[Eugene Church]

The Islandian Times
Wednesday, June 21, 2023

2023 Tycobbian Union Mid-Season Recap

Mahaska #1 In TU North, WR Rascals 1 Game Out
With the sudden demise of defending champ Luxora, it's shaping up as a Mahaska-White River race in the Tycobbian North at the All-Star break... the Zorros have dominated this weak division, winning five of the last six pennants... this year the Z's have plunged to the cellar... the Haymakers are up by one game over the Rascals, followed by Hartsdale in the third spot 5 games back with North Hills 7 games off the pace in fourth place... Mahaska (43-30), managed by Rudy Tanussa, has greatly improved on the mound with rookie starter Sammy Kafelnikov (9-7 2.77) and a great bullpen... the Haymaker relief corps has fashioned a brilliant 1.70 ERA, the best in the IPA... Tanussa's team has a good group of hitters, led by rookie RF Travis Tuttle (.331 BA/14 HR/45 RBI) and veteran C Bucky O'Brian (.292 BA/12 HR/63 RBI)... Mahaska plays excellent defense, too, with a .979 FA... the second place White River Rascals (42-31) are strong at the plate (.274 BA-2nd) and with the glove (.981 FA-1st), but only mediocre on the mound (3.90 ERA-22nd)... Mick Cronyn's crew will have to hit their way to the division title... likely Hall-of-Fame 1B Marty Blake (.332 BA/17 HR/45 RBI) still wields a mighty bat and has plenty of help from RF Kenneth Kent (.320 BA/14 HR/48 RBI), CF Hal Littleton (.298 BA/6 HR/37 RBI) and SS Kenny Young (.317 BA/8 HR/31 RBI)... gifted All-Star rookie Jon French (10-4 2.09) carries the pitching load... manager Zim Donner's third place Hartsdale Hellcats (38-35) have a better-than-average ball club with a .260 team BA (11th) and 3.67 ERA (14th)... top bats are All-Star C Derek Yurek (.287 BA/17 HR/51 RBI), 1B Johnny Scott (.312 BA/8 HR/43 RBI) and longtime star 3B Kendry Moulton (.279 BA/9 HR/42 RBI)... Moulton is 40 years old and 7-time All-Star with a 3000 hits, almost 500 homers and a lifetime .303 BA... top pitcher is Jim Starks (10-3 3.68)... the Hellcats need to give ace Bobo Boisseau (3-13 3.21) better run support in the second half... they could make up the 5-game deficit and challenge Mahaska if that happens... the fourth-place North Hills Hawks (36-37) and fifth-place Fairfax Frogs (35-38) are 7 and 8 games behind in the pennant race and only have an outside chance at contending... Oxford (30-43), Blue Lake (28-45) and Luxora (27-46) are far back and out of the running.

TU North Outlook:
The Mahaska Haymakers should prevail because of its all-around balance: fine pitching, excellent defense and good hitting... it's doubtful that White River can whip them without better pitching... the Rascals might drop to third behind Hartsdale, which has better starting pitching.

