OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - ISLANDIAN PRO ALLIANCE (RUTHLANDIA and TYCOBBIA BASEBALL UNIONS)

Eugene Church · 08-07-2010, 05:50 PM

The Islandian Times
Tuesday, June 24, 2014

4-Club Race In RU West, RR Snappers Lead At All-Star Game
Another great pennant race is shaping up again in the Ruthlandian West, perhaps the strongest overall division in the IPA. But not like last year when 6 teams were closely bunched. This season 4 clubs will probably contest it down to the last few days. The Rocky Rapids Snappers have a narrow lead at the halfway point. They hold a two-game margin over runner-up Colfax, three over third-place Sligo and four over Volusia in fourth place. Who's going to be victorious? Rocky Rapids and Colfax have strong pitching, Sligo has the offense and Volusia has both pitching and hitting. The key factor could be which teams stays the healthiest.

The big story of this season has been the total collapse of last year's division winner, the Forest City Lumberjacks. Forest City came out of nowhere and leaped from seventh to first in 2013. Not so this season. The 'Jacks have nose-dived to the basement with a poor 28-45 mark, 18 games off the pace. Forest City has suffered from a lack of scoring this year. Last year they hit 177 home runs. At mid-year Robbie Jackson's crew had hit only 62 in 2014.

The Rocky Rapids Snappers (46-27), piloted by Ryan Noland, are chocked full of All-Stars... heading the list of 4 is SP Don Chaney (14-4 1.81), who has had a truly fine season... closer Earl Pitts (2-2 1.88) has notched 18 saves... SS Cooter Bermudez (.330/0/26/52) is enjoying a career year... and C Hank Bethel (.282/10/47/38) made the All-Stars for the 9th time... The Snappers have four quality starters and are ranked second in the RU with a fine 3.06 ERA.

The Colfax Blasters (44-29) slipped a bit last year, dropping from second to sixth, but were only 4 games off the lead... Hitting is Clem Rogers' biggest worry, but he still has strong pitching, led by All-Stars Ilya Szabo (13-2 1.05) and Jimmy Joe Cartner (12-1 2.10)... Colfax tops the IPA with a terrific 2.85 team ERA... there is no better duo in the IPA... the Blasters are batting only .253 (23rd) with longtime star CF Ryan Raines (.278/14/38/39) the top batter.

On paper the Sligo Rovers (43-30) of Eddie Keys look to be the best team in Ruthlandia with 4 All-Stars... The Rovers can hit and score and are ranked near the top offensively... plus they have two good starters in All-Star Vinnie Rastelli (13-1 2.68) and newly-acquired Jasper LaForge (8-4 2.95), who came over from Colfax after 13 years in the league... LaForge is only 32 and looks to have quite a few years to go... It's bewildering why Colfax let him go... Rumor is he just got fed up with Clem Rogers, known to be difficult to play for... And wow, just look at Keys' line-up: All-Star 2B Hollis Waldrup (.298/14/46/69/32SB), 1B Joe Helmke (.296/10/39/36), All-Star RF Clell Renshaw (.333/7/43/55). All-Star LF Fred Collins (.346/10/42/60), 3B Manny Alou (.256/17/54/41) and CF Chris Michel (.302/5/40/43/20 SB)... Sligo needs longtime ace Dix Edenborough to regain form and close out the year well... 36-year-old Edenborough is 10-7 but has an inflated 4.30 ERA... Trailing by only 3 games, Sligo has a good shot at the crown this year.

Alfonso Feliz has the best-balanced team in the RU West with both quality pitching and hitting... The Volusia Vigilantes (42-31) have an impressive 3.29 ERA (3rd) and are batting .265 (9th) and are just 4 games back in the pennant chase... Gerry Hersh (12-5 2.51) is having a career year, but just missed out on the All-Star team... CF Joe DeLucca (.342/13/59/58) is a premier player and in just his second season... Old dependable in RF Briscoe Crowder (.338/5/34/40), a 13-year vet, and 1B Rafael Garza (.332/2/37/25) give Feliz' two more solid and consistent bats.

None of the second-divison clubs are expected to challenge the upper crust this season... The Fort Benton Defenders (35-38) have respectable pitching with a 3.45 ERA (6th), but not much in hitting... Manager Robbie Brooks has three dependable starters in his rotation with Tucker Dawes (10-7 2.81), Hec Skurgan (7-8 2.99) and Ivan Gloeckner (8-8 3.47)... There is also quality in the bullpen with closer David Osborn (0-2 1.59), who has saved 17 games so far... The Defenders best bats are few in number and belong to CF Ryan Smith (.304/15/34/50) and LF Forest Cummings (.276/12/51/47).

