Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player(s) of the Week.

With the US minor league seasons either ended or within a couple of days from conclusion, this may be our last PPOW for 2009. Even though there were not as many contestants for our nominations this week, we are pleased to report that there were still several very worthy performances to end our awards on a fitting note.

One player who didn't quite have a large enough sample to warrant special mention this time was our terrific major league flag bearer PETER MOYLAN who has made a mighty recovery from the "Tommy John" surgery that de-railed his 2008 season. Not only has 'Big Pete' piled up the appearances for the Atlanta Braves but his 21 holds is not far from the major league leaders. From five appearances last week Moylan pitched 4.1 scoreless innings, often in pressure situations. Also just missing out is our former major leaguer TRAVIS BLACKLEY who collected a save from one of his two 'AAA' outings, while striking out five and allowing just one run from four innings.

Ahead of them for "Honourable Mention" this time were major league starter RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH who earned his third win of the season for the Seattle Mariners with a masterly 8.0ip 4h 3er 1bb 4k that anchored his team to victory over the Oakland A's. He was just shaded for our top award, as was Milwaukee's 'AA' starter DAVID WELCH who was even more frugal with his fine 7.0ip 2h 1er 2bb 5k outing as probably his last for the season.

Two of our hitters also earned "Honourable Mention" this week; Philadelphia's 'A-ss' infielder ALAN SCHOENBERGER and Minnesota's seasoned 'AAA' slugger JUSTIN HUBER. Schoenberger should be pleased to finish off the season with some of his best hitting form that saw him average .353 for the week, even though he struck out five times in 17 at bats. Huber, who has had a few hot streaks during the season, is also finishing strong with 8-24 that included a couple of doubles.

OK, we might be a bit tough this time to have separated one player from these for our top award this week, but this is a subjective thing. The man we have anointed with our primary award for the final week of the season is none other than Philadelphia's 'Drew-K' DREW NAYLOR who hurled seven shutout innings with 5/1 strike outs versus walks for the 'Advanced A' Clearwater Phillies. Drew has not been as dominant this year as last, but on his day he is really "nasty"!

We sincerely hope that many of our loyal Subscribers derived some interest from our PRO PLAYER OF THE WEEK Awards again this year. From some of the correspondence we have received it certainly achieves the aim of raising healthy debate. We also hope that the players who receive nominations consider the recognition some reward for their efforts to fly the Australian baseball flag proudly in the United States professional leagues.

 'Flintoff & Dunn' thought that 'Drew-K' Naylor deserved our top award this week:

DREW NAYLOR  (A+ - Clearwater Phillies)    1G   0-0, 0.00ERA  7.0IP  4H  0ER  1BB  5K  --  Season  8-11, 4.22ERA

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player(s) of the Week.

Not unusually, it was the pitching strength of the many Australians plying their trade in the US professional leagues that caught most of our attention this week. In fact, to start from the top this time, our job was made somewhat easier by the fact that we had four pitchers who produced scoreless winning starts and, while some were better than others, we felt that it would be splitting hairs to exclude any of them from our major award.

Perhaps most impressive, yes, yet again, was young Minnesota ace LIAM HENDRIKS who pitched his second straight pearl via a six innings ONE-HITTER that featured a typical "Hendriks-like" 6/1 strikeouts versus walks ratio. Probably next due to the length of his start was his Beloit Snappers' team mate BRAD TIPPETT who hurled eight shutout innings to add to his tremendous season in 2009. WA's CAMERON LAMB pitched five shutout innings and, once again, we liked his 6/2 strike outs versus walks. Behind them, but not to be ignored was JAMES ALBURY who has dominated at 'A' level for the Kannapolis Intimidators with his fifth win since being picked up from Independent League baseball mid-season. Albury had to work around five walks across his five innings, but we cannot discount his "intimidating" 5-0 record, or this latest win!

Much like the regular nominations received by his Beloit Snappers team mates Hendriks and Tippett, there is a feeling of "ho hum" about the number of nominations earned by AROOS infielder JIMMY BERESFORD who grabbed yet another share of our primary award after batting .435 for the week as part of a span that saw just one hitless game in his past twelve and several multi-hit games.

We didn't feel inclined to nominate either JUSTIN HUBER, who batted just .222, or STEFAN WELCH, who batted just .217 for the week. So why, you might ask, have we mentioned them at all? Well, Huber's 6-27 included a double and three home runs for a heavy .593 slugging percentage. Welch's 5-23 included a triple and two home runs for a .565 slugging percentage, plus TEN huge runs batted in! We also skipped past MICHAEL COLLINS this week whose .333 average came from only 15 at bats. The only player to earn "Honourable Mention" for his offence this week was Atlanta Rookie League infielder JIM LINGER who batted .333 from 21 at bats, plus a double, a home run and three walks.

Our "Honourable Mentions" among the pitchers this week begins with our major league starter RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH whose two outings included a loss but we thought his other start counter-balanced this and his 8/1 strike outs to walks from a total of 14.1 innings should not be undervalued. Joining him is Daytona Cubs starter RYAN SEARLE who didn't collect a decision, but his effort of two runs from 5.2 innings with a 6/1 strike outs to walks ratio was very good. Just missing out on a special mention is Arizona's 'AAA' lefty TRAVIS BLACKLEY who earned a win from his two solid relief appearances. We didn't really consider Colorado's 'AAA' lefty DAMIAN MOSS or San Diego's 'A' short-season pitcher ALESSIO ANGELUCCI who each collected wins from too few innings pitched to feature more prominently here.

'Flintoff & Dunn' thought that these FIVE players should not be separated for our top award this week:

LIAM HENDRIKS  (A - Beloit Snappers)    1G   1-0, 0.00ERA  6.0IP  1H  0ER  1BB  6K  --  Season  3-4, 3.16ERA

BRAD TIPPETT  (A - Beloit Snappers)    1G   1-0, 0.00ERA  8.0IP  5H  0ER  1BB  3K  --  Season  9-7, 2.98ERA

JAMES BERESFORD  (A - Beloit Snappers)    5G  .435AVG  23AB  1R  10H  2D  4RBI  .522SLG%  --  Season .287AVG

CAMERON LAMB  (R - AZL Giants)    1G   1-0, 0.00ERA  5.0IP  3H  0ER  2BB  6K  --  Season  4-1, 2.04ERA

JAMES ALBURY  (A - Kannapolis Intimidators)    1G   1-0, 0.00ERA  5.0IP  6H  0ER  5BB  5K  --  Season  5-0, 3.55ERA

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player(s) of the Week.

Once again this week we have been compelled to set a minimum of five innings pitched for the week in order to create some reasonable separation between a high number of very good pitching performances. This ruled out our mighty major league relievers PETER MOYLAN and GRANT BALFOUR who each pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball with a win each from three big league appearances. It also excluded former major leaguer DAMIAN MOSS who threw 4.1 scoreless innings and Detroit's 'AA' righty BRENDAN WISE who hurled four scoreless frames. The only hitter we narrowly excluded this week was Atlanta Rookie JAMES LINGER whose 5-18 included a home run, but there were a few with better averages for the week.

