SALEM COWTIPPERS: 2004
Great Book, Lousy Ending

The 2004 season began with tremendous anticipation, excitement and expectations, but ended with the traditional Salem emotions of bewilderment, frustration and bitter disappointment.

With the Cowtippers missing the playoffs for the first time in franchise history in 2003, the 2004 off-season began earlier than ever before.  Salem GM Mike Glander eagerly rolled up his sleeves and went to work, and with author Lewis Michaels feverishly recording each and every movement, a mediocre team was transformed into one that appeared to be unbeatable.  A total of 16 trades were made during the winter of 2004; each of which was chronicled in Lewis' novel, Monkeyballs.

The Cowtippers went into the winter of 2004 with a starting rotation consisting of Roger Clemens, Barry Zito and Tomo Ohka.  It was a rotation good enough to keep the Cowtippers competitive in the revamped Butler Division, but not likely good enough to win the division.  But after a series of trades and free agent signings, the Cowtippers went into Opening Day with what many considered to be the greatest rotation in league history.  At the top of that rotation was rookie Brandon Webb, who was acquired in exchange for several promising young prospects including Rich Harden and Jeremy Reed.  Webb would win 20 games for Salem in 2004 (20-3), while posting a 2.92 ERA, and finishing second in the Ozzie League in the Cy Young award balloting.

Salem's #2 pitcher was free agent acquisition Curt Schilling, whose $11 million salary set a franchise record.  Despite his gaudy MLB numbers, however, Schilling would be a major disappointment throughout the entire season.  He went just 13-7 on the year, with an ERA of 4.57 (though his composite ERA was just 3.34.)

Zito was a solid 15-8 as Salem's #3 pitcher, with a 3.45 ERA in over 240 innings pitched.  Kerry Wood, acquired from the Manchester Irish Rebels in a pre-season trade for Clemens, was slotted in the #4 spot in the rotation.  He, too, was a disappointment, posting a 4.68 ERA before he was unceremoniously traded back to Manchester at mid-season.  Ohka was yet another disappointment, posting an ERA (5.05) that was over a full run higher than his MLB ERA.  In fact, all five of Salem's starters posted ERA's higher than their MLB ERA's.

Offensively, the Cowtippers entered the winter of 2004 with a core including mainstay Lance Berkman, Jeff Bagwell, Ray Durham, Sean Burroughs and Mark Teixeira.  Again, this core was probably good enough to keep Salem competitive in 2004, but probably not good enough to win the division.  But a series of trades netted J.T. Snow, Luis Gonzalez and Milton Bradley, and Trot Nixon and Michael Young were added via free agency, giving Salem a very strong lineup from one to seven.

Nixon proved to be worth every penny of his $7.5 million contract, hitting .324/.419/.669 overall on the season, with 36 homers and 111 RBI's in 438 at-bats.  Snow (.330/.435/.531) and Bradley (.326/.454/.523) enjoyed outstanding years at the plate, and rookie Teixeira (.318/.414/.595), whom Salem had carried on their roster since he was a sophomore in college, proved to be well worth the wait.  Burroughs, Salem's first-ever farm player, hit .312/.375/.425 in his first full season.  Young (.308/.352/.439) and Gonzalez (.301/.410/.489) proved to be valuable acquisitions, and Berkman (.268/.387/.466) provided his usual steady level of production.

The bullpen was led by Franciso Cordero (10-3, 1.71 ERA, 26 SV's), who set a franchise record for saves in a single season after he was acquired over the winter in exchange for Marquis Grissom.  Guillermo Mota, who was acquired in trade during the 2003 season, was expected to be the team's closer coming out of spring training.  But Mota (13-7, 10 SV's) struggled throughout the season and ended with an ERA of 4.03 -- nearly 2.5 runs higher than his MLB ERA.

Overall, the Salem offense led the Ozzie League in batting (.282), on-base percentage (.364) and runs scored (937).  The Salem pitching staff finished second in ERA (3.88) and first in strikeouts (1,266.)

The season began on a high note, with the Cowtippers winning three of four against the New Milford Blazers in convincing fashion.  It was the first Opening Day win for Salem since the 2001 season.  Unfortunately, the chapter took a turn for the worse from that point on, and the Cowtippers finished Chapter One with a record of 16-12 -- five games behind the high-flying Stamford Zoots.  After winning four championships in the previous five seasons, the Zoots came into the 2005 season as the underdogs in the newly-realigned Butler Division.  But the Zoots mysteriously caught fire to start the season, won three of four games over Salem, and finished Chapter One with a mind-boggling record of 21-7.

