Attachment 837903
Friday, October 28, 2072

IPA BEST PITCHER PRIZES GO TO MACS' FLANDERS AND BAYVIEW'S PENFIELD
Kudos to the top pitchers in the Islandian Pro Alliance... the 2072 Ruthlandian Union Golden Arm Award was presented to Mick Flanders of the Wynnamac Sundowners and the 2072 Tycobbian Union Golden Arm Award went to Timmy Penfield of the Bayview Vikings... Flanders is a 28-year-old right-hander and a 6-year veteran... Penfield, a little right-hander, is just 23 and has been with the Vikings for 4 seasons... both hurlers sparked their clubs to standout seasons... the Macs won the Ruthlandian East and Bayview was just barely beaten out by one game by the La Claire Lynx in the Tycobbian West race.

Mick Flanders sparkled on the mound this season with a 19-5 mark and a 2.92 ERA in 31 starts... the 6-foot-9 twirler led the IPA with 214 strikeouts in 221 innings... Flanders led the RU with 5 shutouts, which was second place in the IPA... lifetime he is 56-27 with a fine 3.15 ERA.

Eric Connor of the Ranford Bulls came in second the RU Golden Arm competition... Connor, a 30-year-old left-hander, paced the IPA with 20 victories and 33 starts... he ended up 20-9 with a 2.87 ERA... the Bulls wound up 4th in the RU North pennant race... Connor is a 9-year vet, all with Ranford.

Third place in the 2072 RU Golden Arm balloting went to a closer, Dave Loxley of the LaGrange Gators... a 15-year veteran, this was one of his best seasons at age 36... Loxley was 9-2 with an excellent 1.74 ERA... he topped the Ruthlandian Union for the second straight year with 33 saves... the Gators tied for second place in the RU North, 9 games out of first place.

Timmy Penfield, the 2072 TU Golden Arm winner, wowed fans, peers and sportswriters with an 18-8 record in 25 starts with a splendid 2.20 ERA... his ERA was the best in the IPA.

Hoyt Harper of the Hillsboro Blazers challenged Penfield for the Golden Arm trophy, winding up as the runner-up... Harper registered an impressive 19-4 mark and a 2.92 ERA in 27 starts... the Blazers had a fine season, coming in a close second to the Red Bluff Red Sox, the champion of the TU East.

Penfield's pitching partner in Bayview, Billy Wilkerson, wound up in the third spot in the TU Golden Arm race... Wilkerson compiled an 18-8 season with a strong 2.51 ERA and led the IPA with an amazing 9 shutouts.

Ruthlandian Union

Attachment 838286
Saturday, October 29, 2072

SUPER HITTERS NAMED IN RUTHLANDIAN AND TYCOBBIAN UNIONS... WALDREP, APPLE RECEIVE GOLDEN BATS
Each season in the Islandian Pro Alliance the top batsmen are selected and are presented the Golden Bat Award, emblematic of being the best hitter in each of the leagues... this season the 2072 Ruthlandian Union Golden Bat Award was given to Lanny Waldrep, star right fielder for the Colfax Black Sox and the 2072 Tycobbian Union Golden Bat Award recipient was Corky Apple, standout left fielder for the Turon Typhoons... this is the 4th time Waldrep has been chosen... the 34-year-old superstar also won the RU Golden Bat in 1959, 1966 and 1970... Waldrep, a 16-year veteran, almost won it on 5 other occasions, finishing second or third in the balloting... Apple is 25 and has played 5 seasons in the IPA... this is the first time Apple claimed the TU Golden Bat trophy.

2072 was another terrific year for Waldrep... he is showing no signs of slowing down... this was one of his best seasons with a .335 BA in 149 games with 37 doubles, 4 triples, 38 homers, 121 RBIs and 105 runs and he also walked 115 times with a .453 OBP... and Waldrep even stole 4 bases... despite his best efforts Colfax finished 6th in the RU West race with a 73-81 record, 22 games behind champion Stoner... in his remarkable career Waldrep is a .314 hitter with 505 home runs and 1607 runs batted in... he has led the Ruthlandian Union in homers the last three seasons... Waldrep is an 8-time All-Star and 5-time Golden Glove... yep, Waldrep is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, for sure.

