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Eugene Church · 10-16-2010, 01:28 PM

The Islandian Times
Tuesday, September 20, 2016

2016 Ruthlandian East Final Recap

Elegants Surprise In RU East
It's been 14 long years since the Eastshore fans had anything to cheer about. That's when the team last made the playoffs. Their Elegants surprised them and the entire league by sweeping to the top of the Ruthlandian East this season to win their first ever division pennant. Eastshore whipped the Beachwood Bobcats by 5 games, Sugar Valley by 11 games and last year's champ, the Marston Nine by 13 games.

Outstanding pitching, strong offense and an big influx of talented rookies are the primary reasons Eastshore (96-58) won more games than anyone in the RU this year and rose up from a fourth-place finish in 2015... Manager Killer Brewster's mound corps chalked up an excellent 3.22 team ERA (3rd), sparked by the terrific 35-year-old rookie Danny Siegfried (26-8 2.25), who tied for the IPA lead in total victories with another rookie, Bayview's Harald Turi... the Elegants had four fine starters with three 20-game winners... Eddie Lance (20-9 3.38) and Al Froelich (20-15 3.63) were the other two... Melvin Key (16-14 3.64) gave Brewster a quality fourth starter... first-year man Jack Wilson was a strong closer, too, with a microscopic 1.09 ERA in 53 appearances, 32 saves and a 5-5 record... and it didn't stop there - Eastshore can score... they ranked second in scoring, fifth in homers with 155 and seventh with a .267 team batting average... top hitters were three rookies, All-Star 2B Gerry Garner (.300/26/97/79), CF Larry Lowe (.283/13/60/102) and 3B George Alford (.266/23/94/75)... Eastshore's only weakness is its lousy .967 FA... Nonetheless, the Elegants are primed for a good run at the IPA Pro Cup title and will give Far Mountain, Belair Beach and Colfax some stiff competition for the Ruthlandian crown.

The Beechwood Bobcats (91-63) had a fine season under skipper Bret George, but didn't possess the talent Eastshore had... they ran a good second to Eastshore with good hitting, pitching and fielding... the Bobcats batted .259 (19th), scored well (8th) and had good power (7th in HRs) and played solid defense with a .975 FA... All-Star rookie Billy Ray posted a sensational 21-8 mark with a 2.37 ERA... 16-year vet Terry Kuznetsov (14-14 3.19) was George's number two starter... his number 3 and 4 starters were Troy Neitzel (18-12 4.06) and Knucks Nomellini (16-12 4.44) struggled at times and had high ERAs... Bobcat bats saved their butts quite a few times... Beechwood's best bats were star CF Vic Valenti (.304/34/102/103), last year's RU MVP... 1B Ray Slater (.290/14/72/98) and veteran 38-year-old SS Rolf Kellgren (.270/9/49/101).

Gibby Bobkins' Sugar Valley Rattlers (85-69) have been terrible the last four seasons, languishing near the bottom in seventh and eight place... this year they had some bite in their rattle and climbed up to the third spot in the RU East standings... Bobkins has three quality starters in Ed Clavell (18-16 3.02), Connie Ehrlichmann (15-8 3.48) and Nick Moore (16-14 3.51)... and an All-Star closer Woody Murrell (7-4 1.57), who had a standout year with 35 saves, tied with Dan Stevens of Wynnamac for the IPA lead... top hitters were future Hall-of-Famer C Hal Stevenson (.296/27/91/98), who made the All-Star squad for the 8th time and may wind up with over 500 career homers... and steady RF Kent Swain (.290/22/102/82).

The Marston Nine (83-71) won the RU East the previous two years, but slumped to the fourth place this season... still a good club, but just not as good as the Eastshore and Beechwood... veteran pitchers Dennis Townsend (12-16 4.04) and Hunk Sweitzer (8-16 5.66) just didn't produce as in the past... closer Bobby Daniel was good but inconsistent... Daniel posted a 2.48 ERA and 27 saves, but lost 10 games with only 3 wins... manager Johnny Walters did have two 20-game winners in vet Roberto Conception (20-9 3.02) and 20-year-old rookie Ronnie Flynn (22-11 3.19)... at the plate All-Star CF Russ Woodward (.333/45/120/101) and 3B Jimmy Holman (.282/24/89/76) led the way... Marston is still very good on defense with a .976 FA.

The Wynnamac Sundowners (76-78) ended up 20 games off the pace and in fifth place under the direction of Matt Donnelly... the club has adequate offense, but needs improved pitching and better defense to contend... the Sundowner defense is near the bottom with a very poor .966 FA... top hurlers are All-Star Jerry Meeks (20-12 2.91) and 39-year-old Skeets Hobart (14-8 3.42)... top hitters are legendary star LF Big Hoss Burkhalter (.319/32/107/101), still a threat at age 38... Burkhalter has over 1600 RBIs in his 16 IPA seasons... and 40-year-old CF Clive Farnham (.297/21/87/86).

