MOLINE BEATS KANSAS CITY, Clemens strong, Delgado homers twice in 4-3 series clincher
CLAIMS FIRST LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
Wait. Wait and till. After last year's crushing championship series loss to Kansas City, Moline
manager Joe Morgan had prayed for redemption, a chance to prove that this team he lead as a
manager was every bit as good as the Big Red Machine of his playing days, a team which won
back-to-back championships in 1975 and 1976 on the back and flapping left elbow of its
diminutive MVP second baseman. When the Whirlwind and the Greens met in the Shoeless Joe
League Championship for the third straight year, Morgan and Moline got another chance to push
the Green Combine through the playing fields and bring in the crops.
Moline made the most of its last strike. Led by two homers by Carlos Delgado and strong
pitching from starter Roger Clemens, Moline won game six, 4-3, and claimed the 1999 SJL
championship four games to two. The win gave the franchise its first championship and wrested
the SJL bronze shoe from Kansas City for the first time in three years. It was the third 4-3 win of
the series for Moline, reversing a year-long trend of losing close games. During the regular
season the Greens played less than .500 ball in games decided by one or two runs. "Sure, it was
luck," said veteran reserve shortstop Jeff Blauser in a beer-soaked clubhouse after the finale.
"One-run ball games are decided by luck. But this year, the luck went our way. Yes, I thought
we'd lose. But I was wrong," he grinned, "and it feels okay."
As it did last year, Moline outhit their Midwestern rivals, clobbering 12 homers to KC's 4 and
posting a .261 .320 .478 line to KC's .211 .288 .320. But the run difference in the series was
slight. Moline outscored KC only 24-23. Still, the Wind proved last year that it's not the total run
difference that matters so much as when the runs come. And this year the close wins all belonged
to the Greens, whose 4-3 win in game six matched their winning score of games two and five.
The championship culminated a long rebuilding period for the Greens, who lost 62 games in 1995.
In Moline, fans walked the streets with torches, chanting, cheering, exchanging hugs and
handshakes, and damaging foreign cars. Fred Clark, an out-of-work line assembly worker from
Milan, summed up the feeling among many of the milling mob. "It's about time, about fucking
time. This is the best thing to happen in this city in a long time. Best thing to happen to me since
the negative results of that paternity test." East Moline secretary and unwed mother Debbie
Brown said she hoped the Greens' win would "help the people of the Quad Cities feel better about
themselves and their future."
A confidence game
Before the series the confidence resided squarely in the KC camp. Moline began the season 12-12
and didn't gain the lead in the Northern division until late in the year. Kansas City played well
from the start and would have run away with the division if not for the powerful Panthers of
Florida, who lost the division in the last month of the season, as KC streaked to a third straight
Southern crown. In March, Moline looked strong enough to challenge the league mark for wins,
but it was Kansas City who rewrote the league record book. KC broke the team and league
record for slugging with a .484 mark, paced by a record 166 home runs. The team also paced the
league in hitting at .285, fifteen points higher than the second place Greens and the Panthers. And
the Whirlwind set a league record with 76 wins to best their own league mark, also broken by the
runner up Florida Panthers, who won 75. Despite the best pitching in the league and hitting
second only to KC's, Moline could only duplicate last year's win total of 73, easily enough to win
the division over New York but hardly record setting.
Beyond the numbers, the attitude of the two teams favored Kansas City. In the Deere city before
the series the mood was somber, grim, desperate, hardly the stance of a team that had won its
division handily. Still, the Greens had lost the season series to KC, 5 games to 3, and their
previous championship series losses to the Whirlwind had begun to gnaw away at their remaining
faith. Morgan predicted "another tight series, games decided by one or two runs. We didn't do
well in those contests this season, but you never know. That's the best I can hope for." Third
baseman Chipper Jones was tightlipped. "You have to have some confidence; I mean, we are a
good team. We lost too many close games this year but we still won the division pretty
convincingly. We are a good team, we are. Aren't we?" Starting pitchers Pedro Martinez and
Roger Clemens refused to speak to the media, leaving only a note that read, in part, "whether we
win or lose, we still have had a good run and we still have the support of our wives, kids, and
paramours. And lots of money." Fellow starter Kevin Brown saw things more narrowly. "I
vacillate between rage and fatalism. We could win, we might win, we won't, we're doomed.
