OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - ISLANDIAN PRO ALLIANCE (RUTHLANDIA and TYCOBBIA BASEBALL UNIONS)

Eugene Church · 11-09-2010, 09:34 PM

The Islandian Times
Tuesday, June 20, 2017

2017 Tycobbian West Mid-Season Recap

BSC Bucs In A Breeze, Big Lead In TU West
It's not much of a pennant race at the halfway mark in the Tycobbian West this season. The Bay St. Clair Buccaneers have put an 8-game distance between them and second-place Bayview, last year's winner. They are the only two clubs over .500 in the division. Rolling Hills is third and trails by 11 games. LaClaire is fourth and 13 games back. Second-division teams are fifth-place Denton City, 14 games off the pace, followed by Chicopee in sixth, 15 games back, Arlon is next-to-last and 16 games out and Kenwood is last, 17 games behind Bay St. Clair.

The Bay St. Clair (47-26) bats are really booming this year with a .286 BA (2nd)... The Buccaneers put a lot of runs on the scoreboard and led the league in scoring... they were seventh in homers with 81... manager Guy Rondre has a wealth of four .300 hitters: All-Star 2B Bud Walker is topping the club with a .382 BA and has 10 homers... All-Star LF Bruno DiPirro (.340/3 HR), SS Jimmy Sawyer (.325/6 HR) and RF Alejandro Feliciano (.331/5 HR) are quite productive, too, along with 1B Gerry Fields, who cracked the 400-homer mark recently... Fields has 19 this season and is batting .278... the Bucs are doing well despite the loss of 24-game winner Benny Coates to injury for two months this season... Coates (3-1 3.54) is back and ready for the final half of the year... top pitchers so far are Chris Van Arden (12-4 3.41), Duke DeVree (8-3 3.78) and Hal Meissner (6-3 2.80)... as a team Bay St. Clair has 4.00 ERA (21st), but they can win with that as long as they keep up with the offense... Coates' return will greatly help the club... the Bucs are impressive with the gloves, too, posting a .978 FA.

The difference between last year and this year has been pitching for the second-place Bayview Vikings (39-34)... the team ERA has risen up from 3.41 to 3.89 (18th), mainly due to Norm Roy's slump... Roy was 19-10 last year and only 2-8 so far this season... he has seen his ERA shoot up from 3.90 to 4.52 this season... Last year's Rookie of the Year, Golden Arm and MVP winner Harald Turi (10-7 2.10) is still a very tough pitcher and made the All-Stars, but he has lost almost twice as many as last year, when he was 26-4... Vets Rick Prichard (9-4 3.24) and Georgie Fambreau (7-4 3.68) have been steady and solid this year for manager Walter Johanssen... Bayview doesn't have a good closer, either... the Viks batted .267 (12th) with 92 homers (3rd) and were fifth in scoring... Bayview's batting order is full of fine batters with no weak sisters... 1 to 8 Johanssen is blessed, led by 3B Karl Benson (.285/18 HR), RF Tommy Riddle (.297/16 HR), 1B Stan Haddix (.282/15 HR), LF Davey Krueger (.293/15 HR) and 2B Tommy Shore (.307/5 HR)... the Vikings played good defense, too, with a .975 FA... it's not likely Bayview can catch the Buccaneers this season, but they should definitely hold on to the runner-up spot... none of the other teams in the TU West are strong enough to overtake them.

The Rolling Hills Reds (36-37) are in third place and skippered by Matty Christianson... He has four quality starters that have chalked up a good 3.57 ERA (7th), along with a good closer Alfonso Gonzales (1-2), who has registered 16 saves with a 3.20 ERA... the Reds rotation consists of Sal Jordan (7-12 2.61), who had pitched very well, but suffered from a lack of runs, as well as James Elliott (9-6 3.89), Fred O'Neil (8-6 3.86) and Johnny Ringo (8-5 3.55)... Reliable 3B Clay Hoffman (.291/20 HR) is Christianson's only dependable bat... Rolling Hills is batting only .248 (27th) and ranks low in runs scored and home runs.

Rip Calkin has guided the LaClaire Lynx (34-39) to the fourth spot in the standings at the All-Star break... the Lynx are 13 games behind... Calkin has fairly good pitching with a 3.78 ERA (16th), paced by 38-year-old vet Bernie Halsey with a 10-2 record and a 3.13 ERA... rookie closer Ralf Hartwig (2-2) had made a great impression with a 2.01 ERA and 9 saves since taking over the role... LaClaire doesn't do well offensively with a poor .250 BA (26th), but they are 9th in runs scored and hit 69 homers (13th)... Calkin has two All-Stars: 3B Flash Devlin (.330/16 HR) and LF Zeppy Deshotel (.308/13 HR)... RF Taro Nakanishi (.259) has supplied the power with 18 homers.

