The Baton Rouge Riverbats (2003) or Baton Rouge River Bats (2002) was a baseball team based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana . They played their home games at Pete Goldsby Field in Baton Rouge.
16-768: This was the second stint of a professional baseball team in Baton Rouge since 1976. In 2002, they were one of six original members of the Southeastern League . The 2003 team finished with a record of 38-31 (.551) and won the Southeastern League Championship against the Pensacola Pelicans. The team disbanded after the 2003 season along with the Southeastern League . This article about a baseball team in Louisiana
32-526: A baseball team based in Selma, Alabama . The original Cloverleafs played in the Southeastern League and Alabama–Florida League at various times between 1928 and 1962. In 2002 a new version of the team was charter members of the Southeastern League of Professional Baseball . They played their home games in Selma, Alabama, at Bloch Park . The team left Selma after playing only three games in 2003 and playing
48-412: A Class B circuit, four levels below Major League Baseball , through 1950 . Its lineup of teams in its final season included the champion Pensacola Fliers , Meridian Millers , Montgomery Rebels , Jackson Senators , Vicksburg Billies , Selma Cloverleafs , Gadsden Pilots and Anniston Rams . Both Gadsden and Anniston withdrew from the league before the end of the season. The most recent version of
64-541: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to sports in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Southeastern League The Southeastern League was the name of four separate baseball leagues in minor league baseball which operated in the Southeastern and South Central United States in numerous seasons between 1897 and 2003. Two of these leagues were associated with organized baseball ;
80-810: The Southern League , who had played at Walt Disney World for four years, became the Montgomery Biscuits and effectively drove the Wings out of town. In addition, the Springfield/Ozark Mountain Ducks of the Central Baseball League moved to Pensacola and assumed the Pelicans name. As a result, the league folded prior to the 2004 season. Selma Cloverleafs The Selma Cloverleafs were
96-699: The Southeastern League was an independent circuit, with member teams were not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team. The league began play in 2002 after the demise of the All-American Association . For its inaugural season, it placed teams in Montgomery , Ozark , and Selma, Alabama , along with Pensacola, Florida , Americus, Georgia , and Baton Rouge, Louisiana . The Ozark Patriots and Americus Arrows franchises folded at mid-season. The Pensacola Pelicans won
112-484: The announcement, the team would play on May 29 and a final double-header on May 31 in Selma before officially becoming a traveling team. These games against the Montgomery Wings were played in Selma due to a scheduling conflict at Paterson Field . Of note, the traveling Cloverleafs team made national press upon signing the late Ted Williams ' son, John Henry Williams , on June 9. His first game came against
128-464: The city since the original Cloverleafs folded in 1962. The season would officially begin on May 31, 2002, against the Americus Arrows on opening night, with Selma mayor James Perkins, Jr. throwing out the opening pitch. Dennis Gomez was the starting pitcher for the 'Leafs. Throwing 6 innings with 8 K's and giving up 1 earned run, picking up the win and closer Tony Macon pitched the top of
144-579: The inaugural league championship. After completing the season, the league added two franchises for 2003. The league had high hopes for its new team in Macon, Georgia , and Houma, Louisiana , along with the already successful clubs in Montgomery and Pensacola. However, after just two games the Selma Cloverleafs folded, forcing the league to operate the club as a road team for the duration of
160-485: The midseason collapse of two of its six franchises, this league disbanded on August 2, 1912. In 1926 a new, Class B Southeastern League took the field, with six teams — representing Montgomery, Alabama ; Jacksonville and St. Augustine, Florida ; and Albany , Columbus and Savannah, Georgia . Although this league would be periodically shut down by the Great Depression and World War II , it continued as
176-471: The ninth inning to earn the save. Both feats were firsts for the Cloverleafs since the 1960s..The opening series drew over 2,000 fans to the stadium before the teams would embark on an 18-game roadtrip. On June 25, 2002, the team returned after the extended roadtrip to play in front of many Cloverleaf alumni from the 1950s–1960s teams that called Selma home. The major highlight of the second half of
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#1732786844741192-609: The outlook for 2003 looked bright. The team had initial player tryouts in March followed by an invitation only try-outs in April to fill out the final team roster. On May 13, it was announced that the team would play as a traveling team for the 2003 season after ownership was unable to pay the league a $ 100,000 safety net to make sure they would finish out the season on the heels of the Ozark and Americus teams folding mid-season in 2002. After
208-529: The remainder of that season as the Southeastern Cloverleafs before folding at season's end. In April 2002, it was announced that Selma was the recipient of a team in the newly formed Southeastern League of Professional Baseball . For their inaugural season Merritt Bowden served as the manager. On May 27, 2002, the Cloverleafs played the Montgomery Wings in an exhibition game, marking the first professional baseball game to be played within
224-474: The season occurred on July 17 when both Desmond O'Quine and Jose Colon each hit a grand slam in the seventh inning of a 17–2 rout of the rival Montgomery Wings . The season would end after a 3–0 loss to the Pensacola Pelicans in the league tournament on August 29. The 2002 squad finished with an overall record of 29-29. After seeing success in the 2002 season along with the teams’ new ownership,
240-410: The season under the name "Southeastern Cloverleafs." The Macon Peaches also fared a lot worse than expected. Still, the league completed the year, with Pensacola compiling the league's best mark at 42-23 and Baton Rouge defeating Pensacola, 3 games to 1, in the league championship series. Ultimately, the league could not survive the arrival of affiliated baseball to Montgomery. The Orlando Rays of
256-484: The third and most recent incarnation was an independent league that operated for two seasons in 2002–03. After playing a season in 1897, the Southeastern League reformed and lasted for three years, from 1910 through 1912 . At Class D, it was considered on the lowest rung of the minor league ladder, and had six clubs located in the American states of Alabama , Georgia , North Carolina and Tennessee . Stung by
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