Just sneaking in for his "umpteenth" nomination this year is Twins 'A' league tyro JIMMY BERESFORD who batted .296 from a high 27 at bats, along with Phillies 'AA' catcher TIM KENNELLY who batted .333 but from only 15 at bats. Minnesota's 'AA' slugger LUKE HUGHES would not usually rate a special mention for his .286 average, however, his six hits included two doubles a triple and a home run for a .619 slugging percentage. His 'AAA' Minnesota team mate JUSTIN HUBER batted .300 for the week with a double and a home run to earn "Honourable Mention".

Earning "Honourable Mention" among the pitchers were Cubs' 'High-A' starter RYAN SEARLE who threw the most innings with 10.1 from two starts that included a win with only three earned runs allowed. CAMERON LAMB also collected a win from his five innings scoreless start and, had he thrown a couple more digs, he might have joined our top award winners. DREW NAYLOR and JAMES ALBURY also pitched similar tremendous winning starts of seven innings each for two earned runs each. Not unusually 'Drew-K' Naylor struck out batters at the rate of one per inning.

Overshadowing all of them were the often nominated LIAM HENDRIKS and DAVID WELCH who each pitched seven inning scoreless winning starts. Milwaukee's seasoned 'AA' pitcher Welch allowed just four hits, but even he could not match the ONE-HIT "peach" thrown by Hendriks who walked one and struck out five... nice work Liam! Joining them for our primary award this week is Philadelphia's 'Advanced A' catcher JOEL NAUGHTON who batted .350 from 20 at bats, including a triple.

'Flintoff & Dunn' thought that these THREE players should not be separated for our top award this week:

LIAM HENDRIKS  (A - Beloit Snappers)    1G   1-0, 0.00ERA  7.0IP  1H  0ER  1BB  5K  --  Season  2-4, 3.49ERA

DAVID WELCH  (AA - Huntsville Stars)    1G   1-0, 0.00ERA  7.0IP  4H  0ER  1BB  2K  --  Season  8-8, 4.20ERA

JOEL NAUGHTON  (A+ - Clearwater Threshers)    5G  .350AVG  20AB  3R  7H  1T  5RBI  .450SLG%  --  Season .233AVG

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player(s) of the Week.

We're not going to bother grizzling to you about how hard it was to make our nominations again this week but, suffice to say, it was a gruelling exercise that saw us listing a record number of 'Honourable Mentions". And, making things a little unusual, a couple of Rookie League players shared our top award this week.

Two players that we just couldn't scrape in for special mention this week were Philadelphia's catching prospect JOEL NAUGHTON whose solid .333 came from just 15 at bats without an extra base hit. Along with seasoned TRISTAN CRAWFORD who was to the fore with two wins for the week at 'A' level for Philly, but his three scoreless innings was not sufficient to warrant a special nomination.

To quickly scan through the extended list of pitchers who rated "Honourable Mention" -- White Sox 'A' league pitcher JAMES ALBURY may have received a top nomination on another occasion with his two wins across a total of 11.0 innings and the same goes for DREW NAYLOR whose one win came from a total of 15.0 strong innings. Next in line among the "innings eaters" was Minnesota's master of the quality start LIAM HENDRIKS who took another hard-luck loss and, even though he is still leaking a few more hits than he'd like, he seldom walks batters and his 12/2 strike out to walk ratio speaks for itself... in his most recent loss he struck out eight while walking none! Hendriks' Beloit Snappers team mate BRAD TIPPETT also took a loss, but he too produced a quality start for his team.

Seasoned performers DAMIAN MOSS and DAVID WELCH each enjoyed solid efforts with one win each from two games each. RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH copped another unfortunate no-decision after a terrific major league start for the Seattle Mariners, while 'AAA' Angel RICHARD THOMPSON posted two very effective relief efforts last week. Often mentioned Mets Rookie LACHLAN HODGE earned another mention this week with his scoreless start of five innings. Atlanta Braves major league star PETER MOYLAN enjoyed another win, but his two relief efforts left him short of a special mention.

There is also a fair bit of familiarity among the names to receive "Honourable Mention" for their offence last week. Look no further than our latest major league star TRENT OELTJEN who has finally come back to "human" proportions for Arizona even though his .292 was enhanced by a .583 slugging percentage for the week. Former major leaguer JUSTIN HUBER added two late home runs in his most recent game to join the list with his .296 and a .630 slugging percentage. LUKE HUGHES is finding his stroke again with a .300 average and .500 slugging percentage at 'AA' New Britain. While his power numbers didn't match those "big dogs" Red Sox 'A' baller MITCH DENING topped them for average with his .350.

Finally, to those Rookies who earned our major headlines this week, even though their sample sizes were just enough. One of Boston's rookie Moanaroa brothers BOSS MOANAROA had only 16 at bats, but we simply could not down-play his .500 average or the additional three walks that gave him a .579 on base percentage for the week. Dominican SL Rangers' pitcher AARON THOMPSON also produced a splendid winning start with seven shutout innings for only two hits. 

'Flintoff & Dunn' thought that these TWO Rookie players should not be separated for our top award this week:

BOSS MOANAROA  (R - GCL Red Sox)    4G  .500AVG  16AB  3R  8H  1D  2RBI  3WLK  .579OB%  --  Season .268AVG

AARON THOMPSON  (R - DSL Rangers)    1G   1-0, 0.00ERA  5.0IP  2H  0ER  1BB  8K  --  Season  4-1, 2.79ERA

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player(s) of the Week.

You are entitled to be tired of hearing about how difficult our task is to nominate and choose between our special award winners most weeks but, on this occasion, you are going to hear it again as a means of explaining why we have had to be unusually tough on a few players who would have been nominated on other occasions.

However, we could not begin this week without providing our first mention to TRENT OELTJEN who became the 27th Australian player to reach the US major leagues with the Arizona Diamondbacks last week. Not only did Trent get to pull on the big league uniform, but he grasped the opportunity with relish, hitting a heroic eighth inning home run to tie the game on a winning debut. Today he nailed his second home run in three games with six hits and, while the sample may be small in other instances, we weren't prepared to by-pass this magnificent and historic effort. We don't expect our major award, that he has won often before, would overshadow his even bigger achievement this week. Well done Trent!

To bounce to some who just missed nominations, we might as well start with major league stars GRANT BALFOUR and RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH, along with recent major leaguer RICHARD THOMPSON. Balfour allowed one run from four innings over four appearances last week, while Rowland-Smith mixed a strong winning start with one that allowed just a couple too many runs. Thompson was close to an award with three appearances at 'AAA' that yielded two runs from 5.1 innings with a 5/0 strike outs to walks ratio. Similarly, we felt that Rookie Aaron Thompson just missed with 4.1 scoreless innings where he danced around four hits and four walks.

