THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Friday, October 20, 2028

Almeida, Sardini Snag IPA Golden Arm Trophies
The outstanding hurlers have been named for the 2028 season in the Islandian Pro Alliance and the awards went to first-time winners Cisco Almeida of the Volusia Vigilantes and Paul Sardini of the White River Rascals.

The Ruthlandian Union honoree Almeida compiled a 22-7 record and led the the league with a 2.52 ERA. Almeida paced Volusia to a fourth-place finish in the RU South race. The 21-year-old right-hander hurled 22 complete games and 4 shutouts.

Fort Benton's Frank Quinn was runner-up to Almeida. He was topped the IPA with 25 victories along with Tuckanarra's Quinn Starr. Overall Quinn was a vital part of the Defenders second-place finish in the RU South with a 25-13 mark and a 2.94 ERA. The 22-year-old Quinn had 25 complete games, which tied for the IPA lead.

Winding up in the third spot in the voting was Valka's Glenn Cadman, who posted a 23-9 record with a fine 2.95 ERA. The Blackhawks ended up second to Waleska in the RU South. The impressive 25-year-old righty has won 20 games in each of his three seasons in the IPA.

Taking the Tycobbian Union Golden Arm Award was White River's Paul Sartini, who had the best ERA in the IPA this year. Sardini chalked up a strong 2.12 ERA and a 23-7 record. Sardini is 25 and is a right-hander. He fired 3 shutouts and completed 17 games. Sardini sparked the Rascals to second place in the TU North standings.

Number two in the Golden Arm balloting was Richie Raeburn of the South Fork Stallions. The Stallions came in third in the TU East. Raeburn tied for the most complete games in the IPA with Frank Quinn of Fort Benton and Jamie Gustafson of Tuckanarra. They each racked up 25 complete games. For the season the 28-year-old Raeburn was 24-12 with a 2.13 ERA. He tossed 5 shutouts and tied for second in the IPA.

Tuckanarra's Quinn Starr finished third in the best-pitcher poll with a 25-10 mark, tied with Fort Benton's Frankie Quinn for the IPA lead in wins. Starr posted 22 complete games, 3 shutouts and an impressive 2.80 ERA. His Blue Jays easily won the TU East by 15 games.

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Saturday, October 21, 2028

Sluggers Evans and Dillinger IPA MVPs
The mighty men of the IPA this year were Lorne Evans of the Southport Sun Sox and Loco Dillinger of the Waleska Westerners. They both led their clubs to very successful seasons and were acclaimed the Most Valuable Player in their respective leagues. Evans captured the honor for the second consecutive season in the Tycobbian Union and Dillinger picked up the award for the first time in his career.

The Tycobbian Union Most Valuable Player was Southport Sun Sox Lorne Evans. The slugging right fielder is 23 years old and in his fourth season. Evans batted .325 with 55 roundtrippers and 120 runs batted in. He ranked first in the IPA with 165 runs and second in home runs. Evans was one of the main reasons the Sun Sox won their second TU South pennant in a row.

Mahaska's gifted right fielder Travis Tuttle sparked the Haymakers to the TU North divisional crown and came in second in the MVP vote. He also wound up second to Evans in the Golden Bat race, too. Tuttle led the TU with a sparkling .366 batting average, collected 39 homers, drove in 132 runs and scored 113. Tuttle is 28 with 6 years in the IPA and is a career .313 hitter.

Winding up third in the MVP vote was Tuckanarra's fine hurler Quinn Starr, who chalked up 25 victories and 10 losses on the year. The 30-year-old southpaw tied Frankie Quinn of Fort Benton for the most wins in the IPA this year. Starr compiled a 2.80 ERA with 22 complete games and 3 shutouts. His Blue Jays paced the IPA with 102 wins this year and easily took the TU East. In his 7 seasons Starr has run up a 148-95 mark with a 2.75 ERA. He also finished third in the Golden Arm balloting.

Dillinger was the Ruthlandian Union MVP and one of the main ingredients in Waleska winning the flag in the RU South. He also led the Westerners to their first-ever IPA Pro Cup. Dillinger, a 6-year veteran at age 28, topped the IPA with 56 homers (tied with Jim Lewellan of Colchester) and 154 RBIs. Dillinger hit at a .357 clip, fifth-best in the RU, and scored 132 runs. He plays left field, has made the All-Star team three times and is a lifetime .309 hitter.

Waleska teammate and this year's Golden Bat winner Roy Hobbs gave Dillinger the most competition for the MVP Award. Dillinger just barely edged him out. Hobbs had a super season in right field at age 35, winning a Golden Glove, hitting .359 with 36 home runs, scored 115 times and batted in 142 runs. Hobbs led the IPA with 226 hits this year and is a .347 batter in his 16 seasons in the the league.

Fort Benton's terrific twirler Frankie Quinn was a close third in the poll to the Waleska duo. Quinn is just a youngster, only in his second season in the IPA at 22. He fashioned a 25-13 record, which tied for the lead in the IPA with Quinn Starr of Tuckanarra. Quinn also was the runner-up in the Golden Arm balloting. He registered a 2.94 ERA with 25 complete games and tossed 2 shutouts. Quinn was first in the IPA in completed games, along with Richie Raeburn of South Fork and Jamie Gustafson of Tuckanarra.

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Sunday, October 22, 2028

IPA Best Managers Chosen
The Islandian Pro Alliance announced its 2028 Managers of the Year today, bestowing the accolades on Tuckanarra's Carlton "Lefty" Stevens and LaGrange's Quincy Peterson. Veteran Stevens was selected the top Tycobbian Union skipper for the third time in his career. He also won it in 2013 and 2017. Matty Christianson of Rolling Hills has nabbed the best manager award four times in his career, while Stevens joins Alex Groveland of Far Mountain as the only 3-time honorees. Peterson won it in his rookie year at the helm of the Sports.

Stevens led Tuckanarra to the TU East pennant for the third season in a row, winning an IPA-high 102 games this season, up from a dismal seventh place the year before. The Blue Jays were 76-78 in 2027.

Stevens edged out La Claire Lynx first-year manager Zeppy Deshotel, who turned his club around from fifth place in 2027 to the top spot in the TU West this season, going from a 78-76 mark to a strong 94-60.

Third in the Manager of the Year poll was Charley Oscar of the Southport Sun Sox, who again won the TU South for the second successive season. The Sun Sox improved from 81-74 to 87-68, taking the division title by just one game each year in a one-game playoff.

Quincy Peterson, an IPA Hall-of-Fame player, guided his Sports up from last place to second place in the RU North to claim the Manager of the Year Award. LaGrange was a lousy 69-85 last year, but was a complete turnaround this season with an 88-66 record. The Sports were beaten out by the Pro Cup champion Waleska Westerners by just 2 games. LaGrange hadn't made the first division in 12 years.

The number two votegetter was Stoner's Benny Stern. His Stars rebounded from a poor 7th place in 2027 to third place this year. The club improved from 71-83 to 83-71.

Rounding out the voting in third place was Dave Torregrossa, who raised the Belle Plaine Musketeers from the fifth spot in the RU East to third place, improving them from 77-77 to 87-67.

IPA season number 29 coming up soon near a ballpark near you.

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, June 19, 2029

29th All-Star Classic Tomorrow At Waleska
Tomorrow afternoon at Westerner Field in Waleska is the 29th edition of the Islandian Pro Alliance All-Star Game. The stars of the Ruthlandian and Tycobbian Unions will be shining bright. Heading up the RU Stars will be Roy Hobbs, who will making his 14th appearance in the mid-summer classic. Kees Draeger and Todd Nasso have made the squad 6 times, Loco Dillinger and Travis Glass for the 4th time, and Benny McConnell, Jarred Laclair, Ivan Guzek and Floyd Randolph are 3-time honorees. Leading the way for the TU Stars will be Flash Devlin, who is on the team for his 13th time. Appearing for the seventh time is Errol Gaudet, James Couch for his sixth game, Rusty Graves for the fourth time, and Lynn Starr and Cotton Cornwall for the third time in their careers. No rookies made the team this season. Tycobbia has a huge lead in the series with 19 wins in 28 games. However, Ruthlandia has captured 3 of the last 4 All-Star clashes.

RUTHLANDIAN ALL-STARS:
SP Benny McConnell (SV) (13-3/3.16) (3rd time selection)
SP Clem Carmouche (VLM) (11-4/2.09) (2nd time)
SP Johnny Davenport (BP) (11-4/2.54) (2nd time)
SP Johnny Sakelaris (TAR) (11-7/2.53) (2nd time)
SP Alex Gillespie (LAG) (10-6/2.25) (1st time)
SP Terry Richards (WLK) (11-5/3.13) (1st time)
SP Lou Page (SLI) (9-4/2.45) (1st time)
SP Killara Bardo (WYN) (9-2.2.24) (1st time)
CL Jarred Laclair (WLK) (1-1/1.55/11 saves) (3rd time)
CL Ivan Guzek (VLM) (1-2/1.44/8 saves) (3rd time)
C Floyd Randolph (VLM) (.338/12/49/29) .997 FA/0 PB/30.4% RTO (3rd time)
C Les Leslie (WYN) (.336/7/37/36) .997 FA/1 PB/39.4% RTO (1st time)
C George Arnick (FC) (.313/5/37/36) .989 FA/2 PB/38.5% RTO (1st time)
1B Josh George (CL) (.311/5/47/53) .990 FA (1st time)
1B Kees Draeger (BB) (.308/14/48/42) .985 FA (6th time)
1B Rob Lanier (STJ) (.330/10/35/49) .995 FA (1st time)
2B Gary Colton (CLX) (.324/10/44/44) .976 FA (2nd time)
2B Norm Murdoch (STO) (.297/6/34/39) .992 FA (1st time)
3B Carl Bentley (CL) (.352/7/43/40) .946 FA (1st time)
3B Leevi Viru (VLK) (.340/5/34/41) .975 FA (2nd time)
SS Todd Nasso (ANC) (.314/13/48/45) .987 FA (6th time)
SS Jose De Leon (WLK) (.325/7/45/40) .969 FA (2nd time)
LF Loco Dillinger (WLK) (.363/19/75/58) .981 FA (4th time)
LF Jock Jumonville (ELN) (.307/8/47/46) .981 FA (1st)
CF Travis Glass (ELN) (.338/13/39/49) .981 FA (4th time)
CF Herm Taylor (CL) (.327/3/40/52) .986 FA (2nd time)
RF Ivan Krause (CLX) (.345/12/52/54) 1.000 FA (2nd time)
RF Roy Hobbs (WLK) (.333/8/44/50) .973 FA (14th time)
RF Lindsay Deal (SV) (.279/15/65/37) .966 FA (1st time)


