2000 League Results

In the mud of April the Shoeless Joe League campaign began with predictions that Moline would rule the North. When injuries decimated longtime power Harrisburg before the season began, Baltimore and Pennsylvania looked to move past the Heroes and make a run at the defending champions. The games were played. The season advanced. Trends emerged, and fears were confirmed. Moline rose as high as .750 at the All-Star break, then fell in August. But never too far. The Greens stayed well in front of the Northern division throughout the year, lengthening their lead to 21 games by season's end. Moline played well in September, if not well enough to reach their regular-season goal of .700 ball. "Two words," said G.M. Rolf Samuels, "bull pen."

In the spring, the South was more open. Who knew what seeds would germinate, what crops would grow, what perennials return? Still, even then, Kansas City looked like the favorite, capable of marshalling a strong offense behind a thinned but still sufficient pitching staff. The games were played. The season advanced. Trends emerged, and fears were confirmed. The Whirlwind lost pitcher after pitcher to injury but still clung to its Southern division lead. G.M. Nils Samuels used his resources well, filling in here, patching a gap there, but flying perilously close to sub-.600 ball until a perfect final week. It was a good KC squad, good enough to secure the division. It was not the team with which manager Shoals Alabama began the season. "It was the hand that Allah dealt. So I comply."

October came. The season ended. Two teams won their respective pennants, two teams faced off on two different fields. And in the end, it was the same two teams, the ones who'd been there before, the boys who'd wrestled in youth over womb space, who'd fought for the Shoe each fall since 1997. In the end, the two tyrants. And if the Greens won six fewer games than Pythagoras said they should have won, and if the Whirlwind won two more games than that dead sabermatician would have predicted, well, then those differences evened out in the championship series. There the Combine rolled steadily through the dust storms of Kansas, sweeping the Whirls in workmanlike fashion, winning with strong hitting and solid pitching, swatting eight homers to the dustmen's three, taking the lone one-run contest. There were no blowouts; the games were close. Staked to sufficient leads, Moline's shaky pen bent but never broke. Despite the dire predictions of Greens' atheist Liane Luckman, the shoe stayed east of the big river.

"Eh, I've been wrong before," said Luckman. "Now what?" "What's left but the hand shake?" asked KC publicist Mike Veeck. "Jehovah loves you," answered Moline ethicist Suzann Moertl, hugging the loveable iconclast. So hands shook, backs were slapped, and tushes were fondled. There were enough shared laughs to make spectators wonder at the competition. "Hey, we's supposed to hate those guys," said Tom Simmons of Rock Island. "What're they doin' being nice to 'em?"

If there was less emotion this year, less speculation beforehand, less analysis afterwards, it might be because these brothers in arms had been there before. "They were a better team," said Samuels. "They deserved to win." His brother only smiled. "These things happen." And what do they mean? That one team wins and another loses, and ostensibly it's why we play the game. But there are other reasons. To track the course of young men across elysian fields. To imagine, plan, and realize. To have one damn thing work out in measured ways. To know something well. This is the game that the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad in it.

While the Samuels brothers bask in the glow of camaraderie, constructing rhythmic anthems to the gods of Bal, other league GMs wail, gnash their teeth, and wonder. They wonder about what they've done, and they wonder where they are heading. Caracas GM Ron Young openly questions the wisdom of acquiring rhp James Baldwin at the cost of the first pick in next year's draft and rising infield prospect Willie Bloomquist. "Who knew?" Bird-In-Hand GM Peter Hess wonders why Ben Grieve hasn't become a star yet. "The Sleumas curse thing? I don't buy it." Harrisburg GM Dave Hess wonders what went wrong with a season that began riding high in April. "The Cubs? No, we are not the Cubs, we are not the Cubs." Florida GM Ron Cox wonders how David Cone could lose his form and sink any hopes the Panthers had for a championship run. "Luck? Hell, the Wind had more injuries than we did. So who's lucky?" Chicago GM Mike Isaacs wonders what the pickings will be with the second selection next year. "Do I have any idea who we'll take? Yeah, like I'm gonna tell you guys." Pennsylvania GM Jim Brown wonders if low attendance might have been reversed a better record. "Is there any evidence that winning ballgames puts fannies in the seats? Not when you've got Harrisburg and Bird-In-Hand eating into your fan base." Savannah GM Dan Skidmore-Hess wonders when uberprospect Nick Johnson would be able to swing a bat without pain, when the rebuilding will allow the Carp to return to the upper division. "Panic? No, we're looking longterm. The Whirls are coming back to the pack, and we'll be there." Miami GM Carlos Barrera wonders if he waited too long to acquire Maddux. "Could we have caught them with Maddux fronting us the whole season?" Baltimore GM Al Melchior wonders why Sosa, Kent, and Helton weren't enough to challenge the Combine. "Was it our pitching? It was Singleton and Relaford." St. Louis GM Kip Welborn questions the wisdom of selecting Chin Feng Chen in last year's first round. "Foreigners? Maybe that is the problem. Look at how little Moline has gotten from Delgado and Pedro after all these years."