The fifth-place Denton City Redbirds (33-40) are only average hitters with a .258 team BA (19th) and even worse in scoring (27th)... not much power either with only 54 roundtrippers (26th-tied)... manager Ford Whiteman's only quality hitter is 1B Maury Duncan (.319/19 HR)... not much on the mound as the club has compiled a mediocre 4.24 ERA (26th)... all-time star hurler Mila Mohoski (8-8 3.25) is slowing down a little at age 37, but is closing in on 300 victories... Mohoski needs 8 more to reach that historic milestone... rookie closer Rich Hopkins (2-1) has done his job well, too... Hopkins has saved 13 games and fashioned a standout 1.50 ERA.

The sixth-place Chicopee Braves (32-41) are 15 games behind first-place Bay St. Clair... manager Cochise Chandler just doesn't have a lot of talent in Chicopee... the Braves are batting only .257 (22nd) with only 37 home runs (32nd)... on the hill they are only average with a 3.93 team ERA (19th)... top performers are long-time ace Desmond Quartermain (7-7 3.07) and All-Star C Ivan Burkholder (.312/14 HR).

The Arlon Champions (31-42) have slowly sunk in the TU West standings since winning the pennant in 2012... Gary Louis' club is 16 games back in the pennant hunt... the Champs have four capable starters in Terry Nuxhall (9-3 4.05), Armando Cruz (7-8 3.53), Charley Gordon (5-11 3.32) and Happy McManus (6-12 3.73), but they get little in run support... Arlon is batting only .242 (29th) and are ranked low in homers (29th) and runs support (31st)... but Louis does have a standout relief corps, headed up by closer Ross Birchford (3-1) with 12 saves and a 2.25 ERA... All-Star LF Rocco Belasario (.315/12 HR) and CF Chucky Gilton (.318/5 HR) carry the offensive load.

The Kenwood Wildcats (30-43) under skipper Aaron Hankins won the TU West flag and the IPA Pro Cup in 2014, but have plunged downward since... this year they have dropped to rock bottom - last place, 17 games off the lead... poor hitting has plagued the Wildcats for the past 3 years... it is just tough to win in the IPA when your team batting average is .255 (23rd), you are ranked 23rd in scoring, have only 62 homers (19th) and your team ERA is 3.61 (9th)... Hankins does have three starters off that championship club, but the present squad doesn't hit like the champs... top pitchers are Connie Gavagan (7-10 3.31), Sammy Shaw (7-9 3.19) and Rick Brickell (8-8 3.60)... 2B Duncan Renwick (.302/5 HR) and LF Dennis Riley (.254/15 HR) are Hankins' only bats.