TYCOBBIAN ALL-STARS:
SP Ozzie Gatsby (SF) (10-3/2.43) (1st time selection)
SP Scotty Ellison (SUM) (10-4/2.50) (2nd time)
SP Frank Blair (EP) (12-6/2.61) (2nd time)
SP Ray McClendon (BSC) (11-5/3.01) (1st time)
SP Lou Chylak (HAR) (11-4/2.68) (1st time)
SP Hollis Pace (GIN) (11-5/2.92) (1st time)
SP Errol Gaudet (RH) (11-4/3.05) (7th time)
SP Tommy Wynn (BAY) (10-3/2.89) (1st time)
CL Jack Bolden (EP) (4-1/1.29/4 saves) (1st time)
CL Kelly Morton (OXF) (4-0/1.43/0 saves) (1st time)
C Tonio Libertore (CC) (.331/1/25/36) .997 FA/4 PB/28.8% RTO (1st time)
C Brian Hatcher (HIL) (.325/8/24/25) .996 FA/3 PB/33.3% RTO (1st time)
C Cruz Andrade (NH) (.300/4/30/34) .978 FA/2 PB/36.8% RTO (2nd time)
1B Mandu Purula (SUM) (.391/12/35/36) .993 FA (1st time)
1B Lynn Starr (TUC) (.357/14/65/51) .994 FA (3rd time)
1B Kerry Sterling (OXF) (.309/18/45/49) 1.000 FA (1st time)
2B Howard Winston (GIN) (.373/4/23/29) .994 FA (2nd time)
2B Yanni Kouris (SPT) (.353/3/29/33) .982 FA (1st time)
3B Flash Devlin (LC) (.319/15/56/46) .956 FA (13th time)
3B Rusty Graves (MDW) (.305/9/36/41) .916 FA (4th time)
SS James Couch (OZK) (.339/7/38/40) .981 FA (6th time)
SS Russ Van Kleek (GIN) (.345/9/33/39) .971 FA (2nd time)
SS Jed Turchin (TUC) (.329/4/40/40) .963 FA (1st time)
LF Jim Lewellen (CCH) (.278/19/54/53) 1.000 FA (1st time)
LF Sakima Shaman (CHI) (.310/13/51/43) .986 (1st time)
CF Cotton Cornwall (GIN) (.353/14/60/46) .987 FA (3rd time)
CF Chris Halley (BL) (.384/2/23/37) .986 FA (1st time)
RF Lorne Evans (SPT) (.326/13/45/47) .992 FA (2nd time)
RF Charlie Jensen (CHI) (.303/13/52/39) .990 FA (2nd time)
RF Corbett Brooks (RB) (.281/17/48/42) .994 FA (2nd time)

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Wednesday, June 20th, 2029

TU Holds Off RU 7-6 In 29th All-Star Game
At Westerner Field in Waleska, the Tycobbian All-Stars smacked 13 hits, turned 3 double plays and came away with a 7-6 victory over the Ruthlandian Stars in the 29th renewal of the IPA All-Star Classic, giving them an overwhelming 20-9 edge in the star-studded series.

Ruthlandia took a 3-0 lead in the opening frame on LF Loco Dillinger's (Waleska) RBI single and a 2-run double by 1B Kees Draeger (Belair Beach), but couldn't hold on to it very long... Tycobbia came right back with 2 runs in the bottom of the first on Cotton Cornwall's (Ginza) 2-run bomb and 4 more in the second to take a 6-3 lead... 2B Howard Winston (Ginza) doubled in one, C Tonio Libertore (Cape Coral) doubled in a pair and LF Jim Lewellan (Colchester) finished off the inning by doubling in another score... the RU Stars came right back in the fourth frame and narrowed the score to 6-5 when loose defensive play cost the TU Stars 2 runs... after back-to-back errors by 3B Flash Devlin (La Claire)... 3B Leevi Viru (Valka) drove in one with a single and the second was plated when PH Lindsay Deal (Sugar Valley) hit into a double play... in the TU sixth a double by Mandu Purula (Summerland) and a single by C Brian Hatcher (Hillsboro) ran it up to 7-5... Ruthlandia closed out the scoring in the top of the seventh on a two-bagger by SS Jose De Leon (Waleska) and an RBI single by CF Herm Taylor (Crystal Lake).

The second pitcher for Tycobbia, Errol Gaudet (Rolling Hills) notched the victory with a scoreless second... Oxford's Kelly Morton got the save with a runless ninth... 3 twin killings help the TU cause... Clem Carmouche (Valmara) took the brunt of the beating and took the loss... Carmouche was slammed hard for 4 runs and 5 hits in just one-third of an inning... the RU Stars got 9 hits in defeat... only 2 players had more than one hit in the game... CF Jim Lewellan got a pair for the winners and 3B Leevi Viru collected 2 for Ruthlandia... Cornwall claimed the MVP Award with the game's only homer.

The Islandian Times
Thursday, June 21, 2029

Good Races Going In IPA At Mid-Season
There's lots to enjoy if you are a fan of IPA baseball in the Islands. Seven of the eight divisions have close races at mid-season. Only the defending champ Valmara Vipers of the Ruthlandian North have a solid lead at the halfway point. The Vipers are up by 7 games over Kilkenny, 9 games up on Ancona and 10 ahead of the Taranto Tars. Valmara seems to be headed toward a fourth straight division crown.

The closest race in the RU is in the RU South, where the current IPA Pro Cup champion Waleska Westerners have a scant 2-game edge over the Crystal Lake Crushers and Claxton Diamonds. Elnora and Wynnamac are within striking distance, 6 and 7 games off the pace respectively. It looks like the Westerners will have a fight on its hands to repeat as Islandian champion.

It's fairly tight in the RU East. The Belle Plaine Musketeers are 3 games ahead of runner-up Middlefield, 6 in front of third place Elnora and 7 better than the Wynnamac Sundowners in fourth place. Last year's division winner Marston is struggling 9 games out and is tied for the fifth spot in the standings.

The Sligo Rovers are shooting for a third sucessive RU West flag. The Rovers boast a 5-game edge over second place Forest City. The Stoner Stars and the Colfax Blasters are a distant 8 and 9 games off the pace. The Rovers have great pitching, but little in the way of offense. So far it has not hurt them.

Two of the pennant chases in the Tycobbian Union are a fan's dream. Just 2 games separate the top five clubs in the TU West. Denton City is deadlock with Arlon in the top spot with Rolling Hills and last year's flag-winner La Claire only one game back. Fifth place Bayview is bunched in there, too, just 2 games behind in the race.

The TU North has quite a battle going, too, with 7 teams within 5 games of each other. The Oxford Red Caps have the lead at mid-year, 2 games up on Luxora and Hartsdale. Fairfax and Blue Lake are tied for fourth, trailing by just 4 games. Last season's divisional winner Mahaska has slipped to a tie for sixth with North Hills. They are just 5 games behind.

Last season's Pro Cup runner-up, the Tuckanarra Blue Jays, ran away with the TU East last year, winning easily by a 15-game margin, but they have a challenger this year. The East Point Panthers are right on their tails, just a game behind. The only other club in the hunt is the Hillsboro Blazers, who are 6 games out and in third place.

The power in the TU South is the potent Southport Sun Sox. They are the favorites to win a third title in a row, but it is always quite a task in the hotly-contested South. The Sun Sox had to go overtime to win the division the last two years, knocking off Ginza and Arroyo Grande in single-game playoffs in 2028 and 2027. Southport is atop the division, but not by much. The always-tough Ginza Ninjas are breathing down their necks, just 3 games away. Third place Cape Coral and fourth place Summerland are playing good ball at the break. Both are playing over .500 baseball. The Hurricanes trail by 7 and the Sunsets by 8. Southport is known more for its strong pitching. However, this year they are hitting the cover off the ball and have the best record in the IPA, along with Valmara of the RU. They both have chalked up 46-27 records at the All-Star break. But Ginza is no patsy at the plate and will give the Sun Sox another big tussle for the title in the TU South.

And now the big question. Who is going to win the Pro Cup in 2029? Waleska and Southport both have done it recently and Tuckanarra has come close in 2028 and won back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024. And don't look past the Valmara Vipers and the Crystal Lake Crushers. The Vipers and Crushers are the best they have been in the last few years. Valmara won it all in 2026 and Crystal Lake has great hitting, something they were missing when they won Pro Cups in 2020 and 2022. None of the other division leaders are expected to contend for the Pro Cup, although Sligo has super pitching and could be a factor in the postseason. You can win a few ballgames with a 2.65 team ERA. It should really be an exciting Pro Cup this season with five very strong teams going after it.

2029 IPA Pro Cup Prediction:
1. Southport
2. Waleska or Crystal Lake
3. Valmara
4. Tuckanarra
5. Sligo

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, June 21, 2029

13 IPA Greats Inducted Into HOF
Last year the Islandian Pro Alliance selected its 11 greatest players and place them into the Hall of Fame. This year 13 more elite players were inducted and added to their numbers. The players will be presented at the 29th IPA All-Star Game at Waleska tomorrow afternoon. The official induction will be held at the IPA Hall of Fame in Marston, Ruthlandia. The ceremony is scheduled for this weekend.

This year's Hall of Fame additions are Clyde Kingsford, Kendry Moulton, Alan Hansen, Harlan Roscoe, Dane Wesner, Zeppy Deshotel, Denny Coulon, Johnny Lee Harder, Jerry Meeks, Andre Dumas, Ted Farentino, Jose Aguilar and Pablo Santo Cruz.

Clyde Kingsford (2012-2025) was an outstanding first baseman for the Turon Typhoons. During his tenure he led them to one Pro Cup and 6 pennants. Kingsford played 14 seasons with a .319 batting average (tied for 4th all-time), 485 homers and batted in 1523 runs. He was the TU Rookie of the Year in 2012, Most Valuable Player in 2015 and a 7-time All-Star. In 76 postseason games Kingsford batted .291 with 17 roundtrippers and 55 runs batted in.