Fuck." Star right fielder Manny Ramirez tried to be optimistic, saying that this year would be "a
whole new ball game, man. It don't matter what happened last year, we can still win." "No, no
we can't," moaned Charles Johnson. "We're gonna lose, we're gonna lose, and we're gonna lose
bad, gonna lose ugly, stinky." Blauser, the senior position player on the team, was more blunt.
"KC in five. But Jehovah God puts such failure into perspective. There'll be no humiliation in
paradise on earth. God, I hope Suzann is right on that."
Moline front office personnel had their own opinions. Team ethicist Suzann Moertl was out of
town at a Jehovah's Witness convention but released a statement that spoke of "signs and
wonders," "the last days," and "daily submission to the will of Jehovah." The championship itself
was not mentioned. The club's team atheist, Liane Luckman, did offer a prediction and was
caustic in her assessment. She called the Greens "paper tigers," who couldn't "win shit off the
page, out where real arguments are decided. They'll be taking it up the ass in the next few days.
KC in four." Fate Norris, director of scouting and player development, said he hoped for the best
in the series but would be "a darn sight happier if [minor leaguers] Ozuna and Roward could learn
the god damn strike zone." Club general manager Rolf Samuels, whose personnel decisions have
engineered the franchise's current run of success, saw little reason for optimism as Moline opened
the series in Kansas City. Said Samuels, "God help us." Through a hooded spokesman, Greens'
owner John Deere, Inc. "refused to speculate on the outcome of the series," though Deere
endorsed the club's perseverence in the face of "consecutive failures to bring in the crops."
The Whirlwind came in confident but not overly so, aware of the Greens' strengths but as sure of their own. Manager Shoals Alabama said, "Our hitting's been the same for years now, and we're not going to change anything just because we're facing the Greens. We did it before and we can do it again. Dust and Wake got us here, and we're riding them as our #1 and #2. Sterling and Jose [Silva] will round it out. If we can get a lead, our bullpen's comfortable saddling the task of getting the save." " Ken Griffey, Jr, who led the team in home runs and RBIs despite hitting only .262, explained, "It's nice to be back after all those years of missing out on the postseason. I didn't hit as well this year, yeah, but the team did better, and that's what's counts." Craig Biggio, who again led the team in runs and led the league in hits and at bats, reflected a calm confidence. "We've got sluggers, but we also can play Little Ball. Look at our stolen base totals. We stole over 80% as a team. We don't make many mistakes. And that's why we're here year after year."
Tim Wakefield, who led the team in wins and innings and shut down the Greens in last year's
championship series was cautious. "I've had good luck against the Greens, but I don't want to jinx
it by giving them a sound bite." Left fielder Johnny Damon was already looking beyond the
series. "I didn't know about the hedges in left, but I kinda grew to like them. I'm even going to
Cambodia with Sachio [Kinugasa] in the off season. The Whirls are good, but the Khmer, now
there was a dynasty."
The Whirlwind coaching staff and front office spoke with a steady confidence and an eye on the
bottom line. Pitching coach Alabaster Alabama said, "Before the season, I was a little hesitant, but
I am pleased, especially with the relievers. We've had troubles in previous years from the bullpen,
but that obviously has been our real strength from the hill this year." Dugout coach Sachio
Kinugasa explained, "This is a good chance to see my good friends Randy [Bass] and Rohit
[Roshon]. The games are for the young ones." Asked about the harlequin coloring of the team
brought about by corporate uniforms for individual ballplayers, general manager Nils Samuels said
that he had heard "talk about the corporate sponsorship hurting our solidarity, but I think it
helped. Each player had his own rooting section. It instilled confidence. You could especially
see that in the bench players. And it made players easier to pick out on the field for the fan."
