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Eugene Church · 03-01-2009, 06:37 PM

The Islandian Times

Saturday, June 15, 2002

Luxora Up By 2 Games Over Fairfax in TU North
In the Tycobbian Union North Division the Luxora Zorros have a 2-game margin over the runner-up Fairfax Frogs at the league nears the midseason break for the IPA All-Star Game. As in most of the other divisions around the IPA, the original franchises have the edge in the standings so far. Both the Z's and the Frogs have a year under their belts in the IPA as opposed to the expansion teams. The year's experience seems to make a difference.

The famed slugger Alejandro Rodrigo, one of the most prolific home run hitters in the amateur leagues, has led Luxora (42-29) to a first-half lead in the pennant race... Rodrigo has a bunch of bashers that have the highest team batting average in the IPA... The Zorros are hitting .285 (1st)... also have good pitching with a 3.34 ERA (3rd) and good defense with a .979 fielding average (2nd-tied)... Only shortcoming is 47 home runs (6th).

Rodrigo has four .300 hitters in his line-up: LF Pedro Vizquel (.355), CF Lacey Tompkins (.352), 1B Paul Hallenbeck (.333) and rookie RF Cristo Viamonte (.320)... rookie 3B Pancho Santa Cruz (.299) and 1B-3B Rico Vina (.296) are flirting with the .300 mark, too... another rookie 2B Bobby Bayas (.273) has played well... On the hill Tito Tovares (13-3 2.54) has been excellent... other starters include Keith Callahan (8-4 3.59), Eddie Hoffman (7-5 3.37) and Fernando Fernandes (3.-1 2.79)... Luxora's bullpen has been solid as well. The Z's are doing all the right things so far, but they do have some competition.

Manager Harry Buckley has his Fairfax Frogs (40-31) nipping at the Zorros' heels, just 2 games back... pitching has been Buckley's strong point with a 3.17 ERA (2nd)... the Frogs mainstays have been Kaz Hayagawa (10-4 2.79) and Robbie Meredith (8-4 3.38) with help from Fuzzy Olnick (4-4 3.75)... last year's star hurler Takehide Takahashi (2-8 3.52) has not been the same pitcher... Buckley's bullpen has been outstanding with a 2.35 ERA (1st)... middle relievers Ted Ellison (2-0 1.66), Mel Murray (2-0 1.69) and Barrett Carruthers (2-0 2.89) have excelled... Jay Sorensen (1-1 2.50) has 12 saves in his six weeks with the club.

In the offensive department, Fairfax is not the team they were last year, when they were one of the top teams... Buckley has gotten good years from SS Warren Lee (.306), 2B Cecil Parmenter (.294) and CF Billy Echevarria (.280), but last season's big bats RF Gregg Vincent (.239), 3B Stan Cobb (.257) and LF Gator Davis (.243) have not been productive... If the latter trio turns it around in the second half, the Frogs could make shambles of the race.

The first year Mahaska Haymakers (37-34) with manager Rusty Tanussa calling the shots have stayed close to the front-runners and are only 5 games behind... Tanussa has depended on strong pitching with a splendid 3.11 ERA (1st)... his standout starters are Boomerang Hines (9-6 2.69), Tony Lowe (6-2 2.42) and Kolya Andrasko (5-2 3.00)... Pacing his bullpen are closer Dain Abner (0-1 1.50) with 12 saves and Brayden Turner (1-1 1.15).

The Haymaker bats have been sparked by 3B Kris Dragovich (.353), SS Eddy McKinney (.307) and LF Stan Kobzar (.301)... Mahaska is hitting only .259 (3rd) with little long range power... they have hit only 36 homers (8th)... Improvement with the offense would certainly improve its chances to contend with Luxora and Fairfax.

The Oxford Red Caps (34-37) are currently in fourth place in the TU North Division. They pretty much live and die by the longball... Manager Campy Roy's crew tops the division with 62 roundtrippers (1st) and is runner-up with a .260 average (2nd)... Leading the way are 3B Joe Courtney (.290) with 17 homers and 50 RBIs, LF Mack Spenser (.342), RF Austen Conover (.335) and CF Ike Plunkett (.257) with 11 home runs.

On the mound, Roy has only two dependable arms... his standouts are Jim Melanakos (5-3 2.82) and Boomer Belinsky (6-7 3.19)... Overall his rotation has compiled a mediocre 3.84 ERA (4th)... defensively Oxford suffers with a poor .974 fielding percentage (8th)... unless Roy come up with some quality pitchers, it may be tough for the Red Caps to hold on to fourth place and a possible playoff spot. Hopefully June is a good omen for Oxford. They are an impressive 10-3 for the month so far.

