[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 18, 2045

RATTLERS RACE TO EASY FLAG IN RU EAST
It was the second flag in three seasons for the Sugar Valley Rattlers, the champion of the Ruthlandian East Division... in July the Rattlers raced by everybody in sight with a 22-6 record and won going away beating runner-up Beechwood by nine games... Sugar Valley led by just four games at the All-Star Game... after being seventh at mid-season, last year's winner Wynnamac perked up and wound up third, but still trailed the Rattlers by 14 games... fourth place went to the Eastshore Elegants, who were 15 games out of first.

1. Sugar Valley will be making its 13th appearance in the postseason, but they will still be seeking their first Pro Cup... they have an experienced crew with very good firepower and fairly good pitching and could be troublesome in the playoffs... the Rattlers hit 198 homers (3rd) and were 5th in scoring runs... they still won comfortably despite having three of their main starters Jeremy Blanchard (12-6/3.75), Davey Brennan (12-9/3.13) and Christopher Dunsberry (10-8/3.90) holding out until June... Joe Snow (21-12/3.47) and Antonio Cedeno (9-8/2.90) filled in for them capably... the Rattler line-up featured three guys that hit over 30 homers: All-Star CF Carl Ramsey (.291) led the club with 46 roundtrippers and 123 RBIs, superstar All-Star RF Bobby Gamble (.336) socked 33 HRs and topped the team with 123 runs and C Delmer Campbell (.244) rapped 30 out of the park... Gamble led the IPA in runs scored and ranked fifth in BA... Ramsey was fourth in homers, sixth in RBIs and fourth in runs scored... add in two more reliable bats in 2B Richie Fry (.291/7/54/88) and holdout SS Roger Hobbs (.286/15/40/65) and you've got a powerful batting order.

2. Beechwood moved up from fifth a year ago to the runner-up spot... the Bobcats improved from 80-74 (17 GB) to 85-69 (9 GB) this year... a bad spell in August doomed their pennant hopes... Beechwood has only made the postseason three times in its existence and has no Pro Cups... the last pennant was long ago in 2027... the Bobcats have even more power than the Rattlers... they slugged 210 (2nd) into the stands this season, topped only by record-setting Red Bluff (270) and Middlefield (231)... 10 players were in double figures, sparked by SS Mel Smith (.344/13/46/62), 1B Corky Callahan (.327/21/54/50), C Paul Jackson (.287/20/65/62), 2B Mike Matthews (.286/18/53/104), 3B Leonard Mason (.311/20/65/62) and LF Rich Nellis (.308/18/57/44)... Smith, Callahan, Mason and Nellis sat out the first two months of the season in a salary protest... playing without those guys undoubtedly hurt the Bobcats' pennant hopes... 1B Eddie Wilson (.236/26/77/79) was the club leader with 26, but he hit only .236... Jimmy Herman (26-9/2.72) was far and away the most effective starter... he was the IPA leader in victories... Freddy Manale starred in the bullpen with a 9-5 record, 14 saves and 1.39 ERA... none of the other staffers did well... Beechwood was one of the top defensive teams in the IPA with a standout .979 FA.

3. Wynnamac was coming off a great 2044 season... they piled up 98 wins and took the division crown and lost in seven games in the Pro Cup Finals to Southport, but they stumbled out of the gate this year and never caught up... however, the Sundowners played extremely well in July and August (38-19), but it was too late to catch Sugar Valley... the W'Macs have won two pennants in the last four years and have made the postseason seven times... they also own a Pro Cup, won in 2007... top pitchers were Jimmy Willard (20-15/2.93), Sammy Hayes (20-16/3.73) and Shirai Nakamura (17-15/3.07)... reliever Johnny Mitchell (.7-5/2.64/11 saves) did well in the pen... at the plate the Bobcats lost superstud Golden Bat RF Nioka Inkamara for most of the season... he boycotted the first two months, came back with a vengeance in June and hit a blistering .351 for a month, then was injured and missed the rest of the season... it's tough to miss out on 40 homers and 125 RBIs that Inkamara has averaged per season in his career... CF Darrell Donnelly (.272/11/62/77), LF Robby Booth (.313/22/60/86) and 3B Dale Fisher (.239/13/85/73) were the club leaders, but only had modest numbers compared to the great Inkamara.

