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American Classic X (2002)
St. Louis (89-73) vs. Tennessee (96-66)
The Tennessee Smokies make their first appearance in the American Classic, having won their first Piedmont Division championship and having defeated the Vermont Maples in the ELCS. The St. Louis Stallions won American Classic VII in 1999, which was also the year of their only Heartland Division championship before 2002.
The Stallions sent David Cone to the hill to face Tim Hudson in game 1 in Smoky Park. Phil Nevin put the Stallions on the board in the first with a two-run homer. In the third, the Smokies responded as Kevin Millar blasted a grand slam for a 4-2 Tennessee lead. The Smokies expanded the lead on two homers by Luis Gonzalez and another by Millar and went on to an 11-4 win.
Game 2 featured Elmer Dessens for St. Louis versus John Burkett for the Smokies. And game 2 started exactly like game 1, as leadoff hitter Jose Offerman reached ahead of a two-out homer by Nevin. And also like game 1, Tennessee struck back in the third on a two-run Relaford homer to tie the game.
Things stayed that way until the eighth, when Rafael Palmeiro lined a two-run single to give the Stallions a 4-2 lead. Carlos Beltran singled in Relaford in the bottom half to cut the lead to 4-3. Mariano Rivera held the Stallions scoreless in the ninth, and Tennessee worked its magic, loading the sacks with one out against Robb Nen. Chad Krueter, filling in for the injured Jason LaRue, blasted a long bomb over the right field wall, and the Smokies won, 7-4, as the fans went absolutely nuts! For the second time in the postseason, an unlikely sub hit a key grand slam (Giles having done it for the Stallions in the WLCS).
The series shifted to St. Louis for game 3 as Tennessee's Jason Schmidt faced St. Louis' Omar Daal. St. Louis again struck first, this time on a Damian Miller solo shot, for a 1-0 lead. Jason Schmidt responded with a 3-run homer, and Tennessee began to believe that nothing could go wrong! Schmidt allowed two more homers, but both were of the solo variety, and the Smokies tacked on a few more for a 6-3 win and a 3 games to 0 series lead!
Game 4 featured Tennessee's Shawn Estes against St. Louis' David Wells. Both teams plated two in the first, and the Smokies added three in the fourth for a 5-2 lead. It stayed that way through six, and Tennessee was only three innings away from an AA championship with Mariano Rivera ready when needed. However, St. Louis would not let it come to that, as Burnitz and Miller homered in the seventh to tie the game. Into extra innings we went, and the Stallions finally won in with a RBI single by Eli Marrero in the 12th for a 6-5 win to extend the series.
The Smokies trotted out their ace, Hudson, to face Cone for game 5. A Jeff Kent triple and a Greg Norton two-run homer staked the Smokies to s 3-0 second-inning lead. Burnitz homered for St. Louis in the bottom of the second to close it to 3-1. A Carlos Delgado homer for Tennessee and a Miguel Tejada rbi forceout for St. Louis in the next two innings made it 4-2 Smokies. Luis Gonzalez then blasted a two-run job in the fifth for a 6-2 Tennessee lead. Hudson cruised until a Moises Alou homer in the eighth cut the lead to 6-3 and ended Hudson's day. With Mariano Rivera unavailable due to the prior game's extra inning festivities, Mike Lincoln came on and got out of the eighth. But he allowed a Vladimir Guerrero homer to start the ninth and make it 6-4, and when the next two batters also reached, the Smokies called on Mike DeJean. DeJean set down the next three batters, and the Tennessee Smokies were the American Association champions of 2002!
MVP - Luis Gonzalez, lf, Tennessee 8-22, .364, D, T, 4 HR, 7 r, 9 rbi