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The Islandian Times
Sunday, June 20, 2010
2010 Tycobbian Union West Division Mid-Season Recap
DC Redbirds Rolling In TU West, 8 Games Ahead
So what's new in the Tycobbian West? No much. The Denton City Redbirds continue to rule the roost and have rolled up a big 8-game lead at the All-Star game. Arlon is in the number two spot, followed by third place Chicopee and fourth place Kenwood. The Braves are 9 games out and the Wildcats trail by 11. Denton City with Ford Whiteman at the helm have taken the TU West title the last two years and three times since 2005. This year the Redbirds are on pace to win over 100 games. Denton City is hell-bent on winning the IPA Pro Cup. Last season they lost in the TU Final 4 to the eventual Pro Cup winner, the Turon Typhoons in seven games.
1st Place - Denton City Redbirds (49-24)
Manager- Ford Whiteman
The DC Redbirds have two fine starters in Mila Mohoski (11-6 3.08) and Kimo Orlando (12-5 2.93), who is having a career year... Whiteman has a solid line-up of veteran players headed by three All-Stars: RF Lavon Gooch (.286/17/53/52), 1B Mick Abbott (.324/16/49/46) and SS Trevor Tomlinson (.287/7/22/56)... 3B Jay Petit (.326/9/27/34) and LF Danny Nash are solid performers as well... Denton City has excellent power, good contact hitting, fine pitching and average defense... the Redbirds are hitting .266 (11th) with 97 homers (1st) and 399 runs scored (1st) with an impressive 3.31 team ERA (4th)... and a .972 FA.
2nd Place - Arlon Champions (41-32 8 GB)
Manager - Gary Louis
The Arlon Champs seem to have a good team every other year... last year they were 6th... the difference is in runs scored... in 2009 Arlon wound up near the bottom (27th)... this season they are second right behind first place Denton City... Louis has a strong core of hitters in 3B Jake Griffin (.315/14/52/40), CF Charley Turner (.300/2/34/54), 1B Stan Vankosky (.261/11/50/44), RF Chucky Gilton (.276/8/53/37) and LF Rocco Belasario (.280/11/36/60)... the Champions do not leave a lot of runners on base... the mound corps is not overwhelming with a 3.95 team ERA (24th)... Armando Cruz (10-4 3.51) is the ace and a steady 5-year veteran performer... All-Star closer Johnny Rabelais (6-3 1.95) is another key element in the Champions success this year with 15 saves... Arlon's glaring weakness is defense with a poor .967 FA... not likely to challenge powerful Denton City this year.
3rd Place - Chicopee Braves (40-33 9 GB)
Manager - Harry Fleetfoot
The Chicopee Braves are enjoying their best year in the IPA... they have finished the season over .500 only twice, the last two years, and have never made the playoffs in eight previous seasons... Fleetfoot has an outstanding pitching staff this year, but can't hit the ball at all, batting just .249 (29th)... otherwise they would be right up there with Denton City... Chicopee is good defensively with a .976 FA...the Brave hurlers have compiled an outstanding 3.06 team ERA (1st) with one of the best threesome in the IPA... Tommy Ruffin (9-4 2.63), Desmond Quartermain (10-8 2.43) and Wayne Baxley (9-6 3.01) are doing wonders on the hill considering the poor support... Bill Branch (6-9 3.93) has been an adequate number four starter... in the pen Johnny Whirlwind (3-2 2.48) has done well with 9 saves... 3B Nicky Sweet (.302/8/30/43) is petty much Chicopee's only decent bat... not likely the Braves can get past Arlon and compete with Denton City with such bad offense.
4th Place - Kenwood Wildcats (38-35 11 GB)
Manager: Aaron Hankins
Kenwood is in the same boat as Chicopee... superb pitching, but a noticeable lack of offense with average defense (.974 FA)... Hankins' hurlers have registered a fine 3.18 ERA (2nd), but the team is only hitting .253 and has trouble scoring... the Wildcats starting four are equal to any team in the IPA... Todd Combs(11-7 2.55), Corey Brabham (11-4 3.18), Dan Phillips (6-7 3.02) and Sol Yakis (5-6 3.24) are steady and consistent and keep Kenwood in the game... batting-wise Hankins has no power hitters... his best is RF Dayton Walker (.363/6/23/40), a lifetime .327 hitter... Kenwood has no one to drive him in.
