2003 League Results

The 2003 Shoeless Joe League Season

October 7: Harrisburg Wins Shoe!

The Harrisburg Heroes put the decisive finishing touches on a masterful 2003 season by taking 8 of 10 postseason games to win the 2003 Shoeless Joe League Championship. This was the first title for Harrisburg and GM David Hess, although the Heroes have long been one of the most successful SJL franchises in the history of the league, having won two divisional titles and having appeared in two previous Championship series. This year, the club put it all together with a 102-win season followed by a successful playoff run that featured outstanding pitching. The Heroes held the Panthers to 15 runs in 45 innings of play, with C.C. Sabathia outdueling Roy Halladay, Randy Johnson outpitching Esteban Loaiza, Andy Pettitte getting the win against Hideo Nomo, and Wood beating Oswalt to clinch the series victory. The opening game was the only loss for the Heroes, as Roy Oswalt would toss a 7-inning, 2 run, 7 K gem, backed up by a 2-run double from Carlos Lee and another RBI double from Matt LeCroy to give Wood his lone defeat in the series. From there on, it was all Harrisburg, but several games were close, as the Heroes outscored the Panthers by only a 3-run margin, 19-16, in the 5 games played. All four Heroe wins were by the margin of 1-run! In game two, Harrisburg set the tone for the remainder of the series by scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th, two against Halladay and one charged to closer Octavio Dotel, to win the game 5-4. A two-run double by Alfonso Soriano against Dotel proved to be the game-winning hit. In the third game, J.D. Drew blasted what turned out to be the winning homer in a 5-4 Harrisburg win. In game four, Soriano, Payton and Giles all homered against Panther pitching, giving the Heroes a narrow 4-3 victory. Harrisburg won the deciding game 3-2, getting two big runs off Panther reliever John Riedling, who surrendered RBI singles to Lyle Overbay and Julio Lugo in the top of the 6th.

While the Heroes were beating the Panthers, the Caracas Polar Bears, winners of the Southern Division, were having a harder time with the Chicago Cockroaches. The two clubs battled though a 7-game series, with the Polar Bears emerging victorious by a 4-3 game margin. For GM Ron Young, this would be the first Shoeless Joe Championship ever, and the first playoff series in Polar Bear history. Caracas took the opener 5-3 behind the pitching of Mark Buehrle, who worked 8 innings, allowing only 3 earned runs, to get the win. In game two, Chicago came roaring back with a 4-1 win, behind the work of Josh Beckett (8 innings, 1 run, 3 BB, 7 K) and a homer from Vernon Wells. Caracas took game 3 in 13 innings with a two-run double off the bat of Polar Bear Carlos Pena in the top of the 13th against the Roaches Adam Eaton. But Chicago would come roaring back yet again, taking the next two games to secure a 3-2 game lead in the best-of-seven series. In game 4, the Roaches Kip Wells picked up the win with a complete game effort, backed by homers from Eric Hinske and Greg Zaun, to lead the Roaches to a 6-3 win. Chicago then took game 5 behind the combined work of Randy Wolf, Mike Remlinger, and Kyle Farnsworth, and a Bobby Kielty game-winning homer in the bottom of the 9th to seal the victory at 5-4. The Polar Bears then rose from the dead, taking the last two games and the series. In game 6, Caracas won 4-3 with strong pitching from Matt Clement, Latroy Hawkins and Francisco Cordero, to beat Josh Beckett. Homers from Magglio Ordonez and Alex Gonzalez aided the Polar Bear cause. Then the Polar Bears won the series in the finale, aided by four Roach errors by Eric Hinske, Vincente Padilla, Craig Biggio and Chipper Jones. Aubrey Huff and Danny Bautista provided homerun fireworks for the Polar Bears in front of an impressive sold-out home crowd of 48,000.

