It won't be long until we get some Islandian Pro Alliance baseball.

55 of the 64 teams have had their rosters updated.

DONE... All 64 team rosters have been updated.

Opening day coming soon for the 2065 season of the Islandian Pro Alliance..

Will start working on the preseason preview.

Just finished the preseason preview for the Ruthlandian North Division.
Will post tomorrow.

Attachment 713021
Thursday, April 2, 2065

IPA SEASON 65 DEBUTS FRIDAY, WESTERNERS AND RACERS IN PRO CUP FINALS
Get ready for some baseball -- Islandian Pro Alliance style!
The 65th season of the IPA begins Wednesday afternoon all across the Islands... 64 teams will do it all over again, vying for the coveted IPA Pro Cup that was won last year by the unheralded Claxton Diamonds over the vaunted Rolling Hills Racers.

After assessing the returning players' talents, skills and potential and the new roster additions, the baseball scribes and broadcasters have made their preseason picks... the sports gurus have spoken -- the Waleska Westerners will reign supreme in the Ruthlandian Union, and once again, the Rolling Hills Racers will rule the roost in the Tycobbian Union... those talented teams are forecast to meet next October in the Pro Cup Classic for the overall Islandian championship.

GATORS FAVORED IN RU NORTH
The LaGrange Gators apparently are back in serious contention in the Ruthlandian North Division... two years ago they went all the way to the Pro Cup Finals, but last year they wound up fourth in a tight 4-team race, won by the Valmara Vipers... this season in the preseason poll the baseball experts are giving the nod to the Gators in another hotly-contested race with the defending champ Valmara and the Far Mountain Redhawks.... LaGrange has the pitching, while Far Mountain and Valmara have the bats... most baseball folks think good pitching beats good batting... in recent years, that has been the story for success in the Islandian Pro Alliance.

2065 Ruthlandian North Preseason Poll

1st Place: LaGrange Gators
Wound up tied for fourth last season, trailing by just 4 games... LaGrange has three fine starters in Lucien Petit (16-11, 2.92), Chucky Beckman (13-8, 2.58) and Dave Loxley (11-7, 2.79)... they are more than solid... all they need is a few runs to win games... Trey Ladner (14-10, 2.14 ERA, 18 saves, 77 games) is also an excellent closer... LaGrange needs improved offense to be a dynamite team... sorely lacking in longball power... no real threats in the batting order... the best bats are 1B Chogie Alfieri (.286 BA, 13 HR, 70 RBI, 55 R) and 3B Cleve Juban (.276 BA, 17 HR, 50 RBI, 67 R) and they are just modest hitters.

2nd Place: Valmara Vipers (5 GB)
The Vipers won the division title last year with its offense... Valmara has several strong bats in star 1B Timmy Benford (.303 BA, 35 HR, 105 RBI, 97 R, 2 SB), RF Semyon Tomczak (.289 BA, 20 HR, 75 RBI, 79 R, 14 SB) and LF Harv Shepard (.331 BA, 19 HR, 74 RBI, 92 R, 12 SB)... the pitching is adequate, but they have no clear-cut ace... Jared Drobish (14-9, 3.13 ERA), Teddy Howell (10-8, 2.33), Tony Joe Carnes (13-8, 3.51) and Jiro Valastro (10-9, 3.66) are the starting rotation... Kris Fourcade (14-10, 3.16 ERA, 26 saves, 93 games) is a solid workhorse closer.

3rd Place: Far Mountain Redhawks (6 GB)
The Redhawks tied for fourth place last year, 4 games off the pace... they can hit the ball, but come up short on the hill... they feature good bats throughout the lineup, led by 1B Jarrick Beauchamp (.320 BA, 8 HR, 71 RBIs, 100 R, 6 SB), star 2B Luke Hazlett (.304 BA, 20 HR, 101 RBI, 94 R, 6 SB), 3B Mac McKendry (.300 BA, 20 HR, 88 RBI, 69 R) and star CF Ox Gless (.287 BA, 21 HR, 95 RBI, 91 R, 3 SB)... Jon Hedlund (10-7, 3.66) and Axel Helden (14-11, 3.65) are fairly good starters with a good closer in Larry Stafford (14-12, 3.20 ERA, 22 saves, 83 games)... no real stoppers on the mound staff.

4th Place: Ancona Red Elephants (13 GB)
None of the other clubs are expected to contend... all of them are just run-of-the-mill ballclubs... Ancona is a .500 team with not a lot of pitching or hitting... last year they finished in seventh place... Yanni Bubas (15-8, 3.20 ERA) is the only quality starter... the bullpen is anchored by strong-armed, but inconsistent Kontos Christakis (16-14, 3.45 ERA, 21 saves, 92 games)... the Red Elephants have only two solid hitters in the lineup... they are CF Marcellus Dillaway (.277 BA, 28 HR, 87 RBI, 94 R, 7 SB) and C Robin Hargroder (.287 BA, 20 HR, 70 RBI, 71 R).

5th Place (tie): Glasco Foxhounds (17 GB)
Glasco came real close to winning the RU North last season, falling short by just one game... it was a 5-team fight to the finish, won by Valmara... the Foxhounds are similar to LaGrange... fine pitching, but lack scoring power... Glasco features a solid foursome in their rotation with Jonathan Burnett (18-7, 2.78), Bret Massey (11-8, 2.65), Casey McPherson (11-6, 2.87) and Jayden Furman (10-7, 3.43)... plus an impressive bullpen specialist Coy Gosselin (10-8, 2.60 ERA, 22 saves, 74 games)... Glasco has some quality hitters, but no studs... the best they have are LF Callum Slattery (.297 BA, 19 HR, 66 RBI, 86 R, 4 SB), RF Andy Rooney (.294 BA, 16 HR, 62 RBI, 64 R, 1 SB), 2B Aidan Gifford (.293 BA, 12 HR, 64 RBI,61 R, 5 SB) and CF Lynwood Scroggs (.266 BA, 15 HR, 61 RBI, 92 R, 23 SB).

5th Place (tie): Kilkenny Cats (17 GB)
The Cats were a dismal eight-place club last season, winding up 23 games behind champ Valmara... pitching is just fair with starters Durrell MacLeod (10-7, 2.69 ERA) and Yoshiro Makihara (11-11, 3.22 ERA... and Ringo Lanier (10-12, 3.63 ERA, 12 saves, 69 games) is just a so-so closer...hitting-wise Kilkenny doesn't hit for average, but does have some punch with the likes of 1B Cullen Walsh (.253 BA, 22 HR, 55 RBI, 60 R), 2B Nicky Vallas (.255 BA, 16 HR, 62 RBI, 63 R, 5 SB) and CF Jerry Dewhurst (.247 BA, 12 HR, 51 RBI, 65 R, 11 SB)... plus a couple of pretty good contact hitters in CF Vance Snead (.319 BA, 0 HR, 37 RBI, 57 R, 8 SB) and LF Luke Cranshaw (.314 BA, 8 HR, 47 RBI, 51 R/ 8 SB)... Cranshaw also does double duty as a pitcher with a 4-5 record, 3.73 ERA and 2 saves in 18 relief appearances.

7th Place: Ranford Bulls (22 GB)
The Bulls can hit the ball, but have zilch on the mound, but they almost won the pennant last year, ending up a very close third, just 2 games off the lead... top guns are star LF Jed Blodgett (.262 BA, 34 HR, 98 RBI, 99 R, 17 SB), star C Glen Chambliss (.307 BA, 20 HR, 70 RBI, 63 R) and a budding star that can do it all, CF Timmy McCarthy (.284 BA, 22 HR, 83 RBI, 99 R, 26 SB)... two other players can go deep: 1B Garry Galbreath (.268 BA, 21 HR, 78 RBI, 74 R/3 SB) and 2B Natty Hobbs (.258 BA, 24 HR, 62 RBI, 79 R), grandson of IPA icon Roy Hobbs... there are several pitchers with some potential... Zeppo Perrelli (9-5, 2.40 ERA, 7 saves, 49 games) will be a fulltime starter this year... Chet Pennington (7-5, 3.17) will get his chance to shine this season... Eric Connor (11-8, 3.56 ERA) and Alex Wilcox (11-9, 3.66) did fairly well last year... the bullpen really needs some help... closer Marv Douglas (10-17, 4.78 ERA, 22 saves, 91 games) was hit-and-miss last year... sometimes good, sometimes really bad... a few quality pitchers could put the Bulls back into the pennant chase... they are a better than seventh-place team.

8th Place: Taranto Tars (30 GB)
The Tars wound up sixth last season, 14 games out of the top spot... they could score runs, but they had the worst pitching in the RU North... could be more of the same this year... the forecast is for the cellar... the bats are still around with CF Dan Timmons (.294 BA, 6 HR, 58 RBI, 103 R, 44 SB), who had a breakout season... LF Curtis Cress (.290 BA, 1 HR, 46 RBI, 95 R, 15 SB) and SS Andy Zahn (.289 BA, 4 HR, 66 RBI, 71 R/14 SB)... part-timer 1B Buddy Lark (.338 BA, 12 HR, 57 RBI, 48 R) needs to be in the lineup more... 2B Vladimir Szymanski (.270 BA, 20 HR, 67 RBI, 59 R) and 3B Franco Fontana (.262 BA, 20 HR, 77 RBI, 53 R/1 SB) also provide the team with some firepower... the starting rotation needs some work... the best of the lot is Nico Croce (12-9, 3.43) and Tavish Fitzroy (11-10, 3.57)... last year's best starter Ralph Montgomery (10-6, 3.36 ERA) is headed for the bullpen and closer role this year.

2064 Ruthlandian North Final Standings
Attachment 713022
Attachment 713023
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WALESKA MAY MOVE UP IN CLASS
Almost a decade has come and gone since the Waleska Westerners last won the Ruthlandian South Division... according to the IPA peerless prognosticators the Westerners may move up in class this year and wrestle the division flag away from the Claxton Diamonds, the reigning Pro Cup champion... that may be a tough task... the Diamonds may not be ready to give up the crown... Claxton has won the RU South for the last two seasons and looks like they are ready to make it three in a row... the Diamonds are rated the third-best club in the division this year... the baseball pollsters rank the Grand City Cybercats as the number two team... the forecast is for these three teams to battle for the pennant in a fairly even race... the other five clubs are just also-rans and not likely to contend for the title.

2065 Ruthlandian South Preseason Poll

1st Place: Waleska Westerners
The Cowboys were way behind last year, coming in fourth in the standings and trailing by 16 games... Waleska has come in fourth the last four seasons and apparently ready to make the move to the postseason playoffs for the first time since 2056... strong pitching is the key to the Westerners' season... Waleska abounds in solid pitchers... some say it is better than Claxton... Rick Howzer (17-6, 1.88 ERA) is the ace of the mound corps... he came in second for the Golden Arm last year and led the league in ERA... the rest of the rotation consists of Jake Stearnes (11-11, 3.28 ERA, 24 saves, 92 games), Kieran Roy (10-9, 3.35 ERA) and Matt Marion (6-6, 2.72 ERA)... Stearnes was the closer last year and will get his chance this year in the starting rotation... he will be replaced by the capable Theron Pritchett (11-9, 3.19 ERA, 3 saves, 41 games)... and, like the Diamonds, they could use some more offense... RF Bitsy Boccabella (.287 BA, 25 HR, 78 RBI, 88 R, 2 SB) is a rock-solid bat, but he can't carry the whole load... the rest of the lineup is mediocre at best... it may happen, but it is hard to see Waleska topping Claxton this year... several rookie bats will have to blossom for that to happen... CF Lucky Gatlin might be one of them... he hit well in spring training

2nd Place: Grand City Cybercats (5 GB)
The number-two pick this year has been just a .500 team the previous three seasons... the Cats are not a robust offensive team, but they are the best in the RU South, led by 2B Lyndon Hazzard (.296 BA, 14 HR, 80 RBI, 86 R, 18 SB), RF Zippy Balencia (.280 BA/13 HR, 58 RBI, 92 R, 26 SB), CF Paul Gaddison (.261 BA, 24 HR, 86 RBI, 72 R, 15 SB), LF Boots Luckham (.238 BA, 21 HR, 82 RBI, 73 R, 8 SB) and 3B Terrye Ayres (.308 BA, 13 HR, 44 RBI, 45 R)... next to Claxton, Grand City is ranked number two on the hill... overall, they don't look that good based on the returning hurlers like Glen Smitherman (15-13, 3.42 ERA), Brodie Ezzell (6-11, 3.28 ERA), Gil Lloyd (7-7, 2.38 ERA) and closer Joey Louis (13-10, 2.47 ERA, 14 saves, 76 games), but perhaps, it's the newcomers that will make up the slack... Leonard Hamilton could have a breakout year according to the experts.

3rd Place: Claxton Diamonds (6 GB)
One would logically think the Diamonds would just pick up where they left off last year and snag their third RU South pennant in a row...they still have devastatingly good pitching, anchored by Mark Meisner (14-8, 2.08 ERA), Russell Krohn (19-6, 2.86 ERA), Don Downing (16-7, 2.70) and Matt Goodrum (11-10, 3.22 ERA)... and standout closer Alvie London (18-7, 2.32 ERA, 24 saves, 91 games) in the bullpen... and the Claxton bats are more than adequate with the likes of 3B Fred Hahn (.307 BA, 14 HR, 68 RBI, 63 R, 3 SB), SS Karl Dornhauer (.295 BA, 12 HR, 58 RBI, 64 R, 12 SB), CF Paddy Garson (.301 BA, 6 HR, 52 RBI, 77 R, 27 SB) and LF Scoops Dunn (.253 BA, 12 HR, 78 RBI, 57 R, 8 SB)... they don't have a lot of fancy stats, but they do get the job done... four rookie batsmen could make a different, too... methinks, the Diamonds will make a run at the pennant again.

4th Place: San Dimas Rancheros (16 GB)
San Dimas is the best of the rest... none of which will challenge the main contenders for the RU South flag... the Rancheros were seventh last year, 27 games off the pace... and they came in last the previous two seasons... the last pennant came in '41... and is not likely this year... the San Dimas pitching is pretty good with Hernando Almora (12-10, 2.95 ERA), Tim Tunney (8-11, 3.22 ERA) and Adrian Garza (8-10, 3.97 ERA)... rookie starter Brandy Stewart and Ivan Maldonado did well in the spring... and closer Dan Stapleton (12-11, 2.98 ERA, 12 saves, 69 games) heads up a solid bullpen... however, the Rancheros can't hit a lick... the best of the lot are mediocre at best: CF Quin Dustin (.241 BA, 27 HR, 65 RBI, 79 R) and SS Rufus Sikes (.260 BA, 5 HR, 50 RBI, 63 R, 6 SB)... but help could be on the way from rookies RF Dude Miley, 2B Luke Axelrod and 2B Ramon Santos... they hit well in spring training, especially Miley (.407 BA, 3 HR, 10 RBI).

5th Place: St. John Crusaders (18 GB)
The Crusaders had a very good 8-year run from '57 to '63, winning four RU South pennants... but they faltered last season and slipped to sixth place and 26 games back in the pennant race... blame it mostly on the bats... the pitching declined some, too... leading the offense are rock-solid and reliable veteran CF Freddie Woodruff (.303 BA, 7 HR, 71 RBI, 81 R, 4 SB), 1B Francis Bagnell (.279 BA, 14 HR, 84 RBI, 69 R) and RF Matt Silverman (.286 BA, 6 HR, 42 RBI, 82 R, 11 SB)... St. John has one fine starter in Donald Cannon (11-5, 2.57 ERA), but little else... however, three rookies stood out in spring training and will get a shot at making the starting rotation... keep an eye on Randy Trowbridge, Donny Tyndall and Kyell Sondergaard... the bullpen is just mediocre, headed up by Smoke Early (11-10, 4.32 ERA, 6 saves, 47 games).

6th Place: Valka Blackhawks (20 GB)
The Blackhawks have been a good club the last six seasons in the RU South, a serious contender in two of them... last year they wound up in second place, but 14 games back of Claxton... they have done it mainly with their pitching, led by Doyle Gambrell (14-9, 2.85), Carlos Santa Ana (8-10, 2.32) and Clark Harrington (18-7, 3.56 ERA)... coupled with a fine closer in Stosh Matusczak (10-12, 2.34 ERA, 26 saves, 87 games)... the bats are lackluster, paced by CF Jonas Kahn (.268 BA, 12 HR, 62 RBI, 73 R/2 SB), C Freddy Civik (.278 BA, 16 HR, 54 RBI, 59 R, 1 SB) and 2B Juri Tarvas (.276 BA, 3 HR, 51 RBI, 42 R, 3 SB)... rookie 3B Egon Poska looks like a good addition to the batting order... he won the spot in the spring.

