Bulldogs shock Crownrificos

Despite dire reports in the press and rumors of clubhouse tension, the upstart Burlington Bulldogs shocked the San Juan Crownrificos in the 1st round of the playoffs, taking 3 straight after a game one loss at home.

In game two the dogs got 7 shutout innings from Footsie Wall and held on very a 3-2 win as closer Mateo Mairena finished up.

Game 3 saw a return to San Juan. Everyone expected a blow-out victory, but Burlington had a secret weapon. 21-year old Alfonso Ramirez is from San Luis Potosi, Mexico but has 304 cousins that live in Puerto Rico! Turns out that one of them is the head groundskeeper's assistant. He
"forgot" to mow the lawn for a week and Ramirez threw 6 stellar innings relying on ground balls to slow the 'Rifico attack.

Then, in game 4, the Dogs jumped on Cy Young candidate Phil Martin. Martin, a Japanese citizen and son of a GI stationed in Okinawa decided to revive his tradition of eating pre-game sushi. Martin never lost a game in the Japanese league after sushi from his favorite restaurant. Since reviving the tradition in Rochester in season 6 and had gone 3-1 with 2 complete games in 6 starts after eating 3 Underground Dragon Rolls from this place. San Juan ain't Rochester and the photo at the left is the "dragon roll" from Paco's Sushi in San Juan. Needless to say, 8 runs and countless dry heaves later, the Crownrifico season was over and the Bulldogs were off to play the Bandejos.