Second-Place Showdown
In honor of the 43rd President of the United States (heh, heh, heh),
The Al Gore Cup is a forum for teams that finished second and most
likely feel that they're more deserving than all of the other
first-place teams to be in the championship bracket.
Teams are seeded 1-4 based on regular season records and play a
best-of-seven semifinal round followed by another seven game series to
crown the winner.
The winner receives a bonus of 1 million Benchwarmer Bucks.
The runner-up gets 500,000. Also, in 2004, the winner earns a
free team for 2005 in a new league.
The 2004 Entrants (in order of seeding):
Lake Wobegon (89-61) - Fell just one game short
of the division leaders. Newman (82-68) - Had a small chance in the final
series to catch Wilton. Keene (80-70) - Back and forth most of the year
with Carlisle for first place. Anaheim (78-72) - Came on strong to finish over
.500. Had the best divisional record by far in the Lennon.
Semifinals - Lake Wobegon defeated Anaheim 4-1, Newman beat Keene
4-2.
Finals - Newman vs. Lake Wobegon. Newman won the regular
season series 4-2.
2004 Winner: Lake Wobegon Whippets
Playoffs main page
Finals
Game Newman vs. Lake Wobegon
1
R H E
Newman 4 8 2
Box
Lake Wobegon 7 11 2
WP - LW Bullpen (1-0)
LP - Johnson (0-1) HR - LW: Casey (1)
New: Alou 2-5; Mora 2-5; Burnitz 2-3
LW: Castillo 3-3; Guerrero 2-4; Casey 4-5, 2 R,
2 2B, 3 RBI
Lake Wobegon leads 1-0
2
R H E
Newman 3 8 0
Box
Lake Wobegon 4 8 1
WP - Marquis (1-0)
LP - Santana (0-1) HR - New: Burnitz 2 (2)
New: Mora 2-5; Burnitz 2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI; Jenkins
3-5
LW: Rollins 2-5; Redman 2-4; Marquis 7.7 IP, 1
ER
Lake Wobegon leads 2-0
3
R H E
Lake Wobegon 4 13 1
Box
Newman 5 12 1
WP - Ramirez (1-0)
LP - Milton (0-1) HR - New: Burnitz (3),
Varitek (1)
LW: Castillo 3-4; Guerrero 2-3; Sweeney 2 RBI;
Polanco 2-5; Nix 2-5
New: Nevin 4-5, 3 R; Burnitz 2 R; Varitek 2-3, 2
R
Lake Wobegon leads 2-1
4
R H E
Lake Wobegon 8 11 0
Box
Newman 6 14 0
WP - LW Bullpen (2-0)
LP - Garcia (0-1) HR - LW: Rollins (1),
Guerrero (1), Sweeney (1), Cairo (1)
LW: Castillo 2-4; Rollins 3 RBI; Guerrero 3 RBI;
Sweeney 2-5, 2 R, 3 RBI; Polanco 2-5, 2 R
New: Durham 2 R, 2 RBI; Crisp 3-4, 3 R; Werth
3-5; Blake 2-4, 2 RBI
Lake Wobegon leads 3-1
5
R H E
Lake Wobegon 1 6 2
Box
Newman 3 9 1
WP - Redman (1-0)
LP - LW Bullpen (2-1) HR - none
LW: Polanco 2-2; Clement 10 K
New: Durham 2-3, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 RBI; Mora 2-3;
Jeter 2-5; Redman 7 IP, 1 ER
Lake Wobegon leads 3-2
6
R H E
Newman 12 10 0
Box
Lake Wobegon 3 6 0
WP - Johnson (1-1)
LP - Martinez (0-1) HR - New: Alou (1),
Burnitz 2 (5), Blake (1)
New: Durham 2 R; Mora 3-4, 3 R, 2 2B; Alou 2-4,
3 RBI; Burnitz 2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI; Blake 3 RBI; Johnson 7 IP, 2 ER
LW: Castillo 2-4, 2 R; Guerrero 2-4, 2 SB
Series tied 3-3
7
R H E
Newman 0 5 1
Box
Lake Wobegon 8 12 0
WP - Marquis (2-0)
LP - New Bullpen (0-1) HR - New: Mora (1);
LW: Guerrero (2), Polanco (1)
New: Mora 2-4; Varitek 2-4; Santana 7 IP, 1 ER
LW: Rollins 2-4, 2 R; Guerrero 2-5, 2 RBI; Casey
