SALEM COWTIPPERS: 2005
Another Unhappy Ending

In 2005, the Salem Cowtippers won more games than any other team in the BDBL.  They won over 100 games for the fourth time in history, took home their league-record sixth division title, and won their 700th game as a franchise.  And yet, in the end, the only thing the Cowtippers had to show for seven years of regular-season dominance was yet another empty, trophy-less season.

After their shocking defeat in the 2004 OLCS, the Cowtippers found themselves in good shape heading into the winter off-season.  Salem's two big free agent signings in 2004, Curt Schilling and Michael Young, both made vast improvements and were considered to be among the best players at their positions heading into '05.  After Schilling, the Salem rotation included sophomore Brandon Webb (coming off a bit of a disappointing season after his near Cy Young-caliber rookie year) and veteran Barry Zito.  The bullpen was stocked as well, with Francisco Cordero and Guillermo Mota forming a powerful, innings-eating one-two combo.  And as always, the lineup was stacked with sluggers, including Young, Mark Teixeira and team mainstay Lance Berkman.

Early in the winter trading season, the rebuilding Los Altos Undertakers franchise placed several impact players on the block, including all-star second baseman Mark Loretta, lefty ace Odalis Perez and platoon players Craig Monroe and Jose Molina.  Salem GM Mike Glander inquired about all four players, and discovered that the asking price was four of Salem's top prospects: Edwin Jackson, Adam Miller, Jeff Clement and Alex Gordon.

Glander faced a tough decision.  After sacrificing several promising young players to "go for it all" in 2004, only to fall short of that goal once again, Glander promised Salem fans that the Cowtippers would no longer follow a "win now" philosophy.  And with Placido Polanco entrenched at second base, with Sean Burroughs at third, the Cowtippers had little need for Loretta, despite his all-star potential.  But the asking price -- two pitchers and two college players, none of whom would make an impact on the Cowtippers until 2007 at the earliest -- was too tempting to pass up.  Glander pulled the trigger.

Loretta became perhaps the greatest leadoff hitter in Salem history, hitting .340/.398/.492 overall, with 46 doubles, 19 homers, 137 runs scored and 93 RBI's.  He struck out just 43 times in 691 at-bats and collected 235 hits on the season.  Monroe filled the hole in left field perfectly, hitting .312/.374/.513 overall, with 33 doubles, 18 homers and 89 RBI's in just 148 games (474 AB's.)

With the starting rotation, infield (except for catcher), bullpen and two-thirds of their outfield set, the Cowtippers were sitting pretty heading into the auction.  But they weren't done yet.  The Chicago Black Sox acquired Cy Young candidate Roger Clemens early in the trading season, and to the surprise of everyone, put Clemens on the block shortly afterward.  Glander immediately contacted Chicago GM John Gill, who asked for both Webb and Mota in exchange for Clemens.  Again, the deal was simply too enticing to pass up.

Clemens turned in one of the best pitching performances in Salem history.  He went 17-6 on the season, with a league-leading 2.42 ERA.  In 234+ innings, he allowed just 177 hits and 94 walks, while striking out 207.  Teamed with Schilling (23-6, 2.83 ERA, 248+ IP, 212 H, 42 BB, 210 K) at the top of the rotation, the Cowtippers' pitching staff was among the greatest in league history in 2005.

After upgrading their offense and starting rotation, the Cowtippers could have easily sat back and waited for the auction to start.  But when Andy Lurie, the new owner of the Los Angeles Diablos franchise, announced that he was looking for a quality starting pitcher, Glander found himself once again heading to the trading table.

With four quality, innings-eating starting pitchers, Salem was one of the few teams in the league that could afford to trade one for prospects while still maintaining a competitive edge.  So, Glander offered Zito and prospect Abe Alvarez in exchange for a couple of 19-year-old prospects, Delmon Young and Ian Stewart, plus platoon bat Jose Hernandez.  Lurie expressed great interest in the trade, but balked at the notion of dealing Hernandez.  Ultimately, however, he decided to pull the trigger.

