Tuesday, September 20, 2061
RED CAPS COP 3RD STRAIGHT TU NORTH TITLE
The Oxford Red Caps (96-58) sizzled again this year and romped to their third straight Tycobbian North Division title and their fourth in the past five seasons... they started off slowly and trailed Mahaska and North Hills in the first two months, but the Red Caps caught fire in June and really rambled the rest of the year, rampaging past everybody in sight... runner-up Mahaska (88-66) wound up losing by 8 games... Blue Lake (82-72), picked to finish in the basement, came in third, 14 GB behind... after running a good race in April and May, North Hills (69-85) fizzled badly and faded to a tie for the fourth spot with Luxora (69-85), trailing by 27 games.
Oxford was a heavy favorite in the preseason poll, but Fairfax, White River and Hartsdale were given an outside chance in the race... but the Frogs (69-85), Rascals (66-88) and Hellcats (66-88) all did poorly and ended up near the bottom of the standings.
Tycobbian North Division Final Standings
1st Place: Oxford Red Caps (96-58)
In the team's history Oxford has made the postseason on 11 occasions and came away with one Pro Cup... that was years ago in 2007... recently they have been tabbed as Pro Cup material, but have lost in the first round three of the past four seasons... but, in their defense, they lost to three very fine teams each time... those clubs either won the Pro Cup or made the Pro Cup Finals.
The Red Caps will again be highly-regarded in the postseason playoffs... they have everything that is needed to win... Oxford can hit well, score very well, hit with great power and have fine starters... however, the bullpen is only average and the defense is just average with a .975 FA... not only do slugging stars Buddy Blackford and Showboat Lynn need to have good postseasons, they also need some help in the playoffs from other batters for the Red Caps to come home the winner.