Braves win their 2nd World Series

Read all about the latest news as the Braves win the 2005 BYOF World Series.

Complete World Series Coverage

How did I do?

Now that the LCS is over it's time to review my predictions

ALCS - picked Alabama in 6 they won in 5
NLCS - picked Huntsville in 5 they won in 7

I also went 4-4 in the LDS. Not too bad for my first year.

Now the tough one. Who will win the WS? My prediction is.......you will need to wait a few days while I think about it.

Congrats to Colby and Chris for winning the NL and AL Pennants.

ALCS Game #5

Game Five: Alabama (Randy Johnson 24-6, 2.58) @ Beartooth (John Thomson 19-10, 4.09)

Alabama wins 11-0 -- Wins ALCS 3-1

Beartooth knew it had its backs against the wall going into this one. Not only were they down three games to one, but they were facing the top pitcher in the AL this season in Randy Johnson. The scoring got started in this one in the top of the second with the Braves’ third baseman Hank Blalock leading off with a walk. Rollins followed by grounding out to first, advancing Blalock into scoring position with one out. Braves’ catcher Toby Hall was then retired on a grounder to short, moving Blalock over to third. Then the problems really began for Thomson. Two out walks to Luis Castillo and Lance Berkman loaded up the bases and gave Thomson five walks in 1.2 innings up to this point. More importantly, he loaded up the bases for one JAMES HOWARD THOME, a terrible mistake. Thome launched a grand slam that has still yet to land and the Braves were in business with a 4-0 2nd inning lead in the possible pennant clincher. The Braves’ bats were quiet until the fifth, when Andruw Jones drew a leadoff walk, followed by an RBI triple off the bat of the AHEM fleet-footed Hank Blalock. Luis Castillo later drove him in with a two out single to make it 6-0 and the Ballhawks were running out of outs as the Big Unit was CRUISING. The 7th saw the Braves put this one away as a single by Rollins, RBI double by Hall, and a nail-in-the-coffin three-run JACK by JAMES HOWARD THOME put the Braves up 10-0 with nine outs to go. The Braves tacked on one more in the top of the 9th for good measure on a Lance Berkman RBI single to make it 11-0. The only drama left in this one was whether or not Randy Johnson could finish off his 1-hit shutout. He did. He pitched an absolute masterpiece, giving up only a single to Teixeira in the 1st inning and three walks to go along with his ten strikeouts and picking up his second win of the series.

Player of the Game: Randy Johnson 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 10 K (It’s hard not to give it to a guy with two HR and 7 RBI in a game, but Johnson deserved it throwing a one-hitter against the number one offense in BYOF (1018 runs!).

ALCS MVP: Andruw Jones 6 for 18, 2 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 5 R, 3 BB, 5 K .333/.429/.944 with a 1373 OPS.

Congratulations to Mike Bush for putting together a great team and having a great year!

ALCS Game #4

Alabama (Luke Hudson 3-2, 2.53) @ Beartooth (Mark Buehrle 21-6, 3.25)

Alabama wins 6-5 -- Braves lead series 3-1

Beartooth, needing a win in a major way, decided to go with Buehrle on three days rest in this one as Alabama countered with youngster Luke Hudson. Alabama wasted no time making Beartooth question its decision as the top of the first unfolded with Buehrle walking Castillo and Berkman to lead off the game. Thome, fresh off his big hit from the night before, then blasted a 450 foot bomb to dead center field, announcing his presence with authority in Game 4, giving the Braves a 3-0 lead. Both pitchers were excellent from that point forward, until the bottom of the 5th, when Beartooth got a one-out RBI single from Brian Giles, bringing home Javy Lopez, who had doubled to lead off the inning. The bottom of the 6th had A-rod leading off with a fly ball to left field for the first out. Hudson then walked Corey Koskie, prompting Alabama to call on the bullpen after 5.1 solid innings from the youngster. Brad Lidge came on in "relief", if that’s what you want to call it, giving up a first pitch two run home run to Aaron Rowand. Lidge’s problems were not isolated to the post-season. He gave up 16 HR this year in only 69.2 IP. Anyway, the two run blast pumped new life into the Ballhawks. Lidge wasn’t finished yet. He followed up Rowand’s homer with a single off the bat of Javy Lopez and the Braves had seen enough of Mr. Lidge, removing him for Mike Gonzalez. Gonzalez then proceeded to walk pinch-hitter Jayson Werth before retiring Mark Bellhorn on a fly ball to center which moved Lopez over to third with two outs. Beartooth then sent up pinch-hitter Bucky Jacobsen to face Gonzalez. Jacobsen owned the Braves during the regular season with two pinch-hit home runs against his division rivals. Apparently, this was on Lieberthal’s mind at the time as he let a passed ball go through the five hole to score the run and give the Ballhawks a 4-3 lead with Keith Foulke looming in the bullpen. The 7th and 8th innings passed without incident and Beartooth carried their 4-3 lead into the 9th. The Beartooth bullpen was going to have to earn it if they were to hold on to the one run lead. The Braves had Thome, Vlad, and Ortiz due up in the 9th. Lefty relief specialist Jamie Walker came on to face Thome and he got the job done with a big strikeout for out number one. Beartooth then signaled to the bullpen to bring in their money guy, Keith Foulke, to face Vlad. Vlad popped a lazy fly ball to center field where Aaron Rowand, still beaming from his big knock off Lidge three innings earlier, misplayed it and allowed Vlad to reach. It would be a costly mistake. Big Papi then came up and smoked a single down the right field line, advancing Guerrero to third with only one out. The Braves needed somebody to step up and it was Mr. Jones’ turn at the dish. Foulke then served up a monstrous three run home run to Andruw that put a dagger in the heart of the Ballhawks, giving the Braves a 6-4 lead, which they carried into the bottom of the 9th with Bellhorn, Kapler, and Bonds due up. Alabama called on the usually trusty Billy Wagner to preserve the win. Mark Bellhorn had other ideas though as he led off the inning with a triple in the gap. The defensive replacement in left field, Kapler, then followed with a grounder to second base to score the run, but it also was the first out of the inning. Bonds then stepped up to the plate and Billy the Kid said ‘Here it is. See if you can hit it!’, refusing to pitch around the often-walked slugger. Wagner was able to coerce Barroid to ground out to third baseman Blalock for out number two and Alabama breathed a sigh of relief. One more out to go in this nail-biter. Mark Teixeira stepped to the plate and Wagner was able to retire him on a grounder to the shortstop, Jimmy Rollins, to lock up the 6-5 victory and a 3-1 series edge.

