For an astonishing third year in a row, the Santa Fe Gecko Lizards and the Shiner Blondes met in the ARBA World Series.
Shiner made the Series in its traditional manner, posting the best record in the Continental League at 109-53 and winning its division by 12 games. They then promptly dispatched Williamsburg 4-0 in the Division Series and had little more difficulty with New Monmouth in a 4-1 victory in the League Championship Series.
Santa Fe took the harder route, coming in with a Wild Card bid after their 100-62 record was 14 games back for the divison lead. They won the play-in game over Surprise, then barely squeaked by Sewell in a 4-3 series and overcame their division winner Brooklyn 4-2 in a face-to-face matchup that delayed the playoffs for a bit but was totally worth it when Jon got humiliated in front of his lovely bride.
Santa Fe had won the first matchup in 2011 in a 4-3 nailbiter, and Shiner had their revenge in 2012 with a 4-2 victory. Which of these mighty teams would win this time and take their place as the ultimate champion?
Game One: Wainwright vs Dickey
Each team's ace was rested and ready to go and excitement was in the air. Santa Fe got runners on second and third in the first inning with one out when Jose Bautista strode to the plate.....and ruptured his groin striking out. He would miss the rest of the series! Yikes! Not a good omen, as SFE would not only strand those runners but would leave 5 men in scoring position over the first 3 innings. The Geckos would take a 2-0 lead through the fifth inning, losing another run when Big Papi was thrown out trying to score. Would all those missed chances come back to haunt Santa Fe? Yes. Yes they would. Extra-base hits by Molina, Pujols, and Willingham would drive in 4 for Shiner and the Blondes would take the first game 4-2.
Game Two: Maholm vs Hamels
The Blondes would score 3 runs on solo homers (2 by Youkilis and 1 by Willingham), but Maholm would dance out of danger otherwise with the Blondes stranding 6 other runners over Maholm's 6 innings. It looked academic though, as Hamels put on a clinic through 8 innings, allowing only 3 Geckos to even reach second base. He lost his command to start the 9th, however, walking Uggla and Wigginton. He regrouped to strike out Freeman but Austin Kearns managed to leg out an infield single and that was enough for Shiner management. Casey Janssen came on to preserve the shutout and the win and failed spectactularly, as PH Mike Napoli launched his first pitch deep into the night for a grand slam and a 4-3 Santa Fe lead! Rodney came on to preserve the win, and after 17 innings of not putting any offense together the Geckos had hope! Would this turn against Shiner last into the next games?
Game Three: Burnett vs Harang
Yes. Oh my, would it last. The Geneva Convention and common human decency prevent detailed descriptions of this game other than to note that early homers by Papi and Napoli gave SFE a strong lead before everything went completely to hell for Shiner. Mop-up guy Paul Corbin managed the rare feat of giving up 2 grand slams....in the same inning. Santa Fe wins 19-5.
Game Four: Wainwright vs Dickey
See game 3. This one wasn't as ugly, but it still wasn't pretty, especially when JA Happ poured gasoline on the fire in the 8th. SFE wins 13-3.
So Santa Fe's offense has been unstoppably evil since the 9th inning of game 2. Can they continue to get the final win or will Shiner regroup to make a comeback? Tune in to find out!