In the 2003 Shoeless Joe Championship, Caracas battled Harrisburg to see who could claim their first-ever Championship Shoe. In the opener, the Heroes' Kerry Wood K'd 11 in a 3-2 complete game win over the Polar Bears' Mark Buerhle. Matt Clement brought Caracas back in game two, evening the series with a 7-inning, 3 run performance, to beat Harrisburg, 4-3. In game three, yet another 1-run affair, Julio Lugo homered off Francisco Rodriguez to win the game for Harrisburg in the top of the ninth. In game three, homers from J.D. Drew and Alfonso Soriano lifted the Heroes to a 6-5 win. Ace Kerry Wood closed out the seriesin a 4-2 Heroe victory, bringing a CHAMPIONSHIP to the HARRISBURG HEROES for the first time ever. Wood tossed a strong 2-run, 7-inning game, followed by two perfect inings from closer Billy Wagner to notch the win. A sixth inning sacrifice fly off the bat of Michael Barrett and a 7th inning homer from Marcus Giles off Polar Bear starter Mark Buehrle wrapped up the Championship for the Heroes.

Congrats to Dave for the title, and to all the SJL playoff teams of 2003. Looking forward to an equally exciting 2004 season.

Northern_Standings,_Pitching___W___L___pct.__GB___ERA__CG_ShO__RS__Sv___IP_____R___ER___H___BA___BB___K__WP 7  Harrisburg Heroes         102  60  .630  -    3.62  9  24  5.1 54 1467.1  663 591 1318 .235 612 1349 50  5  CHICAGO COCKROACHES        93  69  .574  9    3.99  9  10  5.2 47 1450.2  694 643 1342 .243 690 1266 60  9  Moline Greens              86  76  .531 16    4.24 12  16  4.9 42 1437.2  734 677 1434 .258 644 1155 57 11  Newark Five Spot           84  78  .519 18    4.53  2  10  4.8 39 1441    787 725 1475 .263 699 1018 50  3  Bird-In-Hand Hexers        80  82  .494 22    4.95  9   6  5.1 52 1433.1  853 789 1556 .276 628  963 61 15  LONDON RIPPERS             79  83  .488 23    4.54  7   8  4.1 49 1430    787 722 1513 .268 602  951 41  1  Baltimore Hons             77  85  .475 25    4.50  7   9  5.0 39 1437.2  799 719 1576 .276 590 1033 60 13  Hagertown Hobgoblins       69  93  .426 33    4.38  1   8  3.7 47 1429.2  752 695 1371 .249 638 1109 51 Southern_Standings,_Pitching___W___L___pct.__GB___ERA__CG_ShO__RS__Sv___IP_____R___ER___H___BA___BB___K__WP 2  CARACAS POLAR BEARS        98  64  .605  -    3.77 10  13  5.1 44 1465    686 613 1282 .231 743 1269 71  4  Florida Panthers           89  73  .549  9    4.17  9  14  5.3 42 1443    720 668 1451 .259 530 1172 47  6  Kansas City Whirlwind      77  85  .475 21    4.98  4   7  5.0 33 1426    861 789 1573 .277 631  884 51  8  Leones de Miami            76  86  .469 22    4.67 11  13  4.5 26 1429.1  786 741 1547 .274 554  949 42 14  Ft.Lauderdale Clementes    76  86  .469 22    3.90 12  18  4.4 33 1444.1  685 626 1428 .256 567 1171 54 12  St. Louis Sprockets        74  88  .457 24    4.52  9  11  4.4 32 1450    786 728 1497 .266 622  929 43 10  Savannah Carpetbaggers     