The Hammer
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August 4, 2007 - Tennessee Tuxedos Prevail at Big Dance, by Chris McCaig
With Leslie Harbaugh's Apocalypse keeping the pressure on the Tennessee Tuxedos all season, it literally came down to the final set of 4 games to decide who would make the playoffs. Following a mediocre 14-12 September, Northlake stumbled in the wildcard series unprepared for the Tuxedos, who defeated them in the wildcard 4-2, capitalizing on very low morale.
The N.C. divisional championship came against arguably the hottest team in the league, the Mudhens., who won 111 games and sported a .704 winning percentage. The numbers showed a very close match and that is what it was. Down 3 games to 1, the Tux's rallied to sweep the remaining 3 games, capped off by Butch Wensloff뭩 eight strong innings of work and Joe Sambito striking out 2 of 3 batters for his first save of the series, leading to a 2nd divisional crown.
Then came the big series, a rematch of last season뭩 finale, which the Aries Attackers won in 6 games to claim the inaugural championship. Well it was time for payback. The Tuxedos pitching had been excellent going into the last few weeks of the season with an offensive core to rival anyone in the league. Even with the success late in the season, the memory of the past season was still looming overhead casting its shadow of doubt on the team. They had to win or else this whole season was a failure.
The fopening game pitted Addie Joss (1-1) against the 0-2 Sam Leever. This game set the tone for the series, as Joss pitched a complete game giving up only one run on six hits. Joss also showed he wasn뭪 afraid to pitch inside as he hit his second batter of the playoffs.
Game 2 had the struggling Howie Camnitz (an intregal part of the playoff push) facing off against ace Carl Pavano (2-0) and his 1.90 ERA. A tough task for sure. Both pitchers lasted about the same amount of time, 6.0 innings for Pavano and 6.2 innings for Camnitz. With the game tied, the question was which bullpen would hold up the longest. When the dust finally settled in the 10th inning, Jim Umbricht had given up a 2 run homer to Willie Mays, and Joe Sambito had nailed down the save for the Tuxedos. A sweep on the road was big since the Attackers had the best Home record in the league and the Tuxedos played much batter at home than on the road during the regular season.
Game 3 had Cy Young award winner Barney Pelty vs. Allie Reynolds. The Attackers scored early to make 1-0 after one inning, but this is all the offense they would have on the day as Pelty pitched a complete game and showed why he was the Cy Young winner. 7 hits, 3 Ks, 3 BB, not what you would call stellar but his presence on the field gives the Tuxedos confidence that they are going to win and they play like they are going to win. With 49,000+ on hand to see their Tuxedos on the road to the championship, they got what they came for, 3-0 in the series and one step closer to winning it all.
Game 4, as expected, had electricity in the air. The Tuxedos were one game from a ring and Hooks Dauss (15-7 in the regular season) was going up against the 0-3 Leever. While this looked to be a sure thing with Leever struggling as of late, it wasn뭪 going to end up that way. Dauss pitched 7.1 strong innings, giving up only 2 earned runs, but Leever had held his ground and pitched 6 shutout innings, and game 2 뱒tar� Umbricht came in as relief and gave up 1 run in 1.1 inning of work, but this would prove to be the only run allowed to the Tuxedos as Hernandez and Miller combined to shut the bats down in the last 1.2 innings to secure the Attackers� first win of the series. A little momentum for the Attackers, but a BIG hill to climb with the series at 3-1, and another game on the road, and facing game 1 winner Addie Joss, The Attackers definitely had their hands full.
Game 5 and 49,705 in paid attendance, Cinergy Field was full of anticipation and hope that the Tuxedos would finish it here, with Addie Joss on the mound. Joss would be facing Pavano and his 1.67 playoff ERA. Joss continued his practice of inside pitching as he hit 3 batters in this game. Whether he was proving a point or the ball just got away from him, they didn뭪 affect the outcome of the game. With the team concept being continuously pushed by owner Chris McCaig all season, the Tuxedos continued playing like a team on a mission. Joss pitched 8.0 innings, yielding 1 run on 8 hits, 2 BB, and 1 K. Pavano gave up 3 runs on 7 hits in 6.2 innings of work, this would prove to be all the Tuxedos would need as they went on to win 3-2 and win the World Series 4-1. Cinergy Field was officially in party mode. The Tennessee Tuxedos were officially the World Champions of the Aaron Baseball League.
Owner Chris McCaig was nearly speechless but managed to say, 밒t has been a great run and words can뭪 seem to describe how I feel at the moment. I want to congratulate all the guys on the Tuxedos for portraying the team concept. These guys are truly a team in every sense of the word. Some have been here from the beginning, some have just gotten here, but they all seem to understand how to win and maintain the integrity of the game while doing it. I would like to say congratulations to Dru and the Attackers for making the series once again. I am glad to have had the chance to win against them. I can say I am champ confidently because I have beat the champ from last season. I am sure Dru will be right in the mix of things again next season as I hope to be, but that is another 162 games away. For now, I am going to enjoy my championship but come draft time, I have to get in gear to try and maintain what I have while at the same time deciding what I need to do in the draft to get here again. I have a great team now so it is going to be hard to try and break it all down.�
Addie Joss (finally starting to pitch as expected when he was called up) was nominated as co-MVP along with fellow SP Barney Pelty. Joss went 3-1 in the playoffs with a 2.18 ERA and Pelty also went 3-1 with a 1.09 ERA. Both had 2 complete games. Honorable mentions are Butch Wensloff who pitched in some tough situations and did an admirable job, most notably clenching the final divisional playoff game with 8 solid innings of work to shut down the Mudhens. Also Harvey Kuenn hit .292 in the whole playoff series. It is hard to give it to just one or two people when the whole team has worked so hard to get to where it is now. 밫his award belongs to the team, not just myself, because if it wasn뭪 for those guys behind me, I wouldn뭪 have had the chance to win anything� stated Cy Young award winner Barney Pelty, a sentiment echoed by Addie Joss who added, 밒 look forward to playing with these guys next season and defending OUR championship!�.