Sorry, been busy posting requests to update the IPA team logos, jerseys and caps... golem64 has done a beautiful job on his 5 teams.

Will play games six of the first round playoffs on Tuesday.

Man, the graphics gurus are doing a great job on updating my IPA teams with new logos, jerseys and caps... can't wait to post the new graphics.

Sorry for not playing playoff games recently, but I need to post the teams that need reworking for the graphics guys... takes a lot of time.

Will try to play playoff game six today.

Take your time, it's worth it for the new graphics!

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Friday, October 9, 2065

3 OF 4 IPA PLAYOFFS GO THE LIMIT IN 1ST ROUND
How about the Islandian Pro Alliance postseason playoffs?... three of the four series will go the limit... Claxton-LaGrange, Colfax-Wynnamac and Rolling Hills-Tuckanarra will all feature a 7th-game finale to decide the first-round action... there is nothing better in sports than a 7th-and-decisive game... and the IPA has three of them... only the Southport Sun Sox and Hartsdale Hellcats failed to go the distance in the best-of-seven series... the Sun Sox spoiled a true fanatical feast by sweeping the Hellcats in five games.

Defending Pro Cup champion Claxton just barely kept its back-to-back Pro Cup hopes alive by forcing a seventh game with the tough LaGrange Gators... the Diamonds' great pitching saved their season by shutting out the Gators 4-0 and staving off first-round elimination... Wynnamac evened its series at three wins apiece with Colfax, trouncing the Black Sox 9-3... and Pro Cup favorite Rolling Hills staved off elimination with a dramatic 5-2 comeback victory over the feisty Tuckanarra Tiger Cats... the Racers did not go home for the season... their Pro Cup aspirations are still alive.

2065 Ruthlandian Union Division Championship Series - Game 6 (best-of-seven series)
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Three Game 7s? Not bad at all!

Yeah, it's exciting.

I really enjoying playing out the playoff games... the animation is really something to behold... OOTP is really special.

Hope I live to see it when the animation is truly perfected... 10-15 years ago I remember looking forward to the day when I would be able to watch the IPA stars on the field playing out the game instead of reading about it... I had a game called Front Page Baseball with amazing graphics... I think it was around 2005.

And now it is happening.

Hope it is perfected and made more realistic in the next the 3-4 years.

Markus and crew just might do it.

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Saturday, October 10, 2065

CLAXTON, COLFAX, ROLLING HILLS WIN 7TH GAMES
It took all seven games, but Claxton finally beat LaGrange, Colfax finally whipped Wynnamac and Rolling Hills finally defeated Tuckanarra in first-round action in the Islandian Pro Alliance Pro Cup playoffs... Southport was the only club that had a relatively easy time... the Sun Sox swept the Hartsdale Hellcats in four games.

In yesterday's seventh-game showdowns defending Pro Cup champion Claxton kept their hopes for a repeat performance alive by outlasting the very tough LaGrange Gators 4-2... Colfax was victorious over the scrappy Wynnamac Sundowners 4-1... and Rolling Hills finished off the valiant Tuckanarra Tiger Cats 2-1.

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I had Front Page Sports Baseball also, and it was much earlier - I had '94 and '98.

Were the Front Page Sports' animation really that good?
I was impressed, but can't really remember how good it was?

It was a lot better than OOTP animation, wasn't it..

Somebody on this Forum gave me an old copy from the 90's... it wouldn't work properly on my computing operating system, so I gave it to someone else.

But what little I did see of the animated graphics... it was pretty good for its time..

jg2977, I will mail you my IPA logos, jerseys and caps this week.

Send me a private message or post it here when you receive them.

Let me know that they will work in your game.

Will do. Thanks!

It was so long ago, don’t really remember what the animations looked like. I remember that ‘94 only had 12 ballparks so some teams had to share the same ballpark. The ‘98 version had all of the current ballparks at that time. I used to invite my friend over in the summer and we would play that game for hours!