Ginza Up By 5 In TU South
At the mid-year break in the Tycobbian South the Ginza Ninjas have opened up a 5-game margin over resurgence Cape Coral and 6 games ahead of Colchester and Southport... defending champion Arroyo Grande and perennial contender Turon have slumped this season... the Suns are fifth and 9 games out and the Typhoons are sputtering in sixth place, a dozen games back in the race... two talented rookies Yuko Takata (11-5 3.33) and Harlan Wilson (12-4 3.18) have sparked Huroko Uchiyama's Ninjas (45-28) to the top of the division... coupled with Ron Koehler (7-6 3.39) and Yutaka Yoshida (3-8 3.47) in the starting rotation, Ginza may not do a second-half swoon like last year... the Ninjas were the top team a year ago at the All-Star game, but faded to fourth place and 18 games behind with a dismal second half... Uchiyama could use more hitting... 1B Johnny O'Rorke (.332 BA/12 HR/49 RBI) has been the only reliable bat... superstar C Crash Davis (.286 BA/7 HR/36 RBI) is down statistically this season... a good second half from him would do wonders for the Ninjas... Ginza is also good defensively with a .976 FA... rookie Cory Burg (11-4 2.63) has been a godsend to the Cape Coral Hurricanes (40-33), who were next-to-last in the standings last year... he's the son of all-time IPA ikon Cody Burg, who retired this season and is the IPA career leader with 369 victories... skipper Huggy Miller may not have the hitting to maintain his current lofty spot... Colchester (39-34) is tied with Southport in the standings and is leading the TU with a 2.81 team ERA, but lacks offense... Uncle Robbie Wilbertson's Elites are paced by rookie SP Mac Flowers (9-6 2.79) and freshman closer Cholly Burdette (4-1 0.69), along with 4-year vet Jess Carpenter (7-8 2.91)... another standout pitcher rookie Tommy Dvorak (9-8 1.86) suffered a career-ending back injury, which was a huge loss to Colchester's pennant hopes... solid 1B James McCall (.330 BA/9 HR/44 RBI) is Colchester only reliable offensive threat... the Elites are batting only .253 (19th), but handle the gloves well with a fine .979 FA (2nd-tied)... the third-place Southport Sun Sox (39-34) are in the same boat as other division contenders - excellent pitching, but weak bats... Charley Oscar's staff is number two in the TU with an impressive 2.97 team ERA, but his Sun Sox are hitting a lowly .237 for average (30th)... Southport has three super starters in vets Al Laclair (10-7 1.94) and Bob Montgomery (9-6 2.68), plus super rookie Rod Bailey (14-4 2.56)... what feeble offense the Sun Sox can muster is provided by 2B Jason Hinton (.331 BA/5 HR/33 RBI) and rookie LF Amos Needham (.310 BA/8 HR/27 RBI)... Arroyo Grande (36-37) won the last three TU South titles, but has tumbled hard down to fifth place this season, due to a decline in both pitching and hitting... Cyclone Cobb only has one decent starter... Cesar De Leon is 12-5 with a 3.36 ERA... but the bats still boom with All-Star SS Andy Pearson (.349 BA/9 HR/42 RBI), 1B Rusty Vizcarra (.299 BA/22 HR/66 RBI) and LF Eduardo Villanueva (.305 BA/12 HR/37 RBI)... age may have caught up with sixth-place Turon... longtime stars 1B Clyde Kingsford (.257 BA/2 HR/10 RBI) and 2B Alan Hansen (.257 BA/0 HR/16 RBI/19 R) have been relegated to the bench... the Typhoons really miss both of them... 37-year-old Kingsford is a .321 career batter with almost 500 homers, while 44-year-old Hansen was a great lead-off man with 2300 walks, 2200 runs scored and a lifetime .296 BA... nobody will come close to Kingsford's 40 homers and 125 RBIs he averaged during his 12 years with the club... No one will come close to Hansen's average of scoring near 100 runs a year in his 23 seasons... the Typhoons still have all-time great Nicky Engstrom (10-5 2.05), still going strong at age 34... Engstrom made the All-Star team for the 10th time... manager Whitey Richburn added a fine new rookie, too... left-hander Don Allen posted a 9-4 record in his first half-season with a strong 2.52 ERA... the San Alejo Montaneros (32-41) aren't going anywhere this season... they are seventh and 13 games off the pace... 24-year-old Trini Corona (10-8 3.80) is a very capable pitcher, manager Alberto Herrera's only dependable starter... LF Warren Love (.321 BA/15 HR/48 RBI) is the Mounties best bat... it looks like the cellar again for the Summerland Sunsets (27-46), the third year in a row... offense is non-existent... the Sunsets are batting only .230 (31st) and are last in scoring... pitching ain't much, either, with a 4.20 team ERA... the best pitcher is rookie closer Cary Snead (2-2 1.85), who has piled up 15 saves for a bad team.

TU South Outlook:
Ginza will finally win the TU South... never in its 23-year history have the Ninjas managed this... rock-solid pitching, adequate hitting and very good defense will carry manager Huroko Uchiyama to his first pennant... his biggest competition will come from the Southport Sun Sox with their splendid starters... it might be close, but the Ninjas will pull it out... Colchester will finish third, ahead of Cape Coral and Arroyo Grande.