Valmara's superlative first baseman Stefan Starzynski was runner-up to Waldrep in the Ruthlandian Golden Bat poll... at age 23, he sparked the Vipers to the RU North Division title with a .314 BA in 153 games, 29 doubles, 4 triples, 33 roundtrippers, 112 ribbies, 122 runs scored and 18 stolen bases... Valmara had the best record in the IPA with a 97-57 mark.

Coming in 3rd in the Ruthlandian Golden Bat poll was Belle Plaine's second baseman Andre Lemoine... in 154 games he batted .342 with 32 homers, 112 RBIs, 117 runs, 115 walks and 15 stolen bases... Lemoine had a .456 OBP... despite his gaudy numbers, the poor Musketeers still came in dead last in the RU East with a very poor 59-95 record... the 30-year-old Lemoine has starred for Belle Plaine for 10 seasons.

Not only is the 2072 Tycobbian Golden Bat a rock-solid hitter, Corky Apple is also a Golden Glover in left field... Apple played in 152 games and led the Turon Typhoons (91-63) to the Tycobbian South Division crown... they whipped perennial powerhouse Southport by 6 games... Apple hit .324 with 201 hits, 33 doubles, 2 triples, 20 home runs, 106 RBIs, 112 runs and 35 stolen bases... lifetime Apple sports a .309 BA with 56 homers, 331 RBIs and 356 runs scored in his 5 years with Turon.

Second place in the TU Golden Bat poll went to Hartsdale's slugging right fielder Tom Colson... he pace the Hellcats to a standout season... Hartsdale (94-60) won the TU North fairly easily by 9 games over the White River Rascals (85-69)... Colson was one of the primary reasons they won the pennant... he batted .286 in 150 games with 135 RBIs, 39 homers, led the league with 123 runs scored and stole 32 bases... Colson is 25 and has played 5 seasons with the Hellcats.

A Hartsdale teammate, first baseman Bobby Gunn, wound up third in the TU Golden Bat voting... the 32-year-old Gunn led the IPA with 152 RBIs... he swatted 43 homers and scored 92 runs, while batting .288 for average... Gunn is a 8-year veteran, 6 with South Fork, the last two with Hartsdale... he had a career year this year.

Ruthlandian Union

Great season for the Typhoons and Silver Sox.

i'll be looking forward to seeing how the Hartsdale Hellcats do this season. i like their unis. And the logo is great. Let's see if they can get some pitching... :eatpop:

Taking a close look at the Hartsdale Hellcats... at midyear, they traded 3 or 4 of the best pitchers... really was a strange move... but they did win the TU North with ease by 9 games... however, they need better pitching in the playoffs... right now they have the bats, just needs some good, strong arms to go with them.

Merry Christmas everybody... hope all of you have a great holiday season.

Thanks for still taking a look at the Islandian Pro Alliance.

Attachment 838532
Sunday, October 30, 2072

IPA MVP AWARDS COPPED BY VALMARA'S SKARZYNSKI AND TURON'S APPLE
One of the most distinguished and celebrated events of the Islandian Pro Alliance season is the awarding of the Ruthlandian and Tycobbian Most Valuable Player trophies... it is a difficult task to narrow it down to just one player... so many are deserving of the revered honor, but only one player in each league can win it... this year the 2072 Ruthlandian Union Most Valuable Player Award has been conferred on Valmara's splendid first baseman Stefan Skarzynski and the 2072 Tycobbian Union Most Valuable Player Award has been given to Turon's talented left fielder Corky Apple.

The 23-year-old Skarzynski had to outpolled plenty of highly-touted and gifted players... he led the Vipers to the RU North pennant by batting .314 in 153 games, collecting 187 hits with 33 homers, 112 RBIs and 122 runs... Skarzynski finished second to the great Lanny Waldrep in the Golden Bat competition, but he won the MVP prize... lifetime in 3 seasons with Valmara, Skarzynski is a .303 batter with 89 roundtrippers, 303 RBIs and 316 runs scored.

