Hartford Hobbits (49-25, 1st in Atlantic) @ Portland Blades (46-29, 1st in Pacific); 6/26/2004

by Ellis Eyeland 

I took a trip to Portland to see a potential BPLA Championship Preview.  Both of these teams are familiar with post-season play.  The Blades won the Pacific Division crown last year and the Hobbits beat the Oklahoma City Fire to win it all in the BPLA's inaugural year.  Once again, Hartford has rebounded from a sluggish start to set the league on fire, and at game time boasted the BPLA's best record.  Portland had the best record in the WC.  The Hobbits won the first two games of the series, would the Blades be able to avoid the sweep? 

28-year-old Rod Abner was on the mound for the Hobbits.  He was one of the key mid-season acquisitions last season for Hartford.  He was off to a 7-4 start through 20 starts in 2004.  Rod won only 6 games in 20 starts last year. 

Abner faced the veteran Richard Harvey.  Harvey is a finesse pitcher on the tail end of his career, and has posted a 7-5 record with a 6.63 ERA through 15 starts in 2004.  

Both of these teams featured fierce lineups, top to bottom.  Hiram Weitz is twice as good as the next best player in the BPLA.  His 69 HR campaign last year has essentially guaranteed him a spot in the BPLA Hall-of-Fame.  Weitz is surrounded by familiar names like Luis Castillo, Matthew Mrozek and Robert Thanders.  Coming to bat in the top of the first were the Hobbits, led by the trio of Lance Berkman, Rayford Edie and Jose Furtado.  Everyone in the Hobbits lineup had at least 10 homers except for the first two batters. 

So, the Portland crowd of 47,372 was surprised to see leadoff batter Joel Santamaria take Harvey deep on the first pitch of the game.  It was Joel's 6th homer of the season.  DH John Camarena followed with a single to center.  Berkman then hit a roper towards right but it was snagged by Luis Castillo for the first out.  Rayford Edie flew out to left for the second out.  Jose Furtado kept the inning alive with a single up the middle, before an error by 3B Albert Vasquez allowed Camarena to score.  2-0 Hobbits after half an inning and Harvey was hit hard even when batters were getting out. 

Portland got off to a quick start; Castillo and Vasquez each singled off of Abner.  That meant Hiram Weitz was up with nobody out and runners on 1st and 2nd.  Hiram hit a nubber and ended up grounding into a 5-4-3 double-play.  Mrozek hit a gapper with two out to score Castillo, and at the end of 1, the score was 2-1 Hobbits. 

If the first inning was bad for Harvey, then the 2nd was downright awful.  Clinton Tatum and Emile Rego opened up the inning with back-to-back doubles, and Santamaria followed with his second homer of the game.  The Portland manager cringed and went to the bullpen, with nobody out in the 2nd.  Harvey had given up 5 runs (4 earned) in an inning of work.  Chris Morello came in to relieve, and gave up a homer to the first batter he faced, John Camarena.  Portland had given up 3 homers to the two Hobbits least likely to hit them, and there was still nobody out in the second.  Morello regrouped and got out of the inning without any more damage, though it was 6-1 Hartford after 1 1/2 innings.

 Things were quiet until the bottom of the 4th, when a Robert Thanders double and a Bryan Kronos walk got things rolling for Portland.  Capehart and Castillo managed RBI singles before Vasquez ended the rally with a double play, stranding Hiram Weitz in the on-deck circle.  6-3 Hartford after 4.

 When Weitz finally came to bat in the bottom of the 5th, he crushed a Rod Abner pitch 405 feet to left field, making the Vasquez double-play seem that much more costly.  6-4 Hartford.

 There was not really any more action until the top of the 9th, when John Camarena hit his second home-run of the game.  That made it 7-4 Hobbits and that's where it stayed.

 The Hobbits completed the sweep on the road, and made the Portland Blades a little more nervous about any potential post-season match-up.  On second thought, I don't think anything makes Hiram Weitz nervous.

 Rod Abner picked up his 8th victory of the season and Richard Harvey dropped to 7-6.  John Camarena was named player-of-the-game by members of the local media.  He had gone 3-5 with 2 HR, 3 runs scored and 2 RBI.

 See you next week at the ballpark!