Glander was thrilled with the trade, as both Young and Stewart were highly regarded prospects, and replenishing the Salem farm system was an off-season priority.  However, when Lurie relayed the news of the trade to his consultant, Ravenswood Infidels GM Brian Potrafka, Potrafka was less than thrilled with the trade, believing Lurie had sacrificed too much.  Glander offered to rework the trade, and all three GM's eventually agreed to replace Zito with Perez.

When the reworked deal was announced to the league, it set off a firestorm of criticism and controversy.  For years, Glander had traded star prospects for star players, and he was often chastised for getting too much in return for "risky unknown prospects."  But now, when he did just the opposite, he was lambasted more than ever.

After one too many complaints, Glander took the deal off the table.  He then issued a challenge to the league.  He upped his revised offer, replacing Alvarez with both Austin Kearns and Jeff Baker, and challenged the entire league to beat that offer.  After several days passed, no other team would even come close to matching the offer, and the trade was once again consummated.

Despite the ultimate victory, the stench from that trade bothered Glander throughout the season.  Eventually, it became apparent that he would not be able to keep Young.  He offered to trade Young back to the Diablos (who had once again switched names and owners) in exchange for Kearns, but new GM Ed McGowan refused to do it.  Eventually, Young was traded for pennies on the dollar.

At the free agent auction, the Cowtippers signed all-star catcher Ivan Rodriguez at a salary of just $7 million-- which many felt was the biggest bargain of the winter.  Rodriguez was the team's MVP in 2005.  He became the first Cowtipper since John Olerud to win the OL batting title, batting .358 on the season.  He also led the OL in RBI's with 130, and finished in second place in the OL MVP balloting.

In the draft, Salem added Jay Payton (.299/.351/.395 in 291 AB's for Salem) and Scott Dohmann (8-3, 4.69 ERA, 6 SVs) in the 16th and 17th rounds.  Prospects Fernando Cabrera and David Aardsma were acquired in the 21st and 22nd rounds.  And Shane Spencer (.281/.330/.416 in 89 AB's, primarily as a pinch hitter) and John Olerud (.339/.459/.459 in 109 AB's, plus a dramatic post-season home run) were acquired in the 26th and 28th rounds, respectively.

With the unexpected signing of Rodriguez, Salem had no money left in the budget to sign a #4 starter.  When the Bear Country Jamboree placed Brad Penny on the block, Salem reluctantly offered top prospect Kendry Morales, and Bear Country accepted.  Morales had been drafted by the Cowtippers while he was still living in Cuba.  His defection from Cuba was the cause of great celebration in the Salem clubhouse that winter, and parting with him was one of the more difficult decisions ever made by Glander.  But with the 2005 team shaping up so well, adding a quality #4 starter was deemed a higher priority than having a great farm system.

The problem with Penny was his injury history.  At $6.5 million, he was a risky bet for the 2006 season, and he was available to pitch just 157 innings for Salem in 2005.  Before the start of Opening Day, Glander made one more trade inquiry.  He contacted the Ravenswood Infidels and asked about an old friend of the Cowtippers, former Cy Young winner Greg Maddux-- the first-ever Cowtipper.  Maddux carried a salary of $1 million less than Penny, threw 69 more innings, and was less of a risk going forward.  Ravenswood agreed, and Maddux made a triumphant return to his original team.

The Cowtippers earned a split of their traditional Opening Day Series against the rejuvenated New Milford Blazers.  Heading into the 2005 season, the Blazers featured a very strong bullpen and starting lineup, and were considered to be serious contenders for the Butler Division crown.

Salem finished Chapter One with a record of 17-11, but trailed the red-hot Blazers by one game in the division.  Chapter Two began with a disastrous series against the Sylmar Padawans.  The Salem bullpen nearly blew a seven-run lead in the first game of the series, then did blow a three-run lead in the third game.  In total, the Salem bullpen allowed fourteen runs in the four game series.  Fortunately, it was all uphill from there.

