Hey, show your knowledge of OOTP baseball.

Impress us with your Pro Cup predictions.

Who do you think will win the Ruthandian Union title? Valmara, Crystal Lake, Marston or Sligo?

Who will take the Tycobbian Union crown: Oxford, Ginza, High Mesa or Denton City?

And most of all, who will win the Islandian Pro Alliance much-coveted and much-cherished Pro Cup trophy?

Look at the team stats and make your predictions.

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Wednesday, September 24, 2059

PRO CUP PLAYOFFS COMMENCE THURSDAY
This is that magical time of the baseball season where 8 towns around the Islands abound with abundant asperations, hopes and dreams... their beloved hometown team has a chance to make history and be the best in the land... optimism is rampant at this wonderful time of the year... the Islandian Pro Alliance Pro Cup playoffs will begin tomorrow afternoon at four venues around the Islands... in the Ruthlandian Union, the Valmara Vipers (94-60) will play host to the reigning Pro Cup holder, the Crystal Lake Skippers (85-69), who are back for a chance to repeat as champion... and the Sligo Rovers (88-66) will travel to Marston (95-59) in first-round action... in the Tycobbian Union, it will be Oxford (97-57) at home against the Ginza Ninjas (96-58) and Denton City (88-77) on the road in High Mesa.

There are a lot of new faces this year in the postseason... only two clubs were in it last year... champ Crystal Lake and Valmara... only two teams have made it in the last decade... Oxford and Denton City were in the playoffs in '57... High Mesa last appeared in '48, Marston in '47, Sligo in '41 and Ginza, way back in '31.

This year's lineup of teams is very well-balanced... this year's Pro Cup is truly up for grabs... anybody can win... the team with the best offense has the worst pitching... the club with the best pitching has the worst offense... last year Crystal Lake captured the Pro Cup with its potent offense... can Oxford do it this year?... going by the numbers Marston looks to be the top team... excellent offense and solid pitching, but possesses a lackluster defense... High Mesa could be in the mix, too, with its good bats, good arms and good defenders... along with Valmara with its explosive offense, pretty fair pitching and average defense... can defending champion Crystal Lake pull off another surprise with its home-run power, solid pitching and good defense?

Only 5 of this year's Pro Cup participants have ever won the IPA championship... Valmara leads with 4 (2026, 2043, 2049, 2050)… Crystal Lake has captured 3 titles (2020, 2022, 2058)… and Sligo (2021), High Mesa (2002) and Oxford (2007) have garnered one apiece... the Vipers are tied with Turon and North Hills for the most in IPA history with 4 apiece... followed by Tuckanarra, Middlefield, Waleska, Southport, Rolling Hills, Far Mountain and Crystal Lake, all with 3 Pro Cups... overall in Islandian Pro Alliance history, the Tycobbian Union leads the Ruthlandian Union with 30 Pro Cups... the RU has claimed it 28 times.

2059 IPA Pro Cup Predictions:

1. Marston Nine: .286 BA (1st), 118 HR (21st), 755 runs (5th), starters 3.18 ERA (2nd), bullpen 3.08 ERA (6th), .273 FA

2. Valmara Vipers: .273 BA (5th), 192 HR (1st), 823 runs (1st), starters 3.46 ERA (6th), bullpen 3.19 ERA (9th), .976 FA

3. High Mesa Mustangs: .258 BA (17th), 195 HR (4th), 714 runs (7th), 3.37 ERA (2nd), 3.03 ERA (9th), .978 FA

4. Oxford Red Caps: .275 BA (4th), 244 HR (1st), 871 R (1st), starters 393 ERA (18th), bullpen 4.00 ERA (26th), .975 FA

5. Crystal Lake Skippers: .272 BA (6th), 138 HR (11th), starters 3.59 ERA (9th), bullpen 2.44 ERA (3rd), .978 FA

6. Denton City Redbirds: .259 BA (15th), 161 HR (10th), 692 runs (12th), starters 3.56 ERA (7th), bullpen 2.39 ERA (2nd), .976 FA

7. Sligo Rovers: .253 BA (27th), 126 HR (17th), 602 runs (27th), starters 2.71 ERA (1st), bullpen 3.09 ERA (7th), .978 FA

8. Ginza Ninjas: .270 BA (7th), 123 HR (23rd), 698 runs (11th), starters 3.52 ERA (5th), bullpen 3.87 ERA (23rd), .979 FA

1. Marston Nine Team Lineups and Pitching Rotation

Thanks to Txranger for the wonderful Marston logo... note the #9 on the batter's jersey... an amazing work!

2. Valmara Vipers Team Lineup and Pitching Rotation

Thanks to cephasjames for the Vipers logo.

3. High Mesa Team Lineup and Pitching Rotation

EC did the logo... with much help from cephasjames great logo thread and justafan's great logo software.

4. Oxford Team Lineup and Pitching Rotation

Thanks to knuckler for the fine logo.

5. Crystal Lake Team Lineup and Pitching Rotation

Thanks to the knuckler for the excellent logo.

6. Denton City Team Lineup and Pitching Rotation

EC did the logo with the great help of cephasjames 5000 logos and justafan's great software.