The other guy we could not consider was short-season 'A' baller ALAN SCHOENBERGER whose seven at bats were too few, even though he produced four hits with two doubles and two walks in a fine effort from limited opportunity. Also unluckily overlooked were winning pitchers MATT WILLIAMS, MICHAEL LENNOX and TODD VAN STEENSEL.

Sneaking in ahead of them, we thought, were pitchers PETER MOYLAN, DREW NAYLOR, JAMES ALBURY and CAMERON LAMB who earned "Honourable Mention", along with hitters LUKE HUGHES, CHRIS HOUSE and JAMES LINGER. Major leaguer Moylan's five scoreless appearances included a win from 5.0 innings, while White Sox 'A' leaguer Albury also earned a win with seven strong innings that comprised 6/1 strike outs versus walks. Giants' Rookie Cameron Lamb also pitched five scoreless innings that allowed only two safe hits. Drew Naylor took a loss after a solid 7.2 innings start that featured a 7/0 strike outs versus walks ratio.

Minnesota's 'AA' player LUKE HUGHES certainly earned his special mention with .318 from 22 at bats with a .591 slugging percentage and six RBIs. From 16 at bats Braves' Rookie JAMES LINGER batted for a .313 average, while Toronto 'A' league catcher CHRIS HOUSE had mighty numbers from just eleven at bats that produced a .364 average, .636 slugging percentage and a .462 on base percentage. House would have rated higher with a few more plate appearances.

While we were tempted to leave Oeltjen alone for the top award we simply could not down-play the efforts of Red Sox 'A' baller MITCH DENING or Mets' Rookie pitcher LACLAN HODGE who were quite brilliant this past week. Dening batted 8-19 with three doubles, a triple and a home run for a monster .842 slugging percentage, while Hodge earned a win with a scoreless five inning start that was highlighted by a 8/1 strike out to walk ratio.

'Flintoff & Dunn' thought that these THREE players should not be separated for our top award this week:

TRENT OELTJEN  (MLB - Arizona Diamondbacks)    3G  .400AVG  15AB  2R  6H  2HR  .800SLG%  --  Season .400AVG

MITCH DENING  (A - Greenville Drive)    4G  .421AVG  19AB  5R  8H  3D  1T  1HR  5RBI  .842SLG%  --  Season .268AVG

LACHLAN HODGE  (R - GCL Mets)    1G   1-0, 0.00ERA  5.0IP  2H  0ER  1BB  8K  --  Season  4-1, 2.79ERA

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player(s) of the Week.

Once again there was a fair bit of consternation at 'Flintoff & Dunn' in terms of how to choose between some very good pitching and a few standout hitting performances this past week. In the end we may be accused of being a bit tough on the pitchers who we have left out of our primary award, probably on the basis that none of the significant performers had unblemished ERAs this time, apart from MITCHELL FIENEMANN whose 4.0 innings was just too few for a major award.

Major leaguer RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH might have scooped the award on his own with his winning start for the Seattle Mariners had he not been tagged for a two-run homer in the seventh inning of his superb effort. DAMIAN MOSS and DREW NAYLOR also produced very effective wins with excellent strike outs to walks, while Atlanta big leaguer PETE MOYLAN collected a win from too few total innings to earn special mention. BRAD TIPPETT took a loss from a rare shaky start, but his overall 10/2 strike outs to walks ratio was, once again, eye catching. Rookie league hurlers NATHAN DRIESSEN and NO HIT man MITCH FIENEMANN each did just enough to sneak in for 'Honourable Mention".

It wasn't a simple matter to adjudicate among our leading hitters this week either, but this is how we eventually ruled. Consistent Reno Aces star TRENT OELTJEN was brilliant again with his .294 average, .647 slugging percentage and six RBIs, but we decided that his 17 total at bats were fewer than our top award winners this time. Same goes for Atlanta rookie JAMES LINGER who batted a mighty .375, but from only 16 at bats.

So, sharing our top award this week are Minnesota's LUKE HUGHES and JAMES BERESFORD, joined by New York Mets' STEFAN WELCH, each with slightly different emphasis. Beresford's 9-27 was the most consistent and he also enjoyed a recent power surge with three doubles. Welch's 9-29 also included three doubles and four walks. Hughes had fewer at bats with 21, but he added five walks to his .333 average for a .462 on base percentage for the week.

Australia's young World Baseball Classic star Jimmy Beresford scoops our top award for the fourth time this season (along with three "Honourable Mentions") to join his Beloit Snappers' team mate Brad Tippett with four PPOW Awards.
These guys have really dominated our awards this season, along with Trent Oeltjen and another Beloit lad, WA's LIAM HENDRIKS, who missed out on a special mention for the first time since he resumed professional baseball this season.

'Flintoff & Dunn' thought that these THREE players should not be separated for our top award this week:

JAMES BERESFORD  (A - Beloit Snappers)    6G  .333AVG  27AB  3R  9H  3D  1RBI  .444SLG%  --  Season .296AVG

STEFAN WELCH  (A+ - St.Lucie Mets)    7G  .310AVG  29AB  5R  9H  3D  3RBI  .394OB%   --  Season .323AVG

LUKE HUGHES  (AA - New Britain Rock Cats)    7G  .333AVG  21AB  0R  7H  1D  2RBI  .462OB%   --  Season .253AVG

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player(s) of the Week.

While only one of our hitters really excelled during this past week, we again faced a very difficult task to adjudicate upon and finally separate some very good pitching performances from our Aussie boys in the good old US of A. While 'Flintoff & Dunn' certainly understand the value of WINS in a team context, we also recognise that pitchers should not always be penalised because they play on a team with a losing record and/or they receive paltry run support. Yes folks, it is possible to pitch quite poorly and still collect the win if you are pitching at the right time and in the right place. However, we will not overlook solid winning performances, it's just that we might rate some other non-winning efforts equally, or slightly better.

To start with our PRO PLAYERS OF THE WEEK this time, Milwaukee's 'AA' starter DAVID WELCH earned a win from his 7.0 innings that conceded just one run, but we didn't rate him any higher than Beloit Snappers' starters BRAD TIPPETT and LIAM HENDRIKS who have again "hogged" our top award this week even though they had no-decisions. Tippett went a little deeper than Welch with a mighty 8.2 innings for just one run, while Hendriks allowed two runs from 6.0 innings but his typically venomous 8/1 strike outs versus walks ratio was quite outstanding among all of our pitchers this week.

The one hitter to earn special mention this week was the redoubtable TRENT OELTJEN who continues to press his claims to become Australia's next major leaguer with Arizona's 'AAA' Reno Aces. Trent batted 8-22 again this past week with two doubles and a home run combining for a .591 slugging percentage. No other hitter really came into consideration but Minnesota prospect JIMMY BERESFORD did his best from just 12 at bats with three hits, a walk and two stolen bags.

