AS SOMERSET ENJOYS ANOTHER TITLE, WE WONDER WHO AMONG INDY STARS WILL BE ON MAJOR LEAGUE ROSTERS IN OCTOBER

Chalk up one more for the Somerset (NJ) Patriots.

Travis Anderson's walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning Monday night lifted Sparky Lyle's gang to its fourth Atlantic League title, and officially ended the Independent Baseball season.

This corner's attention immediately shifted to the major league postseason, and to which Independent players might be on the 25-man rosters.

In other words, lots of news and thoughts, as always.

POSTSEASON ROSTERS

I had thought reliever Mark DiFelice might have a chance of being among the chosen 25 at Milwaukee, especially since Manager Dale Sveum had used the right-hander in some key spots down the stretch. It was not to be, we learned late Tuesday, but DiFelice, who pitched for both Somerset and its Atlantic League championship series opponent Camden, NJ in his Indy days, will stay with the Brewers which means there always is a chance he could be activated for later in October.

If anyone spots the 32-year-old during the Division Series against the Phillies it will be pre-game or in the stands since only six players not active will be allowed on the bench. Milwaukee identified its sextet, mostly veteran players. For the record, DiFelice finished with the fourth best earned run average on the Brewers' staff, posting a 2.84 ERA and winning the only decision of his first year in the majors. Four walks and 20 strikeouts in 19 innings (17 hits) look pretty good on the resume for next season.

THREE OR FOUR EXPECTED TO BE ON ROSTERS

All the details will not be known until Wednesday because some teams have that long to make a decision, but it would appear either three or four players with actual Independent playing experience will be active for the Division Series.

Milwaukee has catcher Mike Rivera (Atlantic City, NJ), who hit .306 during the season but seldom plays because of backing up durable Jason Kendall. It does not help his case of pinch-hitting since the Brewers only carry two catchers. Chris Coste (Fargo, ND, Northern League, plus the defunct Prairie and North Central Leagues) has a similar role with Philadelphia although his chances of playing or coming off the bench are much better since Carlos Ruiz's bat is not his strong suit. Outfielder J. D. Drew (St. Paul, MN) appears likely to be ready to play for Boston (barring any late recurrence of his injuries), and lefty Craig Breslow (New Jersey Jackals) will be in his usual situational role in the Minnesota bullpen, if the Twins outlast the Chicago White Sox in their one-game playoff.

A few of the other players who finished the season with playoff-bound teams may be invited to stay around, as DiFelice is doing.

SOMERSET PREVAILS IN '01, '03, '05, '08

We intend to get deeper into Somerset's success in this week's subscriber-only Independent Baseball Insider, but it is no secret Newark, NJ is the only other team to grab even more than one Atlantic League title in the 11 seasons the league has been around. Newark has won twice. The Patriots' legend grows with its fourth championship, all in this decade. Third baseman Brandon Larson was named MVP of the final series, won in four games by Somerset.

GRIMES' HOT SEASON PAYS OFF WITH METS DEAL

Outfielder Scott Grimes of Worcester, MA, who took Player of the Year honors in the Can-Am League, has been rewarded for his .365-21-57 season and a league-record 87 runs by signing with the New York Mets' organization. His is one of several signings we have seen already in the early days since the various Independent league playoffs have finished. There will be more to come.

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IN KEY GAMES, INDY GRAD ROBINSON CANCEL COMES UP BIG FOR METS, AND BRESLOW STAYS SHARP FOR TWINS.

What a perfect example we saw last night (Thursday) of the value of Independent leagues to major league teams.

The New York Mets would not be tied for the National League wild-card and only one game behind Philadelphia for the NL East title without the feats of Robinson Cancel.

Cancel has gone to Independent Baseball on three separate occasions when his catching career stalled in affiliated leagues. He spent all of 2003 in the Atlantic League (Somerset, NJ for 69 games and the traveling Road Warriors for 19). He returned to Somerset for a brief time the next year, then was in the United League (Edinburg, TX) for all of 2006 before he found a new home with the Mets organization.

