Let's go Nine! :eatpop:

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Yesterday in the IPA
The Islandian Times
Wednesday, October 12, 2011

2011 IPA Pro Cup Series - Game 7 at Ozarka
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Yesterday in the IPA
Hines Acclaimed Pro Cup MVP
In close balloting good pitching won out on good hitting to decide the 2011 IPA Pro Cup Most Valuable Player. Far Mountain's stylish southpaw Boomerang Hines led the Redhawks to their first Pro Cup title with a 5-1 record and a brilliant 1.11 ERA. Hines edged out teammates Xavier Sosa, Lucky Collins and Phil Stewart for the honor.

Hines made 6 starts and had 5 complete games with 2 shutouts. His only loss came in a 2-1 decision. Hines also contributed a critical win in relief in the 7th game. He worked 2 and two-thirds scoreless innings in the 11-inning victory.

CF Sosa had a marvelous postseason, too. He batted .343 with 6 homers, 20 RBIs and 12 runs scored. RF Lucky Collins hit .357 with 12 RBIs, 10 runs and 5 stolen bases and LF Stewart compiled a .382 batting average with 2 roundtrippers, 9 runs driven in and scored 16 times.

Ozarka's fine LF Vic Weinstein was fifth in the vote. Weinstein had a .373 average with a pair of home runs, 13 RBIs and 18 runs in the playoffs.

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Thursday, October 6, 2067

FAR MOUNTAIN AND MARSTON WIN TENSE 7TH GAMES, ADVANCE TO RUTHLANDIAN TITLE SERIES
It was baseball at its finest... four evenly-matched ballclubs playing their hearts out in first-round Islandian Pro Alliance playoff action... but only two of them could win and advance to the next round... "only to the winners go the spoils"... Far Mountain and Marston both won tense seventh-game finales... the Redhawks upset Pro Cup favorite Claxton 5-3, pulling out a victory in the last two frames... and the Marston Nine likewise saved the best for last and rallied past the Sligo Rovers 2-1 in the late innings... the Tycobbian challengers had already prevailed... earlier in the week San Alejo swept White River in four games and Rolling Hills kayoed Hillsboro in a six-game series... the Montaneros and Racers will vie for the Tycobbian crown and the right to advance to the IPA Pro Cup Series against the Ruthlandian champion.

2067 Ruthlandian Union Division Series - Game 7
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Racers and Nine advance. Nice!
Surprised to see the Diamonds get stopped.

And Far Mountain - Ozarka game seven. Wow!

Far Mountain must be better than I thought... they beat a very good Claxton team that is better than 2064 when it won the Pro Cup by beating Rolling Hills.

Far Mountain and Marston series should be a dandy... they are pretty evenly matched... Redhawks have more home-run power... that may be the difference.

San Alejo's pitching might give Rolling Hills a problem and slow them down a bit... but the Monties offense is not much... don't think they can whip the Racers.

Go Marston! They've never done anything in my IPA, still waiting for their first playoff appearance. They did come close a couple years ago.

Marston has a tough row to hoe... a phrase from my brief cotton-pickin' days in Northwest Alabama in the early 50s... yep, my cotton-pickin' days were brief (pun intended)... just lasted a half day as I recollect... after dinnertime (that's lunchtime Down South... we call dinner time, supper time, which is our evening meal), I didn't go back... retired from pickin' cotton for the rest of my days.:rolleyes:

Far Mountain has a very good batting lineup... all 8 of them contribute to the offense... plus they have some good pitching... both starters and relievers... Marston is poor defensively, too, with a very poor .973 FA... still it will be a good series... not sure yet who I will pick.

Probably will pull for the Nine... they have never won a Pro Cup.

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Saturday, October 8, 2067

TU TITLE SERIES: MONTIES VS RACERS -- RU TITLE SERIES: REDHAWKS VS NINE
One and done is the verdict for four of the IPA Division winners... say so long to Claxton (#1), White River (#3), Hillsboro (#7) and Sligo (#8) and their dreams of a Pro Cup trophy... and say hello to the survivors Rolling Hills (#2), Marston (#4), Far Mountain (#5) and San Alejo (#6), whose dreams might still come true... round two begins tomorrow... fighting for supremacy in the Tycobbian Union title series will be the San Alejo Montaneros and the Rolling Hills Racers at the Mid Town Base Ball Grounds... battling for the Ruthlandian Union title will be the Far Mountain Redhawks and the Marston Nine at Legends Field... both series will be the best-of-seven... the victors will clash in the Pro Cup Series for the Islandian Pro Alliance overall championship.

All four first-round winners are coming off rock-solid performances... Rolling Hills toppled Hillsboro in 6 games... San Alejo took 4 straight from favored White River... Far Mountain surprised Pro Cup favorite Claxton in 7 games... and Marston edged Sligo out in another 7-game affair.

