Out In 1st Round

                             When the season started owner  Kyle Smith was interviewed and said "if this team can go .500 this year I would be happy with that effort." Well New York did a lot better then that, posting a 92-71 which  was good enough to get them a one game playoff vs Seattle Sasquatch (91-72) and with the win over Seattle, New York was back into the playoffs for the 2nd time in 5 years.

                             Mafia faced  So Cal Republic (96-66) in the 1st round and took So Cal to game 6 with a one run lead and Closer Lyle Arnold on the mound in the 9th to close the show and force a game 7, where Ace José Serrano would have got the start. All season long Arnold has struggled at the closing spot, in fact the last 2 season he has been out of form. The 37yro with 3 years left on contract takes the mound and pitches 2/3 gives up 2 hits 1 walk and 2 runs then walks off the field.

  Bob Lee , Javier Flores and Dave Olson all 3 played for NY since the league formed and now all 3 will be packing there bags soon.

                             GM Anthony Zappulla will have a lot of decision to make in the off season on what to do with 40+ million New York will save from the 3 long time New Yorkers exiting. Will Zappulla restock on cash, hit the free agent or try and make a trade or two. Lot of options for the Mafia and only time will tell.

                             Mafia have some good young players and look to be adding more this coming year and the next. There is some holes Mafia have to fill if they ever want to get out of the 1st round of the playoffs but ownership is confident in Zappulla.

                             GM Anthony Zappulla commented when asked about this season and the future "We have a lot of talented players here that all seem to gel nice together, just having fun, big reason why we were able to reach the playoffs this year. We have great players here now that we can build around, great coaches and a ton of youth in the minors that in a year or two we will see these players in the pros. We are staying focused on the goal of a ring and will look into all options in the off season to help make that possible for the city of New York and the Tri-State area."