Rubbing salt into the wound, the Silicon Valley CyberSox made Salem's job even tougher by trading two all-star-caliber hitters -- Larry Walker and Greg Myers -- to Stamford in exchange for former Salem prospect Hee Seop Choi.  With Salem's offense struggling (hitting just .251/.328/.404 as a team) and the pitching getting shelled, the season appeared to be shaping up as a carbon copy of 2003.

Chapter Two was viewed as an opportunity to put all the troubles of the past seven chapters into the rearview mirror and get a fresh start.  But the Baseball Gods had other plans in store for Salem fans.  Salem finished that chapter with a record of 15-13 -- one game worse than their Chapter One record.  But worse than the number of losses was how Salem lost those games.  Just as in 2003, the Cowtippers struggled mightily in games decided by one run.  In 2003, 15 of Salem's first 54 games (28%) were decided by one run, and they lost 10 of those 15 games (67%.)  In 2004, 21 of their first 56 games (38%) were decided by one run, and they lost 12 of those games (57%.)

The apex of Salem's frustration that chapter came during a series against the Bear Country Jamboree.  The series began with Salem's offense struggling badly, scoring just one run on six hits combined in two games against Bear Country's mediocre pitching duo of Rick Reed and John Thomson.  Game Three began with Sammy Sosa putting his former team into a 4-0 hole on a grand slam in the first inning.  But by the eighth inning, Salem had mounted a stirring comeback rally to tie the game.  Luis Gonzalez then put the 'Tippers ahead, handing a one-run lead over to Mota to start the ninth.

Mota quickly blew the lead, allowing a run to score when Brian Roberts led off with a walk, stole second on a pitch-out, then scored on a single by righty Danny Bautista.  In extra innings, Berkman put Salem back on top, and Salem took no chances by handing the ball to Schilling to close it out in the bottom of the tenth.  That's when Todd Zeile stepped up to the plate to lead off the inning and poked a game-tying homer into the bleachers.  Salem eventually lost in fifteen innings, and Bear Country capped off a sweep of the series with yet another one-run win in Game Four.

After that pathetic offensive display, Salem changed hitting coaches for the sixth time in franchise history.  Out went Mike Magnante, and in came Paul O'Neil.  O'Neil would breathe new life into the Salem bats and prove to be a valuable addition to the ballclub over the final four chapters of the season.

At the end of Chapter Two, Glander added Placido Polanco and Eddie Guardado to the mix, in an effort to bolster the lineup, defense and bullpen all in one trade.  While Guardado (7-3, 5.10 ERA) would prove to be a miserable failure time and again, Polanco (.297/.363/.495) was a versatile and valuable member of the club down the stretch.

Finally, after two miserable chapters, the Cowtippers finally gelled in Chapter Three, going 19-5 on the chapter to capture sole possession of first place for the first time all season.  The offense, under the tutelage of O'Neill, exploded by hitting .317/.391/.527 as a team in Chapter Three, and Salem's opponents were outscored by 74 runs.  The record in one-run games also turned around 180 degrees, with the Cowtippers winning six of eight in Chapter Three.

The elation resulting from finally playing as well as expected must have caused brain damage in the Salem front office, as the Cowtippers made one of their most foolish decisions in franchise history by trading for $10 million liability Bartolo Colon.  Colon would go 6-5 with a 3.98 ERA for Salem down the stretch, but he would cost the team $5 million in penalties the following season.

After an encouraging turnaround, the Cowtippers regressed a bit in Chapter Four, going just 15-9 on the chapter.  Their offense continued to impress, as they hit .305/.394/.506 as a team that chapter, but their pitching was still not nearly as good as advertised.  By the end of the chapter, Salem was enjoying a two-game lead over the Zoots in the Butler Division.  Their .625 winning percentage was fourth best in the BDBL, and they were outscoring their opponents by a BDBL-leading 170 runs.  They had scored more runs than every other BDBL team except the Chicago Black Sox, and their 446 runs allowed ranked fifth in the league.

As the season's final trading deadline approached, the Cowtippers added two more big players to their roster in order to ensure success in the post-season.  With the Ravenswood Infidels and Zoots both employing pitchers with reverse platoon splits, adding a right-handed batter who could hit right-handed pitching was of utmost importance.  Thus, Brett Boone was added to the roster, moving Burroughs to the bench.  Boone would hit .266/.346/.537 as a Cowtipper, with 16 home runs in 56 games.  And to help fortify the lineup against the left-handed starters from Ravenswood, Los Altos and Stamford, Marquis Grissom was re-acquired.  Grissom hit an impressive .380/.436/.606 in 71 at-bats down the stretch.

