Midwest League 2002

Summary

• Midwest League Champion: Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals)
• Team with Best Won/Lost Record: Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals) 85-53, .616

• Most Valuable Player: Jason Stokes (Kane County/Marlins)
• Prospect of the Year: Joe Mauer (Quad City/Twins)
• Manager of the Year: Todd Claus (Cedar Rapids/Angels)
• Executive of the Year: Rocky Vonachen (General Manager, Peoria)

• League Attendance: 3,366,779
  • 14 teams in two divisions played a 140 game, split-season schedule which began on April 4 and ended on September 2. A three-tiered post-season playoff selected the league champion.
  • The MWL had teams in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

• Best Big League Career: Joe Mauer (Quad City/Twins)

Overview

Composite Record for Each Team

                Nickname        Affiliate    Won Lost  Pct (Rank)
Beloit          Snappers        Brewers      57  82   .410 (12)
Burlington      Bees            Royals       68  71   .489  (9)
Cedar Rapids    Kernels         Angels       81  58   .583  (3)
Clinton         LumberKings     Expos        61  75   .449 (11)
Dayton          Dragons         Reds         73  67   .521  (7)
Fort Wayne      Wizards         Padres       69  68   .504  (8)
Kane County     Cougars         Marlins      64  75   .460 (10)
Lansing         Lugnuts         Cubs         74  65   .532  (5)
Michigan        Battle Cats     Astros       79  61   .564  (4)
Peoria          Chiefs          Cardinals    85  53   .616  (1)
Quad City       River Bandits   Twins        71  65   .522  (6)
South Bend      Silver Hawks    Diamondbacks 52  87   .374 (14)
West Michigan   Whitecaps       Tigers       83  57   .593  (2)
Wisconsin       Timber Rattlers Mariners     53  86   .381 (13)

First Half

West          W  L   Pct   GB  East           W  L   Pct   GB
Peoria        42 26 .618  ---  Michigan       42 28 .600  ---
Cedar Rapids  37 32 .536  5.5  West Michigan  41 29 .586  1.0
Burlington    33 36 .478  9.5  Fort Wayne     39 28 .582  1.5
Quad City     31 35 .470 10.0  Lansing        37 32 .536  4.5
Wisconsin     30 39 .435 12.5  Dayton         32 38 .457 10.0
Beloit        30 39 .435 12.5  South Bend     29 40 .420 12.5
Clinton       28 38 .424 13.0  
Kane County   29 40 .420 13.5  

First half ended on June 16.

Second Half

West          W  L   Pct   GB  East           W  L   Pct   GB
Cedar Rapids  44 26 .629  ---  West Michigan  42 28 .600  ---
Peoria        43 27 .614  1.0  Dayton         41 29 .586  1.0
Quad City     40 30 .571  4.0  Michigan       37 33 .529  5.0
Burlington    35 35 .500  9.0  Lansing        37 33 .529  5.0
Kane County   35 35 .500  9.0  Fort Wayne     30 40 .429 12.0
Clinton       33 37 .471 11.0  South Bend     23 47 .329 19.0
Beloit        27 43 .386 17.0
Wisconsin     23 47 .329 21.0

2002 Post-Season

 Round 1:
Peoria d. Burlington, 2-0
Cedar Rapids d. Quad City, 2-0
Lansing d. Michigan, 2-1
West Michigan d. Dayton, 2-0
 Round 2:
Peoria d. Cedar Rapids, 2-0
Lansing d. West Michigan, 2-1
 Championship:
Peoria d. Lansing, 3-1

2002 All Star Game

June 18 @ Lansing, Michigan
East 6, West 3

          West     000 002 100 - 3  5 0
          East     010 102 20x - 6 10 2

WP: Jerrod Fuell (West Michigan/Tigers)
LP: Jon Rouwenhorst (Cedar Rapids/Angels)
MVP: Steve Checkfield (Michigan/Astros)

Box Score and Details

2002 League Changes

• Michigan Battle Cats: New owners.
• Peoria Chiefs: New Logo and Uniforms. O'Brien Field opened May 24, 2002.
• Cedar Rapids Kernels: New Veterans Memorial Stadium opened with the start of the season.

Other Highlights

• Clinton LumberKings: Stadium naming rights sold; Riverview Stadium became Alliant Energy Field.
• West Michigan Whitecaps: Stadium name changed from Old Kent Park to Fifth Third Ballpark in a naming rights deal.

Sources

• Baseball America
• 2002 Baseball America Directory
• Team websites
• The Minor League Baseball website
• Assorted correspondents
• 2002 & 2003 Programs/Yearbooks:
  • 2002 Michigan Battle Cats
  • 2003 Battle Creek Yankees
  • 2002 & 2003 Quad City River Bandits
  • 2002 Peoria Chiefs
  • 2002 Clinton LumberKings
  • 2002 & 2003 West Michigan Whitecaps
  • 2002 & 2003 Lansing Lugnuts
  • 2003 Burlington Bees

Thanks to Bob Walker for pointing out an error on this page.