Narrowly missing the major award, but earning "Honourable Mention" this week were winning pitchers RYAN SEARLE, BRENDAN WISE and ADAM BRIGHT, along with major leaguer PETE MOYLAN who didn't earn a win and his sample size was just large enough for us on this occasion after four scoreless outings.

Not quite doing enough to get special mention were winning Rookie League pitchers KABLE HOGBEN, MITCH FIENEMANN and JUSTIN ERASMUS whose innings pitched were too few for the week... similarly JOSH WELLS who collected a save. Cincinnati rookie NATHAN DRIESSEN pitched another four scoreless innings to further improve his terrific season record that stands at 2-0, 1.89ERA.

We'll conclude with a quick mention of Seattle's RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH who made his long-awaited return to the major leagues with a decent start against the Cleveland Indians last week. Ryan was strong through six innings until he ran out of gas and was tagged for three runs via a couple of long balls in the seventh inning.

'Flintoff & Dunn' thought that these FOUR players stood out almost equally for our top award this week:

TRENT OELTJEN  (AAA - Reno Aces)    6G  .364AVG  22AB  5R  8H  2D  1HR  .591SLG%  --  Season .294AVG

BRADLEY TIPPETT  (A - Beloit Snappers)    1G   0-0, 1.04ERA  8.2IP  3H  1ER  1BB  3K  --  Season  8-3, 2.31ERA

LIAM HENDRIKS  (A - Beloit Snappers)    1G   0-0, 3.00ERA  6.0IP  6H  2ER  1BB  8K  --  Season  1-1, 1.96ERA

DAVID WELCH  (AA - Huntsville Stars)    1G   1-0, 1.29ERA  7.0IP  6H  1ER  1BB  4K  --  Season  5-7, 4.74ERA

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player(s) of the Week.

On this occasion it wasn't too tough to differentiate between the performances of our everyday or offensive players, but we had the relative nightmare of assessing no less than NINE Aussie pitchers who recorded wins this week, along with one other who took a most unfortunate loss while not allowing a single earned run from his total of ten innings! In order to negotiate this political minefield, we felt that we had little alternative than to set a minimum of more than 6.0 innings pitched for our primary award this week. 'Flintoff & Dunn' certainly sympathise with those who missed this cut, but they should be well satisfied with their "Honourable Mention" this time around.

Among our senior professionals who pitched too few innings were GRANT BALFOUR and BRENDAN WISE, who each collected wins, while TRAVIS BLACKLEY earned a save. PETER MOYLAN increased his 2009 season total to 15 holds from his National League leading 51 relief appearances.

The most unfortunate to miss out on a top award under our innings criteria was Phillies' Rookie TODD VAN STEENSEL who struck out seven in his 6.0 innings winning start, followed by Daytona Cubs' RYAN SEARLE who nailed a win from his scoreless 5.0 innings. Cubs' Rookie CODY HAMS struck out five across 4.0 scoreless innings for a win, while Rangers' Rookie TIM STANFORD allowed one run from his winning 4.0 inning start.

As mentioned, we simply could not detract from the snake-bitten LACHLAN HODGE who somehow took a loss after pitching 10.0 scoreless innings across two starts. He is joined by the ultra-consistent WA wizard LIAM HENDRIKS who allowed just one run from his 6.2 innings winning start, along with Beloit team mate BRAD TIPPETT whose win came from 7.0 scoreless frames. Although he allowed two runs, maybe the most impressive was our recent major leaguer RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH who struck out NINE and walked none during his 7.0 innings winning performance.

You would be entitled to ask why we would even mention TRENT BAKER, who batted a meagre .071 for the week, but it emphasises the vagaries of baseball when you consider that he walked five times for a decent .316 on base percentage and he supplied three RBIs for his team. Another who normally wouldn't figure for "Honourable Mention" was Minnesota's LUKE HUGHES who is working his way back from injury and, although he batted a modest .263 at 'AA' New Britain, his home run, a triple and five RBIs caught our attention. But then, not quite as much as WA's TIM KENNELLY who enjoyed his promotion to Philadelphia's 'AA' Reading... at first glance Tim's .250 average was an OK start at the new level, but when you add a triple and two home runs, his .917 slugging percentage becomes a compelling case. Those who also just missed our top award were Mets' STEFAN WELCH, with his .333 average and .571 slugging percentage, along with Red Sox MITCH DENING, who batted a consistent .375 for the term.

The one hitter to join our four top pitchers for PRO PLAYER OF THE WEEK was Beloit Snappers' star middle infielder JAMES BERESFORD who continues to put together a terrific season with his monster .455 average last week that included two doubles for a .545 slugging percentage. It is about time that the rest of the Snappers team lifted to support the three Aussies who are among our PRO PLAYERS OF THE WEEK so regularly this season and who share our main award today. 

'Flintoff & Dunn' thought that these FIVE players stood out almost equally for our top award this week:

JAMES BERESFORD  (A - Beloit Snappers)    5G  .455AVG  22AB  3R  10H  2D  5RBI  .545SLG%  --  Season .300AVG

RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH  (AAA - Tacoma Rainiers)    1G   1-0, 2.57ERA  7.0IP  6H  2ER  0BB  9K  --  Season  5-3, 4.31ERA

BRADLEY TIPPETT  (A - Beloit Snappers)    2G   1-0, 0.00ERA  7.0IP  4H  0ER  1BB  3K  --  Season  8-3, 2.43ERA

LIAM HENDRIKS  (A - Beloit Snappers)    1G   1-0, 1.35ERA  6.2IP  9H  1ER  1BB  4K  --  Season  1-1, 1.46ERA

LACHLAN HODGE  (R - GCL Mets)    2G   0-1, 0.00ERA  10.0IP  6H  0ER  6BB  6K  --  Season  2-1, 1.52ERA

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player(s) of the Week.

Well Subscribers, for those who often tell us that they would prefer us to go out on the proverbial limb and select just one PRO PLAYER OF THE WEEK each week, you would have been well satisfied last week, but you're going to hate us this week. Sorry, after considerable brain storming, we simply weren't prepared to omit any of the SIX top award winners.

To start with a few who were quite unlucky to miss out on special mention, we decided to rule a line under a minimum of four innings pitched. For this reason we had to overlook Rookie League pitchers JUSTIN ERASMUS, who struck out five over 3.1 scoreless innings and MITCHELL FIENEMANN, who struck out four over 3.2 scoreless innings; while both allowed one hit with zero walks. Former major leaguer DAMIAN MOSS also pitched 3.2 scoreless innings. Due to the higher standard of others this week, we also by-passed WA's hot-hitting duo LUKE HUGHES, who batted .333 with a .519 slugging percentage and JASON SMIT, who batted .323 from 31 at bats.

Just sneaking in for "Honourable Mention" with only 12 at bats for the week was Red Sox Rookie MOKO MOANAROA whose .417 average was too high for us to ignore. He was joined by Minnesota's 'A' ball tyro JAMES BERESFORD, who batted .368 with a .455 on base percentage. The third of this offensive trio was former major leaguer JUSTIN HUBER who batted .375 with a .519 slugging percentage for Minnesota's 'AAA' Rochester.

