The 2001 Southern League season for the Jacksonville Suns was oh so bittersweet.
Sweet because they captured the Southern League title. Bitter because — due the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D. C. last week — they had to share it with the Huntsville Stars.
Sweet because they consistently put one of the best teams in franchise history on the field. Bitter because most of them will be elsewhere next year.
Sweet because they had home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Bitter because, one, they never got to play a title series game in Jacksonville and, two, not many people came to the park the last several weeks of the season.
For Suns owner and general manager Peter Bragan Jr. the 2001 season was one of the most successful ever on the field and, at one point, was well on its way to being the most successful in the stands.
Then the skies opened up, literally. First, with rain and then with terror.
The 2001 Jacksonville Suns finished the season with an 83-54 record, 29 games over .500 and good enough for a .613 winning percentage — by far the best in the league during the season.
“I think by winning percentage, it was the best team we’ve ever had,” said Bragan. “In 1998 we won 86 or 87 games, but we did not have quite as good a winning percentage because we were playing 144 games then.”
Unfortunately, they didn’t get to finish the job. Instead the Suns quietly ended their year sitting in hotel rooms in Huntsville, glued to CNN and watching as ESPN’s ticker declared them and Huntsville co-champions of the Southern League.
The Suns and Stars joined countless other minor league teams across the country who never got to decide their fates on the field, becoming indirect victims of the attacks in the process. For the Suns, the canceled championship series epitomized the last several weeks of the season.
Between the washouts and games lost to the attacks, the Suns not only lost plenty of revenue, they lost a chance to beat the only team in the league that got the better of them during the season.
“Huntsville was the only team with a winning record against us this year,” said Bragan. “In the first part of the year we went up there and split four games. Then, late in the year, they came here and took three out of four. Overall, we had the best record in the league. I think we would have beaten them. It would have been a great series. We had a tough time with Chattanooga [the Lookouts, the team the Suns beat to advance to the championship series.]”
Not playing also proved to be a financial strain on Bragan. Not only did he lose at least one home game and the revenue it would have generated, Bragan also had to lodge his team for two extra days in Huntsville while Southern League officials debated whether or not to play the series.
Bragan said the wait, uncertainty and inactivity was almost too much for his team.
“Those boys are used to playing every day,” said Bragan. “Sometimes they play 20 days in a row, take a day off and then play 16 in a row. Last week they played Monday, had a day off in Huntsville and were psyched up to play. Then they sat in a hotel Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday going stir crazy.
“By the end of the year, the boys are ready to go home to their families, wives and girlfriends. At one point they were going to start the series on Friday. It was just too much pressure on the team. They are home now, but now I think they want to go up to Huntsville and whip those boys.”
Adding to the financial woes late in the season was the weather. Bragan said he lost three Friday night home dates — traditionally the best nights for big crowds — and several Saturday home games were played under auspicious skies, possibly deterring almost all but the hardcore Suns fans.
“From mid-July on the main thing was the rain,” said Bragan. “We never got a Monday or Tuesday rainout when there’s not much of a crowd. We had better attendance all season long because the team was so good, but you can’t overcome three rainy weekends. It put a financial damper on an otherwise excellent year.”
Ironically, the fact that the Suns were so good actually will prove to cut into Bragan’s bottom line once he compiles his numbers for the year. Unlike the major leagues, making the playoffs does not mean a financial boon for a team.
“At the midway point we are on the way to having a tremendous year, then it went away,” said Bragan of his attendance figures. “It’s unfortunate, but in the minor leagues winning championships always costs money. The extra travel is not budgeted for and neither is other expenses.”
According to Bragan, the Suns’ parent club, the Los Angeles Dodgers, probably won’t assist the Suns financially to help recover the revenue lost when games were canceled and lost due to rainouts. But, Bragan said, they will buy the players something all professional athletes cherish and work towards.
“They [the Dodgers] won’t give us any money, but they will buy all the players a championship ring,” said Bragan.
Despite the Suns’ success on the field this year none of the players were called up to the big leagues when rosters were expanded Sept. 1. However, the team’s manager is in Los Angeles, helping the Dodgers as they battle the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants for the National League’s Western Division title.
“The manager, John Shoemaker, is up there coaching,” said Bragan. “He did such a good job this year they asked to come help the team.”
The fact that the Dodgers are in the hunt is one of the main reason no Suns were called up.
“If you are in a pennant race you aren’t going to take a young pitcher and give him a start,” said Bragan. “Those games are too important.”
Finances, even at the Major League level, also figure into the picture when a team considers bringing up minor leaguers. In addition to having to pay them the league minimum of $20,000, according to Bragan, the Major League team could potentially lose its ability to keep that player in the organization.
Another fact of life in minor league baseball is turnover. The reality is that many of the Suns local fans got to know over the course of the 2001 season will be playing in a different town next year. Some will be part of trades, others will struggle to stay in baseball. Bragan, however, thinks a large chunk of his team will move on and up — doing exactly what the minor league system is designed to do.
“The regular position players will, almost as a group, move up to Triple-A next year,” said Bragan, referring to the Dodger team in Las Vegas. “The good thing is that Vero Beach [the Single-A team under the Suns] had a great team this year. They went deep into the Florida State League playoffs this year. Their first baseman, who hit a lot of home runs, will be here. Their middle infield was real good and one of their pitchers was the dominant pitcher of the Florida State League.
“The Dodger farm system is well-stocked.”