11-09-2010, 09:34 PM	#2106
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,695 Blog Entries: 1	The Islandian Times Tuesday, June 20, 2017 2017 Tycobbian West Mid-Season Recap BSC Bucs In A Breeze, Big Lead In TU West It's not much of a pennant race at the halfway mark in the Tycobbian West this season. The Bay St. Clair Buccaneers have put an 8-game distance between them and second-place Bayview, last year's winner. They are the only two clubs over .500 in the division. Rolling Hills is third and trails by 11 games. LaClaire is fourth and 13 games back. Second-division teams are fifth-place Denton City, 14 games off the pace, followed by Chicopee in sixth, 15 games back, Arlon is next-to-last and 16 games out and Kenwood is last, 17 games behind Bay St. Clair. The Bay St. Clair (47-26) bats are really booming this year with a .286 BA (2nd)... The Buccaneers put a lot of runs on the scoreboard and led the league in scoring... they were seventh in homers with 81... manager Guy Rondre has a wealth of four .300 hitters: All-Star 2B Bud Walker is topping the club with a .382 BA and has 10 homers... All-Star LF Bruno DiPirro (.340/3 HR), SS Jimmy Sawyer (.325/6 HR) and RF Alejandro Feliciano (.331/5 HR) are quite productive, too, along with 1B Gerry Fields, who cracked the 400-homer mark recently... Fields has 19 this season and is batting .278... the Bucs are doing well despite the loss of 24-game winner Benny Coates to injury for two months this season... Coates (3-1 3.54) is back and ready for the final half of the year... top pitchers so far are Chris Van Arden (12-4 3.41), Duke DeVree (8-3 3.78) and Hal Meissner (6-3 2.80)... as a team Bay St. Clair has 4.00 ERA (21st), but they can win with that as long as they keep up with the offense... Coates' return will greatly help the club... the Bucs are impressive with the gloves, too, posting a .978 FA. The difference between last year and this year has been pitching for the second-place Bayview Vikings (39-34)... the team ERA has risen up from 3.41 to 3.89 (18th), mainly due to Norm Roy's slump... Roy was 19-10 last year and only 2-8 so far this season... he has seen his ERA shoot up from 3.90 to 4.52 this season... Last year's Rookie of the Year, Golden Arm and MVP winner Harald Turi (10-7 2.10) is still a very tough pitcher and made the All-Stars, but he has lost almost twice as many as last year, when he was 26-4... Vets Rick Prichard (9-4 3.24) and Georgie Fambreau (7-4 3.68) have been steady and solid this year for manager Walter Johanssen... Bayview doesn't have a good closer, either... the Viks batted .267 (12th) with 92 homers (3rd) and were fifth in scoring... Bayview's batting order is full of fine batters with no weak sisters... 1 to 8 Johanssen is blessed, led by 3B Karl Benson (.285/18 HR), RF Tommy Riddle (.297/16 HR), 1B Stan Haddix (.282/15 HR), LF Davey Krueger (.293/15 HR) and 2B Tommy Shore (.307/5 HR)... the Vikings played good defense, too, with a .975 FA... it's not likely Bayview can catch the Buccaneers this season, but they should definitely hold on to the runner-up spot... none of the other teams in the TU West are strong enough to overtake them. The Rolling Hills Reds (36-37) are in third place and skippered by Matty Christianson... He has four quality starters that have chalked up a good 3.57 ERA (7th), along with a good closer Alfonso Gonzales (1-2), who has registered 16 saves with a 3.20 ERA... the Reds rotation consists of Sal Jordan (7-12 2.61), who had pitched very well, but suffered from a lack of runs, as well as James Elliott (9-6 3.89), Fred O'Neil (8-6 3.86) and Johnny Ringo (8-5 3.55)... Reliable 3B Clay Hoffman (.291/20 HR) is Christianson's only dependable bat... Rolling Hills is batting only .248 (27th) and ranks low in runs scored and home runs. Rip Calkin has guided the LaClaire Lynx (34-39) to the fourth spot in the standings at the All-Star break... the Lynx are 13 games behind... Calkin has fairly good pitching with a 3.78 ERA (16th), paced by 38-year-old vet Bernie Halsey with a 10-2 record and a 3.13 ERA... rookie closer Ralf Hartwig (2-2) had made a great impression with a 2.01 ERA and 9 saves since taking over the role... LaClaire doesn't do well offensively with a poor .250 BA (26th), but they are 9th in runs scored and hit 69 homers (13th)... Calkin has two All-Stars: 3B Flash Devlin (.330/16 HR) and LF Zeppy Deshotel (.308/13 HR)... RF Taro Nakanishi (.259) has supplied the power with 18 homers. The fifth-place Denton City Redbirds (33-40) are only average hitters with a .258 team BA (19th) and even worse in scoring (27th)... not much power either with only 54 roundtrippers (26th-tied)... manager Ford Whiteman's only quality hitter is 1B Maury Duncan (.319/19 HR)... not much on the mound as the club has compiled a mediocre 4.24 ERA (26th)... all-time star hurler Mila Mohoski (8-8 3.25) is slowing down a little at age 37, but is closing in on 300 victories... Mohoski needs 8 more to reach that historic milestone... rookie closer Rich Hopkins (2-1) has done his job well, too... Hopkins has saved 13 games and fashioned a standout 1.50 ERA. The sixth-place Chicopee Braves (32-41) are 15 games behind first-place Bay St. Clair... manager Cochise Chandler just doesn't have a lot of talent in Chicopee... the Braves are batting only .257 (22nd) with only 37 home runs (32nd)... on the hill they are only average with a 3.93 team ERA (19th)... top performers are long-time ace Desmond Quartermain (7-7 3.07) and All-Star C Ivan Burkholder (.312/14 HR). The Arlon Champions (31-42) have slowly sunk in the TU West standings since winning the pennant in 2012... Gary Louis' club is 16 games back in the pennant hunt... the Champs have four capable starters in Terry Nuxhall (9-3 4.05), Armando Cruz (7-8 3.53), Charley Gordon (5-11 3.32) and Happy McManus (6-12 3.73), but they get little in run support... Arlon is batting only .242 (29th) and are ranked low in homers (29th) and runs support (31st)... but Louis does have a standout relief corps, headed up by closer Ross Birchford (3-1) with 12 saves and a 2.25 ERA... All-Star LF Rocco Belasario (.315/12 HR) and CF Chucky Gilton (.318/5 HR) carry the offensive load. The Kenwood Wildcats (30-43) under skipper Aaron Hankins won the TU West flag and the IPA Pro Cup in 2014, but have plunged downward since... this year they have dropped to rock bottom - last place, 17 games off the lead... poor hitting has plagued the Wildcats for the past 3 years... it is just tough to win in the IPA when your team batting average is .255 (23rd), you are ranked 23rd in scoring, have only 62 homers (19th) and your team ERA is 3.61 (9th)... Hankins does have three starters off that championship club, but the present squad doesn't hit like the champs... top pitchers are Connie Gavagan (7-10 3.31), Sammy Shaw (7-9 3.19) and Rick Brickell (8-8 3.60)... 2B Duncan Renwick (.302/5 HR) and LF Dennis Riley (.254/15 HR) are Hankins' only bats. Last edited by Eugene Church; 11-16-2010 at 08:31 PM.