Attachment 724795
Saturday, October 10, 2065

IPA SEMI-FINAL SHOWDOWNS
One round down, two to go... up next in the Islandian Pro Alliance Pro Cup playoffs is the Ruthlandian and Tycobbian title series... we are now down to just four teams... the RU and TU League Championship Series will begin Monday afternoon in best-of-seven series... in the Ruthlandian Union defending Pro Cup champion Claxton (94-60) made it past the first round just barely... it took them seven games to subdue the LaGrange Gators... now the Diamonds will be dealing with the Colfax Black Sox (92-62), who knocked off the Wynnamac Sundowners also in a full seven-game series... round two in the Tycobbian Union will feature two powerhouses... this year's Pro Cup favorite, the Rolling Hills Racers (101-53) and the Southport Sun Sox (96-58) tee it up... Claxton and Rolling Hills will have the homefield advantage... the Racers were pushed to seven games by the Tuckanarra Tiger Cats... they trailed three games to two before they took games six and seven... Southport kayoed the Hartsdale Hellcats four games to one in round one... the Diamonds will host the Black Sox at Avalon Stadium, while the Racers will entertain the Sun Sox at the Midtown Base Ball Grounds.

Around the Town in the Islandian Pro Alliance
Attachment 724796

COLFAX BLACK SOX
Owner: Enim Dlog (Precious Metals Corporation)
GM: Mitch Fullerton
Manager: Garry August

Colfax is found in west central Ruthlandia, population 89,000. It is a "City of Gold" situated on the scenic Silver River, which flows out of the Silver Mountains northwest of Volusia, past Colfax and then eastward to the nation's capital, Forest City. It then merges with the Green River, which winds its way through the southern half of the country and ends at Belair Beach.

The town was settled during the Gold Rush of the 1850's and is still quite profitable. It is also an important coal mining center.

It is also the home of the Colfax Black Sox of the Islandian Pro Alliance, who play in the Ruthlandian Baseball Union in the West Division. The team is nicknamed for the miners, so important in mining the gold, silver, copper and coal. For the first six decades the club was known as the Blasters, which has a double meaning. A "blaster" would set off the dynamite in the mines, while a "blaster" at the ballpark would blast the ball out of the park.

Due to its great financial wealth and success, Colfaxians have a town of stunning beauty and charm. Built by the coal barons and the gold mine owners, it is filled with grand buildings and mansions, intermingled with the smokestacks that loom over the landscape. To lessen the environmental impact, quiet canals and man-made waterways flow through the town. Visitors can glide by boat along the tranquil Silver River or walk the fabled cobblestoned streets and discover a town that time has almost forgotten. You can hear its famous landmark, "The Belfry", a carillon or bells that toll every hour and has continuously for over 150 years. Colfax also boasts an opera house, concert hall, theater and a ballet company.

Colfax's Mountain View Stadium is known for its gorgeous view of the town, the Silver Mountain backdrop beyond the outfield fence and for its "Pot of Gold". It is an actual pot, five feet in diameter, located in the center field section of the ballpark, 410 feet away. Whenever a Blaster or Black Sox player hits a ball that ends up in the "Pot of Gold", that player and a fan each receive $5,000 in gold coins. The fan is chosen in a "lucky scorecard number" drawing.

At the ballpark you have hardworking and hard-living miners and the white collar and managerial set...the beer set and the champagne set. Both are attended to at Mountain View Stadium. You can get anything from hot dogs to caviar at the concession stands.

The Colfax original owner was Enim Dlog, whose ancestors are from somewhere in the Baltics. It was one of his ancestors, who first discovered gold in the 1850's. In fact, the new ballpark was built on the same site as the first gold mine.

One of the greatest players in Colfax history is Hall-of-Fame hurler Ilya Szabo, who pitched 19 seasons for the Blasters from 2003 to 2021. Lifetime Szabo was 327-210 with a great 2.57 ERA. He sparked them to 8 pennants and a Pro Cup in his tenure as a player. Colfax beat Turon in the 2010 Pro Cup. Szabo was inducted into the first HOF class in 2027. He was a 9-time All-Star, captured 4 RU Golden Arm Awards and was twice the Ruthlandian Most Valuable Player. He retired as a player in 2021 at age 42. Szabo went 18-17 his final season with a 3.76 ERA... Szabo also served as General Manager and Manager of the Blasters for many years.