72  90  .444 26    4.59  7  12  4.6 39 1430.1  787 729 1539 .275 676 1042 82 16  New Orleans Hurlers        64  98  .395 34    4.89  5   6  4.1 36 1446.1  834 786 1528 .269 690 1160 70   ____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  7 5688  828 1542 281 37 221  820 .271 .450 .337 586 1151 100 33 40 102 119  39 1239 150  99 132  69  12 12  5 5646  841 1494 365 26 191  831 .265 .440 .346 727 1094  68 28 43 116  39  12 1327 152 125 120  72  18 15  9 5646  800 1514 275 34 192  776 .268 .431 .335 599 1039  70 27 56 133  30   7 1264 148 118 107  71  28 10 11 5625  785 1479 238 35 198  774 .263 .423 .342 704  998  50 18 57 110 125  42 1337 138 137 119  48  16 11  3 5627  825 1507 289 29 204  809 .268 .438 .335 597 1162  67 24 49 104 112  31 1212 167 129 112  63  27 14 15 5483  672 1341 265 37 143  657 .245 .385 .310 537 1052  65 27 43 107  71  16 1158 120 115 130  47  22 12  1 5667  816 1491 324 20 199  797 .263 .433 .346 733 1032  80 30 35 115   0   0 1380 139 117 110  53  25 10 13 5501  593 1349 290 23 135  583 .245 .380 .305 487 1156  68 25 38 131  40  20 1175 135  96 125  56  17  7    2 5730  824 1558 330 37 207  807 .272 .451 .338 592 1110  75 30 48 126  33  26 1275 156 103 109  55  23 12   4 5705  866 1584 303 21 212  854 .278 .450 .353 696  951  58 19 65 128  67  20 1359 152 120  86  54  20  9  6 5583  808 1471 276 28 221  796 .263 .442 .341 687 1206  74 29 52 122  48  16 1295 132 115 117  35  28 12  8 5560  725 1448 268 21 162  707 .260 .404 .336 663  886  46 19 58 133  40  33 1299 141 109 104  79  31 11 14 5628  710 1482 301 41 141  697 .263 .407 .324 533 1148  88 30 50 101  51  30 1246 171 127  98  69  17  8 12 5622  710 1478 311 30 140  699 .263 .404 .333 604 1101 124 44 34 128  41  17 1308 155 130  90  69  23  8 10 5557  744 1385 243 23 171  725 .249 .394 .332 709 1077  59 22 40 124  73  26 1300 158 133  95  70  38  8 16 5517  667 1307 251 28 173  657 .237 .387 .317 662 1257  63 24 34 105  78  45 1225 119 112 128  57  35 11   7  Dave Hess                 4-2:  11 4-1, 11 4-0, 11 4-8(10), 13 5-7, 13 6-4, 13 10-2.  5  Mike Isaacs               6-0:  @9 3-1, @9 11-3, @9 4-3(10), @15 7-4, @15 7-6, @15 9-4.  9  Rolf Samuels              2-4:  5 1-3, 5 3-11, 5 3-4(10), @3 6-1, @3 3-1, @3 9-13. 11  John Reggio               1-5:  @7 1-4, @7 0-4, @7 8-4(10), 1 4-7, 1 6-9, 1 3-12.  3  Peter Hess                3-3:  @15 8-3, @15 7-4, @15 8-11, 9 1-6, 9 1-3, 9 13-9. 15  Bill Young                1-5:  3 3-8, 3 4-7, 3 11-8, 5 4-7, 5 6-7, 5 4-9.  1  Al Melchior               4-2:  13 0-9, 13 12-3, 13 1-4, @11 7-4, @11 9-6, @11 12-3. 13  Doug Krippendorf          3-3:  @1 9-0, @1 3-12, @1 4-1, @7 7-5, @7 4-6, @7 2-10.    2  Ron Young                 5-1:  @14 0-1(11), @14 5-4(16), @14 14-2, @12 5-3(10), @12 10-6, @12 6-1.  4  Ron Cox                   5-1:  @16 4-1, @16 9-0, @16 3-2, 10 4-3, 10 0-2, 10 6-2.  