# 2000 Southern League season

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

## 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 | Division finals | Division finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| E1 | Jacksonville | 3 | | | |
| E2 | Greenville | 2 | | | |
| E2 | Greenville | 2 | E1 | Jacksonville | 2 |
| | | | W1 | West Tenn | 3 |
| 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 |