The Cowtippers swept the Ravenswood Infidels in their first meeting since the embarrassing 2004 OLCS.  Salem then swept the Eric Gagne-led New Hope Badgers.  Then, they swept the Bear Country Jamboree, giving them twelve wins in a row.  In all, Salem went 22-6 on the chapter.  They hit .316/.370/.483 as a team, and compiled a team ERA of just 2.96.

Throughout the second chapter, major impact closers were being traded throughout the league-- most of them to Salem's rivals within the Butler Division.  Eric Gagne went to the Badgers, John Smoltz was dealt to Corona, and the Blazers added Brad Lidge to their already stacked bullpen.  When the Las Vegas Flamigos placed lefty flamethrower B.J. Ryan on the block in the middle of the chapter, Glander knew it might be his last opportunity to add that one missing piece to the puzzle.

As always, the Salem bullpen was the team's Achilles Heel throughout the first two chapters, costing the team several wins in games decided by one run.  The series against the Padawans was just one of many examples showing how desperately the team needed a real closer.  Francisco Cordero was supposed to be that guy, but Cordero-- who had allowed just one home run all MLB season in more than 70 innings while pitching in one of baseball's best hitter's parks --had proven incapable of handling the job.  In the first two chapters, Cordero had already allowed two home runs, and owned a 5.76 ERA, with 23 walks in 29+ innings.

The problem for the Cowtippers was that they had no "B"-grade prospects.  The team owned several "A" prospects, including Young, Stewart and B.J. Upton, but the drop-off after that first tier was steep, and no team was interested in any of Salem's other prospects.  Glander knew it was time for Young to go.  The bitter taste from that trade still remained, and Glander wanted to distance himself from that trade as much as possible.

But trading a multi-year all-star for a one-year stop-gap solution was the definition of insanity.  Glander vowed only to trade Young if he could get a reasonably comparable prospect in return.  Unfortunately, Las Vegas had no comparable prospects.  This meant that a third team would have to be pulled into the conversation.

Glander scoured the Las Vegas roster and noticed that Brad Radke carried significant trade value.  If he could convince the Flamingos to include Radke in addition to Ryan, perhaps he could find a team that would be willing to trade a top prospect for Radke.  With Ryan heading for free agency and Radke with another year remaining on his high-priced contract, it was thought that this decision would be a no-brainer for Las Vegas GM John Bochicchio.

But Bochicchio balked at the offer, and made the Cowtippers sweat it out for several days.  In the meantime, Glander scoured the other rosters in the league and determined that Manchester was the perfect match for that third team he needed to complete the deal.  Glander phoned Manchester GM Jim Doyle and, as usual, found him to be extremely difficult to deal with.  Manchester was among the hottest teams in the league in Chapter One, but fell flat on their faces in Chapter Two.  They desperately needed to acquire an impact player to keep their place atop their division.

The one player on the Irish Rebels roster that was a perfect fit to replace Young was outfielder Carlos Quentin.  Knowing that Doyle would immediately dismiss any offer Glander put on the table involving any of Manchester's prized prospects, he instead suggested names of several players, including Quentin, knowing the Doyle would choose Quentin from that lot.  Doyle took the bait and offered Quention for Radke, straight-up.  Now, it was just a matter of getting an answer from Bochicchio before Doyle changed his mind.

Finally, after several days of thinking it over and foolishly waiting for a better offer, Bochicchio accepted what would be the best trade offer he's ever received.  Young became the future of the Flamingos franchise, Radke became the savior of the Manchester rotation, and Ryan and Quentin joined the Cowtippers to a chorus of cheers.

Unfortunately, the celebration was short-lived.  In the third series of the chapter, Ryan allowed a game-winning home run to backup catcher Rod Barajas in an interleague series against the Great Lakes Sphinx.  That same series, he nearly blew another lead.  It seemed that no matter who the Cowtippers used in the closer's role, he was destined to fail miserably.

Salem finished with a record of 15-9 in the chapter, and a 54-26 record at the halfway point of the season.  The Cowtippers were active once again in Chapter Three, sending Zito and newly-acquired reliever Guillermo Mota to the Marlboro Hammerheads in exchange for Wilson Alvarez, Steve Trachsel and Steve Finley.  Zito had a disappointing first half of the season, and in MLB he sported an ERA over 5.00 in the last week of May.  At $6.1 million in salary for 2006, he was considered a risk.  Of course, Zito righted the ship immediately after the trade, and finished the MLB season with an ERA of 3.86 in over 200 innings.