This year it wasn't the batters he had to overcome, it was two fine pitchers... number 2 in the Ruthlandian MVP poll was Wynnamac's workhorse Mick Flanders, this year's Golden Arm winner... the big 6-foot-9 right-hander sparked the Macs to the RU East pennant with a terrific 19-5 mark and a 2.92 ERA in 31 starts... Flanders led the IPA in strikeouts with 214 in 221 innings and paced the RU with 5 shutouts.

Al Ragsdale, Belair Beach's fine right-hander, was 3rd in the MVP voting... the 31-year-old racked up 18 victories and only lost 4 times, while posting up an impressive 2.87 ERA in 25 starts... Ragsdale played his first 4 season with Southport in the Tycobbian Union... he has been with the Sunbirds for 2 years... Belair Beach (92-62) came in a close second to the Valka Blackhawks (96-58), finishing 4 games behind them in the RU South.

In the Tycobbian Union it was the hard-hitting kings of swing that Corky Apple had to beat out for the TU Most Valuable Player trophy... Apple is a triple awards winner... he is also the 2072 TU Golden Bat this season... Apple reigned supreme again over his Golden Bat challengers and garnered the MVP prize, too... Apple paced Turon to the Tycobbian South pennant with a .314 BA in 152 games with 201 hits, 33 doubles, 2 triples, 20 home runs, 106 RBIs, 112 runs and 35 stolen bases... he also won his second straight Golden Glove in left field... it was a great season for Apple... his Typhoons also won the IPA Pro Cup, defeating Stoner 3 games to 1 in the best-of-five series.

Timmy Penfield, Bayview's brilliant right-hander, and Bobby Gunn, Hartsdale's slugging outfielder, ran 2 and 3 in the TU Most Valuable Player poll... in his 4th season the 23-year-old Penfield, put up a standout 18-8 record in 25 starts with an IPA-leading 2.20 ERA... Penfield propelled the Vikings to a very close second place in the TU West... La Claire nipped them by just one scant game... Gunn led the Hellcats to the TU North pennant... Gunn had a super season and led the IPA with 152 RBIs... he went deep 43 times this season, scored 94 times and hit for a .288 batting average in 148 games... Gunn finished 3rd in the Tycobbian Golden Bat poll.

2072 Ruthlandian Union Most Valuable Players

Attachment 838710
Monday, October 31, 2072

IPA BEST SKIPPER TROPHIES TO STONER'S CHAPEL AND HARTSDALE'S MARKIS
Billy Chapel of the Stoner Silver Sox and Mark Markis of the Hartsdale Hellcats have a lot in common... number one, they are both in their 11th year as skippers... both got the job in 2062... and number two, the Islandian Pro Alliance scribes have chosen them the managers of the year... Chapel is the Ruthlandian Union Manager of the Year and Markis is the Tycobbian Union Manager of the Year.

Ruthlandian Union

Acclaim has been a long time coming for Billy Chapel... at age 80 he is one of the elder statesmen of IPA baseball... Chapel starred for the old Stoner Stars of the teens and 20s, winning 260 games and losing 212 games for a poor franchise with a decent 3.40 ERA... this year Chapel piloted the Stoner Silver Sox to the Ruthlandian Union West Division crown with a 95-59 mark, winning it by 13 games... the previous season the Sox were only 72-82, winding up in 6th place and 14 games out of first... Chapel never got to the playoffs as a player and this year was his first time ever in the postseason and he almost won it, but lost out to the Turon Typhoons in 4 games in the Pro Cup Series.

