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Old 02-24-2017, 12:35 AM   #5415
Eugene Church
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THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, July 1, 2053


MIDWAY, DENTON CITY, BLUE LAKE, TURON TOP TU RACES
The Midway Wolves have a slight lead over powerhouse East Point in the Tycobbian East this season... the Turon Typhoons are running away with the Tycobbian South again this year... and two clubs in mild surprises are on top of their respective divisions... in the TU North the Blue Lake Blue Sox have a scant one-game lead over last year's flag winner, Oxford... and the Denton City Redbirds are ruling the nest in the Tycobbian West so far... a narrow one-game margin over second place La Claire.

There has been a mild surprise in the Tycobbian North Division this year... the Blue Lake Blue Sox (46-31) came in fifth last season, 10 games under the .500 mark... but this year manager Frankie Quinn's club is giving last season's division winner Oxford (45-32) fits... the Blue Sox have a one-game margin over the Red Caps at midseason... Blue Lake is doing it with a fine pitching staff, both starters and relievers... leading the rotation is Weldon Nettleton (9-6/2.61), Al Easley (9-6/3.05), Miikael Arens (7-3/3.53), Dookie Denham (7-7/3.93) and Dirk Sinclair (7-4/3.44)... solid in the bullpen, too, with Marty Manush (2-4/3.20/12 saves/28 G) and Jaybird Christan (4-1/2.12/3 saves/16 G)... altogether they have posted a 3.19 team ERA (3rd)... at the plate the Blue Sox are poor, batting only .257 (23rd), ranking only 27th in runs scored and 18th in homers with 65... the only two decent batters are 1B Jude Rupp (.330 BA/8 HR/35 RBI/50 R) and C Juan Luis Barcelona (.279/8/28/38)... with such a wimpy attack, it will be hard for Quinn's troops to outdo Oxford... Blue Lake has been to the postseason just 3 times in its history... their last appearance was 23 years ago... but they did haul in their only Pro Cup trophy in 2030 when they pulled a big upset over the Valmara Vipers in 7 games.

The second place Oxford Red Caps (45-32) are doing it with good power and fairly good pitching... All-Star hurler Rudy Mellancamp (15-1/1.93) has been miraculous thus far this year, but is out with an injury for the next few weeks... his return will be crucial to the Red Caps in the pennant race... skipper Dennis Hartwig is frantically trying to piece together a starting rotation... hopefully the blazing bats will keep them near the top... defending division champ Oxford is hitting only .263 (14th), but leads the league with 441 runs (1st) and is 3rd in homers with 99... 3 All-Stars lead the way: RF Wade McGrew (.312 BA/20 HR/66 RBI/42 R), 2B Ethan Cuthbert (.321/14/45/40/9 SB) and CF Dwayne Wagner (.294/12/48/48)... add in LF Ozzy Ackerman's numbers (.242/21/61/69/17 SB) and you've got a pretty good attack... the Red Caps have appeared only 6 times in the postseason playoffs and they have collected one Pro Cup trophy... that came in 2007 when they triumphed over the Stoner Stars in 5 games.

The White River Rascals (41-35) under the guidance of Hall-of-Famer Marty Blake are a better-than-average club and should stay in the pennant chance till the end... they are 5 GB behind at midyear... the Rascals have a .262 BA (17th) with 71 homers (12th) and they are tied for 12th with 374 runs... and about average on the hill with a 3.87 ERA (11th)... Blake's most productive bats are LF Pudge Tate (.266 BA/14 HR/57 RBI/50 R), 3B Kenny Yarbrough (.279/12/42/41/6 SB), 35-year-old long-time star 1B Billy Joe Hickman (.266/10/34/22) and Kunta Burton (.306/1/29/37)... topping the twirlers are Keil Trickett (11-3/3.26), Nicky Palmer (7-8/3.70), Butch Slattery (9-7/4.37) and Glen Horton (8-7/3.99)... White River had a string of pennants from '47 to '51, but slipped to 3rd place in '52 and this season... the Rascals are still looking for their first Pro Cup despite making the Pro Cup Finals 3 times... lost to Sligo in '21... and to Valmara in '49 and '50.

