AL Divisional Play-In Series: #4 Salt Lake City vs. #5 St. Louis

By KYLE KEOUGH
Double Day Daily

Two teams that waited until the last day of the season to punch their playoff ticket will meet in the opening round of the American League playoffs.

AL North division winner Salt Lake City (78-84) caught rival Toronto on the last day of the season, and with the tiebreaker in-hand, the Trappers will make their postseason debut against fellow postseason virgin St. Louis. The Maroons (85-77) earned a seeding tiebreaker with Philadelphia (85-77), giving them the opportunity to play the Trappers in the opening round.

The matchup at hand will be primarily that of the Trappers' strong lineup versus the Maroons' well-constructed pitching staff:

Salt Lake City finished the season 8th in the ML in runs scored; their lineup has its share of power, without the drawback of high-strikeout sluggers to impede baserunners. The meat of the Trappers' lineup will have to anchor them through their postseason debut.

Tony Santana (44 HR, 116 RBI), George Elster (39 HR, 118 RBI), and Al Nunez (35 HR, 100 RBI) became one of Double Day's rare trios to finish with 35 home runs and 100 runs batted in, all in the same lineup. Young up-and-comer Santana could perhaps become a Wheaties-box-esque star with a strong postseason performance, but his career with the Trappers has thus far limited his visibility. Elster, although pricey at $10 million on the books for Salt Lake City this season, has been a consistent performer at the plate and in the clubhouse.

The Maroons' lineup doesn't feature the pop of the Trappers--only three players totaled 20 home runs for St. Louis--but its speed has counteracted a season three power outage by establishing the Maroons as the best base-stealing team in Double Day.

William Webster (.287, 22 HR, 71 RBI, 116 R, 82 SB) has been throughout his career one of the most unheralded and underappreciated players in all of Double Day. With 335 career runs to go along with 236 career stolen bases already under his belt, the 25-year-old is an electrifying runner and a phenom in left field. Joining him at the plate is Mule Brumbaugh, who has enjoyed a very strong first full season in the majors with 22 homers, 91 RBIs, 112 runs, and 51 stolen bases. The .287 hitter, when paired with Webster, encompasses one of the leagues premiere base-strealing tandems.

The season has been less kind, however, to other Maroons hitters. CF Boomer Brooks, marred by injuries and hitting slumps, has looked like a shadow of the player he once was. And Stump Sanders and Ross Sullivan haven't shown the ability to pick up the slack, as the lineup has really sorely lacked a run-producing threat all season long. That's in part why St. Louis has struggled offensively this year. Newcomer Ronald Webb was supposed to be "the guy", but only 5 homers in over 40 games with the Maroons has left fans scratching their heads.

On the flipside, the Maroons' best player will be taking the mound for game one: Cory Glynn, at 21-9, is the season's only 20-game winner and a Cy Young hopeful who simply has been dominant all season long against opposing hitters. Former 18-game winner Bobby Ray Bellhorn (5-11, 3.52) suffered through an unexpected drop-off after being hindered by injuries, and Ramon Martin made it seem more and more possible that his 20-win season one with Montreal was more a fluke than a true indicator of the young starter as a potential ace. However, incoming SP Virgil Hogan bolsters an already strong starting rotation and youngster Blake Jodie (9-6, 3.58 ERA) has passed his rookie-season test as a starter. Incumbant ace Dean Gardner is still too green to indicate how he'll do pitching late into the year, but he's yet another wildcard the Maroons own as an unproven, yet very talented, starting pitcher.

The Maroons' rotation is a minefield for Salt Lake City of potential shutdown pitchers, and its bullpen, hedged upon setup man Spud Burba and closer Ichiro Suzuki, is similarly dangerous in close affairs. Burba (3.23 ERA) has been perhaps one of the best relief pitchers in setup in the AL; likewise, Suzuki (36 Saves, 2.19 ERA) could perhaps be AL Fireman of the Year in this, his debut campaign.

The Trappers, with a 5.19 team ERA, don't possess near the talent or the depth on their staff as the Maroons do. Darrell Cameron, the youngster who finished the season at 13-12, will likely turn up as the game-one starter for the Trappers. If not, he'll inevitably be leaned on heavily if Salt Lake City is to advance. The 23-year-old Cameron is the only pitcher for the Trappers to win at least 10 games this year, and the rest of their mostly nondescript rotation is headed by another 23-year-old, Timothy Burks, who went a disappointing 7-17 this season.

The keys to this series, therefore, are trifold:

1. The battle on the basepaths between the Trappers and the Maroons will be crucial. if St. Louis can hit for a high average and steal at will against the Trappers, then they'll have the opportunity to score runs. If the Trappers keep the Maroons at bay, then they'll have breathing room to let their offense operate.

2. The Trappers need to take care of their home turf, hitting for power to drive in runs in bunches. It'll be easier for them to string together runs at home than it will be away, so they have to take advantage of home-field advantage.

3. Can a second starter step up for the Trappers and become a reliable postseason performer? They'll be hard-pressed to do it with Cameron alone.

Our prediction: The games will be close, the scoring tally won't be high, but St. Louis will squeak out a Divisional Play-In Series win over the Trappers in 5 games.