2009 XBL Semifinal results
Calgary vs. Oklahoma
New Jersey vs. Atlantic City

2009 XBL Quarterfinal results
San Jose vs. Oklahoma
Calgary vs. Indiana
Atlantic City vs. Orlando
New Jersey vs. Minnesota

2009 XBL World Series
Calgary defeated New Jersey 4-3

Posted by ASPN Final Score on 9/5
COWBOYS WIN FIRST WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
The Calgary Cowboys have called two different cities home, and have been called many things, usually by SDX Industries (gay; as well as fit, trim and fabulous immediately come to mind). But they can now be called 2009 XBL Champions, outlasting the New Jersey Rhinos in seven games to win their first title.

"This has been a long time coming," manager Rick Lysander said. "Those other guys they can call us whatever they want, but they're not standing here, so they, and especially SDX, can SUCK IT! WE WON!"

It did take one day longer than the Cowboys would have liked, though. New Jersey returned to Calgary for game six riding a 10-2 rout of the Cowboys, and sent their ace Brad Bergesen to the hill against rookie Tommy Hanson, easily pitching in the biggest game of his life. Calgary's bats gave their starter a quick 1-0 lead, but New Jersey pumped on three runs in the top of the third and another in the fifth to take a 4-1 lead. The Rhinos held that lead until the ninth, but the Cowboys only mustered one run against Frank Rodriguez and George Sherrill, giving the Rhinos the 4-2 win and setting up a decisive game seven.

"See what happens when we get serious?", Rhinos' manager Rick Leach told his team. "We've been here before but this is our greatest challenge we've faced. We've never had to play game seven on the road for a championship, but considering our management didn't think this team was even going to the playoffs halfway through the season when we started trading our best players, I'd say we've done well, but there's one more win to go get."

Game seven featured Jonathan Sanchez pitching for the Rhinos against Kevin Correia, who didn't have the most stellar record of the Cowboys' staff. 

"It'll be tough, that's for sure," Correia said. "But I've put those other games out of my mind, and focusing on the biggest start of my career."

Once again, the Cowboys' bats came alive early for their starter, getting five runs in the first three innings, and knocking Sanchez out early. But the Rhinos certainly didn't quit. They got four runs off Correia in the fifth inning, ending his game. Darren O'Day stepped in and shut down the Rhinos' bats for three innings, while his offense added another run in the sixth to carry the 6-4 lead heading to the ninth inning. Trevor Hoffman was called from the bullpen to close the game for Lysander's Cowboys. He struck out catcher Matt Weiters for the first out, but Yunel Escobar managed a double to bring the tying run to the plate. Alberto Callaspo chopped one to short, and Ryan Theriot made the tough play for the second out. Lance Berkman was the next batter, and tagged a pitch into center field, but Matt Kemp had it all the way and made the catch to give the Cowboys their first XBL Championship. 

"It was weird after he [Berkman] hit the ball, it was like the crowd went silent," Kemp said. "After all the bad seasons we've been through both here and in Texas, we finally put it together and won this thing!"

Calgary outfielder Jayson Werth was named the 2010 XBL Playoffs MVP, batting .328 in the playoffs, with 22 hits and five home runs, as well as several key hits throughout the playoffs to keep innings alive.

The New Jersey players had no comments after the game, and the status of Leach is not known at this time. They are scheduled for a post-season press conference sometime in the next few days.

But for now, at the end of the ten seasons, this one came to a very exciting finish.

Posted by ASPN Final Score on 9/3
THRILLERS, BUT RHINOS HEAD BACK TO CALGARY DOWN 3-2
The 2009 XBL World Series resumed action this week at the Hizzouse, which has seen its share of World Series games. The home Rhinos, however were not used to entering this game down 2 games to none. 

The Rhinos got serious in short order, tagging Calgary starter Kevin Correia for five runs in the first inning. Correia only lasted two innings, giving way to Dan Meyer who allowed only one hit and no runs in the next five innings. That allowed the Cowboys to claw their way back into the lead, getting home runs from Jayson Werth and Matt Kemp, and the Cowboys led 8-5 after seven innings. But the Rhinos weren't done. The first five Rhinos' batters in the bottom of the eighth inning reached base, enabling them to tie the game at 8. Nate Reimold slapped a hit past Prince Fielder at first base to score Hanley Ramirez, and the Rhinos took game three 9-8.