Player of the Game: Andruw Jones, 2-4, R, GW HR, 3 RBI

ALCS Game #3

Alabama (Tim Hudson 15-12, 3.15) @ Beartooth (Kenny Rogers 15-7, 4.70)

Alabama wins 8-3 -- Braves leads series 2-1

The series shifted back to Beartooth, much to the delight of Ballhawks’ manager Mike Bush. Rogers was able to retire the Braves without major incident in the first two frames and Beartooth used a 2nd inning leadoff homer by Koskie to take the 1-0 lead. Koskie must’ve been a little too proud of himself though and it came back to haunt him. Luis Castillo stroked a two-out triple into the gap in the top of the third, leading to a ground ball by Lance Berkman trickling through the legs of Koskie at third base for an unearned run and a 1-1 game. The Braves went back to work on Rogers in the top of the 4th. A leadoff single by Vlad was followed by a one-out homer by Andruw Jones to give the Braves a 3-1 lead. All was quiet as both pitchers settled down nicely until the top of the 7th, when Alabama’s bats woke up in a major way. The Braves sent up pinch-hitter Edgar Martinez to lead off the inning against the lefty Rogers. He answered the call with a double into the right-center field gap. Beartooth decided Rogers had enough and called on David Riske to get them out of the jam. A popped up bunt attempt by Luis Castillo was out number one. Berkman then walked to give the Braves runners at first and third. Jim Thome then decided he was going to wake up. He had been 2 for 10 with two singles up to this point in the series before stroking a single to center to increase the lead to 4-1. Another single by Vlad plated a run to make it 5-1 and chase Riske from the game. George Sherrill was brought on to get the big lefty – Ortiz and he did so for the second out. Andruw Jones then followed with a huge two out double, scoring Thome and Guerrero for a 7-1 lead. The Braves weren’t done though, as Hank Blalock also doubled, bringing home Jones to make it 8-1. Beartooth didn’t give up though, as a one-out two-run pinch-hit homer by Jayson Werth in the 9th cut the lead to 8-3. That is where it would end as Wilson Alvarez pitched the final three innings to pick up the save and give the Braves a 2-1 series lead.

Player of the Game: Andruw Jones, 3-4, 2 R, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI

ALCS Game #2

Beartooth (John Thomson 19-10, 4.09) @ Alabama (Roy Oswalt 20-7, 2.64)