The pitchers that we included for special mention were Beloit reliever MATT WILLIAMS, with 4.0 scoreless innings and San Francisco Rookie CAMERON LAMB, who struck out EIGHT during his 4.0 scoreless innings. Texas Rangers' Dominican League Rookie TIM STANFORD struck out six while allowing one run across 6.0 innings, including a win from his two appearances. Also, we were not prepared to penalise Minnesota's LIAM HENDRIKS who took a loss upon his promotion to 'A' ball this week, almost entirely due to a stack of unearned runs... Hendriks struck out five from his 5.2 inning start that comprised just one earned run. Liam is three-from-three for 'Flintoff & Dunn' mentions this season.

We think that you would have to agree that the following players deserve our primary award for even better numbers than those, perhaps starting with seasoned RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH, who is pressing for a return to the big leagues after putting up a 2-0, 1.26ERA record with 11/1 strike outs versus walks over 14.1 innings at Seattle's 'AAA' Tacoma.
Reds' Rookie NATHAN DRIESSEN also collected two wins for the week with 7/1 strike outs to walks over his 5.2 scoreless innings. Rounding out our pitching quartet were Minnesota's 'A' league pitching ace BRAD TIPPETT, whose 1-0, 0.00ERA came from a brilliant 7.0 innings start with 5/2 strike outs versus walks and Boston Rookie MICHAEL LENNOX, whose 6.1 inning winning start was also scoreless with 6/0 strike outs to walks.

Rookie Cleveland outfielder TRENT BAKER was an obvious selection with his gaudy .500 batting average, .750 slugging percentage and .571 on base percentage. He was joined by Mets' STEFAN WELCH, who has enjoyed his recent promotion to their 'High-A' St.Lucie team with a .444 batting average this week, a .667 slugging percentage and nine RBIs.

'Flintoff & Dunn' would be happy to debate with anyone who felt that any of these should be excluded. We thought that all six of these players stood out almost equally for our top award this week:

RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH  (AAA - Tacoma Rainiers)    2G   2-0, 1.26ERA  14.1IP  9H  2ER  1BB  11K  --  Season  4-3, 4.56ERA

NATHAN DRIESSEN  (R - GCL Reds)    2G   2-0, 0.00ERA  5.2IP  1H  0ER  1BB  7K  --  Season  2-0, 2.25ERA

BRADLEY TIPPETT  (A - Beloit Snappers)    1G   1-0, 0.00ERA  7.0IP  5H  0ER  2BB  5K  --  Season  7-3, 2.63ERA

MICHAEL LENNOX  (R - GCL Red Sox)    1G   1-0, 0.00ERA  6.1IP  1H  0ER  0BB  6K  --  Season  1-0, 0.00ERA

TRENT BAKER  (R - AZL Indians)    5G  .500AVG  24AB  8R  12H  2D  2T  5RBI  .750SLG%  --  Season .338AVG

STEFAN WELCH  (A+ - St.Lucie Mets)    6G  .444AVG  27AB  6R  12H  1D  1T  1HR  9RBI  .667SLG%  --  Season .444AVG

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

Plenty of good healthy debate for 'Flintoff & Dunn' this week with some very tough adjudications for us to make. Some times we have been criticised for being unwilling to separate three or four players for our top award while, this week, we really think that we have been pretty harsh on a few players for not including them and only nominating one player for our PRO PLAYER OF THE WEEK. In this case, a few of those who just missed out can blame our 'AAA' star TRENT OELTJEN who put up stellar numbers for the week. His .433 batting average came from a near maximum 30 at bats with four home runs among his eight extra base hits for a MONSTER 1.000 slugging percentage... not to mention 14 runs batted in!!!

Among those perhaps most unfortunate to miss the main award was TIM KENNELLY with his 8-21, plus eight RBIs and five walks that produced a .500 on base percentage. Not far behind him among the hitters were Rookie TRENT BAKER, with .353 from 17 at bats and a .450 OB%, and 'A-ss' JASON SMIT, with .320 from 25 at bats and a .640 SLG%.

Once again we overlooked past and present major league pitchers GRANT BALFOUR, with two scoreless outings, and PETER MOYLAN, whose four appearances earned a win at the expense of two recent earned runs. However, sneaking in for "Honourable Mention" was RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH who pitched a winning start for Seattle's 'AAA' Tacoma while allowing only one run. Others like DAMIAN MOSS, PAUL MILDREN, MATT WILLIAMS and KABLE HOGBEN will also miss out this time with scoreless efforts that came from just too few innings pitched this week.

Pitchers who may have shared the top award on other occasions were starters BRAD TIPPETT (1-0, 1.38ERA) and DREW NAYLOR (1-0, 1.29ERA). Tippett provided 13.0 innings across two starts with a 9/4 strike out versus walk ratio, while Naylor's one 7.0 innings start included 6/0 strike outs to walks. Because of their higher totals of innings pitched, they may have just shaded BRENDAN WISE, who pitched 4.2 innings of scoreless relief for Detroit's 'High-A' Lakeland. Finally, we couldn't overlook the TWO WINS racked up by last week's joint winner LIAM HENDRIKS who allowed more hits and runs than he would usually expect, while still owning a neat 7/1 strike outs versus walks ratio. Hendriks may have been sharper last week, yet he was left with a no decision... this time he grabs two wins... baseball is a funny old game folks!!

Once again we can only apologise to those who were unluckily robbed of a major award this week due to the undoubted brilliance of Trent Oeltjen. We thought he deserved single billing for our top award this week:

TRENT OELTJEN  (AAA - Reno Aces)    7G  .433AVG  30AB  9R  13H  14RBI  3D  1T  4HR  1.000OB%  --  Season .303AVG

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

No rest for the wicked at 'Flintoff & Dunn' with the onset of the new Rookie League seasons adding to our statistical duties and, along with this, our job was made a fair bit tougher this week with a few other leagues coming off All-Star game breaks and thereby reducing the sample sizes of some players.

However, you will never hear us complaining about a bumper crop of Aussie players attracting our attention for their positive exploits in the US professional ranks as we found again this past week. You will soon find that four players could not be separated for our top award this week, while there were several others who were hard to leave out.

Once again we will not find room for our major league guys PETER MOYLAN and GRANT BALFOUR because of their few innings pitched, even though they both posted three scoreless relief appearances for the Rays and the Braves respectively. New York Mets Rookie STEFAN WELCH couldn't quite squeeze in with his 5-15 batting and nor could Cleveland's short-season 'A' leaguer JASON SMIT whose 7-25 included four walks and two stolen bases.

We thought we would be by-passing JUSTIN HUBER who batted for a modest .222 average this week until we noticed the four home runs that lifted his slugging percentage to .704, plus his NINE HUGE RBIs! Also earning "Honourable Mention" was ever-present 'AAA' star TRENT OELTJEN whose .368 included a double, a triple and a long ball that would have seen him earn our top award on most occasions. Likewise Boston 'A' baller MITCH DENING who batted .400 for the week. The other lad we included for special mention was Mets' Rookie LACHLAN HODGE who collected a win from his three innings of scoreless, NO-HIT pitching.