And then came expansion.

Final Standings, 2000 Northern_______Pitching_________W___L___PCT_GB____ERA__CG_ShO__RS__Sv___IP_____R___ER___H___BA___BB___K__WP 9 Moline Greens 110 52 .679 - 3.83 18 16 6.6 47 1460.1 668 622 1292 .233 599 1388 45 11 PA Plutonium 89 73 .549 21 4.99 1 6 5.7 55 1447.2 873 803 1565 .273 697 1069 45 1 Baltimore Hons 86 76 .531 24 4.34 17 9 5.4 33 1475.2 772 711 1559 .268 604 1174 24 7 Harrisburg Heroes 79 83 .488 31 4.83 10 8 5.2 29 1474 852 791 1507 .260 763 1089 57 3 Hexers 72 90 .444 38 4.68 6 6 4.6 43 1460.1 803 760 1530 .267 729 1274 47 5 Chicago Cockroaches 66 96 .407 44 5.79 7 10 4.7 38 1446.2 1005 930 1597 .279 840 1144 69 Southern_______Pitching_________W___L___PCT__GB___ERA__CG_ShO__RS__Sv___IP_____R___ER___H___BA___BB___K__WP 6 Kansas City Whirlwind 100 62 .617 - 4.44 13 12 6.1 37 1468 794 724 1547 .268 624 993 47 8 Leones de Miami 87 75 .537 13 4.54 5 12 5.4 51 1456.1 806 734 1504 .265 681 1029 50 4 Florida Panthers 83 79 .512 17 4.62 9 14 5.7 24 1458.2 801 749 1468 .259 744 1168 69 10 Savannah Carpetbaggers 72 90 .444 28 5.13 7 8 4.4 39 1444.2 900 824 1593 .276 704 1205 61 12 St. Louis Sprockets 70 92 .432 30 4.97 11 10 4.3 37 1439 871 795 1602 .280 701 910 45 2 Caracas Polar Bears 58 104 .358 42 5.25 5 6 3.9 39 1440.2 905 840 1549 .271 776 1081 71 TEAM BATTING ____AB____R____H___D___T__HR__RBI__BA__SlgA__OBA__BB___K___SH__F_SF_GDP__SB__CS__LOB__OP__DP__E__OSB_OCS_PB 9 5863 1067 1760 338 38 295 1052 .300 .522 .378 762 1087 63 23 54 132 70 23 1381 162 106 123 44 23 9 11 5777 920 1614 273 35 245 900 .279 .466 .351 659 1127 88 32 49 101 61 13 1332 167 112 104 78 16 9 1 5798 878 1557 292 32 231 869 .269 .449 .345 702 1177 70 24 50 129 29 10 1335 159 114 109 66 28 12 7 5788 843 1548 301 24 228 828 .267 .446 .344 700 1150 64 29 50 123 142 44 1327 156 92 116 68 15 7 3 5695 744 1466 277 34 164 721 .257 .404 .332 658 1051 93 39 40 132 15 13 1337 149 117 102 78 15 9 5 5733 759 1463 294 27 197 737 .255 .419 .323 592 1285 58 26 33 103 75 18 1274 152 133 127 78 23 15 6 5800 987 1634 324 34 274 973 .282 .491 .373 874 1154 88 30 56 104 90 32 1481 165 125 101 48 22 6 8 5695 882 1510 284 25 241 867 .265 .451 .350 773 1208 62 21 58 106 72 23 1357 137 130 127 78 21 14 4 5853 922 1662 330 26 240 905 .284 .472 .356 683 975 73 26 52 130 52 6 1376 169 104 101 66 23 4 10 5540 716 1403 276 27 157 703 .253 .398 .343 783 1068 84 29 55 129 97 27 1386 138 115 147 74 24 18 12 5553 696 1389 265 25 142 682 .250 .384 .329 671 1045 113 43 38 105 48 25 1318 111 130 133 70 28 10 2 5546 636 1307 266 22 178 619 .236 .388 .309 605 1197 58 26 36 106 75 22 1218 159 122 147 78 18 12 WEEK 26 RESULTS 9 Moline 3-3: 11 4-6(13), 11 5-1, 11 4-5, 3 4-1, 3 4-8, 3 1-0. 11 Pennsylvania 3-3: 3 3-5, 3 4-7, 3 3-0, @9 6-4(13), @9 1-5, @9 5-4. 1 Baltimore 1-5: 5 8-11, 5 6-0, 5 0-7, 7 4-5(16), 7 3-4(10), 7 0-10. 7 Harrisburg 4-2: @5 5-1, @5 2-5, @5 1-3, @1 5-4(16), @1 4-3(10), @1 10-0. 3 Bird In Hand 3-3: @11 5-3, @11 7-4, @11 0-3, @9 1-4, @9 8-4, @9 0-1. 5 Chicago 4-2: 7 1-5, 7 5-2, 7 3-1, @1 11-8, @1 0-6, @1 7-0. 6 Kansas City 6-0: @4 14-1, @4 15-8, @4 12-3, @2 6-0, @2 4-0, @2 8-5(10). 8 Miami 4-2: 10 8-0, 10 6-4, 10 0-3, @12 1-0, @12 6-2, @12 2-3(10). 4 Florida 3-3: 6 1-14, 6 8-15, 6 3-12, @2 20-0, @2 13-8, @2 9-3. 10 Savannah 2-4: @12 0-14, @12 11-0, @12 0-3, @8 0-8, @8 4-6, @8 3-0. 12 St. Louis 3-3: 10 14-0, 10 0-11, 10 3-0, 8 0-1, 8 2-6, 8 3-2(10). 2 Caracas 0-6: 6 0-6, 6 0-4, 6 5-8(10), 4 0-20, 4 8-13, 4 3-9. TEAM SITUATIONAL (final)