Owner Sali Sahid Alabama was concerned about profits more than wins. "I had hopes that the
success of the team would generate better attendance figures [KC drew just less than 400,000 for
its 54 home games]. That last near sellout series against the Panthers helped measurably. The
corporate sponsorship obviously makes a difference, given the escalating salaries in the league."
Publicist Mike Veeck promoted the home portion of the coming series. "Good seats are still
available, folks. And we're running a great promotion in honor of the Whirlwind's attempt at four
straight championships: Fourplay: To the Brink of Ecstasy. If that doesn't bring 'em in, I don't
know Kansas City."
In response to the Kansas City Star listing the Greens as slight favorites, GM Nils Samuels said: "I think that's right, actually. I know we've won it a lot around here, and we won more [games] this year, but that pitching staff of Brown, Clemens, and Martinez has got to be the best ever. And we can only hope that Delgado doesn't hit like he has during the regular season for them."
Game 1
The series opener confirmed the Greens' fears and the Whirlwind's confidence. Moline built an
early 2-0 lead on RBI singles from Charles Johnson and Manny Ramirez, but Griffey's two-run
shot off Moline starter Pedro Martinez knotted the contest in the third, and the rest of the scoring
belonged to the home team. KC first baseman Jim Thome was 3-3 with two RBI, and the first
five hitters in the KC lineup scored all the team runs. Whirlwind starter Dustin Hermanson
allowed nine hits in six innings, but they were all singles. KC relievers Donnie Wall and Rod Beck
held Moline to just one hit in three relief innings. Martinez, who got the game one start over
pitching coach Roger Clemens, was not as ineffective as he was in the same slot a year before, but
allowing 6 runs in 6 innings was hardly a quality start.
"I did not pitch well," explained Martinez after the game. "But they also hit well. They are a
good team." Manager Morgan refused to second guess his choice of Martinez as opening-game
starter. "He's a great pitcher who didn't have a good game. Look, we only scored two runs and
didn't have an extra-base hit. You want to find a reason for the loss, look there."
Star of the game Thome said that Martinez "was tough. I fouled off some good pitches. But he was finding too much of the plate tonight." Kansas City manager Shoals Alabama praised his team's effort. "We took what [Martinez] gave and everybody chipped in. I'm happiest about the job our pitching did. It's tough to hold that lineup to two runs."
GAME ONE BOXSCORE AND SCORESHEET
Game 2
With a 1-0 series lead, in the second game Kansas City started knuckler Tim Wakefield, a pitcher
whose stuff baffled Moline hitters in last year's series. Moline countered with Clemens, who led
the club with 15 regular season wins. Both starters pitched well. Clemens allowed just four hits
in seven innings, fanning 11. Wakefield gave up just five hits in 6.2 innings, but two of them were
home runs, a solo shot by shortstop Derek Jeter in the fifth and a two-run job from the bat of CF
Andruw Jones in a three-run sixth that chased Wakefield. Down 4-1 in the 8th Kansas City scored
a run on a groundout by Pudge Rodriguez. Then in the bottom of the ninth, Jason Kendall led off
with a pinch-hit double against Moline closer Troy Percival, scoring one out later on a Tim
Salmon single. But Percival, wobbly in two straight championships, got game one hero Thome to
ground out to second to even the series at one game apiece.
After the game, Percival was confident and relieved. "That Salmon single, that was a good pitch, so I didn't worry too much." Clemens was more anxious. "After Kendall doubled, I couldn't bear to watch." Centerfielder Jones said he hit his home run off a "dead knuckler." "It was a mistake, and I'm paid to take care of those." About his groundout in the 9th, Thome shook his head. "You think it's easy to hit off that guy? He throws hard. There's a reason they're here, and it's not just to roll over and play dead."