Hartsdale third baseman Kendry Moulton (2001-2024) made the postseason on five occasions. The Hellcats won 3 pennants during his career. Moulton made the TU All-Stars 7 times and won two Golden Gloves. Though he was short of statue, standing only 5-8 and weighing 167 pounds, Moulton packed some punch in his bat. Lifetime he hit .297 with 3347 hits (7th), 527 homers (6th), 1840 RBIs (4th) and scored 1706 runs. In 14 playoff games Moulton hit .373 with 2 homers, 7 RBIs and 4 runs scored. Recently Moulton was promoted to manager of the Hellcats after serving as Zim Donner's third-base coach since he retired in 2024

Alan Hansen (2002-2023) was a winner everywhere he played. He starred at second base for Bayview for his first 5 years, won two pennants and made the playoffs four times. Then Hansen signed with Turon as a free agent and played for 10 pennant winners and got two Pro Cup rings. Overall Hansen had a career .296 BA, 3554 hits (3rd), 2262 runs (1st), 2351 walks (2nd) and stole 725 bases (5th). He only struck out 554 times in over 12,000 at-bats. Hansen played in 135 postseason games, compiled a .309 batting average, had 159 hits, 31 doubles, scored 89 runs and stole 32 bases. He was chosen for the All-Star team four times and won a couple of Golden Gloves.

There's no telling how many games Denny Coulon (2001-2022) would have won if he had played for good teams his whole career. Over his fine career the 6-7, 250-pound right-hander posted a very impressive 2.96 ERA and a 342-324 record for a good Bay St. Clair club (7 years) and a poor Summerland team (15 years). Coulon ranks second in IPA history with 276 complete games. He only participated in the playoffs three times with one division title. Coulon was only 1-2 in 5 postseason starts with a lofty 4.86 ERA. Some voters didn't think Coulon was worthy of the Hall of Fame because of this 324 losses and poor postseason. Thank goodness they were astute enough to notice his 2.94 ERA and 342 victories. All-time Coulon is tied for third in lifetime wins and has the 11th-best ERA. From 2008 to 2022 the Summerland Sunsets only made the first division 3 times.

When it comes to Dane Wesner (2005-2023), the thought always comes to everybody's mind - what if the legendary Fairfax outfielder hadn't badly injured his shoulder in 2014? From 2008 to 2013, Wesner was absolutely the finest player in the IPA. He batted .331 to .383 during those seasons, won 2 Golden Bat trophies and 2 batting crowns, won 2 Tycobbian Union Most Valuable Player Awards, was picked for the All-Star Game 6 straight years, honored with 3 Golden Gloves, topped the league in hits for 4 seasons, and home runs and RBIs twice. After the injury Wesner came back and was a fine player, but no longer the superstud. For his career Wesner sported a .311 batting average with 476 roundtrippers and 1550 RBIs. A marvelous outfielder with a great arm, Wesner won a total of 7 Golden Gloves. He led the Frogs to 2 pennants and hit .245 in 2 postseasons with one homer and 11 RBIs in 24 games. He is currently the skipper of the Frogs.

La Claire outfielder Zeppy Deshotel (2005-2022) never made the playoffs in his 18 years as a player with the Lynx, but he certainly put up Hall of Fame numbers. Deshotel was a 9-time All-Star with a .312 career average (12th-tied), 469 home runs (12th), 1699 RBIs (10th), scored 1744 times and stole 510 bases. In 2028. his rookie season at the helm of the Lynx, Deshotel led them to the TU West division title for the first time in the team's history.

Harlan Roscoe (2002-2021) played much of his standout career in obscurity with the Colchester Elites. Colchester only won one pennant and played in the postseason playoffs 3 times during his 18-year stay at first base. Roscoe hit at a .312 clip, tied for 12th in IPA history and ranked 5th with 1776 RBIs and 8th with 506 homers. In 2008, the 219-pound, skinny 6-6 slugger picked up the Tycobbian Golden Bat Award for being the batter of the year. Roscoe was selected an All-Star 4 times. He did quite well in his limited postseason experience with a .333 BA, 6 HR, 18 RBI and 13 runs in only 17 games.

A Golden Glover and 5-time All-Star first baseman Johnny Lee Harder (2005-2027) performed admirably for several clubs. He played his first 15 seasons with the Ancona Red Elephants, 6 years with the Sligo Rovers and his final 2 with Belle Plaine. Lifetime Harder chalked up a .293 average with 3371 hits (7th), 1756 RBIs (8th) and 426 homers. Ancona won 2 pennants while he was there and Sligo took 2 division titles and won the Pro Cup in 2021. In 56 postseason games Harder hit .282 with 6 roundtrippers, 33 runs batted in and 24 runs.

7th on the all-time win list is Wynnamac's short, stubby southpaw Jerry Meeks (2008-2028), who notched an excellent 313-214 mark over 21 seasons with the Sundowners. Meeks was the Ruthlandian Most Valuable Player and Golden Arm winner in 2013. He was twice an All-Star. Wynnamac won the IPA Pro Cup in his rookie season in 2008, though Meeks did not play a major role, winding up 6-11 for the year with an ERA over 5.00. The Sundowners won 4 RU East flags during Meeks' career. In 9 playoff games and 8 starts the stylish lefty was 3-4 with a 4.17 ERA.

Ozarka third baseman Andre Dumas (2015-2025) got a late start in the IPA, joining the Naturals at age 26. He only played 11 seasons, but they were very good ones. The Nats won 7 TU East crowns during his time there. Dumas was awarded the TU Rookie of the Year in 2015 and was chosen to the All-Star squad 4 times. Dumas is tied for sixth with a sparkling .318 batting average. For his first 8 seasons he averaged 39 home runs and drove in 116 runs each year. Dumas was even better in the playoffs with a .326 BA, 20 homers, 54 RBIs and 60 runs in 84 games.

Jose Aguilar (2005-2026) was a slick-fielding shortstop that could go deep at the plate fairly often. Playing for the Red Bluff Red Sox for almost all of his career he was selected to the Tycobbian All-Stars 7 times and won 3 Golden Gloves. Overall Aguilar batted .294 with 321 home runs, 1440 RBIs and scored 1998 times (7th) with 3291 hits (13th) and 491 stolen bases. The Red Sox only made the postseason twice while he was there. Aguilar stood out with a .333 BA in 14 games with 5 runs batted in and 4 runs scored. He also stole 5 bases.

For most of his career Pablo Santa Cruz (2002-2023) was a winner. He sparked the Luxora Zorros to 7 division pennants and 10 playoff appearances. Santa Cruz was a 2-time TU All-Star with a .282 BA, 3364 hits (9th), 1990 runs (8th), 540 stolen bases (14th), 181 homers and 1321 RBIs. In the postseason Santa Cruz struggled with a .229 average, but did score 34 runs and swipe 15 bases in 74 games.

He was 6-5 and kind of lanky. He didn't overpower the hitters, but Ted Farentino (2001-2023) could nibble you to death on the corners and make you hit his pitch. Farentino did this for four clubs and 23 years. That's why he is in the IPA Hall of Fame. Farentino won 337 games and lost 276 in his lengthy career with a 3.71 ERA. Many Hall of Fame voters thought he lost too many games and had too high of an ERA to be inducted, but Farentino deservedly got enough votes to make it this year. For his first 14 years Farentino was a fairly successful journeyman. Most of his success came from 2015 to 2023 in Turon. After several good seasons he made a wise decision few players make - to go out on top. Farentino finally retired at age 42 after a 16-11 mark with a fine 3.18 ERA. He was also 21-5 the year before. Farentino was in the playoffs 8 times, made 30 starts and relieved 5 times and was a marvelous 12-8 with a 2.97 ERA. He went unbeaten in 2016 with a 3-0 record and a 1.91 ERA and also in 2018 with a 5-0 mark and a 2.57 ERA. He was voted the Pro Cup MVP when Turon took the trophy in 2018.

I thought I would re-post the first group of Hall-of-Famers for your perusal.

Yesterday in the IPA

The Islandian Times
Sunday, April 4, 2027

IPA Announces First-Year HOF Inductees
After 26 great years of play the Islandian Baseball Writers Association announced the first 11 players to be enshrined into the Islandian Pro Alliance Hall-of-Fame. The historic first class includes pitchers Cody Burg, Mila Mohoski, Titus Bristow and Ilya Szabo and position players Phil Gravelli, Jet Kazmarek, Mike Luzzatti, Rocco Belasario, Hal Stevenson, Don Nichols and Quincy Peterson. The new Islandian Pro Alliance Hall of Fame will be housed in the birthplace of Islandian baseball, Marston.

Burg In IPA HOF
The IBWA has put the crowning touch on Cody Burg's outstanding baseball career. They selected the great mound superstar for the Islandian Pro Alliance Hall of Fame today. He modestly gave credit to "better than average pitching skills and lots of three-run homers" for making it possible for him to move up into the legendary class of baseball players -- but the sportswriters, his teammates and peers knew differently.

In reality Burg was a craftsman, an artist. He was a perfectionist. He painted a ballgame stroke by stroke and when he got through pitching a game, it was a masterpiece. Burg sparked the Cape Coral Hurricanes to 4 pennants and 7 playoff appearances in his 21-year career (2001-2021). The talented right-hander is the all-time IPA leader in victories and strikeouts. He won the Tycobbian Union MVP in 2014 and 3 Golden Arm Awards (2004, 2005, 2014), plus he was an 8-time All-Star.

By the time he retired at age 39, Burg fashioned an impressive record of 369-264, had an ERA of 2.79, struck out 5250 batters and held opposing teams to a .227 batting average. Burg made 787 mound appearances and worked 5880 innings in his career. Burg was even more brilliant in the playoffs with a 9-2 record and a 1.54 ERA in 15 starts.

Gravelli Enters Hall Of Fame
Phil Gravelli, the great first baseman and consummate professional, was inducted into the Islandian Pro Alliance Hall of Fame today. He played for 25 years (2001-2025) with Belair Beach and Crystal Lake, was a 12-time All-Star, twice a Golden Glove winner and the Ruthlandian Union MVP and RU Golden Bat recipient in 2007. Gravelli led his teams to 2 Pro Cups, 5 pennants and 7 playoffs. Crystal Lake won the IPA Pro Cup in 2020 and 2022. In addition, he holds 4 all-time IPA records. At the induction ceremony, he grew misty-eyed as he recalled the highlights of his playing career: his first base hit, his first home run, and -- humorously -- the first time he was thrown out at home plate. Gravelli says he barged through his third base coach's stop sign. As he returned to the dugout, his manager simply glared at him. "His eyes just burned a hole right through me. If looks could kill, I wouldn't be here today," he chuckled. More often than not, Gravelli pleased his managers and coaches during his superb career.

