Sports Century: Santo Domingo Rush; 2007

 

Hello and Welcome to a special episode of Sports Century. Today we will be looking at the Santo Domingo Rush and their road to a stunning world series victory in 2007…..

 

The Santo Domingo Rush were arguably one of the best teams in the year 2004. Armed with great rookies such as Joe Slugga, Gerald Schultz, and many more, The Rush were poised for a 2004 WS and the record for the first WBL expansion team in history to win a WS Championship in their first year. Led by manager and team leader Gerald Schultz, the Rush seemed anything but beatable. They were building a legacy, and they had to take a World Championship along with them. But, the Sydney Scorpions thought otherwise, and they too, had a World Series to win. Even with all the Rush’s power and pitching and great talent, the Scorpions proved too much for them, and beat Santo Domingo in a stunning upset. The Rush were devastated that they had lost in their greatest season ever, and possibly the greatest season the WBL had ever seen. But, the fact of the matter was that the Sydney Scorpions were the disputed champions of the world, and there are no re-matches in baseball.

 

In 2005, The Rush had to take the World Series trophy back to where it rightfully belonged. But what they didn’t know is that a huge record would be set by the 2005 Great Britain RedCoats. Santo Domingo had come out of the 2004 offseason with high hopes, but they had never expected what was about to come next. Instead of a regular season, the WBL had focused on the dreaded re-draft. The years of hard work the Rush had put in had been all but lost. But even so, the Rush’s hopes had not diminished as Schultz searched for another shot at a title. It seemed as if the WBL had betrayed him by having the redraft, but surprisingly, Gerald actually wanted one, because he knew that what he had in 2004 was not enough. But the 2005 season had not fared as well as Gerald expected and he fell to second place in the WH, losing to a powerhouse in Montreal, who went on to lose the world series against the winners, Great Britain. Great Britain set a WBL record this season by being the only expansion team to win a WS in their first year but only because of the dreaded redraft. But even so, Schultz would not give up.

 

With an influx of new players including Blake Roberts, Paul Levesque, and many more, the Rush were poised to try yet again. They had been on a hot streak for 3 seasons in a row, always having winning records, but the dream would not come true, as Santo Domingo’s greatest rival, Montreal took the WS Championship. Santo Domingo just kept getting left in the dirt. In 2007, however, Santo Domingo’s dreams would all come true.

 

In Baseball, or in any other sport, they say that when a new season starts, everyone is undefeated again. Well that was the case for all the teams in the WBL in the year 2007. Great Britain and Montreal and San Juan and St. Louis all had the same record of 0-0, and everyone was poised to finally start the 2007 season. It was gonna be a doozy.

 

The Starting Lineup for the Santo Domingo Rush:

 

VS. RHP and LHP w/o DH
1.
Shawn Baig SS
2.
Mick Domas RF
3.
Alex Zito C
4. Blake Roberts 2B
5.
Gerald Schultz 1B
6.
Jermaine Guzman CF
7. Andy La Roche 3B
8.
Jonathan James LF
9. PITCHER

vs. RHP and LHP w/ DH

1.
Shawn Baig SS
2.
Mick Domas RF
3.
Alex Zito C
4. Blake Roberts 2B
5.
Gerald Schultz 1B
6.
Jermaine Guzman CF
7. Andy La Roche 3B
8.
Jonathan James LF
9. Fat Sal Lascala DH

Pitching Rotation
1. Joe DeMayo
2. Paul Levesque
3. Zach Kobbs
4. Big Poppa
5.
Ernest P. Worrell

Mop-up Reliever
1.
Chansey Elkhart

Set-up Men
1.
Mick Domas Jr.
2. Raymond Pierce

Closer
1. Raymond Pierce
2. Mick Domas Jr.

 