GAME TWO BOXSCORE AND SCORESHEET
Game 3
After an off day for travel, the series resumed in Moline, as Sterling Hitchcock squared off against
the Greens' Kevin Brown under cloudy skies. The Greens jumped on Hitchcock early, scoring
four in the first, two on Manny Ramirez's first home run of the series. But four singles and walk
scored three runs for Kansas City in the top of the fourth. Mike Sweeney's leadoff homer in the
bottom of the frame gave the Greens a 5-3 lead into the fifth. That's when the rains came hard,
delaying the contest for more than an hour and spelling the end of the night for both starters. In
the battle of the bullpens, Moline prevailed. Vladimir Guerrero and John Valentin homered off
Donnie Wall in the 8th, and Moline went on to a 8-4 win. Kansas City couldn't get an extra base
hit off Moline pitching but profited from two Moline errors, scoring two unearned runs.
Ramirez was happy. "This is the team that I expect to come out. We hit the ball hard tonight. You hit the ball like that, you gonna win." Said KC second baseman Craig Biggio, "once Brown was out of the game, I liked our chances, but their relievers shut us down."
GAME THREE BOXSCORE AND SCORESHEET
Game 4
In game four, it was Kansas City's turn to score early, as the Whirls tallied single runs in the first
three innings, two on solo homers from Thome and Salmon. Moline hitters threatened but failed
to come up with a key two-out hit, as KC starter Jose Silva scattered 8 hits in 6 plus innings of
work. Moline starter Darren Dreifort allowed just four hits in 7 innings, but it was not enough for
the home Greens. KC closer Ugeth Urbina loaded the bases in the 9th inning but then struck out
Carlos Delgado to seal the win and even the series at two games each.
"Fastball," said Delgado. "I was looking for it, but I didn't catch it." Dreifort refused to speak to reporters after the game. "He's upset," said pitching coach Clemens, "and I can understand that. We had our chances to score and we didn't do much with them."
GAME FOUR BOXSCORE AND SCORESHEET
Game 5
Kansas City had to like its chances after a half inning of game five. Facing their favorite toy,
Pedro Martinez, the Whirlwind scored three runs in the first frame, two of them coming on a
two-out, bases-loaded single by Willie Greene. Moline second baseman Todd Walker led off the
bottom of the first with a home run, and when third baseman Chipper Jones did the same in the
third inning, the visitors' lead was cut to 3-2. It stayed that way, as Martinez grew stingy,
surrendering no more runs. Game one winner Dustin Hermanson pitched well, but walked
Chipper Jones leading off the home 8th. KC manager Shoals Alabama brought in Donnie Wall,
who promptly gave up a two-run homer to Delgado. Given a 4-3 lead, Troy Percival retired the
side in the top of the 9th to give Moline the surprising win and a 4-2 series advantage.
"Until that happened," said an elated Delgado after the game, "I didn't think we could win the series, I really didn't. When I hit it, I didn't know if it'd go. Then when it did, I thought maybe it's finally our year." Said Chipper Jones, 2-3 with a double and a homer, "Damn. We finally won one of these come from behind games. I am a happy camper."
GAME FIVE BOXSCORE AND SCORESHEET
Game 6
A game from their first SJL championship, the Greens returned to Kansas City more hopeful than
when they first arrived. "We had Roger on the mound," said manager Joe Morgan. "I liked our
chances, despite our history." When Moline scored twice in the first off their nemesis Tim
Wakefield, the possibility of winning seemed even more real. But the Whirlwind scraped together
two runs in the third on a ground out and a sacrifice fly to tie the score at two heading into the 5th.
Todd Walker homered leading off that frame, and Delgado hit his second homer of the game in
the 7th, again off Donnie Wall, to increase the Greens' lead to 4-2. Clemens surrendered a lead-off
triple to Johnny Damon in the 8th, but Kansas City scored just once in the inning. With a second
straight 4-3 lead to protect, Troy Percival made it interesting in the bottom of the 9th, allowing a
two-out single to Alex Rodriguez and walking Ivan Rodriguez. Pinch hitter Edgar Alfonzo hit a
long ball to deep center, but it was knocked down by the wind and Andruw Jones made the catch
to give the Greens the 4-3 win, the series victory, and its first SJL shoe.
