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2063 IPA Playoff Prediction
4th Place: Elnora Clippers (88-67)
The Clippers batting order is chocked full of rock-solid contact hitters, led by Robin Staroff, Boo Dowdle, Kuro Ishihara and Sherrill Fielding, all .300 batters... plus Lee Carnahan, Donald Ray Mooney and Teddy Knox can knock in runs galore, too... but they are short on power... the Clippers are a crackerjack club that will contend seriously for the Ruthlandian Union title and quite possibly for the Pro Cup as well... it all depends on their average pitching... starters Norm Griffith and Matthew Minder and closer Stevie Tucker need some help to challenge the Pro Cup powers... Elnora will have its hands full in the opening round against the Colfax Black Sox, a team that might have it all this year.

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2063 IPA Pro Cup Prediction
5th Place: Hartsdale Hellcats (88-67)
Hartsdale is a power-laden club that could use better pitching... it might be good enough to get you through the regular season, but not adequate against playoff caliber teams... the Hellcats are a heck of hitting team with the likes of Walt Ivy, Maury Donatello, Cooter Eldridge and Nathan Ivy... and the starting foursome is fairly good with Phil Baylor, Nigel Remington, Tommy Johnson and Cris Knighten, but none of them go deep into the game... in addition, Hartsdale is short on good relievers... the Hellcats must outscore the opposition, which may be tough to do in the postseason because the quality of pitching is up another level... still Hartsdale was good enough to beat the Oxford Red Caps in the Tycobbian North Division... Oxford had won the division flag 5 of the last 6 seasons and was a factor in the postseason playoffs, winning the Pro Cup in '61... first the Hellcats must whip second-ranked Summerland in the first round and then probably have to face the defending Pro Cup titlist, Rolling Hills, this year's favorite to win it all again... that a tall order.

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2063 IPA Pro Cup Prediction
6th Place: LaGrange Gators 96-58
LaGrange really played well in nabbing the Ruthladian North pennant, posting 96 wins, second best in the IPA...but they played in one of the weaker divisions in the IPA... if the Gators go deep into the IPA postseason, it will be because of solid starters and a really good bullpen... the offense is borderline... however, the Gators get a break in the schedule... their first round opponent Claxton is rated the worst team in the Pro Cup playoffs... but then they have to take on the winner of Colfax and Elnora, two high-scoring clubs and highly-touted teams, for the Ruthlandian Union title... Michel Paquette, Chucky Beckman, Levi Coleridge and Jerry Ezzell are pretty fair starters, but the bullpen is lights out with Dave Loxley, Trey Ladner and Lucien Petit... the Gators are just average at the plate with Tony Rojas, Cleve Juban, Chogie Alfieri, Rusty Hawes and Stan Taginski... they might get past Claxton, but they will run into trouble in round two.

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2063 IPA Pro Cup Prediction
7th Place: South Fork Stallions (88-66)
South Fork wins with good pitching and a modest offense... that's how they won the Tycobbian East for the second time in the last four seasons... not likely to go far in the Pro Cup playoffs... but they could surprise, if their starters pitch strong games... anytime a team has at least two dominant starters, they can upset a better team... all it takes is for those two hurlers to have two good games back-to-back... Herm McClanahan and Christopher Hollie fit the bill... the Stallions have a solid bullpen to go with a pretty good starting four... but the offense is lacking... just fair to middling at the plate, but they do hit a homer ever now and then... South Fork depends on veteran All-Stars Bob Purkey and Rudy Maroney to carry the offensive load, but they are not enough... but the Stallions will get a chance to show their stuff right off the bat in the playoffs... they are matched up with Pro Cup favorite and defending IPA champ Rolling Hills in the first round... and it don't get any tougher than that... they last met in the playoffs in 2060... South Fork tested the Racers that year, but lost in 6 games... Rolling Hills captured the Pro Cup that season.

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2063 IPA Pro Cup Prediction
8th Place: Claxton Diamonds (85-69)
Claxton pitching rode them to the Ruthlandian South division crown... however, please note, the RU South is among the weakest in the IPA and the Diamonds just barely won it... they have no offense... two players, Fred Hahn and Scoops Dunn, produce most of the runs... but Claxton possesses a very capable rotation with Mark Meisner, Don Downing, Russell Krohn and Matt Goodrum... and they possess a standout closer Alvie London... they can stop anybody on any given day... but the big question is can the offense get them enough runs to win... the Diamonds take on the LaGrange Gators in the first round... they might be able to hang with them, but they will run into two potent attacks in the RU title round... and then, of course, it will even get tougher in the Pro Cup Finals against the TU champion... it's tough to win a Pro Cup.

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Saturday, October 6, 2063

63RD IPA PRO CUP UP FOR GRABS
Get ready for some baseball in the Islands!... 8 fine teams will be going at it starting tomorrow on the diamonds for the renowned and much-cherished Islandian Pro Alliance Pro Cup trophy... the winner will have to survive three rounds of intense play to add it to their trophy showcase... it will take lots of talent and lots of skill... perhaps, a few breaks... and quite possibly, some luck, too -- some good bounces of the baseball never hurt -- the rocky road to the Pro Cup is a treacherous trek... but well worth it.

