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The Selma Cloverleafs were a
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
team based in
Selma, Alabama Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. About ...
. The original Cloverleafs played in the
Southeastern League The Southeastern League was the name of four separate baseball leagues in minor league baseball which operated in the Southeastern and South Central United States in numerous seasons between 1897 and 2003. Two of these leagues were associated wit ...
and
Alabama–Florida League The Alabama–Florida League was a low-level circuit in American minor league baseball that existed from 1936 through 1939 and 1951 through 1962. In 1940–1941 and from 1946–1950. The absence of clubs based in Florida caused the league to chan ...
at various times between 1928 and 1962.


Independent League

In 2002 a new version of the team was charter members of the Southeastern League of Professional Baseball. They played their home games in Selma, Alabama, at Bloch Park. The team left Selma after playing only three games in 2003 and playing the remainder of that season as the ''Southeastern Cloverleafs'' before folding at season's end.


2002

In April 2002, it was announced that Selma was the recipient of a team in the newly formed Southeastern League of Professional Baseball. For their inaugural season Merritt Bowden served as the manager. On May 27, 2002, the Cloverleafs played the Montgomery Wings in an exhibition game, marking the first professional baseball game to be played within the city since the original Cloverleafs folded in 1962. The season would officially begin on May 31, 2002, against the
Americus Arrows The Americus Arrows was a short-lived baseball team based in Americus, Georgia. In 2002 they were inaugural members of the Southeastern League of Professional Baseball. They played their home games in Americus, Georgia, at the Americus High Scho ...
on opening night, with Selma mayor James Perkins, Jr. throwing out the opening pitch. Dennis Gomez was the starting pitcher for the 'Leafs. Throwing 6 innings with 8 K's and giving up 1 earned run, picking up the win and closer Tony Macon pitched the top of the ninth inning to earn the save. Both feats were firsts for the Cloverleafs since the 1960s..The opening series drew over 2,000 fans to the stadium before the teams would embark on an 18-game roadtrip. On June 25, 2002, the team returned after the extended roadtrip to play in front of many Cloverleaf alumni from the 1950s–1960s teams that called Selma home. The major highlight of the second half of the season occurred on July 17 when both Desmond O'Quine and Jose Colon each hit a grand slam in the seventh inning of a 17–2 rout of the rival Montgomery Wings. The season would end after a 3–0 loss to the
Pensacola Pelicans The Pensacola Pelicans were a minor league baseball team based in Pensacola, Florida. In various incarnations, they played in three different independent baseball leagues (leagues unaffiliated with Major League Baseball) from 2002 to 2010. They p ...
in the league tournament on August 29. The 2002 squad finished with an overall record of 29-29.


2002 Roster

* Kevin Bice, catcher * Jose Colon, outfield * Joe Colvin, outfield * Bart Cowan, outfield * Jessie Ellison, pitcher * Dennis Gomez, pitcher * Luke Hurst, catcher * Lee Jolly, pitcher * Brock Lowell, outfield, 1st base, catcher * Tony Macon, pitcher * Lucus McCollum, pitcher * Desmond O'Quinn, 3rd base * Kyle Parker, pitcher * John Renfro, pitcher * Brian Rushton, pitcher, 1st base * Keith Sills, 2nd base * Andrew Tarver, short stop * David Thomas, 1st base * Terrance Thomas, outfield * Eric Turnrose, pitcher * Terry Waters, pitcher * Joe Whitmer, 1st base, outfield * John Learson, pitcher * Carlos Booker, coach * Merritt Bowden, player/manager * Jim Brantley, player/coach


2003

After seeing success in the 2002 season along with the teams’ new ownership, the outlook for 2003 looked bright. The team had initial player tryouts in March followed by an invitation only try-outs in April to fill out the final team roster. On May 13, it was announced that the team would play as a traveling team for the 2003 season after ownership was unable to pay the league a $100,000 safety net to make sure they would finish out the season on the heels of the Ozark and Americus teams folding mid-season in 2002. After the announcement, the team would play on May 29 and a final double-header on May 31 in Selma before officially becoming a traveling team. These games against the Montgomery Wings were played in Selma due to a scheduling conflict at
Paterson Field {{Infobox venue , name = Paterson Field , former_names = Municipal Stadium , logo_image = , logo_caption = , image = , caption = The exterior of the stadium in February 2012 , fullname ...
. Of note, the traveling Cloverleafs team made national press upon signing the late
Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 ...
' son, John Henry Williams, on June 9. His first game came against the
Pensacola Pelicans The Pensacola Pelicans were a minor league baseball team based in Pensacola, Florida. In various incarnations, they played in three different independent baseball leagues (leagues unaffiliated with Major League Baseball) from 2002 to 2010. They p ...
on June 12. John played in 13 games with the Cloverleafs with an average of .051. The 2003 squad finished with an overall record of 23–44, and finished sixth in the overall standings.


2003 Roster

* Brian Baker * Jack Blanchard * Jim Booth * Vince Cerni * Mike Clohessy * Bobby Cobo * Matt Day * Eric Donaldson * Sean Easton * Michael Falco * Anthony Gonzales * Duffer Harrison * Hector Henriquez * Brad Hertel * Steve Horn * Patrick Jernigan * Jeff Larue * Brock Lowell * Tyler Marsh * Eric McKay * Mike Mulhall * Nate Nelson * Brett Nuss * James Pack * Ryan Price * Martin Reilly * Augie Rodriguez * Mike Settle * Josey Shannon * Chad Simmons * Travis Suereth * Antoine Watts * Josh Wilke * John Williams * Jason Wilso


References


Baseball Reference
* Masterson, John. (May 29, 2002) "Gates will open early for Leaf's opener." ''The Selma Times-Journal''. * Veach, Katherine. (June 4, 2002) "Nearly 2,000 attend homestand." ''The Selma Times-Journal''. * AP Reports. (July 18, 2002) "Selma team hits pair of slams in inning." ''The Associated Press State & Local Wire''. * Gullion, John. (May 14, 2003) "Cloverleafs Gone." ''The Selma Times-Journal''.

from the ''Sporting News'', extracted 19 October 2006.
2003 Selma Cloverleafs Statistics
from The Baseball Cube, extracted 19 October 2006. {{Southeastern baseball league Professional baseball teams in Alabama Defunct Southeastern League teams Defunct Alabama-Florida League teams Defunct Georgia-Alabama League teams Defunct Cotton States League teams Defunct Southern Association teams Selma, Alabama Baseball teams established in 1901 Baseball teams disestablished in 2003 Boston Red Sox minor league affiliates Washington Senators minor league affiliates Chicago Cubs minor league affiliates Pittsburgh Pirates minor league affiliates Philadelphia Phillies minor league affiliates Kansas City Athletics minor league affiliates Cleveland Guardians minor league affiliates 1928 establishments in Alabama Defunct independent baseball league teams Southeastern League teams Defunct baseball teams in Alabama