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THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 17, 2052
NO CONTEST IN RU WEST, ROOSTERS RULE ROOST
The baseball experts picked the Middlefield Roosters (106-48) to run away with the Ruthlandian West Division and without question they did... the Roosters had it won at mid-season with a 10-game lead... but Middlefield continue to roll and wound up winning the pennant by a whopping 19 games over runner-up Rocky Rapids (87-67), topping third place Forest City (85-69) by 21 and fourth place Volusia (82-72) by 24 games... with the best record in the IPA this season, the Roosters are ready to crow some more and bring home their second IPA Pro Cup crown... Middlefield won its only IPA title in 2005.
1st Place: MIDDLEFIELD ROOSTERS (106-48)
Last Year: 1st Place (82-72)... the Roosters have won the pennant years 4 years in a row... and 7 times in the last 12 seasons.
Season Forecast: 1st Place
Pro Cups: 1 (2005)... beat Denton City Redbirds in 5 games
Playoffs: 15
Last Appearance: 2051
Team Stats: .270 BA (9th)/925 runs (1st)/206 HR (1st)/3.26 ERA (6th)/.969 FA
Pitchers: All-Star James Long (26-9/2.57), Hollis Dale (23-10/3.66), Larry Wheelhouse (20-14/4.14) and Chris Collier (16-8/3.57)... super bullpen with a 2.10 ERA, led by Norm Coventry (8-5/2.84/15 saves/47 G) and Ricky Farris (8-2/1.48/7 saves/42 G)
Batters: power galore with LF Trip Agarn (.292/37 HR/117 RBI/96 R/6 SB), CF Johnny Wyatt (.299/35 HR/101 RBI/96 R/4 SB), RF Rufus Blackburn (.260/34 HR/99 RBI/96 R/11 SB), SS Stan Radzikowski (.267/23 HR/82 RBI/84 R/9 SB) and 2B Natty Colclough (.254/21 HR/90 RBI/97 R)
Outlook: manager Rinky Tinker's Roosters do everything well... should be the favorite to win the Pro Cup trophy this year... one future problem is an aging rotation with most of the staff 32 to 37 years old.
2nd Place: Rocky Rapids Snappers (87-67) (19 GB)
Last Year: 8th Place (60-94) (22 GB)
Season Forecast: 2nd Place
Pro Cups: 1 (2019)... upset favored Ozarka in 4-game sweep
Playoffs: 6
Last Appearance: 2046
Team Stats: .258 BA (22nd)/667 runs (26th)/115 HR (17th-tied)/2.66 ERA (1st)/.968 FA
Pitchers: super rotation with ace Jamie Taylor (21-15/2.28), Clay Callaghan (19-9/2.28), Elvis Bonham (18-15/2.48) and Sammy Sterling (14-10/2.79)
Batters: not a lot at the plate... except for All-Star 2B Marty Featherstone (.312/26 HR/89 RBI/97 R/5 SB)... some decent hitters like CF Franciszka Antek (.290/11 HR/47 RBI/67 R/18 SB) and 1B Masaharu Kawasaki (.245/17 HR/73 RBI/65 R)... not much else.
Outlook: manager Junior Noland has a top-notch group of starters... not much in the bullpen... very little in the way of offense... it's tough to win pennants with pitching alone in the IPA... plays solid defense.
3rd Place: Forest City Firebirds (85-69) (21 GB)
Last Year: 7th Place (68-86) (14 GB)
Season Forecast: 3rd Place
Pro Cups: None
Playoffs: 5
Last Appearance: 2048
Team Stats: .260 BA (18th)/792 runs (5th)/182 HR (3rd-tied)/3.91 ERA (19th)/.964 FA
Pitchers: vet ace Rusty Howard (19-12/2.97) is excellent... aging vet Kelly Gilliam (17-16/4.04) may be slowing down at 36... Tim Varnado (13-6/3.20/22 saves/79 G) was a quality reliever this season.
Batters: manager Rich Barstow depends on the longball... LF Buddy Bessent (.281/25 HR/64 RBI/69 R), RF Dedrick Crone (.242/25 HR/74 RBI/60 R/6 SB), SS Clancy Beaufort (.230/22 HR/80 RBI/52 R/4 SB) provide the power... 1B Zippy Regan (.295/12 HR/56 RBI/102 R/21 SB) is a fine contact hitter.
Outlook: the Firebirds play better than they look on paper... they don't look like a third-place team.
4th Place: Volusia Vigilantes (82-72) (24 GB)
Last Year: 3rd Place (73-81) (9 GB)
Season Forecast: 4th Place
Pro Cups: 1 (2001)... V's won the inaugural IPA Pro Cup... swept 4 games from the Ginza Ninjas
Playoffs: 9
Last Appearance: 2043
Team Stats: .253 BA/610 runs (32nd)/42 HR (32nd)/3.10 ERA (4th)/.970 FA
Pitchers: quality staff... 5-starter deep... Drew Selby (21-13/3.01), Rique Batista (15-14/3.16), Casimiro Ramires (14-13/2.31), Mateus Branco (11-15/4.11) and Glen Horton (7-5/2.59)... closer Dan Hunt (13-10/3.93/14 saves/68 G) was very good at times, but inconsistent.
