[Eugene Church]

The Islandian Times

Tuesday, June 25, 2005

Red Bluff Alone at the Top, 8 Games Ahead in TU East
The defending IPA Pro Cup champions, the Red Bluff Red Sox, could be headed for their third pennant in a row in the Tycobbian Union East. The Red Sox are way in front with an eight-game lead over Midway and Ozarka. Upstart Hillsboro is fourth in the standings, 10 games back, followed by fifth-place High Mesa, 11 games out, South Fork, 13 games off the pace in sixth, Tuckanarra trails by 17 and is in the seventh spot with East Point last, 19 games behind.

It is hard to beat a club that is number one in batting (.281), pitching (3.61 ERA) and defense (.984 FA). No wonder that Red Bluff is 46-27 this season. Manager Mack Connery has a strong roster with three of best hurlers in the IPA and a group of solid hitters to back them up. His talented trio of Leonard Urban (10-5 2.81), Frank Beaudoin (3.02) and Milo Mohoski (9-4 3.16) consistently give good performances.

The Red Sox batting order has three All-Stars in RF Kris Grabowski (.313/13 HR/53 RBI/45 R), rookie SS Jose Aguilar (.358/9 HR/38 RBI/53R/19 SB) and C Virgil Carpenter (.268/14 HR/36 RBI/32 R). The addition of Aguilar's offense and defense has greatly improved the Red Sox. Other pluses for Connery are LF Tony Blundell (.292/7 HR/41 RBI/39 R/18 SB) and CF Stan Helmke (.311/9 HR/37 RBI/46 R/17 SB).

The Midway Wolves (38-35) are tied for the number two spot this season. They have never made the playoffs, but came close last year, losing a one-game playoff to Tuckanarra to decide second place. Manager Cochise Chandler thinks the time has come. He told reporters, "The trade acquisition of Szymanski and Mazurek from Valmara put us over the top. Szymanski (.289/20 HR/53 RBI/51 R) has been a ball of fire with his bat and his glove. Mazurek (.258/4 HR/24 RBI/25 R) is a great fielder (.985 FA) and a dependable bat."

LF Johnny Gillespie (.322/10 HR/55 RBI/55 R) is Midway's lone All-Star. Chandler also picked him up in a trade with Rolling Hills in 2002. Chandler added, "Trades have made us a contender. We have bargained well, so far." 2B Little Johnny Yuma (.314/3 HR/18 RBI/49 R) gives the Wolves another good glove and bat. 1B Don Piper (.272/11 HR/41 RBI/44 R) has been an important element, too.

In a hit-heavy division, Midway is fourth with a 4.27 ERA. That a little worse than average (4.04). Chandler could certainly use another quality arm or two like Nosyt Sani (11-5 3.68) and C. J. Carper (7-4 4.09). Closer Joe Eckermann (3-3 3.66) has been reliable again this season with 14 saves. Pitching will decide the Wolves fate this year.

This is one of the Ozarka Naturals (38-35) better seasons. Manager Joe Mac Carney has them in a third-place tie with Midway at mid-season. Carney has only made the postseason once in his tenure. That was 2003. The Nats have the second-best pitching (3.71 ERA/) and third-best in batting average (.268), but little power and poor defense. Ozarka is 7th in homers with 62 and last with a .968 fielding percentage.

Carney's top pitchers are Sid Hyder (8-2 2.92), Pat Schwartz (6-4 3.42) and Alex DiMaggio (5-9 3.30). In the batter's box All-Star 3B Nathan Ferrell (.358/15 HR/45 RBI) has done an outstanding job with some help from RF Gus Dufrene (.282/4 HR/40 RBI) and CF Kermit Wiggins (.282/2 HR/38 RBI/49 R/15 SB). The key to success for the Naturals will be giving run support to its pitchers. Alex DiMaggio won 20 games last year. This season he's 5-9 because of poor run support.

The Hillsboro Blazers (36-37) have leaped from last place to fourth this season with some heavy hitting. Halfway through the year the Blazers are 10 games out of first. Skipper Arky Spanderson has never made the playoffs. This year he thinks he has a shot at it. He told BNN that "Red Bluff is probably gonna make the playoffs, but there are at least five clubs with a chance for the second postseason spot and my Blazers could do it."

Spanderson's spunky group is busting the ball at a .269 pace (2nd) with 92 roundtrippers (1st) and has scored 385 runs (2nd). That sounds good until you find out that Hillsboro has an astronomical 5.50 ERA, allows the opposition to hit .290 and has given up 117 home runs. Luckily the other teams are pretty much in the same boat and have no pitching either. So the Blazers have as good a chance as anyone. At mid-year in desperation Spanderson revamped his pitching staff by dropping five pitchers. He really had no other choice. It's tough when your ace pitcher is 7-5 with a 4.66 ERA.

However Hillsboro can boom the ball. Spanderson top swatters are All-Star rookie SS Barry Bassett (.327/20 HR/60 RBI/54 R), LF Kevin Baker (.275/19 HR/53 RBI/46 R) and CF Jorge Mercado (.290/14 HR/46 R/45 RBI).