2067 Tycobbian Union League Championship Series Preview
On paper, Rolling Hills is the best ballclub, primarily because of its awesome offense... the Racers are chocked full of potent bats and top guns... they hit .302 as a team this season... scored like crazy and averaged almost 6 runs a game... luckily for the other playoff teams, Rolling Hills has its flaws... no dominant pitchers or standout aces... the starting rotation is just fair... and the bullpen is questionable... defense is average (.977 FA)... the Racers are so good offensively, they can beat you with their bats alone... they simply outscore the opposition.

That's what's facing the San Alejo Montaneros... scary, ain't it?

In the first round against a fine White River team, the Monties really did a job on the Rascals pitching-wise... San Alejo depends mainly on its pitchers and strong defense (.982 FA) to win ballgames... they don't have a lot of offense in the batting order... just average offense and scoring... but the pitching is so good, they don't need it... White River was totally shut down... held to just 8 runs in 4 games... the Rascals only hit .208... the Montaneros posted a superb 1.54 ERA in the series... however, San Alejo will have to perk up the scoring against powerhouse Rolling Hills... the Monties hit only .231 against White River in round one... they have the pitching to cut down on the Racers attack, but they will have to put more runs on the scoreboard to whip Rolling Hills in the series... the pitchers can't do it all by themselves.

Tycobbian Union Title Series Outlook:
Rolling Hills is literally a team of All-Stars... the starting lineup has made the All-Star team 28 times... by contrast San Alejo's batting order has made the All-Star team just 5 times... 'nuff said... the key to the series will be the Rolling Hills hurlers... if they do pretty well, the Racers will win in 6 games... if not, San Alejo will win in 7.
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Rolling Hills' Key Players
The Racers really performed well in the first round against Hillsboro... they dominated statistically at the plate and surprisingly on the hill, too, but still lost two games... they will have to do better to whip San Alejo, a much better club than the Blazers.

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San Alejo's Key Players
Nicky Yorke and Roman Redondo slumped badly in the opening round... batted less than .200... but they did hit 2 out of the park and drove in 5 runs... the Montaneros really need their firepower in this round.

2067 Ruthlandian Union League Championship Series Preview
Marston versus Far Mountain for the Tycobbian Union title.
Who's going to be triumphant?
This is a very tough one to call... the Nine and the Redhawks are pretty much even-steven on the baseball diamond... like two peas in a pod... very similar... not a lot of difference between them... that is true on the surface... so let's dig a little deeper and see what we can come with this that sounds plausible and reasonable.

Far Mountain upset the top-rated team in the IPA playoffs, the favorite to win the Pro Cup this year, the Claxton Diamonds, a heck of a good team with a good postseason record in recent years... big plus for the Redhawks... Marston, on the other hand, just barely beat out a team that rarely does well in the playoffs, the Sligo Rovers, a team with very good pitching, but little in the way of offense... another plus for the Redhawks.

Now let's take a look at the tale of the tape... pretty close in the offense department... scoring is almost even... Far Mountain gets its runs with homers, while Marston gets them with lots of base hits... might give the Redhawks a slight advantage here, too... good pitching and good home-run power is a good formula for success in the postseason... but the Nine looks to be the better pitching staff... slight plus for Marston... on the defensive side of the baseball, give a huge advantage to Far Mountain... .979 FA to .973 FA... in a close series, defense could be a big factor... and just how much knowledge do you think the pro pundits have?... Marston is the 4th-best club in the playoffs, while Far Mountain is right on their heels at #5... this is truly a "pick 'em" series.

Ruthlandian Union Title Series Outlook:
In a direct comparison it appears Far Mountain will take the series in 7 games... the Redhawks have more plusses than minuses... the outcome will probably come down to the bounce of the ball and who gets the lucky breaks.
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Far Mountain's Key Players
Starters Rick Goldman, Clarence Threadgill and Calvin Sturgeon will have to do better this round to beat Marston... combined they were only 2-2 against Claxton with ERAs over 5.00.

(Special Thanks to The Lone Thrasher Fan for the jerseys)

Marston's Key Players
Chizek and Prentiss will have to hit better in this series... they didn't do much in the first round... they only hit about .200 with just three RBIs between them.

(Special Thanks to dbacks for the Marston Nine logo I used to make the jerseys... dbacks, age 15 at the time, showed me how to post my first-ever screenshot... this was over 15 years ago in my early days of OOTP.

Let's go Racers! Let's go Nine! :eatpop:

i must say, that Redhawks lineup looks like Racer-lite. They are not as accomplished, but that whole lineup looks dangerous.

Top to bottom in the batting order the Redhawks can go deep... don't think Marston's mound staff compares to Claxton's... the Nine may be in for a rough time.

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Monday, October 10, 2067

REDHAWKS RIP MARSTON IN RU OPENER, MONTIES ROUT RACERS IN TU OPENER
There was a lot of offense in the IPA League Championship Series and a tad bit of pitching... in the Ruthlandian Union Far Mountain's home-run power prevailed over the Marston Nine 8-5, while San Alejo surprisingly piled it on 10-0 over the shell-shocked Rolling Hills Racers in the Tycobbian Union.

2067 Ruthlandian Union League Championship Series - Game 1
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