2002 WORLD SERIES

Mo Vaughn crushed a two-run homer off Wolf in the first to give the Mullets an early lead. The Quakes responded in the 2nd inning with a two run homer of their own from Tim Salmon and then a solo shot from Damian Miller to take a 3-2 lead after two innings. In the top of the 5th, Kingsale (now playing right field after a double swap) walked and stole 2B with two outs. Piazza singled up the middle allowing the speedy Kingsdale to tie the game. 3-3. In the bottom of the 5th, Miller singled off Schilling and Flora-Bama went to the pen. Lefty Chris Hammond worked a quiet 5th and 6th for the Mullets. Wolf turned the game over to Eischen in the top of the 7th. He gave up a double to Berkman, but then got out of the inning without any damage. In the 7th, Neal replaced Hammond after Bobby Keilty walked with one out. Neal got one out and then Stewart came on and got the third out. Eischen pitched a perfect top of the 8th. Suzuki led off the bottom of the 8th with single of Stewart. Olrerud took one for the team to put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs, but had to leave the game and will miss game 2. Flora-Bama went to the pen again and Politte got Garciaparra to hit into a double play. Carter then replaced Politte and got Huff to strand Suzuki at 3B. In the top of the 9th, Vizquel led off with a double off Julio who had just entered the game. Julio got Bell to ground out and then struckout Kennedy and Berkman. In the bottom of the 9th, Carter struckout the side to send the game to extra innings. Julio tossed a perfect 10th. Wilson led off with a walk in the bottom of the 10th, but Carter got the next three batters. Durocher came on in the 11th and got the first two outs before giving up a single to Vizquel. Vizquell then stole 2B and 3B off Difelice to put the go ahead run 90 feet away. Bell lined it to center, but Ichiro made a shoestring catch. The Mullets used Burnett to get Garciaparra to start the 11th. Smith then replaced him to face Huff. Huff reached on Smith’s throwing error. Smith struckout Salmon, but then hit Alfonzo moving Huff to 2B. Smith struckout Keilty to send it to the 12th. Durocher came in to pitch the 12th for California. Kennedy led off with a double and then stole 3B. Berkman looking for a sac fly hit one down the right field line that hit the pole for a two run homer. 5-3 Flora-Bama. Durocher got Hunter, but then gave up a single to Kingsale. Kingsale stole second and then attempted to steal third. DiFelice actually gunned it there in time, but Alfonzo dropped it for an error which then resulted in the third run of the inning when Simon popped a sac fly. In the bottom of the 12th, DiFelice singled off Smith to start the inning. Castillo worked a walk to bring the tying run to the plate and the top of the order. Ichiro grounded into a force at second for the first out. Tom Goowin then flied out to Hunter for the second out. Garciaparra came up with two outs and runners on the corners. Mullets brought their #3 starter Brian Lawrence and he got Garciappara to hit a deep fly to left that Berkman caught for the final out.

Final Score: Flora-Bama 6 – California 3 (12 Innings)
Series 1-0 Flora-Bama

Win: Dan Smith 1-0  (0.00)
Loss: Jason Durocher 0-1  (9.00)
Save: Brian Lawrence 

GAME #2 – A.J. Burnett 16-7 (3.09) vs. Andy Benes 9-3 (3.01)

California got going in the first with three singles by Castillo, Garcia, and Garciaparra and then a double from Huff. It would have been 3-0, but Vizquel made a quick relay to get Garciaparra at home. In the top of the 3rd, Vizquel reached on an error with one out. Benes hit Bell injuring him for three days. It didn’t appear to be retaliation, so the benches weren’t warned. Berkman then walked to load the bases. Benes had lost his control, so the Quakes brought in the pen early. Eischen got Kennedy to hit a sac fly and then struckout Hunter. 2-1 Quakes. In the bottom of the third, Burnett walked Garciappara anf Salmon. Kielty then launched a three run homer to make 5-1 Quakes and end Burnett’s day. The Mullets got two back in the 5th on a Hunter two run homer off Hoffman. Lawrence, Neal and Politte pitched as scoreless 7th, 8th and 9th for Flora-Bama. Holmes pitched the 7th and 8th and Villafuerte closed out the 9th to even the series.

Final Score: California 5 – Flora-Bama 3
Series Tied 1 Game Each

Win: Joey Eischen 1-0  ( 0.00)
Loss: A.J. Burnett 0-1  (15.00)
Save: Brandon Villafuerte #1

GAME #3 – Elmer Dessens 17-4 (2.39) vs. Curt Schilling 21-12 (3.05)

The series pivoted to Pensacola stadium for games 3, 4 and 5. In the bottom of the 1st, Berkman led off with a solo home run for an early Mullet lead. In the 3rd, the Quakes put two runners on, but Schilling left them stranded. In the bottom of the 3rd, Greer single, Vizquel moved him to 2B and Berkman drove him home to make it 2-0. In the bottom of the 5th, Tarasco pinch hit for Gil and hit a liner into the stands. 3-0. Schilling finally made a mistake in the 7th hanging a curveball to Salmon who took him deep. The Mullets eyed the pen in the 8th, but ultimately Schilling wouldn’t give up the ball. He pitched a scoreless 8th and 9th for the complete game win. He only gave up three hits and struck out 8 of the 31 batters he faced.