7. Sligo Team Lineup and Pitching Rotation

Thanks to knuckler for his very special logo... notice the shield with the baseball glove and bat... plus the dog on top of the shield... brilliantly done!

8. Ginza Team Lineup and Pitching Rotation

EC did the logo with the help of cephasjames 5000 logos and Japanese font from an unknown nice person.

Just notice a serious flaw in the IPA graphics... I'm seeing red!

Too much red.:D

If you need more info to make your Pro Cup pick, let me know what else you need.

Hope you will make a prediction.

This thread needs more interaction, me thinks.

My choice to win the Pro Cup this year is the Marston Nine... they seem to be loaded.

Actually, in past seasons, I have seen lowly-rated clubs regularly win the Pro Cup.

The last two years, '57 and '58, showed that a very good-hitting club with less-than-average pitching could win the Pro Cup... the Red Bluff Red Sox did it in '57 and the Crystal Lake Skippers in '58.

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Friday, September 25, 2059

PRO CUP PLAYOFFS BEGIN ALL ACROSS THE ISLANDS
Opening day games went to Valmara, Sligo, High Mesa and Ginza in the IPA Division Championship Series... the Vipers defeated Crystal Lake, the reigning Pro Cup holder, 4-1 at War Memorial Stadium... on the road the Rovers clipped Marston, this year's favorite, 9-8 in 11 innings... at home High Mesa topped Denton City 8-4 and visiting Ginza polished off high-powered Oxford 7-1... each series is best-of-seven in each round.

Click on Line Score to Enlarge

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Friday, September 25, 2059

ROVERS RALLY PAST NINE IN 11TH
In an up-and-down affair at Legends Field in Marston, Sligo rallied past the Nine 9-8 in 11 innings... Gerald Porterfield and Dallas Patton teamed up to topple powerful Marston in the first game of the RU Division Championship Series... in the decisive inning Porterfield singled and then came around to score on Patton's three-bagger... reliever Denver Brickman (1-0) notched the victory with 2 scoreless innings... Buddy Wilkes (0-1) took the loss... Patton went 4 for 7 in the game and drove in 4 runs... Porterfield scored 3 times and had 3 hits... Sligo outhit Marston 12-10.

The Rovers jumped out 5-0 in the first 2 innings, but then fell behind 8-5 after 8 innings... they rallied against Marston's superb closer Robert Tringle for 3 runs in the top of the ninth and forced extra innings.

Click on Line Score to Enlarge

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Friday, September 25, 2059

MIYAZAKI MAUL REDBIRDS IN TYCOBBIAN DCS OPENER
50-HR man Kagetoki Miyazaki took up where he left off in the regular season and bashed 2 more in the first game of the Tycobbian Division Championship Series at Queen Ranch Stadium in High Mesa... the Mustangs mauled the Redbirds 8-4 with Billy Putnam also hammering a 2-run swat and Tracy McGriff cracking 3 hits and driving in a pair of runs... starter Weldon Herringdon got the win, working 6 innings, allowing 8 hits, but just 2 runs... Herringdon departed with a 4-2 lead, which High Mesa stretched to 8-2 by the eighth... 20-game winner Carl Coons took the loss, permitting 4 runs in his 5 innings... Herringdon rang up a 15-10 mark during the year.

Click on LIne Score to Enlarge

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Friday, September 25, 2059

KARATE KIDS CLUB RED CAPS IN GAME ONE
The darlings of the Islandian Pro Alliance this year were the Ginza Ninjas... the Karate Kids charmed the Islands with a magical season and they started off the playoffs in style with a 7-2 thumping of the powerful Oxford Red Caps... a 6-run first inning did the trick, highlighted by Hideki Nakano's grand slammer... Akio Ikeda also went deep with a two-run blast in the opening frame... 17-game winner Kurt Brophy shut down the heavy-hitting Red Caps on just 2 runs and six hits... he went the distance in cruise control... Brophy bested 19-game winner Meldon Eddington, who was slammed for 7 runs in less than 4 innings.

Click Line Score to Enlarge

I think you already knew that my choice to win the pro cup are my ninjas... I just hope they can pull off a few upsets on the way there. I think they're definitely a weaker team out of the 8 in the playoffs but anything can happen

Looking closely at the Ninjas, they have four fine starters and an excellent closer... and it seems most of the lineup hit fairly well and drives in runs.

I have seen teams like this win in the past.

Maybe, Mr. Miyagi can produce a Pro Cup Miracle for the Karate Kids and their fans.

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Saturday, September 27, 2059

VIPS, ROVERS, MUSTANGS UP 2-0
Three clubs have jumped started to a 2-0 lead in the IPA playoffs... yesterday afternoon Valmara bested Crystal Lake 5-3, Sligo slipped past Marston 3-2 and High Mesa shut out Denton City, while favored Oxford has split the first two with the upstart Ginza Ninjas.

2059 Ruthlandian Union Division Championship Series - Game 2

Click on the Line Score to Enlarge

2059 Ruthlandian Union Division Championship Series - Game 2

Click on Line Score to Enlarge