More League History 1991-1998

For the first time in Shoeless Joe history, two teams, Harrisburg and Savannah, ended the season tied (61-45) in the Northern Division. A one-game playoff ended with a Savannah victory, while other Northern Division teams finished well back of first: Chicago 13 games back, Moline 21 games, and New York 22 games behind. In the Southern Division, Florida (63-43) finished on top, 4 games ahead of St. Louis, 6 in front of Kansas City, 7 ahead of Memphis and 18 ahead of Miami.

Savannah took their second World Series in a row, after having won their third consecutive divisional crown, by defeating Florida 4 games to 2.

The fourth year of the Shoeless Joe League saw radical changes with a four-team expansion that brought the Bird-In-Hand Hexers (Peter Hess), the Yoknapatawpha Croppers (Paul Dudenhefer, who graciously took over this club from initial expansion manager Chris Brashear) into the North and the Milwaukee Atoms (Mike Clark) and Ft. Lauderdale Crocodiles (Kevin Hill) into the South. The expansion teams, like their earlier cousins New York and Memphis, were excluded from the draft and chose from four major league organizations (Detroit, Seattle, St. Louis, and San Diego) to fill their rosters. Meanwhile, Mike Isaacs departed as owner of the Chicago P-Niners, and his place was taken by Mike Davey, who moved the team to Nantucket, where they became the Nantucket Harpooners. The schedule was altered, as a result of all the new additions, to 104 games.

However, the changes did not affect divisional outcomes, as Savannah (62-42) won the Northern Division for the fourth time in a row and Florida (62-42) captured its second consecutive Southern Division title. In the North, New York was 1 game back, Harrisburg 5 games out, Bird-In-Hand 7, Nantucket 11, Moline 20 and Yoknapatawpha 31. In the South, Milwaukee and Kansas City finished 2 back, St. Louis 5, Ft. Lauderdale 10, Memphis 21 and Miami 25. Florida defeated Savannah in the Series 4 games to 2.

The fifth year of the Shoeless Joe League began in April, 1996 with several additional changes. Mike Davey departed from the ownership of Nantucket, permanently removing what was once the Chicago P-Niners from the league. Barry Beacham also departed from ownership of the Memphis Titans. Paul Dudenhefer, sensing opportunity and sensitive to league concerns about the pronunciation of his team name, abandoned the Yoknapatawpha Croppers in favor of the opportunity to take over the Memphis franchise, which he promptly moved to Virginia and renamed the Virginia Peanuts. Thus the league scaled back to 12 teams, with Milwaukee moving from the Southern to the Northern Division.

New winners emerged from 1996, with the always competitive Harrisburg Containment (62-46) winning the Northern Division by 1 game over New York, 3 over Savannah and 4 over Moline, while Milwaukee finished 8 back and Bird-In-Hand ended up 17 down. Kansas City was a first-time winner in the South with a best-ever 74-34 record, 9 games better than Florida, 18 ahead of St. Louis, 29 in front of Virginia, 38 ahead of Miami, and 44 on top of Ft. Lauderdale. The Whirlwind also managed to take the fifth annual Shoeless Joe World Series, 4 games to 3, over Harrisburg.

The 1997 season saw Moline (72-36) win their first divisional title as years of building through the minor league system paid dividends. For the first time, the Northern Division race was decided about one month prior to the end of the season, as the Greens won by 9 games over New York, 11 over Harrisburg, 17 over Savannah, 26 over Milwaukee and 31 over Bird-In-Hand. However, despite Moline's impressive credentials, Kansas City (70-38) would win their second consecutive Shoeless Joe World Series after narrowly winning the Southern Division over Florida (67-75) in a race that came down to head-to-head competition during the last week of the season. Miami finished 16 games back, while St. Louis was fourth at 20 back, with Virginia (30 games out) and Ft. Lauderdale (35 games) bringing up the rear.