The Rush Lineup looked strong, if not stronger then ever. At the front of the lineup, the Rush put up strong batter Shawn Baig. Shawn was Sam Baig’s brother, and you all know how powerful Sam was even in his rookie days. Shawn looked to repeat that feat. Hitting Second in the lineup was Mick Domas. Mick, the power rightfielder, was looking for a shot to take it all, and with his style and grace of play, 2007 was the year for him to take it. Batting in the front of the heart was catcher Alex Zito. Alex was one of the best on the Rush in the year 2004, and he was on leaderboards throughout the WBL, His first chance at a title was in 2004, and now Zito was hungry like the Rush. Batting in the heart of the lineup is one of the best, if not the best in the game. Roberts sets the record, even to this day, for most homeruns and RBI, and at this moment in time, is the first person to reach 1000 RBI’s. His first title came in 2004 with the Sydney Scorpions. He was then drafted in 2005 by the Rush, where he hopes for his 2nd ring in 2007. Batting cleanup is the team leader and one of the games best players, Gerald Schultz. Gerald refused to give up on the Rush, and now boasts one of the best lineups in WBL history. Batting 6th in the lineup is Jermaine Guzman. You may have heard of his brother, Shammond Guzman and all of his great accomplishments, but Jermaine is striving to be even better than his brother this year. Near the end of the lineup was Andy La Roche, who was Blake Robert’s cousin. Andy looked to repeat his brothers efforts this year. Batting next to last was Jonathan James. Jonathan had a great season in 2005 and in 2006, but has not picked up the pace since then, but is still a decent player that could hit the ball past the fence. Last but not least, was Fat Sal Lascala, who was a star catcher in 2004, but has slunk to the bottom of the pile, where he plays DH.

 

But even more amazing then the lineup was the rotation. First up was Joe Demayo, who was a huge candidate for Cy Young, and came up 2nd to Dustin Parmelee. Joe had one of the best winning records in the league, along with a sick ERA. Second came Paul Levesque, straight out of the WWF. Paul is now known as one of the best pitchers to ever be in this league. And Santo Domingo has him for 2007. Third in the rotation is Zack Kobbs, who had one of his best seasons in 2006, and goes for his first ring here with the Rush. Pitching fourth, is future Cy Young winner Big Poppa, and in 2007 he will be a big help in Santo Domingo’s quest for a ring. Last but not least, is Ernest P. Worrell, who, after some criticism, got back to the game of baseball and is pitching the best of his life. And as for the bullpen, two of the best in the game, Mick Domas Jr, who currently sets the record for most saves with 24 and Raymond Peirce, another high save getter. But can Santo Domingo win a ring with this lineup? Only time will tell.

 

In the beginning of the season, Santo Domingo had a shaky start. But after gaining some much needed ground, they came back and came within second place of a huge Montreal Team. It was a back and forth battle between Montreal and Santo Domingo, while on the east, all seemed calm as Great Britain continued its’ dominant reign. It was almost heart breaking for Gerald Schultz to go through all that hard work and still fall to second place. But he would not give up no matter the circumstances, and for the rest of the season, Gerald had a ring to take. Santo Domingo was playing with all of their heart, and suddenly, the unexpected happened. The Rush just finished a sweep with Montreal, and they won all 5 games! All the players were very excited, including Gerald Schultz and Blake Roberts. From a 2007 Interview with Gerald Schultz, he was quoted:

 

“When I saw that we were playing a 5 game series with the Montreal Menace, I thought to myself, if we were going to have any chance of making it to the WS and winning it, we were going to need to prove to Montreal that our team will not back down without a fight. Just before the day of the first game, I had a little pep talk with the Rush Players. I told them that this was the game to win, and to show their pride, they had to play with all their strength.”

 

Well, after Gerald’s “pep talk” the Rush won all 5 games against the Menace, and came that much closer to regaining the lead and being first in their division, like they were in 2004. After the 5 game sweep, an interview was conducted with star player Blake Roberts, and he had this to say:

 

“Winning those 5 games against Montreal wasn’t a fluke. I know that I, and the rest of my teammates played our butts off, and we weren’t striving for anything less than winning. I think that winning those games were a real confidence booster for some of the guys on the team, because we were that much closer to being #1 in our division, and to some people, that meant a lot.”

 

But the big stories weren’t just on the field, they were off as well. A string of lies and deceit held Santo Domingo back to being what they were destined to become.

 

In the middle of baseball season, 2007, Santo Domingo was on a roll and looking to reclaim the #1 Spot. Gerald was hyped and so were the rest of his teammates. Almost nothing could stop them. Except for what happened next.