Alvarez was considered to be an upgrade over Zito in a short series, and during the regular season he stepped into the setup role once occupied by Cordero, who was also traded in Chapter Three in exchange for Mota.

Salem posted a 20-4 record in Chapter Four, establishing themselves once again as the team to beat in the Ozzie League.  Once again, the Infidels were swept, giving Salem eight wins in a row against the team that destroyed their hopes and dreams in 2004.  With a comfortable lead in the Butler Division, the Cowtippers began to look ahead to the playoffs.  After four chapters of play, Salem had won over 80% of their home games, and establishing home-field advantage throughout the playoffs became their #1 priority.  This meant keeping the Allentown Ridgebacks in the distance in the race for best record in the BDBL.

Toward that end, the Cowtippers made their final trade of the season.  Ryan had done reasonably well in his role as closer, compiling an ERA of 3.29 in 27+ innings.  But management still felt uncomfortable handing him the ball in must-win situations.  At that point in the season, the Irish Rebels had fallen into last-place in their division, with no hope of rejoining the race.  With their closer, Mariano Rivera, on the verge of free agency, Glander figured he might be available in exchange for a prospect.  Several prospects were offered to Manchester, but their delusional GM Doyle refused to believe his team was out of contention.  He claimed that falling behind in the standings was all part of his strategy.  Because of this insane belief, he would only deal Rivera if he received Ryan in return.

It made zero sense for Manchester to trade their best, most tradeable commodity for a free-agent-to-be, but Doyle was as stubborn as ever.  Reluctantly, Glander agreed to swap the two relievers, despite his desire to have both Rivera and Ryan in the bullpen.  Rivera finished the season with an ERA of 2.57 in 35 innings.  But in the end, even he would prove incapable of handling the pressure of closing.

Due to a ridiculous in-season salary cap rule instituted by the league on an experimental basis in 2005, the Rivera trade meant that Salem could not afford to keep both Steve Finley and #5 starter Cory Lidle.  So both players were traded for pennies on the dollar.  However, when Salem replaced the two players with free agents at the end of the chapter, it pushed their team salary over the limit, causing a $900,000 penalty to be assessed against their 2006 cap.  This penalty would have serious ramifications in the '06 draft.

The Cowtippers continued to cruise with an 18-10 record in Chapter Five.  They held an eight game lead over the Ridgebacks for best record in the league, and that distinction seemed inevitable.  Salem closed the season with a disappointing 16-12 record in Chapter Six, yet managed to finish with the best record in the BDBL at 108-52.  Their runs differential of 280 was tops in the BDBL, as was their 964 runs scored.  Of the twelve players on the Salem roster with more than 100 at-bats, ten of them hit .299 or better.  Three players (Rodriguez, Berkman and Teixeira) drove home more than 100 runs.  Three players (Rodriguez, Loretta and Teixeira) hit more than 40 doubles.  Four players (Loretta, Berkman, Young and Teixeira) scored more than 100 runs.  And three players (Rodriguez, Loretta and Young) tallied more than 200 hits.

On the pitching side, Clemens, Schilling and Maddux each won more than 15 games on the season.  Clemens won the OL ERA title (2.42), and Schilling shared the league lead in wins (23).  Juan Cruz (2.54 ERA in 78 IP) was the team's most reliable arm out of the bullpen, and Rivera (2.57 ERA) had established himself as a go-to closer.

The post-season began with a Division Series match-up against the Infidels.  Ravenswood ace (and eventual Cy Young winner) Johan Santana out-pitched Schilling in Game One, allowing just one run in a 6-1 rout.  Clemens dominated Game Two in a 7-0 shutout to even the series.  Salem then took the series lead with a 9-2 victory in Game Three, capped by a four-run ninth inning rally.