So, you might well ask, who could possibly eclipse those efforts for the top awards this week?

Let's start with Minnesota Twins Advanced-Rookie LIAM HENDRIKS who would surely be playing at a higher level if not for the injury that deprived him of playing the entire 2008 pro season. In the meantime, as 'Flintoff & Dunn' regulars would be well aware, this lad has taken the Claxton Shield by storm with consecutive starring seasons that saw him collect a pair of Championship Medals. And, just for good measure, he also distinguished himself as Australia's youngest player at the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Back in professional action last week, Hendriks picked up where he left off as one of our joint 2007 Rookie Players of the Year with a scoreless six inning start that featured a typically potent 6/0 strike out versus walk ratio. Not dissimilar was the effort of Diamondbacks' 'AAA' star TRAVIS BLACKLEY who collected a win with 5.1 scoreless innings from two appearances with 6/1 strike outs versus walks.

Australia's second youngest player at the WB Classic was Minnesota's infield whiz JIMMY BERESFORD who added a pair of walks to his bulging .429 average to give him a .500 on base percentage... he has featured often among our awards this season. WA's MATT KENNELLY would have enjoyed taking some of the limelight from brother Tim this week with his .429 average that comprised a double and a home run for his .714 slugging percentage.

We just weren't prepared to leave any of these guys out. We thought they all deserved our top award this week:

LIAM HENDRIKS  (R+ - Elizabethton Twins)    1G   0-0, 0.00ERA  6.0IP  3H  0ER  0BB  6K  --  Season  0-0, 0.00ERA

TRAVIS BLACKLEY  (AAA - Reno Aces)    2G   1-0, 0.00ERA  5.1IP  5H  0ER  1BB  6K  --  Season  2-3, 4.81ERA

JAMES BERESFORD  (A - Beloit Snappers)    4G   .429AVG  14AB  1R  6H  1RBI  2WLK  .500OB%  --  Season  .288AVG

MATT KENNELLY  (A - Rome Braves)    4G   .429AVG  14AB  1R  6H  1D  1HR  .714SLG%  --  Season  .429AVG

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

For some reason we have decided to be a little more forgiving in relation to relief pitchers who have relatively small samples of innings pitched during the past week, probably because we thought they deserved some special mention. This also allows us to include our major league guys who have been just missing their due kudos recently. GRANT BALFOUR and PETER MOYLAN both produced three impressive scoreless relief efforts for their teams last week and we will give them "Honourable Mention". We also thought that DAVID WELCH was worthy of special mention with just one run coming from his solid six inning start that ended with a no-decision. We will also add MATT WILLIAMS who allowed one run but he also collected a win from his two relief efforts to just scrape in for a mention.

Another Aussie major leaguer RICHARD THOMPSON also produced a neat relief outing at the end of a losing game for the LA Angels but we didn't think he quite deserved the same attention as the others mentioned after one relief outing.

Just missing out because of too few at bats this week were Minnesota's 'High-A' utility DANNY BERG who batted 4-9 with a .778 slugging percentage, along with JASON SMIT who batted 4-10 during his first week with Cleveland's short-season 'A' team Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

For our major award this week, we were unable to separate hitters TRENT OELTJEN and TIM KENNELLY from pitching ace DREW NAYLOR... each of whom have not been strangers to these awards over recent years. Kennelly's 8-16 may have shaded Oeltjen's 9-26 in terms of pure statistics, but we could not ignore the ten extra at bats in Trent's sample. While he has been a bit inconsistent this season, 'Drew-K' Naylor reminded us of his brilliant best form with a somewhat typical seven inning winning start that featured a 9/0 strike out versus walk ratio. We hope you agree that none of these players deserved to miss out on out top award this week. Nice work fellas!

We thought they all deserved our top award this week:

DREW NAYLOR  (A+ - Clearwater Threshers)    1G   1-0, 0.00ERA  7.0IP  4H  0ER  0BB  9K  --  Season  4-6, 4.24ERA

TRENT OELTJEN  (AAA - Reno Aces)    6G   .346AVG  26AB  4R  9H  3D  1T  4WLK  .538SLG%  --  Season  .282AVG

TIM KENNELLY  (A+ - Clearwater Threshers)    4G   .500AVG  16AB  4R  8H  1D  1T  1WLK  .688SLG%  --  Season  .310AVG

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

Not entirely unusually, our toughest considerations this week were among our substantial pitching ranks where there were a number of pitchers who we thought were "borderline" selections. Our winner though would be an outstanding hitter who found his stroke again during this past week.

Just missing special mention were past and present major league guys GRANT BALFOUR, RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH and TRAVIS BLACKLEY, along with AROOS reliever BRENDAN WISE. Balfour boasted a win from his 2.1 scoreless innings but his sample was just too small for us this time. Rowland-Smith bounced back from a nightmare outing at 'AAA' level with a tidy six inning start that yielded just two earned runs, but he collected a loss in the game. Travis Blackley pitched four scoreless innings for 'AAA' Reno but he did not figure in the result of his single outing this time. Brendan Wise allowed just one hit and no runs from his three innings over two outings at 'Adv-A' Lakeland.

Subjectively, we rated winning starters DREW NAYLOR and RYAN SEARLE just ahead of them, along with reliever ADAM BRIGHT and unlucky loser BRAD TIPPETT. Naylor allowed just two runs from his 6.2 innings win, while Searle allowed one run from his 5.1 innings victory. Adam Bright's 3.1 innings might have been almost too small to consider, but we thought the fact that he didn't allow a single base runner was quite significant while striking out two. Although he took a loss, we could not overlook Brad Tippett's 6.0 inning start that allowed just two runs with a monumental 9/1 strike outs versus walks ratio.

TRENT OELTJEN was worthy of special mention after batting .350 for the week, as did STEFAN WELCH whose .316 was complimented by a hefty .526 slugging percentage. However, while it would be most unusual for us to mention a player with a modest .235 for the period, we couldn't completely ignore the performance of JOEL NAUGHTON who produced six RBIs and a .529 slugging percentage for the week.

Head and shoulders above all of them, we thought, was recent major leaguer JUSTIN HUBER who broke out with 8-20 and a whopping .650 slugging percentage for Minnesota's 'AAA' Rochester.

We thought he stood alone for our top award this week:

JUSTIN HUBER  (AAA - Rochester Red Wings)    5G   .400AVG  20AB  3R  8H  2D  1HR  .650SLG%  --  Season  .280AVG

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

For once, it seems, there were not too many players worthy of serious deliberation this week as we work through a relatively skinny PRO PLAYER OF THE WEEK adjudication.

