# 1999 Southern League season

The 1999 Southern League was a Class AA baseball season played between April 8 and September 6. Ten teams played a 144-game schedule, with the top team in each division in each half of the season qualifying for the post-season.
The Orlando Rays won the Southern League championship, as they defeated the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx in the playoffs.

## Team changes

* The Carolina Mudcats ended their affiliation with the Pittsburgh Pirates and began a new affiliation with the Colorado Rockies.
* The Huntsville Stars ended their affiliation with the Oakland Athletics and began a new affiliation with the Milwaukee Brewers.
* The Orlando Rays ended their affiliation with the Seattle Mariners and began a new affiliation with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

## Teams

1999 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 | Knoxville Smokies | Knoxville, Tennessee | Toronto Blue Jays | Bill Meyer Stadium |
| East | Orlando Rays | Orlando, Florida | Tampa Bay Devil Rays | Tinker Field |
| West | Birmingham Barons | Birmingham, Alabama | Chicago White Sox | Hoover Metropolitan Stadium |
| West | Chattanooga Lookouts | Chattanooga, Tennessee | Cincinnati Reds | Engel Stadium |
| 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 first time in team history.
* Despite finishing the regular season with the best record in the East Division, the Jacksonville Suns 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 |
| Jacksonville Suns | 75 | 66 | .532 | – |
| Knoxville Smokies | 71 | 69 | .507 | 3.5 |
| Orlando Rays | 70 | 68 | .507 | 3.5 |
| Carolina Mudcats | 60 | 80 | .429 | 14.5 |
| Greenville Braves | 58 | 80 | .420 | 15.5 |
| West Division |||||
| West Tenn Diamond Jaxx | 84 | 57 | .596 | – |
| Chattanooga Lookouts | 78 | 62 | .557 | 5.5 |
| Birmingham Barons | 73 | 67 | .521 | 10.5 |
| Mobile BayBears | 66 | 73 | .475 | 17 |
| Huntsville Stars | 64 | 77 | .454 | 20 |

## League Leaders
### Batting leaders

| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Brady Clark, Chattanooga Lookouts | .326 |
| H | Brent Abernathy, Knoxville Smokies | 168 |
| R | Brent Abernathy, Knoxville Smokies | 108 |
| 2B | Scott Vieira, West Tenn Diamond Jaxx | 44 |
| 3B | Ethan Faggett, Mobile BayBears | 11 |
| HR | Javier Cardona, Jacksonville Suns | 26 |
| RBI | Tim Giles, Knoxville Smokies | 114 |
| SB | Ethan Faggett, Mobile BayBears | 64 |

### Pitching leaders

| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Dave Darwin, Jacksonville Suns | 14 |
| ERA | Jeff Yoder, West Tenn Diamond Jaxx | 3.08 |
| CG | David Manning, West Tenn Diamond Jaxx | 6 |
| SHO | Junior Herndon, Mobile BayBears David Manning, West Tenn Diamond Jaxx Derek Lee, Huntsville Stars | 2 |
| SV | Francisco Cordero, Jacksonville Suns | 27 |
| IP | Dave Darwin, Jacksonville Suns | 187.1 |
| SO | Víctor Santos, Jacksonville Suns | 146 |

## Playoffs

* The Orlando Rays won their third Southern League championship, defeating the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx in four games.

### Playoff bracket

| Division finals | Division finals | Division finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| E1 | Knoxville | 1 | | | |
| E2 | Orlando | 3 | | | |
| E2 | Orlando | 3 | E2 | Orlando | 3 |
| | | | W1 | West Tenn | 1 |
| W1 | West Tenn | 3 | W1 | West Tenn | 1 |
| W2 | Chattanooga | 1 | | | |

## Awards

Southern League awards :
| Award name | Recipient |
| Most Valuable Player | Brady Clark, Chattanooga Lookouts |
| Pitcher of the Year | Francisco Cordero, Jacksonville Suns |
| Manager of the Year | Dave Trembley, West Tenn Diamond Jaxx |