Since its last pennant in 2012, T. Kelly Holmes' Cold Creek Catamounts (75-79) have slipped into mediocrity... this season they tied for sixth with Elnora, trailing by 21 games... Cold Creek needs better pitching and hitting to challenge in the RU East... however, Holmes does have some talented, but aging players in pitchers Marc Matherne (21-14 3.69) and Payton Saunders (16-13 3.67) and position players CF Trip Holmes (.305/28/96/93), RF Emile Stosha (.319/18/77/92) and 1B Terry Sauer (.292/17/97/75)... Trip Holmes and Stosha had been fine hitters for many years... Holmes is a tremendous glove man and an all-around bonafide star, who might sneak into the IPA Hall-of-Fame... in his 15 seasons Holmes has batted .286 with 350 roundtrippers, scored 1489 runs and batted in 1304 runs.

Zoggy White's Elnora All-Stars (75-79) tumbled down to a sixth-place tie this season... lack of pitching and home run power are the main shortcomings... it's hard to compete with a 4.11 ERA (25th) and 111 home runs (26th)... White's team does handle the gloves well with a .976 FA... but Elnora has one of the best players in the IPA in All-Star C Leon Carter, who racked up a .354 BA with 28 homers, 110 RBIs and scored 100 runs... Carter has made the All-Star team all four years he has played in the IPA... 34-year-old RF Lloyd Voss is a strong contact hitter with two league batting crowns... Voss hit .315 this year with 10 home runs, 67 RBIs and 97 runs... Career-wise Voss is batting at a lofty .338 clip in his 11 IPA seasons.

The Belle Plaine Musketeers (62-92) had another dismal year under manager Boo Ladrieux, winding up in the RU East basement and a very distant 34 games behind pennant winner Eastshore... the Muskies have average pitching, but crummy hitting... Belle Plaine batted only .245 (27th) with only 97 home runs (31st)... nowhere near what you need to be a contender in the IPA... Ladrieux's only bright spots are his 23-year-old rookie closer Fabian Moreau (2-6 2.49), who saved 26 games and 24-year-old SS Scott Hammill (.311/19/71/73), who had made the RU All-Star team twice in his four years in the league.

