rollers relevant in the Classic League's Rust Belt Division.  The first deal of the day was made with the Minnesota Millers

CLEVELAND sends Paul Lo Duca and their 2001 2nd round pick to MINNESOTA for Jason Kendall and Roberto Hernandez

Before we dissect that deal, let's take a look at the second swap first.

CLEVELAND sends Jon Garland to ARIZONA for Mark Gardner

This deal, featuring a one-for-one swap of starting pitchers, is an easy one to analyze.  Cleveland, as noted in an earlier edition of the TRADE ANALYZER, is in win now mode.  This deal exemplifies that approach.  Mark Gardner comes into the fold.  In the year 2000, he was in the 12th year of a 13 year career, and he had a pretty decent year.  Pitching for the San Francisco Giants, he started 20 games, going 11-7 with a 4.05 ERA.  But he's pretty much done after this year.  In 2001, his ERA balloons to 5.40 and he's out of baseball by 2002.  He comes to Cleveland having gone 4-1 with a 4.40 ERA in eight starts for Arizona.  He will slot in behind Bartolo Colon, Mike Hampton and Freddy Garcia at the back end of the Rock 'N Rollers rotation.


Gardner's Career Statistics:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gardnma01.shtml
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Jon Garland goes to Arizona, and he offers little to nothing this season.  The year 2000 was his rookie season in the big leagues, one which saw him start 13 games for the Chicago White Sox, compiling a 4-8 record with a 6.46 ERA.  He goes to an Apaches squad which will want nothing to do with that type of production.  But the acquisition of Garland has nothing to do with what he can do this season.  Tom made this deal for what Garland can do for the Apaches in the future.  Beginning in 2002, Garland begins a stretch where he starts at least 32 games for nine consecutive seasons.  And while he's no Johan Santana, he no slouch either.  He won double digit games in each of those years.  He was also very consistent.  His highest ERA in that nine year stretch was 4.90.  His average season over the stretch was a record of 13-11 with a 4.25 ERA.

Garland's Career Statistics:  http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/garlajo01.shtml
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SUMMARY DEAL #2
This deal is the perfect example of one team looking at the year at hand, with the other participant looking towards the future.  In this case, it's an easy one to evaluate for our purposes.  Deals like this go down all the time in real life.  One team trading away a proven commodity to help them win in the current year for unknown prospects with future potential.  The difference here is that we already know the potential of the return player, in this instance Jon Garland.  And while I have no issues with anybody trying to make a push to win games now, this particular deal is a little bit unbalanced for my taste.  I'll explain.

While Gardner will undoubtedly help Brian improve in 2000, he's basically just dealt a pitcher in Garland who is good for 300 plus starts over the course of the next decade.  Gardner has probably 25 starts left, at best, in his MBL career.  If we were talking about somebody like Rick Ankiel, who is exceptional in 2000 before forgetting how to pitch, or even Robert Person, who is very good in 2000 and has a little something left in 2001, then the deal would make a little more sense.  Even somebody like Mike Sirotka maybe.  I just don't think the addition of a one year back-end guy like Gardner is worth the future success of a guy like Garland.  So while in 2000 the deal clearly favors Brian and the Rock 'N Rollers, the Apaches are the big winners of this deal in the long run.

**As a side note, Brian has made it known that he once had a sales rep named Jon Garland that he could not stand.  I knew a guy once named Mark Gardner and he was a really nice guy.  So in the game of life, Brian comes out on top!**

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Now lets's revert our attention back to the first deal of the day, one which saw a couple of catchers exchange teams.

This is another example of Brian trying to win today, and kudos to him for that.  He's trying to put the most competitive team he can on the field that he can.  This deal accomplishes that.  Gone is a draft pick and Paul Lo Duca, who has virtually no value in the current season.  Into the fold is Jason Kendall, who was an All-Star MLB backstop in the year 2000, a season which saw him hit .320 with a .412 OBP and 22 stolen bases from his catcher position.  He's without a doubt one of the top catchers in our current season.  His addition to the lineup, along with recent acquisition Edgardo Alfonzo, give the Rock 'N Rollers one of the best, if not THE best, batting orders in the entire MBL.  Those two join Jason Giambi, Richard Hidalgo, Rich Aurilia, David Justice, Terrance Long and Raul Mondesi in the lineup.  That's pretty scary.

