2007 RWL World Series
by heinz the baron kraus von espy on 2007-09-05

"Once a year we are lucky enough to host one of the premiere events in sports" said Commissioner Malone in his pre-Game 1 speech. This is a lucky day I thought to myself as I was here to witness history. Hunter S. Thompson, before his passing once said this about the RWL: "in some circles, the RWL World Series is a far, far better thing than the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby and the Lower Oakland Roller Derby Finals all rolled into one." 5 hours or so of the most blissful Opera with no bathroom breaks or blinking. Make no mistake, we sit on the crest, on the pinnacle of professional sports on this day.

Coming into the series, Tim Dunn had dominated the league in 2007. Finishing an astounding 20 games over .500, a feat that may never be topped, Tim looked to capture his second series ring. This one was a bit more important to Tim than the last as his win in 2005 was shrouded in controversy as Rob Trujillo walked off the field leaving Tim and Bobby Hastings an advantage over the three player team of Bryan Dunn, Mike Beland and Greg Childs. This series would be Tim Dunn's coup de gras. Tim was backed by offensive Juggernaut Mike Beland and the crafty and suddenly surging Greg Childs. Opposing the lefty trio would be right Jeff Johnson, Bob Hastings and Bryan Dunn. A coin flip gave home field advantage to the righties.

Game 1

Game 1 would feature RWL rookie of the year candidate Jeff Johnson making his virgin voyage to the Series. Opposing Johnson would be Tim Dunn. On paper, 3 time Cy Young Young award winner Tim Dunn (11-3, 4.12) would seem to be the favorite though Johnson (2-4, 5.83) had come off his most impressive performance on the season, a complete game shutout. With winds swirling in this afternoon affair the first pitch was thrown.

Both men looked sharp early shutting down opposing hitters for the first three innings. Johnson would walk three batters early while Tim only allowed a single baserunner on a Johnson double. The fourth inning began with a liner off the right field wall by Tim Dunn for a double. Professional hitter Mike Beland would follow with a towering drive off of Trujillo's pole in left to give the lefties a 2-0 lead.

Bob Hastings, who received a lifetime invite to the RWL World Series before the game from Sam Malone, would make "Mayday" proud in the bottom of the fourth with a solo shot to cut the lead in half. Jeff Johnson would help his own cause in the 5th with a solo homer off Tim Dunn to tie the game at 2. Little did we know that we would be headed for the greatest game in RWL World Series history. Both Johnson and Dunn would bear down and baffle would be sluggers for the next 6 innings.

In the 7th, a walk to Beland and singles by Tim Dunn and Greg Childs would load the bases with nobody out for the lefties. A heads-up Beland after hammering a shot to the track in left called a "tag-up". Hastings, quickly remembering what this meant fired the ball toward the plate. A single hop and devistating plastic on wood reverboration would signal a double play and take us to the eighth inning. It wasn't until the 10th however that this game would end. Leading off the 10th, Bobby Hastings would hammer the second recorded Walkoff Homer in the RWL Series. One would have to wonder what effect this would have on the team of lefties as their best pitcher had been defeated and the momentum was palpable.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	FINAL
HOME	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	3
AWAY	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2

Game 2
Game 2 would feature Bryan Dunn (8-6, 4.70) against rival Greg Childs (6-7, 5.61). This matchup had produced some of the best games in RWL history, a thing of lore really that kept historians in gainful employ. This matchup would start with some controversy however, as a diving "grab" by Tim Dunn was called an out despite Tim's "I think I caught it?" response. Making matters worse was that after a Hastings single, Bryan Dunn hammered his first homer of the series making it 2-0. Should it have been 3-0? Our best A&V people here at the Acosta Tribune have studied the film without sleep for the last 3 days and have come to one conclusion: only Tim Dunn knows the fate of that liner hit by Johnson.

On the other side, Bryan Dunn cruised through the first 4 innings without issue, yeilding only a single hit while striking out 3 and walking none. In the fifth however, Mike Beland would cut his team's defecit in half with a solo homer wrapped delicately around Trujillo's pole in left. A scoreless bottom of the fifth would lead the way into the sixth. Bryan Dunn was able to get his cousin Tim to fly out and end it on a strikeout of Mike Beland. The series would shift to the home field of Tim Dunn's squad in a 2-0 hole.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	FINAL
HOME	2	0	0	0	0	0	2
AWAY	0	0	0	0	1	0	1

Game 3
Bob Hastings, fresh off his return to the batters box, would take the hill against knuckleballer Mike Beland (7-6, 5.45). Beland would help his own cause with a 2 run homer in the first while shutting down his opponents. Beland, like his entire squad, seemed to pitch very carefully to Bryan Dunn throughout the series. Bryan would be the recipient of 5 intentional walks in the series, but Beland would make a pair of mistakes in this one. Dunn hammered a pair of solo homers to tie the game in the fourth, followed by a Bobby Hastings homer to give the visitors the lead.

No lead is safe however with T. Dunn, Beland and Childs on the same team however, right? Despite hammering the ball all day long, Greg Childs gathered just 4 hits in the series. The 75 page scouting report put together by lead scout Ernie Capadino was the difference as the trio of righties had Greg's number all day. Tim Dunn, despite all the hype, was also unable to drive in a single run. A monumental disappointment for the best player in the RWL this season. This game would end on a groundout by Beland 3-2 in a series sweep.

Bobby Hastings was awarded his third RWL World Series MVP trophy for his efforts. Next up is the RWL voting which could have some surprises this year.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	FINAL
HOME	2	0	0	0	0	0	2
AWAY	0	0	1	2	0	0	3

World Series Stats

Mike Beland	4-19, 3HR, 5RBI (0-1, 6IP, 3R, 2K)
Greg Childs	4-19, 0HR, 0RBI (0-1, 6IP, 2R, 2K)
Tim Dunn	8-19, 0HR, 0RBI (0-1, 9IP, 3R, 3K)
Jeff Johnson	3-21, 1HR, 1RBI (1-0, 10IP, 2R, 2K)
Bob Hastings	7-20, 3HR, 3RBI (1-0, 6IP, 2R, 1K)
Bryan Dunn	5-15, 3HR, 4RBI (1-0, 6IP, 1R, 3K)