His all-time numbers show Gravelli as the IPA leader in games, hits, homers, and RBIs. He compiled a .315 batting average and collected 4260 hits, 726 home runs and 2493 RBIs. In all, he played in 3628 games. In 65 postseason games Gravelli was even more productive with a .340 batting average, 7 homers and 44 runs batted in. Gravelli retired from baseball at the age of 42.

Szabo Newest Hall-Of-Famer
Today was a historic day that Ilya Szabo will never forget. The superb pitcher was enshrined into the Islandian Pro Alliance Hall of Fame alongside the great baseball immortals of the past. He was the third player inducted. Szabo is ranked seventh in all-time wins in IPA history with 327. He played 20 years (2002-2021) for Colfax and paced the Blasters to the 2010 Pro Cup, 7 division crowns and 8 postseason appearances. Colfax set an IPA record for most wins in a season in 2010 with a remarkable 107-47 record. That year Szabo topped the IPA with a magnificent 27-4 mark and a ridiculously low 1.79 ERA. Szabo retired in 2021, still a quality pitcher. He went 18-17 with a 3.76 ERA for a fifth place club that finished under the .500 mark. Szabo twice was selected the Ruthlandian Union Most Valuable Player in 2010 and 2014. Four times in his career Szabo won the prestigious RU Golden Arm Award, in 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2015. He was also named to the RU All-Star squad 9 times.

Szabo was introduced by his former manager, Clem Rogers, who said, "He was the best I have seen in my lifetime. Ilya was a fabulous pitcher. The key to his success was that he threw the ball as far from the bat and as close to the plate as possible."

The talented pitcher retired from baseball at 42, but not before he amassed 327 victories. In his illustrious career, Ilya Szabo was 327-210 with a 2.57 ERA. He made 765 mound appearances and struck out 3162 in 5261 innings with an amazing 2.54 career ERA, third best in IPA history after Southport's Bob Montgomery, who posted a .254 ERA and Luxora's Tiago Torres with a 2.55 ERA. He was ranked ninth in strikeouts and number two in shutouts with 53. Only fellow Hall-of Famer Titus Bristow of Tuckanarra had more with 60 shutouts. Szabo was also very effective in the Pro Cup playoffs with a standout 14-8 mark in 25 games with a 2.44 ERA. He is second to Denton City's Hall-of-Famer Mila Mohoski for most playoff victories. Mohoski is the leader with a 16-11 record in 31 starts and a 3.07 ERA.

Szabo brought down the house with his closing remarks: "This is really a sad day for me. I've never had a job. I've always played baseball. I guess I'll have to go to work now."

Luzzatti Gets Call From Hall
Mike Luzzatti of the Claxton Diamonds played baseball a long time and he played it well from 2006 to 2025. Then at the age of 41, he called it a career. In recognition of his outstanding accomplishments, Luzzatti has been voted into the IPA Hall of Fame.

"There is so much to love about this game," the newest honoree said during his induction speech at the Islandian Pro Alliance Baseball Hall of Fame in Marston. "I couldn't imagine anything greater than my first major league game. Then I hit my first home run. Then the other landmarks came. But nothing tops today... to think that I made it to the Hall of Fame."

The legendary first baseman put up some impressive numbers and is sixth on the IPA all-time home run list. Luzzatti played in 2614 games, compiled a .316 batting average, hit 562 home runs, drove in 1698 runs and scored 1670 times during his career. Luzzatti performed quite well in the postseason with a .327 BA, 7 home runs and 27 RBIs, while playing in 40 games.

Mohoski Takes Place Among IPA Greats
The latest member of the Islandian Pro Alliance Hall of Fame is Mila Mohoski (2002-2021), who excelled for 20 years with the Red Bluff Red Sox and Denton City Redbirds, registering 353 wins, second best in IPA history. Only HOF-er Cory Burg with 369 victories has won more games. However, Mohoski has won the most postseason games with 16 victories.

Mohoski starred for the Red Sox for 5 years, leading them to the playoffs three times and one division title. He was also a vital force in the 2004 Pro Cup championship year. Mohoski was the Pro Cup Most Valuable Player that year with a 4-1 record and a 1.80 ERA. The stylish southpaw won the deciding game of the series. Mohoski was the 2004 Golden Arm winner, too. In addition he was acclaimed the Tycobbian Union Most Valuable Player for the 2004 regular season. Twice in his career Mohoski was an All-Star.

Mohoski spent the rest of his career with Denton City, playing 16 years for the Redbirds. They won 5 division pennants during his stay. Overall Mohoski was 353-267 with a 3.19 ERA. In the playoffs he was 16-11 in 31 starts and compiled a 3.07 ERA.

Nichols Joins HOF Immortals
The Islandian Pro Alliance Hall of Fame just added a fine shortstop and hitter to its number. The newest member of baseball's most elite group is Don Nichols, who recently retired at the age of 43 in 2024. Nichols (2001-2024) played for 24 seasons, 7 with the Marston Nine and 17 for the Far Mountain Redhawks. His teams won 3 Gold Cups, made the postseason 5 times and copped 3 division crowns. Nichols was an 11-time All-Star, 2-time Golden Glover and in 2018 took the Ruthlandian Union MVP Award and the Golden Bat. In his career he was near the top in all-time IPA stats, ranking 6th in games (3253), 2nd in hits (3760), 7th in RBIs (1773), 3rd in runs (2164) and 7th in stolen bases (668).

"I always knew I was good enough to play, but the Hall of Fame was one of the few things I never even dreamed of," said Nichols at his induction ceremony. "For me to focus a lot on the individual, that's not the way I learned to play the game. Baseball is a team game. You win as a team, you lose as team. You also do so many things together, but it is not an 'I' thing."

During his illustrious career, Nichols had 386 home runs among his 3760 hits, while batting .310. He played in 3253 games, scored 2164 runs and knocked in 1773 runs.

Kazmarek Enters IPA Hall of Fame
The only batter in IPA history to hit .400 is Hall of Fame bound - outfielder Jet Kazmarek, the number two hitter in IPA history with a fantastic lifetime .350 average, has found a new home.

"He simply produced - game after game after game. That's what I loved about him." Those sentiments were expressed by Jet Kazmarek's manager J. Samuel Jackson when the gifted left fielder's Hall of Fame selection was inducted yesterday. Kazmarek played for Valmara in his first 6 seasons in the IPA and 10 years in Arroyo Grande. Alltogether his teams made the playoffs 5 times.

Kazmarek stood only 5 feet and 6 inches high, but he stood real tall in the batter's box, playing from 2001 to 2016. He won the RU Golden Bat Award in 2002 with a stunning .428 batting average and captured the RU Most Valuable Player trophy twice, in 2002 and 2003. 9 times Kazmarek won the league batting crown and was an 8-time All-Star. He also topped the league in thefts on 5 occasions, stealing 822 bases in his 16-year career with Valmara and Arroyo Grande. Only Arlon's Hall of Famer Rocco Belasario with 1023 finished ahead of him. Kazmarek's 215 three-baggers are the most in IPA history, leading the league 8 seasons.

The newest Hall of Famer assessed his career in these words: "I did my best to contribute to the team -- in the field, at the plate, in the dugout. I didn't care about personal numbers. I just went out there to win."

Kazmarek played in 2191 games with a .350 career batting average and 2746 hits. He also scored 1522 runs and drove in 1207 runs with 186 home runs. Kazmarek retired from baseball in 2016, when he was 41. He is now the manager of the Valmara Vipers. Since taking over from Jackson in 2017, Kazmarek has led the Vipers to 4 RU North pennants and to the Pro Cup title last season.

Tucks Bristow Enshrined In IPA Hall Of Fame
Titus Bristow has just become immortal -- the star pitcher has just been inducted into the Islandian Pro Alliance Hall of Fame. What a fabulous career he has had. Bristow's lifetime record shows a 342-258 won-lost mark, an ERA of 2.75 and 60 shutouts. In 741 game appearances he fanned 2041 batters in 5434 innings and held opposing hitters to a .256 average. The stubby, little 5 foot 6 inch right-hander wound up 4th in all-time IPA wins and first in shutouts. The 6-time All-Star led the Blue Jays to 6 postseason appearances and 2 division flags. Bristow played from 2002 to 2020 and was the Tycobbian Most Valuable Player and Golden Arm winner in 2006 with a superb 27-7 record and a 1.73 ERA.

His name will now be added to the list of legends at the Hall of Fame in Marston. Bristow was 38, when he retired from baseball. He closed out his career with a 22-14 record for a sixth place club. That's how good the diminutive junkballer was.

At the enshrinement ceremony Carlton "Lefty" Stevens, his Blue Jay manager, commented on what it was like to hit against the new Hall of Famer. "When you think it's a ball, it's a strike. When you swing at what you think is a strike, it's in the dirt. He was a remarkable pitcher.

Bristow was well-known for winning ballgames and for pitching inside.
"Show me a guy who can't pitch inside and I'll show you a loser."
Writers once asked him on Mother's Day, if he would brush back his mother.
He curtly replied, "Only if she was diggin' in."

Peterson Enshrined in HOF
The best of the best, that is an apt description of baseball superstar Quincy Peterson, who starred in the IPA from 2001 to 2021, performing mainly with LaGrange and Elnora. The talented outfielder was inducted into the IPA Hall of Fame today at ceremonies in Marston. Peterson was honored 6 times as an All-Star and gathered in 4 Golden Glove Awards. The latest Hall-of-Famer participated in 5 Pro Cup playoffs in his career and was on 3 pennant winners.

Peterson retired at the age of 44 with a .294 career batting average. He mainly played left fielder, participated in 3087 games, rang up 3514 hits, 589 doubles, 565 home runs and batted in 1956 runs. Peterson was 5th in all-time hits, 4th in roundtrippers, 3rd in runs batted in, 9th in doubles and 10th in triples. Peterson was even tougher in the postseason, batting .343 with 13 homers, 38 RBIs and scoring 30 runs in only 41 games. However, he never got a Pro Cup ring.

"From the first time I saw him play, I knew he had the potential to be one of the best," Quincy Peterson's first manager Zoggy White said, "and the more I saw him play, the more certain I was that he would reach that potential."

White, along with Foxy Jimison, Peterson's longtime skipper at LaGrange were there at his enshrinement in the Islandian Pro Alliance Hall of Fame. It was a celebration of the career of one of the shining stars of his generation. His teammates loved him and opposing fans loved to hate him, but respect followed him everywhere, as evidenced by the large crowd at the ceremony.

The man of the moment was overcome with emotion when he finally took his turn at the podium to speak. "This is one of the greatest moments of my life and to share it with all of you here is... simply amazing. I would just like to thank my family and all my teammates for their support during my journey here. Individual honor was never my goal, winning was, but this is more than I could have ever dreamed."