It's been another tough season for Manager Zim Donner's charges... His Hartsdale Hellcats (33-38) have been pussycats thus far... they started off with a great 18-11 record in April, but have since come down to earth... The Hellcats are in the middle of the pack statistically and literally... Donner's bunch are in fifth place and are 9 games out of first... They have compiled a .256 batting average (4th) with 41 homers (7th) and a 3.88 ERA mark (5th)... Sub-par defense, too, with a .977 fielding percentage (5th-tied).

Hartsdale's weak offense is led by rookie SS Jud Turchin (.327), RF Emile Djorovich and CF Mac Faulkner (.310) with 10 homers... Donner's stud from last year 3B Whiz Weaver (.231) is having a down year... he had 27 home runs and batted .289 last year.

Not much better in the pitching department for the Hellcats... Only Gene Young (5-2 2.42), Phil Reed (7-7 3.13) and Tal Vaitkus (7-9 3.93) have done the job this season. Donner needs a lot of improvements in a lot of areas to move up in the standings this season... Hartsdale looks like a 5th or 6th place ball club.

Holding down the sixth spot in the TU North are Cobb Tyson's Blue Lake Blue Sox (32-39), who are suffering through a terrible season. It's ironic that Cobb's club is the worst-hitting team in the IPA with a pathetic .239 average... as a player Cobb had the all-time best career batting average in industrial league history with a .367 mark... Cobb recently remarked that even at the age of 50, he could hit .300 in the IPA... The Blue Sox have only 48 roundtrippers (5th), rank near the bottom in pitching with a 3.95 ERA (7th) and have a .977 FA (5th-tied)... Good reasons why Blue Lake trails by 10 games at the All-Star game.

Blue Sox pitchers Bennie West (8-8 3.67) and Jay Clay (5-7 3.77) have been inconsistent, but good at times for Cobb... His one bright spot has been closer Neil Krogstad (3-2 2.95).

What a difference a year can make... Last season Blue Lake finished second, only one game out of first place... But last season CF Donnie Frazier (.236) had 20 homers and a .281 BA, 2B Ken Bennett (.263) hit 25 home runs and a .287 BA, 1B Fred Taranto (.221) collected 20 homers and a .278 BA... Cobb's best batter has been shortstop Cy Orgeron (.316) and that's it... For Blue Lake to get on the right path, it will take wholesale improvements in all aspects of the game... it's not likely... the Blue Sox are destined to a sixth-place finish at best.

The White River Rascals (31-40) under the tutelage of John Randison are seventh in the division standings at midseason... the Rascals are 11 games back, but with not much hope of a higher finish because of its horrific 4.54 ERA (8th)... at the plate 1B Al Joyner (.322) has shined with 18 homers and 42 RBIs... CF George Stoshak (.306) is Randison's only other .300 batter.

White River's top starters are Butch Beaulieu (8-7 3.57) and Stan Effinger (5-5 3.97)... in the bullpen the Rascals have compiled an excellent 3.08 ERA... Ted Tereshinski (5-5 2.58), Denny Cargill (2-0 2.560 and closer Emile Sifko (1-0 3.14 have given a good account of themselves in relief roles.

The North Hills Hawks (30-40) are pulling up the rear in the Tycobbian Union North Division cellar... The only things Hub Carlson has to brag about is his defense... the Hawks are number one with a fine .981 fielding average... and the club's homer run prowess with 60 roundtrippers (2nd-tied)... Carlson doesn't have much to say about an offense that is hitting only .247 (7th) and has compiled a 3.90 ERA (6th).

Carlson, a great southpaw pitcher himself in his day, has pretty scant pickins when it comes to his inept pitching corps... his best starters are Jaybird Jackson (6-5 3.50) and Ben Dewberry (4-8 3.16)... standing out in relief are Aron Bresh (1-1 2.84) and Johnny Bond (0-0 2.08)... North Hills only has a couple of good hitters in RF Trent Gilbert (.322) and CF Roy Stainbrook (.264) with 17 home runs and 43 RBIs... the Hawks with some improvements in pitching and hitting might sneak up as high as fourth, only because five teams in the division are not playing very well.

Luxora and Fairfax are the best teams in the TU North by far... Mahaska looks like the best of the rest and will finish third... Oxford looks like the best bet for the final playoff spot.