Let's not paint this as Kendall being a one year acquisition though.  That's absolutely not the case.  Kendall is very good for the next several years.  He catches at least 134 games in each of the next nine seasons.  And while his offense drops off in the later half of those years, his next six years see him post a triple slash of .293/.366/.394.  His 2003 and 2004 seasons are exceptionally good.  He's never been a source of power, and he struggles to throw out opposing base-runners, but he's one of the few catchers who excels on the base-paths, providing stolen bases from a position which normally does not.

Kendall comes to Cleveland batting .333/.435/.444 triple slash line.
Jason Kendall's Career Statistics:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kendaja01.shtml
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Paul LoDuca played in only 34 games in the year 2000, but he was targeted by Walt and the Millers not for what he does now, but what he does in the future.  LoDuca explodes onto the scene in 2001, batting .320 with 25 homers in 125 games.  His OPS of .917 was the best of his career by far.  He goes on, following the 2001 season, to catch at least 119 games for the next six seasons.  He's was an All-Star for three different teams in four consecutive seasons between 2003-2006.  When comparing him and Kendall during those four years, they are quite comparable.  Kendall plays in 590 games during the four year span, batting .303 with a .745 OPS.  LoDuca plays 546 games, hitting .290 with a .742 OPS.  Kendall gets on base a little more.  LoDuca provides a little more pop.


Paul Lo Duca's Career Statistics:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/loducpa01.shtml
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The other player moving in this deal is Roberto Hernandez.  This is another player who can help Brian and the Rock 'N Rollers in the current season.  Hernandez was 4-7 with a 3.19 ERA with 32 saves for Tampa Bay in 2000.  He has six more productive years, compiling a 3.82 ERA for five different teams between 2001-2006.  His main value in this deal is in the 2000 season though, where he provides a quality arm for the Cleveland bullpen.

He comes to the Rock 'N Rollers having compiled a 2.95 ERA in 21.1 innings for the Millers.
Roberto Hernandez's Career Statistics:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hernaro01.shtml
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SUMMARY DEAL #1
Walt looks to be in full rebuild mode with this deal.  He's basically traded away one of his better lineup pieces, as well as a solid bullpen arm, for two future pieces.  And while I have no problem with that strategy, I'm not sure the return for Kendall's current card was enough.  We are playing in the now, and as was seen by Brian's other deal, as well as others, current pieces can pull quite a haul from team's trying to win today.  In Kendall, Walt had arguably the best catcher in the league in 2000.  He trailed only Mike Piazza and Jorge Posada in OPS, and if you factor in his defense and base-running ability, a case can be made he out-values both of them.  Regardless, he's in the top-3, and at a position that very few players standout.  While I like the acquisition of Lo Duca, and what he provides the Miller's in 2001, he's pretty comparable to Kendall in the seasons that follow.  If we consider the Kendall for LoDuca swap as equal, and the Hernandez for a 2nd round pick equal, the deal is pretty even overall.  But I just think Walt could have squeezed a bigger deal out of somebody looking to add Kendall's bat to their 2000 lineup.

Having said that, Walt has his team positioned to be a big mover in 2001.  He's almost certainly going to be adding a superstar player from the draft (Pujols, Ichiro, Sabathia, Oswalt).  And he is now sitting on not only Lo Duca and his breakout season, but also Alfonso Soriano, Juan Pierre and Aubrey Huff.  Not to mention Aramis Ramirez, who will be in his first full season, as well as established regulars Derek Jeter and Jeromy Burnitz.  Matt Morris is also set to join his rotation.  Minnesota will no doubt be much improved in 2001. 

TEAM SPOTLIGHT - Arizona Apaches

Our second installment of the TEAM SPOTLIGHT series sends us to the desert for and in-depth look at the Arizona Apaches.  Tom Morse currently has his team sitting atop the Expansion League's Western Division, one game up on the Colorado Briar Jumpers with a 28-17 record.  They are six full games ahead of the surging St. Louis Sliders in what promises to be a very competitive division till the end of the year.  The Apaches are just off a series sweep of the Expansion League leading San Francisco Quakers.  The team is playing very well of late, winning nine of their last eleven, and compiling a 17-7 record in their last 21 games after starting the season 11-10.

Arizona has done a good job this season against right-handed pitching, compiling a 24-11 mark against them compared to just 4-6 against southpaws.  They have also won more than they've lost in one-run games, going 5-3 in close contests.  The Apaches played their first extra-inning game of the season in their last game out, defeating the San Fran Quakers 11-9 in 12 innings.  Let's take a closer look at how Arizona has gotten to the top of the standings.