The Cowtippers rallied once again in the ninth inning of Game Four, scoring three runs, but it wasn't enough, as Ravenswood won by a score of 8-7 to even the series once again.  In a Game Five rematch between Schilling and Santana, Schilling prevailed, allowing just two runs through eight innings of work in a 5-3 win.  Salem then advanced to the League Championship Series for the fourth time in six seasons with a 6-3 win in Game Six.

The LCS was expected to be a tightly-contested series against the Sylmar Padawans.  But instead, Schilling shut down the Sylmar offense in Game One, pitching a complete-game shutout, allowing just three hits and a walk.  In Game Two, Maddux pitched a complete game as well, allowing just one run on two hits and a walk through nine innings, as Salem cruised to an 11-1 victory.

Sylmar bounced back in Game Three, as longtime Salem nemesis Mark Buehrle out-dueled Clemens to give the Padawans a 3-2 win.  But Game Four was another laugher, as the Cowtippers scored 17 runs on 18 hits against Zach Day and the Sylmar bullpen.  The series then concluded with a 6-1 Salem victory, as Schilling, Cruz and Rivera held the Sylmar offense to just one run on nine hits.

For the second time in franchise history, the Cowtippers were heading to the World Series.  Over in the Eck League, the Allentown Ridgebacks lost their first three games of the Division Series against Atlanta and needed to achieve the impossible by winning four games in a row to stay alive.  They did just that, then proceeded to cruise over Albert Pujols and Barry Bonds of the Wapakoneta Hippos in just five games to earn their third trip to the World Series in four years.

The 2005 World Series began in typical fashion, with an extra-innings nail-biter.  Salem fell behind 6-3 in the first three innings, as Clemens was pounded for six runs on nine hits and four walks through just six innings of work.  But the Cowtippers rallied to tie the game with three runs in the eighth (capped by a dramatic pinch-hit two-run blast by former team captain John Olerud), forcing extra innings.  Trot Nixon then tripled home Lance Berkman in the bottom of the tenth to win it.

After that exhausting game, it was Allentown's turn to rally late in the game and force extra innings.  A disappointing effort by Maddux (7 IP, 10 H, 4 ER), and a shaky outing by the normally reliable Cruz (6 batters faced, one sac fly, one double and two singles) allowed the Ridgebacks to tie the game in the eighth inning.  Rivera then came into the game with one out in the tenth, and no one on base, and proceeded to allow a base hit and an RBI double to light-hitting Brian Roberts (his FIFTH hit of the game.)  That would be the deciding run of the game, as Allentown evened the series at one win apiece.

The series shifted to Allentown for Game Three, and Ridgebacks starter Roy Oswalt continued his post-season dominance, holding the Salem offense to just one run on four hits and no walks through eight innings.  Schilling, meanwhile, allowed three runs in seven innings.  Salem lost by a score of 5-1.

In Game Four, Wilson Alvarez earned the starting nod, and turned in his most horrendous outing of the season.  In just 6 1/3 innings, Alvarez allowed seven runs (all earned) on nine hits and a walk.  Despite that, Salem managed to tie the game at 7-7 in the top of the eighth.  But once again, the Salem bullpen failed.  Cruz walked the leadoff batter, then walked two more to load the bases.  He nearly escaped the jam, but with two outs, pinch hitter Gary Matthews lined a two-run double to the gap, giving Allentown the lead.  Rivera then added fuel to the fire by allowing another run on an RBI single by Carlos Guillen.  Allentown won by a score of 10-3, and took a three-games-to-one lead in the series.

Salem desperately needed a win to send the series back to Salem, but Randy Johnson had a different plan.  In his final game as a Ridgeback, Johnson tossed a complete game shutout, allowing just six hits and two walks.  And just like that, Salem's season was over.

The Cowtippers won more than 700 games in the first seven seasons of the BDBL's existence, yet they have no hardware to show for it.  Schilling, Clemens, Young, Loretta and Rivera left for free agency at the end of the season, leaving Salem with nothing to show for their efforts in 2005 except for the last pick in every round of the draft.

Another year, another tragic failure.