The seventh season began with major changes. Long-time and valued SJL GM Paul Grolitzer resigned and old faithful Mike Isaacs returned as the new GM of the Chicago Cockroaches, taking the place of the former Miami Flamingos. Meanwhile, Mike Clark disappeared mysteriously from the league, replaced by Carlos Barrera, who promptly moved the Milwaukee franchise to Miami where the Leones de Miami was born. Chicago relocated in the Northern Division; Miami in the Southern Division; and Savannah moved to the Southern Division.

Moline won the North for their second consecutive divisional title and Kansas City captured the South for the third year in a rown. The Greens averaged 5.9 runs per game and, with their dominating starting pitching staff, held opponents to 3.5 runs per game. The mark of 73 wins remains one shy of the Kansas City record of 1996 and was good enough to finish 7 games ahead of New York, 13 ahead of Harrisburg, 21 on top of Chicago, 27 over Bird-In-Hand and 36 over Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, Kansas City slugged .461 and led the league with 155 homers to give the Whirlwind their third consecutive divisional title, finishing 8 games over a rebuilt Miami franchise, 16 ahead of Florida, 26 in front of St. Louis, 30 ahead of Savannah, and 31 ahead of Ft. Lauderdale. Kansas City went on to capture their third consecutive world series, a Shoeless Joe record.

Starting with the offseason of fall, 1998, Kevin Hill fled the miseries of the Ft. Lauderdale franchise and the league welcomed new gm Ron Young, who took over all duties for the Crocodiles under a new team name and location: the Caracas Polar Bears.

After one SJL dynasty had completed its third world series title in a row, its twin brother from the North, the mighty Moline Greens (73-35), won its first-ever SJL World Series 4 games to 2 over the dynastic Whirlwind in the 1999 SJL season. Kansas City led the SJL with 76 regular season wins to win the Southern Division for the fourth consecutive time before falling to the Greens in the championship series. The Greens finished 8 games ahead of the distant New York Mastiffs, 13 ahead of Harrisburg and 19, 24 and 26 ahead of Pennsylvania, Bird-In-Hand and Chicago, respectively. In one of the most exciting races in SJL history, the Whirlwind edged the Florida Panthers (75-33) by a 1-game margin to win the Southern Division, while finishing 29 ahead of third-place St. Louis, and 35, 43 and 48 ahead of the Leones, Savannah and Caracas, respectively.

The ongoing dynasties of Moline and Kansas City brought substantial changes to the SJL during the 2000 season, including a move to a 162 game schedule alongside a salary cap. The SJL actually played two seasons in 2000, with the first being a traditional 108 game schedule that brought with it tight races but the same outcomes, as Moline won the North with a 71-37 mark while Kansas City, less dominant than usual but still highly effective, won the South with a 67-41 record. The former New York Mastiffs were moved to Baltimore under the direction of new GM Al Melchior and did not miss a beat, finishing an impressive 68-40 and only 3 games back of the Greens. The rest of the North in descending order included Harrisburg (57-51), Chicago (56-52), Pennsylvania (48-60), and Bird-In-Hand (40-68). In the South, the Carpetbaggers had their best season since their dynasty years early in the league's history, as Savannah finished just 3 games back of the Whirlwind, while Florida (56-52), the Leones (46-62), Caracas (41-67) and St. Louis (34-74) rounded out the Southern Division.

The first 162 game season in the SJL soon followed, with Moline (110-52) and Kansas City (100-62) demonstrating their brilliance over a full season. The Greens capped an outstanding year with such eye-popping numbers as a league leading 3.83 ERA, about a half a run ahead of their closest pitching competition, the Baltimore Hons, while scoring 6.6 runs per game. The Whirlwind had the best pitching and offense in the South, with a 4.44 ERA to go along with a 6.1 run per game mark. Pennsylvania (89-73) finished a distant 21 games back, getting plenty of hitting but not nearly enough pitching to match Moline, while a steady Baltimore (86-76) had just enough of both to finish third. After an early and promising start to the season, Harrisburg's pitching imploded, leaving the team a distant 31 games back of first place, just ahead of Bird-In-Hand (72-90), and Chicago (66-96).