CHASE FIELD, HOME OF THE APACHES, WITH THE ROOF OPEN

DRAFT RECAP
Arizona had a very successful start to the 2000 MBL Draft, scooping up NL MVP Jeff Kent with their first overall selection, 20th overall, then coming back in the second round and securing the services of the best relief pitcher of all-time, Mariano Rivera.  Kent, in my estimation, was the steal of the 1st round.  He plays a "scarce" position where he is head-and-shoulders above his competition at second base.  Rivera might be considered the steal of the second round.  If you don't know how good Super Mariano is then you probably shouldn't be playing this game.  Needless to say, he's the best.  In 2000, he was only in his sixth season.  He went on to toss 13 more lights out campaigns.

Rounds 3-4 saw Tom address his rotation, adding David Wells and Ryan Dempster.  His next two selections, Jermaine Dye and Mike Sweeney, were sent packing in a deal to the New York Rippers in exchange for Shawn Green (4th round BAL) and Edgar Martinez (7th NYR).  So all-in-all, a pretty even swap.  In the 7th round, the Apaches selected Mike Lieberthal.  An NL All-Star in 2000, with four average to above-average seasons left in the tank, he was the 14th catcher selected in the draft, making him another steal in my estimation.  Shannon Stewart was another super selection in the 8th round.  He probably should have been selected at least a couple rounds before.

A couple of Tom's selection's in the next few rounds were sent packing.  11th round pick Mike Sirotka was dealt for Kenny Rogers (TOR 8th), which was a great deal.  12th round pick Julio Lugo, who actually performed quite well for Arizona while he was in town, was sent to Milwaukee for 4th round selection Ramon Ortiz, as well as late round selection Kevin Elster.  That deal, considering where the players were selected, was a great return on investment.  And 14th round pick Mark Gardner was shipped to Cleveland for their 18th round selection, Jon Garland.  Although that's technically a loss on investment, Garland has a pretty good, long-lasting career ahead of him compared to Gardner, so I consider that deal a winner for Tom as well.

The later rounds of the Apache draft was nothing special, but that's of little consequence.  Tom's first half, plus the trades he's been able to pull off, have netted a solid squad, one that might just be the team to beat in the Expansion League if not all of the Millennium.

TEAM OFFENSE

	R	RPG	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG
LEAGUE AVERAGE	241	5.3	441	92	10	49	231	180	336	22	10	.272	.349	.433
Arizona Apaches	267	5.9	462	96	17	65	257	130	327	34	11	.294	.356	.501
RANKS		3				3				5		2	10	1

Tom's Apaches excel offensively, ranking near the top of the MBL in every hitting category.  Their only slight downfall is drawing walks, leaving their OBP just slightly above the league average.  If your team weakness is still above average, your team is doing something right.  Their slugging percentage really sets them apart.  Arizona is mashing the ball a full quarter of a percentage point better than any other team in the league.  Add their slightly above average OBP to their league leading SLG and the Apaches lead the MBL in the all-important OPS category.  To say this team is getting it done offensively would be an understatement.

TEAM PITCHING

	CG	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	BA	WHIP	ERA
LEAGUE AVERAGE	3	12	5	411	441	241	222	49	180	336	.272	1.51	4.86
Arizona Apaches	1	17	5	400	427	220	192	43	168	347	.269	1.49	4.32
RANKS		3						5		11		10	6

As good as the Apache offense is, their pitching isn't far behind.  The team ranks sixth in team ERA, a half a run better than the league average.  While their WHIP and strikeout numbers put them pretty much right in the middle of the pack, the team has been good at limiting opponent home runs, ranking fifth in the league in that category.  And of course, with Mariano Rivera manning the 9th inning, the Apaches are right at the top in team saves, ranking third with 17 on the season.  The relief corp as a whole is performing slightly better than the team starters, compiling a 4.10 ERA compared to the starters mark of 4.43.  The team has only used six different starting pitchers through their first 45 games.  Of course, that is all about to change with the acquisitions of Kenny Rogers and Jon Garland.

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES
As good as the Apaches are as a team, they really don't have anyone standing out individually, other than Mariano Rivera who leads the MBL in saves with 16.  This is a total team effort.  And there is nothing wrong with that.  Despite not littering the leaderboards with names, the whole lineup is full of guys having solid if unspectacular seasons.

