View Single Post
Old 07-03-2009, 10:07 PM   #1092
Eugene Church
Hall Of Famer
 
Eugene Church's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 35,867
The Islandian Times

Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Sports Surprising Leader in RU North
The LaGrange were picked to finish sixth in the BNN preseason poll. Questioned about that, Manager Foxy Jimison retorted, "My boys don't get paid to read the sports pages, they get paid to play baseball." And that is most certainly what the Sports have done. They have set the Ruthlandian Union North on fire and have opened up a 5-game lead over the preseason favorite and defending division crownholder, the Valmara Vipers.

The LaGrange Sports (44-29) are doing all the damage with their bats. They lead the RU with a .276 batting average. Sparking the Sports are LF John Babcock (.318/14 HR/54 RBI), All-Star RF Mike Di Lazzaro (.329/8 HR/46 RBI/45 R/13 SB), CF Roger Marley (.328/9 HR/34 RBI/45 R) and 2B Tim Masters (.321/4 HR/33 RBI/47 R).

Jimison doesn't have the strongest pitching staff in the league, but he does have three good starters and a solid closer. Barney Prohaska (6-1 2.73), Sean Stone (11-3 3.25), Al Thibaut (4-7 3.29) and closer Leroy Labat (7-3 3.03) have the arms to keep LaGrange in the game until the bats prevail. Labat has saved 12 games so far and pitched in 31 games.

Skipper J. Jackson Samuel has his Valmara Vipers (39-35) in second place despite a noticeable drop in batting average and ERA this season. Thank goodness, he can depend on All-Star LF Jet Kazmarek (.399/4 HR/42 RBI/54 R/40 SB), who is again flirting with .400. Two years ago Kazmarek astounded the IPA by batting a prodigious .428 for the season. 2B Floyd Vinson (.289/3 HR/51 RBI), 1B Masaichi Okawa (.280/7 HR/44 RBI) and RF Val Krol (.308/4 HR/27 RBI) have contributed, too.

Samuel said, "Pitching is our big problem this year. It seems that the league as whole has better pitching, but not us. My ace Danny Blauser (6-9 4.03) is not going to win 23 games this year like he did last year. Zarek Zalewski (8-8 4.32) is having a bad year and is now in my doghouse and the bullpen. And Yanni Wlodarczyk (3-2 5.66), who was wonderful as my closer last year, is lucky he is still on the team. He's got the rest of the season to straighten himself out, but not as my closer. Andre Trepanier (8-7 3.25) has been my steadiest and most consistent starter. If we expect to catch LaGrange, we better start hitting and start pitching. I think it is going to get better. These guys have too much talent to play so poorly for an entire season."

As always, Page Satcher has his Ranford Bulls (38-35) in contention. The Bulls are 6 games off the pace and led by two All-Stars, SS Rick Fargnoli (.339/12 HR/65 RBI/48 R) and 3B Colin Fairclough (.305/8 HR/38 RBI/48 R/15 SB). Fargnoli tops the IPA with 65 RBIs. Rookie LF Jose Castillo (.291/8 HR/24 RBI/47 R) and 1B Jordy John (.235/14 HR/50 RBI) have also chipped in some offense.

Satcher has one of the better mound staffs in the division with LHP Bud Enright (11-6 3.39), Jim Maxwell (7-5 3.54) and LHP Chris Bernhoffer (8-9 3.74). Bernhoffer has won 20 games in each of his first two series, but has not been as effective this year so far. Ranford needs him to turn it around to challenge LaGrange and Valmara this season. In the bullpen Old Satch has his southpaw closer Tim DeKosky (5-3 2.25), who has 10 saves and appeared in 27 games.

It's been a down year for the Glasco Athletics (36-37). They are in fourth place and 8 games behind the leader. Several of their mainstays, sluggers RF Ox Beauvais (.243/3 HR/26 RBI) and CF Bobby Pascarelli (.244/10 HR/44 RBI), are having down years. Pitchers LHP Charles Darby (5-9 4.49) and Jerry Smith (5-3 4.44) have not been effective. Smith has been sent to the bullpen by manager McDuffie Hughes. In an attempt to jump start the offense and the pitching, Hughes has decided to go with younger players.

The A's top performers are All-Star 2B Barry McCord (.329/9 HR/48 RBI/49 R), C Jonas Ogburn (.317/6 HR/41 RBI), 1B Maury Smith (.292/5 HR/31 RBI/33 R), LF Stan Kobzar (.292/6 HR/23 RBI/44 R) and Pascarelli, who hit 34 homers last season and hit 40 points higher.