"I hit that ball good," said Alfonzo after the game. "I thought it had a chance, I thought we were going to game seven." Outfielder Tim Salmon said, "Of course, I'm disappointed. We're a great team and we could have won this thing. But couldn't they have said the same thing last year?"
Midwesterner Jim Thome shared Salmon's opinion. "Some gotta win, some gotta lose. Gosh, I sure miss Charlie Rich."
GAME SIX BOXSCORE AND SCORESHEET
SERIES TEAM STATISTICS
Perspective
The Moline clubhouse celebrated with pride and surprise. "We played well all year long, but not
in close games," said an exuberant and exhausted Joe Morgan. "In this series, our starting
pitching kept us in it, and we won the close games. I haven't been this happy in a long time."
Carlos Delgado had just four hits in the series but three of them left the park. And that eighth
inning homer in game five? "It looks real good from here."
Clemens was named MVP of the championship series. The Moline pitching coach won games
two and six for the Greens and allowed the mighty Whirlwind just 8 hits in 15 innings of work,
while striking out 17. "When you work hard and prepare carefully, sometimes things work out.
I'm happy for my teammates. Everybody on this squad made this happen. I'm just the guy holding
the trophy. Everybody gets a ring."
Moline general manager Rolf Samuels was dumbfounded but grateful. "I know that God doesn't care, but thank God we killed that monkey. I can't believe we didn't lose. I am so tired."
Third baseman Chipper Jones, there for the bulk of the rebuilding years, shared that relief. "Been a long time coming. We've had our chances. This time we cashed them in and sold that monkey down the river. Don't eat meat. Hi, Mom. Peace, all."
The series' closing thoughts belonged to the suddenly humble Troy Percival, whose failures in the last two postseasons contributed to Kansas City triumphs. This year, Percival wavered but held onto every lead given him. Still, he understands the thin line between failure and success. "A ball gets caught on the warning track, another goes over the fence. And how much difference is there between them? Not much: a millisecond of timing, a degree of the swing, a different ballpark, more wind, less. It's not losing that teaches humility; it's winning."
One time
"What's it prove?" said Morgan the next day. "I don't know. We already thought we were as
good as they are, despite the outcomes of the last two series. Maybe it shows only that we did
win, that we pushed past could to did. I don't know that this year's team is better than those we
had before. But this year we won our last game."
Last year, Whirls outfielder Ken Griffey, Jr., had consoled a dispirited Morgan. This year, Joe
talked with his old friend after the two teams had celebrated, mourned, showered, and gone home.
"We went out to a late dinner at a blues club downtown. And we talked about what those Reds
teams had meant to each of us, to me as a veteran, to Kenny as the son of one of our key players.
You know, for me, it had been so long. By '75, I had been in the majors for a dozen years. I was
tired of waiting, tired of coming close and losing. As a kid, though, Kenny didn't understand
about waiting, why would he? He said that he thought his dad won every year, if he thought
about it at all. It's different now, and not just because we're older. We've got families, other
priorities. It's not that we don't care about winning, we do. But we know that the world is bigger
than that, the world and our lives. It's good to win, I won't lie to you. But it's better just to play.
And to have a home to go to afterwards."
No hand of fate shapes the outcome. Like a Midwestern farmer watching summer skies, nothing
is certain. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains. Sometimes it rains,
sometimes it doesn't, sometimes the crops fail, the bank calls in your loan, and you lose your land.
All Morgan and his team had wanted was another chance. They got one. And this time, there
was no dust storm to blind their path. This time there was no mud in the fields, no water in the
tank, no locust attack. This time, the luck of the one-run game fell their way. This time the
Greens came through, the Wind was broken, and the crops were harvested. This time Kansas
City lost. This time Moline won. This time. One time.
"I don't know about next year," said Morgan. "I'll take this year. And now I'm going home to get some sleep."