The cost of those two players was Wood, who was shipped back to Manchester, where he eventually pitched a no-hitter and completely turned his season around.  Wood was replaced in the Salem rotation by Colon, who proved to be an adequate, though far from perfect, replacement.

The Cowtippers closed out the season with a 20-8 record in Chapter Five and a 19-9 record in Chapter Six.  Salem's second half record of 54-26 led the Ozzie League, and was second only to the Chicago Black Sox in the BDBL.

In the 2004 Division Series, Salem was once again matched up against the Stamford Zoots -- the fourth time the two teams faced each other in the playoffs in six BDBL seasons.  In Game One, the normally-reliable Cordero served up a game-tying single to Aramis Ramirez in the eighth inning, requiring a walk-off double by Luis Gonzalez in extra innings for the Salem win.

In Game Two, Stamford lefty Mark Buehrle shut down Salem's lefty-killing lineup with six strong innings of work, out-pitching Zito.  Once again, it was the Salem bullpen who blew the game in late innings, as Ron Villone allowed a go-ahead RBI single to Moises Alou in the seventh, which broke a 2-2 tie.

The Zoots took the series lead in Game Three when Cordero blew yet another save opportunity, allowing three runs in the eighth to blow a two-run lead.  But Salem evened the series in Game Four by spanking Stamford's reverse-split ace, Jerome Williams, for seven runs on fourteen hits through 8 1/3 innings.

In Game Five, Webb uncharacteristically struggled, allowing four runs through 7 1/3 innings, but the Salem bullpen finally stepped up and held on for a 6-4 win.  Finally, the Cowtippers drove the final nail into Stamford's coffin in Game Six, thanks to a remarkable effort by Zito, who allowed just one run through eight stellar innings of work.

For Salem, this victory was particularly sweet, as they were not only able to knock their former rivals out of first place for the first time in league history, but knocked them out of the playoffs as well.  It was the second time Salem had beaten Stamford in the playoffs, though to date, no other team has ever done so.

With the Ravenswood Infidels' shocking win over the favored Los Altos Undertakers, the OL Championship Series got underway.  The series began with a 5-2 Ravenswood win, courtesy of Infidels ace Johan Santana, who showed no signs of being intimidated by Salem's lefty-killing lineup.  Salem evened the series in Game Two by hammering Ravenswood's reverse-split righty, Jae Wong Seo, for six runs on eleven hits through 5 1/3 innings.  Once again, however, staff ace Brandon Webb (6 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) was uncharacteristically clobbered.

In Game Three, the Cowtippers took the series lead with a stirring ninth inning rally, which broke a 5-5 tie.  For a moment, it appeared as though the momentum in the series had shifted.

Then, the wheels fell off the bandwagon.

For the next three games, the BDBL would witness perhaps the most bizarre collapse of a pitching staff that has ever occurred.  For three games straight, the Ravenswood Infidels offense -- which was ranked just fourth in the OL in runs scored -- turned what many called the best pitching rotation in league history into a laughingstock.  For three straight games, the Cowtippers offense -- which scored more runs than any other team in the BDBL aside from one -- was embarassed by Ravenswood pitching.  And for three straight games, the Salem Cowtippers were placed into a first-inning hole from which they could not climb out.

Game Four began with a two-out, three-run homer by Ivan Rodriguez off of Schilling.  Schilling would allow five runs through four innings, and exited after throwing just 70 pitches.  It would be the final appearance of the season for the man who earned a bigger paycheck than any other player in franchise history.

Game Five began even worse, with Ravenswood mounting a four-run rally against Salem's Cy Young candidate Brandon Webb -- all after Webb had easily recorded two straight outs to start the game.  The Infidels offense strung together a double, a walk, a single, a walk, a single and a single.  And before fans had even had a chance to settle into their seats, the game was over.  The Infidels offense eventually scored eight runs in the game, winning 8-3.

The absurdity of the 2004 season then came to its inevitable crescendo in Game Six.  Barry Zito, who had come to the Cowtippers in 2003 at the expense of top prospect Casey Kotchman, began the game by walking the first two batters he faced.  He then allowed a double, a walk, a double, a sac fly and a single to the next five batters before he was rushed out of the game.  But by then, it was too late.  Ravenswood scored six runs in the first inning.  Game over.  Series over.  Season over.

Once again, Salem fans were left wondering what to make of it all.  Why bother getting excited over having such a great team if nothing is won in the end?  Why bother continuing to get excited in the future when only heartache and bitter disappointment awaits?

Good questions.  If only there were good answers.