2000 Southern League season

2000 Southern League season
League	Southern League
Sport	Baseball
Duration	April 6 – September 4
Number of games	140
Number of teams	10
Regular season
League champions	West Tenn Diamond Jaxx
Season MVP	Joe Crede, Birmingham Barons
Playoffs
League champions	West Tenn Diamond Jaxx
Runners-up	Jacksonville Suns

The 2000 Southern League was a Class AA baseball season played between April 8 and September 6. Ten teams played a 140-game schedule, with the top team in each division in each half of the season qualifying for the post-season.

The West Tenn Diamond Jaxx won the Southern League championship, as they defeated the Jacksonville Suns in the playoffs.

Team changes

• The Knoxville Smokies opened a new stadium in Sevierville, Tennessee and are renamed to the Tennessee Smokies. The club remained affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Teams

2000 Southern League
Division	Team	City	MLB Affiliate	Stadium
East	Carolina Mudcats	Zebulon, North Carolina	Colorado Rockies	Five County Stadium
	Greenville Braves	Greenville, South Carolina	Atlanta Braves	Greenville Municipal Stadium
	Jacksonville Suns	Jacksonville, Florida	Detroit Tigers	Wolfson Park
	Orlando Rays	Kissimmee, Florida	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	Cracker Jack Stadium
	Tennessee Smokies	Sevierville, Tennessee	Toronto Blue Jays	Smokies Park
West	Birmingham Barons	Birmingham, Alabama	Chicago White Sox	Hoover Metropolitan Stadium
	Chattanooga Lookouts	Chattanooga, Tennessee	Cincinnati Reds	Bellsouth Park
	Huntsville Stars	Huntsville, Alabama	Milwaukee Brewers	Joe W. Davis Stadium
	Mobile BayBears	Mobile, Alabama	San Diego Padres	Hank Aaron Stadium
	West Tenn Diamond Jaxx	Jackson, Tennessee	Chicago Cubs	Pringles Park

Map of teams

Carolina

Greenville

Jackson-
ville

Orlando

Tennessee

Birming-
ham

Chattan-
ooga

Huntsville

Mobile

West Tenn

East Division West Division

Regular season

Summary

• The West Tenn Diamond Jaxx finished the season with the best record in the league for the second consecutive season.
• Despite finishing the regular season with the best record in the East Division, the Tennessee Smokies failed to qualify for the playoffs as they did not finish either half of the season in first place.

Standings

East Division
Team	Win	Loss	%	GB
Tennessee Smokies	71	69	.507	–
Jacksonville Suns	69	71	.493	2
Greenville Braves	68	71	.489	2.5
Orlando Rays	65	71	.478	4
Carolina Mudcats	64	75	.460	6.5
West Division
West Tenn Diamond Jaxx	80	58	.580	–
Birmingham Barons	77	63	.550	4
Chattanooga Lookouts	70	68	.507	10
Mobile BayBears	66	73	.475	14.5
Huntsville Stars	64	75	.460	16.5

League Leaders

Batting leaders

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Juan Pierre, Carolina Mudcats	.326
H	Joe Crede, Birmingham Barons	163
R	Elvis Peña, Carolina Mudcats	92
2B	Stoney Briggs, Jacksonville Suns	39
3B	Eric Hinske, West Tenn Diamond Jaxx	9
HR	Alejandro Freire, Jacksonville Suns	25
RBI	Aaron Rowand, Birmingham Barons	98
SB	Elvis Peña, Carolina Mudcats	48

Pitching leaders

Stat	Player	Total
W	Robert Averette, Chattanooga / Carolina	13
ERA	Lance Davis, Chattanooga Lookouts	2.18
CG	Robert Averette, Chattanooga / Carolina	5
SHO	Shawn Chacón, Carolina Mudcats	3
SV	Kris Keller, Jacksonville Suns	26
IP	Josh Fogg, Birmingham Barons	192.1
SO	Shawn Chacón, Carolina Mudcats	172

Playoffs

• The West Tenn Diamond Jaxx won their first Southern League championship, defeating the Jacksonville Suns in five games.

Playoff bracket

	Division finals					Finals
	E1	Jacksonville	3
	E2	Greenville	2
						E1	Jacksonville	2
						W1	West Tenn	3
	W1	West Tenn	3
	W2	Birmingham	2

Awards

Southern League awards
Award name	Recipient
Most Valuable Player	Joe Crede, Birmingham Barons
Pitcher of the Year	Mark Buehrle, Birmingham Barons
Manager of the Year	Dave Bialas, West Tenn Diamond Jaxx

See also

• 2000 Major League Baseball season

External links

• Minor League Baseball official website