JOSH WELLS could not expect a special mention with his 1-1, 6.75ERA record for the week, but he did achieve the quite remarkable feat of striking out 13 hitters form his 9.1 total innings. Best of the pitchers was Milwaukee's 'AA' starter DAVID WELCH whose 1-0, 0.00ERA record from his 5.2 innings start was outstanding. We will also sneak in our major league favourite PETER MOYLAN for three scoreless relief appearances, even though they spanned just 3.2 innings.

While they did not feature perfect ERA's for the week we also felt that pitchers DREW NAYLOR and PAUL MILDREN were worthy of mention. From his two starts Naylor allowed four earned runs from 15 innings while striking out twelve and he must have been unlucky to be saddled with a loss. Mildren collected a win from his two starts that yielded three earned runs from his total of ten innings with a 4/0 strike out versus walk ratio.

Seasoned former major league star CHRIS SNELLING is maintaining his lofty standards in the Mexican 'AAA' league with 6-18 this week with a .611 slugging percentage and a .500 on base percentage.

Standing out like the proverbial beacon this week was Philadelphia's Advanced-A catcher TIM KENNELLY who blazed a brilliant 9-22 with a .636 slugging percentage and six walks that lifted his on base percentage to .536. PHEW!!

We thought he stood alone for our top award this week:

TIM KENNELLY  (A+ - Clearwater Threshers)    7G   .409AVG  22AB  3R  9H  2D  1HR  6WLK  .636SLG%  --  Season  .319AVG

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

I know that we say it just about every time, but it really was another interesting week for our Aussie professional baseballers and, once more, it wasn't too easy for us to separate or compare some of the various statistics this week.

While we have no qualms about our PRO PLAYER OF THE WEEK, there were others close to sharing the top award and, as you will see, several that we could not overlook for "Honourable Mention".

Maybe closest to sharing our top award was Minnesota pitcher BRAD TIPPETT who gave up only one run in his winning start while walking none and striking out seven. Similarly DREW NAYLOR who allowed two runs in his seven inning winning start with the same brilliant 7/0 strike outs versus walks ratio. BRENDAN WISE earned a win among his three scoreless relief appearances, while RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH won his single scoreless start to come very close to the top award. Another former major leaguer enjoying great success this season is DAMIAN MOSS who allowed just one run from his four appearances while collecting two more wins! Seasoned PAUL MILDREN also pitched a winning start that yielded just one run and MATT WILLIAMS made three scoreless relief appearances that were just a bit brief for us.

Among the hitters in consideration were the consistent TIM KENNELLY whose 6-18 was very good again and hard to separate from fellow catcher JOEL NAUGHTON whose 5-16 included two doubles and a home run for his .625 slugging percentage. As previously mentioned, we will not include the Mexican League as part of these awards, but CHRIS SNELLING has been on a tear last week with a mighty .391 batting average and a .696 slugging percentage.

Earning a special mention for the third week in succession, and this time scooping our top award, was Minnesota Twins World Baseball Classic tyro JIMMY BERESFORD whose 11-28 as a short stop and leadoff hitter is spectacular with a .433 on base percentage, five RBIs and just two strike outs during the term. In fact, Beresford has struck out just five times in his last ten-plus games... you know what they say about putting the ball in play! Nice going James!

We thought he stood alone for our top award this week:

JAMES BERESFORD  (A - Beloit Snappers)    7G   .393AVG  28AB  6R  11H  1D  5RBI  .433OB%  --  Season  .315AVG

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

Not dissimilar to last week, we were delighted to see our major league lads, past and present, performing up to the standards we have come to expect. Current major league relief specialists PETER MOYLAN and GRANT BALFOUR made four and three scoreless appearances respectively, but their total innings were too small for special mention this time. Balfour added a win last week, as did former major leaguer DAMIAN MOSS whose 3.2 innings total was not quite enough for us either on this occasion. While on the subject of major leaguers, it was great to see RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH back in action pitching a rehab appearance for Seattle's 'AAA' Tacoma Rainiers.

Another recent major league Aussie TRAVIS BLACKLEY is presently enjoying a spell as a middle reliever in 'AAA' ball after suffering a tough start to the 2009 season. Blackley has maintained his tremendously good statistics for strike outs per inning and strike outs versus walks, but he has been allowing a few too many hits in what is traditionally known as a "Hitters League"... the PCL. We were delighted to see Travis bounce back lately and he will take a share of our PRO PLAYER OF THE WEEK Award this time. The cream usually rises to the top eventually... well done Travis!

Also adding to their recent consistency were Australia's World Baseball Classic middle infield duo of JAMES BERESFORD and BRAD HARMAN. Harman's .370 average earned him a share of our top award, while Beresford earned another "Honourable Mention" for his .300 that included four multi-hit games this past week.

TIM KENNELLY's .333 came from only 12 at bats to deny him a special mention, unlike pitchers JOSHUA WELLS and BRADLEY TIPPETT who, we thought, did enough to warrant "Honourable Mention". Just ahead of them as our third joint winner of our top award this week was another World Baseball Classic pitcher DAVID WELCH whose scoreless winning start was comparable with Travis Blackley's two brilliant relief appearances.

The three players we thought deserved the top award this week were:

BRADLEY HARMAN  (AA - Reading Phillies)    7G   .370AVG  27AB  5R  10H  3D  1HR  3RBI  .593SLG%  --  Season  .293AVG

TRAVIS BLACKLEY  (AAA - Reno Aces)    2G   0-0, 0.00ERA  6.0IP  5H  0ER  1BB  6K  --  Season  0-3, 5.89ERA

DAVID WELCH  (AA - Huntsville Stars)    1G   1-0, 0.00ERA  7.0IP  5H  0ER  0BB  3K  --  Season  2-3, 6.51ERA

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

This week, we felt, there were a couple of stand-out performers which weren't too difficult to assess but, behind them was a host of worthy efforts that were very hard to separate.

Among those that just missed special mention were Australian major leaguers past and present. PETER MOYLAN made four scoreless relief appearances for the Atlanta Braves but his total of 1.2 innings was a bit small for us this time. GRANT BALFOUR was also very good with four appearances for 6.1 innings, but he did allow a couple of earned runs. RICHARD THOMPSON collected a win among his 4.1 innings, but his 4.15ERA was a fraction too high in this company, even though he struck out eight. DAMIAN MOSS was pretty close with just one run allowed from his 4.2 innings with eight strike outs.

The one hitter to just miss a mention was MICHAEL COLLINS whose .364 average came from just eleven at bats. BRADLEY TIPPETT and PAUL MILDREN both pitched good starts for their teams but just missed special mention here.

Sneaking in for "Honourable Mention" this week were pitchers BRENDAN WISE and MATTHEW WILLIAMS who both produced 3.1 scoreless innings while also collecting a win and a save respectively. Australia's 2009 World Baseball Classic middle infield duo BRAD HARMAN (.379) and JIM BERESFORD (.360) have both started to heat up with the bat lately.

Recent major league slugger JUSTIN HUBER is really racking up the numbers in recent games with a massive .480 average, while we decided not to separate him from TIM KENNELLY whose .409 was spiced with a .777 slugging %.