Now, fast forward to last night when the struggling Mets had to replace regular catcher Brian Schneider (sore back) only 90 minutes before the crucial game against the Cubs, who had dealt them a crushing 9-6, 10-inning defeat a day earlier. Enter Cancel, generally considered the No. 3 backstop.

With New York suddenly facing a 6-3 deficit in the bottom of the seventh, the 32-year-old Cancel, who only had 15 games of major league experience prior to this season, led off with a line double to left-center, and came around to score.

Still down by two in the bottom of the eighth, the Mets rallied to make it 6-5. It is the stocky Cancel's turn again, and this time he delivers a line single to right on a 1-2 pitch to tie the game. The Mets won in the bottom of the ninth, 7-6.

"Yesterday's loss was a big loss," Cancel told The Associated Press. "But today we tried to regroup." He played a major role, which might well pay off again if the Mets make the postseason and they find room on their 25-man roster for this guy with all of the Indy experience.

Another Indy grad, Minnesota lefty Craig Breslow (New Jersey Jackals, Little Falls), continued to show his worth last night, as well. He needed only 13 pitches to set down the rival Chicago White Sox in the eighth inning, keeping the Twins only two runs behind. Minnesota got those runs back in the bottom of the eighth, won in the 10th and now sit one-half game atop the American League Central standings.

Breslow now sports a nifty 1.93 earned run average.

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SOMERSET SEEKS FOURTH ATLANTIC LEAGUE TITLE AGAINST CAMDEN, WHICH IS GOING AFTER ITS FIRST

The New Jersey-based teams of Camden and Somerset have at least a couple of things in common and one that is anything but similar as they prepare to square off for the Atlantic League championship starting Friday night.

Atop the similarity list, at least to this typist, is the fact they have the greatest number of their former players in the major leagues of any Independent Baseball club. Both have four big-leaguers, which is a pretty heady accomplishment.

Somerset's quartet all are in the heat of postseason consideration, too. The two teams both lay claim to Milwaukee hurler Mark DiFelice. The Patriots also have pitcher Brandon Knight and catcher Robinson Cancel with the New York Mets and backstop Michel Hernandez with Tampa Bay. Camden's contingent includes Arizona shortstop Stephen Drew, whose team is on life support today, reliever Alberto Castillo at Baltimore and we give the RiverSharks credit for Angels pitcher Jered Weaver although he really only trained with but did not play in Camden.

Another similarity is the way the teams dispatched of Long Island, NY (Camden) and York, PA (Somerset) in two quick games apiece in the first round of the playoffs.

Digressing from the subject for a moment, I must say that with a 140-game regular season a mere three-game playoff seems insufficient. If anyone wants to officially debate this issue it could well start at the desk of Atlantic League Founder Frank Boulton, who also owns the quickly-dispatched Long Island Ducks.

For those of you scratching your head over the area where Somerset and Camden are miles apart entering the best-of-five finals which start in Camden it is as simple as this. Somerset has won three of the 10 previous Atlantic League titles, all under current Manager Sparky Lyle, while Camden is trying to get to the throne room for the very first time.

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DO NOT THINK IT IS OVER FOR INDY HURLERS; CHECK OUT THIS TRIO'S WORK IN THE BIGS

Independent Baseball is down to just one league still with its playoffs to be determined, but don't get the idea the opportunities of following some of the best players from the non-affiliated ranks has gone away. That candle continues to burn brightly this week, and there will be a few people to check out every day well into October.

Now that Windy City (Crestwood, IL) has picked off its second consecutive Frontier League crown, the full attention of Indy teams falls to the Atlantic League. Camden, NJ will be at Long Island, NY and Somerset, NJ at York, PA to open the best-of-three series in the Liberty and Freedom Divisions, respectively, Tuesday night. The best-of-five finals will open Friday at either Camden or Long Islnad.

We are tracking those among the 26 former Independent players now wearing major league uniforms who will could get into the postseason, and will have much more to say on that subject in the coming days in this space or in our regular Independent Baseball Insider column to subscribers each Thursday.

In the interim, three hurlers among the big-league contingent have been getting this corner's attention. They are doing quite well, thank you, even though the glut of sports may not get them on Sports Center as much as they deserve. They are quite evident when we dig into the fine print of the newspapers.