Final Score: Flora-Bama 3 – California 1
Series 2-1 Flora-Bama

Win: Curt Schilling 1-0  (2.77)
Loss: Elmer Dessens 0-1  (3.86)

GAME #4 – Tomokazu Ohka 20-4 (2.68) vs. A.J. Burnett 16-7 (3.09)

The Quakes got to Burnett early again with Ichiro leading the game off with a single and Olerud doubling to put runners on 3rd and 2nd with not outs. A rare passed ball on Gil yielded the first run and Garciaparra then singled in Orlerud to make 2-0. Ohka allowed hits to the first two Mullets in the bottom of the first, but recovered to avoid any damage. Garcia led off the 4th with a solo homerun to give the Quakes a 3-0 lead. Flora-Bama got on the board in the bottom of the 5th with solo homeruns from Crede and Piazza, but Ohka got Berkman to keep him eligible for a win. In the top of the 6th, Burnett left the game with one out after Garcia worked a walk. Smith came on and walked Miller. Hammond replaced Smith and walked Castillo to load the bases. Suzuki popped up for the second out, but Orlerud worked the 4th walk of the inning to make 4-2. Carter replaced Hammond and got Gariaparra to ground to first, but the Mullets couldn’t complete the transition allowing an unearned run. Stewart came on to face Huff and Huff singled in another unearned run. 6-2 Quakes. The Mullets 6th pitcher of the inning Neal finally got the last out. In the bottom of the 6th, Greer doubled and Hunter hit the Mullets third homerun off Ohka. 6-4. California quickly pivoted to pen and Eischen came on and pitched two scoreless innings. Neal took one for the team and finished the game with 3 more scoreless innings for the Mullets. Julio came in the 8th and pitched two scoreless innings to close it out and even the series at 2-2.

Final Score: California 5 – Flora-Bama 3
Series Tied 2 Games Each

Win: Tomokazu Ohka 1-0  ( 7.20)
Loss: A.J. Burnett 0-2  (8.64)
Save: Jorge Julio #1

GAME #5 – Randy Wolf 19-6 (2.79) vs. Brian Lawrence 19-4 (2.81)

Flora-Bama decided to shift to a bullpen game with the pen still well rested from the prior travel day and Schilling’s complete game. Lawrence started the game and then turned it over to Hammond who worked out of jam stranding Ichiro at third base. The Mullets got things going in the bottom of the first when Vizquel doubled and Hunter singled him home. Hunter also took second on the throw home and later scored when Juan Gonzalez singled to left with two outs. 2-0 Flora-Bama. Hammond pitched a scoreless 2nd and 3rd. Wolf settled down after the first and put up zeros in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Carter came in the game in the 4th and the Quakes couldn’t figure him out. He put up zeros until he finally left due to fatigue in the 9th. Eischen, Julio and Durocher shut the Mullets down from the 5th to the 8th to keep California within striking distance. In the top of the 9th , Carter faced his final batter getting Garciaparra to ground out. The Mullets brought in the lefty Stewart, but Huff worked a one out single. Stewart then hit Salmon to put the tying runner on base. Tom Goodwin came on to run for Salmon and the Mullets pulled Stewart in favor of Politte. Payton flied out for the second out. The Quakes replaced Alfonzo with Garcia hoping for more power, but only got a ground out.

Final Score: Flora-Bama 2 – California 0
Series 3-2 Flora-Bama

Win: Chris Hammond 1-0  (0.00)
Loss: Randy Wolf 0-1  (4.35)
Save: Cliff Politte #1

