| 2002 shenangahela baseketball league all-americans |
| First Team: - Nate Tomko, Ratchet Thunder Studs: while a clause in the mvp awarding prevented him from being a back-to-back recipient of the highest individual honor in the sbl, tomko's stats only went up from his mvp and all-american campaign of 2001. once again, the league was chasing their president, who finished with 40 homers, 116 rbi, .705 avg., 21 assists and 72 double plays, all good for first in the league. more important than that, however, was that 2002 finally brought to nate a world championship. - Mark Tarkanick, Ratchet Thunder Studs: this mid-season acquisition was a pleasent suprise for the rts, and a devastating nightmare for the rest of the sbl. this gifted athlete put up great numbers in his own right (.521 average, 14 homers, 50 rbi, 5 assists, 21 double plays, 2.8 psyche-outs), but it was his athleticism forcing opposong defenses to pull their double-teams off of nate tomko where he made his real contribution. by freeing up his teammate, he secured a spot on the all american squad and rookie of the year honors. - Jon Olsavsky, Nasty Pillow: while his supporting class wasn't as solid as it had been in his first year, olsavsky's numbers didn't suffer. he still finished with 28 homers (#3 in sbl), 72 runs batted in (#2) 59 double plays (#2), as well as leading the league with 12 psyche-outs and collecting a respectable .437 average. for his outstanding play, jon was the 2002 co-most valuable player, and notched his second all-star most valuable player award. - Bill Weisberg, Pink Bandana Girls/Weenises: a mid-season trade to the much-in-need-of-a-hero weenises seemed like a perfect fit for the former bocce hero. while his pre-trade numbers were good, his post-trade numbers were what solidified him as the other half of the stereo mvp's. a .495 average with 55 rbi's and 7 offensive assists on the offensive side and a cheap psyche-out and 23 dp's on the defensive side showed that billy is one of the best all-around players in the game. - Fred Shaffer, Pink Bandana Girls: the only rookie up for most valuable player took little time to show he can run with the best in the league. shaffer quietly lit up the scorebooks with a .475 average and 57 (#4 in sbl) runs batted in, while turning 33 dp's (#4), all of which were highs on a pbg team that appeared in the championship series. . Second Team: - Jared Clayton, Pink Bandana Girls: in his first game in the sbl, he helped the pbg knock their hated rivals the thunder studs from the ranks of the undefeated, and clayton didn't stop knocking down homers till the finals. in 3/4's of a season, jared finished with 29 longballs, good for #2 in the sbl. but his .455 average and 18 double plays prove that he's not, as the rumor goes, one-dimensional, but rather one of the best all-around players in the sbl. - Jason Biddle, Pink Bandana Girls: if shaffer made the first team somewhat quietly, biddle made the second team without so much as a whisper. in the most attentionless all-star campaign you'll ever see, biddle hit 16 homers (#5 in sbl), 56 rbi (#5) and a .464 batting average. perhaps the most valuable of the pbg triad, biddle was without a doubt the star that did it with the least fanfare. - Andy Esenwein, Gaylem Fagisms: gary swoggers team? nope. then it had to be jeff meyers team, right? not a chance. the gaylem fagisms, by season's end, belonged not to the coach, not to the self-proclaimed best player, but to the mohawk-clad 15-year old that almost single-handily carried his team thru the final 4 weeks of the season. esenwein's 28 homers tied him with olsavsky for 3rd in the sbl, and his 72 rbi tied him for 2nd. and let's not forget his .493 average, either. for the league's sake, let's hope this kid doesn't learn to tip in double plays. - Rando Knight, PJ & the Ladies: once again the driving force behind the force that drives the sbl, big rando proved in 2002 that his 2001 numbers were more than just a fluke. they were part of a big, long fluke. 11 homers, .389 average, 45 rbi, 2 assists, 25 double plays a handful of dumb things, and an appearance in the all-star game give the big man his second all-american spot in 2 years. - Steve Mentrek, PJ & the Ladies: what did it take for pj & co. to go from league cellar-dwellars to the world champions? (note- world championship is disputed) why, the arrival of the sex machine, of course? after spending all of 2001 in oblivion, steve erupted onto the scene in 2002 with 8 homers (plus an sbl record 14 homers in the playoffs), a .362 average, 39 runs batted in, a pair of assists, and 12 double plays. ALL AMERICANS HOME |