7th Place: Crystal Lake Skippers (22 GB)
The Skippers had two fine years in '58 and '59... they even won the 2058 Pro Cup... but they slipped back into the pack in the following seasons... did well last year record-wise at 82-72, third place, but 15 games out of first... Crystal Lake is a well-rounded club with good pitching and good batting... heading up the starting rotation are ace Bucky Dodge (19-8, 2.76 ERA), Julio Cordova (12-4, 3.24 ERA) and Caleb Christy (12-14, 3.09 ERA)... the bullpen is in good hands with Yuri Kirchoff (7-5, 2.12 ERA, 11 saves, 59 games)... the top producers in the batting order are 1B E. J. Bowen (.298 BA, 28 HR, 82 RBI, 73 R), star CF Mel Brouwer (.310 BA, 20 HR, 82 RBI, 74 R, 11 SB), LF Speedy McCormick (.319 BA, 11 HR, 54 RBI, 70 R, 11 SB) and 2B Derron Fallow (.310 BA, 10 HR, 67 RBI, 62 R, 5 SB)... sorry, but the Skippers don't look like a seventh-place club... then again, age might be catching up with them... it's been known to happen.

8th Place: Belair Beach Sunbirds (28 GB)
The Sunbirds have not been shining lately... you have to go back two decades or so... back to the '47 and '48 seasons... that's 16 years of losing seasons... it is highly doubtful they will end the drought this year... Belair Beach doesn't have much to boast about... they have a few solid ballplayers in LF Curtis Cochran (.323 BA, 7 HR, 61 RBI, 86 R, 28 SB), CF Tyler O'Reilly (.267 BA, 11 HR, 67 RBI, 62 R, 19 SB), RF Alfie Elbourne (.274 BA, 18 HR, 86 RBI, 78 R, 20 SB)... that's a good outfield... 3B Rusty Van Slyke (.240 BA, 23 HR, 67 RBI, 70 R, 1 SB) can go deep, but suffers from lack of contact... but the Sunbirds have no pitching... Ronny Belzer (9-8, 2.62 ERA) and Chris Malbrough (11-10, 4.04 ERA) are the two best... otherwise zilch on the mound... gonna be another long-suffering season for the Sunbirds.

2064 Ruthlandian South Final Standings
Attachment 713253
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SUNDOWN IN THE RU EAST? WILL MACS STILL DOMINATE?
Will Wynnamac continue to win in the Ruthlandian East?... 4 times in the last 7 seasons the Sundowners have hoisted the division flag... and also 8 times in the previous 13 campaigns... that is a standout record and to be envied... the Macs also bagged the 2055 IPA Pro Cup, the second time in their history they have done so... yes, the Wynnamac Sundowners have dominated the Ruthlandian East... their worst record in the last 15 seasons was 82-72 in 2050... that was manager Jerry Meeks first season at the helm... it is a great record: 8 pennants, 4 second places and just 1 third-place and 1 fourth-place finish.

However, this year the baseball soothsayers say the Macs may drop to third place behind Cold Creek Raccoons and the Sugar Valley Rattlers... but the Sundowners will have a presence in the pennant race... the outlook is for Wynnamac to wind up a very close third... fourth in the preseason poll are the Elnora Clippers, who are forecast to be a challenger as well.

2065 Ruthlandian East Preseason Poll

1st Place: Cold Creek Raccoons
The Raccoons have not been a principal in the RU East race for almost 25 years... they had a good run '36 to '41 with 5 flags in 6 seasons... but little since... however, they are on the rise with 3 straight 4th-place finishes... good pitching is their secret... that's why the preseason forecasters are shouting their praise... they give good marks to starters Markus Leopold (11-11, 3.39), Jamey Dupont (9-7, 3.05) and Jake Fischer (7-4, 2.36)... plus the bullpen is well-staffed with closer Rodger Brockhoff (10-10, 2.76 ERA, 14 saves, 65 games)... the only thing that could hold back the Raccoons is their offense... it's not very potent... but it does have a star in 23-year-old Gold Glove 2B Vince Norberg (.275 BA, 27 HR, 97 RBI, 86 R, 19 SB)... but he's the only threat in the lineup and needs a lot of help... RF Benny Patrick (.299 BA, 11 HR, 53 RBI, 62 R, 15 SB) and C Rick Turgeon (.305 BA, 6 HR, 61 RBI, 45 R) do help out a little bit... they have four new rookie bats, but none of them flourished in spring training... both the Claxton Diamonds in the RU South and the LaGrange Gators have done well with the same formula in recent years: rock-solid hurlers and lackluster hitters... Cold Creek is going to try to recreate that same kind of magic.

2nd Place: Sugar Valley Rattlers (1 GB)
Fine pitching has done wonder for the Rattlers... it blossomed last year and Sugar Valley almost won its first RU East flag in 13 seasons... they were beaten out by two games and came in second to champion Wynnamac... the Rattlers have a wealth of quality arms in returning starters Claudio Quezada (16-9, 2.92 ERA) and Monte Dale (11-5, 2.64 ERA)... they also expect good things from last year's closer Doug Graybill (5-13, 3.27 ERA, 14 saves, 55 games), who will be in the starting rotation this season... and youngster Marty Hershheim (3-1, 2.37 ERA) has a very good future according to the scouts... this year's bullpen is in very good hands with closer Buddy Blanchard (14-5, 2.57 ERA), Sid Copper (.9-4, 3.20 ERA) and Dicky Thornberry (10-11, 3.79 ERA, 17 saves, 75 games)... Sugar Valley has a few quality batters... 3B Bobby Mingo (.286 BA, 31 HR, 78 RBI, 81 R, 8 SB) has been a reliable bat over his 13-year career... Mingo seems to be getting better with age... CF Ned Woodward (.260 BA, 12 HR, 60 RBI, 85 R, 24 SB) is also a fairly good hitter... expect some improvement, too, from UIF Davy Driskill (.310 BA, 9 HR, 48 RBI, 51 R, 2 SB), 2B Jason Braziel (.284 BA, 8 HR, 47 RBI, 37 R/1 SB) and 1B Mark Northrup (.266 BA, 12 HR, 40 RBI, 54 R, 7 SB)... all of them will have more playing time this year... slick-fielding SS Dino Lazzeri (.198 BA, 24 HR, 77 RBI, 73 R, 10 SB) doesn't make a lot of contact, but he packs a wallop and can add runs in the scoreboard with his bat, too... on paper the Rattlers just might be better than Cold Creek... and perhaps as good as Wynnamac.

3rd Place: Wynnamac Sundowners (2 GB)
Don't let the pollsters sour you on the Macs... they still have it... they can still pitch and they can still score runs... look at these pitchers: Billy Skidmore (12-7, 2.79 ERA), Dick Vanner (13-8, 3.18 ERA), Pepe Vital (15-4, 2.96 ERA), Luc Ogburn (11-12, 3.06 ERA)... not a bad rotation at all... then add in rookie late bloomer, 32-year-old Dick Milliken, who really did well in spring training... the scouts and scribes expect him to be a big deal this year... and the bullpen is full of solid twirlers like closer Lucius Towers (15-15, 3.65 ERA, 18 saves, 81 games), Don Loewenthal (6-4, 2.45 ERA, 9 saves, 43 games), Tike Collazo (6-4, 3.51 ERA, 1 save, 24 games) and Kuparr Bunji (0-0, 2.58 ERA, 1 save, 22 games... the Sundowners have one of the best staffs in the IPA... and guess what, the Macs have bats, too, led by superstar RF Snooky Bartels (.315 BA, 20 HR, 74 RBI, 83 R), aging superstar 1B Manny Sendejas (.261 BA, 25 HR, 71 RBI, 96 R, 6 SB), 2B Nathan Tuttleton (.287 BA, 16 HR, 79 RBI, 69 R, 2 SB) and SS Shelly Nelson (.279 BA, 3 HR, 56 RBI, 54 R, 4 SB)... 3B Chuck Waterman (.316 BA, 5 HR, 41 RBI, 41 R, 8 SB) should give a boost to the offense this year... this season he will be a full-timer... no longer platooned... last season Waterman put up his numbers in 75 games.

4th Place: Elnora Clippers (7 GB)
There were big expectations for the Clippers in recent years with two RU East pennants in '62 and '63... its high-powered attack was expected to take the club to the highest heights in the IPA, but they lost two straight years in the first round of the playoffs... lack of pitching hurt them... sadly, last year the bats deserted them, too, and they fell to third place, but not too far behind (8 GB)... Elnora looks to be about the same caliber club... fairly good offense with a mediocre mound corps... the best of the starters are Norm Griffith (12-10, 3.72 ERA), Ted Mulbert (11-7, 3.39 ERA), Matthew Minden (6-6, 3.54 ERA) and Barney Mayberry (9-14, 4.11 ERA)... 13-year vet closer Stevie Tucker (16-8, 2.90 ERA, 29 saves, 96 games) can still do the bullpen job quite well at age 35... Jonny Strecker (7-3, 2.50 ERA, 7 saves, 48 games) is quite a reliever, too... the Clipper attack is led by 4-time All-Star LF Donald Ray Mooney (.284 BA, 19 HR, 77 RBI, 77 R, 7 SB), SS Teddy Knox (.285 BA, 16 HR, 68 RBI, 78 R, 17 SB), 3B Lee Carnahan (.279 BA, 17 HR, 72 RBI, 53 R, 1 SB), 1B Sherrill Fielding (.259 BA, 24 HR, 79 RBI, 60 R, 2 SB), CF Robin Staroff (.264 BA, 10 HR, 56 RBI, 64 R, 25 SB), RF Boo Dowdle (.287 BA, 0 HR, 42 RBI, 55 R, 7 SB) and C Kuro Ishikawa (.256 BA, 12 HR, 57 RBI, 60 R)... they can still dent the scoreboard... Elnora is still good enough to challenge for the pennant... if last year's batting slump goes away and the Clippers hit like they used to, they could very easily win it again.

5th Place: Marston Nine (10 GB)
Marston last went to the playoffs in '59... in recent years they have been fairly successful... Marston finished among the top four clubs in the RU East the last 5 seasons, however last year, the Nine went to sleep at the plate and dipped to sixth place, 17 games out of first place, tied with Belle Plaine... the bats are still down due to the lack of longballs, but the pitching might be on the rise... Marston has the makings of a quality mound staff with starters Galen Busby (13-2, 2.98 ERA), Tonico Ribiero (9-11, 3.56 ERA) and George Gaither (8-10, 4.12 ERA)... the key to the season will be newcomers to the rotation, D. D. Klem and Stan Pirosko... both of them had good spring trainings... the bullpen has some new faces as well with Dean Walton (4-2, 2.52 ERA, 2 saves, 16 games) and Lance McElveen (1-3, 2.77 ERA, no saves, 14 games)... they both had excellent springs... batting-wise, the Nine can make contact... leading the way this year are RF John Bobo (.321 BA, 8 HR, 47 RBI, 63 R, 11 SB), 3B Harv Beauchamp (.316 BA, 2 HR, 53 RBI, 68 R, 3 SB), 36-year-old star 2B Damien D'Amboise (.281 BA, 8 HR, 60 RBI, 85 R, 18 SB), SS Gino Mastroianni (.265 BA, 2 HR, 54 RBI, 81 R, 8 SB) and CF Tom Tuckett (.268 BA, 4 HR, 51 RBI, 54 R, 10 SB)... LF George Chizek (.309 BA, 11 HR, 46 RBI, 44 R) will be a fine addition to the batting order... he only played 63 games last year... Chizek will be in left field full-time this season... Marston still looks like it can be a solid contender this year in the Ruthlandian East pennant hunt.

6th Place: Belle Plaine Musketeers (14 GB)
The Muskies just might be the worst franchise in IPA history... their one and only pennant was eons and eons ago... it was way, way back in 2008... it's been a lifetime of being at or near the bottom rung of the RU East Division year after year... a losing record for the last 9 years... how bad are the Musketeers?... well, they set an Islandian Pro Alliance all-time record for losses in 2061 with 109... last year, by Belle Plaine standards, was not too bad... the Musketeers were 72-82 and tied for sixth place with Marston... the prediction is pretty much the same this year... there are very few bright spots on the team, but one of them is outstanding... his name is Eliot Marcum (.328 BA, 32 HR, 100 RBI, 108 R)... the left fielder has been one of the best in the IPA the last three seasons, winning the Ruthlandian Golden Bat the last two years... Marcum gets a little help from 1B Julien Brodnax (.293 BA, 10 HR, 43 RBI, 68 R, 16 SB)... the best of the rest are mediocre at best... Belle Plaine has two so-so starters in Antoine Simon (14-11, 3.88 ERA) and Dusty Pendleton (14-14, 3.82 ERA)... and a crackerjack closer Adrien Renaud (5-7, 2.14 ERA, 25 saves, 67 games)... look for Lew Chapman (9-5, 3.99 ERA) and Timothy Brazle (0-2, 5.94 ERA) to help out this year... they both did well in the spring games... looks like a sixth-place finish for the hapless Belle Plaine Musketeers... they should upgrade by trading Markum and Renaud... they might get six players of fairly good talent in return... both could really enhance any of the playoff contenders that need offense or pitching.

7th Place: Eastshore Cotton Kings (15 GB)
After a pretty good season in '61 (82-72), good for the third spot in the RU East standings, the Cotton Pickers have swooned... 8th place twice and sixth place once... the last really good year was in '56, when they won the pennant... pitching is the culprit in Eastshore... and it doesn't look like it has improved any since last year when it was one of the lesser staffs in the IPA... last year's top starters were Irving Cordell (6-13, 4.13 ERA) and Curtis Kilshaw (9-11, 4.37 ERA... hopes are that newcomers Pete Barrows, Karl Kuebler and Kendall Burk will help... they did fairly well in spring training... one thing the Cotton Kings can do is hit the ball and score a few runs... star 3B Norbert Ruston (.314 BA, 4 HR, 63 RBI, 113 R, 18 SB) can play with anybody... so can 1B Dayle Killian (.280 BA, 15 HR, 100 RBI, 77 R) and RF Percy Basford (.327 BA, 5 HR, 66 RBI, 73 R, 16 SB)... but there's not much after this talented trio in the batting order... the outlook for Eastshore is near the bottom of the RU East standings again.

8th Place: Beechwood Jackrabbits (20 GB)
The Jacks have not appeared in the postseason playoffs for about three decades now... 2027 was the most recent year... it has been a 19-year dry spell with no winning seasons since 2045... three times in the last decade Beechwood lost over 100 games... but the Jackrabbitts made a little bit of progress last season, coming in fifth with a 76-78 mark and 13 games out of first place in the RU East... they almost had a winning season... Beechwood did it with improved pitching... they finished 12th in the Ruthlandian Union with a 3.65 ERA... last year's solid starters featured Junior Blauser (16-8, 3.09 ERA), Doyle Eaddy (13-10, 3.50 ERA), Corvell Eddins (11-15, 3.16 ERA) and Lucky Stetson (10-12, 3.69 ERA)... and in the bullpen was a strong closer... Luis Villavaso (11-10, 2.53 ERA, 26 saves, 92 games) had a really fine year... Bryan Byrnes (6-4, 1.51 ERA, 10 saves, 33 games) stood out, too... what the Jackrabbits are desparate for are some good bats... they have some decent bats with good power in 3B Marcos Cienfuegos (.249 BA, 26 HR, 70 RBI, 65 R, 1 SB), 1B Kellen Dunne (.280 BA, 27 HR, 60 RBI, 66 R, 1 SB), CF Tim Baham (.249 BA, 17 HR, 57 RBi, 77 R, 14 SB) and LF Antonio Lopez (.264 BA, 15 HR, 48 RBI, 69 R, 18 SB)... Beechwood hits homers, but they don't hit for a high average... it may be tough for the Jackrabbits to finish as high as fifth like they did last year... it will probably be near the bottom.

