Classic Baseball Union

Tacoma Darners

November 1, 2008 – The Pacific Northwest has reason to celebrate again as the Tacoma Darners win their 3rd CBU Championship after trouncing the Vermont Greens in just 5 games. This is the Darners firs title since their repeat in 1995-96.

Martin has given fans a reason to forget about the demise of Juan Rodriguez

Not much is the same in Tacoma since their last win, but the team is winning much the same with balance and firepower. Left fielder David Martin led the team by crushing 222 hits, 45 home runs and 129 RBIs during the 2008 campaign while hitting .368 on the season and winning the first ever Triple Crown.

On the mound, the staff was bailed out on many occasions by lefty Todd Hendrix who posted a 18-8 record with a 3.17 ERA.  But the reason story is all about David Martin. The 25 year old has splashed onto the CBU scene with much success. In 2006 he crushed 22 homers as a rookie, hitting .320 and collecting the Jackie Robinson award given to the best rookie. Martin now has over 100 homers, and shows no signs of slowing down.

The Darners season was a better one compared to recent years. They squeaked into the playoffs using the wild-card route after losing the Frazee division by two games to Denver. They smothered Dijon in the first round of the playoffs by winning four of five games.

The Denver Pines gave the Darners a run for their money, but when push came to shove in game six and game seven, the Darners came through winning must win games 16-3 and 11-5. Finally the Vermont Greens did their best to reclaim the title for the Giamatti League, but fell quite short, only manging to win game 3.

This is the 3rd straight championship for a Landis League franchise, and they now lead the Giamatti league ten Championships to five.