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Eugene Church · 02-24-2010, 05:44 PM

The Islandian Times

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Ruthlandian South Recap

Dead Heat In TU South, Turon and Ginza Leaders

It's a draw so far at the All-Star hiatus in the Tycobbian South with the Turon Typhoons in a dead heat with the up-and-coming Ginza Ninjas. They have a 4-game lead over third place Southport and 6 games on fourth place Summerland... Turon (39-34), the perennial power in the TU South with 3 division crowns and 2 Pro Cups in the last four, might have a fight on its hands this season with Ginza because the Typhoons are pitifully poor in hitting... Manager Whitey Richburn's crew is only batting .246, down from .274 last year... thank goodness, Turon's pitching is holding up overall... in fact, it is a little better than last season with a 3.35 team ERA, best in the TU South... top pitchers are: Freddi Speigel (10-3 2.92) and rookie sensation Nicky Engstrom (8-1 2.05)... vets Anthony Nardone (6-11 3.39) and James Stuart (6-8 3.72) are doing OK, but Jacques Lemaire (6-6 5.23) is having an atrocious year... Lemaire was 24-6 with a 3.42 ERA in 2009 and won the Golden Arm Award... Richburn has gotten great work out of his rookie left-handed closer Merle Studebaker (0-1 3.26), who has saved 11 games... defensively the Typhoons are only average with a .974 FA.... Turon is really suffering in the batter's box thus far... only CF Mac McCurnan (.299/14/43/50), 2B Alan Hansen (.315/0/9/51) and 1B Johnny Carducci (.240/14/49/32) are putting any runs on the scoreboard.

In Ginza (39-34), manager Huroko Uchiyama stresses pitching and defense and it seems to be working this year... the team ERA is 3.51 and defensively the Ninjas have a strong .980 FA... Uchiyama could use better hitting... Ginza is batting only .256... George Gentry (8-3 2.75) and Carl Trebeck (7-9 2.76) give them two veteran starters... second-year man Joji Azuma (9-8 3.78) gives Uchiyama a third quality starter... CF Jack Vorland (.286/8/42/29), LF Domingo DeLeon (.315/6/24/36) and 1B Coonie Coulon (.343/2/18/22) provide most of the runs... it's looks like a two-team race in the TU South between Turon and Ginza... no one else looks to be a contender.

Overall the TU South does not compete well with the other Tycobbian divisions... only Turon and Ginza are above the .500 mark... the other three divisions have 4-6 teams playing .500 ball... the Southport Sun Sox (35-38) are in third place and within striking distance of the leaders, just 4 games back... skipper Charley Oscar has the best-hitting squad in the division with a .269 average, but that is misleading, the Sun Sox simply have a hard time scoring... they leave too many runners on base... All-Star LF Big Stick Takala (.308/12/59/38) is the main man in the batter's box with lots of help from 1B Charlie Gamble (.313/11/44/42)... pitching-wise Oscar's best arms are Keith Callahan (8-8 2.78) and Kael Claxton (5-9 3.05), both suffer from too little run support... Nero Scolari (6-3 4.13) has also had some good outings.

The fourth place Summerland Sunsets (33-40) are 6 games off the pace... Will Hackett has no hitters... the Sunsets are batting a pathetic .239, only North Hills is worst with a .234 BA... Hackett does have three quality starters in veterans Pat Dreux (8-9 3.26), Eddie Hoffman (7-8 3.58) and Denny Coulon (5-9 4.09)... rookie Frank Gerber (1-3 2.88) looks like a good closer with 13 saves... Summerland has only one decent hitter... 2B Randy Rudelmeier (.296/4/38/23).

The fifth-place Arroyo Grande Suns (32-41) trail Turon and Ginza by 7 games... the Suns have only four quality players... All-star pitcher Jimmy Boxx (11-6 2.35), who has been brilliant with a bad team... All-Star Sherm Miles (.332/18/67/49), an excellent hitter, who may be headed for a career year... the all-time leading hitter in the IPA, Jet Kazmarek (.336/4/37/49), who is still piling up the base hits and still stealing bases at age 35... and Miguel Aguilera (8-8 3.74) is a capable starter... manager Jean-Luc Marchand doesn't have much after them.