The Leones de Miami (87-75) finished 13 games back of K.C., who won their 6th divisional title in a row compared to Moline's 5th. In doing so, GM Carlos Barrera foreshadowed a very good team that appeared nicely balanced to challenge K.C. in 2001. Florida (83-79) proved to be little better than mediocre due to inconsistent starting pitching, and Savannah (72-90), St. Louis (70-92) and Caracas (58-104) were non-factors, although the Carpetbaggers signalled a determination to trade their way into contention in 2001.

The expansion draft after the 2000 long season brought with it four new franchises and a flurry of long-term changes designed to strengthen the competitive balance of the league. New franchises include the Ft. Lauderdale Clementes, the Hagerstown Hobgoblins, the London Rippers and the New Orleans Hurlers. Rules changes include the adoption of a more strict salary cap (first approved prior to the 2000 season and made more stringent by 2002), SJL free agency, with a new free agent draft on the horizon in January, 2002, and a two-division format of 8 teams with the top two divisional clubs qualifying for the playoffs. Now, two clubs will join the standard powerhouses Moline and Kansas City in playoff competition for the SJL World Series.

The 2001 season saw a change in the balance of power, with the Leones de Miami crowned the World Series champions in the first four-team playoff in SJL history. The Leones defeated Savannah 4 games to 2 in the first round of the playoffs, while the Harrisburg Heroes, who claimed the Northern Division crown for the second time in franchise history, edged Pennsylvania 4 games to 3. In the World Series, the Leones were dominant, taking their first SJL Championship by a margin of 4 games to 1 behind outstanding pitching from former heroe Tom Glavine and long-time SJL superstar Greg Maddux, two pitchers that GM Carlos Barrera acquired in a successful effort at a championship run.

The Moline Greens rebounded to regain the crown in 2002, the 4th World Series Championship for the SJL dynasty. The Greens defeated old powerhouse Savannah 4 games to 2 in a tightly contested Series. The Carpetbaggers, behind the twin powers of Barry Bonds and Randy Johnson, returned to the World Series for the first time since their 1995 appearance against the Panthers. The Greens' Pedro Martinez had an outstanding season with a 20-4 record alongside an imposing 2.03 ERA, but it was the pitching youth and depth of Moline that allowed them to capture their 4th title, with youngsters Mark Buehrle and Joel Pineiro leading the way. While not the offensive juggernaut of the 2000 version, these Greens could still mash the ball courtesy of the best outfield in the league: Vladimir Guerrero, Andruw Jones and Pat Burrell. The future continues to look bright for the most imposing dynasty in SJL history.

The Harrisburg Heroes put the decisive finishing touches on a masterful 2003 season by winning the World Series 4 games to 0 over first time World Series participant, the Caracas Polar Bears. Harrisburg took 8 of 10 postseason games overall en route to 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, dominating an outstanding Caracas team, whose excellent drafts paid dividends with a World Series appearance.

The Savannah Carpetbaggers won the World Series in 2004 for the first time in a decade. The club captured their third Shoe in league history in a most dramatic fashion after trailing the Batlimore Hone 3 games to 1. The Carpetbaggers defeated the Hons 4 games to 3 and won the last two games on Baltimore's home field. The last time the Carpetbaggers had won a title was 1994, when they defeated the Panthers 4 games to 2 after having defeated Memphis the previous year, when the Savannah franchise was still located in Wisconsin.

The Harrisburg Heroes captured their second Shoeless Joe title in league history, and the second in the last three years, by defeating Caracas 4 games to 3 in a rematch of the 2003 World Series. The first five games of the Series were decided by 1-run, making this the most closely contested Series in league history, and only the fourth SJL World Series to go the distance in the 15-year history of the league.