Do or Die time for California. How long can they let Benes go before calling on the guns in the pen? Will Schilling be able to contain the Quakes for second game in a row? In the top of the 1st, Benes struggled with his control walking two batters, but recovered getting Piazza and Vaughn. In the bottom of the 1st, Ichiro doubled, Olrerud’s infield grounder moved him to 3rd and Garciaparra’s sac fly gave the home team a 1-0 lead. The Mullets started the 2nd with two singles, but Benes again worked out of the jam. In the bottom of the 3rd, the speedy Castillo singled with one out. The Mullets replaced Piazza with Wilson and the Quakes had Ichiro lay down a sac bunt to put Castillo on 2B. Olerud then took Schilling deep to give the Quakes a big 3-0 lead. In the top of the 4th, Vaughn led off with a single and Simon took a rare walk. The Quakes manager couldn’t wait any longer and went to pen bringing in lefty Eischen to face Greer. The Mullets pinch hit for Greer with the righty Crede who doubled to score Vaughn and put runners on 3rd and 2nd. Kingsale then came on to run for Crede at 2nd. Vizquel then hit a bloop double down the line scoring both runs. 3-3. Bell hit a slow ground out that moved Vizquel to 3rd and Berkman singled him to give the Mullets a 4-3 lead. In the bottom of the 4th, Salmon took Schilling deep to tie it up 4-4. In the bottom of the 5th, Castillo singled to start the inning. Ichiro grounded out to first base moving Castillo to 2B. A wild pitch by Schilling put Castillo on 3rd and turned Olerud’s fly to right field into a go ahead rbi. 5-4 Quakes. Moss came in and pitched a quiet top 6th. Schilling was back out for the 6th and got two quick outs before Alfonzo smacked a double in the gap. Schilling intentionally walked Payton to bring up Miller who popped up for the 3rd out. Durocher came on to pitch the top of the 7th and Kennedy greeted him with a lead off double. Durocher got the next two batters, but the biggest error of the season was made by Castillo when he muffed the throw on a grounder by Vaughn. Kennedy kept running from second and came around to score barely beating the throw from Olerud. Tied 5-5. Stewart relieved Schilling to start the bottom of the 7th inning. Castillo tried to make up for the error and singled to start the inning, but was then thrown out trying to steal by Gil. Durocher worked an easy top 8th. In the bottom of the 8th, Garciaparra led off with a walk, but Stewart picked him off first. Huff popped up for the second out. Salmon worked a walk off Stewart and the Mullets brought in the righty Neal to face Alfonzo who grounded out. Holmes came on to pitch the 9th and made quick work of the Mullets. Smith replaced Neal for the bottom of the 9th. Smith got Payton for the first out. The Quakes pinch hit for Miller with Garcia and the Mullets brought in Politte who got Garcia and Castillo. In the top of the 10th, Dan Wilson came in to catch. Holmes worked another perfect inning. In the bottom of 10th, Ichiro led off with a single. Politte hit Olerud in the shoulder to move the winning run to 2nd with no outs. Garciaparra popped up for one out. Mullets then brought in Lawrence to face Huff and he got Huff to line out. With two outs, the Mullets brought in Beckett leaving Hammond as the only remaining reliever on the bench for Flora-Bama. Salmon worked a walk from Beckett to load the bases, but Alfonzo struck out swinging to end the inning. Top of the 11th and Holmes was perfect for a third inning. In the bottom of the 11th, Payton tripled down the right field line to put the winning run on third base with no outs. The Mullets brought the infield in and prayed for a miracle. Wilson went down swinging. Castillo struck out and a pumped Beckett got Ichiro to ground out for the third out. We’re going to play 12. Holmes got Berkman to start the 12th , but was then pulled after he’d faced 10 batters. Julio came on and got Kennedy and Hunter. In the bottom of the 12th, Olerud led off with a single. Garciaparra moved the winning run to 2B on an infield groundout. Huff was intentionally walked to setup a potential double play. Salmon grounded out, but he moved the winnng run to 3B. Alfonzo came up with another opportunity to win it for the Quakes, but Hunter ran down a deep fly. On to the 13th. Flora-Bama got their first baserunner on since the 7th inning when Tarasco led off with a walk. Tarasco then attempted to steal 2B with Miller out of the game and he beat Wilson’s throw to put the go-ahead runner on 2nd with not outs. Vaughn hit a slow infield ground out that moved Tarasco to 3rd with one out. The next batter Simon flied out to right field. Tarasco tagged and beat Payton’s throw home on a very close play to give the Mullets a 6-5 lead. Gill lined out for the final out. In the bottom of the 13th, Mark Grace came in for the added defense at 1B and the Mullet’s final reliever on the bench and their closer Hammonds came on to close out the World Series. Payton grounded out to second. Wilson popped up to center field. Castillo hit one to the wall in right field, but Tarasco ran it down to complete the repeat.

Final Score: Flora-Bama 6 – California 5 (13 Innings)
Series Flora-Bama Wins the Series 4-2

Win: Josh Beckett 1-0  (0.00)
Loss: Jorge Julito 0-1  (1.35) 

Pitching (FNA 2.55 ERA vs. CAL 3.20 ERA) dominated all series with neither the Mullets (.199 AVG, .245 OBP .366 SLG) or the Quakes (.203 AVG, .289 OBP .350 SLG) managing much offense. The Mullets had fewer runners on base most of the series, but were far more successful getting them home. The Quakes really struggled and left over 40% more runners on base than the Mullets.

The California bullpen lived up to their reputation putting up a stellar 2.01 era over 31 innings and only allowing 7 earned runs and 2 unearned runs. However, they were out shined by the Flora-Bama pen who may have had the best performance in MWWL World Series history. They put up a 0.00 era over 33 innings and only giving up two unearned runs. Hammonds and Carter led the way for the Mullets, with 6.2 and 7.2 scoreless innings. Beckett chipped in 4.1 scoreless innings and an incredible extra inning performance in game six.

MVP: Curt Schilling’s complete game victory in game three and the fact the Mullets were able to ultimately win the two other games he started because he’d kept the scores close earned him the World Series MVP.

2002 MID-WEST WINTER LEAGUE – DEEP DIVE