[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 17, 2046

RED SOX RAMBLE TO 3RD FLAG IN A ROW
Four clubs went head-to-head for the first four months of the season in the Tycobbian East, then Red Bluff reved it up and left the Tuckanarra Blue Jays, Hillsboro Blazers and South Fork Stallions far behind... the Red Sox rolled to their third pennant in a row by going 31-13 in August and September, leaving runner-up Tuckanarra 11 games behind, third place Hillsboro 15 back and South Fork 16 games out... in the final weeks the Blazers did the best of the three with a 22-22 mark, while the Tucks were only 21-23 and the Stallions 20-24... Red Bluff is hopeful of winning its second Pro Cup with its fine pitching and home-run wallop... its only other Pro Cup came over 40 years ago in 2004.

1. RED BLUFF: the Red Sox again socked it to the rest of the league with 252 roundtrippers, easily the best in the IPA, but it was way short of the record-setting 283 they slammed in 2045... still the trio of RF David Kelso (.302/51/106/98), 1B Josh Stevens (.329/49/111/96) and 3B Fran Blanchard (.317/41/100/92) can do a lot of damage... Kelso's 51 finished second to the IPA home-run leader Jerry Culpepper (Bayview), who cracked 52... Stevens was fourth on the list with 49... and Blanchard was tenth with 41 dingers... LF Jesse Shaw also chipped in with 22 homers and a .301 BA... but it's the pitching that brings smiles to Red Sox fans... Jud Cox (26-8/1.88) had a fantastic year with 26 wins... only Jamie Taylor of Rocky Rapids and Gil Younger of Hartsdale outdid him... Taylor set a new IPA standard with 30 victories and Younger had 28... Cox finished third behind Taylor (1.85 ERA) and Eastshore's Jody Friday (1.88 ERA) with a brilliant 1.88 ERA... Mickey Rosen (21-13/2.89) also won 20 games... two other Red Bluff starters had solid seasons, too... George Reynolds was 16-13 with a 3.36 ERA and Jack Wallace was 13-9 with a 3.47 ERA... the bullpen was pretty bad with a 4.24 ERA (26th)... Carson Jamara (7-8/3.80/19 saves) was inconsistent, but had 19 saves.

2. TUCKANARRA: the Blue Jays ran their tremendous first-division streak to 24 years with a second place finish... but its been 8 years since the Blue Jays bagged a pennant... the last one came in 2038... the Tucks have made more playoff appearances than any other IPA team... 17 times they have made it... with three Pro Cups to their credit (2023, 2024, 2035)... the Blue Jay mound staff was led by Dickie Pittman (17-9/2.58) and Yarran Nawajuk (18-14/3.66) with veteran closer Jack Rogers having a great year in the pen with a 16-9 mark, 12 saves and a fine 2.25 ERA in 73 relief appearances... no great bats and no power in the Tucks' batting order, but some good and reliable ones: 1B Rodger Parsons (.318/9/56/57), RF Frank Mason (.317/10/58/67), 2B Ricky Vincent (.298/7/49/78), C Wally McMain (.290/14/68/50), LF Jimmy Markovich (.290/9/52/80) and CF Ben Henderson (.289/1/42/50).

3. HILLSBORO: for the 45th consecutive season the Blazers failed to make the playoffs, but it was a good year nonetheless... they came in third, but 15 games out... however, they were in flag chase until they faded in August and September... the Hillsboro ace was Jamie Lee Bradley (16-11/2.48)... they also got some quality starts from Steve Cooper (18-18/3.27), Ralph Quick (12-12/3.80) and Robby Lee Stillwell (10-13/3.23)... Bailey Bilbow (10-9/3.24/14 saves) was the best in the bullpen... the best bat in the lineup belonged to 1B Ernie Moxley (.294), the team leader with 43 HRs and 117 RBIs... he ranked seventh to Bayview's Jerry Culpepper in RBIs... Culpepper paced the IPA with 138... 2B Scotty McNeill (.303/9/86/79) topped the team with a .303 BA... 3B Todd Bennett (.273) led the club with 94 runs.