Stevenson Now Hall of Famer
Sugar Valley's Hal Stevenson, a standout catcher throughout his Islandian Pro Alliance career, has been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Stevenson was gifted at the plate and with the mitt. He is number four on the IPA career homer list with 567. The Rattler superstar was a 12-time All-Star and hauled in 8 Golden Gloves from 2001 to 2024. He sparked the Rattlers to 8 division pennants and to the postseason 9 times. Stevenson played in one Pro Cup Final. Sugar Valley was beaten by the Red Bluff Red Sox in 2004. In 2013 Stevenson was honored with the Golden Bat Award. That year Stevenson topped the Ruthlandian Union with 49 home runs and 134 runs batted in, while batting at a .311 clip.

During the induction ceremony, he credited the coaches, who taught him to play the game and the teammates, who taught him to be a professional. However, the most important influence, Stevenson said, was his father. "Pops never gave up on me," he said, "no matter how often I felt like giving up on myself".

In his 2466-game career, Stevenson hit .287 with 2503 hits, 567 home runs, 1574 runs scored and 1758 RBIs. He wrapped up his career at the age of 40.

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 18, 2029

2029 Ruthlandian North Final Recap

Valmara Wins 4th RU North In A Row
For the fourth consecutive season and ninth time overall, the Valmara Vipers (89-65) won the Ruthlandian North. Manager Jet Kazmarek has a solid ballclub with fine pitching and hitting... They cruised through the division this year, sparked by pitchers Carroll Cain (21-12), Teddy Lem (19-12/2.90), Chris Phillips (18-10/2.82) and Clem Carmouche (16-16/3.17)... top hitters were CF Teddy Szymanski (.292/21/87), rookie 3B Amos Gallagher (.296/11/60), LF Sonny Oliver (.272/16/79) and All-Star C Floyd Randolph (.264/23/87)... No one really challenged the Vipers this season... they led the division the entire season.

First-year skipper Rusty Denicola turned it around for the Kilkenny Cats (82-72), who climbed up from seventh place last year to the runner-up spot this year... Superb pitching did it... the Cats staff posted a brilliant 2.67 team ERA, tops in the IPA... weak hitting (.236/30th) hampered Kilkenny in its battle with Valmara... Dave Whitaker (21-15/2.39), Christy Lane (16-13/2.61), James Crockett (15-13/2.75) and Dean Harris (16-16/2.62) were a most formidable rotation... Denicola really had no hitting threats to speak of... vet 1B Garris Aiken (.273/22/61) and RF Dan Jackson (.275/17/60) were just fair batters.

The third-place LaGrange Sports (80-74) fought Valmara tooth-and-nail last year, losing out by just 2 games, but this year they couldn't stay with them, winding up 9 games off the pace... manager Quincy Peterson had two strong starters in Alex Gillepie (20-14/2.73) and Ryan Janssen (19-12/2.39) and an impressive closer in Walt Thurber (9-2/1.76/13 saves), but little besides them... at the plate the Sports were less than average with the likes of CF Russell Watkins (.282/25/72), 1B Chris Charbonnier (.296/24/75) and RF Augie Marshall (.255/23/73).

This year IPA Hall-of-Fame shortstop Don Nichols took the reins of the Far Mountain Redhawks (77-77) from longtime skipper Alex Groveland and managed a break-even season, ending up in the fourth spot in the RU North, 12 games off the pace... the Redhawks had a good mound corps with starters Jakob Wagner (18-16/2.78) and Jeff Cooper (16-15/3.00) and bullpen ace Hans Becker (8-5/3.09), but the offense was seriously lacking, ranking next-to-last in the RU... you know your team is in trouble when your top hitters, RF Roy Driskoll (.261/12/70) and CF Donnie Lee David (.263/6/47) batted in the low .260s and the club's home-run leader C John Armstrong (.259) had only 13 roundtrippers.

After 11 straight seasons in the first division, Manny Mickens' Ancona Red Elephants (75-79) were down for the second successive year and finished in fifth place, 14 games behind pennant-winning Valmara... Razzy Angelis (17-13/3.48) and Vince Arndt (16-13/4.20) were the best on a mediocre staff... vets All-Star SS Todd Nasso (.258/27/83) and 1B Alekos Kotas (.258/21/68) showed a little power, but didn't hit much for average... new free agent from Tuckanarra 3B Koora Nawajuk (.253/12/80) did not pan out well and put up disappointing stats.

The Taranto Tars (74-80) have spent much of the last decade in the second division... Tommaso Lazzorda called it a career this year and brought Denny Radke in as manager... the Tars got a little improvement on the hill, yet still came in sixth, trailing by 15 games... of the starters only Tazio Domiano (16-11/3.36) excelled... reliever/spot starter Laz Tomassini (10-5/2.91/13 saves) did well, too... All-Star Johnny Sakelaris (15-21/3.34), Rod Bailey (15-18/3.58) and Paulie Pieroni (12-20/3.69) pitched pretty well, but suffered badly from poor run support... 2B Greg Murphy (.295/10/55) had the top average on the club, while 1B Val Lupoli (.229/21/75) and LF Nicky Cannon (.270/18/45) supplied what little power the Tars had.

The seventh-place Glasco Athletics (67-87) have only made the first division once in its last 15 seasons... that was in 2022, 7 years ago... the long-suffering A's last RU North flag came decades ago in 2002... new manager Barry McCord didn't fair any better than his predessessors as he guided Glasco to another near-the-bottom finish, 22 games out of first... however, progress was made this year as the pitching corps greatly improved, especially in the bullpen... starters Rusty Carlyle (13-20/3.28) and Sam Gilmore (7-10/3.16) were effective, but their records didn't show it... C Eddy Martin (.318/26/82) and CF Shane Murphy (.289/18/72) were Glasco's best bets at the plate.

Rick Fargnoli is still the skipper for the Ranford Bulls (66-88), who tumbled from third place in 2028 to the RU North cellar this year... the Bulls don't score well and they don't have much pitching... only Angelo Coppolo (15-17/3.02) is a standout pitcher... Ranford's top bats belonged to SS Terry Kerr (.294/16/71), 1B Elton Graff (.279/12/81), C Kyle Hunt (.286/4/74) and LF Percy Whitehead (.317/6/64).

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 18, 2029

2029 Ruthlandian South Final Recap

Crushers Upset Westerners For RU South Flag
Crystal Lake (93-61) surged past last year's Pro Cup champion Waleska in the second half of the season to capture its sixth Ruthlandian South title in the last 10 years... The Crushers overtook the Westerners in the last two months and won going away by 6 games... Herman "Baby" George has quite a team this season, maybe his best... Crystal Lake had the best record in the IPA and the best-hitting bunch in the IPA with a .289 mark... plus the Crushers had some fine pitching, too... Standouts were All-Star 1B Josh George (.324/19/100), All-Star CF Herm Taylor (.356/8/81), and All-Star 3B Carl Bentley (.296/14/80)... Taylor posted the highest batting average in the league this year... it's the second time he took the batting crown... other contributors were RF Sterling Hall (.326/6/51) and SS Timmy Robinson (.274/14/84)... on the mound it was T. D. Burnham (21-10/3.09), Duncan Welch (19-14/3.23) and Arnie Cason (18-14/2.78) leading the way.

Second place Waleska (87-67) just didn't have the pitching to keep up with Crystal Lake, despite having three 20-game winners and four All-Stars... however, McGraw Johnson's high-scoring Westerners could go toe-to-toe at the plate with the Crushers, batting .285 (2nd) and topping the IPA with 802 runs (1st)... All-Star LF Loco Dillinger (.344/41/141) had another wonderful year, leading the IPA in homers and RBIs and coming in second in batting average... He also got plenty of help from future Hall-of-Fame and All-Star CF Roy Hobbs (.325/20/96) and 1B Glenn Christian (.306/19/90)... SS Jose De Leon (.269/9/80) also was an All-Star, along with closer Jarred Laclair (2-5/2.32/20 saves)... CF Wilson James batted .310 with 111 runs, 9 home runs and 66 RBIs... on the hill Wild Bill Butler (20-8/3.73), Paco Morales (20-14/3.42) and Terry Richards (20-15/3.27) had fine seasons, too.

The Claxton Diamonds (86-68) improved from fifth to third this year, faded down the stretch and lost out by 7 games... still it was a good year for manager Dixie Baker... All-Star RF Ivan Krause (.303/24/96), All-Star Gary Colton (.291/23/91) and 1B Brad Jenkins (.317/13/95) led the offense, while Jarno Berkman (21-12/3.72), Jerry Smith (18-13/3.65), Freddi Hahn (16-12/3.75) and Jack Vogel (14-14/2.90) stood out on the mound.

Wesley Pate got his San Dimas Rancheros (79-75) off to a rousing start with an 18-6 record in April, but they then floundered the rest of year and ended up in fourth place, 14 games behind... the Rancheros had two good starters with Joaquin Lima (19-13/3.16) and Shannon White (15-14/3.37)... and Hector Villa (5-6/2.11/14 saves) pitched well out of the bullpen... but San Dimas didn't hit very well with a .258 BA (20th)... LF Andre Venturella (.290/9/53) and 1B Lloyd Kelly (.290/8/56) were the only decent hitters on the club.

The so-so St. John Crusaders (77-77) wound up fifth this season under skipper Clayton Luck and trailed by 16 games... top performers in the batter's box were SS Byron Johannsen (.325/14/72), LF Joey Daigrepont (.291/12/96) and rookie 2B Larry Burnett (.281/6/87)... top pitchers were Dave Carnera (15-11/2.68) and closer Nelson Hawthorne (3-5/2.21/12 saves).

The Valka Blackhawks (74-80) were contenders in the previous two years, but fell on hard times in 2029 and dipped to a sixth-place tie and 19 games off the pace... manager Ron Landauer had pretty fair hitting with a .274 team BA (4th) and were 9th in scoring, but had only average pitching (3.66 ERA/20th)... All-Star 3B Leevi Viru (.316/12/77) topped the team's hitters, along with 1B Andy Preston (.301/9/82), SS Olari Ojastu (.285/15/71) and CF Tonu Viks (.285/15/65)... Blackhawk starters did fairly well, headed up by Glenn Cadman (20-18/3.81), Nicky Palermo (17-15/3.47), Kristo Kivi (17-16/3.60) and Vanni Lakos (10-7/3.21).