5th Place - Bay St. Clair Buccaneers (37-36 12 GB)
Manager - Guy Rondre
The Buccaneers make good contact with a .273 BA (2nd), but don't have much power and have trouble scoring (21st)... just average defense with a .974 FA... Rondre has only two long-ball threats... All-Star 2B Jimmy Sawyer (.300/17/51/50) and 1B Gerry Fields (.283/19/50/34) are the main run producers... the contact hitters are LF Bruno DiPirro (.322/5/30/39), CF Skeeter Hall (.308/3/23/38), SS Kelly Wright (.296/4/32/27) and 3B Ryan Sanders (.291/4/23/32)... Bucs pitching is only adequate with a 3.90 ERA (23rd)... but Rondre does have two solid veterans in All-Star Duke DeVree (11-6 2.68) and Norm Gross (8-6 2.59)... in a mid-season move Rondre has switched 97 mph fireballer Hal Meissner (3-1 2.25) from closer and put him in the starting rotation... Meissner came into the IPA in 2001 when he was 18 and has never become the pitcher scouts thought he would be... maybe this is the year at age 26... Bay St. Clair's offense may give them the advantage on the weak-hitting teams ahead of them... DeVree and Gross can carry an entire pitching staff... especially if Meissner comes through as starter #3.
6th Place - Rolling Hills Reds (35-38 14 GB)
Manager - Matty Christianson
The Rolling Hills Reds are just an average ball club, not good in anything, but not bad in anything... Matty Christianson's crew have compiled a .261 BA (17th) with little power, 3.89 ERA (22nd) and a .974 FA (9th-tied)... his top pitchers are Toshiharu Ito (7-8 3.03) and rookie closer Clem Boute (6-4 2.96), who has notched 9 saves... the Reds have two excellent contact hitters in 9-year veteran 2B Owen MacArthur (.352/3/31/44) and rookie LF Donnie Lewis (.342/0/40/38)... It's MacArthur's best season ever... Lewis looks like he has a bright future... MacArthur has won two Golden Gloves and Lewis also has a good glove... rookie 3B Clay Hoffman (.258/11/37/28) and rookie CF Dale Hoover (.301/8/33/24) supply what little firepower Rolling Hills has.
7th Place - La Claire Lynx (34-39 15 GB)
Manager - Rip Calkin
La Claire was second in 2008, beaten out by Denton City by one game and third last year... but the pitching has greatly deteriorated and Calkin finds his club deep in the second division of the TU West... the Lynx staff put up a 3.72 ERA last season, but have skied to 4.57 this year... only Rick Novronski (6-1 2.69) is having success... Calkin does have three standout players in LF Zeppy Deshotel (.302/10/44/38), All-Star SS Bob Steitz (.286/3/23/37) and All-Star C Maka Bardinda (.293/5/38/28)... CF Chazzie Lombardi (.274/10/28/47) has been good in the field and at the plate, too.
8th Place - Bayview Vikings (33-40 16 GB)
Manager - Walter Johanssen
It's really been topsy-turvy for the Bayview Vikings the last three seasons as they bounced from last place to second place and now back to the basement... On paper you wonder why?... Johanssen's club has remained pretty much the same as far as roster... the biggest change is the Viks have fallen off at bat, from .281(1st) last season to .264 (13th) this year with a huge drop in runs scored... pitching has remained close to the same with a 3.73 team ERA (17th)... Bayview batters still hit with power and have chalked up 90 homers (3rd), they just score less... Johanssen still has a power-packed line-up with All-Star CF Tommy Riddle (.300/22/59/50), 3B Karl Benson (.314/15/48/35), RF Russ Murphy (.259/14/51/44) and LF Kelton Carpenter (.303/11/28/27)... The Vikings have quality pitchers in Georgie Fambreau (9-6 3.16), Tony Vardaman (7-9 3.25) and Norm Roy (7-10 3.99)... on defense Bayview is just a little above average with a .974 mark... The Vikings are too good a ball club to wind up deep in the cellar... Look for them to move up in the standings in the second half of the season.
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