The rest of the Tycobbian North will have to wait until next year... none of them will be contenders this year.... the 4th place North Hills Hawks (38-39) are just fair-to-middling in most respects... the 5th place Fairfax Frogs (34-43) have average hitting and terrible pitching... the 6th place Hartsdale Hellcats (32-45) are pussycats this season, just a crummy ball club, not good at anything... the 7th place Luxora Zorros (31-46) have pretty good pitching, but zilch for bats... and the last place Mahaska Haymakers (29-48) have a lousy offense and even worse pitching.

In the Tycobbian South the Turon Typhoons (51-26) are picking up where they left off last year and continuing to blow and go at an even better pace... manager C. C. Kingsford's club won the Tycobbian South last year by 15 games and they are rolling along again with a 7-game edge at midseason this year over second place Summerland (44-33)... Turon is getting it done with a high-powered scoring machine and average pitching... the Typhoons are batting a lofty .280 (4th) with 411 runs (3rd)... but they come up short on power with only 51 roundtrippers (27th)... the team ERA is 3.92, ranking 13th in the league... Kingsford's line-up is chocked full of solid hitters including five .300 batters: All-Star CF Maxie Mullinax (.321 BA/2 HR/34 RBI/55 R/21 SB), SS Fernando Labrera (.323/2/26/48/19 SB), RF Andy Wilkerson (.325/2 HR/26 RBI/35 R/10 SB) and 2B Gaylen Clive (.314/2 HR/31 RBI/47 R/6 SB)... however, two of the most productive bats are C Doyle Ashcroft (.284/10/62/29) and 3B Joel Guidry (.262/7/41/41)... on the hill the standouts are starters Nate Scottsdale (12-5/2.87) and Glenn Avery (12-6/3.98), along with Russell Mallory (2-2/1.62/5 saves/11 G) in the bullpen... Turon lost a pretty good starter Yancey Hedges (3-1/3.97) early in the season... he might return in August... last year as a rookie Hedges notched a fine 13-8 mark with an impressive 2.83 ERA... so far, so good for the Typhoons... 16 times the team has made the Pro Cup playoffs, but most of them came in the first 20 seasons... Turon is tied for the most Pro Cups with 4, but they all came in the early years... they won in '03, '06, '09 and '18 and lost in '10 and '17 in a fantastic success run... Kingsford would like nothing better than to add a 5th IPA crown to their resume this season.

The second place Summerland Sunsets (44-33) have only made the postseason 4 times in the club's history and have never captured the ultimate goal, the IPA Pro Cup... the closest they came was in 2040 when they were edged out by the Ranford Bulls in 7 games... they had great pitching and lousy hitting that year, just about like this year... a young 23-year-old right-hander Jayson Hallstrom was the ace of the mound staff... at age 36 he's still the ace of the team with a 13-3 record and a fantastic 1.39 ERA... can history repeat?... nope, not likely... this year's staff is not as strong as the '40 rotation (2.83 ERA), but they have a very good 3.12 ERA (2nd)... Tommy Underhill (9-3/3.21) is a solid #2 starter, but the talent drops off thereafter... manager Antonio Vasques has a good bullpen with Rory Poe (4-2/0.80/8 saves/24 G) and Rudy Hilgendorf (3-2/2.48/2 saves/19 G)... a good second half by #3 starter Corey Vinson (7-11/3.57) could get Summerland back in the pennant battle... scoring is the team's biggest shortcoming... they are batting a lowly .249 (31st) with only 29 homers (29th) and just 289 runs (32nd)... the most productive batters are 3B Zane Howe (.275 BA/9 HR/46 RBi/34 R), C Zip Enright (.254/7/33/27), LF Kinky Elkerson (.277/6/30/32) and CF Kleef Woestmann (.267/7/27/21)... contact hitter RF Tony Vargas tops the team with a .348 BA, but has only 2 dingers and 19 RBIs.