4. SOUTH FORK: the Stallions had its glory years from 2041 to 2044 with three pennants and a Pro Cup (2042)... not so good since with a sixth-place finish in 2045 (22 GB) and fourth place this year (16 GB)... the pitching is better-than-average with Chris Sorensen (19-16/3.08), Big Murph McAlister (16-12/3.82), two-time Golden Arm winner Jay Murphy (14-18/3.48), Labron Holt (13-7/3.46/1 save) and Jonas Clay (12-10/3.52)... no real sticks in the lineup... the best of the lot are SS Pete Arnold (.287/9/58/78), RF Rick Carlton (.285/11/51/52), 1B Paul Sexton (.285/12/56/47), LF Kyle Gottwald (.274/15/61/46), 2B Elton Jacoby (.273/10/49/87) and CF Scotty O'Sullivan (.261/23/83/55).

5. HIGH MESA: success came early to the Cowboys in the IPA... they made the playoffs the first two years and even won the Pro Cup in the team's first season in 2002... but since the 2003 season - nothing...zilch... no pennants... no Pro Cuos... and no postseason appearances for 44 years... the Cowpokes don't have a lot of talent... Lucius Quarles (14-15/2.71) was the Tycobbian Rookie of the Year in 2045 and has done well in his two seasons... at 39 vet Emil Nowak (15-19/3.71) can still give the club some quality starts... and young Steve Tolan (15-20/4.04) showed some potential at times... the Cowboys don't have much in the way of offense... 1B Johnny Tallis led the team with a .265 BA, 31 homers and 98 RBIs... LF Clay Johnston had 29 HRs and 82 RBIs, but batted only .227... SS Clifford Coleman was in the same boat with 24 roundtrippers, 72 RBIs and a .240 BA... ditto for 3B Wes McGovern with 21 home runs, 68 RBIs and a .246 BA.

6. MIDWAY: the Wolves haven't posted a winning season since 2039... the last playoff appearance was in 2027... they have never won a Pro Cup... the offense was good this year with a .270 BA (5th) and 726 runs (10th), but they didn't have much punch (129 HR-21st)... pitching was inept with a 4.16 ERA (27th)... CF Hector Pena (.309/14/90/104), LF Justin Morrison (.308/17/92/105), 3B Paul Butler (.297/14/79/87) and C Martin Rogers (.314/12/50/42) were solid and reliable batters... only starter Charlie Chase (18-16/3.33) and reliever Sam Lewis (9-4/2.07/11 saves) did their jobs on the hill.

7. OZARKA: the Naturals had a terrible year, coming in seventh and 38 games out of first... the only good seasons recently were 2040 when they won the pennant and 2042 when they wound up fourth (4 GB)... though the Nats have made the playoffs on 15 occasions in the club's history, they have never won a Pro Cup, but have made the Finals five times... 2011, 2012, 2016, 2019 and 2020... reliever Gene White (3-5/1.97/2 saves) was the only pitcher with good numbers... he stood out in 48 appearances... SS William Clark led the team in hits with 183 and batted .307... 3B Artie Clayton topped them with 33 HRs, 97 RBIs and 73 runs, but batted just .257... C Paul Beasley hit .308 for the best BA on the squad and added 21 roundtrippers... injury-prone 2B-SS Duffy Morrison missed about 50 games, but still hit .303 with 14 HRs, 44 RBIs and scored 60 runs at age 38.

EAST POINT: the Panthers wound up in the TU East basement for the fifth time in six seasons... the last playoff appearance was in 2039... they have never won the Pro Cup and are a perennial also-ran... the Panthers lost 104 games last year (45 GB) and 100 this year (39 GB)... they were the worst team in the IPA this season... no hitting and no pitching... Barney Benton (16-16/3.27) was the only effective pitcher... with 1B Jack Gorham, 3B Thomas Crawford, CF Wesley Garrett and RF Augie Elizondo the only decent batsmen... Gorham (.260) led the club with 31 homers and 79 RBIs... Crawford (.272) was first in runs with 71 and in doubles with 34... and Garrett (.254) topped the team with 155 hits... and Elizondo had the best batting average at just .275.

2046 Tycobbian East Final Standings and Team Statistics