03-01-2009, 06:37 PM	#725
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,699 Blog Entries: 1	The Islandian Times Saturday, June 15, 2002 Luxora Up By 2 Games Over Fairfax in TU North In the Tycobbian Union North Division the Luxora Zorros have a 2-game margin over the runner-up Fairfax Frogs at the league nears the midseason break for the IPA All-Star Game. As in most of the other divisions around the IPA, the original franchises have the edge in the standings so far. Both the Z's and the Frogs have a year under their belts in the IPA as opposed to the expansion teams. The year's experience seems to make a difference. The famed slugger Alejandro Rodrigo, one of the most prolific home run hitters in the amateur leagues, has led Luxora (42-29) to a first-half lead in the pennant race... Rodrigo has a bunch of bashers that have the highest team batting average in the IPA... The Zorros are hitting .285 (1st)... also have good pitching with a 3.34 ERA (3rd) and good defense with a .979 fielding average (2nd-tied)... Only shortcoming is 47 home runs (6th). Rodrigo has four .300 hitters in his line-up: LF Pedro Vizquel (.355), CF Lacey Tompkins (.352), 1B Paul Hallenbeck (.333) and rookie RF Cristo Viamonte (.320)... rookie 3B Pancho Santa Cruz (.299) and 1B-3B Rico Vina (.296) are flirting with the .300 mark, too... another rookie 2B Bobby Bayas (.273) has played well... On the hill Tito Tovares (13-3 2.54) has been excellent... other starters include Keith Callahan (8-4 3.59), Eddie Hoffman (7-5 3.37) and Fernando Fernandes (3.-1 2.79)... Luxora's bullpen has been solid as well. The Z's are doing all the right things so far, but they do have some competition. Manager Harry Buckley has his Fairfax Frogs (40-31) nipping at the Zorros' heels, just 2 games back... pitching has been Buckley's strong point with a 3.17 ERA (2nd)... the Frogs mainstays have been Kaz Hayagawa (10-4 2.79) and Robbie Meredith (8-4 3.38) with help from Fuzzy Olnick (4-4 3.75)... last year's star hurler Takehide Takahashi (2-8 3.52) has not been the same pitcher... Buckley's bullpen has been outstanding with a 2.35 ERA (1st)... middle relievers Ted Ellison (2-0 1.66), Mel Murray (2-0 1.69) and Barrett Carruthers (2-0 2.89) have excelled... Jay Sorensen (1-1 2.50) has 12 saves in his six weeks with the club. In the offensive department, Fairfax is not the team they were last year, when they were one of the top teams... Buckley has gotten good years from SS Warren Lee (.306), 2B Cecil Parmenter (.294) and CF Billy Echevarria (.280), but last season's big bats RF Gregg Vincent (.239), 3B Stan Cobb (.257) and LF Gator Davis (.243) have not been productive... If the latter trio turns it around in the second half, the Frogs could make shambles of the race. The first year Mahaska Haymakers (37-34) with manager Rusty Tanussa calling the shots have stayed close to the front-runners and are only 5 games behind... Tanussa has depended on strong pitching with a splendid 3.11 ERA (1st)... his standout starters are Boomerang Hines (9-6 2.69), Tony Lowe (6-2 2.42) and Kolya Andrasko (5-2 3.00)... Pacing his bullpen are closer Dain Abner (0-1 1.50) with 12 saves and Brayden Turner (1-1 1.15). The Haymaker bats have been sparked by 3B Kris Dragovich (.353), SS Eddy McKinney (.307) and LF Stan Kobzar (.301)... Mahaska is hitting only .259 (3rd) with little long range power... they have hit only 36 homers (8th)... Improvement with the offense would certainly improve its chances to contend with Luxora and Fairfax. The Oxford Red Caps (34-37) are currently in fourth place in the TU North Division. They pretty much live and die by the longball... Manager Campy Roy's crew tops the division with 62 roundtrippers (1st) and is runner-up with a .260 average (2nd)... Leading the way are 3B Joe Courtney (.290) with 17 homers and 50 RBIs, LF Mack Spenser (.342), RF Austen Conover (.335) and CF Ike Plunkett (.257) with 11 home runs. On the mound, Roy has only two dependable arms... his standouts are Jim Melanakos (5-3 2.82) and Boomer Belinsky (6-7 3.19)... Overall his rotation has compiled a mediocre 3.84 ERA (4th)... defensively Oxford suffers with a poor .974 fielding percentage (8th)... unless Roy come up with some quality pitchers, it may be tough for the Red Caps to hold on to fourth place and a possible playoff spot. Hopefully June is a good