The Finale of the Orlando Star Tournament featured two veteran
players Sal Caridi and Bill Jempty. However their teams had very contrasting
styles. Caridi's team was based on power led by Alex Rodruiguez, Dave Nilsson,
Carl Everett and Matt Williams among others. His pitching was solid with a
starting staff led by Kris Benson and a relief corp featuring Billy Wagner.
Caridi's home ballpark was the homer haven of Colorado.
Bill Jempty's team featured an airtight defense led by Omar Vizquel,
Pokie Reese, Andruw Jones and Charles Johnson. The offense was based mostly
of high onbase hitters and only had average power. Bill's pitching staff made
up for only a fair rotation with a excellent bullpen led by Keith Foulke,
Jeff Shaw and Alan Embree which gave Bill a 8-1 record in one run games. .
Bill's home park was the singles park of Arizona.
These two teams went head to head in the finals, with Caridi playing the
first 2 and last two games in Colorado. The differences in style could be
exemplified just by the fact that Alex Rodruiguez led Caridi's team with 13
homeruns, 3 of which were grand slams. On the other hand no player on Bill's
team had more than 3 homers the entire tournament before the series finale.
Squads:
Caridi- Benson, Ritchie, Moyer, Glavine, Schrenk, Sauerbeck, Wagner, Adams,
Grimsley, Mantei, L. Castillo, Cedeno, A. Rodruiguez, Everett, Daubach,
Vaughn, M. Williams, Nilsson, J. Gonzalez, Womack, R. White, McGriff, Posada,
Widger
Bill- G. Heredia, Reynolds, Milton, Oliver, Radke, Mota, Shaw, Venafro,
Embree, Wells, Foulke, Fletcher, C. Johnson, Thome, Karros, Durham, Reese,
Vizquel, Mueller, Lowell, Agbayani, Giles, A. Jones, Huskey, Abreu
Caridi -- Colorado
Jempty -- Arizona
| Jempty | Caridi |
| Vizquel SS | Cedeno LF |
| Abreu RF | Castillo 2B |
| Mueller 3B | Everett CF |
| Thome 1B | A.Rodruiguez SS |
| Jones CF | Daubach 1B |
| Giles LF | Williams 3B |
| Durham/Reese 2B | Nilsson C |
| Fletcher/Johnson C | Finley CF |
Bill Jempty 1 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 7 11 0
Sal Caridi 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 1 8 14 2
Heredia, Wells(7), Mota(8), Shaw(8), Foulke(9), Embree(11)
Benson, Grimsley(5), Sauerbeck(7), Adams(9), Schrenk(10), Wagner(11)
WP- Wagner LP- Embree
Homeruns- Daubach(S) 2, J. Gonzalez(S), Cedeno(S), A. Rodruiguez(S)
Bill jumped to an early 6-2 lead only to see Caridi Caridi make a comeback.
In the 9th inning being down 6-4 with 2 out Alex Rodruiguez homered off Jeff
Shaw's card to make it a 6-5 game. Then Keith Foulke came in to face Juan
Gonzalez who hit a BP homer to tie the game. In the top of the Tenth Bill
retook the lead after a single combined with a 2 base error by Carl Everett
and a wild pitch. In the bottom of the 10th with 2 out Roger Cedeno homers on
a 1-4 roll to tie the game. In the bottom of the 11th Everett led off with a
walk, after a strikeout Brian Daubach hit a single past Omar Vizquel who was
covering the bag for a SB attempt. Juan Gonzalez then singled over the heads
of the drawn in outfield to give Caridi a stunning 8-7 comeback win.
Bill Jempty 0 0 0 1 1(10) 0 0 1 13 13 1
Sal Caridi 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 8 1
Oliver
Ritchie, Adams(5), Sauerbeck(6), Mantei (8)
WP- Oliver LP- Ritchie
Homeruns- Thome(B)
This game exemplified the way Bill's team played through most of the
tournament. The game was 1-0 going into the 5th inning with Bill making the
first out of the inning. Then Bill proceded to get 12 straight batters on
base and send 17 batters to the plate in the inning. Only 1 of 9 hits Bill
got in the inning was a extra base hit, a double, this with 8 singles and 5
walks allowed Bill to score 11 runs before Rey Durham struck out with the
bases loaded to end the inning. Darren Oliver making his only series start
gave a solid performance so with the 13-3 triumph the series was tied at 1-1
and would head to Bill's home for the next 3 games.
Sal Caridi 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 3 6 10 0
Bill Jempty 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 9 0
Moyer, Schrenk(6), Grimsley(7), Mantie(7), Wagner(9)
Reynolds, Foulke(9)
WP- Mantei LP- Foulke SV- Wagner
Homeruns- Lowell(B), Everett(S)
In this game Jempty quickly jumped out to a 4-0 lead behind a 3 run homer
by Mike Lowell. Caridi then preceded to comeback. Caridi scored 2 in 3rd, then 1
in the 6th on a Carl Everett homer. In the meantime Caridi's pitchers shut down
Jempty's offense, a big play was Carl Everett's throwing out Brian Giles at the
plate on a 1-15 chance in the bottom of the 7th. Jempty made the fateful
decision to leave Shane Reynolds on the mound in the 9th inning and after
leadoff single and a double by Everett and Rodruiguez he brought Foulke in to
relief. Foulke promptyly gave up a double to Daubach which tied the game up
at 5-5. After getting the next two outs Mo Vaughn got a clutch single to put
Caridi ahead 6-5. Billy Wagner came in to close down the game in the ninth to
give Jempty another heartbreaking loss and Caridi a 2-1 series advantage.
