Universal Baseball League
2002

               For the first time in UBL history, the UBL champion was not Stockholm, as the Chicago Windbags defeated the Paris Disparagers to become the first title holder from the WHL.  Paris upset a favored Belfast club that held the division lead for much of the season, before a late summer collapse put the Disparagers on top of the standings, and the Buckles out of the playoffs.  Rome ran away from the rest of the Central teams, as they posted the best record in the league, but found themselves on the losing end of the playoff first round series against a Wild Card Morocco club that had finished 17 games behind them.  Vienna took the EHL East crown after a long divisional battle with Warsaw.  Warsaw, like Belfast couldn't keep up the good play, and almost finished behind a Berlin team that ended the season close to .500

               In the Western Hemisphere, the story was a three team race in the West, between the Caracas Cougars, the Alaska Kodiaks, and the hard luck Seattle Devils.  The teams traded spots in the standings most of the summer until an August hot streak put Caracas on top for good, and on pace for 100 wins.  Seattle, who had yet to make the playoffs, held a three game lead over the Kodiaks for the Wild Card spot with just six games to play.  Seattle was swept by Los Angeles though, and entered the final three game series, against Alaska, with a two game lead.  Alaska beat Seattle twice, including on the last day of the season to pull into a tie, and by virtue of the division records, took the Wild Card position right out of Seattle's hands.

               In the East, San Juan held on to the lead for much of the year, finishing with the second best record in the league, and nine games ahead of their closest competitors, the Boston Stranglers.  Havana dropped 100 games as the club struggled to find their bearings through owner changes, and was only one of two teams, Mexico City being the other, to lose 100.  In the Central, eventual UBL Champion Chicago surprised the league by knocking off Atlanta, who had taken the title last year.  Atlanta joined a number of other teams that wilted in the late summer heat, and finished nine behind Chicago, and four behind in the Wild Card.

2002 Final Standings
        EHL West                  W   L   GB              WHL East                   W   L   GB
        Paris Disparagers        92  70   --              San Juan Destroyers       97  65   --
        Belfast Buckles          86  76    6              Boston Stranglers         88  74    9
        Edinburgh Clansmen       80  82   12              Miami Tsunami             79  83   18
        Barcelona Matadors       74  88   18              New York Brawlers         76  86   21
        London Clash             70  92   22              Havana Defectors          62 100   35
        EHL Central               W   L   GB              WHL West                   W   L   GB
        Roman Gladiators        106  56   --              Caracas Cougars          101  61   --
        Morocco Misfits          89  73   17              Alaska Kodiaks            91  71   10
        Stockholm Shuteballers   81  81   25              Seattle Devils            91  71   10
        Zurich Gnomes            73  89   33              Los Angeles Punishers     70  92   31
        Amsterdam Flyers         70  92   36              Mexico City Brahma Bulls  55 107   46
        EHL East                  W   L   GB              WHL Central                W   L   GB
        Vienna Hot Dogs          86  76   --              Chicago Windbags          96  66   --
        Warsaw Fighting Wombats  81  81    5              Atlanta Hammers           87  75    9
        Berlin                   80  82    6              Detroit Polar Bears       71  91   25
        Moscow Communists        66  96   20              Toronto Torpedoes         70  92   26

Playoffs

                                          Round 1:
                                             Paris defeated Vienna     3-2
                                             Morocco defeated Rome     3-1
                                             Chicago defeated San Juan 3-1
                                             Caracas defeated Alaska   3-1

                                          Hemispheric League Championship:
                                             Paris defeated Morocco    4-2
                                             Chicago defeated Caracas  4-1

                                          World Cup:
                                             Chicago defeated Paris    4-0