6  Nils Samuels              5-1:  10 7-0, 10 4-6, 10 5-4, @16 3-1, @16 6-3, @16 9-2.  8  Carlos Barrera            5-1:  12 11-6, 12 4-1, 12 3-4, 14 4-2, 14 6-4, 14 4-3. 14  Manny Rosario             1-5:  2 1-0(11), 2 4-5(16), 2 2-14, @8 2-4, @8 4-6, @8 3-4. 12  Kip Welborn               1-5:  @8 6-11, @8 1-4, @8 4-3, 2 3-5(10), 2 6-10, 2 1-6. 10  Dan Skidmore-Hess         2-4:  @6 0-7, @6 6-4, @6 4-5, @4 3-4, @4 2-0, @4 2-6. 16  Rod Rebuck                0-6:  4 1-4, 4 0-9, 4 2-3, 6 1-3, 6 3-6, 6 2-9.  ____________________After_7_-_Ahead__Tied_Behind__1-Run_Ex.In.__v.RHP_v.LHP  7  Harrisburg Heroes         83- 7 12- 7  7-46   28-18 10- 6   81-48 21-12  5  CHICAGO COCKROACHES       73- 4  8- 8 12-57   27-22  7- 6   68-56 25-13  9  Moline Greens             72- 7  7- 8  7-61   16-21  6- 5   70-57 16-19 11  Newark Five Spot          68- 3 11- 7  5-68   24-20  8- 5   64-54 20-24  3  Bird-In-Hand Hexers       65- 9  6- 9  9-64   12-19  5- 5   60-64 20-18 15  LONDON RIPPERS            59- 7 15-12  5-64   23-19  2- 4   52-66 27-17  1  Baltimore Hons            61- 7  7- 7  9-71   18-26  4- 4   59-70 18-15 13  Hagertown Hobgoblins      56- 6  5- 7  8-80   27-16  6- 3   58-69 11-24    2  CARACAS POLAR BEARS       75- 6 13-10 10-48   25-15 12- 4   76-51 22-13  4  Florida Panthers          70- 5 15- 5  4-63   20-21  3- 8   65-56 24-17  6  Kansas City Whirlwind     65- 7  9- 7  3-71   20-11  3- 2   58-63 19-22  8  Leones de Miami           63- 4  6- 6  7-76   22-20  5- 6   57-64 19-22 14  Ft.Lauderdale Clementes   65-11  9-12  2-63   17-24  7- 6   63-70 13-16 12  St. Louis Sprockets       59- 9 11-13  4-66   18-21  4-14   61-62 13-26 10  Savannah Carpetbaggers    67- 9  1-11  4-70   18-32  8- 4   55-70 17-20 16  New Orleans Hurlers       48- 4  7-13  9-81   18-28  5-13   47-76 17-22  ______________________________vs.7__vs.5__vs.9__vs.11_vs.3__vs.15_vs.1__vs.13___vs.2__vs.4__vs.6__vs.8__vs.14_vs.12_vs.10_vs.16  7  Harrisburg Heroes           -    4-8   5-7   7-5   7-5   7-5   6-6   9-3     6-4   7-3   6-3   7-2   8-2   8-2   8-2   7-3   5  CHICAGO COCKROACHES        8-4    -    8-4   7-5   6-6   8-4   7-5   6-6     3-7   6-3   6-3   6-4   8-2   5-5   5-5   4-6   9  Moline Greens              7-5   4-8    -    7-5   6-6   5-7   4-8   9-3     3-7   6-4   7-3   4-5   5-5   7-3   5-4   7-3  11  Newark Five Spot           5-7   5-7   5-7    -   10-2   6-6   6-6   7-5     5-5   3-7   4-6   6-4   4-6   7-2   3-6   8-2   3  Bird-In-Hand Hexers        5-7   6-6   6-6   2-10   -    6-6  10-2   4-8     3-6   3-6   8-2   6-4   6-4   4-6   5-5   6-4  15  LONDON RIPPERS             5-7   4-8   7-5   6-6   6-6    -    4-8   7-5     5-5   3-7   5-5   5-5   5-4   4-6   9-1   4-5   1  Baltimore Hons             6-6   5-7   8-4   6-6   2-10  8-4    -    5-7     4-5   4-6   6-4   6-4   3-7   5-5   6-4   3-6  13  Hagertown Hobgoblins       3-9   6-6   3-9   5-7   8-4   5-7   7-5    -      4-6   2-8   6-4   