2016 World Series Dime Box at Surprise

In the end, the 2016 ARBA World Series turned out to be a rematch of last year.  Dime Box led the CL with 110 wins, then defeated long-suffering rivals Harmony Grove in 6 games and New Monmouth in 5 games.  Meanwhile, Surprise rolled to a FL and franchise best 128 wins, then defeated Rome in 5 games and Redwood in 6 games.  Would Surprise become the 1^st team in ARBAs long history to win 3 straight championships, or would Dime Box triumph amid persistent rumors that its team already been dispersed and disbanded?   

Game 1: DBX@SUR Matt Harvey vs. Zack Greinke

Zombie ace Greinke headed into the World Series after a pair of dominant shutouts in the FLCS.  His shutout bid didnt survive the 1^st inning this time as Rizzo drilled a solo shot into the seats.  However, he returned to dominance after that, retiring 18 consecutive batters before a 2-out single in the 7^th.  Harvey completely shut down the mighty Zombie bats through 6 innings, but his defense betrayed him in the 7^th.  McCutchen walked and stole 2^nd, advancing to 3^rd on a wild throw.  Harvey recovered to retire CarGo and Turner, but Correa botched a ground ball to score the tying run!  Each team miraculously put 2 runners on base in the 8^th, but failed to score and the game headed to extra innings tied at 1.  In the 11^th inning, the Zombie defense suddenly fell apart with shutdown reliever Miller on the hill.  Dime Box rallied to take the lead on this bizarre sequence: E-5, E-2, HBP, BB.  However, Cabrera hit into a DP and Jones grounded out to hold the DBX lead to 2-1.  Could Britton hold it?  Well, he walked Votto and was immediately replaced by Papelbon.  Pinch runner Romine quickly stole 2^nd and went to 3^rd on another bad throw.  Uh-oh.  Papelbon coaxed a groundout from McCutchen, but DBX brought in Huston Street anyway.  Unimpressed, CarGo delivered an RBI single to tie the game!  Smelling blood, the Zombies called on Brett Wallace to pinch hit and he crushed Streets 1^st pitch DEEP into the Surprise night for a game winning 2-run homer as the crowd went wild!  What a way to start the World Series!  SUR 4-2 (11)

Game 2: RDW@SUR Sonny Gray vs. Tyson Ross

The Zombies didnt wait nearly so long to start scoring in this one.  CarGo made Gray pay dearly for a pair of walks with a 3-run blast in the 1^st.  Tyson Ross lost his 2 starts in the FLCS, but frustrated Dime Box with 6 scoreless innings despite some good scoring chances, most notably loading the bases in the 4^th only to see Jones kill the rally with a DP.  SUR led 5-0 in the 7^th when DBX chased Ross and had runners on the corners with 1 out.  However, Maurer bailed him out.  McCutchen added a 2-run HR in the 8^th, so it didnt scare anyone when Rollins hit a solo homer in the 9^th.  DBX stranded 10 baserunners, while SUR stranded only 1 with their HR-driven offense.  SUR 7-1

Game 3: SUR@DBX - Corey Kluber vs. Chris Sale

Would a return home spark the quiet Dime Box bats?  Well, not really.  Both teams hit into rally-killing DPs in the 1^st, then Uribe started the 2^nd with another SUR HR.  After more blown scoring chances on either side, DBX answered with a Cabrera solo HR in the 4^th.  The 1-1 tie held up until the bottom of the 8^th, with Sale still pitching for DBX.   What do you know, the Zombies hit yet another home run to take the lead.  This time, Dr. Tommy Pham DDS played the hero by hitting a majestic blast!  Catcher Chirinos then showed off his blazing speed with a triple but was stranded.  With Miller pitching in the 9^th, DBX rallied with 2 outs for a single and walk.  SUR called on Rondon to face Blanco and he ended it with a flyout.  That left Surprise just one win away from history.  SUR 2-1   

Game 4: SUR@RDW Zack Greinke vs Gerrit Cole

Marte led off the game withyou guessed itanother homer.  He hit into a DP in the 3^rd, but that didnt stop Turner from blowing the game open with a 3-run blast!  Greinke with a 4-run lead?  Yeah, thats pretty much game over.  Marte tripled and scored on a McCutchen single n the 5^th before DBX finally scored on a Stanton HR.  The Marte/McCutchen combo sparked a 3-run 7^th and the rout was on.  Trailing big in the 9^th, Dime Box rallied just enough to tire Greinke.  Unfortunately for them, that merely set up a storybook ending to veteran lefty Mark Buehrles long career.  After sitting out the entire 2016 postseason, he came in and quickly got the last out to win the 3^rd straight championship for Surprise and for him.  SUR 9-1. 

Okay, so that turned out to be a rather anticlimactic sweep.  Congratulations to Dime Box, which had another great season before disbanding. They certainly could have won games 1 or 3, but their offense just didnt deliver.  5 runs in 4 games, including the extra inning G1, just wont get it done. 

Meanwhile, the Zombie offense put 22 runs on the board, including 8 homers by 8 different players.  Andrew McCutchen (.385, 6 BB, 5 R, 5 RBI) had a great series before learning that he was traded to our bitter rivals in SFE.  Awkward!   The Zombie OF dominated as Marte and Gonzalez also hit over .300 with a HR each, plus Dr. Pham had his Game 3 winning HR.  Greinke led the dominant Zombie pitching staff to finish the playoffs like this: 5-0, 1.01 ERA, 53 2/3 IP in 6 GS.  Yeah, thatll do. 

So yeah, 3 in a row.  It feels very strange to have a run of success like this after all the years of brutal playoff failure before I wisely moved the franchise from Laramie to Surprise.  Perhaps Travis should try moving out of Harmony Grove! 

The most amazing detail for me is how much turnover there was for the 2014-2016 championship teams.  Only 4 players were there the entire time: Starling Marte, Zack Greinke, Tyson Ross, and Mark Buehrle.  In fact, we had a different primary starter all 3 seasons at C, SS, 3B, RF, and DH.  So really, many of you deserve some credit for contributing to my success through crucial trades.  Thanks again for your valued support!