[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Sunday, March 31, 2058

ROOSTERS WILL CROW AGAIN IN RU WEST
The Middlefield fans weren't happy last year when their beloved Roosters weren't the best in the Ruthlandian West for the first time in 8 years... upstart Fort Benton put an end to the Rooster dominance and came away with the division flag... but 2058 is a new year and the baseball preseason sages are going back to the tried and true Roosters as the top team... only the Sligo Rovers are given any chance of upending Middlefield... the Roosters are solid favorites... after the Rovers 5 other clubs will contest for third place in the standings... the Stoner Stars are the third choice in the race and defending champion Fort Benton was the fourth pick in the preseason poll.

1st: MIDDLEFIELD ROOSTERS
Last Year: 3rd Place (83-71) (4 GB)
Two Years Ago: 1st Place (95-59)
Outlook: long-time hurler Hollis Dale (246-170/3.74) retired last year and is now the new Rooster skipper, replacing the hugely successful Rinky Tinker, who moved to the front office... last year too many star hitters suffered subpar seasons... the first thing Dale did was sign some new bats and give them a shot this spring... apparently 1B Del Ganley and OF Al Barbour passed the test and made the team... both can stroke the ball and hit with power... on the hill the IPA all-time wins leader, James Long (24-10/2.62), is back for his 19th season at age 37... lifetime Long is an amazing 405-227 with a 2.65 ERA... but he needs some help from Scott Cole (16-15/4.10) and Rick Goldman (12-14/4.66)... last year they had awful years and need to get back to the way they were in '56... 30-year-old Frank Williams is back for a fourth try... in limited action he didn't do much in '53, '54 and '55, going 6-7 in 13 starts... superstar OF Trip Agarn (.300/26 HR/101 RBI/71 R) will again top the batting order... OF Johnny Wyatt (.257/21 HR/67 RBI/55 R) and SS Stan Radzikowski (.249/24 HR/83 RBI/94 R) are hoping to improve their poor batting averages this year... look for the Roosters to fend off the tough Sligo Rovers and the rest of the RU West... Middlefield will again be the best in the west... the Roosters have the best-hitting club in the division, by far, and the pitching is just good enough to win the pennant.

2nd: Sligo Rovers
Last Year: 2nd Place (84-70) (3 GB)
Two Years Ago: 2nd Place (89-65) (6 GB)
Outlook: it appears manager Les Patterson will have to be happy with the runner-up spot in the RU West for the 6th straight season... Sligo has a standout 5-man staff anchored by Tiger Snodgrass (16-4/2.65), Jacky Harshman (17-18/3.08), Mickey Walsh (16-14/3.32), Judah Carmack (14-7/3.37) and Mitch Taylor (11-11/3.38)... what he desparately needs is some home-run firepower to overcome mighty Middlefield... SS Clancy Beaufort (.284/26 HR/88 RBI/86 R), RF Josh Brolin (.263/17 HR/69 RBI/75 R) and CF Merle Bliss (.265/11 HR/71 RBI/63 R) is just not enough... Sligo signed 1B Duncan Murrell, who played part-time years ago for St. John and posted fairly good numbers from '51 to '53... Murrell did well in the spring and won a spot on the roster... he will platoon at first base... the Rovers will always be in the race with its solid pitching... a productive hitter or two could get them over the hump and into the postseason playoffs.

3rd: Volusia Vigilantes
Last Year: 4th Place (tied) (78-76) (9 GB)
Two Years Ago: 6th Place (69-85) (26 GB)
Outlook: new manager Leonard Purkey perked up the V's last year... getting them up to fourth place in the RU West... good pitching was the reason... Purkey has fairly good starting four in Reynaldo Medrano (19-9/3.44), Lonny Rinehart (19-18/2.99), Cloyd Queen (18-13/3.86) and Philip Duron (12-18/4.05), plus a fine bullpen headed up by superb closer Dan Hunt (3-3/0.88 ERA/24 saves/34 G)... and Purkey may have found another starter in rookie southpaw Gustavo Clemente, who did very well in spring training and earned a spot in the rotation... what Volusia could use is improved offense... there is not one decent hitter on the roster... 2B Teddy Cornelius (.249/8 HR/63 RBI/67 R) and C Carlos Silva (.297/8 HR/43 RBI/55 R) are the most productive bats... nowhere close to what is required to be a successful team and a bonafide pennant contender... however, the mound staff is good enough for a distant third or fourth place finish.

4th: Stoner Stars
Last Year: 6th Place (tied) (76-78) (11 GB)
Two Years Ago: 3rd Place (81-73) (14 GB)
Outlook: Took Noonan is the new manager in Stoner... he was just a journeyman right-hander for 14 seasons, winding up with a mediocre 119-130 mark, but a respectable 3.95 ERA... Noonan inherited a quality staff, led by Jake Warrick (13-7/2.90), Ivan Kleczko (15-12/3.81), Al Raver (15-18/3.20) and Alberto Temozos (15-12/3.58), but he doesn't have much hitting... his most reliable bats are just humdrum: RF Tyler Stoddard (.286/25 HR/76 RBI/67 R) and C Jean St. Julien (.286/23 HR/69 RBI/72 R)... though Stoddard was the Ruthlandian Golden Bat and Rookie of the Year in '55... the Stars have added 5 rookies to the roster, but none did much in the spring... like 4 or 5 other teams in the RU West, Stoner could wind up anywhere from third to seventh.