In third place in the TU South are the Southport Sun Sox (41-36), managed by Hall-of-Famer outfielder Lorne Evans (.305 BA/701 HR), 12-time All-Star, 5-time Golden Bat and 2-time Golden Glove winner... in his rookie year as skipper, Evans guided the Sun Sox to their 3rd IPA Pro Cup trophy, beating the Middlefield Roosters in a stirring 7-game series in 2047... that was 6 years ago... Southport is currently 3rd in the TU South race with a 41-36 mark, 10 games off the pace... the Sun Sox feature good pitching with a 3.64 ERA (7th) and a fair offense with 342 runs (23rd)... not much power eight with just 57 home runs... top staffers include starters Hal Combs (7-9/3.23) and Champ Shafer (11-8/3.86), along with closer Troy Hill (6-3/2.20/8 saves/20 G)... the team's top gun now in his 2nd season is 21-year-old RF Manuelo Garcia (.348 BA/11 HR/44 RBI/43 R/10 SB)... helping him out are 1B Zee Graham (.286/11/48/42) and LF Chris Jones (.293/1/23/36)... not too many other threats in the batting order... Evans needs more offense to contend for the division crown.

The rest of the clubs in the Tycobbian South will battle it out for third or fourth place... they are all fairly evenly matched... the San Alejo Montaneros (38-39) and Cape Coral Hurricanes (38-39) are tied for the 4th spot in the standings... the Monties are just an average club... the 'Canes need better pitching... the 6th place Colchester Elites (37-40) are similar to San Alejo... the 7th place Arroyo Grande Suns (35-42) top the Tycobbian Union with 108 homers, but has little else in the batting order, plus terrible pitching... the Ginza Ninjas (32-45) are at the bottom of the barrel in the Tycobbian South... a strange team with a real fine offensive attack, but an absolutely horrendous pitching corps... the Ninjas are hitting at a torrid .283 clip (2nd) and scoring at the rate of 395 runs (6th), but have an atrocious 5.15 team ERA (32nd), the second worst in the entire IPA this season... only the LaGrange Sports of the Ruthlandian North are worse with a horrible 5.21 ERA.

This season in the Tycobbian East Division the Midway Wolves (51-26) have turned the tables on last year's pennant-winning East Point Panthers (47-30)... the Middies have a 4-game lead midway through the season over the high-octane Panther ball club... that's how good Midway is this year... last year they wound up 5 games behind East Point... this season they are the top team with a standout 2.79 ERA (1st) and the Wolves also hit the heck out of the ball, batting .282 (3rd), rank 10th in scoring with 385 runs and 13th in homers with 69... on the mound All-Star Charlie Chase (15-4/2.29), All-Star Will Deberry (14-3/2.57) and Beau McCloud (10-6/3.17) are pitching lights-outs baseball... add in newcomer to the rotation Yank Atchley (4-3/2.31) and manager Bobby Dorignac has quite a staff... his bullpen is solid, too... at the plate doing the heavy-duty work are All-Star SS Kax Clark (.361 BA/8 HR/47 RBI/55 R/7 SB), LF Lew Dillinger (.351/3/21/38/10 SB) and RF Daryl Vale (.339/6/28/25) with help from 1B Tom Goodnight (.301/7/38/41) and CF Ernesto Diaz (.278/9/30/47/16 SB)... plus 3B Jamey Southwick (.244/13/44/28) has been a pretty good power and RBI guy... Midway is for real... East Point beware.

East Point (47-30) can put runs on the boards, but they only have average pitching... skipper Frank Blair's club is carrying a modest .263 BA (15th), but has scored 418 runs (2nd) and hit 91 out of the park (5th)... his main bats are 1B Alvaro Cavacos (.297 BA/15 HR/47 RBI/40 R/11 SB), C Kenny Bailey (.289/14/47/40) and All-Star 3B Justin McRae (.308/7/36/52/8 SB)... slugging RF Doug Dennhardt (.240/18/42/27) can also get you a run in a hurry, too... on the hill the Panthers have posted a so-so 3.95 ERA (15th)... Blair has a quality rotation with Ralph Wallace (11-6/3.29), Benny Allen (8-8/3.77) and Chip Dowler (9-4/4.04)... he needs a reliable #4 man in the mix... Pudgy Putman (5-1/2.12/7 saves/23 G) is a fine closer and heads up a good bullpen... East Point will have a tough fight to overtake Midway in the second half... the Wolves are getting better as the season moves along... not so, the Panthers.