For the third consecutive year the Grand City Cybercats (74-80) have wallowed deep in the second division of the RU South, finishing up tied for sixth place with Valka... Wade Joslin's club possesses average hitting (.259/18th) and poor pitching (3.89 ERA/29th)... CF Thomas Hall (.269/23/90) and 1B Mick Langston (.278/14/89) are the best run producers, while Ronald Bullard (19-16/4.32) and Danny Denver (12-20/4.04) are quality arms.

The Belair Beach Sunbirds (63-91) and rookie manager Little Jake Bungarooba suffered a woeful year, spending most of the season in the cellar... it's the Sunbirds fourth year in a row to be in the bottom rungs of the standings... they were a dismal 30 games out of first... Bungarooba had terrible pitching with a 4.79 team ERA, by far the worst in the IPA... the only talent on the Sunbirds are All-Star 1B Kees Draeger (.304/30/99) and C Deman Kooken (.339/15/72).

Eugene, Happy New Year and thanks for your great dynasty reports.....I don't check them as often as I might but have just spotted Loco Dillinger in the All-Star team....great name and I'll keep my eye on him!!
Just wondered if you use the "League Development" option or do you keep the offensive/pitching balance the same over the years.

Thanks for checking out the IPA.

I like the name Loco Dillinger, too. I create a lot of my players' names.
I created my own name database to control the names in my league. In general, the game used to generate too many goofy last names. I don't know if it is still the case. Maybe it has been fixed by now.

Sorry, my ignorance, but I don't know what the "League Development" option is. I guess I try to keep it basically the same each year. I want the batting leaders to hit 40-60 homers, 40-50 doubles, 10-15 triples a year and the league batting average to be around .260. I want the strikeout leader to be 250-300 Ks year, ERA leaders 2.00-2.50 each year. I just chose 1955 as the year to base my league on and just let the game develop. I occasionally adjusted the league modifiers to keep it in sync with 1950s baseball. It went well until I converted to another version. I played OOTP9 until the 2028 season, converted to OOTP12 and all heck broke loose. I had to adjust the league modifiers drastically to keep from having way too many home runs and strikeouts. I adjusted it monthly to keep the stats in line. The 2029 season seems to be statistically OK, but run scoring is down a bit.

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 18, 2029

2029 Ruthlandian East Final Recap

Sweet Season For Sugar Valley In RU East
After three bad seasons in a row, the Sugar Valley Rattlers (88-66) finally found some pitching and garnered the Ruthlandian East flag for the 8th time in history. The Rattlers rose up from fifth place and 19 games out to the division crown, whipping second place Wynnamac by 5 games. They took control in July after Belle Plaine had led at mid-season. Longtime skipper Gibby Bobkins has an impressive pitching corps with starters All-Star Benny McConnell (22-12/3.37), Jeremy Blanchard (19-11/3.01) and Aron Libertini (21-15/3.36)... in the bullpen Dallas Casey (8-5/2.56/17 saves) was effective, too... the team ERA was a fine 3.28... Sugar Valley also led the RU with 166 homers... the Rattlers hit only .242 (28th), but went deep fairly often, led by 1B Dean Woods (.261/32/86) and All-Star RF Lindsay Deal (.264/29/108).

The Wynnamac Sundowners (83-71) have been tough contenders in the RU East for the last five seasons... Matt Donnelly's club just waited too late to make its move this year and came up 5 games short... the Sundowners have solid starters, but lack relievers... All-Star Killara Bardo (22-9/2.56), Lon Marshall (15-16/2.86) and Jason Meeks (13-16) are quality hurlers and keep the club in the game... Donnelly's starters compiled a very good 3.27 team ERA (7th), they just need help from the bullpen, which chalked up a poor 4.32 ERA (32nd)... on the offensive side of the ledger, Wynnamac is better than average with a .270 mark (9th), paced by LF Lil Hoss Burkhalter (.283/20/67), 3B Dorak Aranda (.285/17/68), All-Star C Lee Leslie (.302/16/68) and CF Tommy Lambright (.280/15/85).

The third-place Elnora All-Stars (81-73) were usually within striking distance of first place this year and ended up 7 games out... former star catcher Leon Carter guided them up from 17 games behind and fourth place in 2028... better pitching (3.52/14th) and solid hitting (.275/3rd) did the job this season... Jeremy Sellers (12-6/2.33), Freddy Pfeffer (17-10/3.24) and Lucien Vachon (18-16/3.31) formed a formidable starting rotation... and Carter has six .300 hitters on his lineup card: 1B Mel Long (.315/18/113), CF Travis Glass (.307/20/76), RF Pettis Pentleton (.309/5/49), 2B Matt Boyd (.310/10/62) and C Rudi Lange (.310/2/55)... however All-Star LF Jock Jumonville (.281/16/85) was Elnora's best overall threat at the plate.

The top dog at the All-Star break was the Belle Plaine Musketeers (80-74), who had a 3-game edge over Sugar Valley, but they couldn't maintain it in the second half... manager Dave Torregrossa's Muskies fizzled in the summer and September and slipped to fourth place, trailing by 8 games... the shame of it is Belle Plaine is a good all-around team with a .272 team BA (6th) and a 3.25 team ERA (6th)... they just played in a good division with a bunch of good ballclubs... All-Star Johnny Davenport (19-11/2.59), Earl Lacroix (20-9/3.11) and Leonard James (15-15/3.18) can pitch with the best of them... and 3B Tyler Verret (.311/21/83), LF Owen Newman (.279/15/68), C Derek Roman (.310/14/70) and RF Leon Bourque (.290/11/63) are pretty fair country hitters.

Last year's RU East champ Marston (79-74) was another team that got a late start and couldn't catch up, but the Nine was a fine team the final six weeks of the season, totaling a 28-16 record... overall Marston under second-year skipper Danny Church fell to fifth place and 9 games off the pace... the Nine just didn't hit as well this season, though the pitching was better... In 2028 they hit .276, but dropped to .262 this season... only 2B Lonnie Trekell (.277/29/100) and CF Russ Woodward (.290/23/78) had good years with the bats... on the hill Marston registered a strong 3.07 team ERA (4th), topped by Ronald Schmitt (13-8/2.40), Ryan Ledbetter (19-16/3.28), Doug Hansack (16-12/3.17) and Jack Tunstall (11-18/3.17).

For the second straight year Killer Brewster had a mediocre sixth-place club in Eastshore (76-78), finishing up 12 games behind in the race... this in spite of better pitching and hitting... the RU East was a tough division this year... Randy Boone (21-15/3.39) and Don Klingenberg (15-19/2.87) paced the pitching with CF Scotty Lagrange (.319/15/74) and SS Larry Romney (.285/17/95) the batting leaders.

The Cold Creek Catamounts (70-84) were cellar-dwellers in 2027 and 2028 and just a little better in 2029 with a seventh-place spot in the standings... new manager Scott Lemieux's club wound up 18 games back, much-improved over last year's 32 games out... most of the credit goes to the bullpen, which ranked 8th with a 2.98 ERA, sparked by closer Bobby Reid (6-4/2.49/17 saves), J. J. Gillespie (4-2/2.06/3 saves) and Pete Heller (1-2/2.47)... the starting rotation was decent with Norman Hill (18-17/3.66), Eddie Brasher (16-18/3.60) and Tommy Smith (15-19/3.66)... the team hit only .252 (23rd) with LF Carl Glick (.281/15/55), 3B Mike Houston (.275/10/70) and 1B Steve Daniels (.270/17/68) providing most of the impotent offense.

Former powerhouse Beechwood (63-91) suffered the indignity of its second year in a row in the basement... just two seasons ago the Bobcats were one of the better teams in the IPA racking up pennants in 2026 and 2027... since then, the mound staff has gone to pot for manager Bret George... young Ken Arby (16-14/2.42) is still an outstanding hurler, Bill Curtis (11-21/3.34) still is effective, but Maury Patterson (13-17/3.84) doesn't seem to be the same outstanding pitcher he was in championship seasons when he went 26-8 and 26-11 in back-to-back years... Patterson received the RU Golden Arm in 2026... Beechwood batted just .241 (29th)... the top producers for average were LF Jojo Davis (.313/2/46) and 1B Travis Wagner (.306/3/56) with 3B Hector Cuellar (.266/12/89) and IPA icon CF Vic Valenti (.254/17/76) the RBI guys... after 17 seasons, 37-year-old Valenti is slowing down a bit and showing his age... 17-year veteran Valenti is a career .317 hitter and has averaged 30 homers and 100 RBIs a year.

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 18, 2029

2029 Ruthlandian West Final Recap

Stars Sweep By Rovers In RU West
The Sligo Rovers had their way in the Ruthlandian West during the opening half of the season and looked like they would breeze to a third pennant in a row, but it didn't happen... the Rovers slumped badly in August and allowed the Stoner Stars (85-69) to sweep by them and come away with the division crown, edging Sligo by 2 games... the Rovers led the Stars by 8 games at the All-Star hiatus... Stoner hit its way to the title with a .272 BA (7th), ranking third in scoring... manager Benny Stern had just enough pitching to get the job done... the Stars staff only posted a 3.84 team ERA (26th)... Stern had a solid core of hitters, no great ones, but lots of good ones like All-Star 3B Jeff Henderson (.296/20/90) RF Neil Mooney (.310/19/69), 1B Fletch Fowler (.288/16/75) and All-Star 2B Norm Murdoch (.286/9/69)... free agent vet Glenn Tackett (21-13/3.00) was the ace in his first season with help from Raul Hidalgo (19-13/3.10)... closer Darrell Geoffrey (10-5/1.45/12 saves) had an excellent year, too.

The second-place Sligo Rovers (83-71) offense didn't carry its load... Eddie Keys' club hit a lowly .236 (31st) and finished 30th in scoring... things were so bad Darryl Collins led the club with 13 homers, 74 RBIs and a .274 batting average... but it was entirely another case on the hill, where the Rovers rotation was outstanding with a 3.07 team ERA (2nd)... Keys had four good starters in Les Patterson (19-15/3.28), All-Star Lou Page (17-14/3.14), Earl Perkins (16-13/2.86) and Terry Bailey (15-16/2.94).

Under new skipper Joe Judlin the Forest City Lumberjacks (80-74) made a big turnaround in 2029, rising up from deep in the cellar the previous year (66-88) up to third place, just 5 games off the pace... Hitting rose from .237 to .259 and the team ERA lowered from 4.58 to 3.66... leading the offense was All-Star George Arnick (.294/11/70), 2B Jackie Jackson (.277/10/57), CF Ron McGuire (.269/17/70) and 3B Rog Clemens (.275/12/86)... pitching-wise the club was led by vet Andy Velasco (19-11/3.35), rookie Jimmy Willard (20-16/3.38) and Norm Dawson (18-14/3.84).