Game four saw Cole Hamels take the hill for the Rhinos against Ricky Romero. The teams traded single runs in the first three innings, but Calgary was the first to break the game open, scoring three times in the fifth inning. The Rhinos got two back to make the tie the game at four after six innings. But Calgary's bats as well as a few Rhinos' fielding miscues allowed the Cowboys to score twice in the seventh to take a 6-4 lead. The Rhinos got another in the bottom of the 7th, but Calgary relievers Fu-Te Ni and Brian Wilson shut down the Rhinos from there to win 6-5 and take a three games to one lead in the series.

Rhinos manager Rick Leach then gave a little twist, in calling Kenshin Kawakami in to start game five on three days' rest. Game one winner Joel Piniero took the mound for Calgary and was immediately welcomed by the Rhinos' bats getting eight runs on eight hits in the two innings he lasted in the game. The Rhinos picked up two more later in the game, and cruised to a 10-2 win, sending the series back to Calgary. 

"We're not used to this position, being down in a championship series," Leach said. " Berkman will play no matter what, he's in a Rhinos' uniform, so he'll be avaiable. There's no next game if we lose this time."

Calgary manager Rick Lysander also had some words about his team.

"I thought we played pretty well here in New Jersey overall," he said. "Obviously we didn't do as well as I'd have hoped, but we've got a great hitting team and a good pitching staff that we hope will win us a championship in front of our home fans."

Posted by ASPN Final Score on 8/29
CALGARY TAKES TWO
The 10th XBL World Series got underway this weekend, and for the first time a game was played north of the border. Calgary played host to the New Jersey Rhinos to start the 2009 XBL World Series. Calgary sent ace starter Joel Piniero to the hill to face the four-time world champions against Carl Pavano. 

Pavano gave up three hits in eight innings, while the Cowboys' bats smacked the ball around the yard through the first four innings, building a 10-0 lead after four. The Cowboys added an 11th run in the fifth, before the Rhinos' bullpen quieted the Calgary hitters. New Jersey managed two runs in the ninth inning, but Calgary won the opener 11-2.

Game two was a great contrast. Brad Bergesen did much better than Pavano, pitching seven strong innings, scattering five hits and shutting out the Cowboys until the sixth inning, when Prince Fielder singled home Jayson Werth to score the game's first run. 

Calgary's rookie starter Tommy Hanson did equally well, also tossing seven innings, but he slipped in the top of the seventh, giving up two runs, giving the Rhinos a 2-1 lead. Denard Span scored the game-tying run in the bottom half of the inning. Calgary had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the 11th inning, loading the bases with no one out. Somehow, Rhinos' reliever Frank Rodriguez got out of the inning, allowing New Jersey to take the lead on an Adam Jones home run. 

But Calgary wasn't about to go down that easily. Craig Counsell came in to pinch hit for catcher Wil Nieves, and promptly singled through second. Ryan Theriot was then sent in to pinch hit for left-hander Stephen Drew. He grounded out to second, allowing Counsell to get to second base. David Eckstien then got a two-out double, scoring Counsell and tying the game. The Rhinos then intentionally walked both Werth and Fielder, loading the bases with two outs. Matt Holliday stood in, and Rodriguez then threw a wild pitch, allowing Eckstien to score and giving Calgary the 2-0 series lead.

Posted by ASPN Final Score on 8/26
JERSEY RETURNS TO WORLD SERIES
After swimming along at close to .500 for most of the season, and practically giving up on the season around week 13, trading away their best two starters (CC Sabathia and Josh Beckett), as well as such names as Jimmy Rollins, this is the last place the Rhinos expected to be. 

But here they are, heading to Calgary to take on the Cowboys for supremacy of the XBL in the 2009 World Series.

'I knew I could have been fired at any time," manager Rick Leach said. "After those players left, I knew I needed something to bring this team together and start winning."