Arizona's Max Scherzer is the likeliest of the trio to make it to Sports Center or Baseball Tonight because his work has bordered on exceptional even though the 24-year-old University of Missouri product still is looking for his first major league victory.

You think I'm overstating it? In three September starts for the Diamondbacks, this onetime Fort Worth (TX) Cats star right-hander has struck out 28 National League hitters in just 16 innings. That three-game sample projects out to 15.75 K's every nine innings. Scherzer has surrendered 14 hits and five walks while being charged with seven runs (3.94), a little above the 3.52 ERA he has for his 15 major league appearances.

Hold your breath that the D-Backs give him some support in what almost certainly will be one more regular season start so he might get to 1-3 before all of the postseason pairings are known by Sunday night.

Scott Richmond, another righty who started in Independent Baseball (Edmonton, Alberta, in the Northern League before the CrackerCats transferred to the Golden League in '08) shot through Toronto's farm system in less than a year (he only signed last November 20), and already has four major league starts. It seems an understatement to say the Blue Jays are impressed with the 29-year-old. His last start came yesterday (Sunday) with the Red Sox still trying to nail down a postseason berth.

Richmond was not overwhelmed, though his record fell to 0-3 (5.14) as the World Champs managed three runs and five hits against him in five innings. One was a two-run David Ortiz homer, and Toronto got only three hits off Daisuke Matsuzaka (18-2) and two relievers the entire afternoon in the 3-0 Boston win.

How highly does that speak of Richmond's three years of seasoning in Edmonton, where he was a combined 4-10 virtually all in relief for two seasons and a 10-9, 4.26 starter last summer.

The third hurler making some career progress at age 32 is Mark DiFelice, now with the NL wild-card-chasing Milwaukee Brewers. After toiling 10 seasons exclusively in the minor leagues, including half of 2005 at Somerset and all of 2006 at Camden (yes, two of the Atlantic League playoff teams mentioned above), DiFelice got into six major league games in June. More impressively, he has been called on four times in September, and not just to mop up. Point in case came Saturday, a devastating 4-3 loss to Cincinnati.

Trailing 4-2 with one out in the bottom of the eighth, Richmond was summoned. He promptly fanned Jolbert Cabrera, gave up a single, then got the final out of the inning to keep Milwaukee within striking distance.

It would not be a total shock to see DiFelice on the postseason roster, if the Brewers can get there. What a jump it would be from the Northern League to the NL postseason in less than one calendar year.

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ATLANTIC LEAGUER TO GET KEY START FOR METS AS CARTER, LANIER CELEBRATE TITLES

It appears the Atlantic League will be thrust squarely into the middle of the suddenly blazing National League East race Wednesday night. Pretty good for Independent Baseball, right?

New York Mets Manager Jerry Manuel says either Nelson Figueroa or Brandon Knight will get the ball that night to face the Washington Nationals. Both have pitched in the Atlantic League, with Knight at Somerset, NJ all of last year (12-5, 4.03) and earlier this season (0-2, 2.56 in six starts). Figueroa spent a little time with the Long Island (NY) Ducks in 2006.

MAJOR LEAGUERS GET LATEST INDY LEAGUE TITLES

How is this for big names on the major league stage winning Independent Baseball titles?

Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter, who has made it well known he would like to be a big-league manager, got to celebrate the Golden League championship this season when his Orange County Flyers pushed across two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning of the deciding fifth game for a 10-9 victory over Calgary. The Flyers are based in Fullerton, CA, which just happens to be Carter's former hometown.

And Hal Lanier, the 1986 Manager of the Year in the National League for leading Houston to a 96-66 record, took Sussex (Augusta, NJ) from worst-to-first in the Can-Am League. Lanier, a longtime fixture in the Northern League, brought the Skyhawks from a slow start this season to a 3-0 sweep of Quebec in the Can-Am Championship Series. Sussex won 6 of 7 in the playoffs with Matt Weston's three homers, 10 RBI and a .333 average leading the way.

