2002 League Results
The 2002 Shoeless Joe League Season
October 9: The Moline Greens Capture 4th Shoeless Joe Title
The Moline Greens, fresh off three consecutive Shoeless Joe championships in 1999 and 2000 (when the league played two seasons), reclaimed their title against the the Savannah Carpetbaggers. The Greens now claim 6 World Series appearances in the 12 seasons of the SJL, second only to Kansas City, which has been to the Series 7 times. Savannah was back in the Series for the first time since the glory days of the franchise, the early-to-mid 1990s, when the club first known as the Wisconsin Cheesehead captured two World Series in four consecutive championship appearances.
Moline took care of its first-round opponent, the Florida Panthers, by a 4-0 series sweep, although the series was tighter than that. Pitching duels characterized the matchup. The Greens' Pedro Martinez locked up with the Panthers' Roy Oswalt in the opener, captured by Moline 4-2 on consecutive run-scoring doubles by Pat Burrell and Todd Walker in the 6th inning, followed by a run-scoring double by Vladimir Guerrero in the 7th against Panther reliever Ramiro Mendoza. Game 2 was a ten-inning affair, won by Moline 5-4 against Esteban Loaiza, whose exclusion from the starting rotation was not enough to prevent him from doing damage to his own team, courtesy of a game-winning single delivered off the bat of Scott Rolen. In another 10-inning contest in game 3, Rolen smacked a 3-run homer and Andruw Jones and Todd Walker contributed RBI singles in the 10th against Alan Embree to give Moline its third consecutive win, 5-3. The Greens dominated the finale by scoring early and often against Hideo Nomo, who allowed homers to Guerrero, Burrell, Walker, Rolen and Mark Sweeney (a playoff record 5 homers given up by a single SJL hurler).
In a battle of brotherly significance, the Carpetbaggers defeated the Harrisburg Heroes 4 games to 1. Game 1 was a classic of playoff proportions, with Randy Johnson outdueling Kerry Wood in a 3-2 Savannah victory, decided by an 8th inning solo homer off the bat of Robin Ventura. Andy Pettitte evened the series for the Heroes with a 3-run, 7-inning performance in game 2, won by Harrisburg 4-3 on a 9th inning solo homer from Alfonso Soriano. It took a quartet of hurlers to beat Harrisburg in game 3, as Miguel Batista faltered after 3 and two-thirds, and had to be relieved by Y. Perez, Scott Williamson, and J.C. Romero, who collectively allowed just one run in 5+ innings for a 6-4 Carpetbagger win. The Carpetbaggers won game 5 by a 5-4 margin, using 5 pitchers this time after starter Mark Redman got knocked out of the game in the 1st inning. A crucial error by Troy Glaus resulted in 3 unearned runs to spoil C.C. Sabathia's start. In the finale, Randy Johnson outdueled Kerry Wood once again, this time by a decisive 7-2 margin, capped by a 3-run ninth inning homer from Carlos Delgado. Barry Bonds was 6-15 with 9 walks in the series, including a homer in game 2.
The Moline-Savannah World Series was full of drama, with Moline taking the first three games by 1-run margins, losing the next two 3-4 and 3-6, and capturing the series finale by a narrow 4-2 score. In the series, Savannah actually outscored the champs by a 25 to 24 pace. The Greens' Pedro Martinez had to be removed after 4 innings of 1 run ball in the opener, only to be relieved by a quartet of Moline's finest bullpen performers (Cruz, Moss, Hermanson and Kim), who collectively shut out the Carpetbaggers over 5 innings of work. This allowed Vladimir Guerrero's RBI double in the 8th to stand as the margin of victory. In game two, Scott Rolen won the contest with a sac fly in the bottom of the 8th, after Mark Buehrle and Byung-Hyun Kim pitched 8 innings and allowed 5 runs. This was one shy of the amount given up collectively by Eric Milton, Masato Yoshii and Dave Weathers, who lost the game in the bottom of the 8th. The slugfest continued in game 3, with Scott Rolen homering and doubling to drive in 3 runs for the Greens, as they chased Miguel Batista and scored 4 runs off J.C. Romero and Scott Williamson in the final two frames. Savannah's two victories came in games 4 and 5, with 6 Carpetbag pitchers holding the Greens to 3 runs in the 4th contest and Randy Johnson winning his third playoff start by defeating an ailing Pedro Martinez in game 5. In the finale, though, Mark Buehrle set the pace with an excellent outing (7 IP, 2 ER), backed by a homer from Andruw Jones to lead the Moline Greens to another championship shoe! CONGRATS, MOLINE! IT IS WELL DESERVED.
