2002 Miracle Season Recap

The Miracle began the 2002 season with a confident outlook on winning a division and Florida State League title. The coaching staff returned with Jose Marzan guiding the team for his 3rd season as manager. Hitting coach Ricardo Ingram would instruct a club filled with potent bats. Eric Rasmussen returned as well as pitching coach armed with one of the best young staffs in the league, including a reliever who would set a Miracle team record for saves in a season. Trainer Larry Bennese returned for his fourth season.

The Miracle opened the season with a lineup of players who had excelled at the lower levels of the Twins farm system. The team would include second year Miracle outfielder B.J. Garbe, sweet-swinging first baseman Terry Tiffee, highly touted catcher Rob Bowen, clutch-hitting second baseman Matt Scanlon, home-run hitting outfielder Kevin West and contact-hitting outfielder Josh Rabe. The Miracle also would have Fort Myers own Tommy Watkins, a graduate of Riverdale H.S. in Fort Myers. Watkins would prove to be a worthy utility infielder playing several positions throughout the season. The pitching staff was loaded with strong starters including right-handers John Pridie, Joe Foote, Brian Wolfe, Jeff Lincoln (brother of former Miracle pitcher Mike ) and hard throwing lefty Kenny Holubec. The bullpen was deep with Andy Persby, Tony Cento, Brad Weis, Marcus Moseley and closer Beau Kemp.

The Miracle also opened the season with home grown left-hander Luke Martin from Estero High School. Martin, though, would be released early in the season.

The struggle between the Rangers, Yankees and Miracle for first half dominance began on opening day April 4th at Port Charlotte. The four game home and home series against the nemesis Rangers would be pivotal in determining the standings in the first half of the season.

The Rangers team was filled with talent. The Rangers pitching staff showed it's stuff in the first 3 games with the Rangers taking two in Port Charlotte by scores of 5-2 and 7-4 as well as winning the Miracle's home opener by crushing the Miracle 10-2 in front of an opening night crowd of 7,840.

The Miracle finally picked up their first win by defeating the Rangers at William H. Hammond Stadium 7-0 behind the superb pitching of starter Jon Pridie and relievers Tony Cento and Henry Bonilla.

The next series was in Tampa for four games and the Miracle broke out the lumber against the Yankees winning the first 3 games 8-7, 6-5, and 11-5 in 10 innings collecting 34 hits in the three games. The Miracle dropped the fourth game 5-4 in 11 innings. Relief ace Beau Kemp began his assault on former Miracle season save leader Juan Padilla's record of 23 saves by picking up his first 2 of the season against the Yankees.

The Miracle then swept Clearwater in Fort Myers in a four game set taking the first game of a double-header in dramatic fashion. With the score tied at two in the bottom of the seventh, Matt Scanlon led off with a walkoff home run to win the game. The homer tagged Phillies pitcher Yoel Hernandez with the loss, but gave a victory to Miracle pitcher Andy Persby in relief of starter John Pridie.

For the next two weeks the Miracle were a streaky team winning six in a row but then dropping seven of eight. Charlotte proved to be a little too much for the Miracle early on as the Rangers won 6 of the first 8 meetings. The Yankees also exacted revenge as they swept a four game series on the Miracle's home turf of William H. Hammond Stadium in May. The four losses put the Miracle at 18-22 and looking up at the Yankees in the Western Division standings. Beau Kemp notched 7 saves through the first two months and was on pace to set a new Miracle team record for saves. The most impressive statistic that Kemp was working on was he gave up only one earned run in his first 26 inning pitched, producing a miniscule earned run average of 0.34.

On May 20th the Miracle played the St. Lucie Mets in a double-header. For the 793 fans who showed up early for the first game, they had a chance to watch something very rare in baseball. Pitcher Josmir Romero in his very first game with the Miracle flirted with a no-hitter through 5 innings. As this was a doubleheader the game was only to be 7 innings. In the sixth inning St. Lucie second baseman Sean Pittman drilled a single to center to break up the "no-no". A collective gasp was heard from the stands and the crowd rose to it's feet with an ovation to acknowledge the effort from the young pitcher who came just 4 outs away from a no-hitter in his Florida State league debut.