If you just glance at his batting average, you might think 1st round pick Jeff Kent is having a down year.  You would be mistaken.  He's currently 4th in the MBL and 3rd in the Expansion League in RBI with 45.  His .599 slugging percentage ranks him 10th in the EXP.  His 12 homers rank him 7th.  He's played in all of the Apaches 45 games to date, compiling a robust .989 OPS.  He's struggled a bit with RISP and two out, hitting only .192 in those situations.  If he can adjust those numbers, look out.  Defensively, Kent has made only one error in 194 chances.  He may not be the MVP of the EXP, but he's having a solid season to date.

Another Apache who has played in all 45 games is Shannon Stewart, who leads the team in ABs, runs scored, hits and stolen bases.  His runs total of 39 and 62 hits both rank 6th in the EXP respectively.  His 11 stolen bases place him 7th on the MBL leaderboard and 3rd in the EXP.  He's another Apache who has struggled, like Kent, with two outs and runners in scoring position, hitting only .160 in those situations.  Not known for his ability with the leather, Stewart has already committed five errors in only 126 total chances in centerfield.

One other guy has played in all 45 games for the Apaches, and that's left-fielder Mark Quinn.  He currently leads the team in both doubles with 14 and home runs with 12.  His homer total has him ranked 7th in the EXP.  He's batting .307 with a very stout slugging percentage of .688.  His OPS of .981 ranks second on the team to Kent (Julio Lugo had an incredible OPS of 1.047 before being traded).  He's another Apache who struggles with me on and two out, hitting ever worse than Kent and Stewart with a .125 mark in 16 ABs.  Quinn has been excellent in left, not committing an error in 74 chances in left while gunning down five base-runners.

It's hard not to mention third baseman Tony Batista in this spot as he is having a solid year as well.  His numbers are similar to Quinn's across the board.  He's hitting .308 with 12 doubles and 11 homers.  Bautista's OPS sits at .945, yet another Apache above .900.  He's one Arizona player performing well with runners in scoring position, hitting .383 with a 1.077 OPS.

A couple of newcomers are also performing well.  Both Edgar Martinez and Shawn Green have belted six homers for the Apaches, Martinez in 93 at-bats, Green in 86.  Edgar is batting .312 with a .956 OPS.  Green has only hit .279, but his OPS is also solid at .937 for Arizona.  Martinez is actually ranked 5th in the MBL in both slugging percentage with a .705 mark, and RBI with 44, but half of his production came in the Classic League.


On the mound, the Apaches staff is very solid, but nobody is really standing out, with the exception of course of Rivera.  David Wells is doing an excellent job of keeping opposing batters off base via the base-on-balls, ranking 5th in the MBL and 3rd in the EXP by allowing only 1.89 BB/9.  He's also only allowed two homers in 52 innings.  Ryan Dempster has only allowed 48 hits in 57.2 innings while striking out 58 batters.  Those two lead the staff in wins with five apiece.  Paul Abbot leads the starters in ERA with a 3.67 mark.  It will be interesting to see how Kenny Rogers and Jon Garland integrate into the staff.  The departed Mark Gardner had compiled a 4-1 mark for the Apaches before being traded.  Sirotka, on the other hand, was only 2-4 with a 6.28 ERA, so his exit won't be missed as much.


The star of the staff is of course Rivera, who as mentioned before leads the MBL in saves.  He's compiled a 2.01 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 24 appearances.  He's being setup by Jeff Nelson, who's having a solid year in his own right, with an ERA of 2.42 while going 2-1 with a save.  Nelson has been lights out with runners in scoring position and two outs, limiting opposing batters to just one hit in 17 at-bats in that situation.  Nelson has struck out 32 batters in only 26 innings.  He needs to limit his walks though as he's allowed 22 base-on-balls, pushing his WHIP to 1.65.


ENDING ANALYSIS
I really like what Tom has done with this Arizona Apache's squad.  In my opinion, his draft was one of the better drafts in the league.  Kent remains if not the best, then one of the best second basemen for the next seven years.  He never quite reaches his 2000 offensive numbers, but his OPS does not fall below .860 until he retires in 2008.  Rivera, as mentioned earlier, is at the beginning of his 19-year Hall-of-Fame career.  He could have easily been selected with one of the top-10 picks in the draft and it wouldn't have been a shock, or a bad pick for that matter.  To land him with the 29th overall pick is a steal in my estimation.

