October 19, 2007       

The Detroit Divas are the Venus Baseball Champions for the second consecutive season. Putting an exclamation point on their storybook run to becoming repeat winners of the VBL crown, they swept the Atlanta Vixens in four games, winning the finale, 12-0.

"What a wonderful feeling," said Divas Manager Angie Dickinson. "It is such an accomplishment for this team and they were a team in every sense, from beginning to end. They never gave up and once we got rolling, we could not be stopped."

During the two rounds of the playoffs, the Divas outscored their opponents, 79-43 (in  ten games). They scored more than 10 runs in five games, including in 3 of the 4 World Series games.

Team captain, Angelina Jolie, was ecstatic: "I love these ladies - they never got down and just kept moving ahead. At the end, it was like we had all this pent up energy that we just released. I am so happy for the whole team and we should be proud of what we have accomplished."

Pitcher Allison Mack won the first and last games of the series, and was named MVP. Mack pitched 8 innings in each game. In the first game of the series, she gave up 5 hits and 2 earned runs in a 4-3 Diva victory. In the series clincher, Mack gave up 5 hits and no earned runs. Her final line: 16 innings, 10 hits, 14 K's and only 4 walks. Her WHIP was an astounding 0.875.

In 35 starts this year, Mischa struck out 259 batters in 221.2 innings of work. She topped the AL with an ERA of 3.25. Her record was 18-7 and she finished tied for 2nd in wins!

This season, Bynes compiled an ERA of 2.82, going 21-7 in 35 starts. She fanned 258 while giving up 203 hits in 258.1 innings. She had 4 complete games and 2 shutouts. She was 1st in the National League in ERA and 1st in wins!

Detroit's rightfielder Amy Smart will never forget this day. A great season convinced the voters that she is the worthy American League Most Valuable Player winner.

This year, Smart drove in 138 and scored 139 runs while batting .325 with 42 bombs. She was 3rd in the American League in batting, 1st in homeruns and 1st in RBI!

Atlanta's first baseman Laura Harris will never forget this day as well. She was named the National League Most Valuable Player.

While compiling an on base percentage of .348, Laura hit .278 and slugged .543. She has collected 128 runs batted in this year, and was 1st in the National League in RBIs and 2nd in homeruns!

The American League Rookie of the Year winner was announced today, with New York's centerfielder Lena Headey earning the trophy for putting up the best numbers among rookies in her league.

Lena hit .301 this year, with 165 hits in 548 at bats. She drove in 118 runs, slugging .573. She finished 4th in the American League in RBIs and 4th in homeruns!

The 2007 National League Rookie of the Year winner is from St. Louis this season. Emerald Ignacio put together impressive numbers for a rookie en route to win the first major award of her young career. Let's hope more will follow for this 26 year old ballplayer.

Her season numbers: .306 AVG, 182 hits, 27 doubles, 3 triples and 24 taters, along with 95 RBI and 117 runs scored. She finished 6th in the National League in batting!