[Eugene Church]

The Islandian Times

Monday, June 23, 2008

Dogfight in TU East, 3 Teams Within 4 Games of Ozarka

Best Team BA: Ozarka Naturals .272
Most Runs: East Point Panthers 389
Most HR: East Point Panthers 89
Best Team ERA: Tuckanarra Blue Jays 3.18
Best Team Defense: Ozarka Naturals .982 FA

Worst Team BA: Hillsboro Blazers .246
Fewest Runs: Hillsboro Blazers 294
Fewest HR: Hillsboro Blazers 46
Worst Team ERA: East Point Panthers 4.68
Worst Team Defense: Midway Wolves .968 FA

Ozarka Naturals
This season: 1st Place (43-30)
Last season: 2nd Place (93-61)
Joe Mac Carney, Manager

It's a battle royal in the Tycobbian East this year with four clubs in the hunt for the pennant. At mid-season Ozarka is up by 1 game on East Point, 2 games on Tuckanarra and 4 ahead of Red Bluff... Joe Mac Carney has everything going for him: strong pitching with a fine 3.48 ERA (4th), good hitting with a .272 BA (5th), good scoring with 361 runs (7th) and excellent defense with a .982 FA... only one shortcoming is power... the Nats have only 53 homers (25th)... Carney has two good starters: All-Star Karl Kleinert (12-4 1.83) is having an extraordinary season... and he is getting help from Jackie Cunningham (8-5 3.03) to give Ozarka a fine one-two punch in its rotation... Carney has a solid line-up with 3B Nathan Ferrell (.286/13 HR/50 RBI/42 R), All-Star 2B Todd Chadwick (.320/8 HR/49 RBI/54 R/22 SB), All-Star SS Gil Lantz (.302/5 HR/27 RBI/38 R) and C Todd Pepper (.308/4 HR/26 RBI/44 R).

East Point Panthers
This season: 2nd Place (42-31)
Last season: 4th Place (80-74)
Griff Clarke, Manager

The East Point Panthers have made good progress in the last two years after a long history of poor success in the IPA... Griff Clarke is making use of a solid core of hitters with good power and a trio of capable starters to challenge in the TU East... the Panthers are only one game out of first place at the All-Star break and look to be in the chase the entire season in spite of a soaring 4.68 ERA (32nd)... top pitchers are Tommy Fuller (8-4 3.15) and Frenchie Domengeaux (7-3 3.35) and 8-year vet Smokey Joe Carter (10-8 4.20)... East Point leads the Tycobbian Union in home runs with 89 (1st) and is number two in scoring with 389 runs (2nd)... leading the Panther bats are 2B Jesse Goodwin (.276/18 HR/47 RBI/49 R), LF Karl Dietz (.271/13 HR/39 RBI), CF Joey Olson (.282/10 HR/34 RBI/41 R) and 3B George Barnes (.335/13 HR/32 RBI/34 R)... East Point is average defensively with a .973 FA.

Tuckanarra Blue Jays
This season: 3rd Place (41-32)
Last season: 1st Place (94-60)
Carlton "Lefty" Stevens, Manager

The name of the game in Tuckanarra is pitching, pitching and pitching... Lefty Stevens has perhaps the best starting foursome in the IPA and a bullpen that is even better... Overall the Blue Jays have compiled a terrific 3.18 ERA (1st), which leads the IPA... Pitching is the reason Tuckanarra has made the playoffs five times... hitting is another story though as the Blue Jays are batting only .252 (28th) with little firepower and only 48 homers (28th)... but with pitchers like Roy Spence (11-5 2.93), Flash Guidry (8-5 2.81), Delaney Elliott (8-6 2.95) and Titus Bristow (8-8 4.03), it doesn't seem to matter... they play good defensively with a .976 FA... Stevens' bats are few in number, his best are CF Earl O'Brien (.313/4 HR/28 RBI/35 R) and 1B Erik Vayda (.309/5 HR/38 RBI)... with such fine pitching the Blue Jays are in the race to stay... they won the pennant last year despite the lack of hitting... Tuckanarra trails by only two games at the halfway point in the season.