Manager Bailey Norcross has very little hitting in Middlefield (79-74), but the Roosters managed to come in fourth in the RU West standings, only 6 games behind winning Stoner, mainly because of the mound corps, which put up a good 3.27 team ERA (8th)... Tyrus Cobb (19-8/2.52) had a standout season before missing out on his last 5 starts with strained triceps... Neither were very potent at the plate, but 3B Stu Butterworth (.247/11/50) led the team in batting average and LF Floyd McClellan (.235/22/69) was tops in homers and runs batted in.

Robbie Brooks thought his Fort Benton Defenders (72-82) was a team on the rise after close fourth-place and second-place finishes the previous seasons... It looked like the Defenders were poise to contend for the division title this year... however the Defenders slipped back to fifth place and trailed the leader by 13 games... they never were in a challenging position... Brooks has some good bats in his lineup... they batted .273 (5th) and ranked 9th in runs... 1B Ernie O'Day (.313/26/84) and CF Vince Boylan (.266/18/80) were the best run producers... and on the mound it was Frankie Quinn (20-15/3.29) and Augie Marquis (16-16/3.41).

The sixth-place Volusia Vigilantes (71-83) wound up 14 games behind in the race with average hitting and mediocre pitching... Alfonso Feliz just doesn't have a lot of talent... CF Vasco Aguilar (.281/18/92) had a good season, while 2B Valerio Cortes (.249/16/75) and SS Joao Rosales (.276/11/67) both had fair years... the V's do have one standout player, last year's RU Golden Arm winner, Cisco Almeida (18-16/3.48), but he struggled this season, yet still did pretty well.

There is some talent in Colfax (68-86)... skipper Ilya Szabo hasn't got enough to right the ship yet as the Blasters dropped to seventh this season and ended up 17 games out... Smoky Rogers (18-12/3.16) is a top-notch pitcher and C Mitch Fullerton (.296/28/89), RF Glen Smith (.304/10/75) and 1B Doug Kirkwood (.293/12/74) are some good sticks.

For the past five years the Rocky Rapids Snappers (63-91) have been in the doldrums of the second division in the RU West... Junior Noland replaced his dad Ryan as manager, but didn't make any progress... the Snappers were last in the RU West for the third time in four years... his best performers were Matt Loudermilk (18-12/2.75), who really had strong season, especially with such a poor team... 8-year veteran 1B Angelo Nardone (.297/31/88) and third-year C Allie Blackwell (.301/10/73).

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 18, 2029

2029 Tycobbian North Final Recap

Hellcats Nips Frogs In TU North Playoff
A season-long struggle between the Hartsdale Hellcats and the Fairfax Frogs finally came to an end in a single-game playoff for the Tycobbian North regular-season crown... The Hellcats got a magnificent 15-strikeout performance from Hank Cooke and a 2-1 triumph over the Frogs to make the Pro Cup playoffs for the first time in 15 years.

2029 was a very special year for Kendry Moulton, the new skipper of the Hartsdale Hellcats (85-70)... not only was he inducted into the IPA Hall of Fame, Moulton guided the Hellcats to the pennant... Hartsdale depended on a fine group of pitchers to capture the TU North title... All-Star Lou Chylak (22-11/2.52), Art Reese (17-14/2.47) and Hank Cooke (18-12/3.14) were responsible for a great 3.07 team ERA (2nd)... and 1B Johnny Scott (.295/20/77) and RF Fred Wasikowski (.271/13/77) led the anemic offense... the Hellcats won the pennant with a red-hot August and September.

The Fairfax Frogs (84-71) made great strides this year, climbing up from last place the year before... Fairfax also had an excellent final two months... it took a great pitching performance to deprive Dane Wesner's boys of the division flag... the Frogs hit well with a .264 batting average (13th) and were somewhat suspect on the hill with a 3.81 ERA (23rd)... Wesner had a solid lineup with CF Eric Kusek (.313/11/78), rookie C Brian Davis (.312/11/55), 2B John Velasco (.303/13/73), RF Randall Crawford (.289/16/75) and rookie 3B Woody Jackson (.296/13/58)... Joey Santini (20-14/3.49) and Eric Mayes (18-11/4.08) paced the pitchers... closer Zack Dowdle (8-4/2.19/20 saves) stood out in the bullpen.

It was a good and consistent season for the third place Luxora Zorros (80-74)... the Z's wound up just 4 and a half games out of first place... manager Lacey Tompkins got them up from sixth place the year before... Luxora was better in all aspects of the game... really improved bats with a .264 team BA (14th) and slightly improved on the mound with a 3.51 team ERA (10th)... 1B Gerry Hathaway (.320/17/60) and LF Forest Orr (.316/11/59) were the top bats with support from CF Kevin Hanley (.291/23/69) and RF Roger Noble (.255/21/69)... starters Tommy Ellefson (15-14/3.64) and Valente Viero (15-15/3.48) were reliable... bullpen ace Kent White (6-3/1.39/16 saves) had a very impressive season.

This year Todd Simons took control of the North Hills Hawks (76-78) and brought them out of 7th place in the standings up to number four, 8 and a half games back in the race... it's been 13 years since the Hawks won the TU North... so things are looking up for them... CF Ronnie Guillaume (.342/8/76/) was by far the best batter on the squad, followed by All-Star C Cruz Andrade (.294/14/71) and LF Clyde Chalmers (.295/3/42)... as a team North Hills hit for a better-than-average .264 (11th)... the Hawks were just average on the mound with a 3.66 ERA (16th)... the starting four were fairly steady, led by Terry Costanza (18-14/3/51), David Michael (17-14/3.91), Kerry Hoffman (13-10/3.37) and Andy Dahlberg (13-19/3.59).

The first half of the 2029 season was excellent for the Oxford Red Caps (74-80) with new manager Cameron Kamara at the helm... the Red Caps led the TU North at the midpoint by 2 games, but it didn't last as they went into a summertime swoon and fell to fifth place, 10 and a half games off the pace... same spot as last year... the Red Caps had average hitting (.260-16th) and were so-so on the hill with a 3.83 ERA (24th)... carrying the offensive load were All-Star 1B Kerry Sterling (.289/34/88) and longtime star LF Dennis Hartwig (.298/26/99)... Kenny Gorham (15-12/3.38) was the only hurler with a winning mark among the starters.

Rusty Lanussa in Mahaska (73-81) had a nightmare season and dropped from first place down to the sixth spot, 11 and a half games behind champ Hartsdale... James Allington (15-12/3.59) and Arno Vainmaa (15-16/2.97) were quality arms for the Haymakers, while LF Johnny Yevtushenko (.308/22/90) and RF Travis Tuttle (.292/20/63) were decent bats.

The seventh-place Blue Lake Blue Sox (70-84) haven't been in the postseason since 2010... Rick Hilliard took command as skipper this season and did not fare very well, finishing up 14 and a half games behind... rookie Willie Taskins (16-15/2.96) was the only solid starter... the only reliable hitter was All-Star CF Chris Halley (.332/3/49)... what little power the Blue Sox had came from rookie RF Boom-Boom Baker (.244/17/70), rookie Herb Hull (.275/14/61) and vet 3B Skipper Smith (.280/14/73).

After winning four division flags in 8 years and almost winning two other times, the White River Rascals (66-88) plunged to the basement, 18 and a half game behind... Mick Cronyn has pretty fair pitching with Paul Sardini (17-16/2.91), who was the TU Golden Arm winner last year, along with Jon French (9-13/3.10), who gave him some good starts.... veteran star 1B Marty Blake (.292/21/57) still can hit at age 35, but he has little help.

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 18, 2029

2029 Tycobbian South Final Recap

Ginza Scuttles Southport In TU South
For the fourth time in the last seven seasons the Ginza Ninjas have corraled the Tycobbian South division trophy... Huroko Uchiyama's powerhouse may be ready to seriously challenge for the Pro Cup this year... the Ninjas roared past the strong Southport Sun Sox in August and prevailed by 5 games... the Sun Sox led by 3 games at midseason and were tied in the standings with the Ninjas going into the final two months of the season... the Colchester Elites might have been the best team in the division in the second half of the year, but they floundered badly in the opening half and trailed by 14 games at the All-Star Game... the Elites finished up 7 games behind Ginza in third place.

The Ginza Ninjas (91-63) chalked up the best record in the Tycobbian Union by combining excellent hitting, scoring and pitching... the Ninjas batted .281 (2nd), topped the TU in scoring with 749 runs and posted a fine 3.19 team ERA (5th)... manager Uchiyama had four All-Stars on his club... All-Star Cotton Cornwall (.337/25/107), All-Star SS Russell Van Kleek (.320/21/79) and All-Star 2B Howard Winston (.33/5/52) led the hitters, along with standout 1B Johnny O'Rorke (.296/27/86) and RF Sadaharu Uchiyama (.306/11/63)... All-Star hurler Hollis Pace (21-10/2.79) paced the mound staff with help from a great free agent pickup Loris Plooster (18-11/2.73) and Ryuji Kaneko (18-10/3.93)... Ginza's bullpen was outstanding, too, with a 2.59 ERA (2nd), led by Frank Beard (5-5/2.63/10 saves) and Ken Kichida (7-2/2.05/8 saves).

The Southport Sun Sox (86-68) played well until August when they went into a slump and staggered home with a poor 17-27 mark... down the stretch Charley Oscar's pitching failed him... his hitting also suffered some, too... at mid-year the Sun Sox looked like the team to take this season's Pro Cup... Don Pascioni (23-9/2.71) had a super year and Bob Bondy (18-12/3.91) was effective, but others in the rotation did not perform well... Al Laclair (11-9/4.36) won the fewest games in his career and Ronnie Galus (12-18/3.90), a 23-game winner in 2028, had an off-year, too... All-Star LF Lorne Evans (.310/34/93), LF Cody Dougherty (.299/16/95), 1B Kyle Ross (.286/14/97) and CF Rick Cabrini (.283/7/49) carried the club offensively... All-Star 2B Yanni Kouris (.284/6/54) and 3B Sam Cousins (.264/17/71) had good years, too.