3 RBI; Polanco 2-5, 2 R; Pierzynski 2-5; Marquis 7.3 IP, 0
ER; Bullpen 0 ER, 3 Sv
Lake Wobegon wins series 4-3
Playoffs main page
Semifinals
Game Semifinal One Semifinal Two
1
R H E
Anaheim 0 6 0
Box
Lake Wobegon 2 6 0
WP - Martinez (1-0)
LP - Ana Bullpen (0-1) HR - none
Ana: Anderson 2 RBI; Ramirez 3-4
LW: Castillo 2-3; Martinez 7 IP, 9 K, 0 ER
Lake Wobegon leads 1-0
R H E
Keene 2 7 4
Box
Newman 7 8 0
WP - Johnson (1-0)
LP - Prior (0-1) HR - Kee: Beltre (1)
Kee: Beltre 2-4, 2 R; Sosa 2-5
New: Durham 2-3, 3 R, 2 2B; Jeter 2 R; Burnitz 2
R; Jenkins 3-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI, Johnson 8 IP, 15 K, 1 ER
Newman leads 1-0
2
R H E
Anaheim 2 8 0
Box
Lake Wobegon 5 13 2
WP - Marquis (1-0)
LP - Webb (0-1) HR - LW: Nix (1)
Ana: Stairs 2-5, 2 R; Alfonzo 2-4
LW: Sweeney 4-5, 2 R; Nix 4-4, 3 R, 2 RBI;
Marquis 8 IP, 1 ER
Lake Wobegon leads 2-0
R H E
Keene 0 6 2
Box
Newman 4 9 0
WP - Santana (1-0)
LP - Kee Bullpen (0-1) HR - Kee: Sosa (1);
New: Jeter (1)
Kee: Sosa 2-5, 5 RBI; Abreu 2-4; Dunn 2-4;
Carpenter 7.3 IP, 8 K, 1 ER
New: Durham 2 R; Alou 2-4; Santana 9 IP, 3 H, 13
K, 0 ER
Newman leads 2-0
3
R H E
Lake Wobegon 7 10 2
Box
Anaheim 4 1 0
WP - Milton (1-0)
LP - Weaver (0-1) HR - LW: Rollins (1),
Guerrero (1); Ana: Stairs (1), Glaus (1)
LW: Rollins 3-6, 3 R; Guerrero 2-4; Pierzynski
2-5; Milton 6.3 IP, 1 ER
Ana: Stairs 2-4, 2 RBI; Glaus 2 R
Lake Wobegon leads 3-0
R H E
Newman 9 9 0
Box
Keene 7 7 2
WP - New Bullpen (1-0)
LP - Lawrence (0-1) HR - New: Nevin (1)
New: Durham 3-4, 2 RBI; Millar 2 RBI; Mora 2-3,
2 R; Nevin 2 RBI
Kee: Cabrera 2-5; Beltre 3-5, 2 R;
Newman leads 3-0
4
R H E
Lake Wobegon 6 15 5
Box
Anaheim 8 12 1
WP - Ana Bullpen (1-1)
LP - Radke HR - LW: Casey 2 (2)
LW: Guerrero 3-4; Casey 5-6, 2 R, 4 RBI; Sweeney
2-5; Inge 3-5, 2 R
Ana: Overbay 2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI; Ramirez 2 RBI;
Alfonzo 2-5, 6 RBI
Lake Wobegon leads 3-1
R H E
Newman 3 11 0
Box
Keene 4 6 0
WP - Escobar (1-0)
LP - Garcia (0-1) HR - Kee: Ortiz (1)
New: Durham 3-5; 3 R; Jeter 2-4; Nevin 2-3;
Jenkins 2-5
Kee: Cabrera 2-4; Ortiz 2-5, 3 RBI
Newman leads 3-1
5
R H E
Lake Wobegon 6 9 0
Box
Anaheim 5 8 0
WP - LW Bullpen (1-0)
LP - Brown (0-1) HR - Ana: Ramirez (1),
Figgins (1)
LW: Rollins 3-4; Casey 2-5; Randa 2-3, 2 R
Ana: Ramirez 2-4, 2 R; Figgins 2 RBI
Lake Wobegon wins series 4-1
R H E
Newman 6 11 1
Box
Keene 9 10 2
WP - Kee Bullpen (1-1)
LP - Redman (0-1) HR - New: Bellhorn (1);
Kee: Ortiz (2); Griffey (1), Dunn 2 (2)
New: Bellhorn 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI; Nevin 2-4;
Varitek 3-5
Kee: Ortiz 2 RBI; Griffey 2 R; Dunn 3-4, 4 RBI;
Vidro 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI
Newman leads 3-2
6
R H E
Keene 0 10 2
Box
Newman 4 10 1
WP - Johnson (2-0)
LP - Prior (0-2) HR - none
Kee: Cabrera 2 RBI; Hidalgo 2-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI;
Matheny 2-4; Vidro 2-5
New: Millar 2 RBI; Mora 2-4; Nevin 3-5, 2 RBI;
Jenkins 2-3; Johnson 8.3 IP, 14 K, 0 ER
Newman wins series 4-2
7
If necessary R H E
Keene 0 0 0
Box
Newman 0 0 0
Carpenter vs. Santana
Playoffs main page