On the hill LHP Jesse Balfour (6-8 2.52) has pitched well, but received poor bat support. Glasco's best hurler has been the veteran Ray Cook (11-5 3.09). Hughes is still looking for a closer and two other good starters. Rookie Hal Neyland (0-3 3.22) will get his chance as a starter in the second half of the year. He has appeared in 25 games and made 3 starts.

Hard times have come to Far Mountain and Alex Groveland this year. The Far Mountain Redhawks (35-38) are in a fifth place tie with Kilkenny and Taranto, 9 games behind. They have plenty of time to get into contention for a playoff spot. However, there are only two spots in each division this year. In years past four teams made the playoffs.

Poor hitting hampers the Redhawks this season. Groveland's prime producers just haven't done it so far. LF Karl Dietz (.223/15 HR/48 RBI) is hitting homers, but little else. CF Sid Cameron (.247/2 HR/36 RBI), a career .303 hitter, has slumped badly. 1B Royce Benson (.287/5 HR/20 RBI/43 R/22 SB) has been Far Mountain's top batter.

On the mound Robby Kelly (10-5 2.79) has sparkled and gotten solid help from Sonny Elliott (8-4 3.26) and Cliff Pope (6-2 3.09). However, Elliott missed a month with an injury. In the bullpen, specialist Bud Ford (2-3 1.62) has been sensational in the first half of the season with 13 saves and 33 relief appearances.

The Kilkenny Cats (35-38) with Kieran McKenna at the controls made wholesale hill changes at the break and signed four new pitchers in an effort to end the mound malaise. McKenna is blessed with three fine arms in All-Star Yasuyuki Nakagawa (9-5 1.89) and two lefties, Marty Cullen (5-2 2.57) and Collin Gilder (5-6 3.13). Conan Walsh (5-3 3.82) has also had some success. But four guys do not make a staff that can compete in the IPA.

At the plate the Cats have been led by RF Rick Audubon (.252/15 HR/54 RBI/41 R), CF Kirk Pitzer (.287/8 HR/34 RBI/47 R/18 SB), 1B Andy Danzer (.290/6 HR/37 RBI) and LF Zoro Volakis (.289/10 HR/36 RBI).

Taranto's jolly skipper Tommaso Lazzorda was excited about this season, thinking the Tars were playoff material, but it hasn't happened. Taranto just is not hitting this year, ranking right near the bottom in average, plus the heavy hitters and powerball has not been there, either. Consequently, the Taranto Tars (35-38) are 9 games in back of the RU North-leading LaGrange Sports. Taranto is in a three-way tie for the fifth spot in the standings.

But things are not all bad in Taranto. Lazzorda has outstanding pitching, ranking third in the RU with an impressive 3.18 team ERA. The Taranto twirlers are headed by brilliant Anthony Nardone (7-8 2.33), who has won 38 games in his first two seasons, racking up 16-10 and 22-10 records. As good as he is, Nardone can't consistently win without run support. Carlo Bianchi (10-5 3.15) seems to have found himself with a strong year thus far. The other starter for Lazzorda is Lefty Paddison (3-10 3.69), obtained in a trade from Grand City. The change of scenery has not been good for Paddison.

Taranto still has two fine hitters in All-Star LF Dominic Zuccaro (.295/21 HR/57 RBI/47 R) and RF Tony Blaser (.288/13 HR/51 RBI). 3B Sal Bruno (.303/2 HR/13 RBI/29 R) is Lazzorda's only .300 regular.

Believe it or not, but Manny Mickens has made progress in Ancona this season. The Ancona Red Elephants (32-41) are still in the cellar, but only 12 games out. Mickens still has a long way to go to compete in the RU North. Ancona has a few top performers in CF Simon Manetus (.362/5 HR/29 RBI/22 R), rookie LF Louie DiMucci (.283/10 HR/40 RBI/38 R) and RF Jimmy Brewer (.259/12 HR/38 RBI/43 R).

However, talent is sparse on the hill for Mickens. Rookie Yannis Vardakis (6-2 2.38) has been exceptional and vet Carl Costas (5-9 3.24) has been solid and dependable.

Last edited by Eugene Church; 07-05-2009 at 05:04 PM.
Eugene Church is offline   Reply With Quote