Some excellent photos of Sussex's championship run can be found at http://www.njherald.com/.

Jermy Acey, who hit .374 with 21 homers and a league-record 97 RBI during the regular season, was a standout for Orange County with four homers, 12 runs batted in and a .357 average for the entire playoffs although this reporter cannot help but wonder what would have happened to this series if Darryl Brinkley had stayed with Calgary. The 39-year-old hit .399 for the Vipers one year ago and .351 with 60 RBI this season, but his last game was August 28. He joined Bridgeport, CT of the Atlantic League in early September (while Calgary was still playing), where he has been a part-time outfielder, hitting .250 (6-for-24) with two RBI.

WEATHER WOES IN MIDWEST

The Kansas City (KS) T-Bones and defending champion Gary, IN are scheduled to get their Northern League championship series, which stands at a game apiece, back on track in Gary Monday night. The teams have not played since Wednesday. In the Frontier League, three consecutive postponements have continued to push the start of the Windy City (Crestwood, IL) vs. Kalamazoo, MI finals back. The new start date in Kalamazoo is Tuesday evening.

WE JUMPED THE GUN

We apparently jumped the gun by saying International League Pitcher of the Year Charlie Zink was back with the parent Boston Red Sox, even though we saw it on a MLB transaction list. It must have been one of those "recalled, not to report" transactions since the knuckleball hurler remains on Boston's 40-man roster. That puts the total of former Independent players in the majors at 26, including disabled Luke Hochevar (Kansas City).

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LANCASTER'S WOODS LEADS OFF WITH HOMER EIGHTH TIME

My, how quickly things change.

No more had I written in my subscriber-only Independent Baseball Insider Thursday that Atlantic League Player-of-the-Month (August) Michael Woods had led off games with a home run for Lancaster seven times since July 25 when, wouldn't you know, he did it again that night to help keep the Barnstormers within four games of Freedom Division-leading York.

It was Woods's 28th birthday, too.

The two Pennsylvania rivals separated by less than an hour have a really neat day coming up Saturday, September 20. They will play a doubleheader with the day game (12:07) in York and the night contest (7:05) at Lancaster.

Every fan with ticket stubs from both games will receive free a limited-edition t-shirt commemorating the event although the supply is not unlimited. One of those fans also will win $1,000.

The games could decide the second-half title, too, with the regular season ending the next day in Lancaster.

TWO MORE INDY ORIGINALS BACK IN MAJORS

We also wrote yesterday at some length about 25 former Independent players being in the major leagues for the September stretch drive, with many of them on contending teams.

Add two more just 24 hours later, and both of these right-handed pitchers started their career in Indy leagues. San Diego picked up reliever Scott Patterson off waivers from the Yankees, for whom he had gotten into his first--and only--major league game June 1. Patterson was expected to be in uniform Friday night when the Padres host San Francisco.

Boston brought knuckleball hurler Charlie Zink, the International League Pitcher-of-the-Year, back up from Triple-A Pawtucket, RI. Zink had made his major league debut with a start on August 12.

Patterson spent considerable time with both the Gateway Grizzlies (Sauget, IL) in the Frontier League and Lancaster and Zink started out at Yuma, AZ when the current Golden League city had a Western League franchise. Patterson gives the Atlantic League 11 players in the majors for the stretch drive.

PENSACOLA SKIPPER NOW WITH METS

We send somewhat belated congratulations to Mac Seibert, who managed Pensacola, FL in the American Association the last two seasons, for his new job as a scouting supervisor with the New York Mets. Seibert is going back to familiar territory since he has about 12 years of scouting duties with three major league organizations already.

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STOCKING UP FOR THE PLAYOFFS IS BOTHERSOME; KUDOS TO SIOUX FALLS AND THE GOLDEN LEAGUE

Is it just me or is it wrong that Independent teams can bring in strong players from teams in other leagues who are out of the playoffs to reinforce their own postseason rosters?

This practice is not new although it seems to this corner the practice is increasing.

Sure, an Independent team should be able to fill out a roster depleted by injuries or a player who has to go back to school before the playoffs. It would not be fair for a team to have to play shorthanded, and Independent teams do not have farm systems.