The current General Manager is former star catcher Mitch Fullerton... he played with Colfax for 19 seasons and finished with a lifetime .294 BA, 300 homers and 1244 RBIs... Fullerton's career spanned from 2026 to 2044... Garry August, the skipper of the Black Sox, never played in the Islandian Pro Alliance... in fact, he never played baseball at any level... never played any sports at all in organized leagues... he got his experience in as a high school coach, was very successful in all sports, went to work for Fullerton as a bench coach when Fullerton was the manager and was hired as manager in 2062.

Mountain View Stadium (1971)
Capacity: 10,850

Dimensions:
LF Line 315
LF 345
LCF 375
CF 405
RCF 375
RF 360
RF Line 345

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CLAXTON DIAMONDS
Owner: DeBeers Mining Company
GM: Dixie Baker
Manager: Abe Schiffman

Claxton is a company town, a mining town of 107,000 in the southwestern foothills of the Silver Mountains, famous for its very high quality diamond industry. DeBeers, the world's largest diamond company, has a branch in Ruthlandia, where the ultimate diamonds are mined, cut, polished and processed, then distributed to the four corners of the world.

Claxton Diamonds are very much in demand worldwide because of their very fine quality. Gold and silver mining is also a vital part of the town's and Ruthlandia's economy. Claxton is a hardworking, blue collar town, who really love their baseball team, the Claxton Diamonds.

The club is owned by DeBeers and plays their games at gorgeous Avalon Stadium, built by DeBeers as a showcase stadium in 1990, complete with a scenic view of the Silver Mountains. The Avalon Casino is located in center field and is one of the most popular in the Islands. World famous entertainers appear regularly there.

DeBeers sponsors a "Lucky Diamond" sign on the right side of the left field scoreboard. DeBeers starts off each season with diamonds worth $1000 in the pot and increases it by $1000 each game, until someone wins it. Whenever a Claxton batter hits that sign, the player wins whatever is in the Diamond Jackpot and a lucky fan is also a jackpot winner, too. The lucky fan is chosen by the lucky scorecard number. During the fourth-inning stretch it is a Diamonds' tradition for the ladies at the game to sing "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend". A diamond is given away at each game to some lucky lady. In the seventh inning everybody joins in for the traditional "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". At the concession stands you can feast on hot dogs, hamburgers, cokes, beer, peanuts and crackerjacks.

The Claxton Diamonds are in the Ruthlandian Union and play in the South Division. The first GM and manager was the iconic Stacy Engel, known as "The Old Perfesser". He was the most successful manager in the Islandian amateur and company leagues. Engel was the only one considered for the Claxton job in 2001, the first year of the Islandian Pro Alliance. His amateur success continued in the IPA with 8 division flags. Engel retired in 2029.

Currently the Diamonds are run by general manager Dixie Baker, a star Golden Glove outfielder for the Diamonds from 2001 to 2014. He batted .266 in his 13-year career with 363 homers and over 1100 RBIs. Claxton made the postseason playoffs 5 times in his playing days. Baker also skippered the club for 22 seasons, 2029 to 2051, garnering 6 pennants. He became the GM in 2052 with superstar player Jojo DeLucca taking charge as player-manager.

One of the greatest player in the history of the Islands, DeLucca had a fabulous 24 years in the IPA, batting .303 with 635 homers, 2425 RBIs and scored 2099 runs. The great infielder made the RU All-Stars 15 times, was a 6-time Golden Glover and was named the RU Most Valuable Player in 2045. Delucca retired as a player at age 42 and was inducted into the IPA Hall of Fame in 2061. But, after five straight subpar seasons, DeLucca resigned in 2057... durable and workhorse hurler Abe Schiffman took the helm and has turned the team around.

Schiffman was 238-177 with a 3.70 ERA for 15 seasons from 2037 to 2051 and helped the Diamonds win 5 pennants. Three times Schiffman paced the Ruthlandian Union in strikeouts.

Avalon Stadium (1990)
Capacity: 10,500

Dimensions:
LF LINE 325
LF 350
LC 390
CF 399
RC 365
RF 355
RF LINE 320