The trades that Tom has made have all seemed to work out in his favor in my estimation.  Landing Rogers for Sirotka was akin to robbery.  In theory, Sirotka does have better numbers from 2000 than Rogers, but the way he was pitching for the Apaches, I'm sure Tom didn't mind seeing him go.  Plus he's out of baseball after this year.  Rogers has three seasons on the horizon with sub-4 ERAs.  His overall record from 2001-2007 is 83-52 with a 4.33 ERA.  That's 83 more wins that Sirotka for those keeping track.  I also really like the acquisitions of Edgar Martinez and Shawn Green.  Sure, he had to deal away a couple of good pieces to get the pair, but Green is getting ready to go on a two year tear which see's him belt 95 homers and post a .957 OPS.  Martinez has three more seasons with on-base percentages above .400.

Tom has a fight on his hands though in the Western Division of the Expansion League.  I don't see Colorado going away any time soon.  They are currently only one game back of the Apaches.  And St. Louis has been playing very well lately since their managerial change.  This division promises to be a dogfight to the end.  Having said that, my money is still on Arizona.  It wouldn't be a surprise at all if they actually win the whole darn thing this year.  They're that good.

MBL GAME OF THE WEEK - TB @ BOS, May 19, 2014

In our second installment of GOTW, the Boston Beaneaters host the visiting Tampa Bay Stone Ponys.  This was the third game of their three game series.  The teams split their first two games.  In their meeting the day before, the Stone Ponys pushed across three runs in the 10th to win the game 9-6 in extra innings.  After that victory, Tampa's record stood at 19-25.  They sit seven games behind the Miami Panthers in third place in the Classic League's Southeast Division.  Boston sits atop the Metro Division with a 26-18 record, four games on top of their closest rival coming into play.

Darren Dreifort opens on the hill for the Stone Ponys.  He enters action with a 5-3 record despite posting an ERA of 6.10 in ten starts.  He's opposed by Tom Glavine for the Beaneaters.  Glavine enters action 6-4 with an ERA of 3.92 in 75.2 innings spanning 11 starts.

These are the top two home run hitting teams in the Classic League.  Tampa Bay enters action leading the league with 61 long flies, with the Beaneaters right behind with 54.  These are also two of the top scoring teams in the Classic League heading into the contest.  Boston leads the league, scoring 258 runs (5.86 runs/game).  Tampa bay has pushed across 236 runs in their 44 games (5.36).  Boston is hitting .276 as a team, good for second in the league.  Tampa Bay comes into town third from the bottom in team hitting, getting hits at a .249 clip.  The big difference between the two teams is pitching.  The Beaneaters enter action with a 4.46 team ERA, almost a full run better than the Stone Ponys 5.34 mark.

Let's see how it all played out.
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Boston got the scoring started in this one when Mitch Meluskey took Darren Dreifort deep wtih a 421 foot blast to left to put the Beaneaters into and early 1-0 lead.

Boston Beaneaters - Bottom of 2nd	Score
Darren Dreifort pitching for Tampa Bay Stone Ponys	TB	BOS
Geoff Jenkins popped out to first.	0	0
Moises Alou grounded out to pitcher.	0	0
Mitch Meluskey homered to left (421 feet).	0	1
Tomas de la Rosa struck out swinging.	0	1
1 runs, 1 hits, 0 errors

The Beaneaters struck again in the 4th inning.  Eric Chavez opened the stanza with a single to right.  A walk to Geoff Jenkins put Chavez in scoring position, and he was knocked home when Moises Alou singled to left.  Dreifort got Meluskey to ground into a double play and Tomas de la Rosa to fly out to end the inning without further damage.  After four innings, Boston leads 2-0.

Boston Beaneaters - Bottom of 4th	Score
Darren Dreifort pitching for Tampa Bay Stone Ponys	TB	BOS
Eric Chavez singled to right.	0	1
Geoff Jenkins walked, Eric Chavez to second.	0	1
Moises Alou singled to left, Eric Chavez scored, Geoff Jenkins to second.	0	2
Mitch Meluskey grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, Geoff Jenkins to third, Moises Alou out at second.	0	2
Tomas de la Rosa flied out to left.	0	2
1 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors

And now, ladies and gentlemen, we are about to enter the Twilight Zone (and the Highlight Zone if you're a Stone Pony fan).  Tom Glavine, the staff ace of the Beaneaters, has been cruising along through four innings, having not allowed a run and only two hits.  He began the 5th inning by getting Adrian Beltre to ground out to third.  And that's when the wheels fell off.