But it seems some ruling needs to be considered so that a star pitcher or hitter is not added to roster merely because his team isn't going to be in the playoffs. Some organizations would take a financial hit to enter into this "bulking up" process. Besides, where is the fairness for a team good enough to make the postseason with its regular season roster to reach to the outside for a new star player in one of those "John Doakes was traded to Team A for a player to be named later"? Anyone in the know realizes that player to be named will likely be John Doakes going back to his original organization once the playoffs have ended.

How would anyone like it in the major leagues if some playoff-bound team could add Cleveland's Cliff Lee (21-2) or San Francisco's Tim Lincecum (16-3) only to have them return to their current team once the season is over? The screams would be heard from now until the Super Bowl was over.

CONGRATULATIONS TO SIOUX FALLS AND THE GOLDEN LEAGUE

It took 16 years (the duration of today's Independent Baseball), but the Sioux Falls (SD) Canaries now have a league title. Steve Shirley guided the Canaries to the American Association crown, and it must feel oh so good to everyone in the South Dakota city, one of three original Northern League franchises (along with Sioux City, IA and St. Paul, MN) still playing.

The Golden League has to be happy today to have its first major leaguer. Adam Pettyjohn has made it all the way back from the ulcerative colitis attack which nearly cost him his life to join the Cincinnati Reds. Pettyjohn, now 31 and 11 seasons removed from the 1998 campaign when Detroit made the lefty its second-round draft choice, led the International League with 15 wins for Louisville this summer. Pettyjohn's new lease on his pitching life took on encouragement in 2005 when he was 10-2 for Long Beach, CA in the Golden League. His original trip to the major leagues came in 2001 when he made 16 appearances, including nine starts, for Detroit.

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IT IS PLAYOFF TIME IN FIVE INDY LEAGUES, JUST AS FIVE MORE GRADS REPORT TO THE MAJORS

My thoughts are running on two parallel courses as we start this post-Labor Day period in baseball.

One is on the playoffs within Independent Baseball since five of the eight leagues will go a long way toward determining their postseason champions this week. After all, isn't this what is being competed for all season long?

At the same time, five more Independent players, including three who started their career in these ranks, are wearing major league uniforms. And, every one of the five is with a contending team. Not a single Independent player has been called up as part of the September 1 roster expansion so far unless his team is in the running to be on baseball's grandest stage next month.

It also seems noteworthy, if only coincidental, that all five of the players have joined National League teams.

The surprise of the group, at least to this corner, is seeing Josh Kinney back with St. Louis. Kinney, who we have talked about numerous times in this space and in our more expansive Independent Baseball Insider column, had not been in a regular season game in any pro league since the 2006 World Series until August 24. He was sufficiently recovered from his lengthy rehab from elbow surgery to work four times for Class AA Springfield, MO over a nine-day period, and the Cardinals brought him back onto the active major league roster. I would expect St. Louis to be on the cautious side over the next four weeks, and hope this 29-year-old, who started in the Frontier League (River City, O'Fallon, MO), will be back at full strength next spring. He was quite a find for the bullpen when he came up to help the Cardinals' championship run in '06.

The other recalls include Phillies infielder Mike Cervenak and Diamondbacks hurler Max Scherzer, who started in the Frontier League and American Association, respectively, plus pitchers Mark DiFelice (Milwaukee) and Brandon Knight (New York Mets, both of whom have worked in the Atlantic League.

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES TIED--Sioux Falls, SD will be the site of the remaining games in the American Association playoff finale with the Canaries and Grand Prairie, TX tied at a game apiece in the best-of-five test. Grand Prairie, which ended Fort Worth's three-year championship run (one in the Central League and two in the AA), got even with Sioux Falls at a game apiece in a 6-3 matinee win today (Tuesday). The series resumes Thursday.

NORTHERN AND GOLDEN OPEN UP TONIGHT--Divisional playoff series begin in both the Northern and Golden Leagues Tuesday night, with the Can-Am starting Wednesday and the Frontier League later in the week. The Atlantic League does not finish its regular season until September 21.

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