Three days later on May 23rd the Miracle made their own history. In a game against the Rangers, the Fort Myers Miracle were proud to announce their 1 Millionth fan to walk through the turnstile at William H. Hammond Stadium. The Miracle have been entertaining Fort Myers and Lee County with affordable family fun since 1992.

The Miracle went on to sweep the Mets in four games improving their first half record to 25-23 but still trailing the Yankees for the division lead. After splitting a four game series with Charlotte, the Miracle began to pick up steam heading toward the All-Star break. The Miracle bats came to life and the pitching staff was brilliant. The Miracle won 5 of 8 home games in the first part of June and then proceeded to the East coast for match-ups with the Brevard County Manatees and the Daytona Cubs to wrap up the first half. The Miracle were inching closer to a first half title. The Miracle pounded the Manatees into submission with a four game sweep. Daytona was next and the Miracle took 3 out of 4 from the hapless Cubs. Alas, even though the Miracle finished strong winning 12 of the final 15 games in the first half it wasn't enough. The Miracle finished second at 40-32, just 3 games behind the Tampa Yankees.

The Miracle ended the first half and All-Star outfielder Josh Rabe and reliever Beau Kemp headed for the All-Star game held in Dunedin.

First Half highlights included a 15 game home hitting streak (4th best on the season in the league) by first baseman Terry Tiffee. Tiffee's streak also encompassed a 13 game overall hitting streak, which was 5th best on the season in the league. Matt Scanlon had a 14 game home hitting streak. "The Mayor" Tommy Watkins had a 13 game road hitting streak.

The most highly watched streak in the league as well as in all of the minors was one that Josh Rabe was putting together. The streak of reaching base safely by walk, hit or hit by pitch began on April 22nd at Fort Myers against Dunedin. By the All-Star break the streak had reached 46 games. Howe Sportsdata, which keeps track of all minor league statistics had now begun trying to find records on such a streak. Records of reaching base safely had only been kept since 1994 and to date Kevin Millar (formerly of the Marlins) owned the longest (minor league) streak at 71 games. The excitement of Rabe's streak began to build as he approached the record while setting new standards for Miracle players.

Also not to be forgotten was Beau Kemp closing in on the Miracle all time save record. The first half also saw the Miracle add Brady Williams (son of former Red Sox manager Jimy Williams) to the roster. Kevin Hodge was developed into a pitcher and saw action as a reliever. Hodge had thrown a couple innings in 2001. quite effectively, and was now being given a chance to pitch full time. Hodge was so effective he earned a promotion to New Britain (AA) later in the season.

The second half of the Florida State league season began after a successful All-Star game in Dunedin at Grant Field in front of 2,483 fans. The West Division defeated the East 3-2 on Clearwater Phillies third baseman and All-Star MVP Juan Richardson's walk-off home run off of (eventual 2002 season save leader) Vero Beach Dodger ace reliever Uno Urdaneta. Representing the Miracle, Josh Rabe went 3-4 with a RBI and Beau Kemp pitched 2/3 of an inning allowing just 1 hit. Second baseman Matt Scanlon was voted to the All-Star team but was promoted to New Britain (AA) in May and was unable to participate.

The Miracle began the second half with verve and determination after coming so close to qualifying for a post-season playoff spot. The team knew they had to win the second half title to secure a berth in the playoffs. The second half started off with the Miracle flying out of the gate by winning 14 of their first 18 games including an 8 game winning streak. The Miracle held the top spot in the West firmly. Miracle fans were treated to several appearances by Twins major leaguers who were doing rehabilitation on their injuries. Pitchers Jack Cressend, Matt Kinney (Miracle 1998), Joe Mays (Miracle 1998), Jon McDonald (Miracle 2000-01), and Brad Radke (1993) all made appearances for the Miracle as they recovered from injuries and worked their way back to their spots on Double-A, Triple-A and the Major League roster.

At the end of the first half, Twins second baseman (former Miracle 1998) Luis Rivas played in 6 games before returning to the Major League roster.

The Miracle continued their tradition of Fourth of July Fireworks after ballgames. On July 3rd a crowd of 6,919 saw the Clearwater Phillies defeat the Miracle 2-0, but enjoyed an exceptional fireworks display following the game.