10-16-2010, 01:28 PM	#2049
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,695 Blog Entries: 1	The Islandian Times Tuesday, September 20, 2016 2016 Ruthlandian East Final Recap Elegants Surprise In RU East It's been 14 long years since the Eastshore fans had anything to cheer about. That's when the team last made the playoffs. Their Elegants surprised them and the entire league by sweeping to the top of the Ruthlandian East this season to win their first ever division pennant. Eastshore whipped the Beachwood Bobcats by 5 games, Sugar Valley by 11 games and last year's champ, the Marston Nine by 13 games. Outstanding pitching, strong offense and an big influx of talented rookies are the primary reasons Eastshore (96-58) won more games than anyone in the RU this year and rose up from a fourth-place finish in 2015... Manager Killer Brewster's mound corps chalked up an excellent 3.22 team ERA (3rd), sparked by the terrific 35-year-old rookie Danny Siegfried (26-8 2.25), who tied for the IPA lead in total victories with another rookie, Bayview's Harald Turi... the Elegants had four fine starters with three 20-game winners... Eddie Lance (20-9 3.38) and Al Froelich (20-15 3.63) were the other two... Melvin Key (16-14 3.64) gave Brewster a quality fourth starter... first-year man Jack Wilson was a strong closer, too, with a microscopic 1.09 ERA in 53 appearances, 32 saves and a 5-5 record... and it didn't stop there - Eastshore can score... they ranked second in scoring, fifth in homers with 155 and seventh with a .267 team batting average... top hitters were three rookies, All-Star 2B Gerry Garner (.300/26/97/79), CF Larry Lowe (.283/13/60/102) and 3B George Alford (.266/23/94/75)... Eastshore's only weakness is its lousy .967 FA... Nonetheless, the Elegants are primed for a good run at the IPA Pro Cup title and will give Far Mountain, Belair Beach and Colfax some stiff competition for the Ruthlandian crown. The Beechwood Bobcats (91-63) had a fine season under skipper Bret George, but didn't possess the talent Eastshore had... they ran a good second to Eastshore with good hitting, pitching and fielding... the Bobcats batted .259 (19th), scored well (8th) and had good power (7th in HRs) and played solid defense with a .975 FA... All-Star rookie Billy Ray posted a sensational 21-8 mark with a 2.37 ERA... 16-year vet Terry Kuznetsov (14-14 3.19) was George's number two starter... his number 3 and 4 starters were Troy Neitzel (18-12 4.06) and Knucks Nomellini (16-12 4.44) struggled at times and had high ERAs... Bobcat bats saved their butts quite a few times... Beechwood's best bats were star CF Vic Valenti (.304/34/102/103), last year's RU MVP... 1B Ray Slater (.290/14/72/98) and veteran 38-year-old SS Rolf Kellgren (.270/9/49/101). Gibby Bobkins' Sugar Valley Rattlers (85-69) have been terrible the last four seasons, languishing near the bottom in seventh and eight place... this year they had some bite in their rattle and climbed up to the third spot in the RU East standings... Bobkins has three quality starters in Ed Clavell (18-16 3.02), Connie Ehrlichmann (15-8 3.48) and Nick Moore (16-14 3.51)... and an All-Star closer Woody Murrell (7-4 1.57), who had a standout year with 35 saves, tied with Dan Stevens of Wynnamac for the IPA lead... top hitters were future Hall-of-Famer C Hal Stevenson (.296/27/91/98), who made the All-Star squad for the 8th time and may wind up with over 500 career homers... and steady RF Kent Swain (.290/22/102/82). The Marston Nine (83-71) won the RU East the previous two years, but slumped to the fourth place this season... still a good club, but just not as good as the Eastshore and Beechwood... veteran pitchers Dennis Townsend (12-16 4.04) and Hunk Sweitzer (8-16 5.66) just didn't produce as in the past... closer Bobby Daniel was good but inconsistent... Daniel posted a 2.48 ERA and 27 saves, but lost 10 games with only 3 wins... manager Johnny Walters did have two 20-game winners in vet Roberto Conception (20-9 3.02) and 20-year-old rookie Ronnie Flynn (22-11 3.19)... at the plate All-Star CF Russ Woodward (.333/45/120/101) and 3B Jimmy Holman (.282/24/89/76) led the way... Marston is still very good on defense with a .976 FA. The Wynnamac Sundowners (76-78) ended up 20 games off the pace and in fifth place under the direction of Matt Donnelly... the club has adequate offense, but needs improved pitching and better defense to contend... the Sundowner defense is near the bottom with a very poor .966 FA... top hurlers are All-Star Jerry Meeks (20-12 2.91) and 39-year-old Skeets Hobart (14-8 3.42)... top hitters are legendary star LF Big Hoss Burkhalter (.319/32/107/101), still a threat at age 38... Burkhalter has over 1600 RBIs in his 16 IPA seasons... and 40-year-old CF Clive Farnham (.297/21/87/86). Since its last pennant in 2012, T. Kelly Holmes' Cold Creek Catamounts (75-79) have slipped into mediocrity... this season they tied for sixth with Elnora, trailing by 21 games... Cold Creek needs better pitching and hitting to challenge in the RU East... however, Holmes does have some talented, but aging players in pitchers Marc Matherne (21-14 3.69) and Payton Saunders (16-13 3.67) and position players CF Trip Holmes (.305/28/96/93), RF Emile Stosha (.319/18/77/92) and 1B Terry Sauer (.292/17/97/75)... Trip Holmes and Stosha had been fine hitters for many years... Holmes is a tremendous glove man and an all-around bonafide star, who might sneak into the IPA Hall-of-Fame... in his 15 seasons Holmes has batted .286 with 350 roundtrippers, scored 1489 runs and batted in 1304 runs. Zoggy White's Elnora All-Stars (75-79) tumbled down to a sixth-place tie this season... lack of pitching and home run power are the main shortcomings... it's hard to compete with a 4.11 ERA (25th) and 111 home runs (26th)... White's team does handle the gloves well with a .976 FA... but Elnora has one of the best players in the IPA in All-Star C Leon Carter, who racked up a .354 BA with 28 homers, 110 RBIs and scored 100 runs... Carter has made the All-Star team all four years he has played in the IPA... 34-year-old RF Lloyd Voss is a strong contact hitter with two league batting crowns... Voss hit .315 this year with 10 home runs, 67 RBIs and 97 runs... Career-wise Voss is batting at a lofty .338 clip in his 11 IPA seasons. The Belle Plaine Musketeers (62-92) had another dismal year under manager Boo Ladrieux, winding up in the RU East basement and a very distant 34 games behind pennant winner Eastshore... the Muskies have average pitching, but crummy hitting... Belle Plaine batted only .245 (27th) with only 97 home runs (31st)... nowhere near what you need to be a contender in the IPA... Ladrieux's only bright spots are his 23-year-old rookie closer Fabian Moreau (2-6 2.49), who saved 26 games and 24-year-old SS Scott Hammill (.311/19/71/73), who had made the RU All-Star team twice in his four years in the league. Last edited by Eugene Church; 10-31-2010 at 07:24 PM.