Weak hitting is the sixth place San Alejo Montaneros' (31-42) problem... the team is hitting only .238 with 45 homers and 250 runs, just about last in all of those categories... manager Lando Peceda is lucky he is only 8 games off the pace... two fine pitchers are carrying the team... 36-year vet Alberto Herrera (7-7 2.29), who had labored 9 years in a Montaneros uniform... and second-year man Chad Gilmore (8-7 2.79)... they consistently give Peceda good outings... at the plate only 1B Miles Shufford (.277/11/43/34) gets the job done.

One of the better TU South franchises has fallen way down to seventh place this season... Colchester's (29-44) Uncle Robbie Wilbertson is not accustomed to being so low in the standings... The Elites are 10 games off the pace... Colchester has finished in the second division only once in its 9-year history and that was 2003... super bad pitching is the reason... they are next to last with a 4.56 team ERA... only Jimmy Simmons (6-2 3.22) is doing work on the mound... Timmy Brooks (7-7 4.28) has been inconsistent... 2-time 20-game winner Frank Payne (2-10 4.69) is having a terrible season and he is only 30 years old... Wilbertson's best bats are two good ones... 1B Harlan Roscoe (.285/19/45/42) and CF Doug Tilford (.293/8/29/45)... about the only thing the Elites do well is play defense... they have a .978 FA.

Way down in the TU South basement 15 games behind are Marty Pedroza's Cape Coral Hurricanes (24-49)... not a whole lot of talent on the 'Canes this year... Cody Burg (7-10 2.85) is still one of the top twirlers in the IPA at age 30... Pedroza has some decent hitters in 3B Bobby Josker (.299/7/4/32), LF Rich Osolinsky (.310/10/35/40) and 2B Lonnie Moon (.294/7/31/36)... Cape Coral's wonderful SS Flipper Bird (.232/10/30/44), one of the all-time best players in the IPA, is staggering through another bad year... Bird only hit .230 last season... at 30 he is too young to call it a career.