And win they did. They won on the road in Minnesota, then in Atlantic City. We'll see if they can play Calgary like those teams. Calgary has been hitting the cover off the ball in these playoffs, and are coming off a four games to one victory against the league's best regular season team.

"It won't be an easy series, that's for sure," Leach explained. "I'm sure those bats will give our pitchers some work in this series. But we'll get serious and come out ready to win."

Posted by ASPN Final Score on 8/22
COWBOYS KNOCK OFF DEFENDING CHAMPS
The last of the division champions fell surprisingly quickly in the semifinals, losing their semifinal series to the Calgary Cowboys four games to one. This sends the Cowboys to their first XBL World Series appearance, which they will open at home against either the New Jersey Rhinos or the Atlantic City Trumps.

Currently the Rhinos lead the Trumps three games to two, with that series heading back to the Trump Colosseum Hotel and Casino. The road team have won four of the five games played in that series thus far. Here's a brief recap of the semifinal series to date:

(1) Oklahoma vs. (5) Calgary
There was some question going into this series who would start on the mound for Calgary Cowboys manager Rick Lysander. About an hour before game time, Lysander chose top draft pick Tommy Hanson to start against the league's best team and defending XBL Champions. He would start against Rockhounds' ace Zack Greinke. Greinke sailed through the first five batters he faced, before losing Craig Counsell on a questionable call. Stephen Drew then hit the first of his two home runs in the game to give the Cowboys an early 2-0 lead. The Rockhounds matched those runs in the bottom of the second inning, when Hanson faced some playoff butterflies, letting the first of the two runs score on a wild pitch. Prince Fielder put the Cowboys up for good with a solo home run in the top of the third, and Calgary took game one from Oklahoma on the road 4-2.

That power hitting carried on into game two, where Joel Piniero went 8 1/3 strong innings against the Rockhounds bats. Fielder and Ryan Zimmerman home runs put the Cowboys up 4-0 after seven innings. The Rockhounds came back with a run in the eighth and threatened with two more runs in the ninth, before Carlos Marmol shut down the Rockhounds, and sent the series north of the border with Calgary holding a 2-0 series lead.

The Oklahoma bats came alive and the Rockhounds took out their frustrations on Calgary game three starter Kevin Correia, then Brian Anderson, then Darren O'Day, and finally Dan Meyer. It really didn't matter who Lysander put on the mound, Oklahoma hit everything in sight, rolling to a 16-6 victory.

In a bit of a surprise, Gwynn sent Jered Weaver to the mound for game four over Greinke. 

"Zack [Greinke] wasn't quite ready to go yet," Gwynn explained. "With the way we hit the ball yesterday, I'm not really worried that we'll do that again to tie this series."
 

Weaver gave up two runs in the second inning, while his counterpart Ricky Romero shut down the Rockhounds through the first five innings, giving up one run in the sixth before being pulled for left handed pitcher Fu-Te Ni. Ni got Calgary out of the sixth with the lead, then Matt Kemp put the Cowboys up 6-1 with a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth. The Cowboys scored once more in the eighth to win the game 7-1 and put the Cowboys on the hill.

Greinke was ready to go in game five, but got roughed up a bit early, getting tagged for three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Calgary added two more runs in the sixth while starter Piniero put up six zeroes on the scoreboard, but gave up one in the seventh. Calgary scored in the bottom half to give them a 6-1 lead into the eighth. O'Day kept the Rockhounds' bats quiet, but the same could not be said for Leo Nunez as it related to the Cowboys' bats. The Cowboys scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth to put the game and series out of reach, winning game five 11-1, and taking the series, giving Calgary home field to start the 2009 XBL World Series.

(6) Atlantic City vs. (7) New Jersey
Hopes were high all over the state of New Jersey going into this series between in-state rivals. The Trumps were making their first playoff appearance in their history and are the hottest team in the league going into the series, while New Jersey was trading away players for some draft picks earlier this season, thinking they weren't going to the playoffs again this season. But the Rhinos got serious and made a nice run into the playoff field, and then took down central division champions Minnesota in the quarterfinals. 

