{"id":7656,"date":"2010-08-27T16:02:05","date_gmt":"2010-08-27T23:02:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/?p=7656"},"modified":"2010-08-27T16:02:05","modified_gmt":"2010-08-27T23:02:05","slug":"which-closer-will-be-key-to-winning-it-all-julio-williamson-warden-in-the-mix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2010\/08\/27\/which-closer-will-be-key-to-winning-it-all-julio-williamson-warden-in-the-mix\/","title":{"rendered":"Which Closer Will Be Key to Winning It All? Julio, Williamson, Warden in the Mix"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been a few years now since Jorge Julio <\/strong>and Scott Williamson <\/strong>were prominent major league closers, and it is total conjecture whether either can get back to that level in a major way since they have crossed over to their 30s.\u00c2\u00a0 But this much is certain:\u00c2\u00a0 They are vital to two of the Atlantic League <\/strong>teams that hope to be celebrating a championship come the first couple of days of October.<\/p>\n

Julio has anchored Bridgeport<\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/strong>bullpen all season, and Williamson has been a spark for defending champion Somerset<\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/strong>late run that has the five-time champion Patriots <\/strong>sitting two games atop the second-half Freedom Division <\/strong>standings.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>These two men, who have a combined 154 major league saves, could well decide the championship as closers often do, just as Jim Ed Warden <\/strong>may do it for Southern Maryland<\/strong>, Sean Stidfole <\/strong>at York, Tim Hamulack <\/strong>for Lancaster <\/strong>or Ricardo Gomez <\/strong>at Long Island.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Thursday was a typical night with Julio nailing a league-tying 24th<\/sup> save, Warden, who also has 24 picking up a win, Williamson earning his sixth save in just over two weeks time, Gomez closing out a victory in a non-save situation and Hamulack taking a tough loss when Southern Maryland scored two ninth inning runs against him to sting the Barnstormers<\/strong>, 11-10.\u00c2\u00a0 Only Stidfole did not work.<\/p>\n

Otanez Joins Ducks in Time to Face Bridgeport<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Long Island Ducks <\/strong>could get a major lift this weekend just in time for their three-game series at Bridgeport <\/strong>with the expected addition of Willis Otanez, <\/strong>who needed a few days off for personal matters after winning the Mexican League<\/strong> batting title with a .393 average.\u00c2\u00a0 It is ironic Otanez\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first Atlantic League <\/strong>play this season will come against Bridgeport, since he spent part of six consecutive seasons (2002-07) with the Bluefish.<\/strong> He had a .470 on-base percentage and hit a dozen home runs in Mexico<\/strong> to boost his career total between the major and minor leagues to 326.<\/p>\n

Bridgeport added a second Mexican Leaguer itself Friday when it inked infielder Victor Mercedes, <\/strong>fresh from a .336 season with 81 RBI in 101 games.\u00c2\u00a0 Mercedes hit .289-1-36 in 201 at-bats with Newark last season.\u00c2\u00a0 The Bluefish already have gotten two victories in as many decisions from former major league right-hander Esteban Yan, <\/strong>who had a 12-3 season south of the border.\u00c2\u00a0 Yan won 11 times for the Bluefish <\/strong>one year ago, and probably will head their rotation for the playoffs.<\/p>\n

* * * *WANT MORE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL COVERAGE?\u00c2\u00a0 Check out\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/a> and www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a> * * * *<\/strong><\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pitching Defections Costly to York<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

York <\/strong>certainly isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the same team right now as when it was winning first-half honors, but Darrell Henry, <\/strong>the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s broadcaster and publicist, points out a good portion of the problem is due to the loss of no less than seven pitchers, six of whom retired or left the team for personal reasons.<\/p>\n

<\/strong>The seven accounted for 16 wins, with the major loss being when Jesus Sanchez <\/strong>(7-6) went to Taiwan<\/strong>. <\/strong><\/p>\n

(These are excerpts from the <\/em>Atlantic League Notebook. <\/em>Subscriptions to the full Notebook <\/em>are available via www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/a> or www.WirzandAssociates.com<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 Bob Wirz also writes a weekly column, the Independent Baseball Insider<\/em>, as well as a blog, www.IndyBaseballChatter.com. The author <\/strong>has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as chief spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT.) <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been a few years now since Jorge Julio and Scott Williamson were prominent major league closers, and it is total conjecture whether either can get back to that level in a major way since they have crossed over to their 30s.\u00c2\u00a0 But this much is certain:\u00c2\u00a0 They are vital to two of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":452,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6254,9],"tags":[104,5807,1307,10187,7289,10188,7899,10183,118,3095,10192,10184,10189,10191,6252,10185,10186,844,10190,10170],"class_list":["post-7656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-atlantic-league-notebook","category-general","tag-base-percentage","tag-bluefish","tag-consecutive-seasons","tag-defending-champion","tag-game-series","tag-jorge-julio","tag-long-island-ducks","tag-major-league-closers","tag-minor-leagues","tag-ninth-inning","tag-personal-matters","tag-ricardo-gomez","tag-scott-williamson","tag-sean-stidfole","tag-southern-maryland","tag-tim-hamulack","tag-time-champion","tag-two-games","tag-typical-night","tag-willis-otanez"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t