The Stoner Stars (34-39) are sixth, 12 games off the pace and likely to end up in the second division for the 8th year in a row... Willie Dickens is short on talent as usual except for three players: Billy Chapel (8-9 2.82), who could be a headliner for any team in the IPA... Chapel, only 21, won 20 games last year as a rookie... Ditto for All-Star LF Mike Jaffe, only 20, who had a standout season as a freshman, and is even better this year with a .353 average, 18 homers, 45 RBIs and 54 runs scored... and 5-year man 1B Robert Dunbar (.317/11/49).

Smitty Michaels had a powerhouse in Middlefield (31-42) in the first five seasons, when his Roosters made the playoffs every year and even won the Pro Cup in 2005... However those days of glory are long gone and Middlefield is next-to-last and 15 games behind... Johnny Bond (6-10 2.99) is a reliable starter... 33-year-old 2B Jim Rose (.322/14/48/47) could start for just about every team in the IPA... Rose is a 3-time All-Star and just missed by a wink this year... and Ricky Tinker (.286/11/49) is a solid first sacker.

The last place Forest City Lumberjacks (28-45) were riding high last year and won the RU West with good offense and good pitching... the offense is gone this season... Rob Jackson's crew is one of the worst-hitting teams in the IPA with a lowly .241 batting average (30th)... home run production and scoring is down, too... The 'Jacks have jacked only 62 (14th) this year and are dead last in scoring with 258 runs (32nd)... Jackson has only one good hitter in his line-up and that is LF Joe Judlin with a .300 average, 19 homers, 53 RBIs and 42 runs scored... but Judlin has no help... Forest City still has a good group of pitchers, who can keep them in the game, but the batters can't win them... Paul Crews (4-12 3.19), Knucks Nomellini (7-10 3.30) and Al Thibaut (7-9 3.25) are still fine starters and closer Dale Owens (0-2 1.92) can still take care of leads, but he rarely has one. The Lumberjacks have simply gone into a severe power decline and took a huge plunge in the standings.