Brian Bergesen started game one for Rick Leach's new-look Rhinos against Adam Wainwright. both starters did well through the first seven innings, and the Trumps were holding a 1-0 lead. But Wainwright let the opening game slip in the eighth inning when Hanley Ramirez doubled in both pinch runner Nate McLouth and Alberto Callaspo to give the Rhinos a 2-1 lead. The next batter was Lance Berkman, who then doubled home Yunel Escobar and Ramirez, and then Will Venable singled home Berkman, giving the Rhinos a 5-1 lead, that Bergesen held, giving the Rhinos the opening game.

Game two played out much like game one, but with Clayton Kershaw dropping the 1-0 lead for the home Trumps in the seventh inning. Trumps' manager Pete Rose pulled Kershaw for Brad Ziegler, but he only lasted two-thirds of an inning, allowing five Rhinos to cross the plate. The Trumps did score three times in the bottom of the eighth, but couldn't touch Mike Gonzalez in the ninth, dropping the game 2-0, and sending the series back to the Hizzouse.

The Trumps' bats were angry at the Rhinos in game three, and were out to support their starting pitcher, Ryan Dempster. The Trumps held a 10-4 lead after four innings, and stayed that way until Mariano Rivera came in to start the seventh inning. Rivera was lights-out and shut down the Rhinos for the final three innings, while the Trumps tacked on three more runs in the ninth inning, winning game three 13-4.

Game four featured Scott Feldman starting for the Trumps against Carl Pavano. Neither starter would make it past the sixth inning, as both teams scored early and often. The Trumps led 8-7 after the sixth. The Rhinos tied the game in the bottom of the eighth on a two-out single from Hanley Ramirez, scoring Callaspo. A Victor Martinez home run to lead of the ninth put the Trumps back up in short order, and Brian Fuentes closed the 9-8 win, and tied the series at two games each.

In a bit of a departure from the preceding two games, Adam Wainwright and Jonathan Sanchez locked horns in a pitcher's duel in game five. Both starters went 8 1/3 innings and allowed a grand total of three runs and 13 hits. The Rhinos scored first in the fourth inning, and the Trumps weren't able to respond until the seventh, when Carlos Pena singled in Elvis Andrus. Wainwright took the hill to start the ninth inning. He got Matt Diaz to fly to left, but served up a game-winning home run to catcher Matt Wieters, and the Rhinos sent the series back to Atlantic City up three games to two.

Posted by ASPN Final Score on 8/9
UPSETS RULE QUARTERFINALS
The XBL Playoffs have reached the semifinals, and three of the four lower seeds have advanced to the semifinals. Oklahoma, who is the defending champions, and this league's top team again this year, was the only division champion to advance. They'll take on the Calgary Cowboys, who survived a firefight in game five to eliminate the Indiana Stars. 

The other semifinal series is a battle for supremacy of the State of New Jersey. New Jersey is no stranger to this phase of the season, and proved so by once again eliminating the Minnesota Marshals in four games (This is the fourth time that New Jersey has done in the Marshals in the playoffs). They'll face first-time playoff squad Atlantic City, who took the entire league by storm in the second half of the season, and largely took a leisurely cruise in a tour bus past Orlando in four games in the quarterfinals. The Trumps will host the Rhinos in the first two games of this semifinals. The Trumps have also been known to be a royal thorn in the Rhinos' sides over the years as well. Even in their expansion season in 2001, the Trumps managed to hand the Rhinos four of their 12 losses that season.

QUARTERFINAL RECAPS:
(1) Oklahoma at (8) San Jose
Though the Stealth returned home down two games to none, that didn't crush their resolve heading into game three. With Yovani Gallardo heading to the hill for them (7-5, 3.03 ERA regular season, team best among starters). It wasn't to be as Gallardo faced only one batter before suffering an ankle injury that forced him from the game. Justin Upton smacked a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning to the delight of the bay area faithful. Oklahoma scratched out two runs of their own to tie the game in the fourth inning, but it was Jimmy Rollins who gave the Stealth the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth, leaving the Stealth to fight another day.