02-24-2010, 05:44 PM	#1580
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,900	The Islandian Times Sunday, June 20, 2010 Ruthlandian South Recap Dead Heat In TU South, Turon and Ginza Leaders It's a draw so far at the All-Star hiatus in the Tycobbian South with the Turon Typhoons in a dead heat with the up-and-coming Ginza Ninjas. They have a 4-game lead over third place Southport and 6 games on fourth place Summerland... Turon (39-34), the perennial power in the TU South with 3 division crowns and 2 Pro Cups in the last four, might have a fight on its hands this season with Ginza because the Typhoons are pitifully poor in hitting... Manager Whitey Richburn's crew is only batting .246, down from .274 last year... thank goodness, Turon's pitching is holding up overall... in fact, it is a little better than last season with a 3.35 team ERA, best in the TU South... top pitchers are: Freddi Speigel (10-3 2.92) and rookie sensation Nicky Engstrom (8-1 2.05)... vets Anthony Nardone (6-11 3.39) and James Stuart (6-8 3.72) are doing OK, but Jacques Lemaire (6-6 5.23) is having an atrocious year... Lemaire was 24-6 with a 3.42 ERA in 2009 and won the Golden Arm Award... Richburn has gotten great work out of his rookie left-handed closer Merle Studebaker (0-1 3.26), who has saved 11 games... defensively the Typhoons are only average with a .974 FA.... Turon is really suffering in the batter's box thus far... only CF Mac McCurnan (.299/14/43/50), 2B Alan Hansen (.315/0/9/51) and 1B Johnny Carducci (.240/14/49/32) are putting any runs on the scoreboard. In Ginza (39-34), manager Huroko Uchiyama stresses pitching and defense and it seems to be working this year... the team ERA is 3.51 and defensively the Ninjas have a strong .980 FA... Uchiyama could use better hitting... Ginza is batting only .256... George Gentry (8-3 2.75) and Carl Trebeck (7-9 2.76) give them two veteran starters... second-year man Joji Azuma (9-8 3.78) gives Uchiyama a third quality starter... CF Jack Vorland (.286/8/42/29), LF Domingo DeLeon (.315/6/24/36) and 1B Coonie Coulon (.343/2/18/22) provide most of the runs... it's looks like a two-team race in the TU South between Turon and Ginza... no one else looks to be a contender. Overall the TU South does not compete well with the other Tycobbian divisions... only Turon and Ginza are above the .500 mark... the other three divisions have 4-6 teams playing .500 ball... the Southport Sun Sox (35-38) are in third place and within striking distance of the leaders, just 4 games back... skipper Charley Oscar has the best-hitting squad in the division with a .269 average, but that is misleading, the Sun Sox simply have a hard time scoring... they leave too many runners on base... All-Star LF Big Stick Takala (.308/12/59/38) is the main man in the batter's box with lots of help from 1B Charlie Gamble (.313/11/44/42)... pitching-wise Oscar's best arms are Keith Callahan (8-8 2.78) and Kael Claxton (5-9 3.05), both suffer from too little run support... Nero Scolari (6-3 4.13) has also had some good outings. The fourth place Summerland Sunsets (33-40) are 6 games off the pace... Will Hackett has no hitters... the Sunsets are batting a pathetic .239, only North Hills is worst with a .234 BA... Hackett does have three quality starters in veterans Pat Dreux (8-9 3.26), Eddie Hoffman (7-8 3.58) and Denny Coulon (5-9 4.09)... rookie Frank Gerber (1-3 2.88) looks like a good closer with 13 saves... Summerland has only one decent hitter... 2B Randy Rudelmeier (.296/4/38/23). The fifth-place Arroyo Grande Suns (32-41) trail Turon and Ginza by 7 games... the Suns have only four quality players... All-star pitcher Jimmy Boxx (11-6 2.35), who has been brilliant with a bad team... All-Star Sherm Miles (.332/18/67/49), an excellent hitter, who may be headed for a career year... the all-time leading hitter in the IPA, Jet Kazmarek (.336/4/37/49), who is still piling up the base hits and still stealing bases at age 35... and Miguel Aguilera (8-8 3.74) is a capable starter... manager Jean-Luc Marchand doesn't have much after them. Weak hitting is the sixth place San Alejo Montaneros' (31-42) problem... the team is hitting only .238 with 45 homers and 250 runs, just about last in all of those categories... manager Lando Peceda is lucky he is only 8 games off the pace... two fine pitchers are carrying the team... 36-year vet Alberto Herrera (7-7 2.29), who had labored 9 years in a Montaneros uniform... and second-year man Chad Gilmore (8-7 2.79)... they consistently give Peceda good outings... at the plate only 1B Miles Shufford (.277/11/43/34) gets the job done. One of the better TU South franchises has fallen way down to seventh place this season... Colchester's (29-44) Uncle Robbie Wilbertson is not accustomed to being so low in the standings... The Elites are 10 games off the pace... Colchester has finished in the second division only once in its 9-year history and that was 2003... super bad pitching is the reason... they are next to last with a 4.56 team ERA... only Jimmy Simmons (6-2 3.22) is doing work on the mound... Timmy Brooks (7-7 4.28) has been inconsistent... 2-time 20-game winner Frank Payne (2-10 4.69) is having a terrible season and he is only 30 years old... Wilbertson's best bats are two good ones... 1B Harlan Roscoe (.285/19/45/42) and CF Doug Tilford (.293/8/29/45)... about the only thing the Elites do well is play defense... they have a .978 FA. Way down in the TU South basement 15 games behind are Marty Pedroza's Cape Coral Hurricanes (24-49)... not a whole lot of talent on the 'Canes this year... Cody Burg (7-10 2.85) is still one of the top twirlers in the IPA at age 30... Pedroza has some decent hitters in 3B Bobby Josker (.299/7/4/32), LF Rich Osolinsky (.310/10/35/40) and 2B Lonnie Moon (.294/7/31/36)... Cape Coral's wonderful SS Flipper Bird (.232/10/30/44), one of the all-time best players in the IPA, is staggering through another bad year... Bird only hit .230 last season... at 30 he is too young to call it a career. Last edited by Eugene Church; 02-24-2010 at 05:53 PM.