08-07-2010, 05:50 PM	#1888
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,868	The Islandian Times Tuesday, June 24, 2014 4-Club Race In RU West, RR Snappers Lead At All-Star Game Another great pennant race is shaping up again in the Ruthlandian West, perhaps the strongest overall division in the IPA. But not like last year when 6 teams were closely bunched. This season 4 clubs will probably contest it down to the last few days. The Rocky Rapids Snappers have a narrow lead at the halfway point. They hold a two-game margin over runner-up Colfax, three over third-place Sligo and four over Volusia in fourth place. Who's going to be victorious? Rocky Rapids and Colfax have strong pitching, Sligo has the offense and Volusia has both pitching and hitting. The key factor could be which teams stays the healthiest. The big story of this season has been the total collapse of last year's division winner, the Forest City Lumberjacks. Forest City came out of nowhere and leaped from seventh to first in 2013. Not so this season. The 'Jacks have nose-dived to the basement with a poor 28-45 mark, 18 games off the pace. Forest City has suffered from a lack of scoring this year. Last year they hit 177 home runs. At mid-year Robbie Jackson's crew had hit only 62 in 2014. The Rocky Rapids Snappers (46-27), piloted by Ryan Noland, are chocked full of All-Stars... heading the list of 4 is SP Don Chaney (14-4 1.81), who has had a truly fine season... closer Earl Pitts (2-2 1.88) has notched 18 saves... SS Cooter Bermudez (.330/0/26/52) is enjoying a career year... and C Hank Bethel (.282/10/47/38) made the All-Stars for the 9th time... The Snappers have four quality starters and are ranked second in the RU with a fine 3.06 ERA. The Colfax Blasters (44-29) slipped a bit last year, dropping from second to sixth, but were only 4 games off the lead... Hitting is Clem Rogers' biggest worry, but he still has strong pitching, led by All-Stars Ilya Szabo (13-2 1.05) and Jimmy Joe Cartner (12-1 2.10)... Colfax tops the IPA with a terrific 2.85 team ERA... there is no better duo in the IPA... the Blasters are batting only .253 (23rd) with longtime star CF Ryan Raines (.278/14/38/39) the top batter. On paper the Sligo Rovers (43-30) of Eddie Keys look to be the best team in Ruthlandia with 4 All-Stars... The Rovers can hit and score and are ranked near the top offensively... plus they have two good starters in All-Star Vinnie Rastelli (13-1 2.68) and newly-acquired Jasper LaForge (8-4 2.95), who came over from Colfax after 13 years in the league... LaForge is only 32 and looks to have quite a few years to go... It's bewildering why Colfax let him go... Rumor is he just got fed up with Clem Rogers, known to be difficult to play for... And wow, just look at Keys' line-up: All-Star 2B Hollis Waldrup (.298/14/46/69/32SB), 1B Joe Helmke (.296/10/39/36), All-Star RF Clell Renshaw (.333/7/43/55). All-Star LF Fred Collins (.346/10/42/60), 3B Manny Alou (.256/17/54/41) and CF Chris Michel (.302/5/40/43/20 SB)... Sligo needs longtime ace Dix Edenborough to regain form and close out the year well... 36-year-old Edenborough is 10-7 but has an inflated 4.30 ERA... Trailing by only 3 games, Sligo has a good shot at the crown this year. Alfonso Feliz has the best-balanced team in the RU West with both quality pitching and hitting... The Volusia Vigilantes (42-31) have an impressive 3.29 ERA (3rd) and are batting .265 (9th) and are just 4 games back in the pennant chase... Gerry Hersh (12-5 2.51) is having a career year, but just missed out on the All-Star team... CF Joe DeLucca (.342/13/59/58) is a premier player and in just his second season... Old dependable in RF Briscoe Crowder (.338/5/34/40), a 13-year vet, and 1B Rafael Garza (.332/2/37/25) give Feliz' two more solid and consistent bats. None of the second-divison clubs are expected to challenge the upper crust this season... The Fort Benton Defenders (35-38) have respectable pitching with a 3.45 ERA (6th), but not much in hitting... Manager Robbie Brooks has three dependable starters in his rotation with Tucker Dawes (10-7 2.81), Hec Skurgan (7-8 2.99) and Ivan Gloeckner (8-8 3.47)... There is also quality in the bullpen with closer David Osborn (0-2 1.59), who has saved 17 games so far... The Defenders best bats are few in number and belong to CF Ryan Smith (.304/15/34/50) and LF Forest Cummings (.276/12/51/47). The Stoner Stars (34-39) are sixth, 12 games off the pace and likely to end up in the second division for the 8th year in a row... Willie Dickens is short on talent as usual except for three players: Billy Chapel (8-9 2.82), who could be a headliner for any team in the IPA... Chapel, only 21, won 20 games last year as a rookie... Ditto for All-Star LF Mike Jaffe, only 20, who had a standout season as a freshman, and is even better this year with a .353 average, 18 homers, 45 RBIs and 54 runs scored... and 5-year man 1B Robert Dunbar (.317/11/49). Smitty Michaels had a powerhouse in Middlefield (31-42) in the first five seasons, when his Roosters made the playoffs every year and even won the Pro Cup in 2005... However those days of glory are long gone and Middlefield is next-to-last and 15 games behind... Johnny Bond (6-10 2.99) is a reliable starter... 33-year-old 2B Jim Rose (.322/14/48/47) could start for just about every team in the IPA... Rose is a 3-time All-Star and just missed by a wink this year... and Ricky Tinker (.286/11/49) is a solid first sacker. The last place Forest City Lumberjacks (28-45) were riding high last year and won the RU West with good offense and good pitching... the offense is gone this season... Rob Jackson's crew is one of the worst-hitting teams in the IPA with a lowly .241 batting average (30th)... home run production and scoring is down, too... The 'Jacks have jacked only 62 (14th) this year and are dead last in scoring with 258 runs (32nd)... Jackson has only one good hitter in his line-up and that is LF Joe Judlin with a .300 average, 19 homers, 53 RBIs and 42 runs scored... but Judlin has no help... Forest City still has a good group of pitchers, who can keep them in the game, but the batters can't win them... Paul Crews (4-12 3.19), Knucks Nomellini (7-10 3.30) and Al Thibaut (7-9 3.25) are still fine starters and closer Dale Owens (0-2 1.92) can still take care of leads, but he rarely has one. The Lumberjacks have simply gone into a severe power decline and took a huge plunge in the standings. Last edited by Eugene Church; 08-07-2010 at 06:03 PM.