 

Supposedly, one night, as stated by the New York Times, Big Poppa and Joe Demayo were talking in a locker room. Demayo was talking about how good he played in one of the Rush’s games and Poppa was listening. At the end of the conversation, Demayo apparently said something about how Poppa was never going to amount to him, and a racial comment. In a shocking moment caught all on tape, Poppa reached in his locker, took out a baseball bat, and repeatedly hit Demayo in the head. Gerald, after hearing noise in the locker room immediately came over with Blake Roberts and they both restrained Poppa. But it was already too late. Demayo had suffered multiple head injuries, and it looked like he was out cold for the rest of the season. Gerald and Roberts second reaction was that the Rush season was over. Demayo was taken to the hospital, and Big Poppa was put on probation from the next couple of games. Santo Domingo ended up losing most of them, without two of their best pitchers. After the incident, Poppa had this to say:

 

“It started out as a peaceful conversation, but I believed it to be completely unnecessary for Joe to have said those things about me. However, what I did was completely wrong, and I understand that I could face jail charges for this. I am a grown man now and I shouldn’t be doing things like this. So Joe, I am sorry for what I did, it was completely immature of me, and I wanted to let you know that I would make it up to you in any way possible.”

 

After Joe got back from the hospital, the first person he saw again was Big Poppa. Joe was still disgruntled by his attack, but he felt that it was his fault by saying those harsh words to Poppa. The two made up, and it was back to baseball for the Rush. With Poppa and Demayo back to pitch, the Rush made quick work of the other teams, and made it to number 1. But only for a brief stint.

 

The Rush were on a roll, but even after all their hard work, they were still only the underdogs. On the east, Great Britain continued their dominance over the Eastern Teams. Gerald knew it was time for something different, in order for the Rush to pass Montreal yet again in the standings. So, the only thing left to do was change the lineup. Gerald switched it up, but to no avail. Montreal still held first place quite firmly, but the Rush were only behind 4 games. Nearing the end of the 2007 season, Gerald felt anxious and worried, and doubled his teams practice time. Blake hit more homeruns than ever after that, and Gerald was on a hot streak as well. With the greater success, the Rush decided to hold a press conference to talk about the upcoming playoff rush.

 

When asked how he felt about facing Montreal in the playoffs, Gerald had this to answer:

 

“I know that this years playoffs will not be easy, as it was never easy. Neither of us will win in a blowout, which you can see by the results and standings this year. Right now people are saying that Montreal has the advantage in the playoffs, and they could be right. But what those people don’t see is the determination that this team has, and the dedication to the game we have. This year, we are going all the way, and I know that for a fact because of all the heart this team has.”

 

When asked how he felt about losing to Sydney, Blake answered this:

 

“Well, it’s very hard for me to answer that question, so I’ll pass it off to Gerald”

 

Gerald answered this….

 

“As everyone knows, Blake Roberts was the GM of the Scorpions when they won the WS. I am not angry at him for taking the ring away from the Rush, nor am I happy about it at all. I believed that the Rush deserved to win in 2004, but Blake put on quite a show and I respect him for that. To have him play in SDR is just an honor, and he is a great help to this team.”

 

When the season came to a close, the Rush were only 3 games back behind Montreal, and in the east, Dublin and GB were headed to the playoffs.

 

Santo Domingo played with all of their heart with a great effort from Alex Zito and Blake Roberts. But Montreal would not give up. The Menace’s superior pitching took them all the way to game 5. Santo Domingo knew that they had a title to regain, so in game 5, they took it all the way, and what do you know, the Rush were headed to the 2007 World Series!

 

On the east, it was a similar story, Dublin had risen to the challenge against playing with GB. Dublin’s superstar, Jason Rhiner, gave it all he got when playing against GB, and his hard work paid off. Dublin took it all the way to game 5, where Jason’s dream finally came true, and the underdog Dublin was going to the World Series. This was Rhiner’s first WS Appearance, and he was determined to come out of it with a ring. To add to his cause, Jason set a WBL Record in the playoffs with most homeruns, most RBI, and most TB’s in playoff history. Rhiner was looking to repeat this feat in the World Series. But Santo Domingo looked to be a formidable enemy.

 

Rhiner was playing at the top of his game, and elevated Dublin to play their best. It was underdog vs. underdog. Gerald admitted to many journalists that he was actually afraid of the most powerful batter in the WBL at that moment, Jason Rhiner. In the WS, Santo Domingo’s whole hitting team struggled to keep up with Rhiner’s greatness. The match was dead even. But the advantage came to the Rush, whereas their bullpen was too much for Rhiner and the Dublin team. As the last pitch was thrown, the batter struck out, and Santo Domingo had lived it’s dream. Rhiner came out of the WBL WS with 3 World Records, but no ring.

 

Santo Domingo: 2007 World Series Champions

 

Join us next week where we will talk about the Montreal Menace and their road to a WBL world Record.