The next batter, Ramon Hernandez blasted a homer to left.  Remember his name because it will come up again later.  The next seven batters all reached base, three by the way of doubles, scoring another six runs in the process.  Not until Adrian Beltre came up again was another out recorded.  He grounded out to third for the second time for the second out of the inning.  Hernandez then walked, pushing Jeff Bagwell to second.  Orlando Cabrera then singled home Bagwell for Tampa's eighth run of the inning.  Pitcher Dreifort mercifully flew out to deep right to end the inning.  Stone Ponys now lead 8-2.

Tampa Bay Stone Ponys - Top of 5th	Score
Tom Glavine pitching for Boston Beaneaters	TB	BOS
Eli Marrero at catcher	0	2
Adrian Beltre grounded out to third.	0	2
Ramon Hernandez homered to left (425 feet).	1	2
Orlando Cabrera singled to left.	1	2
Darren Dreifort walked, Orlando Cabrera to second.	1	2
Delino DeShields doubled to left, Orlando Cabrera scored, Darren Dreifort to third.	2	2
Magglio Ordonez singled to third, Darren Dreifort scored, Delino DeShields to third.	3	2
Barry Bonds walked, Magglio Ordonez to second.	3	2
Carl Everett doubled to deep left, Delino DeShields scored, Magglio Ordonez scored, Barry Bonds to third.	5	2
Jeff Bagwell doubled to deep left, Barry Bonds scored, Carl Everett scored.	7	2
Adrian Beltre grounded out to third.	7	2
Ramon Hernandez walked.	7	2
Orlando Cabrera singled to left, Jeff Bagwell scored, Ramon Hernandez to second.	8	2
Darren Dreifort flied out to deep right.	8	2
8 runs, 7 hits, 0 errors

The next inning, Tampa Bay continued where they left off the inning prior, plating five more runs on only two hits.  Delino DeShields led off the inning with a walk.  He moved to second when Barry Bonds was walked as well.  After Carl Everett grounded out to Glavine to move the runners up a base, Jeff Bagwell was intentionally walked to load the bases.  Adrian Beltre then singled to center to score DeShields.  Up stepped our guy again, Hernandez, who promptly blasted his second homer of the game, this time a grand slam to make the score 13-2 Stone Ponys.

Tampa Bay Stone Ponys - Top of 6th	Score
Tom Glavine pitching for Boston Beaneaters	TB	BOS
Delino DeShields walked.	8	2
Magglio Ordonez flied out to center.	8	2
Barry Bonds walked, Delino DeShields to second.	8	2
Carl Everett grounded out to pitcher, Delino DeShields to third, Barry Bonds to second.	8	2
Jeff Bagwell intentionally walked.	8	2
Adrian Beltre singled to center, Delino DeShields scored, Barry Bonds to third, Jeff Bagwell to second.	9	2
Ramon Hernandez homered to left center (406 feet), Barry Bonds scored, Jeff Bagwell scored, Adrian Beltre scored.	13	2
Orlando Cabrera struck out swinging.	13	2
5 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors

As if an 11 run lead wasn't enough, Tampa Bay continued their onslaught in the 7th scoring six more times.  Glavine, despite already surrendering 13 runs, opened the inning on the hill for the Beaneaters.  He was unable to retire a batter, giving up singles to both Tom Goodwin and DeShields.  Eddie Guardardo was finally called in to send Glavine to the showers.  The first batter he faced, Magglio Ordonez, struck out.  Barry Bonds then doubled to score both runners.  The next batter, Carl Everett, then homered to make it 17-2.  Tampa was not done yet though.  Bagwell struck out to record the second out of the inning, but Guardardo then walked Beltre, who then scored when Hernandez launched his third home run of the game.  Unbelievably, the Stone Ponys have a 19-2 lead heading into the stretch.

Tampa Bay Stone Ponys - Top of 7th	Score
Tom Glavine pitching for Boston Beaneaters	TB	BOS
Sandy Alomar Jr. at catcher	13	2
Shane Andrews at first base	13	2
Jason McDonald in right field	13	2
Tom Goodwin hit for Darren Dreifort	13	2
Tom Goodwin singled to left.	13	2
Delino DeShields singled to center, Tom Goodwin to third.	13	2
Eddie Guardado relieved Tom Glavine	13	2
Magglio Ordonez struck out looking.	13	2
Barry Bonds doubled to right, Tom Goodwin scored, Delino DeShields scored.	15	2
Carl Everett homered to left (436 feet), Barry Bonds scored.	17	2
Jeff Bagwell struck out swinging.	17	2
Adrian Beltre walked.	17	2
Ramon Hernandez homered to center (419 feet), Adrian Beltre scored.	19	2
Orlando Cabrera lined out to shortstop.	19	2

The drubbing continued into the 8th inning.  Tampa scored two more runs before the first out of the inning was recorded.  They plated three more before the inning was over.  Five more runs to push the score to a remarkable 24-2.  