New manager Patsy Bates got his Colchester Elites (84-70) going in the last half of the year... the Elites wound up third, 7 games off the pace... Bates had a good offense, ranked third in homers and seventh in scoring with pretty fair pitching (3.40-8th)... All-Star CF Jim Lewellan (.288/36/97) and RF Cleve Belton (.274/29/102) sparked the offense, while on the hill, it was Mackie McGinnity (23-7/2.98), Mike Kierkegaard (16-12/3.37) and Mac Flowers (11-10/2.93) leading the rotation.

Flipper Bird took charge of the Cape Coral Hurricanes (80-74) from longtime skipper Huggy Miller and they responded well in his second season with a fourth-place finish, up from seventh last year... it is the first time in four seasons the Hurricanes made the first division... the 'Canes hit well, but only had average pitching (3.69-17th)... they batted .274 (4th) and scored 647 runs (16th)... RF Jan Kammer (.300/21/105), CF Dan Isenberg (.323/12/42) and All-Star C Tonio Libertore (.298/1/45) were the top sticks... Kris Bogaard (16-13/2.97) and closer Kenny Nikas (6-5/2.11/12 saves) were the top hurlers... Nikas came this year from Ancona of the RU via free agency.

The Summerland Sunsets (78-76) were 13 games back in the pennant race and wound up in fifth place... manager Will Hackett had a good pitching corps with a 3.18 team ERA (4th), but lacked offense, winding up with a .253 BA (22nd) and ranking 27th in scoring with only 596 runs... Clive Coxford (17-15/2.65) and All-Star Scotty Ellison (16-13/2.36) were strong starters, but suffered from run support... Ron McDonald (14-13/3.68) was also a quality arm most of the time... top gun at the plate was All-Star 1B Mandu Purula, who flirted with .400 the first half, but tailed off to only .319 with 19 homers and 64 RBIs.

As usual, the sixth-place Arroyo Grande Suns (75-79) could go deep and score runs, but they couldn't always outscore the opposition... consequently Cyclone Cobb's club came in 16 games out of first place this year... the Sun sluggers batted .258 (18th), ranked tenth in runs with 673 and first in homers with 153... pitching-wise they were 3.87 (26th) with fair starters and a good bullpen... RF Robbie Kiner (.313/5/64) and LF Rod Jacobs (.292/24/62) had the top averages, while 1B Rusty Vizcarra (.233/25/72), CF Johnny Eichhorn (.255/20/47), C Frank Jourdan (.258/20/68) and 3B Vince Shepherd (.254/19/73) hit the longball, but not much for average... on the mound Royce Coleman stood tall with a 2.93 ERA, but was only 12-12 for the year... Cesar De Leon was the ace at 20-14 with a 3.44 ERA... Chico Huerta (16-15/4.30) was effective at times, but Guy Gigere (13/20/5.59) has an atrocious season.

Alberto Herrera's San Alejo Montaneros (73-81) were in seventh place, 18 games back in the pennant chase... bright spots on the team include 25-year-old starter Roy Burchfield (7-2/2.56) and 27-year-old reliever Mario Aragon (3-5/2.91/16 saves)... Burchfield was activated only in August and really did well the rest of the way... the best bats in the lineup were 1B Ramon Escabedo (.294/27/105) and 3B Bubby Blackwell (.319/9/72).

One of the best franchises in IPA history, the Turon Typhoons (72-82), who have made the playoffs 13 times and come away with a record 4 Pro Cups, have fallen to rock bottom in the last four years... the once-proud Typhoons finished dead last in the TU South this year and trailed division champ Ginza by 19 games... first-year manager Alan Hansen managed some improvement this season, mainly on the mound, but still had the worst season in the club's history... Turon has good hitters that hit for average (.269/7th), but ranked only 23rd with 607 runs... the Typhoons don't have much power, hitting only 86 (27th) out of the park... starting pitching is fair with a 3.67 ERA and solid in the bullpen with a 2.78 ERA... veteran 1B Michael Page (.314/25/63) is the best bat in the lineup... Victor Suarez (18-14/3.34), James Newland (15-12/3.57) and Sal Quattrone (15-17/3/21) were capable starters... Hansen's first year as skipper didn't go as well as he would have liked, but it was a great year for him nonetheless - Hansen was elected to the IPA Hall of Fame this season... Hansen was a fine second baseman in the league for from 2002 to 2023, batted an overall .296, played on 12 pennant winners and won 2 Pro Cup rings.

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 18, 2029

2029 Tycobbian East Final Recap

Tucks Reign Supreme Again In TU East
It's becoming almost routine for the Tuckanarra Blue Jays in the Tycobbian East division... for the fifth time in the last seven seasons the Tucks reigned supreme as they won in easy fashion by 9 games... East Point was the only contender and that lasted only until midseason... the Panthers were just a game off the pace at the All-Star break, but they dropped back in the pack in the second half and ended up 9 games behind and tied for second place with Hillsboro... no other team was in sight... last year Tuckanarra was 102-52 and won the pennant going away by 15 games.

Carlton "Lefty" Stevens' club didn't break the 100 mark this year, but he still had a very good one... the Tuckanarra Blue Jays (90-64) have a fine, all-around team with a .271 BA (5th), 732 runs (2nd) and a 3.10 team ERA (3rd)... at 31 All-Star 1B Lynn Starr (.335/27/126) keeps getting better with age... All-Star SS Jed Turchin (.308/12/90) lent a lot of support, too... along with fine 2B Eddie Darby (.287/10/63)... on the mound Stevens has five quality starters in Sam Tate (19-11/3.04), Philip Marston (16-11/3.60), Jamie Gustafson (16-15/2.72), Quinn Starr (14-8/3.11) and Croc Wedgedale (11-6/2.65)... and Matt Stevens (10-4/2.00/14 saves) is an impressive closer... the Blue Jays will be in the thick of things in the Pro Cup playoffs - a team to be watched.

The East Point Panthers (81-73) faded in the second half and fell back into a tie with Hillsboro... skipper Karol Zodoka has some good pitching with All-Star Frank Blair (21-16/2.52) and Dixie Brooks (17-15/2.86) as well as an All-Star closer Jack Bolden (6-3/1.88/14 saves)... but his Panthers failed miserably at the plate with a pathetic .240 average (31st) and didn't score well (19th), but did have some punch with 126 homers (10th)... CF Kenko Aoki didn't hit for average, but did go deep 25 times... he finished with 92 RBIs, but batted just .227... 2B Tetsu Tanaka had 18 home runs, 80 RBIs and hit .263... 3B Jug Slavin totaled 18 roundtrippers, 64 runs batted in with a .271 BA... LF Wally Wright led the team with a .309 mark, 7 homers and 49 RBIs.

With a new manager, Andy Jefferson, the Hillsboro Blazers (81-73) were just 6 games out and in the third spot in the standings at the halfway point, but they were just an average club the rest of the season and they finished 9 games back, deadlocked with East Point... the Blazers had a standout staff that compiled a 3.02 team ERA, which topped the TU... Gregg Hughes (19-12/2.14) was the IPA leader in ERA... Marty Anderson (12-7/2.85) was very effective, too... closer Duke Mahoney (4-6/2.15/17) was solid in the bullpen... except for decent power, the offense didn't do too much with a .251 BA (25th) and ranked 31st with 585 runs... the Blazers did hit 119 home runs (14th)... All-Star C Brian Hatcher (.287/12/43), 3B Bobby Denton (.319/15/69), 1B Larry Guichard (.271/13/61), LF Paul Green (.245/27/62), 2B Jason DiMucci (.272/6/70) and Biggy Washington (.216/18/58) supplied what little offense the team had.

Manager Cochise Chandler had good hitting and anemic pitching in Midway (75-79) as his Wolves wound up in fourth place, 15 games out... the Wolves batted .270 (6th), ranked 11th with 670 runs and knocked 116 out of the park (15th)... pitching was another story with an atrocious 4.31 ERA (32nd), last in the entire TU... Midway's top bats were 1B Jake Welsh (.296/23/82), All-Star 3B Rusty Graves (.306/15/70) and RF Eduardo Villanueva (.304/9/53)... Bobby Dorignac (16-19/3.81) was the Wolves only decent pitcher.

Frank Kiffin piloted the Ozarka Naturals (73-81) to a fifth-place finish in his rookie year, up from a dismal eighth last season... the Nats trailed first place Tuckanarra by 17... the rise in the standings was primarily because of improvement on the mound... Ozarka had four very capable arms with Denny Mills (16-15/3.10), Marty Lane (13-13/3.17), Stan Carey (14-10/2.85) and rookie reliever Brady Bell (7-6/1.79/16 saves)... batting leaders were All-Star SS James Couch (.308/13/67), RF Byron Glenn (.284/24/86), 3B Nick Rembert (.288/11/79) and 1B George Jenkins (.323/10/51)... the Naturals hit for a .265 average (10th), but ranked 20th in scoring with 617 runs and posted a 3.53 team ERA (12th).

It was not a pleasant season for Deroche "Lips" Leon and the South Fork Stallions (70-84), who spiraled downward from 3rd place to 6th place this year, winding up 20 games out in the pennant race... lack of offense (.243/28th) and average pitching (3.62/15th) did them in... they ranked 27th in scoring with 596 runs... All-Star pitcher Ozz Gatsby (21-12/2.45) had a great season and Richie Raeburn (15-17/3.24) was effective... C Mel Danley (.264/20/76), LF Pat Giles (.234/21/62) and CF Shelby Glasscock (.230/18/73) were the main run producers.

Coming in seventh this season were the High Mesa Cowboys (66-88)... manager Rolf Kellgren brought them in 24 games out of first as the Cowpokes suffered down in the second division for the third successive year... the only thing High Mesa did was hit homers... they walloped 142 roundtrippers to tie for 4th, hit just .233 (32nd) and ranked 30th with only 589 runs... on the hill the Cowboys staff chalked up an inferior 3.91 ERA (27th)... Roger Hart (17-15/2.98) was solid and steady... and Fonzie Winkler (15-17/3.29) pitched well, too... RF Bill Andrews (.220/3/95) was the biggest run producer with help from 3B Freddy Franks (.277/19/52) and 36-year-old aging superstar 1B Jack Elliott (.245/18/69).

The Red Bluff Red Sox (61-93) ran their second division streak to 8 seasons... the Red Sox were 29 games behind... with mediocre hitting (.243 (29th), scoring (594 runs-29th) and pitching (4.13-30th)... and not much power either with 114 homers (17th)... skipper Jim Schubert only had one solid starter and that was Tony Defazio (16-14/2.82) and a few credible batters in All-Star RF Corbett Brooks (.254/31/95), 1B Leander Burks (.247/22/85) and CF Billy Barton (.281/5/33).