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The 2009 season will certainly be one to remember for quite some time. It's a season that started with a 9-3 win at home against Lancaster on April 9, and came to a close when Travis Scott flied out to the warning track in San Jose on September 19 to give the Giants the Cal League title.

In between there were several wins, home runs, comebacks, and standout pitching performances. The 83 wins during the regular season tied for the second-most in team history. The Mavs won both the first half and second half for just the second time in team history. They made it to the finals for the fourth time, but lost once they got there for the first time.

The 2009 Mavs led the league in batting average, home runs, hits, and runs scored. They placed themselves not only among one of the best squads in team history, but they now find themselves amongst the top 10 best offensive teams the league has ever seen.

Not since 1993 did the Mavs bolster such a big middle of the lineup. Alex Liddi, Joe Dunigan, and Carlos Peguero combined for 84 home runs, 200 extra-base hits, and 306 RBI's.

They were able to do their damage because of the guys ahead of them. Tyson Gillies was second in the league in on-base percentage and became the first Maverick since 2003 to lead the league in stolen bases.

In terms of the numbers, Liddi was like Albert Pujols for the Mavs. Was he a triple crown threat? Yes. Did he win it? No. But he was near the top in every offensive category, and just like Pujols twice before (with a third time to come in the very near future), Liddi was named the league's MVP, the first for the Mavs since Brad Penny won it in 1998.

Liddi wasn't the only guy wearing a Maverick uniform to be recognized with an individual award. Manager Jim Horner, who only won 58 games with the Mavs last year, was named the league's top skipper. He followed in the footsteps of current Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu, the last Maverick manager to win the award when he did it in 1998.

The team boasted four Mid-Season All-Stars, including Liddi, Dunigan, Scott, and Juan Diaz. Donnie Hume joined Liddi and Dunigan on the Post-Season All-Star team.

Hume had a record-breaking year as well. His 17 wins shattered the previous team record of 14 in one season, and it was the most by a Cal League pitcher this decade.

He was a part of a pitching staff chock full of talented arms in the Mariners farm system. Although the Mavs did not pitch a shutout in the first half the season, they did it seven times, including the playoffs.

In the Division Finals against Rancho Cucamonga, the Mavs pitched consecutive shutouts for the first time at home since 1997. Steven Hensley's gritty complete game shutout in Game 1 was the first time a Maverick pitcher tossed a shutout in the High Desert since Many Parra, now of the Milwaukee Brewers, did it in 2004.

This was a team that terrific in close games. They had the best winning percentage in one-run games in the league. In games decided by two runs or less, they had 36-20 record, for a .643 winning percentage. That's why it was kind of odd that all five of their losses in the playoffs came by two runs or less, including four of which by just one run.

Even if they weren't in the lead late it the game, this was a team that was always in it until the very end. Fort the second straight year, the Mavs led the Cal League with six wins when trailing after eight innings.

One of those games they won when trailing after the eighth was quite possibly the most memorable of the year. On June 4 in Stockton, the Mavs trailed 5-3 in the top of the ninth. They would score two to tie, but little did they know the game would proceed for 12 more innings! The Mavs would eventually prevail 7-6 in 21 innings when it concluded the next day on June 5. The 7 hour, 32 minute marathon is the longest game in league history.

That wasn't the only record-breaking game the Mavs were part of. On June 28 against Lake Elsinore, the record books would practically be written all over again in a 33-18 Storm victory. The game included 51 runs, 58 hits, 10 home runs, and six errors. It finished 4 hours, 10 minutes after it started becoming the longest nine-inning game in league history.

One of the records broken that afternoon was by Jamie McOwen, who collected a hit in his 36th straight game. What will probably be known in the Maverick annals as THE streak, McOwen hit safely in 45 consecutive games, only to see it end July 10 in Modesto. It was one of the longest hit streaks in the history of professional baseball, and McOwen broke the old league mark by 10 games.

Quite possibly the quirkiest thing involving the Mavericks this year took place over two games against the Inland Empire 66ers. In a tie game in the bottom of the 11th inning, the 66ers were forced to use infielder Adolfo Gonzalez as a pitcher. Dunigan eventually hit a walk-off home run of Gonzalez to give the Mavs a 12-10 win on May 6.

Fast-forward to June 19 at Inland Empire. Trailing by one in the bottom of the ninth with a runner on base and two outs, Gonzalez hit a walk-off home run to give the 66ers the win.

Like any season, 2009 had its ups and downs. Fortunately there were a lot more ups for the Mavericks this year. Will the team have such an eventful season in 2010? Obviously it's hard to tell now, but based on the way 2009 went, nothing is out of the question.

High Desert Mavericks Baseball--A Big League Experience Right In Our Own Backyard! This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.

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