Frisky Franks is at the helm of the High Mesa Cowboys and has had success in his first two seasons. He won the IPA Pro Cup in 2002 and finished second and made the playoffs in year two. But Franks has slipped since then. High Mesa (35-38) has much the same problems as Hillsboro - the Cowboy chuckers can't get anybody out - maybe "clunkers" might be a better word. Despite this, High Mesa is in fifth place, but only three games away from a playoff spot.

High Mesa has compiled a .268 average (3rd), ripped 83 home runs (3rd) and tops the division in scoring with 387 runs. But the Cowboys sport a dismal 4.79 ERA (6th). At mid-season Franks added three new hurlers to try and drum up some pitching to help his ace, Joey Popovich, who has excelled with a 12-4 mark and a 3.70 ERA. Most of the mound staff had ERAs over 5.00 thus far this year.

In spite of the good offensive numbers, most of the Cowboy core are having a semi-down season. If they catch fire in the second half, then it bodes bad for the other playoff contenders. High Mesa's high roller this year is All-Star LF Adam Zitek (.276/23 HR/80 RBI/48 R), who is on track to crack the record for most RBIs in IPA history. The record is 146 by Karol Zodoka of the East Point Panthers in 2002. SS Rolf Kellgren (.277/7 HR/27 RBI/58 R/19 SB), 2B Ed Granberg (.294/9 HR/40 RBI/49 R) and RF Kenny Edelstein (.271/13 HR/40 RBI/42 R) are all productive, but having subpar seasons, at least for them.

South Fork (33-40) is sixth in the TU East standings, 11 games out. Manager Duroche "Lips" Leon has a woefully weak team at the plate. The Stallions are batting only .248 and are last in all offensive categories. But they are good in the pitching department with a 3.83 ERA (2nd) and excellent defensively with an outstanding .982 fielding percentage (2nd). Only first place Red Bluff is better in those categories.

Like High Mesa, several of South Fork's stalwarts are having off-years. LF Art Atkins (.240/9 HR/34 RBI/43 R) and 1B Keith Burke (.241/10 HR/32 RBI/35 R/11 SB) are each down 50 points on their career averages. They could do wonders for the team if they rebound in the second half of the season. CF Preston Crim (.292/12 HR/41 RBI/36 R) has had to carry the offensive load pretty much all by himself this year. On the mound, old reliable 37-year-old Flint Battle (8-7 2.91) has done his part. He has won at least 15 games in each of his three previous seasons and might make it again this year, especially if the Stallions come up with better bat support.

2005 is not a good year for the Tuckanarra Blue Jays (29-44). Carlton "Lefty" Stevens is not a happy camper with his ball club. After making the postseason in each of the first three seasons, they dipped to seventh last year and might do worse this time around. The Blue Jays are in seventh place, 17 games back, but only two games up on last place East Point.

Tuckanarra is near the bottom in all categories with poor pitching (4.49 ERA), poor hitting (.248 BA), plus poor fielding (.971 FA). That is usually a formula for failure. But the Blue Jays do have a few good men - starting pitchers Mike Amato (8-3 3.65) and Titus Bristow (7-8 3.53) along with new closer Coorain Janama (1-1 1.93), who took over the reins in the bullpen in June and has done extremely well. At bat 1B Charley Schofield (.310/11 HR/48 RBI/43 R) is having his best year. Rookie SS Dan Conroy (.264/12 HR/40 RBI) has been a pleasant surprise with his bat and had performed adequately defensively. Skipper Stevens has greatly missed the big bat of RF Monty Draycott, who has hit only 5 homers, batted .240 and driven in 40 runs so far.

The East Point Panthers (27-46) have been a big flop this season. Manager Griff Clarke was expecting better things this year. Even BNN moved them up to fourth in its preseason poll. Clarke has made the playoffs only once, that was in the club's first season in the IPA in 2002, when they ended up in third place.

The Panthers still pound the ball well with 85 roundtrippers (2nd) and a .267 team batting average (5th-tied), but don't have any pitching. Clarke's mound corps has a composite 4.92 ERA (7th). Yet his old standbys Carl Thompson (8-10 4.21) and Jarred Robillard (5-9 4.15) still give East Point a decent chance to win a game. But Charlie Hale (4-10 6.67) and closer Jed Erdmann (1-8 7.92) has suddenly fallen prey to failure. Both have been exiled to long relief and mop-up for the rest of the year to make way for some new blood on the staff.

Fortunately the Panthers still pack a punch with 3B Rex Sokolov (.292/18 HR/52 RBI/42 R), 2B Karol Zodoka (.260/11 HR/50 RBI/42 R), RF Jimmy Cappola (.302/12 HR/38 RBI/38 R) and SS Keith Wasik (.300/8 HR/23 RBI/47 R). East Point is too good to remain in the TU East cellar. Look for the Panthers to rise and roar a little bit in the last half of the year.