Beartooth wins 6-3 -- Series tied 1-1

Alabama came out in this one looking to take advantage of their home field advantage and send this one back to Beartooth with a two games to none lead. The bottom of the second saw Big Papi, David Ortiz, stroke a single to start off the Braves’ rally. Andruw Jones then stepped up to the plate and delivered, blasting a two-run home run to center field for the early 2-0 lead. Meanwhile, Roy Oswalt was mowing them down. Going into the top of the 6th, the 2-0 lead held and Oswalt only two singles so far. That would change, however, in an inning eerily reminiscent of Oswalt’s 2005 World Series game. Beartooth put together a huge rally, started by a leadoff single by David DeJesus. D’Angelo Jimenez followed with a single of his own. Oswalt was then able to retire Brian Giles on a foul out to third baseman Blalock before Bonds drew a walk to load up the bases. Oswalt’s control all of a sudden escaped him as he walked Teixeira to force in a run and make it 2-1. A-rod then followed with a sharp single to center, but a horrific throw by Andruw Jones to the plate allowed all three base runners to score, giving Beartooth a 4-2 lead and putting A-rod on third base with only one out. Oswalt’s control again failed him as he plunked Corey Koskie to put runners on the corners. With the Alabama infield drawn in to get the runner at the plate, Aaron Rowand tapped a slow roller to shortstop Jimmy Rollins, but the throw to the plate was too late as Beartooth tacked on another run to give them a 5-2 lead and runners on first and second. Oswalt then settled down to strikeout Javy Lopez for the second out before giving way (finally) to Braves’ lefty reliever Mike Gonzalez. Gonzalez was brought in to retire the lefty DeJesus, but Beartooth manager Mike Bush countered with a move of his own, sending Jayson Werth up to pinch-hit. Gonzalez was able to retire Werth on a fly-out to right fielder Vladimir Guerrero to mercifully end the inning. Alabama got one run back in the bottom of the inning on a two-out single by Hank Blalock, scoring David Ortiz who had earlier doubled. The score was now 5-3, and the Braves mounted a rally in the bottom of the 7th as well. A leadoff pinch hit single by Ken Griffey, Jr., followed by a single by Luis Castillo gave the Braves runners on first and second with the go-ahead run at the plate in Lance Berkman. Beartooth, realizing the gravity of the situation, brought in its all-world closer, Keith Foulke (in the 7th inning!!) to try to get him out of the jam. What followed was a miracle of sorts as Berkman smoked a line drive right at second baseman D’Angelo Jimenez who stepped on the bag at second and fired to first for the TRIPLE PLAY! RALLY OVER! Now, before last week, I had never seen a triple play in DMB, but now I have been the VICTIM of two of them in a two week period, one in each round of the playoffs. Alabama was demoralized and Beartooth’s offense went back to work in the top of the 8th, plating an insurance run on a Mark Teixeira home run to right field that greeted Braves’ reliever Ryan Madson, making the score 6-3 and that is where it stayed as Brian Meadows, Keith Foulke, Jamie Walker, and Dan Miceli held the Braves’ bats in check to lock up the Game 2 win and tie up the series at one game apiece.

Player of the Game: Mark Teixeira, 1-3, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI

ALCS Game #1

Beartooth (Mark Buehrle 21-6, 3.25) @ Alabama (Randy Johnson 24-6, 2.58)

Alabama Wins 3-2

Beartooth wasted no time getting on the board to kick off the ALCS. In the first inning, the one-out showdown between Barry Bonds and Randy Johnson produced a towering home run to right field to give Beartooth the early 1-0 lead. The score held until the bottom of the third when Alabama’s Mike Lieberthal led off the inning with a solo shot of his own to tie the score at 1. In the bottom of the fourth, an Andruw Jones walk led off the inning. Buehrle then got Hank Blalock to fly out to left field for the first out. Jones was then forced out at second on a Jimmy Rollins ground ball with Rollins taking over at first base. He promptly swiped second off the unsuspecting Buehrle, putting him in scoring position with two outs. Alabama’s offensive hero of the game, Lieberthal, then stepped up and stroked a single to left, easily scoring the speedy Rollins to give the Braves a 2-1 lead. Lieberthal found himself in the midst of another rally in the bottom of the sixth as a one-out single by Blalock preceded a two-out single by Lieberthal (his third hit of the game) to give the Braves runners on first and third with two outs. Again a Braves hitter came up big with two outs as Luis Castillo smoked a double down the line to plate Blalock and give the Braves a 3-1 lead. Buehrle then buckled down to retire Lance Berkman on a grounder to short to end the threat with runners on second and third. The score stayed the same for a couple of innings with both pitchers CRUISING. Johnson faced a tough test in the 9th though. That man – Barry Bonds – led off the frame. Johnson got the better of him this time, though, retiring him on a grounder to second baseman Luis Castillo for the first out. Anybody who has played Beartooth this year knows that Johnson wasn’t out of the woods yet. Alex Rodriguez then strolled to the plate (and in true real-life A-Rod fashion) popped up to the first baseman, Jim Thome for out number two. The crowd began to get rowdy as they could sniff the win with two outs in the 9th. Mark Teixeira was next up to face the Big Unit. He promptly blasted a towering drive into the left field seats, quieting the Alabama crowd and cutting the deficit to 3-2 with still one out to go. Alabama manager Chris Waye then decided that Johnson’s 111th pitch was his last of the day, calling on Billy Wagner to get the final out. Wagner was lights-out all year for the Braves, posting a 0.99 ERA while allowing only 30 hits in his 54.2 innings. Waye’s move was the right one this time as Wagner was able to retire Javy Lopez on a lazy fly ball to center fielder Andruw Jones to lock up the first win of the ALCS for the Braves.

Player of the Game: Mike Lieberthal, 3-4, R, HR, 2 RBI

NLCS - Its all over

Game 5
Midgard Serpents win to make the series 3-2 Huntsville
WOW - What a game!!!!

Game 6
Midgard Serpents win again to even the series 3-3.
WOW - What a game!!!!

Game 7

Huntsville wins and advances to their 2nd straight WS. (4-3)