2064 Ruthlandian East Final Standings
Attachment 713550
Attachment 713551
Attachment 713552

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE ROVERS IN THE RU WEST?
The preseason pollsters and pundits seemed to have forgotten what the Sligo Rovers did last year in the Ruthlandian West Division... the Rovers were far and away the best in the West... nobody was close... Sligo won the division flag by 14 games... they appear to be pretty much the same ballclub this year, but the Island baseball analysts have made the Rovers the fifth-best team in the RU West this year... the Stoner Silver Sox, Volusia Vigilantes, Fort Benton Defenders and the Rocky Rapids Snappers have all been ranked higher than the defending division champion Sligo... that is quite a surprising outlook for the the 2065 season... the Rovers are forecast to wind up far behind in fifth place... bare in mind that the RU West is not one of the stronger divisions in the Islandian Pro Alliance, but it is well-balanced as far as team strengths.

2065 Ruthlandian West Preseason Poll

1st Place: Stoner Silver Sox
Stoner is one of the least successful franchises in the Islandian Pro Alliance... only three times in the team history have the Silver Sox made the playoffs... '02, '07 and '29 when they were known as the Stoner Stars... never captured a Pro Cup trophy, but they did make the Pro Cup Finals twice, but lost handily, 4 games to one 2007 and were swept in 2029... for the last decade Stoner has been a mediocre ballclub... they finished 7th last season, 21 GB... so, what's new with the Silver Sox in 2065?... not much... still the same players... well, I guess many of them will have a breakout season... Jim Roland (10-7, 3.41 ERA), Ira Monaghan (8-9, 3.34 ERA), Ivan Kleczko (7-8, 3.37 ERA) and Rick Reichhart (6-3, 2.66) are the most reliable starters... the bullpen is mediocre with Paulie Patino (13-17, 3.91 ERA, 16 saves, 85 games) and Jake Warrick (5-5, 3.56 ERA, 10 saves, 46 games)... 2B Al Dodge (.317 BA/16 HR/85 RBI, 87 R, 29 SB) is the only top-notch batter on the roster... he tied for the most hits in the Ruthlandian Union last season with 206... star catcher Jean St. Julien (.249 BA, 23 HR, 70 RBI, 63 R) is also still a very capable ballplayer and is a 4-time All-Star... but that's about it for the offense... 1B Hector Francisco (.278 BA, 5 HR, 53 RBI, 71 R, 4 SB) is also a solid contributor... it's hard to see Stoner improving enough to win the pennant... but what do I know about IPA baseball teams?

2nd Place: Volusia Vigilantes (2 GB)
The V's have been one of the better teams in the RU West in the last decade, winning three pennants ('58, '61, '62)... but they have slipped the last two seasons... third place in '63 (7 GB) and fifth place in '64 (17 GB)... but this year the pollsters say Volusia is back... the Vigilantes are still stocked with capable players that took them to two straight Pro Cup Finals ('61 and '62)... pitchers like Lonny Rinehart (10-8, 3.28 ERA) and Reynaldo Medrano (12-11, 3.55)... and so-so closer Ron Beeman (11-9, 3.95 ERA, 11 saves, 65 games)... and a bunch of scrappy players like LF Ellie Hudgens (.312 BA, 11 HR, 71 RBI, 71 R, 11 SB), 5-time All-Star catcher Carlos Silva (.306 BA, 7 HR, 55 RBI, 35 R), RF Carlos Vaz (.282 BA, 4 HR, 51 RBI, 55 R, 5 SB), CF A. J. Emery (.294 BA, 9 HR, 40 RBI, 73 R, 15 SB), 1B Clement Belliveau (.269 BA, 13 HR, 58 RBi, 56 R, 17 SB), 2B Mauricio Tejada (.268 BA, 3 HR, 59 RBI, 59 R, 1 SB) and SS Scoots Perez (.253 BA, 12 HR, 70 RBI, 75 R, 12 SB)... Volusia is a spunky bunch that always plays better on the field than they look on paper... they really were a special team in the Pro Cup Finals in 2061 and 2062.

3rd Place: Fort Benton Defenders (4 GB)
Not much success in the IPA... only two playoff appearances ('37, '57)... may have the worst overall record in IPA history... they have lost 500 more games than they won... the Defenders won the RU West 8 years ago, but then went into decline until last season when they came in a very distant second to champ Sligo, losing out by 14 games... Fort Benton has the best bats in the division, but has always lacked pitching... that could change this season... they have a solid group of starters in Brett Boone (14-6, 3.12 ERA), Gil Hicks (10-7, 3.35 ERA), Jayzy McAuliffe (9-4, 2.92 ERA), Louis Norman (10-14, 3.27 ERA) and Joe Ramey (9-13, 3.79)... not a bad rotation... but the bullpen is lackluster with Billy Ellis (6-10, 4.02 ERA, 14 saves, 65 games)... but the good bats are still there, headed up by 3B Jordy Olsen (.335 BA, 10 HR, 86 RBI, 82 R), 1B Marlon Hazard (.318 BA, 14 HR, 84 RBI, 97 R, 2 SB), RF Nat Bryson (.311 BA, 5 HR, 61 RBI, 110 R, 4 SB), 2B Sam Arnett (.301 BA, 6 HR, 62 RBI, 101 R, 14 SB), LF Troy Huxtable (.297 BA, 6 HR, 76 RBI, 51 R, 8 SB) and CF Raylan Theodore (.284 BA, 12 HR, 90 RBI, 50 R, 6 SB)... good starting pitching, an improved bullpen... and a solid offense could win the RU West flag this year.

4th Place: Rocky Rapids Snappers (10 GB)
Last year was supposed to be the Year of the Snappers, but it did not come to be... they wound up in third place and trailed RU West winner Sligo by 16 games... it's been a while since the Snappers made the postseason playoffs... '44 and '46 were the last times... Rocky Rapids got its one and only Pro Cup in 2019... they have had a winning team in 5 of the last 6 seasons... so the time is right... heading up an average starting rotation is Ricardo Cepeda (12-7, 2.29 ERA)... if the remaining starters can produce, the Snappers could win it... but Big Jim Wakely (8-11, 3.70 ERA), Lance Obermueller (9-8, 4.05 ERA) will have to step it up a level or two... the bullpen is solid with closer Carl Roscoe (15-9, 2.89 ERA, 17 saves, 74 games)... Rocky Rapids has two rock-solid batters in LF Jamey Murton (.287 BA, 34 HR, 102 RBI, 71 R) and CF Corey McGee (.315 BA/10 HR, 89 RBI, 73 R, 9 SB)... 2B Jose Montanez (.296 BA, 6 HR, 38 RBI, 93 R, 17 SB) is a good one, too... three rookies could greatly improve the attack... C Nat Culpepper, 1B Ian McKenna and 2B Al Robbins impressed in the spring.

5th Place: Sligo Rovers (12 GB)
Could be that the Rovers are getting long in the tooth... maybe that's why the baseball gurus are picking them so low in the standings... for the last 12 seasons Sligo has won the RU West 3 times and came in second 9 times... they won it easily last year by 14 games... we'll just have to wait and see how Sam Carmon (16-4, 2.69 ERA), Jacky Harshman (13-8, 2.66 ERA), Aydan Evans (16-7, 3.04 ERA) and Farrell Wedgeworth (8-5, 2.42 ERA) fare this year... Tiger Snodgrass (16-8, 2.73 ERA, 15 saves, 70 games) is also back in the closing role... the Rovers have four newcomers on the staff, but only one of them had a good spring... that was 21-year-old portsider Paul Murvin... the Sligo bats were not very productive last year and they may not be any better... pitching has been the key to their success over the last decade or so... 3B Dallas Patton (.325 BA, 1 HR, 59 RBI, 80 R, 17 SB) topped the RU with 206 hits last year, but has little punch in his bat... 1B Cliff Hawthorne (.226 BA, 25 HR, 86 RBI, 72 R, 17 SB) has some punch, but doesn't often make contact... LF Emmett Wales (.272 BA, 19 HR, 69 RBI, 81 R/21 SB) and CF Merle Bliss (.271 BA, 15 HR, 60 RBI, 73 R, 9 SB) are productive bats on occasion... if the oldtimers can keep on keeping on, the Rovers will do fine... if they don't, they won't... maybe the pollsters know what they are voting for.

6th Place: Middlefield Roosters (13 GB)
From 2041 to 2056 the Roosters won 11 RU West pennants and two Pro Cup trophies ('52, '56)... they were a powerhouse with a fine mound staff and strong bats... but not so of late... just a fair team since... last season Middlefield came in sixth, 18 games out of first place... lackluster pitching, but pretty good bats... it looks like more of the same this year... unless four rookie hurlers come through for them... two of them, Ray Hutchins and Gerry Swanson, did fairly well in the spring... Buddy Wilkinson (14-9, 3.51 ERA) is the best of the starters... the rest are of unknown quality... B. B. McBride (9-6, 3.15 ERA), Mickey O'Donnell (6-4, 3.36 ERA) and Andy Phillips (8-9, 3.92 ERA) are in the bullpen, but will probably get some starts, too... the Roosters need a closer... Joey Blinn (8-14, 4.33 ERA, 25 saves, 83 games) did not do a good job last year... SS Hank De Beers (.280 BA, 15 HR, 80 RBI, 80 R, 12 SB) is the only consistant bat in the lineup... CF Lew Aston (.226 BA, 35 HR, 87 RBI, 82 R/14 SB) packs a wallop, but need to make more contact... still he is quite productive... 1B Buddy Cranmore (.320 BA, 1 HR, 38 RBI, 52 R, 10 SB) is a real stick, but with no power.

7th Place: Colfax Black Sox (16 GB)
The Black Sox came out of nowhere and won the RU West pennant in '63 and even went to the IPA Pro Cup Finals where they were defeated by the surprising Hartsdale Hellcats in six games... but they dipped down to a .500 club in fourth place last year, winding up 17 games back of the champ Sligo Rovers... the Black Sox still have the bats, but come up short on the hill... for the last two decades Colfax has been a second-rate club... prior to that, they were a force, making the postseason playoffs 13 times and won the 2010 Pro Cup, setting an all-time win record that year as the Colfax Blasters with 107 victories, tied in 2054 by the Midway Wolves of the Tycobbian Union... the Black Sox can still put runs on the scoreboard with the likes of star 1B Bralen Josephson (.320 BA, 15 HR, 70 RBI, 92 R, 3 SB), blossoming star LF Steven Keener (.329 BA, 12 HR, 65 RBI, 85 R, 18 SB), budding star 2B Monty McDermott (.287 BA, 25 HR, 98 RBI, 80 R, 3 SB) and superstar RF Lanny Waldrep (.275 BA, 26 HR, 92 RBI, 97 R, 4 SB)... with threats like that in the batting order, you really wonder how they came in so far behind... apparently there will be no help this year from the rookie class... none of them did well in the spring... pitching looks to be about the same... just fair-to-middling... Karl Kruger (10-10, 3.29) is the most effective starter... followed by Terry Dubrovnik (9-11, 4.11 ERA) and Blaine Barkins (7-14, 4.06 ERA)... the bullpen is fairly good, led by Tommy Birchfield (7-7, 3.25 ERA, 6 saves, 43 games)... last year's closer Terry Starr (12-11, 4.09 ERA, 21 saves, 88 games) will get a shot at starting this year... the Colfax Black Sox certainly don't appear to be a bottom-rung team... their bats are too darn good.

8th place: Forest City Firebirds (21 GB)
The Firebirds have been the worst team in the RU West for a decade now with only one winning season (78-76) in '57... the last time Forest City made the playoffs, they were the Lumberjacks... that was the '48 season... they were really lousy last season, finishing up in the basement, 33 games behind... unproductive pitching and unproductive bats will do it every time... not a lot of talent on the Firebirds... and almost all of them will still be back... a wholesale fire sale might be good for Forest City... Buster Gless (10-9, 3.32 ERA) was the only effective starter... most of the staff are just run-of-the-mill journeyman hurlers... same thing for the bats... the best of the lot is 1B Edward Pierson (.275 BA, 31 HR, 91 RBI, 66 R)... he has some help from CF Kenny Bostick (.278 BA, 9 HR, 61 RBI, 79 R, 22 SB) and 2B Larry Polk (.268 BA, 15 HR, 81 RBI, 51 R, 18 SB)... looks like another long, long, last-place season in Forest City.

2064 Ruthlandian West Final Standings
Attachment 713850
Attachment 713851
Attachment 713852

POLLSTERS PICK OXFORD AGAIN IN TU NORTH
For the last decade and more the Tycobbian North Division has been the personal playground of the Oxford Red Caps... the Oxonians have prevailed with 6 pennants in the last 8 years and 8 division crowns in the last 13 seasons... stay out of the sandbox, the Red Caps are going to win it again... it's play time again in the TU North... as per the pollsters, for the 6th time in the last 7 seasons, Oxford will be victorious in the TU North... as usual, they will be harassed by their main nemesis, the Mahaska Haymakers, the number-two choice to win the pennant... North Hills is rated the third-most likely to take the TU North flag... while Hartsdale is the fourth pick.

2065 Tycobbian North Preseason Poll

1st Place: Oxford Red Caps
The Red Caps have been to the postseason playoffs 13 times in their history and hauled in two Pro Cups (2007, 2061)... last season Blue Lake, North Hills and Mahaska were their biggest obstacles, but Oxford outdid them by 6 games, 7 games and 8 games... the Red Caps are a good, all-around club with solid hitting and solid pitching... the Oxonian attack is led by two superstars, 1B Buddy Blackford (.272 BA, 45 HR, 122 RBI, 108 R) and RF Showboat Lynn (.286 BA, 32 HR, 107 RBI, 92 R/7 SB)... rookie 3B Brian Bunyan did well in spring training and won a spot on the roster... Blackford and Lynn could use a little help... Oxford could use increased run production from 2B Scott Schneider (.256 BA, 11 HR, 63 RBI, 72 R, 9 SB), 3B Andrew Pearson (.275 BA, 6 HR, 45 RBI, 55 R, 1 SB) and CF Phil Cahoon (.222 BA, 15 HR, 53 RBI, 58 R, 11 SB)... top starters are Rico Alessi (14-6, 3.04 ERA), Pat McFarlane (14-4, 3.12 ERA), Meldon Eddington (12-5, 2.63 ERA), Maury Statler (11-10, 3.97 ERA) and Nigel Channing (10-13, 3.30 ERA)... the bullpen is stocked fairly well with Sandy Stevenson (5-10, 3.00 ERA, 11 saves, 51 games) and Chucker Pitts (15-12, 3.83 ERA, 11 saves, 55 games)... newcomer David Dade looked good in the spring and will start the season in the starting rotation... as long as Blackford, Lynn, Alessi and McFarlane are doing well, the Oxford Red Caps will be in the thick of the pennant chase and team to contend with.

2nd Place: Mahaska Haymakers (7 GB)
For the last five seasons the Haymakers have been in the hunt for the TU North flag... last year they wound up in fourth place, 8 games out of first... they may be as good as the Red Caps except they don't have IPA legends like Blackford and Lynn... Mahaska has only made the playoffs 4 times... the last pennants came in 2026 and 2028... they are still seeking their first Pro Cup trophy... Mahaska made the Pro Cup Finals in '26, but lost a 4-game sweep to Valmara... the Haymakers have a good starting rotation with Cubby Darville (16-8, 2.56 ERA), Marty Mobley (11-8, 3.07 ERA), Sookie Langdon (8-5, 2.80 ERA), Luke Grantham (11-10, 3.47 ERA) and Ace Monroe (3-2, 3.12 ERA)... however, the relief corps really needs some new blood... closer Charlie Blaylock (9-15, 4.35 ERA, 20 saves, 80 games) and Allen Penn (7-8, 5.17 ERA, 1 save, 30 games) are not the answer... offense-wise, the Haymakers can hit... top-to-bottom in the batting order they are pretty good with the likes of 3B Lenny Neagle (.308 BA, 17 HR, 91 RBI, 69 R, 10 SB), 2B Elvis Gilford (.317 BA, 17 HR, 75 RBI, 96 R, 11 SB), CF Brendan Coomer (.280 BA, 2 HR, 56 RBI, 80 R, 8 SB), 1B Timothy Honor (.279 BA, 16 HR, 69 RBI, 76 R, 10 SB), LF Patrick Boatman (.280 BA, 10 HR, 62 RBI, 73 R, 7 SB), RF Lyle Drago (.259 BA, 12 HR, 68 RBI, 67 R, 9 SB) and C Stefano Mastrisciano (.272 BA, 14 HR, 59 RBi, 59 R, 1 SB)... actually, Mahaska is better than Oxford with the bats, even with the IPA icons, Buddy Blackford and Showboat Lynn... they are more consistently good throughout the lineup... bullpen help is the critical key to their catching up with the Red Caps.