4. Eastshore rose up from sixth in the standings last year with a 71-83 mark (26 GB) to 79-75 and a fourth-place finish this year (15 GB)... fine pitching did it... the Elegants haven't been to the postseason in over 10 years, last making the playoffs in 2034... but they do possess two Pro Cup trophies won back-to-back in 2016 and 2017... top pitchers were Malcolm Tansbury (18-10/2.50), Tommy Brown (16-18/3.44) and Ferrell Greenlaw (13-16/3.24)... in the bullpen were a pair of studs in Jody Friday (6-4/2.12/10 saves) and Valkek Savisaar (4-4/1.92/10 saves)... a lack of offense severely hampered the Elegants... RF Troy McFarland (.276/29/93/99) was the main man and led the club in hits, homers, RBIs and runs scored... other run producers were 3B Abner Bronstein (.320/4/40/65), star 2B Johnny Petrak (.320/10/61/48) and 1B Gibby Houston (.317/7/45/31)... 39-year-old Petrak was a holdout until June and was sorely missed... in his 12 splendid seasons the future Hall-of-Famer has average 25 HRs and 100 RBIs a year.

5. Marston had a .500 season for the first time in seven years with a 77-77 record (17 GB)... for the first time since 2040 the Nine didn't finish seventh or eighth in the division... last year they were 67-87 (30 GB)... the pitching was very much improved this year with a 3.22 team ERA (6th)... down from a pathetic 4.59 last season... Marston rarely makes the playofffs... just six times in its history... the last postseason appearance was 2028... no Pro Cups so far... leading the staff were starter John Newton (15-9/2.47) and spot starter/reliever Felix Delatte (11-8/1.92/15 saves)... Thomas Stuart (13-15/3.29) was also a quality arm... the most productive bats belonged to 2B Gary Armitage (.282/28/102/89), SS Stan Mila (.280/18/75/75), CF Calvin Marbury (.253/18/61/99) and 1B Charley Gilmore (.301/12/74/57).

6. Cold Creek had its first losing season in 13 years... they slipped from fourth place and 94-60 (3 GB) to sixth place with a 73-81 mark (21 GB)... pitching was their downfall... it has been the Catamounts' strength over the last two decades... but not this year... Cold Creek has made the postseason eight times in its history... the last time was in 2041... they won the RU East five times in six years from 2036 to 2041... Rob Hutchins (18-15/3.44) and Sammy Wright (19-17/3.93) were the only reliable starters... the great and Hall-of-Fame destined J. J. Gillespie decided to retire at the end of the season after going 6-15 with a 4.57 ERA... the 40-year-old IPA icon was 294-170 in his 17 seasons... 10 times he won 20 or more games... his 2.46 lifetime ERA is the all-time fifth best... Johnny Duncan is the record holder with a fantastic 2.31 ERA... Duncan (87-66/209 saves) played from 2023 to 2037 and was a bullpen specialist... most of the offensive numbers were put up by All-Star SS Joe Cochrane (.325/21/94/86), 3B Eric Hollister (.274/24/103/80) and C Keith Henry (.239/29/105/71).

7. Elnora has been a tough team in recent seasons... coming in third (84-70) in 2043, just three games behind, a great 96-59 (2nd-tied) last year, only 1.5 games back, but the All-Stars slumped badly this year to 69-85 and 25 games out of first... in its history Elnora has won one Pro Cup (2033) and played in the postseason nine times... 2035 was the most recent appearance... both pitching and hitting went into the tank this year... Emilio Travante (14-11/3.60) was the only starter with a winning record... Dan Pitts (10-12/2.77) was the most effective... their fine ace Stan Kivas, who won the Golden Arm last year, at age 35 suffered a down year with a poor 8-14 record and a lofty 4.25 ERA... the bullpen leader was All-Star closer Jamie Pananga (6-4/1.81/19 saves)... he was ranked fourth in the IPA in saves... second in the Ruthlandian Union... LF Preston Davies topped the team with .306 BA, 168 hits, 33 doubles, 28 HRS, 100 RBIs and 86 runs... C Cannon Johnson chipped in with 19 HRs and 82 RBIs, but hit only .261.. Elnora's talented LF Enos Conrad enjoyed a good year with a .308 average, 9 HRs, 44 RBIs and 59 runs, but only played in 93 games because he held out until June in the boycott.

8. Belle Plaine had its fourth poor season in a row, winding up in the basement with a 65-89 record (29 GB)... last year the Musketeers were 69-85 (28 GB), good for the seventh spot in the standings... the Muskies only pennant came in 2008... they have no Pro Cups in their history... the most dependable starters were rookie Ryne Malloy (11-9/3.33) and Phil Lacey (17-19/3.82)... star RF Boo Boudreaux was the club's top batsman with a .281 BA, 26 HRs and 85 RBIs... LF Noel Martin, who won the RU batting crown last year, held out this year until June... he only hit .277 with 16 homers, 49 RBIs and 49 runs scored... other holdouts were C Nuke Borg (.320/14/44/40), 3B Kale Woodard (.309/1/19/38) and SS Danny Fitzgerald (.318/3/39/38)... the player boycott hurt a lot of teams in the IPA... offense was down a bit this year because so many good hitters missed one-third of the year.

2045 Ruthlandian East Final Team Batting and Pitching Statistics