The Tuckanarra Blue Jays (42-35) are in the third spot in the TU North standings, 9 games off the pace of Midway (51-26)... Tucks skipper Junior Bristow has a fine staff with starters All-Star Dickie Pittman (11-6/2.63), rookie Terence Gargan (9-5/3.05), Ozzie Leslie (5-10/3.56) and Daku Dundee (7-2/3.81)... his bullpen is pretty sharp, too, with the likes of Paul Landale (2-2/2.64/12 saves/28 G)... the Blue Jays' main weakness is the offense... they are ranked 28th in scoring with just 330 runs... batting .263 (16th) with only 64 roundtrippers (19th-tied)... Tuckanarra could compete with Midway and East Point if it could score more runs with better regularity... the Tucks' top guns are CF Harv Bannerman (.296 BA/14 HR/29 RBI/50 RBI/21 SB), All-Star 1B Rodger Parsons (.359/8/33/34), RF Jay Jay Batchelor (.288/9/36/34) and 3B Newt Crutchfield (.300/6/41/29)... not too much in the batting order otherwise... no division title for Tuckanarra this year... the last one came in '48... the Blue Jays have graced the postseason playoffs 18 times in a storied history, winning 3 Pro Cups: 2023 over Valmara in 6 games... 2024 over Sugar Valley in a 4-game sweep ... and 2034 over Elnora in another sweep... in addition the Tucks made the Finals in '13, losing to powerhouse Far Mountain in 4 games and to Waleska in 7 games in '28.

The remaining 5 clubs in the Tycobbian North are probably all playing for 4th place... it's not likely any of them can catch the top three teams... the South Fork Stallions (38-39) may have the best prospects for the last spot in the first division because of a fairly good pitching staff... the Red Bluff Red Sox (35-42), High Mesa Mustangs (35-42) and Hillsboro Blazers (33-44) can hit homers, but can't get a lot of people out... and the Ozarka Naturals (33-44) are just mediocre on the mound and at the plate.

In the Tycobbian West Division the Denton City Redbirds (46-31) have done a complete about face this year... ditto the second place La Claire Lynx (45-32), the third place Chicopee Braves (39-38) and the fourth place Bayview Vikings (38-39)... in another complete reversal, the good teams last year have fizzled, flopped and fallen into the second division... last year's winner Kenwood (37-40) has slipped to fifth place... Arlon (35-42), Bay St. Clair (35-42) and Rolling Hills (31-46) are all deep in the doldrums this season, after being in the top four teams last year.

The top team, the Denton City Redbirds' (46-31) mound corps regained their magic after collapsing last year and finishing sixth (67-87) in the standings... at midseason this year manager Pete Gibbs' pitchers have chalked up a fine 3.21 ERA (4th), lowering it from a poor 4.38 ERA last year... the Redbirds still can rip the ball and rank 4th in scoring runs... everything is coming up rosy for the Redbirds... Flash Stringfellow (13-5/2.18), Harry Elliott (8-5/2.72/5 saves/27 G), Johnny Wingate (9-4/2.86) and Jayson Manning (8-9/3.40) are a formidable foursome... topping the Redbird batters are RF Tristan Redgrave (.373 BA/11 HR/38 RBI/45 R/8 SB), SS Vincent McCloud (.307/8/40/56/5 SB) and 3B Ronny Lambert (.300/5/35/47) with quite a bit of help from longballers CF Harper Catlow (.206/15/41/48/9 SB) and 1B Val Anniston (.274/11/35/43)... Denton City looks to be the best team in the division this year... it will take quite a club to beat them out in the chase for the TU West pennant... the Redbirds were a power in the early days of the IPA, making the postseason 8 times in the first 13 seasons and making the Pro Cup Finals in 2005, falling to the Middlefield Roosters... in 2008 Denton City lost to the Wynnamac Sundowners in 6 games... since then, they have only the 2040 pennant to show for the last four decades... the Redbirds might be a force in the playoffs this year.

La Claire had an awful season in 2052, finishing in the TU West cellar with a terrible 58-96 record... this year the surprising Lynx (45-32) have been running neck-and-neck with Denton City (46-31), trailing by just one game at the All-Star break... manager Flash Devlin's doing it with a .291 team BA (1st)... still they rank only 11th in scoring with 380 runs... the Lynx have hit only 60 homers (24th)... pitching is a problem for Devlin with a 4.23 ERA (26th), not exactly the quality of pitching for a bonafide contender... yet La Claire is right up there at the top of the standings... not likely to stay that way in the second half... could battle for the runner-up spot... it's been years since the Lynx have appeared in postseason play... the last pennants came in '37 and '38... only made the playoffs 4 times total... never close to winning a Pro Cup trophy... add another year to the long drought.