Tampa Bay Stone Ponys - Top of 8th	Score
Eddie Guardado pitching for Boston Beaneaters	TB	BOS
Deivi Cruz at shortstop	19	2
Quilvio Veras hit for Doug Henry	19	2
Quilvio Veras walked.	19	2
Delino DeShields doubled to left center, Quilvio Veras scored.	20	2
Magglio Ordonez doubled to deep left, Delino DeShields scored.	21	2
Barry Bonds walked.	21	2
Carl Everett struck out swinging.	21	2
Jeff Bagwell walked, Magglio Ordonez to third, Barry Bonds to second.	21	2
Adrian Beltre walked, Magglio Ordonez scored, Barry Bonds to third, Jeff Bagwell to second.	22	2
Ramon Hernandez safe at second on error by first baseman Shane Andrews, Barry Bonds scored, Jeff Bagwell scored, Adrian Beltre to third.	24	2
Orlando Cabrera struck out swinging.	24	2
Quilvio Veras flied out to deep center.	24	2

Mercifully, the Stone Ponys went down without incident in the 9th.  The final numbers were unbelievable.  Tampa scored 24 runs on "only" 18 hits.  They were aided by drawing a remarkable 13 base-on-balls.  Barry Bonds drew four walks alone.  He also crossed the plate four times in the game, as did teammate DeShields.  Ramon Hernandez had the game of a lifetime, belting three homers and knocking in eight runs.  He entered the game hitting only .176 on the season with five homers in 130 at-bats.  His eight RBI pushed his season total from 16 to 24.  Tampa was 10-18 with runners in scoring position.  The 24 runs were all scored within a four inning span from the 5th-8th innings.  Boston actually led the game 2-0 heading into the 5th.

For Boston, the defeat was an ugly one for Glavine, Guardardo and the staff ERA in general.  Glavine, who saw 13 runs cross the plate, saw his ERA jump from 3.92 to 5.29.  Guardardo fared even worse, seeing his ERA go from 7.30 entering the game to 10.67 after.  The team ERA took a half run hit, going from 4.46 entering play to 4.87 after.

Darren Dreifort picked up the win for Tampa Bay, his sixth on the year.  He only allowed those two early runs in six innings of work.  Doug Henry and Mike James tossed the last three innings when the game was clearly already in hand.

For comparison's sake, I decided to look and see what Glavine's worst game was in the year 2000.  Seeing as he finished 2nd in the Cy Young vote that year, he didn't have many poor outings.  His worst was probably a game from August 9th in Cincinnati where he only lasted four innings, giving up nine hits and eight earned runs.  His ERA that day rose from 3.52 to 3.86.  I didn't want to take the time and go through his entire 682 game pitching portfolio, but it's hard to imagine any game in his Hall-of-Fame career as bad as the one that was witnessed on this day in Boston.