5th: Fort Benton Defenders
Last Year: 1st Place (87-67)
Two Years Ago: 4th Place (77-77) (18 GB)
Outlook: Defender manager Augie Marquis pooh-poohed the 5th-place ranking by preseason gurus... he thinks his club is improved over last year, when Fort Benton surprisingly copped the RU West pennant, knocking off the defending Pro Cup winner, Middlefield... Marquis cited new rookie starter Joe Ramey, a left-hander... Ramey had an excellent spring and will be his #3 starter... the ace will be the Ruthlandian MVP from last year, Zeke Yoder (20-10/2.74), helped out by Noel Blissard (19-12/4.01) and Gil Hicks (17-16/3.88)... the Fort Benton bats are as strong as ever... Marquis would like to hit more homers, but they won a lot of ballgames last year by just making solid contact and hitting for average... he thinks his Defenders can do it all over again this year... three .300 hitters will lead the way: 1B Mel Lightfoot (.334/17 HR/81 RBI/56 R), RF Charlie Bondy (.319/12 HR/81 RBI/80 R) and CF Kip Drumm (.315/7 HR/65 RBI/95 R)... LF Teddy Keyes (.298/1 HR/48 RBI/83 R) and 3B Eamon Hooper (.284/12 HR/78 RBI/65 R) are reliable, too.

6th: Rocky Rapids Snappers
Last Year: 6th Place (tied) (76-78) (11 GB)
Two Years Ago: 5th Place (71-83) (24 GB)
Outlook: Buster Noland is the new man in Rocky Rapids, a family-owned franchise... his father Junior was "promoted" up to the GM position... from 2039 to 2052 Buster had a fine 14-year career with a 214-155 mark and a 3.43 ERA... for almost 2 decades the Snappers were a winning ballclub, but not the last 3 seasons... a decline in pitching was the main culprit... this year's preview gave the staff high marks, but low-rated the offense... the Snappers' rotation is sparked by star hurler Clay Callaghan (17-14/2.45) and aided by Kip Golden (16-13/3.59), Lance Obermueller (16-11/3.88) and Sammy Sterling (13-14/3.52)... closer Yoshi Kojima (3-4/2.58 ERA/19 saves/42 G) is a good one... the Snappers are the worst-hitting team in the RU West by far... they won't be a contender until the offense improves... Noland's has no studs at the plate, just decent ones... 1B Deke Lundy (.297/29 HR/106 R/69 R) is a rock-solid hitter... and RF Joe Clarkson (.289/19 HR/65 RBI/56 R) is a fair one... not much in the lineup beyond them... no newcomers to the club, so Rocky Rapids will not get any influx of talent... Buster Noland could land anywhere from 4th to 7th in his rookie year.

7th: Forest City Firebirds
Last Year: 4th Place (tied) (78-76) (9 GB)
Two Years Ago: 8th Place (65-89) (30 GB)
Outlook: last year manager Rich Barstow saw his club climb out of the RU West basement and up into respectability, fourth in the standings... the Firebirds have the second-best offense next to powerhouse Middlefield, but lack pitching... they are forecast to finish 7th this year, but could also be as high as the 4th spot... the Ruthlandian West is a pretty competitive division with 6 or 7 clubs expected to have winning records or near-winning records... Barstow has three fairly good starters with Cale Ballentine (18-10/3.75), Dale Madison (15-15/3.67) and Ben Drummond (11-18/3.66)... he also had a fine closer in Tim Varnado (5-4/2.08 ERA/30 saves/47 G), but it doesn't look like any of the three rookies will contribute much... top hitters are CF Randy Snow (.321/25 HR/98 RBI/72 R) and 1B Ziggy Regan (.293/8 HR/50 RBI/102 R)... LF Buddy Bessent (.258/29 HR/65 RBI/57 R) can go deep... along with RF Dedrick Crone (.288/16 HR/46 RBI/31 R)... RF Louie Langhorne, who played sporatically for the Firebirds from '52 to '56, had a good spring and could be a good addition at age 29... Langhorne might be a late bloomer.

8th: Colfax Blasters
Last Year: 8th Place (70-84) (17 GB)
Two Years Ago: 7th Place (69-85) (26 GB)
Outlook: for the 8th straight year the Blasters had a losing season and it looks like number 9 is on the way... Jorgen Krogstad took over last year and came in last in the RU West, but not by much... his pitching is pathetic, but the offense can score runs... 1B Nicky Yorke (.328/29 HR/100 RBI/82 R) had a career year and is his best hitter... OF Stan Kovalenko (.278/11 HR/47 RBI/101 R) is still a fine lead-off hitter and scores a 100 runs and walks a 100 times each year... at 33 Kovalenko is still a valuable player... other reliable run producers are CF Emile Schwartz (.274/20 HR/75 RBI/63 R), SS Gordy Bidenwald (.275/17 HR/76 RBI/63 R) and 2B Len Downer (.274/10 HR/60 RBI/71 R)... Colfax has only two quality arms with Alan Schmitt (14-7/3.32) and Terry Dubronik (13-15/3.82)... as bad as the starters are, the bullpen is worse... not one good reliever last year... the Blasters have the worst ERA in the RU West... last year it was 4.33... the year before a whopping 4.66.