omen for Oxford. They are an impressive 10-3 for the month so far. It's been another tough season for Manager Zim Donner's charges... His Hartsdale Hellcats (33-38) have been pussycats thus far... they started off with a great 18-11 record in April, but have since come down to earth... The Hellcats are in the middle of the pack statistically and literally... Donner's bunch are in fifth place and are 9 games out of first... They have compiled a .256 batting average (4th) with 41 homers (7th) and a 3.88 ERA mark (5th)... Sub-par defense, too, with a .977 fielding percentage (5th-tied). Hartsdale's weak offense is led by rookie SS Jud Turchin (.327), RF Emile Djorovich and CF Mac Faulkner (.310) with 10 homers... Donner's stud from last year 3B Whiz Weaver (.231) is having a down year... he had 27 home runs and batted .289 last year. Not much better in the pitching department for the Hellcats... Only Gene Young (5-2 2.42), Phil Reed (7-7 3.13) and Tal Vaitkus (7-9 3.93) have done the job this season. Donner needs a lot of improvements in a lot of areas to move up in the standings this season... Hartsdale looks like a 5th or 6th place ball club. Holding down the sixth spot in the TU North are Cobb Tyson's Blue Lake Blue Sox (32-39), who are suffering through a terrible season. It's ironic that Cobb's club is the worst-hitting team in the IPA with a pathetic .239 average... as a player Cobb had the all-time best career batting average in industrial league history with a .367 mark... Cobb recently remarked that even at the age of 50, he could hit .300 in the IPA... The Blue Sox have only 48 roundtrippers (5th), rank near the bottom in pitching with a 3.95 ERA (7th) and have a .977 FA (5th-tied)... Good reasons why Blue Lake trails by 10 games at the All-Star game. Blue Sox pitchers Bennie West (8-8 3.67) and Jay Clay (5-7 3.77) have been inconsistent, but good at times for Cobb... His one bright spot has been closer Neil Krogstad (3-2 2.95). What a difference a year can make... Last season Blue Lake finished second, only one game out of first place... But last season CF Donnie Frazier (.236) had 20 homers and a .281 BA, 2B Ken Bennett (.263) hit 25 home runs and a .287 BA, 1B Fred Taranto (.221) collected 20 homers and a .278 BA... Cobb's best batter has been shortstop Cy Orgeron (.316) and that's it... For Blue Lake to get on the right path, it will take wholesale improvements in all aspects of the game... it's not likely... the Blue Sox are destined to a sixth-place finish at best. The White River Rascals (31-40) under the tutelage of John Randison are seventh in the division standings at midseason... the Rascals are 11 games back, but with not much hope of a higher finish because of its horrific 4.54 ERA (8th)... at the plate 1B Al Joyner (.322) has shined with 18 homers and 42 RBIs... CF George Stoshak (.306) is Randison's only other .300 batter. White River's top starters are Butch Beaulieu (8-7 3.57) and Stan Effinger (5-5 3.97)... in the bullpen the Rascals have compiled an excellent 3.08 ERA... Ted Tereshinski (5-5 2.58), Denny Cargill (2-0 2.560 and closer Emile Sifko (1-0 3.14 have given a good account of themselves in relief roles. The North Hills Hawks (30-40) are pulling up the rear in the Tycobbian Union North Division cellar... The only things Hub Carlson has to brag about is his defense... the Hawks are number one with a fine .981 fielding average... and the club's homer run prowess with 60 roundtrippers (2nd-tied)... Carlson doesn't have much to say about an offense that is hitting only .247 (7th) and has compiled a 3.90 ERA (6th). Carlson, a great southpaw pitcher himself in his day, has pretty scant pickins when it comes to his inept pitching corps... his best starters are Jaybird Jackson (6-5 3.50) and Ben Dewberry (4-8 3.16)... standing out in relief are Aron Bresh (1-1 2.84) and Johnny Bond (0-0 2.08)... North Hills only has a couple of good hitters in RF Trent Gilbert (.322) and CF Roy Stainbrook (.264) with 17 home runs and 43 RBIs... the Hawks with some improvements in pitching and hitting might sneak up as high as fourth, only because five teams in the division are not playing very well. Luxora and Fairfax are the best teams in the TU North by far... Mahaska looks like the best of the rest and will finish third... Oxford looks like the best bet for the final playoff spot.