Akron Captures EL Crown

The Eastern League season is over, and the Akron Aeros captured the crown with a three games to one victory in the championship series over the Sea Dogs. In Friday night's game the Aeros pieced together a walk, fielder's choice and bloop double to left off Anibal Sanchez to score the only two runs in a 2-0 victory. Wade Miller pitched brilliantly in his rehab start, allowing just one hit over five innings, however the Sea Dogs were unable to take advantage of five hits and five walks. Half of Portland's base runners were erases with a pick off, a caught stealing, and three double plays. Jon Van Every provided the soft game winning hit for Akron. Brian Slocum pitched 6.1 innings and combined with three relievers for the shutout.

In Saturday night's finale there was more of the same. The Sea Dogs squandered more base runners while the Aeros came up with the timely hits for a 4-1 victory and the championship. Jake Dittler pitched seven shutout innings before turning things over to Chris Cooper and Edward Mujica to close things out. This was the same formula used by Akron in their first two victories and resulted in the same outcome, though Mujica did allow an RBI double by Hanley Ramirez in the ninth for the only run surrendered by the combination in the series. Cooper and Mujica were tough all year, with Cooper posting a 2.08 ERA for the Aeros and Mujica a 2.88 following a midseason promotion from Kinston. Portland starter David Pauley allowed two runs (one earned) in four innings pitched, while Randy Beam surrendered the final two in his one inning pitched. Highlights for the Sea Dogs included a four hit night for Jeremy West, who hit .538 (7-13) in the series, and two more shutout innings in relief by Edgar Martinez. Akron's Nate Panther also went 4-4 which, in combination with his game winning home run in game two, was enough for him to secure the series MVP.

The series was a microcosm of the entire series for the Sea Dogs - a fast start, some squandered opportunities in the middle and, at the end, a finish that fell short of expectations. There were some good performances by top prospects and others who failed to come through as expected. In all, though, it ends up as one of the greatest seasons in Sea Dogs history. The team set a franchise attendance record (average attendance per game) this season despite abysmal weather through most of April and May. (That's paid attendance, by the way. I was at more than a couple of games where actual total of fans in seats was at least 2,00o, and as much as 5,000, below the announced attntance.) For the first time in nearly ten years there was an abundance of prospects on the team, and a handful of players made it from Portland to Boston during the course of the season. So congratulations on the terrific season, Sea Dogs, and hold your heads high in recognition of the terrific season that you gave us.