6-4   2-7   4-5   5-5   3-7     2  CARACAS POLAR BEARS        4-6   7-3   7-3   5-5   6-3   5-5   5-4   6-4      -    8-4   4-8   6-6   8-4   9-3   9-3   9-3   4  Florida Panthers           3-7   3-6   4-6   7-3   6-3   7-3   6-4   8-2     4-8    -    3-9   6-6   9-3   9-3   6-6   8-4   6  Kansas City Whirlwind      3-6   3-6   3-7   6-4   2-8   5-5   4-6   4-6     8-4   9-3    -    7-5   5-7   3-9   5-7  10-2   8  Leones de Miami            2-7   4-6   5-4   4-6   4-6   5-5   4-6   4-6     6-6   6-6   5-7    -    8-4   3-9   7-5   9-3  14  Ft.Lauderdale Clementes    2-8   2-8   5-5   6-4   4-6   4-5   7-3   7-2     4-8   3-9   7-5   4-8    -    7-5   8-4   6-6  12  St. Louis Sprockets        2-8   5-5   3-7   2-7   6-4   6-4   5-5   5-4     3-9   3-9   9-3   9-3   5-7    -    4-8   7-5  10  Savannah Carpetbaggers     2-8   5-5   4-5   6-3   5-5   1-9   4-6   5-5     3-9   6-6   7-5   5-7   4-8   8-4    -    7-5  16  New Orleans Hurlers        3-7   6-4   3-7   2-8   4-6   5-4   6-3   7-3     3-9   4-8   2-10  3-9   6-6   5-7   5-7    -            Runs                    Hits                 Home Runs            Runs Batted In     1 Helton,To     131     3 Suzuki,Ic     227     6 Rodriguez,Al  49     5 Delgado,Ca    150 10 Bonds,Ba      130     1 Helton,To     220    10 Bonds,Ba      49     5 Wells,Ve      144  5 Jones,Ch      129    12 Pujols,Al     220     3 Lopez,Ja      46     3 Boone,Br      136  5 Delgado,Ca    128     4 Renteria,Ed   219    12 Pujols,Al     45     4 Palmeiro,Ra   135  4 Renteria,Ed   127     2 Ordonez,Ma    214     5 Delgado,Ca    44    12 Pujols,Al     135  6 Rodriguez,Al  126     5 Wells,Ve      210     6 Thome,Ji      44     6 Rodriguez,Al  132 12 Pujols,Al     126     2 Huff,Au       207    11 Giambi,Ja     42     1 Helton,To     131 11 Giambi,Ja     118    14 Young,Mi      207     1 Sosa,Sa       42     1 Sosa,Sa       129  4 Palmeiro,Ra   118     8 Castillo,Lu   207     4 Palmeiro,Ra   41    11 Giambi,Ja     126  3 Boone,Br      118     7 Soriano,Al    198    15 Ramirez,Ma    38     2 Ordonez,Ma    125 15 Damon,Jo      114     6 Baldelli,Ro   193     9 Jones,An      38     2 Huff,Au       122  4 Berkman,La    114    10 Ibanez,Ra     191    13 Wilson,Pr     37    10 Bonds,Ba      121  1 Salmon,Ti     109     6 Rodriguez,Al  190     3 Boone,Br      36    15 Ramirez,Ma    118  3 Suzuki,Ic     108     4 Lee,Ca        190         4 tied with 35     6 Thome,Ji      118      3 tied with 106     3 Boone,Br      189                            4 Berkman,La    118                              2 tied with 187                            1 Rolen,Sc      115      Batting Average          Slugging Average              Walks               Stolen Bases     12 Pujols,Al     .363    10 Bonds,Ba      .755    10 Bonds,Ba      176    10 Roberts,Da     48  1 Helton,To     .358     3 Lopez,Ja      .694    11 Giambi,Ja     153     4 Renteria,Ed    