Sal Caridi 2 0 6 0 0 4 12 15 0
Bill Jempty 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 0
Glavine
Milton, Wells(3) Mota(3) Embree (6)
WP- Glavine LP- Milton
Homeruns- Rodruiguez(S), Jones(B)
This abbreviated game put Sal Caridi ahead 3 games to 1 and put Jempty
on the edge of elimination. Both teams traded 2 run homers in the 1st, Mo
Vaughn for Caridi and Jones for Jempty. In the top of the 3rd Caridi led off with
consecutive singles by Rondell White, Chris Widger, and Vaughn. After a walk
and a Sac Fly, Everett singled to load the bases. Bob Wells came in to pitch
and promptly gave up a Grand Slam homer to A. Rodruiguez. This was more than
enough for Caridi who scored 4 more times in the 6th and invoking the rout rule
in a 12-2 triumph.
Sal Caridi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2
Bill Jempty 0 1 0 1 0 2 1 4 X 9 14 0
Benson Adams(6), Sauerbeck(8), Schrenk(8), Grimsley(8)
Radke, Shaw(9)
WP- Radke LP- Benson
Homeruns- None
Needing to win the last 3 games Jempty gets a masterful pitching
performance by Brad Radke who spins a 4 hitter only needing to get 9th inning
assistance by Jeff Shaw after tiring. Again Jempty's team gave a lesson in how
to score without the long ball, pushing 9 runs across the plate with the help
of only 3 doubles. 3 hit games were had by both Jones and Giles in the 9-0
win. With the series now 3-2 it would return to Colorado where Jempty would
face a uphill battle to keep Caridi from winning the championship.
Bill Jempty 0 0 4 0 0 5 2 0 0 11 14 0
Sal Caridi 1 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 5 12 1
Heredia, Wells(6), Mota(8)
Ritchie, Grimsley (4), Adams(6), Mantei(6), Sauerbeck(6), Schrenk(6)
WP- Heredia LP- Adams
Homeruns- Everett, Gonzalez
Caridi got a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first, and a 2 RBI single
by Luis Castillo in the second to jump out to a quick 3-0 lead. Once more
Jempty showed his ability to score runs without the homeruns by pushing 4 runs
across the plate in the 3rd to go ahead 4-3. Caridi tied the game in the bottom
of the 5th on a Daubach homer. Then Jempty struck again, batting around for the
2nd time in the game. 11 batters came to the plate. With only 2 singles, but
5 walks, 1 HBP, and 1 SB Jempty pushed 5 runs across against 4 different
relievers. Jempty added 2 more runs in the 7th while Gonzalez homered. After
giving up 3 runs in the first 2 innings, Jempty's pitchers calmed down and
helped Jempty to a 11-5 win. Rey Durham playing in place of Pokey Reese
supplied 4 hits. Now the series was all square at 3-3 and a climatic 7th game
was in store.
Bill Jempty 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 4 0 7 12 1
Sal Caridi 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 8 0
Reynolds, Venafro(2), Wells(5), Shaw(6), Foulke(8)
Moyer, Wagner(7), Grimsley(9)
WP- Shaw LP- Wagner Save- Foulke
Homeruns- Lowell(B)
With the series on the line Jempty took first blood on a 2nd inning homer
by Mike Lowell. But in the Bottom of the first Caridi scored 5 runs, all
unearned after a 2 out Eric Karros error. Consecutive Doubles followed By
Jorge Posada and Jamie Moyer and when A. Rodruiguez later singled the score
stood 4-1 in Caridi's favor. Jempty brought in Mike Venafro to pitch for the 1st
time in the series. Brian Daubach hit a BP single to make it 5-1. Then
Charles Johnson made a quick throw( FO rareplay) to pickoff Daubach off 1st
base. With 21 outs to go Caridi had a 4 run lead and things were looking bleak
for Jempty.
Again Jempty showed his ability not to quit and how to score runs without
the long ball. In the 3rd inning a single by Vizquel followed by a Karros
double and a Jones single narrowed Caridi's lead to 5-3. In the meantime Jempty's
bullpen was masterful as Venafro, Wells and Shaw shut down Caridi for the next 5
innings. In the 7th after a lead off single by Reese, Caridi brought in his ace
Billy Wagner who promptly retired the next 3 batters. With 6 outs to go Caridi
stood with a 5-3 lead and his ace Wagner ready to complete the series.
But this time it was to be turnaround for Jempty and to avenge Caridi's
comebacks in games 1 and 3. Viquel led the 8th off with a walk. After a
Karros strikeout, Andreuw Jones singled sending Vizquel to 3rd on a ball hit
to the LF White. Bill Mueller(who replaced Lowell after he was pinch run for)
then singled in Vizquel while Jones advanced to 3rd on another single to the
LFer. Then Giles tripled to score both Jones and Mueller to put Jempty up 6-5.
For an insurance run Reese followed up with a single and Jempty was then ahead
7-5. With 6 outs to go, Jempty entrusted the game to his relief ace Foulke.
Foulke did not fail this time, retiring all 6 batters he faced. Luis Castillo
flied out to end the game and give Jempty a incredible 7-5 win and the series 4
games to 3 after being down 3-1 after game 4.
With 15 homeruns, 4 of those grandslams Alex Rodruiguez is the tournament
MVP. For the championship series MVP its a little more difficult. Brian Giles
went 12 for 25 on the series but also had a .633 OBP, 8 Runs, 3 Doubles, 1
Triple, 8 RBI's. Also Credit should be given to Venafro, Wells, Shaw and
Foulke who closed the door on Caridi's offense in game 7 to allow Jempty to
comeback.