World Series Recap by cebola

In the first World Series to go the distance since Fargo's championship in season 16, Tampa's victory over Jackson was as close as it's ever going to get. Total run differential was 5. There were four 2-run games and two 1-run games. Game 7 was a 1-run game until the bottom of the 8th. In a series dominated by pitching, Jackson team ERA for the series was 3.75, Tampa's 2.51. Jackson's pitching staff held Tampa hitters to a .248 average, Tampa's held Jackson's to .181.

Other highlights in the series that pitted the same two teams as last season included;

Jackson did not make a single error in the seven games.

Jackson got two huge one-run wins when they were down 3 games to 1 to force the seventh game. Rookie Jason Mathews won the big game 6, and also won game 3 when his team was in a 0-2 hole. Mathews went 4-1 in 6 playoff starts.

There was a save recorded is each of the 7 games; 2 by Sal Jacobson, 1 by Welington Seanz, and 4 by Alfonso Villefuerte. Villefuerte ended up with 10 saves in 10 appearances in the postseason. He did not allow a run, hit or walk in any of the 9 and 2/3 innings he pitched.

Both Reese Hemphill for Jackson and Rich Sobolewski for Tampa started 3 games in the series, matching up twice. Hemphill won the big game 5. He recorded the losses in games 1 and 7, despite pitching quite well. Sobolewski won games 1, 4 and 7.


Congratulations to Jackson for coming within 3 runs of making history as back-to-back champions. Their line-up is nicely balanced with tons of speed and power, and should feature Ralph Kydd for many seasons to come. This guy could win multiple MVP's in my opinion! With Hemphill at the top of the rotation for the next few seasons, you know they will always be a solid threat to win it all. Great job.

I'm looking forward to another great, competitive season in 22, as it looks like even more teams are turning the corner in becoming legit contenders. Nice job, everyone!