43 10 Bonds,Ba      .344    12 Pujols,Al     .677     5 Delgado,Ca    138    15 Damon,Jo       41  4 Renteria,Ed   .344     6 Thome,Ji      .635     4 Berkman,La    126     3 Suzuki,Ic      39  9 Guerrero,Vl   .332     1 Helton,To     .630     1 Helton,To     124    11 Beltran,Ca     36  2 Ordonez,Ma    .331     6 Rodriguez,Al  .604     8 Cruz,Jo       117     7 Soriano,Al     35 12 Mueller,Bi    .330     4 Hidalgo,Ri    .603    11 Abreu,Bo      111    11 Roberts,Br     27  3 Lopez,Ja      .329     7 Nixon,Tr      .603     6 Rodriguez,Al  109     6 Baldelli,Ro    27  9 Jeter,De      .329     5 Delgado,Ca    .599    15 Ramirez,Ma    108     5 Berroa,An      25  4 Hidalgo,Ri    .326    15 Ramirez,Ma    .584     8 Martinez,Ed   108     7 Crawford,Ca    25  7 Giles,Ma      .324     9 Guerrero,Vl   .579     5 Jones,Ch      108     8 Castillo,Lu    25 15 Ramirez,Ma    .321     2 Ordonez,Ma    .576    16 Wilkerson,Br  107    11 Young,Er       25  5 Wells,Ve      .320     2 Huff,Au       .565     6 Thome,Ji      104    14 Rollins,Ji     25  3 Suzuki,Ic     .319     1 Sosa,Sa       .558    14 Lee,De        103    16 Relaford,De    24  2 Huff,Au       .318     5 Wells,Ve      .555     1 Salmon,Ti     101    11 Abreu,Bo       23 13 Pierzynski,A. .315    12 Mueller,Bi    .547     1 Rolen,Sc      100    12 Bradley,Mi     22           Wins             Earned Run Average            Saves                Strikeouts       4 Halladay,Ro   22     9 Martinez,Pe   2.20     7 Wagner,Bi     48     7 Wood,Ke       297  4 Loaiza,Es     21    12 Schmidt,Ja    2.33    15 Percival,Tr   40     9 Martinez,Pe   237  7 Wood,Ke       20    14 Brown(LA),Ke  2.34     3 Baez,Da       39    14 Prior,Ma      230  9 Martinez,Pe   19    14 Prior,Ma      2.65     4 Dotel,Oc      39     4 Halladay,Ro   223  8 Hernandez,Li  19     4 Loaiza,Es     2.83     1 Gagne,Er      36     4 Loaiza,Es     223  6 Peavy,Ja      17    14 Moyer,Ja      2.84    10 Williamson,Sc 36    11 Clemens,Ro    216 15 Zito,Ba       16    15 Zito,Ba       2.88     5 Benitez,Ar    35    12 Schmidt,Ja    215  7 Sabathia,C.   15     7 Sabathia,C.   2.91    13 Mantei,Ma     35    14 Brown(LA),Ke  192  4 Nomo,Hi       15     4 Nomo,Hi       3.01    16 Smoltz,Jo     29     5 Wolf,Ra       186 11 Ortiz,Ru      15    10 Redman,Ma     3.02    14 Mesa,Jo       27     4 Nomo,Hi       185  5 Wolf,Ra       15     4 Halladay,Ro   3.03     2 Urbina,Ug     24     7 Pettitte,An   177  5 Padilla,Vi    15     7 Wood,Ke       3.06     9 Kim,By        20     8 Hernandez,Li  177 12 Schmidt,Ja    15    14 Mulder,Ma     3.17     6 Biddle,Ro     18    14 Lackey,Jo     176 14 Brown(LA),Ke  15     8 Hernandez,Li  3.20     2 Cordero,Fr    17    15 Lilly,Te      175      3 tied with 14     2 Zambrano,Ca   3.25     9 Riske,Da      11     7 Miller,Wa     173                        10 Batista,Mi    3.51    11 Koplove,Mi    11     2 Zambrano,Ca   172