3rd Place: North Hills Hawks (8 GB)
The Hawks hung close on the heels of Oxford for most of last year, winding up in the third spot in the TU North standings and 7 games back... they possess solid pitching, but lack offense... Hal Christy (12-10, 2.08 ERA) and Eddy Salem (12-10, 3.11 ERA) are fine starters... other quality arms are Cy Swindell (13-10, 3.10 ERA, 4 saves, 39 games), Bert Uhrichs (8-11, 3.31 ERA) and Aurelio Barriento (8-5, 3.50 ERA)... Lew Luxton (12-13, 3.37 ERA, 19 saves, 80 games) is an effective closer... the key to the season may be new hurlers, Ken Claypoole, Phil Danson and Jimmy Conway... but none particularly stood out in spring training... lack of run support hinders the Hawks... there are no big threats in the North Hills batting order... CF Gil Arthur (.299 BA, 13 HR, 61 RBI, 72 R, 25 SB) is a reliable bat and splendid defender and he gets a little help from RF Denny Darby (.283 BA, 7 HR, 59 RBI, 75 R, 25 SB) and 1B Victor Bates (.287 BA, 3 HR, 42 RBI, 46 R)... but the team is really short on longball power with no help in sight... looking back at the Hawks' heritage, they are one of the most fabled team in IPA history... they really were a dynasty from 2034 to 2045 with 11 TU North flags in 12 years, including 4 Pro Cups ('34, '36, '38, '41)... they also came close to winning a fifth in 2043... but the well has been pretty dry since... North Hills is not likely to win the pennant this season... offense is too weak... and there are too many question marks on the hill... not likely to overtake Oxford and Mahaska.

4th Place: Hartsdale Hellcats (11 GB)
Everybody is wondering what happened to the Hellcats?... in '63 they were King of the Hill in IPA circles and in startling fashion won the Pro Cup to many people's surprise and delight... but the bats died last year and Hartsdale dipped to below .500 (74-80) and came in fifth, trailing Oxford by 14 games... everybody had an off-year and the Hellcats tumbled in the standings... they are pretty much the same team... but it looks like more of the same in '65... the Hartsdale lineup is filled with lots of lackluster batters... the best of the lot is SS Walt Ivy (.274 BA, 15 HR, 70 RBI, 76 R, 29 SB), CF Leon Croyle (.278 BA, 18 HR, 60 RBI, 98 R, 17 SB) and 3B Cooter Eldridge (.270 BA, 13 HR, 59 RBI, 67 R, 20 SB)... only ace starter Phil Baylor (15-10, 2.67 ERA) had a 2063-type season... the rest of the mound corps had down seasons... the bats have to come back alive and the pitchers, too, for the Hellcats to be a contender... except for the glory season of '63, Hartsdale has not been very good for the last 20 years... most of their 10 postseason appearances came prior to 2047... the Hellcats have won the Pro Cup twice, 2046 and 2063.

5th Place: White River Rascals (14 GB)
For the last 8 years the Rascals have been a bad ballclub in the bottom rung of the TU North, finishing in 8th and last place the last three seasons, featuring the worst pitching and the worst offense in the division... better mound work might move White River up in the standings this year... it doesn't look like the bats are any better... Chad Widmer (10-13, 3.08) is the most effective starter... Juliano Machado (9-15, 3.32 ERA) and Noel Woods (9-14, 4.02 ERA) are fairly decent... the Rascals are solid in the bullpen with former starter Robby Ralston (14-6, 3.21 ERA, 3 saves, 44 games) taking over the closing role... the offense is not very good with the top run producers being LF Bing Cooley (.277 BA, 9 HR, 54 RBI, 67 RBI, 8 SB), CF Mack Hamblen (.267 BA, 11 HR, 60 RBI, 69 R, 9 SB) and 1B Clarence Desaix (.260 BA, 19 HR, 60 RBI, 63 R)... White River could finish anywhere from 5th to 8th... no higher.

6th Place: Fairfax Frogs (16 GB)
The last two decades have not been good for the Frogs... they have had just second-rate seasons for the most part... Fairfax did have a good three-year stretch from '58 to '60, but have since gone into decline, winding up near the bottom of the TU North each season... the Frogs came in 7th last year, 17 GB... Fairfax has only made the postseason playoffs 8 times in the team history... the last pennants came in '32 and '33... the Frogs have never come close to winning the IPA Pro Cup... currently, they have good contact hitters, but no superstuds or stars in the lineup... and the mound staff is poor, the worst in the division... only Ron Custer (15-8, 3.22 ERA) is a solid starter... Fairfax has a very good closer in Val Jackson (11-15, 2.99 ERA, 23 saves, 96 games), too... but nothing else on the hill... however, the Frogs have some good sticks like RF Rory Sutcliffe (.305 BA, 21 HR, 86 RBI, 72 R, 5 SB), LF Ron Travis (.324 BA, 19 HR, 62 RBI, 67 R, 13 SB) and CF Wyatt Clausen (.288 BA, 11 HR, 64 RBI, 76 R, 8 SB)... the outlook is not good again this season... bottom half of the TU North is the best Fairfax can do this year according to the pollsters.

7th Place: Blue Lake Schooners (20 GB)
The Schooners have played well the last 6 seasons with 5 third-place finishes and one second-place finish... Blue Lake has given pennant-winners Hartsdale and Oxford a tough time the last two years... last year the Schooners came in second, just 6 games behind the Red Caps... Blue Lake has a poor history in the IPA with just three playoff appearances... the last one was long ago in 2030... but that was a great season... the then-Blue Sox won the their only Pro Cup... last year the Schooners did it with good hitting and average pitching... budding superstar LF Amos Hunnicutt (.262 BA, 38 HR, 126 RBI, 92 R, 14 SB) is a solid threat in the lineup... CF Steve Shueler (.307 BA, 4 HR, 60 RBI, 106 R, 34 SB) is a good all-round bat and Gold Glover... 2B Billy Southward (.288 BA, 10 HR, 52 RBI, 92 R, 12 SB) is also a productive hitter... so is star C Daryl Monaghan (.257 BA, 16 HR, 81 RBI, 63 R, 15 SB)... Blue Lake has a fine starter in Marty Graves (10-4, 2.81 ERA)... they need improvement from Bobby Layne (14-9, 3.50 ERA), Dwight Combs (12-7, 3.45 ERA) and Frisco Francis (10-12, 4.00 ERA) to stay near the top of the TU North... also great improvement is needed in the bullpen... they are not very good... last year's closer Eddie Lucas (10-14, 4.27 ERA, 11 saves, 64 games) was just mediocre at best... the Blue Lake Schooners don't look like a 7th-place club... they could wind up as high as the 4th spot in the TU North standings.

8th Place: Luxora Zorros (26 GB)
It's been 6 years since the Z's had a good team... they snagged the TU North flag in '58, but have been second-rate since... the current crop of Zorros can tag the ball, but the pitching is not very good... the pollsters have not been impressed with this year's roster... the forecast is for 8th place in the TU North... last year Luxora was 6th and trailed by 16 games... 12 times the Zorros have made the playoffs, most of them coming in the first 20 years of the IPA... Luxora has never won a Pro Cup trophy and has never come close... never made it as far as the Pro Cup Finals... not likely to do it in 2065, either... their poor postseason record should remain intact... the Z's hit and score well with a solid core of hitters like LF Donald Wren (.331 BA, 21 HR, 80 RBI, 81 R, 5 SB), RF Marvin Harrelson (.307 BA, 14 HR, 69 RBI, 92 R, 11 SB), star C Francisco Queiro (.289 BA, 23 HR, 77 RBI, 62 R), SS Felipe Alvares (.275 BA, 7 HR, 64 RBI, 72 R, 10 SB), CF Matty Mandell (.265 BA, 7 HR, 64 RBI, 53 R, 14 SB) and 1B Wayne Tibbs (.312 BA, 14 HR, 65 RBI, 49 R)... Luxora has three fair starters in Roman Montalvo (12-9, 3.11 ERA), Enrique Escalantes (11-10, 3.55 ERA) and Pablo Morales (12-12, 3.73 ERA) and a good closer Bartolo Baptista (12-13, 3.07 ERA, 20 saves, 86 games), but the overall staff is inadequate... Luxora will battle White River and Fairfax for sixth place... that may be the best any of those also-rans can do this season.

2064 Tycobbian North Final Standings
Attachment 714193
Attachment 714194
Attachment 714195

My teams are the Ninjas and the Cats but I hope the Haymakers can beat Oxford for the pennant this year, the team has some solid bats and deserve to make it to the playoffs.

I wish some of the downtrodden teams that rarely win the pennant would get better and win a Pro Cup every now and then... there are too many teams in the IPA that are perennial losers... one would think over 64 years it would balance out a little better... only 32 of the 64 teams have won a Pro Cup.

Attachment 714546
Thursday, April 2, 2065

BEST FRANCHISE IN IPA HISTORY?
Who is the best franchise in Islandian Pro Alliance history?
If you use the criterion of who has won the most IPA Pro Cups, it would be the Rolling Hills Reds/Racers... Rolling Hills has copped the Pro Cup trophy 5 times... the Turon Typhoons, Valmara Vipers and North Hills Hawks would be right behind with 4 overall IPA titles.

If you used the criterion of which team has made the postseason playoffs the most, it would be be Valmara... the Vipers have appeared 25 times in the playoffs... Turon is number two with 21 appearances, followed by the Middlefield Roosters on 20 occasions... Tuckanarra 19 times... and Sugar Valley 18 times.

And if you use the criterion of which club has the best overall winning percentage in Islandian Pro Alliance history, it would be Turon at .552 in the top spot... second place would go to Tuckanarra .545... in the third spot would be Sugar Valley .536... fourth would be Valmara .534... and in fifth place Rolling Hills .533.

Combining all of the above criteria into one, the best overall franchise in IPA history would arguably go to the Turon Typhoons with the Valmara Vipers a close second... the Rolling Hills Reds/Racers in third place... followed by the Tuckanarra Blue Jays/Tiger Cats in the fourth spot.

TYCOBBIAN UNION 36 PRO CUPS
RUTHLANDIAN UNION 28 PRO CUPS

Rolling Hills 5 ('29, '31, '48, '60, '62)
Turon 4 ('03, '06, '09, '18)
North Hills 4 ('34, '36, '38, '41)
Valmara 4 ('26, '43, '49, '50)
Tuckanarra 3 ('23, '24, '35)
Southport 3 ('27, '44, '47)
Middlefield 3 ('05, '52, '56)
Waleska 3 ('28, '37, '39)
Far Mountain 3 ('11, '12, '13)
Crystal Lake 3 ('20, '22, '58)
South Fork 2 ('25, '42)
Eastshore 2 ('16, '17)
Midway 2 ('53, '54)
Wynnamac 2 ('08, '55)
Red Bluff 2 ('04, '57)
Oxford 2 ('07, '61)
Hartsdale 2 ('46, '63)
Sugar Valley 1 ('45)
Taranto 1 ('15)
Volusia 1 ('01)
Ranford 1 ('40)
Rocky Rapids 1 ('19)
San Alejo 1 ('32)
Sligo 1 ('21)
Blue Lake 1 ('30)
Colfax 1 ('10)
Elnora 1 ('33)
High Mesa 1 ('02)
Kenwood 1 ('14)
Arlon 1 ('51)
Ginza 1 ('59)
Claxton 1 ('64)

MONTIES FAVORED AGAIN IN TU SOUTH
The 2065 season for the Tycobbian South Division pretty much looks like a rerun from last year... according to the baseball scribes, sportscasters and prophets it will be the San Alejo Montaneros winning back-to-back titles... followed at a distance by the Southport Sun Sox and Summerland Sunsets... getting a nod to finish fourth in the standings are the longsuffering Colchester Elites.

2065 Tycobbian South Preseason Poll

1st Place: San Alejo Montaneros
The Monties began rebuilding the club in '54 and it took quite a spell, 8 years... '62 was a turnaround season for the club... and 2 years later it paid off with the TU South crown last season... San Alejo captured its one and only Pro Cup trophy in 2032... down through the years, the team has made the postseason 9 times in its IPA history... the Tycobbian South is noted for being a pitcher's league... it's a well-balanced league with the teams pretty evenly matched... last place Colchester was 70-84 last year, 16 games behind champ San Alejo (86-68)... the Elites were the best of the 8 cellar-dwellers in the IPA last season... the Montaneros depend more on their bats for success than their mound staff... San Alejo has a solid core of batters, led by 1B Nicky Yorke (.294 BA, 22 HR, 94 RBI, 82 R, 2 SB), 3B Roman Redondo (.244 BA, 23 HR, 93 RBI, 68 R), LF Hector Cavazos (.268 BA, 20 HR, 61 RBI, 95 R, 12 SB), 2B Ted Keating (.289 BA, 9 HR, 50 RBI, 48 R, 2SB) and CF Al Lester (.273 BA, 13 HR, 56 RBI, 86 R, 14 SB)... the offense might get some help from rookies C Sergio Vidal and CF Hoot Hancock... they both hit well in the spring... and the pitching rotation is pretty good with starters Adrian Acosta (9-3, 2.72 ERA), Jimmy Doak (11-7, 2.96 ERA), Paulo Passos (12-8, 3.25 ERA, 19 saves, 68 games) and Alvaro Muniz (11-11, 4.03 ERA)... Joca Qartez (5-8, 4.17 ERA) and Gino DeChiara (12-11, 3.54 ERA) will also be vying for a spot in the rotation... the bullpen does an adequate job with Elmer Cane (6-4, 2.75 ERA, 6 saves, 34 games) taking over the closer role for Passos.. San Alejo is a little better this season than last year... could repeat in the TU South this season.

2nd Place: Southport Sun Sox (7 GB)
It looks like the Sun Sox are going to play second fiddle to San Alejo again this year... since winning 100 games in '62, Southport has slipped each season, falling to second in '63 (5 GB) and to third place (7 GB) in '64... but the Sun Sox could have won the pennant in each of the past two years... and they could win this year... Southport has appeared in the playoffs 13 times in its history with 3 Pro Cup trophies (2027, 2044, 2047)... pitching is the name of the game for the Sun Sox with the likes of Roman Littrell (19-4, 2.12 ERA), Bebe Kinney (12-8, 2.29 ERA), Jeff Moncriffe (12-10, 3.31 ERA) and Greg Brisbourne (8-2, 2.56 ERA)... the bullpen is fairly decent, headed up by Billy Ray Echols (8-15, 3.51 ERA, 25 saves, 90 games), but it's not rock solid... three rookies made the roster as position players and one new hurler... but none of them stood out in the spring... still rookie Riley Kincade will get his shot to shine in the starting rotation to start the season... Southport's offense is just not good enough to overcome the San Alejo Montaneros... the Sun Sox will wind up second or third this year.

3rd Place: Summerland Sunsets (8 GB)
For the past 6 seasons the Sunsets have been in the pennant chase each season... they won the TU South in '63 and wound up tied for second last season, trailing by 7 games... sadly, Summerland has only won 5 pennants in its history and has never won the IPA Pro Cup... in fact, the Sunsets have never come close to winning one... they have just never been much of a hitting club because they play in such a huge ballpark with distant fences all-around... when they hit fairly well for average, they win the pennant... it's an age-old problem and it's still there... superstar CF Johnny Pendergrass (.308 BA, 21 HR, 80 RBI, 93 R, 31 SB) and LF Zee Van Holbeek (.294 BA, 18 HR, 66 RBI, 60 R, 1 SB) are the only two threats in the batting order... 1B Doc Pollins (.256 BA, 19 HR, 50 RBI, 51 R, 3 SB) may help some... he came in a trade with Valmara late last year... could add some firepower... Summerland will be pretty much the same team as last year... only three rookies added to the roster... none of them performed well in spring training... the returning starters are solid, Marty Westhuizen (13-12, 2.57 ERA), Bernardo Marcos (12-8, 2.74 ERA) and Otis Stockdale (10-3, 2.68 ERA) will anchor the rotation... the key to the season will be rookie Edward Lasky, rookie Terry Holmquist and journeyman Tex Dalford... all three are in the starting rotation... the Sunsets really need a closer... Jacob Vandenboom (7-12, 4.53 ERA, 18 saves, 66 games) was sorely lacking last year... if the rookie hurlers come through and Summerland can get another productive bat or two, they could win the TU South... second or third looks like the best the Sunsets can do this year.

4th Place: Colchester Elites (10 GB)
Taking a look back at Colchester history... it is one of the worst in the IPA... only 4 playoff appearances with no Pro Cups or even close to a Pro Cup... no pennants since 2036... last season the Elites were in 8th place... dead last in the standings...so what is this?... Colchester picked for fourth place in the TU South? can't happen... as high as 4th place has not happened in 13 years... 2051 to be exact... why such optimism amongst the IPA prognosticators?... 6 rookies, 3 position players and 3 hurlers, could make some of the difference, along with two rock solid starters like Jud Chesbro (15-11, 3.24 ERA) and Johnny Walker (11-11, 2.88 ERA)... veteran starter Branch McCracken (13-9, 4.34 ERA) could also lend a good hand... newcomers on the hill, Lou Barden, Dalton McKay and Herman Mueller did well this spring and could be impact players... the bats will be led by blossoming star CF Merle Creekmur (.288 BA, 40 HR, 94 RBI, 90 R, 19 SB) with slugging help from LF Paddy Terry (.242 BA, 32 HR, 78 RBI, 77 R, 21 SB), RF Mel Albertson (281 BA/21 HR, 65 RBI, 82 R, 5 SB) and 3B Teddy Lundquist (.279 BA, 14 HR, 49 RBI, 52 R, 8 SB)... the Elites can go deep... Colchester just might do it... fourth place is possible.

5th Place: Arroyo Grande Suns (16 GB)
The Suns just might be the worst team in the Islandian Pro Alliance... no Pro Cups... and only 4 TU South flags in its 63 seasons... only one time in its history has it done well... Arroyo Grande won 4 pennants in 5 years from 2020 to 2024... the Suns hit well for average in those years averaging about .270... scored very well and even pitched well (3.70 ERA) during that stretch... nothing like that since... in recent years, after missing out on the pennant by one, single, solitary game in '61, the Suns have slipped badly... 8th place (39 GB) in '62... 7th place (31 GB) in '63 and 7th place (12 GB) again last year... the Arroyo Grande bats just don't hit for average, but they can go deep with 202 homers last year... they only hit .219 last year, .221 in '63 and .228 in '62... the longballers were SS Dan Fargo (.233 BA, 39 HR, 77 RBI, 90 R, 12 SB), CF Rueben Jones (.216 BA, 34 HR, 81 RBI, 69 R, 6 SB), RF Gaston Robin (.224 BA, 29 HR, 75 RBI, 79 R, 7 SB), LF Chris Hardcastle (.205 BA, 26 HR, 53 RBI, 49 R, 8 SB) and C Sammy Workman (.210 BA, 24 HR, 47 RBI, 46 R)... but the Suns have some sunshine on the mound in starters Lyle Welborn (10-8, 2.45 ERA), Roland Daye (13-13, 2.97 ERA) and Al McCarron (11-11, 3.62 ERA)... rookie Shelly Winger had a good spring and looks like a good one... the bullpen is not very good... closer Kurt Wolf (10-8, 3.53 ERA, 29 saves, 88 games) is shaky and inconsistent... just average... the bullpen needs some help for the Suns to thrive... they need to hit for a much higher batting average, too, to be a contender in the TU South... not likely this year.

6th Place: Cape Coral Hurricanes (17 GB)
The 'Canes have not been a very good franchise... just 8 postseason playoff appearances in 64 years with no Pro Cups... never came close to a Pro Cup trophy... never reached the Pro Cup Finals... the last pennant was way back in 2041... with no winning season since '59... last year Cape Coral came in fourth in the standings (77-77), just 9 games off the pace... the Hurricanes did it with good contact bats and mediocre mound work... they led the TU South in hitting and scoring runs... no real sticks at the plate, just a lot of good ones like LF Marvin Cordice (.302 BA, 9 HR, 65 RBI, 94 R, 20 SB), 3B Barney Fiske (.295 BA, 17 HR, 68 RBI, 71 R, 1 SB), 2B Renzo O'Brian (.279 BA, 11 HR, 80 RBI, 65 R, 4 SB), 1B Kalian Coston (.270 BA, 22 HR, 70 RBI, 63 R, 3 SB), CF Lenny Larker (.313 BA, 9 HR, 54 R, 74 R, 6 SB) and SS Lynwood Barley (.290 BA, 0 HR, 49 RBi, 75 R, 10 SB)... and look for budding star 1B Jurrien Rynsburger (.348 BA, 4 HR, 43 RBI, 31 R) to have a breakout season and add a top gun to the lineup... it's the pitching corps holding the 'Canes back... Cape Coral has two good starters in Cedric Ashford (12-13, 3.04) and Davis Tyrrell (12-5, 2.31), but they need help... rookie Finn Roogeveen may supply some help... he did well in the spring and earned a spot in the rotation, along with rookie Joop Heemskerk, but he struggled... despite the poor showing Heemskerk will still be in the starting rotation at the start of the season... one thing the Hurricanes have is a standout closer, Manny Rosetti (10-5, 2.26 ERA, 29 saves, 74 games... he is as good as it gets in the IPA... should the pitching kick it up notch, Cape Coral could climb as high as the fourth spot in the TU South in 2065.

7th Place (tie): Ginza Ninjas (18 GB)
What has happened to the Karate Kids?... they were the darlings of the IPA when they won the Pro Cup in '59 and almost won it again in '60, but lost in the Pro Cup Finals... age has taken its toll on the Ninjas since the glory years... the great reliever Abram Worth retired last year at age 39 with 311 saves and a brilliant 2.52 lifetime ERA... star Gold Glove shortstop Kuzuki Tamura retired in '62 at age 36... a 4-time All-Star Tamura hit .296 in his career with 199 homers and almost 1200 RBIs... Ginza has now fallen back into the middle of the pack... they wound up sixth last season, 11 games behind San Alejo... the baseball pollsters are not impressed with them... the Ninjas have trouble scoring runs and they lack home-run power, but they have some fine pitching... at age 29 Kurt Brophy (15-11, 3.30 ERA), one of the Pro Cup stars, is still a solid starter... Shintaro Matsushina (16-3, 2.98 ERA) really blossomed last season... filling out the rest of the rotation will be Stephen Pyburn (9-12, 3.94 ERA), Kodai Norimoto (0-2, 2.38 ERA) and Junichi Kimura (3-6, 4.44 ERA)... the Ginza bullpen is solid with Jeremy Muldoon (9-9, 2.99 ERA, 11 saves, 57 games) and Shinjo Sunada (5-5, 2.94 ERA, 35 games)... the Ninjas have little punch at the plate... just a bunch of reliable hitters like 3B Vic Carnaggio (.301 BA, 10 HR, 72 RBI, 66 R, 16 SB), 2B Masato Okamura (.293 BA, 11 HR, 64 RBI, 86 R, 17 SB), CF Tamotsu Saikawa (.281 BA, 5 HR, 75 RBI, 68 R, 17 SB) and 2B Otto Bracklin (.264 BA, 7 HR, 69 RBI, 60 R, 12 SB)... Ginza is still good enough to contend for fourth or fifth place, but no higher... increase firepower would give the Ninjas a boost in the TU South standings.

7th Place (tie): Turon Typhoons (18 GB)
Turon has the best won-lost record in Islandian Pro Alliance history with a .552 winning percentage... last year for the first time in 18 seasons the Typhoons suffered a losing record with a 76-78 mark... this is only the 12th time in club history this has happened... along with Valmara, Rolling Hills and Tuckanarra, Turon is arguably one of the best franchises in IPA history... the coming 2065 season does not bode well for the Typhoons according to the preseason polls... the crux of the problem is scoring... Turon has an absolutely awful offense... Gold Glove star CF Maxie Mullinax (.277 BA, 4 HR, 57 RBI, 86 R, 18 SB) is still a fairly good batter at age 33, but he's just about all they have in the batting order... 2B Juan De La Roca (.307 BA, 6 HR, 73 RBI, 59 R, 9 SB) and SS Kel Buckner (.268 BA, 8 HR, 70 RBI, 50 R, 11 SB) are also decent at the plate... currently the entire Typhoon roster only hit 42 home runs last year... Turon was last in the Tycobbian Union last year with 73 roundtrippers... it looks like the worst is yet to come... but the starting pitching is considered darn good with Larry Lynch (10-9, 2.05 ERA), Kelly Jarman (5-0, 2.20 ERA), Ollie Dickinson (8-8, 2.83 ERA), Monty Wheeler (7-16, 3.44 ERA) and rookie Mike Peavy, who stood out in the spring... however, the bullpen is suspect with closer Johnny Hatchett (12-9, 3.71 ERA, 8 saves, 51 games)... the future looks bleak for the Typhoons.

2064Tycobbian South Final Standings
Attachment 715108
Attachment 715109
Attachment 715110

TU EAST TOO CLOSE TO CALL
Whew!
Five teams fighting for the Tycobbian East title... that's what Island baseball forecasters are predicting... last year's winner Tuckanarra... the winner in '60 and '63, South Fork... the champ in '59 and '62, High Mesa... and the '61 titlist, Midway... plus recent contender, up-and-coming Ozarka... all finishing within five games of one another this season according the almighty baseball gurus and all-knowing fortune tellers.

2065 Tycobbian East Preseason Poll

1st Place (tie): Tuckanarra Tiger Cats
Defending champion Tuckanarra has challenged for the last five seasons and finally won the TU East crown in '64... improved pitching pushed them to the next level, coupled with a rock solid batting order... the Tucks have a good track record in the IPA annals, one of the top franchises... 19 postseason appearances... 3 Pro Cups (2023, 2024, 2035)... an overall .545 winning percentage... and they could make it two pennants in a row... the quality bats are still there with budding star 3B Atticus Finch (.293 BA, 26 HR, 102 RBI, 85 R, 1 SB), star 1B Boomer Carlton (.265 BA, 25 HR, 94 RBI, 90 R), 3-time All-Star C Odell Overstreet (.282 BA, 13 HR, 60 RBI, 60 R, 9 SB), RF Bubby Creekmur (.263 BA, 17 HR, 76 RBI, 74 R, 3 SB), CD Barry Waters (.266 BA, 7 HR, 57 RBI, 80 R, 8 SB) and LF Duncan McLemore (.268 BA, 15 HR, 50 RBI, 80 R, 12 SB)... heading up the mound corps is superstar ace Ian Timms (18-7, 2.38 ERA), two-time Golden Arm winner (2057, 2058)... along with Alan Dayton (12-4, 2.25 ERA)... add in veteran Terry Cahoon (11-15, 4.25 ERA) and youngster Christopher Crabb and you have a good starting rotation... Crabb may be ready for the big time... Crabb did very well in the spring... the bullpen is not of championship caliber with Mick Dooley (8-10, 3.65 ERA, 16 saves, 70 games) and Danny Turnbow (7-9, 3.96 ERA, 9 saves, 54 games)... look for the Tucks to make another run for the pennant.

1st Place (tie): South Fork Stallions
After winning the TU East flag in '63, the Stallions took a tumble to the fourth spot last year (11 GB)... caused by a dip in its pitching... historically the Ponies have only been so-so with just 8 playoff appearances, but they do possess 2 Pro Cup trophies, won in 2025 and 2042... South Fork has an overall .502 winning percentage... the club has two top-notch starters in Herm McClanahan (13-4, 2.51 ERA) and Rex Waller (11-9, 2.60 ERA)... several starters had down years last year and the bullpen wasn't very good... the Stallions are hoping for a revival... the other three in the rotation will be Sam Black (8-10, 3.82 ERA), Caine Hanlon (8-6, 3.44 ERA) and rookie Jimmy Masters, who did well this spring... the bullpen is still a question mark with vets Christopher Hollie (7-12, 3.69 ERA, 8 saves, 46 games) and Bret Danziger (11-12, 4.05 ERA, 18 saves, 84 games)... three guys carry the offense... superstar 6-time All-Star RF Bob Purkey (.282 BA, 30 HR, 100 RBI, 73 R, 4 SB), LF Artie Greer (.291 BA, 16 HR, 65 RBI, 86 R, 23 SB) and CF Rudy Gatlin (.289 BA, 6 HR, 57 RBI, 75 R, 19 SB) needs some help in the offense... they can't match the Tuckanarra bats.

3rd Place: High Mesa Mustangs (1 GB)
Right up with the Tucks and South Fork are the Mustangs... they won the pennant in '62, suffered pitching woes in '63 and dipped to 6th place, but just 9 games behind... but they ran a solid race last year, finishing third, only 7 games behind, in spite of the mediocre pitching... not a lot of success in High Mesa's history... only 5 postseason playoffs, but they have won a Pro Cup... that was many years ago in 2002, their first season in the IPA... over 63 seasons High Mesa has played .502 baseball... the current club can really bang the ball, especially the longball... sparked by two superstars... 1B Roy Roberts (.311 BA, 59 HR, 115 RBI, 118 R, 1 SB) and 5-time All-Star and Gold Glove 3B Kagetoki Miyazaki (.270 BA, 46 HR, 138 RBI, 94 R, 2 SB)... plus RF Billy Putnam (.243 BA, 31 HR, 77 RBI, 83 R, 16 SB) and LF Zippy Coburn (.261 BA, 22 HR, 74 RBI, 69 R, 2 SB) can go deep, too... High Mesa will be a presence in the TU East pennant chase, but it is tough to win with such lackluster pitching... noticeable improvement will be needed from starters Robby Numbers (11-13, 3.73 ERA), Weldon Herrington (10-7, 3.94 ERA) and Alex Crabtree (9-8, 3.73 ERA)... Dylan Bowers (8-1, 3.50 ERA) did well in his rookie season and shows promise... and his twin brother, Galan Bowers, won a spot in the starting rotation this spring... closer Eliot Regan (19-12, 3.80 ERA, 12 saves, 86 games) needs improvement... he suffers from too many gopher balls.

4th Place: Midway Wolves (5 GB)
For the first time since 2053 the Middies will be without two dynamite stars... 9-time All-Star and Gold Glove LF Norishige Ito (.313 BA, 654 HR, 1853 RBI, 1769 R, 134 SB) and 7-time All-Star and Golden Glove CF Daryl Vale (.292 BA, 368 HR, 1235 RBI, 1122 R, 215 SB)... the dynamic duo led the Wolves to 2 Pro Cups ('53, '54) and 6 TU East titles... both Ito and Vale retired last year... both saw their numbers declining and decided to call it quits... Ito hit .300 last season with 26 HR, 70 RBI and 83 R, while Vale had his third poor year in a row, batting only .241, but with 28 homers, 79 RBI and 71 runs... Ito was 36... Vale just 31... they will be sorely missed... Midway was in the hunt last year, winding up second to Tuckanarra, 6 games off the pace... despite the loss of the two superstars, the baseball critics are giving the Wolves a chance at the TU East crown with good pitching and decent bats... the starting rotation is solid with Linc Christopher (14-6, 2.91 ERA), Tino Monarrez (11-11, 2.82 ERA), Ezra Wilcox (11-7, 3.01 ERA), Eli Pausina (6-4, 2.93 ERA) and Ayasha Kanjorsky (6-6, 3.84 ERA)... but Midway needs bullpen help... closer Phil Bellamy (12-9, 3.38 ERA, 22 saves, 80 saves) needs to be much better for the Wolves to win the division crown... the Middies have only two good bats... RF Kody Kenyon (.310 BA, 30 HR, 82 RBI, 106 R, 7 SB) and 2B T. D. Crowder (.307 BA, 22 HR, 62 RBI, 55 R, 2 SB)... but they are nowhere close to Ito and Vale... Midway does not look like the class of Tuckanarra, South Fork and High Mesa.

5th Place: Ozarka Naturals (5 GB)
Like Midway, the Nats depend on their pitching staff... the bats are just not there at the level of the other contenders... but the club has done well the last two seasons, ending up second in '63, 4 GB and fourth in '64, 9 GB... it's really been a long, long time since Ozarka won the TU East... the last division title came in 2040... but the Naturals have appeared 15 times in the playoffs, much of it in the early years of the IPA, but never have won a Pro Cup, but Ozarka did make it as far as the Pro Cup Finals on 5 occasions (2011, 2012, 2016, 2019, 2020)... overall in the team's history the Nats have a .514 winning percentage... they won 10 flags in 12 years from 2010 to 2021... if Ozarka takes the TU East title this season, starters Billy Lake (14-12, 3.20 ERA), former closer Sammy Strickland (15-10, 3.37 ERA, 24 saves, 88 games), Jimmy Douglas (11-12, 3.68 ERA), Jordy Alberstadt (11-11, 3.92 ERA) and Jim Pippin (5-3, 3.27 ERA) will have to step it up to a higher level... and rookie closer Ezra Hancock has to come through, too... they all did quite well in spring training... so there is hope for the future in Ozarka, especially if the offense can inprove... right now CF Chris Kile (.291 BA, 3 HR, 43 RBI, 71 R, 11 SB) and 1B Ari Alpert (.247 BA, 20 HR, 84 RBI, 73 R) are the best of the lot... the Nats are in dire need of some offensive help.

6th Place (tie): Hillsboro Blazers (13 GB)
The rest of the TU East is not quite up to snuff talent-wise... the Hillsboro Blazers cannot hit a lick and the mound staff is just mediocre... they have come in seventh the last three years... are on a six-year losing streak... and the future doesn't look good... and the past is even worse... only one time in the Hillsboro history has the club won a pennant... that was in 2051... they won 98 games that season and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the team that won the Pro Cup that year, the Arlon Champions... it took Arlon seven games to eliminate the Blazers... it was the toughest series of their championship season... overall the Blazers have a very poor .473 winning percentage, one of the worst in the IPA... Hillsboro has a few good starters in Jerrod Kipling (12-7, 2.97 ERA) and Scotty McKay (11-14, 3.32 ERA)... Jay Jay Conlee (8-14, 3.83 ERA) is fairly decent... they have added two rookies, Sneaky Atwater and Chet Sloan to the starting rotation, but neither did well in the spring... the Blazer bullpen is in good hands with closer Jeffrey Bevan (6-14, 2.35 ERA, 20 saves, 77 games)... offensively, Hillsboro is really "offensive"... in the sense of really bad... the best batting average on the team is 3B Harold Essex (.255 BA, 25 HR, 60 RBI, 55 R/2 SB), but the Blazers can hit the ball out of the park... CF Boogie Boyd (.198 BA, 39 HR, 83 RBI, 78 R, 9 SB), 1B Jackie Hansford (.241 BA, 30 HR, 77 RBI, 70 R), LF Jeff McDaid (.241 BA, 23 HR, 64 RBI, 80 R, 12 SB) and RF Eli Nickelson (.234 BA, 21 HR, 61 RBI, 66 R, 6 SB) just don't make contact very often... team batting average last year was a terrible .221, but they slammed 202 homers.

6th Place (tie): Red Bluff Red Sox (13 GB)
For a 3-year period from '57 to '59 the Red Sox were one of the elite teams in the TU East Division... in '57 Red Bluff captured the Pro Cup... they ran a close second the next two seasons to pennant winners Midway and High Mesa... then the decline set in... the Red Sox competed for the pennant in only one of those five years... third place (8 GB) in '63... and 15 games out last year in sixth place... Red Bluff is forecast to wind up near the bottom this year... they have really good starters in the rotation with Dontrelle Gilbreath (17-8, 2.45 ERA), Wilson Sharpe (12-13, 2.70 ERA), Joe Cummings (14-7, 3.81 ERA), Ben Laughlin (9-3, 2.03) and Ian Goldsmith (5-4, 2.71 ERA)... the bullpen is fairly solid, too, with closer Duane Sturgeon (10-12, 3.31 ERA, 21 saves, 71 games)... however, the offense is just not there... it's pretty pathetic... the top hitters are SS Cal O'Leary (.257 BA, 17 HR, 82 RBI, 65 R, 1 SB) and RF Odis Keener (.256 BA, 16 HR, 60 RBI, 60 R, 10 SB)... that's as good as it gets in the batting order... and judging by spring training, none of the three rookies will win a regular spot in the lineup.

8th Place: East Point Panthers (26 GB)
The last seven seasons have been bad for the Panthers... 4 times they finished in the TU East basement, twice they were seventh and one time in the fifth spot... the most recent good period for East Point was '50 to '57... the Panthers won pennants in '50 and '52, five times wound up in the runner-up spot and fourth one year... overall East Point has made the postseason playoffs only 7 times, have never won a Pro Cup, but the Panthers came very close in 2033, losing to the Elnora All-Stars in a tense 7-game series... overall East Point has the worst-winning percentage in the Islandian Pro Alliance by far - just .459... this season the team doesn't have much of anything... no pitching... and not a lot of scoring... Bob Yoder (11-8, 3.31 ERA) is a good starter... not much after him except for closer Joel Clifford (11-10, 3.93 ERA, 11 saves, 58 games)... the Panthers have 6 newcomers on the roster this year, 5 of them hurlers... only one of them did well in the spring... East Point hits homers, but doesn't hit for average... top longballers are 1B Mark Carmickle (.227 BA, 33 HR, 81 RBI, 74 R, 1 SB), 3B George Leach (.251 BA, 29 HR, 80 RBI, 66 R, 1 SB), LF Jake Bohannon (.238 BA, 24 HR, 50 RBI, 66 R, 12 SB) and CF Robert Flowers (.262 BA, 19 HR, 60 RBI, 51 R, 3 SB)... 2065 does not bode well for the East Point Panthers.

2064 Tycobbian East Final Standings
Attachment 715517
Attachment 715518

RACERS ROLL ON, FAVORED TO WIN 7TH STRAIGHT TU WEST FLAG
The Island baseball know-it-alls have looked into their crystal balls and picked the Rolling Hills Racers to keep on rolling in the Tycobbian West with their seventh successive division flag... in addition, the pollsters are giving the Racers a good chance to win their 3rd Pro Cup in 6 seasons... and it looks like they will not have much of a challenge in the weak TU West except for the Kenwood Wildcats... ranked a distant third in the preseason preview poll are the Denton City Redbirds... nobody else among the other 5 teams in the TU West are given any chance at all... Bay St. Clair and La Claire are the best of the rest and are forecast to wind up over 20 games behind in the fourth and fifth spots in the standings.

2065 Tycobbian West Preseason Poll

1st Place: Rolling Hills Racers
The Racers have ruled the TU West for the last decade with 6 pennants... they missed out on a golden opportunity to win a record-setting 6th Pro Cup last year, falling to underdog Claxton in the Pro Cup Finals in 6 games... time may be running out on Rolling Hills... they may not be quite as good this year as in previous years... the offense is not quite what it was and the pitching has slipped a bit in the last year or so... overall the Racers are one of the top franchises in IPA history with 5 Pro Cups, a .533 winning percentage and 16 postseason appearances... Rolling Hills' lineup is packed with blockbuster bats, led by superstar 3B Teddy Stonich (.328 BA, 29 HR, 121 RBI, 103 R, 1 SB), star CF Hugo Sutton (.293 BA, 22 HR, 103 RBI, 105 R, 24 SB), star 1B Luca Palazzi (.300 BA, 17 HR, 88 RBI, 111 R, 28 SB), star RF Jimmy Brandini (.333 BA, 10 HR, 67 RBI, 106 R, 17 SB), star LF Jean-Luc Roubique (.273 BA, 23 HR, 93 RBI, 86 R, 9 SB), star SS Jameson Mulbert (.323 BA, 2 HR, 61 RBI, 65 R, 8 SB) and 2B Clayton Claiborne (.303 BA, 6 HR, 75 RBI, 59 R, 7 SB)... the only question mark is the Racers' mound corps... they don't have a dominant starter, just a fairly good rotation with an average bullpen... Clay Callaghan (10-9, 3.20 ERA) and Vance Dillaway (14-4, 3.25 ERA) are the top starters with some help from Brownie Ashmore (14-9, 3.86 ERA), Jordy Wales (14-5, 3.69 ERA) and Charley Clutterbuck (10-6, 4.26 ERA)... closer Rob Gates (9-10, 3.19 ERA, 27 saves, 80 games) anchors the so-so bullpen... old age is settling in on the Racers' rotation... Rolling Hills can still put lots of runs on the scoreboard, but it needs better pitching against Pro Cup caliber teams.

2nd Place: Kenwood Wildcats (2 GB)
As far as history goes Kenwood has appeared in the playoffs on 10 occasions with one Pro Cup trophy (2014) and an overall won-lost .514 percentage... the Wildcats have not won the TU West since '52... this could be the year... they came in third last year with much improved pitching and some solid offense, only 8 games behind Rolling Hills... the staff is the key to success... if Marcelo Cervantes (16-7, 3.66 ERA), Johnny Merriman (15-12, 3.94 ERA), Dennis Tarrant (9-11, 3.31 ERA), Robert Currie (11-4, 3.50 ERA) and Mickey Maughan (8-6, 3.67) can step it up just a bit and closer Pee Wee Windham (9-12, 4.27 ERA, 24 saves, 79 game) can do a better job in the bullpen, then Kenwood would be right up there with Rolling Hills... that's a lot of ifs... the Wildcat bats are not in the league of the Racers, but they can score with the likes of CF Rick Lundgren (.320 BA, 5 HR, 63 RBI, 112 R, 29 SB), 2B Lorne Latimer (.315 BA, 4 HR, 76 RBI, 85 R, 18 SB), 1B Joe Kellogg (.267 BA, 11 HR, 80 RBI, 74 R, 14 SB), RF Kenny Battles (.275 BA, 12 HR, 61 RBI, 80 R, 19 SB) and 3B Reg Haynesworth (.244 BA, 13 HR, 66 RBI, 76 R, 13 SB)... all in all, it still looks like Rolling Hills is the top team in the TU West.

3rd Place: Denton City Redbirds (11 GB)
Since winning the TU West 4 times in 7 seasons from 2053 to 2059, the Redbirds have deteriorated the last two years, falling to 6th in '63 with a 69-84 mark, 37 games behind... and coming in 5th in '64 at 71-83, 24 games out... failure to hit and score runs were the reasons for the drop in the standings... overall Denton City has made the playoffs 13 times, but they have never won the Pro Cup, but made the Pro Cup Finals in '05 and '08... the Redbirds are on the winning side of the won-lost ledger with a .513 percentage... on the hill Rance Hasbrough (11-12, 3.45 ERA) is the only effective starter and Burnell Kelley (13-9, 2.95 ERA, 25 saves, 70 games) is the only effective arm in the bullpen... leading the offensive attack are 36-year-old long-time star shortstop Vincent McCloud (.296 BA, 19 HR, 89 RBI, 93 R, 4 SB), who is still the most productive bat in the lineup, helped out by CF Danley Donovan (.291 BA, 23 HR, 79 RBI, 93 R, 22 SB), C Ozzy Crenshaw (.319 BA, 12 HR, 62 RBI, 52 R), 3B Josh Karnes (.270 BA, 13 HR, 58 RBI, 76 R, 21 SB) and part-timer RF T. D. Barnett (.308 BA, 15 HR, 57 RBI,71 R, 3 SB), who will get a full-time spot in the lineup this season... it may be the Denton City offense that gets it as high as third this season in the TU West.

4th Place: Bay St. Clair Buccaneers (21 GB)
It has been quite a few years since the Bucs had any success in the TU West... the last pennants came in '49 and '50... never won a Pro Cup trophy, but did make the Pro Cup Finals in 2015... no recent success... the last winning season was in 2057... all-time winning percentage is lackluster at .495... last year the Buccaneers wound up in the sixth spot in the standings, 26 GB... just a mediocre ballclub as far as hitting and pitching... only a couple of good hurlers... last year's closer Shea Curlin (15-6, 2.83 ERA, 15 saves, 80 games) will head up the starting rotation this season... Darcey Kennedy (10-15, 3.57 ERA) is also a reliable pitcher... not much in the bullpen, the cupboard is bare... not much at the plate, either... 1B Kenny Malcolm (.291 BA, 25 HR, 67 RBI, 70 R, 1 SB) is the most productive bat and he gets a little help from RF Manny Cedeno (.226 BA, 19 HR, 79 RBI, 74 R, 1 SB) and 3B Steven O'Connor (.267 BA, 13 HR, 67 RBI, 54 R)... there are a lot of bad teams in the TU West.

5th Place: La Claire Lynx (24 GB)
Last year the Lynx gave Rolling Hills a real run for its money... they came within 4 games of the TU West title, finishing with a 91-63 record... they did it with a fine group of hitters, sparked by LF Taro Lansing (.300 BA, 17 HR, 97 RBI, 83 R, 16 SB), RF Jonny Bacon (.304 BA, 23 HR, 96 RBI, 95 R, 4 SB), 3B Horace Rutherford (.312 BA, 16 HR, 79 RBI, 58 R, 5 SB), 1B Dandy Zack (.285 BA, 21 HR, 67 RBI, 83 R, 2 SB), CF Sean McEuen (.284 BA, 18 HR, 64 RBI, 95 R, 41 SB)... La Claire has three pretty sound starters in Chance Coursey (15-5, 3.13 ERA), Kellen Debussy (12-8, 3.39 ERA) and Tommy Trantham (13-8, 3.15 ERA)... add in Tim Halliburton (11-6, 3.42), Mike Quillen (13-8, 3.51 ERA) and Maurice Aronson (7-10, 4.04 ERA, 21 saves, 75 games)... Aronson was a mediocre closer last season and will be a starter this year... really can't see the Lynx falling off this much this season... they look like a second or third-place club at worst... down through its IPA history La Claire has only made the postseason 4 times... only a .474 winning percentage... never won a Pro Cup... never made it to the Pro Cup Finals... '37 and '38 were the last pennant-winning seasons... the Lynx are really due... if they play close to last year, they just might pull a big upset in the TU West.

6th Place: Bayview Vikings (28 GB)
The Viks came in sixth last year, tied with Bay St. Clair... 26 games behind TU West champion Rolling Hills... Bayview has made the postseason playoffs only 6 times... 5 times in the first 7 seasons of the Islandian Pro Alliance... the last TU West flag came in 2016... never won a Pro Cup... not a very successful franchise with an overall losing mark for its 64 seasons, playing only .487 baseball... the Vikings can hit the ball and score well, but they lack pitching... top guns at the plate are 1B Gunnar Lindberg (.323 BA, 13 HR, 61 RBI, 103 R, 24 SB), 2B Goldy O'Toole (.272 BA, 19 HR, 91 RBI, 77 R, 6 SB), RF Neil Connors (.306 BA, 9 HR, 59 RBI, 88 R, 12 SB) and C Lou Fairhead (.278 BA, 20 HR, 78 RBI, 66 R, 1 SB)... Bayview has one solid starter in Ivar Rasmussen (12-11, 2.83 ERA)... and two more decent ones in Jules Perot (11-8, 3.62 ERA) and Julien Ferrell (9-10, 3.87 ERA)... the bullpen is just plain bad with Vidar Verstergaard (10-18, 5.01 ERA, 14 saves, 97 games) and Olav Einarson (6-13, 4.18 ERA, 8 saves, 53 games)... there's a good chance the Bayview Vikings will be near the bottom of the TU West again in 2065.

7th Place: Chicopee Braves (30 GB)
The Braves were terrible in '64 and will likely be just about as bad in '65... they were dead last with a 56-98 record, 39 GB... Chicopee had a poor offense and the worst pitching in the IPA... looking back over the history of the Braves it shows only 3 playoffs appearances, all in a row, '34, '35 and '36... no Pro Cups... never reached the Pro Cup Finals... overall winning percentage is a dismal .472... the Braves do not possess any serious threats in their lineup... most of the them are just modest hitters, paced by 2B Herm McCanless (.289 BA, 11 HR, 74 RBI, 75 R, 9 SB), RF Stacey Whitmire (.314 BA, 13 HR, 58 RBI, 74 R, 18 SB), LF Lou Stankowski (.282 BA, 10 HR, 50 RBI, 44 R, 4 SB) and CF Mooki Ahanu (.290 BA, 6 HR, 47 RBI, 76 R, 18 SB)... only one Chicopee hurler has an ERA under 4.17... closer Cy Abernathy (9-15, 3.40 ERA, 24 saves, 83 games) has the lowest ERA on the squad, while the highest one belongs to Chata Kota (0-0, 6.88 ERA, 0 saves, 30 games)... Mark Meriwether (10-14, 4.40 ERA) is the most effective starter... it's going to be another long, long-suffering season for the Chicopee Braves.

8th Place: Arlon Champions (32 GB)
For the first time in 5 years the Champs chalked up a winning record (78-76) last year... they did it with good bats and adequate pitching, winding up in fourth place, 17 games back of first place Rolling Hills... 1B Rhett Harper (.314 BA, 12 HR, 65 RBI, 82 R, 23 SB) sparked the club with help from 2B Victor Ard (.296 BA, 15 HR, 74 RBI, 78 R, 2 SB), 3B Carl Mendelsohn (.289 BA, 4 HR, 52 RBI, 74 R, 6 SB) and LF Jamey Stansfield (.270 BA, 14 HR, 41 RBI, 48 R, 4 SB)... Arlon has a reliable rotation with starters Rex August (14-10, 4.13 ERA, 18 saves, 80 games), Clyde Burney (13-12, 3.23 ERA), Zak Dizon (11-10, 3.62 ERA) and Mylon Hebb (13-10, 3.70 ERA)... August was the closer last season and will get a shot at the starting rotation this year... this year's closer will be William Shireland (3-5, 3.66 ERA, 12 saves, 48 games)... the Arlon Champions just might be 4th-place club in the Tycobbian West this season.

2064 Tycobbian West Final Standings
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Goodness Gracious, I'm glad the Preseason Preview is finally done!

Get ready for some baseball!

The 2065 Islandian Pro Alliance season is coming to a ballpark near you!

The work is over!.... the fun begins!

Holy crap! What a Universe... I know they don't have a shot, but I'll be rooting for the Chicopee Braves, since I actually live in Chicopee. :D It will be nice to see the IPA start a new season, so I can follow from opening day. :) Awesome job...

Welcome aboard... I know you are wondering how in the world did I select Chicopee for one of the teams in the IPA.

I went through all of the 50 states town by town and just wrote down a long list of possibilities... then I just pared it down to 64.

Don't remember where Chicopee is.

Here 'tis.

That's it! Chicopee borders Springfield (Birthplace of Basketball / Hall of Fame) and Holyoke (Birthplace of Volleyball / Hall of Fame). :thumbup1:

I skimmed through this thread. Am I correct in thinking that you were Commissioner of a big 64 team league who's files got lost? You restarted the league, but with only 24 teams making up the IPA? And now you're back to 64 teams? Is this the first season back with 64 teams?

Just a little curious about the backstory of the Islandia and the IPA. I'm aware of the work John Branson did - it must have been an almost impossible task, but I'm curious about the beginnings of Ruthlandia and Tycobbia. Why was Islandia divided into two separate countries? Are there any major differences between the two economically or socially? Or was the island divided to assure no one leader could ever impose his will on all of the people?

Lots of good questions.

I let the AI run the IPA's 64 teams... in the Commissioner mode, I create new rookies each year... the AI annual draft just doesn't create enough good players... I purge the rosters of players that never amount to anything and players that should have retired 2-3 years ago... the AI doesn't do a good job of rotating players... it doesn't get rid of bad and mediocre players... old players play way past their prime... the reserve rosters are filled with poor players, that never make the active roster.

Here is how it all began... I was going to start with town ball leagues in the 1890's... 64 towns, some ethnically based... I set it up with 4 teams in each town... that's 256 teams in 16 divisions, playing 15-game seasons... after doing several months work setting up the rosters and teams, I discovered, OOTP would not let me not let me do that type of setup... I had planned to begin with town ball leagues, then expand slowly over the years to regions leagues and take the league through amateur leagues to semi[pro leagues with company-sponsored teams... when that didn't work out, so I decided to just do 24 teams, 4 divisions... but I had to choose only 24 of the 64 towns I created...I really got attached to the other 40 teams, so after 2 seasons I expanded to 64 teams and 8 divisions... been that way since 2003 season.

Game Corruption: Microsoft Windown 10 was installed by error on my computer several years ago... they installed it without my permission... they probably asked, but I didn't say "no"... that was in league year 2056... I lost my computer, in the transfer to a new computer, my game was corrupted and I just gave up on it.

A few months later... I discovered a backup through the 2052 season... I had put it on an external hard drive and didn't remember I had it... so I installed it and it worked... beginning in 2052... I just had to eliminate the 4 or 5 seasons to 2056 from this thread... you can see where I deleted page after page of posts.

My first season back after the game corruption was about 2052.

ALB123, as far as the backstory, I never got into your questions, which was a mistake... if I had it to do over, I would have gone into more detail about the countries of Ruthlandia and Tycobbia,their histories, government and people... now that would have made the IPA a special dynasty thread.

Like many, many dynasty writers, I just started with a basic backstory with some detail, then I just started reporting the baseball league... basically the IPA became what no dynasty should become, in my opinion, a stats' dump... the good dynasty reports continue to follow the basic storyline that they begin with... the good ones expand on them... but this is hard to do and time-consuming.

I wish I had expanded the story lines and made the IPA commissioner, owners and players more involved like I did at the beginning... a good dynasty report makes the league people come alive... but sadly, I didn't.

Now the IPA is just a stats' dump, but the OOTP Community is still following it... so it must be pretty good as a dynasty report.

Commercially and socially, the towns are pretty much aligned to function in the American and English life styles.

Hope this answers your questions... if you have more, I will try to answer them.

Thanks for reading the IPA... appreciate it.

Why it's two countries?... I embarrassingly never covered that part of the history... never really thought about it.... but I should have.

The two countries have English as the official language... however, some towns are ethnically-oriented and have a second language and its own culture... but Ruthlandia and Tycobbia are basically American and English-based linguistically and culturally.

I posted a town history for each team in the IPA early in the thread... many of the OOTP Community people volunteered to create the town histories... I think they may have written 20 town histories... they were really well done and creative and added a lot of life to the IPA dynasty... I wrote the other 40 or so town histories and they were not quite as good.

About 5 years ago, a reader suggested I get custom graphics instead of using the poor default graphics in the game... they were just plain and simple... not really well done... so I got the wonderful OOTP Graphics Community to design them and they did it... that is one of the best decisions I ever made... good graphics doubled and tripled my daily viewership... and it really made me enjoy the league much more... good graphics will really add to the popularity of a dynasty report... all dynasty threads should have good graphics... they make the dynasty report better... the team logos, jerseys and caps really help me get immersed in the Islandian Pro Alliance... so much so, I would like to take a tour of Ruthlandia and Tycobbia... hoping one day Viking Cruises will take me and my wife there on one of their fabulous river cruises.

My wife and I took a 13-day Viking cruise in Russia 2-3 years ago... and it was fabulous... well worth the high expense... EC is very hard to please... I have very high standards... Viking Cruises was even better than my high standards... it was a tremendous experience... I highly recommend Viking Riverboat tours.

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Sunday, July 12, 2065

IPA STARS SHINE IN CLAXTON TUESDAY
It's midseason in the IPA... for the 65th time the Tycobbian Union Stars and the Ruthlandian Union Stars will tangle for the bragging rights in the Islandian Pro Alliance... 50 of the Islands' best and brightest baseball stars will clash this Tuesday afternoon at beautiful Avalon Stadium in Claxton, the home of the current Pro Cup champion Diamonds... the Islandian Pro Alliance All-Star Classic is always played at the reigning champion's homefield... in the past the Tycobbian All-Stars have overwhelmingly prevailed over the Ruthlandian All-Stars, winning 44 times in the 64 midsummer classics... Tycobbian won last year 7-5... Ruthlandian won it in '63 by the score of 6-3.

Rolling Hills had the most All-Stars, an unprecedented 7 Racers made the TU Stars... Cape Coral had three representatives... heading up the youthful RU Stars will be 7-time All-Star Snooky Bartels of the Wynnamac Sundowners, 5-time All-Star Donald Ray Mooney of the the Elnora Clippers and 3-time honoree Ox Gless of the Far Mountain Redhawks... the Ruthlandian Union has 13 first-timers on the squad, while the Tycobbian Union features 8 newcomers... the RU All-Stars have the only rookies, 21- year-old hurler Jay Jay Earnshaw of the Sligo Rovers and 23-year-old third baseman Charley Young of the Crystal Lake Skippers.

The TU Stars have an abundance of veterans, paced by 6-time selections third sacker Teddy Stonich and shortstop Jameson Mulbert of the Rolling Hills Racers, 5-time recipients first baseman Buddy Blackford of the Oxford Red Caps and center fielder Johnny Pendergrass of the Summerland Sunsets and 4-time honorees pitcher Clay Callaghan of Rolling Hills and right fielder Showboat Lynn of Oxford.

The oldest RU All-Stars are pitcher Kontos Christakis of Ancona and center fielder Ox Gless of Far Mountain, both 34... the youngest RU All-Stars are pitcher Jay Jay Earnshaw of Sligo and left fielder George Chizek of Marston... each of them is 21.

The eldest of this year's Tycobbian Stars is 36-year-old pitcher Clay Callaghan of Rolling Hills... while the most youthful is his teammate 24-year-old center fielder Hugo Sutton.

Incredible! I think what you've done here is amazing - as are the other in-depth dynasty reports. It seems like quite the undertaking and I applaud those who've stuck with it for several seasons. Perhaps one day I will try it myself, but that'll be something I'd need to think about very carefully.

Thanks for taking the time to answer those questions. I had a feeling one or two might be silly...but I really appreciate you giving me a good rundown on the IPA Universe. I think the idea of a "baseball siesta" is totally awesome... :thumbup1:

Wouldn't it be nice if the US took an afternoon siesta to take the kids and family to the ballpark.
(Note: it is a custom in Islandia to take off from work from 11 am to 3pm to take a have lunch, siesta or go to a ballgame... all games are played in glorious sunshine... incidentally, all men in Islandia are handsome, the women are hardworking and all the kids are above average.
(Some of the above was plagiarized from Garrison Keillor and his Prairie Home Companion radio show)

Season tickets are quite affordable in the Islands... admission price is $2 for adults, $1 for kids... You can take a family of four for $12 a game... ticket, drink, crackerjacks, hot dog included... with free parking.

Over the last 20 years my wife and I went to all 37 MLB stadiums and saw them all... it averaged $150-$175 a game for tickets, parking, soft drink, hot dog, crackerjacks... way too expensive for the average family.

$600 for a family of four is totally ridiculous.

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Wednesday, July 15, 2065

AROUND THE IPA AT ALL-STAR BREAK
No huge surprises in the Island Pro Alliance races at the All-Star break, the preseason favorites are doing well, however a few unheralded Tycobbian clubs are raising some eyebrows and creating some chaos... Hartsdale is atop the TU North and Red Bluff and Cape Coral are causing waves in the TU East and TU South respectively... the division leaders in both the Ruthlandian Union and the Tycobbian Union are running pretty much true-to-form.

After a year's absence at the top of the Ruthlandian North, the LaGrange Gators (56-33) with its dynamite pitching are feasting on the teams again... the Gators have an 8-game edge over the much-improved Ancona Red Elephants (48-41), who were seventh last season...the Red Elephants are deadlocked with the Glasco Foxhounds (48-41) for the second spot in the standings... the Hounds almost won the pennant last season, but fell one game short... last year's RU North champion, the Valmara Vipers (43-46) are nowhere to be seen, mired in fifth place tie with Ranford Bulls (43-46), 13 games out... the seventh place Kilkenny Cats (38-51) and last place Taranto Tars (34-55) have no chance to win the RU North this year... both clubs have a lot to do just to reach the .500 mark.

In the Ruthlandian South Division, the Claxton Diamonds (57-32), the reigning Pro Cup kings of the IPA, have a solid lead of 6 games over runner-up Crystal Lake (51-38)... the Skippers were a distant third last year and were not highly-rated this season... they were rated seventh in the preseason poll, but they are clinging fairly close to Claxton at midyear... up-and-coming Grand City (49-40) is in third place and 8 games back in the race... and Waleska (47-42), the preseason pick, has not played up to expectations and is 10 games behind... though they were surprisingly ranked just the third-best team in the preseason picks, there's a good chance the Claxton Diamonds are going to chalk up their third straight pennant and go deep into the Pro Cup playoffs... none of the other four clubs in the division have much of a chance to take the pennant... San Dimas (44-45) and St. John (42-47) will battle it out for the fifth spot in the standings, while Belair Beach (33-56) and Valka (33-56) will be playing to stay out of the RU South cellar.

Forget a tight race in the Ruthlandian East, the Wynnamac Sundowners (60-29) have returned to their dominating ways and are making shambles of the pennant race with a massive 12-game margin over runners-up Eastshore (48-41) and Marston (48-41)... fourth place Sugar Valley (46-43) is way back at 14 games... nobody's going to catch the Macs this year... fifth place Sugar Valley (46-43) and sixth place Cold Creek (43-46) are in the middle of the pack, but still have a shot at a higher spot in the standings... Belle Plaine (35-54) and Beechwood (34-55) are just playing out the season and hoping to stay out of last place... no doubt about it... this will be the Macs' 5th division title in the last 8 seasons and 9th in the last 14 years.

Over in the Ruthlandian West chase, the Sligo Rovers (52-37) are seeking a second title in a row and are playing well, but it's a tight race with the likes of Fort Benton (49-40), Middlefield (49-40), Colfax (48-41) and Rocky Rapids (47-42)... all of them are within 5 games of the top spot... it's still anybody's ballgame, but Sligo's standout pitching makes it tough for everybody else... strangely and surprisingly. the Stoner Silver Sox (41-48) were the preseason favorite to win the RU West, but they are running sixth so far... Stoner is not very good this year and they were not good last year, winding up far behind in the seventh spot and 21 games behind champ Sligo... the seventh place Volusia Vigilantes (38-51) were also rated high in the preseason poll... the V's were picked to be a very close second to Stoner, but both clubs have flopped badly... the woeful and downtrodden Forest City Firebirds (32-57) were eighth and last in '64... were ranked the worst team in the the RU West this season... and guess what?... they are in last place again.

Over in the Tycobbian Union, are the Hartsdale Hellcats, White River Rascals, Cape Coral Hurricanes and Red Bluff Red Sox for real or just flashes in the pan?... the Hellcats are a very capable club... they won the 2063 Pro Cup... last year in the Tycobbian North race, they stumbled and tumbled to fifth place, 14 games behind pennant-winning Oxford, but this season the Hellcats look like they are much rejuvenated and back as contenders... Hartsdale (50-39) has a slight 2-game margin over the second place Oxford Red Caps (48-41)... Oxford has been a powerhouse with 6 division crowns in the last 9 seasons... the Red Caps also won the Pro Cup in 2062... after seven consecutive losing seasons and ranking near the bottom of the TU North, White River (47-32) is making a big splash in the pennant chase and running a close third place, trailing by just 3 games and are tied with the Blue Lake Skippers (47-32)... three other clubs, North Hills (44-45), Luxora (43-46) and Mahaska (43-46) are within striking distance and could get into the hunt with a good second half... only Fairfax (34-55) seems to have no chance this year... seven teams could battle down to the last day of the season to decide the TU North title.

Halfway through the year, the Tycobbian East is still a closely-bunched affair with 5 teams in the race... last year's winner Tuckanarra (51-38) has a slight 3-game edge over upstart Red Bluff (48-41), who is surprisingly tied for the second spot in the standings with this year's favorite, South Fork (48-41)... hard to figure?...yes indeed!...because the Red Sox came in sixth in '64, 15 games off the pace and were picked to end up in seventh place this season... clinging close by are fourth place Midway (47-42) and Ozarka (47-42), just 4 games off the pace... High Mesa (45-44), in sixth place, is only 6 games behind... looks like it's going to be an exciting, down-to-the-wire run for the roses in the TU East... the seventh-place Hillsboro Blazers (40-49) will have to wait until the proverbial next year... and you just feel sorry for the fans in East Point (30-59)... for the 8th successive season they will finish near the bottom... the Panthers have come in last 5 times in recent years... the last winning season was in '57... the last TU East title came in '52.

There's also a tight race going on in the Tycobbian South Division, where the perennial also-ran Cape Coral Hurricanes (49-40) are creating a storm... forecast to finish a distant sixth this year, the second place 'Canes are right up there with the big boys, just 2 games back of first place and highly-regarded Southport (51-38)... the last pennant for Cape Coral was in 2041... the last good season was 2047 when they contended for the division crown... the last winning season came in 2059... third place goes Summerland (48-41), only 3 games out... fourth place belongs to Turon (47-42), just 4 games behind the Sun Sox... the Ginza Ninjas (45-44) are playing tough again this year, 6 games behind... will the Karate Kids make another second-half comeback and win it all?... and what's happening in San Alejo?... last year's TU South winner and this year's preseason favorite, the San Alejo Montaneros, are slumbering in sixth place and trail Southport by 8 games... the Arroyo Grande Suns (41-48) are 10 games back in the race, mired in seventh place in the standings and probably won't get much higher... perennial loser Colchester (32-57) is losing again... but there was some optimism for a winning season this year... nope, forget it... just another long, long season for the poor Elites.

And we may have saved the best for last... as usual the best in the west is the Rolling Hills Racers and they just may be the best in the entire Islandian Pro Alliance... they started off slowly in April with an uncharacteristic 13-12 mark, but have righted the ship since and blown the other teams away... the Racers have won the TU West for the last 5 years and have also claimed 2 Pro Cups in '60 and '62... and almost won it last year, but lost in the Pro Cup Finals to IPA champion Claxton in six games... this year the Rolling Hills Racers (57-32) are riding high in the saddle with a 7-game margin over second place Bay St. Clair (50-39)... 9 games better than third place Kenwood (48-41) and 10 games up on the Denton City Redbirds (47-42)... La Claire (44-45) gave the Racers fits last year, but have sunk to fifth place in the standings and 13 games back... Bayview (39-50) and Arlon (39-50) will fight it out for sixth place... and as usual, last place is the private domain of the hapless and hopeless Chicopee Braves (32-57)... I suspect many Native Americans would like for Chicopee to get a new nickname.

2065 Ruthlandian Union Midseason Standings
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2065 Tycobbian Union Midseason Standings
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2065 Ruthlandian Union Midseason Team Batting and Pitching Statistics
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2065 Ruthlandian Union Midseason Batting and Pitching Leaderboards
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2065 Tycobbian Union Midseason Team Batting and Pitching Stats
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2065 Tycobbian Union Midseason Batting and Pitching Leaderboards
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Tuesday, September 1, 2065

ONLY TWO IPA RACES STILL IN DOUBT
Heading into the September, the final month of the regular season, six divisions in the Islandian Pro Alliance appear to be well in hand and pretty much decided... only two of the them are hanging in doubt with about 22 games remaining on the schedule... the Ruthlandian West will go down to the wire with the Sligo Rovers trying to stave off three clubs, Colfax, Fort Benton and Middlefield... the Hartsdale Hellcats are clinging to a lead over Oxford, Blue Lake, Luxora and White River in the Tycobbian North race... those are the cliffhangers.

The other six division leaders are probably headed for the Pro Cup playoffs...the LaGrange Gators are fairly safe and secure with an 9 and a half-game edge over the Ranford Bulls in the Ruthlandian North... the current IPA Pro Cup champion, the Claxton Diamonds, appear to have a solid lead in the Ruthlandian South over second place Waleska, who trails by 8 and a half games... and the Wynnamac Sundowners look like the winner in the Ruthlandian East race... the Macs are 8 games up on runner-up Sugar Valley... in the other three Tycobbian divisions, Tuckanarra, Rolling Hills and Southport are well on the way to the pennant and the postseason playoffs... the Tucks are in front of South Fork by 9 and a half games and look like early cinchers... the Racers have a 7-game margin over the Kenwood Wildcats in the Tycobbian West... and the Sun Sox are ahead by 8 in the Tycobbian South Division.

2065 Ruthlandian Union Standings
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2065 Tycobbian Union Standings
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Can you post the champions list season-by-season? This is a fantastic dynasty!

What's going on with the Ruthlandian West in the standings?

e - Sligo Rovers 74-57
x - Colfax Black Sox 74-58

The team with the better record by 0.5 games is eliminated, while the 2nd place team goes to the playoffs?

Will do.

Thank you for the very nice words.

Much appreciate you checking in and posting.

The season is not over... still have 21-22 games to play... 154-game season.

Not sure about the "e" and "x" nomenclature... never really pay much attention to it until the last week or so of the season.

I think "x" means the team has clinched the division... "e" may mean team has been eliminated from the playoffs.

Do they show up this early in the last month of the season?... Don't know.

For jg2977:

ISLANDIAN PRO ALLIANCE PLAYOFF HISTORY
(Team Listed in Blue is the IPA Champion)
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Thanks, this gives me a much better idea of the league history. The Far Mountain Redhawks were a powerhouse from 2009-2013. Won 4 pennants in 5 years including 3 consecutive championships.

I swear... Over the off-season I'm going to have a talk with that worthless manager of the Chicopee Braves and see how he feels about me injecting his players with anabolic steroids and/or human growth hormone on weekends. I'm sorry. I don't care who knows. As far as I'm aware, there is no mandatory drug screening program in your current Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The Far Mountain Redhawks of that era are one of my all-time favorite IPA teams... to win three Pro Cups in a row is really something.

The Redhawks with all-time great shortstop Don Nichols, second baseman Duane Parsons, catcher Otis Ott, plus pitchers Boomerang Hines, Robby Kelly and Leroy Hill was one of the best teams in IPA history.

Notice they almost won the Pro Cup in 2009, too... they lost in the finals to the Turon Typhoons in 7 games.
In 2010, the Redhawks lost in 6 games to Waleska, who lost to the eventual Pro Cup champion Colfax in 7 games.
It would not have taken much for Far Mountain to have won 5 straight Pro Cups... they were that good.

Hope all of you enjoy looking back at the Far Mountain Redhawks... I will repost the coverage of the 2009 IPA Pro Cup Finals with Turon.

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Monday, September 28, 2064

Yesterday in the IPA
The Islandian Times
Thursday, October 8, 2009

FM Redhawks Critics' Choice To Win Pro Cup
The BNN baseball gurus are predicting the Far Mountain Redhawks of the Ruthlandian Union to reign supreme in this year's IPA Pro Cup Series with the Turon Typhoons of the Tycobbian Union. Manager Alex Groveland's club has the edge in pitching, hitting and fielding over Whitey Richburn's squad. This is the Redhawks first appearance in the Pro Cup finals, while the Typhoons have been here twice before and won each time. Turon was victorious in 2003 and 2006, despite being the underdogs both times. Thus far, Tycobbia has won five of the eight Pro Cups.

During the regular season Far Mountain hit .278 (2nd) with 179 homers (5th) and scored 798 runs (4th). In comparison Turon batted .274 (4th) with 157 roundtrippers (6th) and chalked up 799 runs (2nd). On the mound the Redhawks were impressive with a 3.42 team ERA (2nd), 63 complete games and surrendered 132 home runs (16th-tied). The Typhoon staff put up a good 3.66 ERA (7th), 39 complete games and allowed 126 homers (11th-tied).

In the postseason so far, Turon sports a .284 mark with 8 home runs and Far Mountain is hitting .273 with 7 homers. On the hill the Redhawks have a decided advantage with a superb 2.64 ERA to the Typhoons 3.43 ERA.

Both ball clubs are good defensively. In the regular season Far Mountain had a .976 FA (5th- tied) and Turon logged a .974 fielding percentage (11th - tied).

Those typically only show up when they are official. That's why it is strange. Do you have a split season format? Maybe that's why it shows that way.

No... there is no split season.

Come to think of it... I finished the season on September 29th... and then went back and pulled up the league standings as there were on September 1st so I could write up the standings with one month to go.

Maybe that's what caused it.

Ah! That makes sense. So we got to see the spoiler :D

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Monday, September 28, 2065

Yesterday in the IPA

The Islandian Times
Friday, October 9, 2009

2009 Islandian Pro Alliance Pro Cup Finals - Game 1

Kelly King In Opener, FM Blanks Turon 5-0
Robby Kelly was certainly King of the Hill in the opening game of the Pro Cup Series at his home park Sky High Stadium in Far Mountain... Kelly (4-0 2.32) was absolutely terrific... The 32-year-old right-hander totally shut down Turon 5-0 on two singles, struck out six and walked only two batters...Kelly was so dominant that he no-hit the Typhoons until the sixth frame... It was a scoreless struggle until the last of the fifth when RF Hank Burleigh (.275) got new life on an error by first baseman Johnny Carducci, who dropped a pop-up... Burleigh was sacrificed to second and then driven in by 3B Keith Wasik (.220)... Burleigh scored again to make it 2-0 after seven innings... Burleigh doubled and LF Nick Montag (.292) drove him in with a single... Back-to-back homers sealed the verdict in the eighth inning when 2B Duane Parsons (.295) slugged a two-run homer and C Otis Ott (.341) belted a solo shot off shell-shocked reliever Radley Long... Anthony Nardone (2-1 2.06) worked seven fine innings in defeat, yielding just two runs - one earned - and seven hits... the winners got 10 hits overall.

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Monday, September 28, 2065

Yesterday in the IPA

The Islandian Times
Saturday, October 10, 2009

2009 Islandian Pro Alliance Pro Cup Finals - Game 2

Redhawks Nip Typhoons 5-4 on Parsons' Homer
Far Mountain depended on the long ball and gutsy pitching by Boomerang Hines to nip Turon 5-4 in game two of the IPA Pro Cup... SS Don Nichols (.392) knotted it up 4-4 with a two-run blast in the fifth inning and 2B Duane Parsons (.319) smacked the game-winner in the last of the eighth... Boomerang Hines labored early but got better as the game progressed... Hines (4-1 1.64) was knocked around hard in the first five frames when the Typhoons got all of their runs... Hines settled down and blanked them over the final four innings... Hines went the distance and allowed seven hits... Reliever Freddi Spiegel (1-1 2.13) garnered the loss by giving up the homer to Parsons... Nichols with 3 RBIs and Parsons with a pair paced the Redhawk 9-hit attack... LF Jimmy Tremayne (.273) and C Fats Dalton (.278) led Turon with two hits and two runs batted in apiece... Tremayne tripled and singled and Dalton homered and doubled.

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Monday, September 28, 2065

Yesterday in the IPA

The Islandian Times
Sunday, October 11, 2009

2009 Islandian Pro Alliance Pro Cup Finals - Game 3

FM Edges Turon 5-4, Leads Pro Cup 3-0
On the road in Turon at Typhoon Stadium the Far Mountain Redhawks cracked open a 1-1 tie with three runs in the sixth inning on the way to a third straight victory in the IPA Pro Cup... Far Mountan won game three 5-4 and now needs only one more victory to win the best-of-seven series... the Redhawks took a 1-0 lead in the opening inning on SS Don Nichols (.389) 15th postseason RBI... the Typhoons evened it at 1-all on 1B Johnny Carducci's (.298) RBI single... in the sixth Redhawk RF Hank Burleigh (.250) broke the tie with an RBI ground-out and LF Nick Montag (.281) made it 4-1 with a two-run single... Turon shaved it to 4-2 when LF Marty Poe (.289) forced in a run with a bases-loaded walk... for the third day in a row Far Mountain 2B Duane Parsons (.340) homered and increased the margin to 5-2... 1B Johnny Carducci (.298) made it close with a two-run clout in the last of the eighth, but Redhawk relievers Milos Annensky and David McDonald got the last six Typhoons in order... FM starter Leroy Hill (2-2 3.98) claimed the win... Hill worked seven innings and allowed four runs... Turon starter James Stuart (2-2 3.65) lost it... Stuart permitted four runs and six hits in his six innings... the Typhoons had the edge in hits 8-7... 1B Fran Grzanka (.379), Parsons and Montag sparked Far Mountain with two hits each... Carducci was Turon top bat with two RBIs and two runs scored.

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Monday, September 28, 2065

Yesterday in the IPA

The Islandian Times
Monday, October 12, 2009

2009 Islandian Pro Alliance Pro Cup Finals - Game 4

Turon Wins Game 4, Still Trails Redhawks 3-1
The Far Mountain brooms were out in force today at Typhoon Stadium in game four of the IPA Pro Cup Series... the Redhawks were trying to sweep the series -- Turon needed a win in the worst way -- and the Typhoons got it as a gift... Far Mountain erred on the first two batters and gave Turon three quick unearned runs in the opening inning... that was enough to stay in contention for the Pro Cup... but the Redhawks still are in command with a three games to one lead in the best-of-seven series... Turon went on and built up a 5-0 lead after five innings and Anthony Nardone (3-1 2.05) was equal to the task and hurled them to a 5-2 triumph... Nardone stopped the Redhawks on seven hits with 3 Ks and one base on balls... Far Mountain starter Robby Kelly (4-1 2.40) lost for the first time in the postseason... Kelly worked six innings, allowed seven hits and only two earned runs... the Redhawks committed four errors in the game... offensively the Typhoons were sparked by 1B Johnny Carducci (.295), who scored twice and drilled a two-run homer... 2B Alan Hansen (.238) and 3B John Cottrell (.362) drove in one run apiece for the winners.

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Wednesday, September 28, 2065

Yesterday in the IPA

The Islandian Times
Tuesday, October 13, 2009

2009 Islandian Pro Alliance Pro Cup Finals - Game 5

Lemaire Outstanding, Turon Nips FM 1-0 in Thriller
One thing for sure the Turon Typhoons are not going away quietly in the Pro Cup Series... Turon has bounced back from a 3-0 deficit to win two in a row... in game five Jacques Lemaire was superb with a 1-0 victory over the Far Mountain Redhawks at Typhoon Stadium... 24-game winner Lemaire (4-0 2.87) won his fourth consecutive playoff game with a 6-hit shutout... Lemaire struck out seven and walked none in a splendid performance... FM's Leroy Hill (2-3 3.26) was almost as good... Hill, a 20-game winner, allowed only three hits, fanned six, walked three and did not allow an earned run in his seven innings... Hill worked on two-day's rest when the expected starter Boomerang Hines came down with a 24-hour virus... RF Andy Porter scored the game's only run in the second inning... for the second straight day shoddy fielding cost the Redhawks dearly... Porter (.273) reached second on an error by Gold Glove 2B Duane Parsons (.983 FA), moved to third on a ground-out and rode home on a sac fly by 3B John Cottrell (.367)... baseball can be a funny game... Parsons was the hero in game 2 with a game-winning homer, today he was the goat... fame can be fleeting in baseball... the Redhawks got runners in scoring position in the first, sixth and eighth, but Lemaire kept them off the scoreboard each time... in the top of the ninth with one out, Lemaire had a serious threat when FM put runners on first and second on two singles by SS Don Nichols (.355) and 2B Gabie Barksdale (.750)... but Lemaire rose to the occasion and fanned the dangerous Otis Ott (.281) and retired Nick Montag (.275) on a ground ball to end the game... Far Mountain collected 6 hits in the game to just 4 for Turon.

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Wednesday, September 28, 2065

Yesterday in the IPA

The Islandian Times
Wednesday, October 14, 2009

2009 Islandian Pro Alliance Pro Cup Finals - Game 6

Can You Believe It? Turon Ties Pro Cup At 3-3
What a comeback!... underdog Turon lost the first three games of the Pro Cup Series to favored Far Mountain... now the Typhoons are right back in it with three consecutive wins of their own... the IPA Pro Cup will be decided in a seventh game at Sky High Stadium in Far Mountain tomorrow afternoon... manager Whitey Richburn got another superlative mound performance... this time it was James Stuart (3-2 3.13) with a sparkling 5-1 victory over Far Mountain... Stuart only surrendered three hits... again faulty fielding cost the Redhawks... they committed three errors in the game and gave the Typhoons three unearned runs... Boomerang Hines (4-2 1.80) suffered the loss... in six innings Hines permitted six hits and four runs in all, but only two of them were earned... RF Marty Poe paced the Turon attack with 3-for-5... Poe hammered two doubles and scored three times... Doubles by Poe and CF Mac McCurnan (.250) gave the Typhoons a 2-0 lead in the top of the second... Hines (.133) accounted for Far Mountain's only score with a solo homer in the bottom of the second... back-to-back errors in the fifth frame by SS Don Nichols (.974 FA) and RF Greg Reynolds (1.000 FA) allowed Turon to take a 4-1 lead... the Typhoons got another unearned run in the ninth when Poe doubled, moved to third on an error by 1B Fran Grzanka (.993 FA) and scored on a wild pitch.

This will be the first time in Pro Cup history it has gone to a full seven games. In the Pro Cup finale it will be Turon's Anthony Nardone going up against Far Mountain's Robby Kelly... Nardone was 20-12 during the regular season with a 3.03 ERA... In the playoffs this year Nardone is 3-1 with a standout 2.05 ERA... this season Kelly was 17-13 with a 3.34 ERA... his postseason has been great with a 4-1 mark and a 2.40 ERA. This will the third time they have clashed in the series... Kelly beat Nardone 5-0 in game one, while Nardone got revenge in game four with a 5-2 victory.