The Tycobbian Union first-round action pits the current IPA Pro Cup champion Rolling Hills Racers at home against the South Fork Stallions and the Summerland Sunsets hosting the upstart Hartsdale Hellcats... over in the Ruthlandian Union two highly-regarded clubs meet in round one... the Elnora Clippers will travel to Colfax to take on the Black Sox and the Claxton Diamonds will be on the road opposed by the LaGrange Gators.

Colfax and Rolling Hills are forecast to meet in the Pro Cup Finals... the Racers are expected to win Pro Cup number 6.

Rolling Hills has won 5 Pro Cups, the most-ever in Islandian Pro Alliance history... the Racers were victorious in '29, '31, '48, '60 and '62... South Fork has captured a pair of Pro Cups in '25 and '42... three clubs, Colfax, Elnora and Hartsdale, have each garnered the Pro Cup on one occasion in their histories... Colfax won it as the Blasters in 2010... Elnora won as the All-Stars in 2033... the Hellcats claimed theirs in '46... and three of the challengers, Summerland, LaGrange and Claxton, sadly have no Pro Cups on their showcase shelves.

2063 IPA Pro Cup Prediction
1. Rolling Hills (106-48)
2. Summerland (95-59)
3. Colfax (91-63)
4. Elnora (88-67)
5. Hartsdale (88-67)
6. LaGrange (96-58)
7. South Fork (88-66)
8. Claxton (85-69)

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Monday, October 8, 2063

RACERS AND CLIPPERS OFF AND RUNNING IN IPA PLAYOFFS
Two of the league's top guns started off the Islandian Pro Alliance postseason off with a bang... Rolling Hills romped over South Fork 9-1 in the Tycobbian Union, while Elnora powered by Colfax 6-5 in the Ruthlandian Union... in other action Hartsdale upended favored Summerland 5-2 in the TU... and underdog Claxton whacked LaGrange 8-3 in the other RU game.

2063 Tycobbian Union Division Championship Series - Game 1 (best-of-seven series)
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2063 Ruthlandian Union Division Championship Series - Game 1 (best-of-seven series)
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Wow! What home field advantage? :eatpop:

Only one of the four with homefield advantage won the openers.
Rolling Hills.

Claxton plays far better at home (.636) than on the road (.468).
LaGrange strangely plays better on the road (.662) than at home (.584).
Elnora is much better on the road (.615) than at home (.519).
Colfax doesn't favor home (.584) or away (.597).
Rolling Hills just doesn't lose at home (.740), nor much away (.636).
South Fork is really good at home (.662), but a terrible road team (.481).
Hartsdale plays better at home (.590)... away is OK (.545).
Summerland plays really well at home (.675), but does fairly well out of town (.558).

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Tuesday, October 9, 2063

RACERS, HELLCATS SWEEP AT HOME, OTHERS SPLIT
The Rolling Hills Racers and the Hartsdale Hellcats are off to great starts in the Tycobbian Union postseason playoffs... they swept both games at their home parks... both series in the Ruthlandian Union split their series.
In the RU, Colfax rallied and whipped Elnora 6-4 to even their series at 1-1, while LaGrange rebounded in game two to blank Claxton 6-0... game two in the TU again went to Rolling Hills and Hartsdale... the Racers rolled past South Fork 7-4 and the Hellcats shut down Summerland 3-1.

2063 Ruthlandian Union Division Championship Series - Game 2 (best-of-seven series)
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2063 Tycobbian Union Division Championship Series - Game 2 (best-of-seven series)
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Wednesday, October 10, 2063

ELNORA LOSES #2 STARTER MINDEN
The Elnora Clippers have made it official: Matthew Minden is headed to the disabled list. The 31-year-old starting pitcher was injured yesterday in game two of the Ruthlandian Union playoffs... he is expected to miss 7-8 months with a radial nerve compression.
In 32 starts this season Minden has crafted a 16-9 record with a 3.17 ERA.
This is a crushing blow to Elnora's hopes for the Islandian Pro Alliance overall title.

Tough break for Elnora... even though i am hoping for a Rolling Hills v. Colfax match up. :eatpop:

A good hitting team can win the Pro Cup with two quality starters... looks bad for Elnora now.

Yep, Colfax and Rolling Hills would be a great matchup.

Colfax may be better than I thought... they hit well and pitch well... the Black Sox are serious Pro Cup contenders.

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Wednesday, October 10, 2063

HELLCATS NEAR SWEEP IN TU, RACERS FALL TO STALLIONS
The Hartsdale Hellcats have whipped favored Summerland in the first three games of the Tycobbian Union Division Championship Series, but the other three postseason series are still quite competitive... the Hellcats trimmed the weak-hitting Sunsets 4-2 and just need one win in the next four games to move to the TU title series... South Fork got some fine pitching and chilled off sizzling Rolling Hills 5-1 in game three, cutting the Racers' edge down to two games to one in the best-of-seven series... in the Ruthlandian Union both series are tight with LaGrange up 2-1 over Claxton and Colfax ahead of Elnora 2-1... the Gators dimmed the Diamonds 4-0 and the Black Sox belted the Clippers 8-2.

2063 Tycobbian Union Division Championship Series - Game 3 (best-of-seven series)
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