The Miracle played a rare July 4th afternoon game again losing to Clearwater 2-0. The Miracle staged their second 4th of July fireworks show on July 5th following a Miracle victory over Clearwater 2-1. Beau Kemp continued his pursuit of a place in the Miracle record books by picking up his 17th save on July S. Rain and suspended games played havoc as it usually does during the summer, but it couldn't dampen the Miracle spirit as the team continued to lead the West division and visions of a playoff spot were getting clearer. The Miracle just needed to beat Charlotte the rest of their games and the Miracle would hold any edge in locking up a playoff spot. The other teams in the west were fading and the showdown would be between Charlotte and Fort Myers.

The Miracle wanted to send the Rangers packing to Arizona early, but manager Darryl Kennedy and his talent rich Rangers had other plans. The first meeting of the second half came at Fort Myers on July 23rd. The Miracle were in the drivers seat and held a one game lead with a 21-11 record. The Rangers came to Hammond Stadium and sent a message in the first game with authority. The Rangers defeated the Miracle 4-0 behind the brilliance of their ace pitcher C.J. Wilson. The next two nights in Port Charlotte the Rangers won 5-0 and 2-0.

With the victories the Rangers now had a two game lead in the division. The Miracle salvaged a 9-8 win in Fort Myers behind former Ranger Doug Silva.

Charlotte held a one game lead, but by winning the head to head series the Miracle knew they had to win outright. What hurt most was that Twins ace Brad Radke lost the second game in this series pitching on a rehab assignment with the Miracle. The Miracle were not finished and behind the strong pitching of Joe Foote, Kenny Holubec and Brian Wolfe the Miracle kept pace. A big three game series with the Rangers began on August 3rd, and the seasons end only 25 games away. It was make or break. The Rangers didn't break.

Charlotte took 2 out of 3 games and now their lead was 3 games over the Miracle with the tie-breaker of head to head in hand. The Miracle hung tough, but a three game losing streak coupled with a three game Charlotte winning streak put the Miracle back 6 games with 14 games remaining. The Miracle finally broke the Rangers hex and in a home and home two game series the Miracle won 1-0 and 3-0 to get back within 3. Another three game losing streak ended the playoff hopes of our beloved Miracle and they were eliminated from contention with a loss in Tampa on August 28th, just 4 games from the end of the season. The Charlotte Rangers would win the division and go on to defeat Tampa in the first round and then the Lakeland Tigers in the finals for the Florida State League championship in their final year in the league.

The Miracle again took second in the division and ended the year with a successful 77-62 overall record.

Josh Rabe eventually reached 67 games of reaching base safely, second best overall streak on record in the minor leagues since 1994. The streak ended on July 13th in a 7-inning game against Daytona. Cubs top prospect Angel Guzman kept Rabe off the bases for the first time since April 22nd. Rabe went 0-3. The most amazing part of Rabe's streak was the many ways he kept it going. Rabe kept his streak alive many ways: A home run in his last at bat, a walk on a 3-2 pitch in his last at bat, a single in his last at bat, and the most incredible feat was a pinch-hit single in the bottom of the eighth inning to not only keep the streak alive, but the hit also drove in the tying run against Lakeland on June 25th. The Miracle won the game in the 9th. Rabe was promoted to New Britain (AA) the day after the streak ended. The promotion kept Rabe from qualifying for a batting title, which was won by Dunedin second baseman Dominic Rich with a .345 average. Rabe had a .340 average for the Miracle. His average would have qualified for second best in the Florida State League if he had 29 more plate appearances.

Beau Kemp shattered the Miracle season save record with 29 breaking Juan Padilla's record set the year before with 23. Kemp ended the year with a league low 0.66 ERA and incredibly only giving up 2 earned runs on the road all season. The Miracle ranked sixth in the league in hitting and fourth in pitching. Joe Foote tied for the league lead with 12 victories. Foote also was fifth in the league with a 3.11 earned run average. Beau Kemp was second in saves with 29 and led the league in appearances with 59. Kenny Holubec was fifth in the league with 125 strikeouts and eighth in ERA at 3.22.

The Miracle look forward to another successful season in 2003. The Twins have been rated as the fourth best minor league system in baseball and will provide the Miracle with a wealth of talented players for the 2003 season.

Fans can be assured of a great time at William H. Hammond Stadium as the Miracle will again compete for the Florida State League championship trophy.

The Miracle and the Florida State League are the perfect place to watch players who may someday play in the Major Leagues.