Batters: may be the worst offense in the IPA... zilch power... no strong hitters at all... 1B Santino Garcia (.285/9 HR/72 RBI/71 R/14 SB), SS Enos Cravens (.286/6 HR/46 RBI/58 R/9 SB), 2B Xando Passos (.278/2 HR/61 RBI/45 R/16 SB) and LF Leonardo Sanches (.273/3 HR/49 RBI/54 R/10 SB) are just fair hitters at best.
Outlook: pitching and defense carried Volusia quite a ways this season... manager Tubby Tarkanian need mucho help in scoring runs to really contend in the RU West.
5th Place: Stoner Stars (75-79) (31 GB)
Last Year: 2nd Place (75-79) (7 GB)
Season Forecast: 6th Place
Pro Cups: None
Playoffs: 3
Last Appearance: 2029
Team Stats: .252 BA (31st)/696 runs (23rd)/76 HR (31st)/3.84 ERA (18th)/.965 FA
Pitchers: Ira Monaghan (20-14/3.25), Stan Ulmer (14-12/3.86), Jayson Mannon (16-13/4.02) and Billy Horton (8-12/3.37) are a fair-to-middling rotation with a bad bullpen (4.36 ERA - 31st)
Batters: not much in the batting order... 2B Mac Lord (.275/8 HR/66 RBI/92 R/13 SB), SS Ernie Bowen (.302/3 HR/53 RBI/51 R/8 SB) and LF Al Cummings (.295/2 HR/64 RBI/70 R/38 SB) are just modest hitters with no power.
Outlook: skipper Fletch Fowler has some good, young arms... but has no offense at all... the Stars are just a second-division team.
6th Place: Sligo Rovers (74-80) (32 GB)
Last Year: 5th Place (tie) (69-85) (13 GB)
Season Forecast: 5th Place
Pro Cups: 1 (2021)... topped the White River Rascals in 5 games
Playoffs: 9
Last Appearance: 2040
Team Stats: .269 BA (10th)/737 runs (15th)/89 HR (29th)/3.30 ERA (7th)/.960 FA
Pitchers: good set of starters with Mitch Taylor (18-10/2.34), Mickey Walsh (18-12/2.50), Ayden Evans (17-14/3.17) and Craig Hurley (13-17/4.07)... not much help in the bullpen
Batters: an average attack and little power with SS Tommy Alberts (.276/18 HR/80 RBI/94 R/22 SB), C Jim Sadler (.310/7 HR/73 RBI/60 R), 1B Curly Burgess (.283/14 HR/62 RBI/57 R), CF Merle Bliss (.281/10 HR/61 RBI/70 R/21 SB) and 3B Paddy Durham (.257/11 HR/77 RBI/56 R/15 SB).
Outlook: manager Les Patterson has a young squad with good potential... better bullpen and more power would do wonders for the Sligo Rovers.
7th Place: Colfax Blasters (64-90) (42 GB)
Last Year: 4th Place (70-84) (12 GB)
Season Forecast: 7th Place
Pro Cups: 1 (2010)... edged the Turon Typhoons in a thrilling 7-game series
Playoffs: 13
Last Appearance: 2042
Team Stats: .273 BA (7th)/722 runs (18th)/140 HR (7th)/4.41 ERA (27th)/.963 FA
Pitchers: only good starter is Keith Himmel (12-14/2.88)... only one good reliever... that is Robbie Parker (1-2/2.24/12 saves/54 G)
Batters: three All-Stars carry the offense: C Darrell Dillon (.312/32 HR/110 RBI/87 R), LF Robb Maddux (.319/17 HR/79 RBI/94 R/16 SB) and SS Dan Zalewski (.312/11 HR/75 RBI/91 R)... not much after them in the lineup
Outlook: manager Mitch Fullerton has to build up his pitching corps and add some bats, too... didn't make any progress this year... likely to stay on the bottom of the division for awhile
8th Place: Fort Benton Defenders (54-100) (52 GB)
Last Year: 5th Place (tie) (69-85) (13 GB)
Season Forecast: 8th Place
Pro Cups: None
Playoffs: 1
Last Appearance: 2037
Team Stats: .272 BA (8th)/746 runs (13th)/82 HR (30th)/4.96 ERA (32nd)/.961 FA
Pitchers: rookie Perry Blystone (6-4/2.63) was the only good starter... 37-year-old Jordy Raeburn (11-22/5.62) had the best stats, but looks he will retire after this year... 32-year-old vet Darius Kimberly (8-7/2.85/9 saves/84 G) did fairly well in the bullpen
Batters: the most productive bats were CF Freddie Woodruff (.291/7 HR/65 RBI/98 R/24 SB) and RF Tom Turner (.287/12 HR/75 RBI/76 R/14 SB)... rookie 3B Eamon Hooper (.282/11 HR/68 RBI/63 R/11 SB) had a productive season... rookie LF Charlie Bondy (.302/4 HR/64 RBI/64 R), C Varnell Larrimore (.263/9 HR/85 RBI/56 R) and SS Lucien Lindsey (.262/11 HR/59 RBI/94 R/30 SB) helped the offense as well.
Outlook: manager Augie Marquis has some good up-and-coming players in his arsenal, but Fort Benton will stay at the bottom of the RU West until it comes up with some quality pitchers... they are sorely lacking now.
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