In a rebound year the third place Chicopee Braves (39-38) are 7 games back of Denton City (46-31)... last season the Braves wound up 5th with a 72-82 mark... this year they can also hit the ball, but lack good pitching... manager Augie Meaux's club is batting .269 (11th), is 7th in scoring with 390 runs, but only has 61 roundtrippers (23rd)... not so good on the hill with a 4.12 ERA (21st)... the Braves' most productive batters are 2B Tex Whatley (.256 BA/18 HR/60 RBI/45 R) and SS Derrell Stelly (.250/11/32/31), but they don't hit for average... Chicopee's best contact hitters are LF Adam Maxson (.326/5/26/29), CF Rico Visaggi (.324/2/31/32/4 SB) and RF Travis Ledger (.304/2/23/24)... top pitchers are starter Sharlon Barbour (9-8/3.21) and closer Chipper Gilton (4-2/1.67/10 saves/27 G)... third may be the best the Braves can do... the Braves also have a sparse history of success in the IPA with just 3 playoff appearances... 3 years in a row... '34, '35 and '36... still seeking their first Pro Cup... not gonna happen in '53.

Last year Bayview stumbled in seventh in the standings at a dismal 65-89... in a fine turnaround, the Bayview Vikings (38-39) are currently fourth in the Tycobbian West and 8 games behind first place Denton City (46-31)... IPA all-time home-run leader Jerry Culpepper is in charge of the club now... and they can go deep... 80 homers (9th)... and they can score really well with 406 runs (5th), but the pitching is non-existent with a pitiful 4.73 ERA (31st)... forget about winning the pennant, but first division might be possible... it's been 37 years since Bayview won a pennant... all 6 of the postseason appearances came in the club's first 16 seasons... never managed a Pro Cup title in its history... this season the Vikings could wind up as high as second due to its potent attack.

Kenwood manager Babe Hankins had a fine year last year, winning the TU West flag... not so this season... both his offense and pitching deserted him in the first half of the year... his Kenwood Wildcats (37-40) have dropped to fifth place and are 9 games off the pace... they are playing better the last two months, so there's still hope for a decent season... Kenwood has both a lackluster offense (18th) and mound staff (23rd)... top performers at the plate are 37-year-old superstar C Corky DiNozzo (.338 BA/9 HR/31 RBI/30 R), SS Kiko Vidal (.295/7/49/38/5 SB), LF William Gloucester (.340/7/32/29/5 SB) and 3B Bailey Brumley (.287/3/33/3/3 SB)... the club leader in homers is CF Chris McNeal with 10, but he is batting a lowly .217... not much in the gas tank after these guys... starters Rusty Bradford (9-8/3.88), Tony Myerson (5-10/3.17) and Elian Verjano (4-2/5.26) have all declined this season... last year Bradford was 20-13 with an impressive 2.92 ERA, Myerson 19-11 with a 3.12 ERA and Verjano was 15-11 with a 3.53 ERA... what a difference a year makes... the Wildcats have chalked up 7 pennants since 2040... they have made the playoffs 10 times and have captured one Pro Cup championship... that was back in 2014, when Kenwood got the best of the Belair Beach Sunbirds in a 7-game series... the talent is still there... if Hankins can get his pitching staff straight, the Wildcats could end up a high as second place... it could happen.

Only last place Rolling Hills (31-46) is out of the running for the first division... 6th place Bay St. Clair (35-42) has a pretty fair attack (8th), but lacks pitching (22nd)... Arlon (35-42) no longer has the standout mound staff they possessed when they captured its only Pro Cup trophy in 2051, but it might be able to get up into the first division this year... the Champions surprised everybody in the Islands, when they were the upset Pro Cup winner... they were picked last in the Pro Cup predictions that year and still won the title... Arlon defeated Waleska in 5 games.
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Last edited by Eugene Church; 02-24-2017 at 01:34 AM.
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