For a full read of the playoff and championship scoresheets, go to: 2002 PLAYOFFS
For complete team and player stats, go to:
For league leaders, go to:
FINAL 2002 REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS
Northern Standings, Pitching W L pct. GB ERA CG ShO RS Sv IP R ER H BA BB K WP 9 Moline Greens 111 51 .685 - 3.14 13 17 5.6 60 1461.2 568 510 1261 .230 543 1235 49 7 Harrisburg Heroes 100 62 .617 11 3.35 9 16 5.0 54 1462.2 591 544 1274 .231 566 1343 55 11 PA Plutonium 88 74 .543 23 3.77 8 14 4.5 46 1467 673 614 1340 .240 632 1270 61 5 Chicago Cockroaches 86 76 .531 25 4.02 6 10 4.5 54 1447 701 646 1378 .247 555 1202 53 1 Baltimore Hons 84 78 .519 27 4.36 8 9 4.6 42 1469 764 711 1558 .271 597 1120 52 3 Bird-In-Hand Hexers 82 80 .506 29 4.40 7 13 4.9 44 1474.2 791 721 1520 .265 687 1148 62 15 London Rippers 74 88 .457 37 4.36 6 13 4.1 43 1433 768 695 1494 .264 613 1139 73 13 Hagerstown Hobgoblins 46 116 .284 65 5.01 8 9 3.2 22 1435.1 865 799 1589 .278 683 1015 52 Southern Standings, Pitching W L pct. GB ERA CG ShO RS Sv IP R ER H BA BB K WP 10 Savannah Carpetbaggers 110 52 .679 - 3.31 14 14 5.6 41 1465.2 595 539 1282 .232 557 1255 60 4 Florida Panthers 92 70 .568 18 3.63 4 15 5.1 39 1479.1 667 597 1436 .251 544 1207 36 6 Kansas City Whirlwind 86 76 .531 24 4.36 9 11 5.0 31 1450.1 758 703 1526 .268 591 1135 52 8 Leones de Miami 85 77 .525 25 4.21 6 7 4.7 36 1447.2 733 677 1522 .270 613 1048 38 12 St. Louis Sprockets 74 88 .457 36 3.81 13 10 3.8 46 1463.2 686 619 1450 .256 565 1050 49 2 CARACAS POLAR BEARS 69 93 .426 41 4.21 8 18 3.9 36 1434.1 737 671 1366 .249 714 1263 76 14 Ft.Lauderdale Clementes 60 102 .370 50 5.05 4 3 3.9 42 1433.1 857 805 1532 .271 686 1137 76 16 New Orleans Hurlers 49 113 .302 61 5.51 7 5 3.8 27 1423.2 940 872 1579 .280 758 1002 71 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 5705 903 1580 308 22 236 888 .277 .463 .358 744 1111 60 24 49 139 51 7 1363 165 118 111 43 24 12 7 5605 804 1465 296 14 234 787 .261 .444 .336 650 1290 89 31 49 113 114 32 1250 162 104 111 58 15 13 11 5617 733 1416 306 41 166 720 .252 .410 .322 604 1167 86 32 55 96 126 36 1243 169 97 113 48 16 6 5 5601 736 1436 302 26 166 728 .256 .408 .322 560 1215 111 39 41 99 44 18 1239 161 102 130 51 24 15 1 5732 751 1502 286 20 196 742 .262 .421 .339 692 1141 67 24 46 136 0 1 1384 129 129 101 74 19 8 3 5752 791 1544 295 28 185 778 .268 .426 .336 610 1199 68 27 52 105 101 63 1274 168 124 107 80 19 10 15 5591 661 1441 275 44 136 646 .258 .396 .318 515 1093 75 23 45 113 70 22 1246 134 121 125 44 24 22 13 5544 512 1284 258 22 99 496 .232 .340 .288 450 1270 73 28 35 96 38 20 1182 74 121 131 69 27 7 10 5629 904 1499 288 33 194 890 .266 .433 .361 870 1135 81 33 57 126 71 18 1422 165 103 101 40 20 12 4 5769 828 1539 305 25 215 815 .267 .440 .344 705 990 81 32 53 120 44 11 1382 166 96 98 37 10 6 6 5622 816 1492 271 25 209 799 .265 .434 .347 729 1173 92 28 55 121 16 11 1345 152 120 99 57 17 10 8 5697 763 1524 269 23 209 751 .268 .433 .334 592 1131 47 18 42 124 71 20 1278 149 128 106 73 21 13 12 5569 612 1352 281 25 131 607 .243 .373 .310 568 1032 80 35 48 131 0 1 1248 121 112 118 66 39 18 2 5501 636 1358 267 29 165 628 .247 .396 .311 536 1166 92 31 47 97 59 31 1201 136 117 114 51 16 10 14 5525 624 1332 276 45 119 609 .241 .372 .309 567 1131 87 26 44 103 49 26 1236 139 112 106 64 15 17 16 5561 620 1343 282 21 121 603 .242 .365 .304 512 1325 71 26 31 101 54 27 1201 92 116 118 53 38 26 After 7 - Ahead Tied Behind 1-Run Ex.In. v.RHP v.LHP 9 Moline Greens 95- 6 13- 4 3-41 19-24 7- 3 95-39 16-12 7 Harrisburg Heroes 75- 1 17-11 8-50 29-23 9- 8 84-42 16-20 11 PA Plutonium 64- 6 16-10 8-58 28-22 11- 9 64-57 24-17 5 Chicago Cockroaches 69- 5 13- 7 4-64 32-20 8- 4 68-56 18-20 1 Baltimore Hons 64- 3 11- 9 9-66 28-23 9- 7 68-57 16-21 3 Bird-In-Hand Hexers 69- 9 8-10 5-61 21-27 8-13 66-63 16-17 15 London Rippers 62- 7 6- 9 6-72 24-22 5- 3 55-71 19-17 13 Hagerstown Hobgoblins 36- 7 7-11 3-98 19-22 6- 9 39-95 7-21 10 Savannah Carpetbaggers 94- 6 6- 7 10-39 28-23 7- 7 93-41 17-11 4 Florida Panthers 74- 6 12-12 6-52 29-31 10-10 77-54 15-16 6 Kansas City Whirlwind 65- 9 9- 8 12-59 27-25 8- 9 63-59 23-17 8 Leones de Miami 67- 9 9- 5 9-63 28-24 7- 7 64-63 21-14 12 St. Louis Sprockets 57- 6 8-14 9-68 32-32 11- 7 58-70 16-18 2 CARACAS POLAR BEARS 56- 5 8-10 5-78 18-31 6- 7 57-68 12-25 14 Ft.Lauderdale Clementes 41-12 11-10 8-80 25-30 5- 8 48-79 12-23 16 New Orleans Hurlers 41-13 3-20 5-80 19-27 2- 8 43-84 6-29 vs.9 vs.7 vs.11 vs.5 vs.1 vs.3 vs.15 vs.13 vs.10 vs.4 vs.6 vs.8 vs.12 vs.2 vs.14 vs.16 9 Moline Greens - 8-4 7-5 10-2 9-3 8-4 8-4 11-1 4-5 4-6 6-4 5-4 8-2 8-2 8-2 7-3 7 Harrisburg Heroes 4-8 - 10-2 9-3 6-6 8-4 9-3 11-1 3-7 6-4 4-5 3-6 6-4 8-2 4-6 9-1 11 PA Plutonium 5-7 2-10 - 5-7 5-7 5-7 6-6 10-2 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-3 9-1 8-2 5 Chicago Cockroaches 2-10 3-9 7-5 - 6-6 9-3 5-7 11-1 3-7 5-4 6-3 4-6 6-4 7-3 5-5 7-3 1 Baltimore Hons 3-9 6-6 7-5 6-6 - 5-7 6-6 8-4 4-6 3-7 4-6 5-5 6-4 6-3 8-2 7-2 3 Bird-In-Hand Hexers 4-8 4-8 7-5 3-9 7-5 - 8-4 9-3 3-7 4-5 4-6 7-3 6-4 4-5 6-4 6-4 15 London Rippers 4-8 3-9 6-6 7-5 6-6 4-8 - 10-2 2-8 2-8 4-6 7-3 6-4 5-5 4-5 4-5 13 Hagerstown Hobgoblins 1-11 1-11 2-10 1-11 4-8 3-9 2-10 - 2-8 1-9 6-4 3-7 3-6 4-6 6-3 7-3 10 Savannah Carpetbaggers 5-4 7-3 3-6 7-3 6-4 7-3 8-2 8-2 - 8-4 7-5 9-3 8-4 8-4 10-2 9-3 4 Florida Panthers 6-4 4-6 6-4 4-5 7-3 5-4 8-2 9-1 4-8 - 6-6 3-9 7-5 7-5 8-4 8-4 6 Kansas City Whirlwind 4-6 5-4 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 4-6 5-7 6-6 - 8-4 4-8 8-4 7-5 8-4 8 Leones de Miami 4-5 6-3 4-6 6-4 5-5 3-7 3-7 7-3 3-9 9-3 4-8 - 7-5 5-7 8-4 11-1 12 St. Louis Sprockets 2-8 4-6 3-6 4-6 4-6 4-6 4-6 6-3 4-8 5-7 8-4 5-7 - 5-7 9-3 7-5 2 CARACAS POLAR BEARS 2-8 2-8 3-7 3-7 3-6 5-4 5-5 6-4 4-8 5-7 4-8 7-5 7-5 - 6-6 7-5 14 Ft.Lauderdale Clementes 2-8 6-4 1-9 5-5 2-8 4-6 5-4 3-6 2-10 4-8 5-7 4-8 3-9 6-6 - 8-4 16 New Orleans Hurlers 3-7 1-9 2-8 3-7 2-7 4-6 5-4 3-7 3-9 4-8 4-8 1-11 5-7 5-7 4-8 -