And fight the Stealth did in game four. Stealth ace Beckett took the ball for this elimination game, and tossed 10 innings, partly because the bullpen had been abused the day before due to Gallardo's injury, partly because the manager may be a sadist. Both teams scored once in the third inning, and the game stayed 1-1 into extra innings. Neither scored in the 10th, and manager Lewis Black sent Beckett back to the mound for the 11th, despite Beckett's near crying in the dugout and complaints about his arm feeling like spaghetti at the time. It turned out Beckett was right, as Justin Morneau was served a meatball across the middle of the plate, that we're not sure has landed yet. That three-run blast gave the Rockhounds a 4-1 lead, and Leo Nunez shut the door on the San Jose season, even though he gave up a run on the way.

(4) Indiana vs. (5) Calgary
Indiana and Calgary had traded wins in Indiana during the first two games, but the Cowboys' bats were in their home park, and knocked Indiana starter out of game three after only 1 2/3 innings. Brian Buchanan immediately went to ace long reliever Phil Hughes, who held Calgary for 5 2/3 innings, enough time for the Stars bats to get to a tiring Kevin Correia in the seventh inning. Indiana scored three in the seventh to take a 5-4 lead, and Mark Lowe held it to give the Stars a 2-1 series lead.

The Cowboys took out the sting of that loss the next night on Stars' game four starter Jarrod Washburn. Denard Span set the table for the rest of the Calgary lineup, going 3-4 and scoring twice in the game, while Joel Piniero gave up only one run in seven innings, while his team took a 7-0 lead in the first five innings, the Cowboys coasted to a 7-2 victory to send the series back to Indiana for a decisive game five.

Rookie Tommy Hunter was the scheduled starter for the Cowboys in game five, but had too much trouble getting loose before the game, so was scratched from that start. Fourth starter Brett Anderson was given the ball for the biggest game. He would face Stars' ace Felix Hernandez. Calgary took a lead, putting up three runs in the third inning. Indiana responded with two in the fourth and three more in the fifth, giving Indiana the 5-3 lead. But Calgary wasn't done. The Cowboys smacked the Stars' pitchers for 10 runs in the last four innings, volleying back every Indiana offensive serve to win 13-10 and advance to the semifinals.

(3) Orlando at (6) Atlantic City
It was the first Trumps playoff game in front of their home tourists. Bret Michaels, winner of Celebrity Apprentice was on hand to sing the National Anthem and joined The Donald in the owner's box. However, the Rage put up six runs in the fifth inning, and never looked back in a 11-5 smackdown of the Trumps.

Not to be outdone, the Trumps fell down early in game four, giving up three runs in the second inning, but the Trumps struck back in the bottom of the third. Ryan Ludwick scored on a broken bat single, and Placido Polanco singled in another run. Ludwick gave the Trumps the lead by hitting an Andy Pettitte pitch just over the left field wall. Brian Fuentes and Mariano Rivera then combined to shut down the Rage in the last two innings, giving the Trumps their first playoff series win in their history.

(2) Minnesota at (7) New Jersey
New Jersey had won two games on the road to open this series, but the series victory had to be put on hold, owing to the Minnesota Marshals finding their bats, and scoring 16 times on 24 hits in game three, taking home a 16-9 win to extend the series.

Nick Blackburn tried to pitch well enough to send the series back home for game five, but was tagged for 13 hits and five runs in seven innings. New Jersey took it from there, and was able to win the series in the Hizzouse.

Posted by Jason on 8/9
Calgary pounds out a win in game five, as the Cowboys knocked around Felix Hernandez for a while and Brett Anderson was called in to start in place of scheduled starter Tommy Hanson. 

"Every time we started coming back, their hitters just kept pounding the ball," manager Brian Buchanan said. "It's a dissapointment going out in the first round again."

Posted by The Donald on 8/3
TRUMPS WIN!!
We got our ass kicked in game three, but [Mariano] Rivera pulled a 1 1/3 inning save to bring game four to a close. 

“I knew my guys could do it,” owner Donald Trump said, “after all of these years getting flogged by these scoundrels from Orlando, we can now move on to the semis.” 

Manager Pete Rose knows that next round could be difficult.  “We will get some of our guys back, Pena and Beltran, so that will definitely give us more punch even though these guys did what they needed to do.”