Tampa Bay Stone Ponys at Boston Beaneaters May 19, 2014   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R H E Tampa Bay Stone Ponys (20-25) 0 0 0 0 8 5 6 5 0   24 18 1 Boston Beaneaters (26-19) 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0   3 7 1 W: D. Dreifort (6-3)   L: T. Glavine (6-5) Tampa Bay Stone Ponys Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO AVG D. DeShields 2B 5 4 3 2 2 1 .350 M. Ordonez RF 7 2 2 2 0 1 .287 B. Bonds LF 3 4 1 2 4 0 .253 C. Everett CF 6 2 2 4 0 1 .238   B. Anderson CF 1 0 0 0 0 0 .333 J. Bagwell 1B 4 3 1 2 2 1 .241 A. Beltre 3B 4 2 2 2 2 0 .302 R. Hernandez C 5 3 3 8 1 0 .193 O. Cabrera SS 6 1 2 1 0 2 .255 D. Dreifort P 2 1 1 0 1 0 .154   a-T. Goodwin PH 1 1 1 0 0 0 .235   D. Henry P 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000   b-Q. Veras PH 1 1 0 0 1 0 .187   M. James P 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 45 24 18 23 13 6 a-pinch hit for Dreifort in the 7th b-pinch hit for Henry in the 8th BATTING 2B: D. DeShields 2 (18, T. Glavine, E. Guardado), C. Everett (8, T. Glavine), J. Bagwell (7, T. Glavine), B. Bonds (8, E. Guardado), M. Ordonez (8, E. Guardado) HR: R. Hernandez 3 (8, 5th inning off T. Glavine 0 on, 1 out; 6th inning off T. Glavine 3 on, 2 out; 7th inning off E. Guardado 1 on, 2 out), C. Everett (12, 7th inning off E. Guardado 1 on, 1 out) RBI: D. DeShields 2 (13), M. Ordonez 2 (35), B. Bonds 2 (33), C. Everett 4 (36), J. Bagwell 2 (32), A. Beltre 2 (34), R. Hernandez 8 (24), O. Cabrera (4) 2-out RBI: A. Beltre, R. Hernandez 6, O. Cabrera GIDP: R. Hernandez Tampa Bay Stone Ponys RISP: 10-18 (D. DeShields 1-1, M. Ordonez 2-3, B. Bonds 1-1, C. Everett 2-4, J. Bagwell 1-1, A. Beltre 1-2, R. Hernandez 1-2, O. Cabrera 1-2, D. Dreifort 0-1, Q. Veras 0-1) Team LOB: 7 FIELDING E: C. Everett (3) DP: 1 (D. DeShields-O. Cabrera-J. Bagwell) Tampa Bay Stone Ponys Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR BF ERA D. Dreifort (W, 6-3) 6.0 5 2 2 2 7 1 24 5.82 D. Henry 1.0 0 0 0 2 1 0 6 4.02 M. James 2.0 2 1 1 1 2 0 9 0.55 Totals 9.0 7 3 3 5 10 1 39 PITCHING WP: D. Dreifort Managed By: stephen h (fox lake, WI) Boston Beaneaters Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO AVG A. Brown CF 3 0 1 0 2 1 .288 R. Klesko 1B 3 0 0 0 0 1 .254   S. Andrews 1B 2 0 0 0 0 1 .229 E. Chavez 3B 5 1 2 0 0 0 .340 G. Jenkins LF 3 1 1 0 1 1 .277 M. Alou RF 3 0 1 1 0 1 .385   J. McDonald RF 0 0 0 0 1 0 .344 M. Meluskey C 2 1 1 1 0 0 .429   E. Marrero C 0 0 0 0 0 0 .056   a-S. Alomar Jr. PH-C 2 0 0 0 0 0 .317 T. de la Rosa SS 2 0 0 0 0 1 .308   b-D. Cruz PH-SS 2 0 0 0 0 0 .314 J. Hairston Jr. 2B 4 0 1 1 0 2 .214 T. Glavine P 2 0 0 0 0 2 .250   E. Guardado P 1 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Totals 34 3 7 3 5 10 a-pinch hit for Marrero in the 6th b-pinch hit for de la Rosa in the 7th BATTING HR: M. Meluskey (6, 2nd inning off D. Dreifort 0 on, 2 out) RBI: M. Alou (43), M. Meluskey (21), J. Hairston Jr. (15) 2-out RBI: M. Meluskey, J. Hairston Jr. GIDP: M. Meluskey Boston Beaneaters RISP: 2-10 (R. Klesko 0-1, S. Andrews 0-1, E. Chavez 0-1, M. Alou 1-1, M. Meluskey 0-1, S. Alomar Jr. 0-1, T. de la Rosa 0-1, D. Cruz 0-1, J. Hairston Jr. 1-1, E. Guardado 0-1) Team LOB: 9 FIELDING E: S. Andrews (2) DP: 1 (T. de la Rosa-J. Hairston Jr.-R. Klesko) Boston Beaneaters Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR BF ERA T. Glavine (L, 6-5) 6.0 13 15 15 7 2 2 37 5.29 E. Guardado 3.0 5 9 8 6 4 2 21 10.67 Totals 9.0 18 24 23 13 6 4 58 PITCHING IBB: J. Bagwell (by T. Glavine) Managed By: Matt B. (Newton, MA) GAME INFORMATION Stadium: Fenway Park Game Time: 1:05 PM Weather: 73 degrees, partly cloudy Wind: 19 mph right to left Umpires: Home - Wegner, First Base - Diaz, Second Base - Reed, Third Base - Clark