The two players we thought deserved the top award this week were:

JUSTIN HUBER  (AAA - Rochester Red Wings)    7G   .480AVG  25AB  5R  12H  1D  1T  6RBI  .600SLG%  --  Season  .343AVG

TIM KENNELLY  (A+ - Clearwater Threshers)    7G   .409AVG  22AB  4R    9H  5D  1HR  8RBI  .773SLG%  --  Season  .298AVG

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

You may get tired of hearing us say how difficult it has been this week to adjudicate, or separate, our Pro Player of the Week Awards this week... but it really has been once again, as we think you'll see!

Dual winner RYAN SEARLE proved a little more "human" this week with a loss, but then he did only give up one earned run over five innings. Big leaguer PETER MOYLAN also pitched two separate scoreless innings of relief as a positive sign in his comeback season. On this occasion neither of them really came into consideration for an award.

Just missing out on a special mention was Milwaukee's 'AA' starter DAVID WELCH who pitched a winning start for their Huntsville Stars with 6.0 innings for three earned runs and 6/1 strikeouts versus walks. Also just missing due to their small number of at bats (nine each) were ALLAN de SAN MIGUEL and MICHAEL COLLINS. De San Miguel batted .333 with Minnesota's 'A' Beloit Snappers, while Collins batted .444 with a 1.000 slugging percentage for San Diego's 'AA' San Antonio Missions. No doubt Collins would have been in contention had he been allowed a few more plate appearances.

Players who would have been a chance for the top award in other weeks and desperately close this time were pitchers DREW NAYLOR, who returned to form with the 'A+' Clearwater Phillies and RICHARD THOMPSON, who is pitching solidly in relief for the LA Angels' 'AAA' Salt Lake Bees. Hitters also in the mix were Minnesota's 'A+' utility DANIEL BERG and Arizona's tremendously consistent 'AAA' outfielder TRENT OELTJEN, who are both no strangers to these awards.

The two players we thought rated just ahead of them are Minnesota Twins duo:

BRAD TIPPETT  (A - Beloit Snappers)    2G   2-0, 1.38ERA  13.0IP  8H  2ER  1BB  11K  --  Season  3-0, 2.73ERA

LUKE HUGHES  (AAA - Rochester Red Wings)    7G   .379AVG  29AB  6R  11H  2D  2HR  5RBI  .655SLG%  --  Season  .311AVG

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

Our major league regulars GRANT BALFOUR and PETER MOYLAN have started the 2009 season a bit too inconsistently to figure in these awards just yet, while RICHARD THOMPSON gets a minor mention this week for striking out five in two scoreless relief innings for the Los Angeles Angels 'AAA' Salt Lake Bees.

Australia's World Baseball Classic middle infield stars BRAD HARMAN and JAMES BERESFORD were conspicuous with rising statistics this week. Harman is starting to find some welcome batting form after starting the season slowly; this week he batted 7-24 for Philadelphia's 'AA' Reading with a double, a triple and a home run for a .542 slugging percentage.
Young Minnesota Twins star Beresford is back on track after a stint on the DL due to a minor shoulder injury with 5-18 plus a couple of walks for his .350 on base percentage with their 'A' Beloit Snappers this week.

Former major leaguer DAMIAN MOSS could make an incredible return to the big leagues with his solid relief pitching so far this season for Colorado's 'AAA' Sky Sox... this past week he pitched four times with only one earned run from 4.0 innings with a 3/0 strike out versus walk ratio. Minnestoa's MATTHEW WILLIAMS and BRAD TIPPETT produced similar statistics. Williams pitched a total of 5.1 innings for just two earned runs and a 6/3 strike out versus walk ratio, while Tippett produced one very competent start with only one earned run coming from his 5.1 innings of work. Both played with Minnesota's 'A' level Beloit Snappers.

Even though his sample comprised just three innings of relief pitching, another "Honourable Mention" for this week will go to SHANE LINDSAY who earned a win and a 5/1 strikeout versus walk ratio from three relief appearances with Colorado's 'AA' Tulsa Drillers.

We won't need to further detail the statistics of this week's top nominations as they should speak for themselves. We will only provide a special congratulation to young RYAN SEARLE who has already become our first multiple award winner in the early weeks of the 2009 season. We would also expect to see TRENT OELTJEN winning our award more than once this season after winning it several times during 2008; we still think he could be Australia's next major leaguer!

This week's nominations are:

TRENT OELTJEN  (AAA - Reno Aces)    6G   .476AVG  21AB  3R  10H  5D  3T  6RBI  1.000SLG%  --  Season  .316AVG

Ryan SEARLE  (A+ - Daytona Cubs)    2G   0-0, 0.00ERA  10.0IP  4H  0ER  2BB  7K  --  Season  2-1, 1.88ERA

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

Although there was not a multitude of players making a genuine bid for our awards this week, it was nonetheless quite difficult to separate some performances from others. One player who did not have a large enough sample to consider was our former major leaguer JUSTIN HUBER who started his new challenge with the Minnesota Twins at 'AAA' level batting a "perfect" 2-2, including a home run... let's state the obvious that it was a highly promising start.

Another former major leaguer CHRIS SNELLING is making a big impact in the 'AAA' Mexican League with the Sultanes de Monterrey. He boosted an already terrific batting average with 8-21 this week for a .381 average. We have not included players from non-USA main stream leagues in the past, so we will limit him to just a "general mention".

"Honourable Mentions will go to TIM KENNELLY, who batted .350 this past week, along with MITCH DENING, who batted .310.

Relief pitchers with 0.00ERAs for the week included JOSHUA HILL, from a total of 5.2 innings, and DAMIAN MOSS, from 4.1 innings. PAUL MILDREN collected a win with his impressive five inning, one run start.

Just shading all of those for our PRO PLAYERS OF THE WEEK, we thought, were RYAN SEARLE who pitched a scoreless, one hit, six inning start for a win and LUKE HUGHES who added a triple and two home runs to his .294 average for a massive .765 slugging percentage for the week.

This week's nominations are:

Ryan SEARLE  (A+ - Daytona Cubs)    1G   1-0, 0.00ERA  6.0IP  1H  0ER  0BB  2K  --  Season  1-1, 3.21ERA

Congratulations to this weeks selection of our F&D Pro Player of the Week.

‘Flintoff & Dunn’ are happy to be back in harness, bringing you our US PRO PLAYERS OF THE WEEK again in 2009.

This year we will start by assessing all players stats so far in the new US pro season, whether they have spanned beyond seven days or not so far. These are our initial Pro Players of the Week for 2009.

On this occasion we could not seriously consider Minnesota's JAMES BERESFORD (.400 from 5ABs) or Philadelphia's JOEL NAUGHTON (.333 from 9 ABs) due to the small sample size.

You will see that most of our "Honourable Mentions" this week were desperately close to sharing the top award!

This week's nominations are: