THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Saturday, October 14, 2056

ROOSTER CLOSER COVENTRY COPS PRO CUP MVP
Only four times in history has a reliever won the IPA Pro Cup Most Valuable Player Award... most of the time it goes to a guy with the big booming bat, but not this year... it went to Middlefield's spectacular closer Norm Coventry, who led the Roosters to their second Pro Cup title in the last five seasons and third in the team's history... the 36-year-old right-hander completely shut down some of the best teams in the IPA in this year's playoffs, going 3-0 in 9 games with one save, not allowing a single run in 21 innings.

Coventry outpolled Middlefield left fielder Trip Agarn and his bullpen buddy, Yazzy Yastrzemski, to win the coveted honor... Agarn, age 27, paced the Roosters to a 12-2 postseason mark with a .305 BA, 6 HR, 19 RBI and 12 runs... also up in age, the 35-year-old Yastrzemski excelled with a 3-0 mark in 8 relief appearances... Yazzy didn't give up a run in 14 innings... in fact, the Middlefield relief corps posted an unbelievable 0.19 ERA in 47 innings this year, winding up with a 7-0 record and 3 saves.

Maury Cantrell, a Rolling Hills reliever in 2031, was the first to claim the honor... this is the third time in nine years that a bullpen ace has nabbed the IPA Pro Cup MVP trophy... other winners were Southport's Hal Combs in 2047 and Midway's Jeffrey Leonard last year.

Norm Coventry * Trip Agarn * Yazzy Yastrzemski

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, October 16, 2056

PRESTIGIOUS IPA AWARDS PRESENTED
The 2056 Islandian Pro Alliance season is over except for the prestigious individual awards given out for standout performances... The Islandian Times conducted polls to determine the explemplary performers this year... the best of the best were announced and Golden Bats, Golden Arms, Golden Gloves, Best Rookies trophies and the IPA Most Valuable Players trophies were presented this past weekend.

In the Ruthlandian Union the Golden Bat Award went to Belle Plaine's 32-year-old first baseman, Chuck Gregory... in 154 games he batted .311 with 38 homers, led the entire IPA with 137 RBIs and scored 104 runs... this was Gregory's first time to be honored... despite his team's seventh-place finish he outpolled two fine outfielders, Middlefield's Trip Agarn and Crystal Lake's Zippy Coburn... Gregory is a 12-year veteran, 3-time All-Star and 2-time Gold Glover... lifetime he is a .321 hitter with 342 homers and 1118 RBIs.

Agarn sparked his Roosters to the RU West flag with a .284 BA in 125 games... Agarn had 43 roundtrippers, tops in the IPA, along with 125 RBIs and 104 runs... Coburn blistered pitchers for a .332 BA, third-best in the RU, seventh in the IPA... Coburn led the Skippers to fifth place in the RU South race with 27 homers, 102 RBIs and 100 runs scored... he also stole 18 bases.

The top hurler in the Ruthlandian Union was 36-year-old James Long of the Middlefield Roosters... he was honored with his third straight Golden Arm Award and fourth in his illustrious career... the chubby right-hander also won it in 2050... this year Long had the second-best ERA in the IPA... he ended up 20-9 with a strong 2.21 ERA... overall in his career Long has won 20 or more games 13 times, the last 8 years in a row... his lifetime record is 381-217 in 18 seasons with a terrific 2.65 ERA... Long is now fourth on the all-time wins list and trails the IPA leader, Frankie Quinn's 391 by 11... Nicky Engstrom is number two with 387 victories and Matt Bell is third with 382... Bell, age 37, is still active with the San Alejo Montaneros in the Tycobbian Union.

Coming in second in the RU Golden Arm race was Taranto's Freddy De Angelis with a fine 22-7 mark with a 2.61 ERA... he led the Tars to the RU North title... in third place in the voting was Valka's outstanding youngster Aavo Keskkula, who posted an impressive 20-11 record and a 2.32 ERA for the fourth-place Blackhawks in the RU South.

The Ruthlandian Union Rookie of the Year Award went to Rory Beecroft of the Waleska Westerners... 20-year-old Beecroft went 17-15 with an impressive 3.05 ERA in 39 starts in his freshman year... he edged out Rocky Rapids' Lance Obermueller for the trophy... Obermueller wound up 14-11 with a 3.52 ERA... third in the balloting was Wynnamac's young third sacker, Marvin Hayes, who hit at a .294 clip in 137 games with 9 homers, 62 RBIs and 76 runs... he also stole 8 bases.

For the second year in a row Middlefield's marvelous outfielder Trip Agarn has been named the Ruthlandian Union Most Valuable Player... he sparked the Roosters to their eighth consecutive pennant in the RU West Division, posting a .284 batting mark... Agarn topped the IPA with 43 homers and ranked third with 125 RBIs... he was third in the Ruthlandian Union with 104 runs... Agarn outpaced this year's Golden Bat winner, Chuck Gregory, for the MVP honor... Gregory had a strong year at the plate, batting .311 with 38 homers and an IPA-leading 137 RBIs... however his Belle Plaine Musketeers could only manage a seventh-place spot in the pennant race in the RU East... third in the MVP voting was Taranto twirler, Freddy De Angelis, who notched an excellent 22-7 record with a 2.61 ERA and helped his Tars win the RU North.

2056 Ruthlandian Union Golden Glove Team:
Starting Pitcher: Valerio Rossi (Taranto) (20-11/2.54 ERA) (1.000 FA) (first-time winner) (age 34)
Catcher: Jose Rego (Volusia) (127 G/.236 BA/4 HR/532 RBI/55 R/7 SB) (1.000 FA/3 PB/56.3 % RTO) (first-time winner) (age 20)
First Baseman: Chuck Gregory (Belle Plaine) (154 G/.311 BA/38 HR/137 RBI/104 R) (.995 FA) (2-time winner) (age 32)
Second Baseman: Phil McLemore (Wynnamac) (146 G/.313 BA/13 HR/89 RBI/99 R/9 SB) (.988 FA) (first-time winner) (age 27)
Third Baseman: Erik Coulter (Beechwood) (142 G/.302 BA/8 HR/61 RBI/76 R/11 SB) (.971 FA) (first-time winner) (age 27)
Shortstop: Joe Cochrane (Cold Creek) (148 G/.289 BA/23 HR/87 RBI/96 R/6 SB) (.972 FA) (2-time winner) (age 36)
Left Fielder: Curtis Cochran (Belair Beach) (140 G/.330 BA/7 HR/61 RBI/85 R/32 SB) (.997 FA) (first-time winner) (age 25)
Center Fielder: Vance Snead (Kilkenny) (147 G/.304 BA/3 HR/35 RBI/98 R/25 SB) (.988 FA) (first-time winner) (age 28)
Right Fielder: Mel Shadwell (Valka) (148 G/.281 BA/13 HR/72 RBI/85 R/9 SB) (.980 FA) (first-time winner) (age 30)

Chuck Gregory * James Long * Rory Beecroft * Trip Agarn

Game five was an instant classic! :thumbup1:

Agree, it was a classic.

And I almost lost it... apparently there is some glitch in OOTP12... in extra-inning postseason games, you must finish the day to have the game saved.

Don't know if you noticed... Midway won game six of the TU Finals and would have forced a seventh game against Turon this year... but I lost the game through some glitch... and Turon blew them away in the replayed game six.

I saw that the same thing might happen in gave five of the Pro Cup Finals, so I finished the day so it would be recorded as a win for Middlefield.

I can only remember another game like game five this year... it was in my old All-time All-Star Association dynasty years ago... the league consisted of the 16 original MLB franchises... each team's roster was their all-time greatest at each position... in game seven of the World Series I remember Babe Ruth of the Yankees homered in the 9th to send the game into overtime... and he homered again in the 22nd inning to win it... that really was a classic game!

Quite a few times the Pirates would go up by one run in the overtime innings, only to have the Yanks come back and tie... I think the Pirates scored a run in the top of the 22nd, only to have Babe hit a two-run homer to win in the bottom half of the inning.

The Yanks with Gehrig, Ruth, DiMaggio, Rizzuto, Mantle, Ford, Guidry and Rivera beat the Waner Brothers, Honus Wagner, Arky Vaughn and the Pirates that year... the pitchers were Deacon Phillippe, Jesse Tannehill, Babe Adams and Sam Leever.

I think that was the year that the OOTPB Forums crashed and they had no backup... I lost a really good dynasty because of that... it really broke my heart as I had played out each game for three great seasons... and lost all of the write-ups and recaps.

Dark Horse, thanks again for all of your support for the IPA.

Much appreciate you.

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, October 17, 2056

TYCOBBIAN TOP AWARDS ANNOUNCED
Just like the Ruthlandian Union, the Tycobbian Union has a bunch of talent, too... the big winners were Daryl Vale of Midway, Beau McCloud of Arroyo Grande and Justin Shank of Tuckanarra... Vale was chosen this year's TU Golden Bat... McCloud captured the TU Golden Arm... and Shank was selected the Tycobbian Rookie of the Year... in addition the Islandian Pro Alliance also named the top defenders of 2056 and presented them Golden Gloves.

Not only did Midway's stellar outfielder Daryl Vale garner the Tycobbian Union Golden Bat Award, he also was acclaimed the league's Most Valuable Player... Vale is a first-time winner in each category... he is usually overshadowed by his talented teammate superstar Norishige Ito, who won both awards the previous four years... this year in a 143 games Vale stood out with a terrific .343 BA, 41 homers, 133 RBIs and 109 runs... he also stole 23 bases... only 23, Vale topped the TU in RBIs and came in second in home runs and batting average... he was third in runs scored... in his 5 seasons with the Wolves, Vale is hitting .328 with 127 roundtrippers and 446 runs... he is a 3-time All-Star and twice a Golden Glove winner... Vale was a huge element in Midway's fourth consecutive TU East division title.

Fellow Midway flychaser, Norishige Ito, came in second in the Golden Bat voting this season... playing 148 games he compiled a .314 BA with 36 homers, 116 ribbies, scored 107 times and stole 9 bases... East Point's Skip Donley had his best year ever... in his fifth season with the Panthers the 24-year-old center fielder batted a solid .296, slugged 41 out of the park, drove in 118 runs and scored 106... Donley also stole 23 bases and played in 144 games... he finished second in homers and RBIs in the Tycobbian Union... East Point also wound up in second place to Midway in the TU East pennant race.

Competition was heated in the Golden Arm balloting... Beau McCloud of the second place Arroyo Grande Suns sneaked by two pennant-winners, Arnie McGill of Midway and Bobby Reimer of Turon... in a hotly-contest race McCloud won out with an IPA-high 25 victories... the 26-year-old right-hander was 25-12 with a fine 2.94 ERA and 4 shutouts in 40 starts... the 7-year vet is 131-88 in his career with an excellent 2.88 ERA... McCloud is a 3-time All-Star and has won two Golden Gloves... this is his first Golden Arm trophy... McCloud played his first four seasons with Midway, but was dealt to the Suns in a big multi-player trade for Norishige Ito in 2054... it was a great trade for both clubs.

Arnie McGill, age 27, is Midway's ace... he sparked them with a 22-8 mark this year with a 2.62 ERA... he came in second to McCloud... in the third spot for the TU Golden Arm Award was Turon's top hurler, Bobby Reimer, who posted a very impressive 22-6 record with a superb 2.46 ERA in 33 starts.

The Tycobbian Union Rookie of the Year for 2056 was Tuckanarra's 23-year-old righty, Justin Shank... he was 16-13 with a solid 3.16 ERA for the fourth-place Blue Jays... another twirler, Judson Bacall of Turon, was the runner-up in the newcomer vote... Bacall ended up 11-6 with a 3.48 ERA in 24 starts after joining the Typhoons in June... his club won the TU South this season... winding up third in the best-rookie poll was Arroyo Grande's hard-hitting shortstop, Dan Fargo, who poled 32 homers in 142 games, batted in 84 runs and scored 107 times... he also nabbed a Golden Glove with a fine .972 FA, but Fargo only hit .256... the Suns finished second in the TU South.

The 2056 Tycobbian Union Most Valuable Player trophy went to Midway's Daryl Vale (.343 BA/41 HR/133 RBI/109 R/23 SB)... the gifted outfielder edged out Arroyo Grande's fine hurler and this year's TU Golden Arm winner, Beau McCloud (25-12/2.94 ERA)... coming out number three in the MVP race was Arlon's standout left fielder, Jaimey Stansfield, who crushed 40 homers, had 103 RBIs, 104 runs, 32 SBs and a .290 BA in 136 games... his club won the Tycobbian West this season.

2056 Tycobbian Union Golden Glove Team

Pitcher: Jerrod Kipling (Cape Coral) (11-17/4.01 ERA) (1.000 FA) (first-time winner) (age 22)
Catcher: Ty Kelleher (Colchester) (132 G/.253 BA/14 HR/47 RBI/45 R) (.995 FA/6 PB/34.9% RTO) (first-time winner) (age 27)
First Baseman: Val Anniston (Denton City) (147 G/.281 BA/22 HR/94 RBI/66 R) (.992 FA) (first-time winner) (age 31)
Second Baseman: Derek Winchester (La Claire) (143 G/.298 BA/9 HR/65 RBI/100 R/22 SB) (.981 FA) (first-time winner) (age 23)
Third Baseman: Benito Clemente (San Alejo) (146 G/.268 BA/3 HR/55 RBI/52 R/14 SB) (.967 FA) (first-time winner) (age 27)
Shortstop: Dan Fargo (Arroyo Grande) (142 G/.256 BA/32 HR/84 RBI/107 R/9 SB) (.972 FA) (Rookie/first-time winner) (age 19)
Left Fielder: Downtown Wyatt (Fairfax) (137 G/.285 BA/13 HR/82 RBI/75 R/4 SB) (.994 FA) (3-time winner) (age 24)
Center Fielder: Ross Good (Southport) (146 G/.255 BA/11 HR/51 RBI/77 R/29 SB) (.995 FA) (first-time winner) (age 32)
Right Fielder: Elton O'Leary (Arroyo Grande) (136 G/.209 BA/11 HR/53 RBI/75 R/8 SB) (.990 FA) (first-time winner) (age 27)

*** Daryl Vale *** Beau McCloud *** Justin Shank

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Wednesday, October 18, 2056

BEST SKIPPERS IN IPA
The Islandian Pro Alliance announced the best skippers for the year 2056... both of them were first-time winners... this season the Ruthlandian Union Manager of the Year was Scotty Lagrange of the Eastshore Cotton Kings...and the Tycobbian honor went to Arlon's Mark Cameron.

The 49-year-old LaGrange, an IPA Hall-of-Fame outfielder, led Eastshore to a surprise win in the Ruthlandian East Division over the reigning Pro Cup champion, the Wynnamac Sundowners... the Cotton Kings upset the Macs by two games, winding up with a 92-62 record... the previous year Eastshore came in sixth with a 70-84 mark... the new skipper of the year played for Eastshore for 18 seasons and retired in 2044... inducted into the IPA Hall of Fame in 2049 with a .295 lifetime BA, 451 homers and 1414 RBIs... Lagrange was a 5-time All-Star and 6-time Golden Glove.

Lagrange was an almost unanimous choice for the best manager in the Ruthlandian Union... only one other skipper got support in The Islandian Times poll... Taranto's Augie Marshall was a distant second... the Tars won the RU North with a 91-63 record... an improvement from third place the year before with an 82-72 mark... the 62-year-old Marshall was selected the top manager in 2053... he is also in the IPA Hall of Fame... Marshall starred for Taranto and Crystal Lake in the '20s and '30s... made the HOF in 2049... a career .287 hitter with 504 homers and 1719 RBIs.

Three managers got votes in the Tycobbian top manager poll... Mark Cameron of the Arlon Champions came away the trophy for the TU Manager of the Year Award... he edged out Midway's Bobby Dorignac for the honor... a distant third in the balloting was Ozarka's Duffy Morrison.

Cameron guided Arlon to the TU West title with a sizzling 97-58 record, just one game better that the defending division winner, the Denton City Redbirds... the Champions won the pennant in a single-game playoff... Arlon upped its season mark from 91-63 the year before... the team came in second in 2055... Denton City whipped them by 8 games... the 45-year-old Cameron stood out for Arlon for 16 years, batting .275 with 517 homers and 1421 RBIs... he was a 3-time All-Star outfielder.

Dorignac has won the Manager of the Year trophy on two occasions... he was selected in 2053 and 2054... his Midway Wolves were 98-56 two years ago and got better this year, piling up 101 wins... they have won four pennants in a row... Dorignac, age 56, was an ace pitcher for Midway in the 20s and 30s, ringing up a splendid 315-228 record... he was voted the TU MVP and Golden Arm in 2024... Dorignac was installed in the IPA Hall of Fame in 2039.

48-year-old Duffy Morrison was a solid second sacker for Ozarka from 2034 to 2047, compiling a fine .283 BA with 266 homers and 1074 RBIs... he made the All-Star teams four times... the Naturals jumped from 71-83 in '55 and sixth place to 83-71 this year, rising up to third place in the very tough Tycobbian East.

I tried to convert the Islandian Pro Alliance to OOTP13 so I could eventually switch it to OOTP19, but it would only copy 54 of the 57 years... for some reason 3 years are missing from OOTP13 after conversion.

I tried to get help on the OOTP19 Discussions Forum to see if anyone knows the problem, but no one replied.

Looks Iike I will just have to continue to use OOTP12.

But I was sure looking forward to updating the IPA... I used OOTP18 for my Southern Association dynasty report and really like it.

Would appreciate help in solving this matter.

Andreas told me to get a copy of the demo for OOTP13 to use for the conversion... it seemed to work properly, but 3 years were missing.

I installed it twice just to make sure it was installed properly... still were missing 3 seasons.

My OOTP12 league has played 57 seasons... after conversion to OOTP13 it only have 54 seasons.

EC, is it the Almanac that is not being converted?

I tried to convert OOTP12 to OOTP13 when it first came out 5-6 years ago... everything was right except three years of my almanac was missing, so I went back to playing OOTP12.

The game has really progressed... I really liked playing my Southern Association using OOTP18 and decided to go take the time and trouble to convert 12 all the way to 19, but when I converted from 12 to 13, I was missing three seasons.

Version 12 goes to January, 2057.... when I converted to 13, it stopped at May, 2054... I didn't look at the almanac this time... because I was missing almost three years of play after the conversion... this is a far more serious problem than just missing a few years in the almanac.

I uninstalled 13 and re-installed it, hoping it was the installing process.

But it was still missing the three years.

Unless Andreas can solve my problem, I will just have to continue using OOTP12, which is fine... but just not as good as OOTP18 and OOTP19.

Will begin work for the IPA 2057 season... may take me a week or so.

Gotta create the new rookies so I can have a few good rookies each year.

i will begin by saying, verify all this with Andreas or someone else involved with development.

The almanac is just a series of html files that open in your default web browser. You can access these files from your windows browser. If you are going to keep v12 on your pc/laptop you are in no danger of losing this information. Even if v12 is deleted the league files should be saved so the almanacs will not be lost.

You should be able to move those files to a different location and then upgrade OOTP. My guess is, if you want to access the almanac in game, you can move the files back after conversion.

Anyway, i hope this works. And i hope you're able to convert to v19. i can't wait to see what your dynasty looks like in the new version.

Thanks, Dark Horse... much appreciate your time and advice.