____________________After_7_-_Ahead__Tied_Behind__1-Run_Ex.In.__v.RHP_v.LHP 9 Moline Greens 99- 8 8-10 3-34 18-20 3- 9 80-36 30-16 11 PA Plutonium 73- 7 11- 5 5-61 23-16 7- 7 64-52 25-21 1 Baltimore Hons 71-12 9- 8 6-56 18-22 5-13 73-62 13-14 7 Harrisburg Heroes 58-10 11- 9 10-64 22-25 14-13 55-67 24-16 3 Bird in Hand Hexers 60- 5 9- 8 3-77 18-21 9- 9 54-68 18-22 5 Chicago Cockroaches 53- 4 4- 8 9-84 17-19 4- 8 50-69 16-27 6 Kansas City Whirlwind 82- 5 7- 6 11-51 23-20 9- 6 69-45 31-17 8 Leones de Miami 72-10 8- 6 7-59 22-22 10-10 59-53 28-22 4 Florida Panthers 65- 6 4- 6 14-67 21-25 12- 7 57-59 26-20 10 Savannah Carpetbaggers 60- 5 5-12 7-73 26-21 11- 6 52-68 20-22 12 St. Louis Sprockets 53- 8 8- 8 9-76 24-19 11- 5 56-70 14-22 2 Caracas Polar Bears 44- 7 11- 9 3-88 18-20 8-10 41-78 17-26