*-clinched playoff berth

Posted by ASPN Final Score on 6/28
ONE TEAM IN, SEVEN GOLDEN TICKETS LEFT
The 2009 XBL Playoffs have their first official entrant after last week's games. Defending champions Oklahoma officially clinched their playoff spot after sweeping the helpless Buffalo Bolts at home last week, and now stand with a chance to wrap up the western division this week against Memphis.

Elsewhere in week 18, seven of the nine home teams won their series, including Sacramento taking two from surging New Jersey, their first home series win since LL came back to town. Birmingham took two from divisional rival Atlantic City to keep their playoff chances alive, and San Jose snatched the current eighth playoff spot from Rhode Island last week, despite losing twice at home to Tucson.

Week 19 features classic central division rivals Minnesota and Omaha squaring off in Omaha, while Birmingham heads west to Tucson, who has shown up in the playoff chase again. Atlantic City heads to San Jose to see if they can climb into the playoffs standings this week as well.

The marquee series is again in Sacramento, as the central division-leading Indiana Stars visit town. The time is now for the Quakes' new arrivals to make their playoff push with four weeks left to play.

Posted by Gail on 6/27
DARK SIDE OUTDUELS FAR SIDE
The Omaha Rowdies used great pitching and the long ball to take the first two games in Omaha from the Orlando Rage.

“The ‘big guy’ has put a lot of pressure on us to win,” quipped Rowdies manager Tony Oliva.  “I’m not saying anything against him personally, but during our last team meeting all he said was, ‘Something, something, something, Dark Side’,  I think the players got the meaning,” Oliva went on.

The Rage people couldn’t be reached for comment, but several of the coaches did give a weird look, open their mouths with their tounges hanging out and just kind of groaned.  Ca-Caw to you guys!

Posted by SDX International on 6/26
VEGAS 2, RHODE ISLAND 1
Still not sure how we won that first one.

Posted by ACE3 Management on 6/26
BOMBERS CLIMB PLAYOFF LADDER
The Bombers took a step in the right direction by taking two of their three games against the Atlantic City Trumps, outscoring them 13-5, even though the Trumps scraped out more hits (24-22) in the series.

The final game went 13 innings before the Trumps finally squeezed the winning run in the series for their only win in the series.

Posted by ASPN Insider on 6/14
CURRENT PLAYOFF STANDING
1. Oklahoma          34-14
2. Minnesota          33-15
3. Orlando             31-17
4. Indiana              30-18
5. Calgary              28-20
6. Rhode Island      26-22
7. New Jersey         26-22
8. San Jose            24-24
--------------------------------
9. Nashville            24-24
10. Sacramento       23-25
11. Birmingham       23-25
12. Memphis           23-25

Posted by ASPN Final Score on 6/14
SLICK AS VASELINE, NOT QUITE AS GOOD AS COLOGNE
After Sacramento's trading deadline pickups, there was an aura of excitement and music not seen at Cracker Jack Stadium (a.k.a., The Crackerbox) since the Quakes first entered the XBL, or even before, during their old ABL days.

But there it was in centerfield, the stage set up before the Quakes opening game against Las Vegas, and the familiar sight of none other than LL Cool J rapping some of his best hits, as well as rapping the National Anthem before the first game.

"With the lineup we put together, classic Quakes baseball is back," Cool J said. "So we re-opened the outfield bars, and tapped the kegs for after the games this week. If we do well enough, we might even replace the outfield grass with grass, and put the hemp back on the outfield walls."

Even with the addition of Chase Utley and Andre Ethier, Vegas still declared jihad before the first game despite Pit Boss Richard Cheese not knowing what "jihad" was, and won two of three from the Quakes on the road.

Meanwhile San Jose swept Memphis at home, and took the eighth playoff spot from them in doing so, while Rhode Island took two games from Indiana, hitting seven home runs in their wins (The neighborhood was quite angry with the broken windows in this series). Minnesota extended their division lead to three games by taking two from Omaha, while Buffalo and Wichita -- Just watching and awaiting a relegation that'll never come.

This week, LL continues the party in Sacramento when Buffalo comes to town.

"That'll be three easy wins," quipped Cool J.

Oklahoma takes on a now-surging Nashville team, who have won their last six and eight of their last 10 games, while Calgary tries to pick up a game on Oklahoma, they host the Atlantic City Trumps.

Posted by RIP, Inc. on 6/13
INDY SEES STARS, DROPS TWO TO PEANUTS
Rhode Island rode the long ball to bookend wins in their three game series with Indiana last week.  A tired and beaten up team, the Peanuts were forced to use a catcher and a closer to play in the outfield in the 2nd game, but hit 7 dingers in the 1st and 3rd games to get back on the winning track.  The homers came from some unlikely sources, as Renteria went yard in game 1 and Mark DeRosa and Colby Rasmus touched them all in game 3.

Posted by ASPN Insider of 6/8
BUFFALO AND SACRAMENTO BUSY AT DEADLINE
The trading deadline passed for the 2009 season, and Buffalo and Wichita played the main sellers, while Sacramento sold three of their first four draft choices next season for the likes of Andre Ethier and Chase Utley. Buffalo nabbed two extra draft picks on the final trading day of the season and Wichita amassed two extra picks as well.

Posted by Commissioner's Office on 6/6
TRADING DEADLINE INFO
The 2009 XBL season trading deadline is in two days, at 10:00 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, June 8. No trades will be allowed between then and when the 2010 carded player list is released on December 15. The free agent list will also be frozen at this time, and no free agent claims will be allowed between 10:00 p.m. CDT on June 8 and the close of the 2010 XBL draft in February.

Remember, for a trade to be allowed, the same trade must be confirmed via e-mail by all parties involved before 10:00 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, June 8.

Posted by ASPN Insider on 6/6
CURRENT PLAYOFF STANDING
1. Oklahoma        31-14
2. Minnesota        31-14
3. Orlando           29-15
4. Indiana            29-16
5. Calgary            26-19
6. Rhode Island    24-21
7. New Jersey       24-21
8. Memphis          23-22
------------------------------
9. Birmingham      22-22
10. Sacramento    22-23
11. San Jose        21-24
11. Atlantic City   21-24
11. Nashville        21-24

Posted by ASPN Final Score on 6/6
SEPARATIONIST THEORY
Oklahoma has had the lead in the west since the season started, and has kept about a five-game lead over Calgary since about week 7. No change there last week, as both teams bested their opponents on the road for two wins each last week. Orlando gained a game on the east, however, stretching their lead to 5 1/2 games over both the sliding Rhode Island Peanuts and New Jersey. Minnesota also put another game between themselves and Indiana, as the Marshals won two close games in Memphis and Indiana dropped two to lowly Las Vegas.

There were no changes in the current playoff teams since last week, but the trading deadline looms a mere 48 hours away, but the trading block seems rather quiet right now. Buffalo and Wichita are both looking to trade some of their value players for draft picks, but so far have not found any takers. No word also as to whether any teams on the edge of the playoff hunt (Birmingham, Nashville, Sacramento, San Jose) make a move to valut themselves into the playoffs.