Red Bluff Red Sox
This season: 4th Place (39-34)
Last season: 3rd Place (86-68)
Mack Connery, Manager

Red Bluff has made the playoffs three times in its history and won the IPA Pro Cup in 2004... Mack Connery has a good club with a good blend of hitting (.270 BA - 9th), power (74 HR - 8th), pitching (3.80 ERA - 18th) and excellent defense (.980 FA)... the Red Sox are fourth at the mid-season hiatus and are well within striking distance of first place Ozarka, just four games off the pace... Look for Connery's crew to be in contention at the end of the season... He has two All-Star pitchers in Frank Beaudoin (10-4 2.33) and John Dougherty (12-5 3.13) and a gifted closer in Cloyd Harris (2-1 0.83)... Harris has 13 saves thus far and a ridiculously low 0.83 ERA... at the plate Red Bluff depends on RF Kris Grabowski (.291/6 HR/31 RBI), 1B Tommy Klegg (.258/13 HR/39 RBI), LF Bryan Wessels (.287/9 HR/30 RBI) and SS Jose Aguilar (.281/8 HR/30 RBI/34 R).

High Mesa Cowboys
This season: 5th (33-40)
Last season: 7th (67-87)
Frisky Franks, Manager

High Mesa had great success in its first two IPA seasons winning the Pro Cup in its first year in the league in 2002... the Cowboys did well in year two and finished second, but haven't come close to the postseason since... This season High Mesa is 10 games out and in fifth place and will not be in playoff contention, but they do have improved pitching (3.78 ERA – 16th)... Kent Wells (9-7 3.22), Johnny Falcon (6-9 3.83) and John Rainer (6-9 3.68) give Franks the best starters he has ever had, the problem is the Cowboys of today don't hit the long ball like the old Cowboys... High Mesa is hitting .271 (16th) with 76 homers (6th) and 355 runs (11th)... top bats are 1B Nat Thurlow (.274/16 HR/43 RBI/34 R) and 2B Ed Albrecht (.327/7 HR/28 RBI/34 R).

South Fork Stallions
This season: 6th Place (32-41)
Last season: 5th Place (76-78)
Deroche "Lips" Leon

The South Fork Stallions had great success in its first two seasons in the IPA with two division crowns in 2001 and 2002, but none since... Lips Leon's squad had not come close to making the playoffs in the intervening years... This year is no different, the Stallions are fifth in the standings, 11 games behind the leader... they are not very good hitting (.262 BA), pitching (4.04 ERA) or playing defense (.969 FA)... Bobby Karu (7-7 3.39) is a quality pitcher, but after him Leon has very little... his top bats are CF Gary Horn (.304/15 HR/37 RBI/40 R), LF Chris Krychevsky (.319/7 HR/36 RBI/35 R) and LF Adam Zitek (.308/12 HR/29 RBI).

Midway Wolves
This season: 7th Place (30-43)
Last season: 6th Place (68-86)
Cochise Chandler, Manager

The Midway Wolves have never made the playoffs and have finished over .500 only twice in its history... this season has not gone very well... at the All-Star game, they are in seventh place and 13 games out in the pennant race... the Wolves have a 4.37 ERA (30th) and have trouble scoring runs... they are hitting .265 (18th), but have scored only 305 runs (28th)...Midway has hit 61 homers (19th)... they are poor on defense as well with a .968 FA... Manager Cochise Chandler signed two veteran pitchers as free agents, but Ted Chambers (6-7 4.50) and Phil Reed (7-9 4.32) have not fared very well in their new surroundings... however, they are the best of the lot on the mound staff... Midway has two quality hitters in SS J. T. Edmonds (.322/10 HR/36 RBI/43 R) and 1B Don Piper (.277/8 HR/35 RBI), although Piper's numbers are down this season.

Hillsboro Blazers
This season: 8th Place (29-44)
Last season: 8th Place (64-90)
Arky Spanderson, Manager

The long-suffering fans in Hillsboro are still suffering... their Blazers have never made the playoffs in their seven years in the IPA... they have never been over .500 and have never finished higher than 6th... Hillsboro is one of the most unsuccessful clubs in the IPA and has wound up last six times... the forecast for 2008 is more of the same... Manager Arky Spanderson's team is near the bottom in all the statistical categories: .246 BA (31st), 294 runs (31st), 46 home runs (30th), 4.22 ERA (25th)... the Blazers have some decent starters in Ed Dupard (4-12 3.76), Gerry Fisher (6-9 3.90) and Lou Zanelli (5-8 3.47), but they get very little in run support... when your best hitter has a .271 batting average, you know you are in trouble... 2B George Longmire (.271/7 HR/34 RBI/45 R/15 SB) is Spanderson's best batter.