The surprising Barton Bluejays were overmatched against the mighty Beach Bombers in the World Series. However, the Bluejays won an exciting game three before losing the series in five games. Beach won the first two games which were pretty competitive. The series moved to Barton for game three where Danny Jackson had a fine outing for the Jays. In game four, the Bombers came storming back and the Bluejays unraveled. Barton’s pitching and fielding were atrocious and they suffered a 23-3 blowout. The Bluejays had plenty of opportunities in game five. It was a 2-0 Bombers lead going into the ninth before the lead was padded to a 6-0 final score.

Game 1: Beach 6, Barton 1
Game 2: Beach 5, Barton 2
Game 3: Barton 3, Beach 2
Game 4: Beach 23, Barton 3
Game 5: Beach 6, Barton 0

I just finished playing the 2009 “fantasy” STBL regular season. As I mentioned in a previous entry, I gave up managing the Beach Bombers to take over the Barton Bluejays in another unofficial season. Over the first 16 games, the Bluejays had a terrific 11-5 record. Unfortunately, down the stretch, we went 9-15. On the other hand, the Holmes Hammers steadily climbed their way out of last place. Starting 5-11, they went 15-9 over the next 24 games. After the 40 game regular season was done, Barton and Holmes were tied for second place with 20-20 records.

A one game playoff was scheduled to be played in Holmes at Salguido Colosseum. Head to head, both teams were 4-4 so a coin flip decided the location of the game. The Bluejays really wanted to avenge last season’s losses to the Hammers at the end of the season. We had our ace, Roger Clemens, on the mound against Gaylord Perry for the Hammers. As expected, it was a pitching duel early on. Roberto Clemente scored the first run of the game in the third inning and the Hammers went up 1-0. Heading into the seventh inning, the score hadn’t changed. Perry was tremendous and was pitching a one hit shutout. Thanks to some walks, however, the Bluejays loaded the bases. With two outs. Terry Pendleton came to bat. He launched a Perry fastball over the left field wall. Grand slam! The Hammers got one run back in the bottom of the inning but that was all they could manage. Mariano Rivera came on in the ninth to close out the 4-2 win.

The Barton Bluejays are headed to the World Series!

2009 Final Standings:

            W   L   %
Beach      35   5 .875
Barton     21  20 .512
Holmes     20  21 .487
DayHollow  16  24 .400
Edwards    15  25 .375
Hilton     14  26 .350