Chapel won out over two other worthy peers, Malcolm Tansbury, skipper of the Eastshore Cotton Kings, and Matvey Kazak, manager of the Valka Blackhawks... both of them were rookies this season... this was their first season as managers... Tansbury was the second-highest votegetter in the RU Manager of the Year poll... he guided Eastshore to an 89-65 mark, good for second place in the RU East race, just 2 games behind pennant-winning Wynnamac (91-63)... it was a terrific turnaround year for the Cotton Kings... in 2071 they were 71-83 and ended up 6th, trailing by 14 games in the chase for the pennant.

Matvay Kazak wound up in the third spot in the Ruthlandian Union best skipper poll... he took the Blackhawks to the playoffs in his first season in charge of the club... Valka improved from 2nd place and 92-62 in '71 to 96-58 and first place this year... the Blackhawks came in 8 games off the pace last year and won by 4 games this year.

Tycobbian Union

The 2072 Tycobbian Union Manager of the Year Award went to Mark Markis of Hartsdale... his Hellcats really turned it around this season, going from 7th place to first place in the TU North... Markis boosted the club's record from 72-82 up to 94-60... in '71 Hartsdale was 25 games back in the pennant race... the Hellcats came out the winner in '72 by 9 games... Markis has a unique background... high school and college ball were his only experience and he was just a mediocre or so-so outfielder at best... he never made it to the Islandian Pro Alliance, but Markis is an analytical genius... the GM at that time, Jud Turchin, hired him to help him evaluate ballplayers... Markis so impressed Turchin over the years that he was given the reins to the ball club when Turchin retired as GM and skipper in '62.

La Claire's Alain Cheval finished second in the TU top skipper balloting... his Lynx came in second in the TU West last year with a solid 89-65 mark, winding up 7 games behind to Rolling Hills, but this year they upped it to 92-62 and took the flag by one game over Bayview... Cheval is in his 11th year as manager.

Markis and Cheval got most of the votes in the TU Manager of the Year voting... a distant third was Turon's manager, Nate Scottsdale... the Typhoons won their third straight Tycobbian South division title with a 91-63 record, winning by 6 games... Manager of the Year voters like to see great improvement from one year to the next... Scottsdale was hurt by the fact that Turon won 104 games in '71... but that's just the way it is is... for him to win the best skipper honor this year, he needed at least 100 wins... but I'm sure Scottsdale is not unhappy... his Turon Typhoons are the 2072 Pro Cup Champion... that's not so bad as a consolation prize, is it?

That wraps up the 2072 Islandian Pro Alliance season.

I think I will need to add a pitcher and a position player to each team to bolster up the rookie class for the 2073 season... the AI didn't do a good job in the rookie class... it was pretty weak this year.

Sorry, I have been working on my South Island League playing games... it takes me 3 days to post the results of each league, the Supreme League and the Secondary League.

Will work on adding 2 free agents to each of the 64 IPA teams today... will try to update the rosters within a week... so I can start the 2073 season.

49 of the 64 teams have been updated for the 2073 IPA season.

15 more to go.

Merry Christmas to you, too, Eugene Church!

Good to hear from you again, StLee... I, too, wish Dale Murphy was in the HOF... he was my wife's granddaddy's favorite player.

Rosters are updated for the 2073 IPA season.

Get ready for some baseball coming to a park near you soon.

Sounds good, looking forward to seeing how the Silver Sox do in the upcoming season after reaching the Pro Cup Series in a big surprise last year.

Sorry I haven't been posting much. I haven't been in the mood with everything that's happened in the past few weeks. I'm feeling a little better now though.

Have missed you... glad to see you are coping better.

Happy New Year !!

And thanks for being such a loyal viewer of the IPA.

Thanks EC. I appreciate it. I barely played OOTP during the first week that I got news of my friend's passing. I've finally begun to feel better during the past week and a half I'd say, although there are some pretty tough moments periodically. Time eventually heals all wounds, and I know that she'd want me to be happy living out my life. OOTP is giving me great joy once again.

Know what you mean... in the last two years, I have lost two of my dear buddies from college... we played a lot of ball together... and often over the passing years we got together to share our old, ancient and overtold war stories... some true... some not so true... methinks, most of us embellish on occasion.

Time does lessen the loss and pain, but it never goes away.