5-Team Tussle In TU East, Blazers-Blue Jays 1st
As usual, the Tycobbian East is the most-contested division in the IPA... Five clubs are jammed together with just 4 games separating number one to number five... two of them, the Hillsboro Blazers (45-28) and the Tuckanarra Blue Jays (45-28) are tied for first with a narrow 2-game edge over the High Mesa Cowboys (43-30)... the Midway Wolves (41-32) and Ozarka Naturals (41-32) are deadlocked in fourth and trail by just 4 games... This year Hillsboro and Tuckanarra both leaped out of nowhere. Last season the Blazers were sixth in the final standings and the Blue Jays ended up fifth... Midway is the defending TU East champion... Hillsboro looks to have it all this year - pitching, power and scoring... 3.21 ERA (5th), .266 BA (6th), 97 homers (2nd)... skipper Rawhide Marshall really has them rolling... All-Star Tom Edgar (12-5 2.85) and Ben Garvik (9-6 2.93) are the top starters... Hank Hellman (1-1 0.00) has 12 saves and hasn't permitted an earned run this season... the Blazers have plenty of bats with All-Star 1B Larry Guichard (.353 BA/16 HR/56 RBI), LF Paul Green (.345 BA/16 HR/46 RBI), rookie CF Biggy Washington (.280 BA/19 HR/37 RBI) and rookie RF Tommy O'Hara (.298 BA/14 HR/39 RBI)... manager Carlton "Lefty" Stevens has quite an attack in Tuckanarra, too... his Blue Jays are hitting .272 (3rd) with 76 HRs (6th) and are the top team in the TU in scoring (403 runs)... however, they can't match Hillsboro's mound staff... the Blue Jays have posted a 3.53 team ERA (10th)... the Starr triplets are leading the way... Glynn Starr (13-3 3.36) and Quinn Starr (8-8 2.61) head up the hurlers with brother All-Star 1B Lynn Starr (.351 BA/21 HR/62 RBI) having a fabulous sophomore season... All-Star rookie 3B Koora Nawajuk (.321 BA/13 HR/39 RBI) and RF Danny Redd (.304 BA/7 HR/43 RBI) also provide valuable offense... as usual High Mesa can hit homers and score runs, but this year they are getting better pitching and the Cowboys one-man gang, Jack Elliott, has help at the plate... All-Star 1B Elliott just never lets up... he is batting .368 with 21 homers and 52 RBIs... supporting him are All-Star RF Bill Andrews (.310 BA/26 HR/61 RBI), his brother, SS Stephen Andrews (.293 BA/8 HR/44 RBI) and 2B Kenny Rivers (.310 BA/8 HR/29 RBI)... on the hill manager Frisky Franks has three quality starters in rookie sensation Daniel Ferguson (9-6 2.18), veteran Ronald Ward (7-6 3.68) and veteran John Rainer (4-0 3.08), who just moved up into the starting rotation... the Cowpokes are good with the leather, too, with a division-best .977 FA... none of other contenders come close to High Mesa in fielding percentage... Cochise Chandler's Midway Wolves hit well with power... the team is batting .261 (10th) with 87 HRs (3rd) and rank 5th in scoring, but only have average pitching (3.70 ERA-15th)... still last year's division winner is only 2 games off the pace and still a force in the pennant chase... Motega Wolf (11-5 2.56) and Bobby Dorignac (9-4 2.49) give Midway two outstanding starters... bullpen ace Dom Vilaggio (2-2 2.16) has 16 saves... topping the Wolves batting order are All-Star LF Chitto Chandler (.332 BA/11 HR/39 RBI), SS Rob Gigler (.317 BA/17 HR/45 RBI) and rookie standout 3B Rusty Graves (.305 BA/8 HR/38 RBI)... perennial power Ozarka is still a big threat in the TU East, the Nats just have a lot of competition... manager Joe Mac Carney has won 10 of the last 13 division flags... the Naturals possess excellent hitting with a TU-leading .283 team BA and very good pitching with a 3.22 team ERA (6th)... Ozarka has four fine starters in vets Benny Osterman (13-6 2.30), Eddie Roberts (8-2 3.06), Howard Hutch (8-6 3.10) and youngster Jeb Mashburn (10-5 2.83)... at the plate RF Ken Mayberry (.371 BA/4 HR/26 RBI/51 R) leads the Tycobbian league in batting average... lending great support are All-Star SS James Couch (.332 BA/7 HR/54 RBI), 1B George Jenkins (.354 BA/7 HR/38 RBI), 3B Andre Dumas (.293 BA/9 HR/54 RBI) and LF Ryoma Nakayama (.300 BA/11 HR/37 RBI)... none of the other clubs will challenge for the pennant... South Fork (33-40) is in sixth place, 12 games behind... Red Bluff (31-42) took quite a fall, dipping from second last season to seventh place and 14 games back this year... and for the 12th time in 15 years East Point (23-50) will likely finish in the cellar.

TU East Outlook:
The powerful Ozarka Naturals will overtake everybody and win a close race... no team has four strong starters like the Nats... plus they are the best hitting team in the IPA... Hillsboro will fend off the others with its four capable starters and good hitting... the Blazers will be hurt with its lousy defense... they are the worst team in the IPA with a .960 FA... it's a second-place finish for the Blazers... Tuckanarra will come in third, High Mesa fourth and defending TU East champ Midway will dip to fifth this season.

RH Reds Atop TU West, Led BSC Bucs By 3
So far, it's been a two-team race in the Tycobbian West between last season's division winner Rolling Hills (47-26) and the Bay St. Clair Buccaneers (44-29)... the Reds have a slight 3-game advantage at the season's halfway mark... the Kenwood Wildcats (40-33) are in third place, 7 games behind, while the Bayview Vikings (38-35) are 9 games out and in the fourth spot... the rest of the division are below .500 and not likely to challenge... Matty Christianson's Rolling Hills ball club has compiled the best record in the TU this season... he has a talented rotation with two standout veteran starters and two budding youngsters, coupled with a superb closer... add in two gifted rookies and one solid 13-year vet and you've got a good ball club... All-Star Errol Gaudet (13-5 2.36) and Sal Jordan (10-1 3.77) are quality arms... John Ryck (7-7 3.41) and rookie Whammer White (6-3 3.88) show good promise... and closer Alfonso Gonzales (1-2 1.27) is a good as it gets in the bullpen... Gonzales already has 21 saves... add in super rookies like All-Star 1B Glenn Childress (.331 BA/15 HR/73 RBI) and LF Pat Webb (.323 Ba/11 HR/46 RBI), along with longtime star CF Donnie Lewis (.319 BA/3 HR/24 RBI/61 R)... the Reds appear to be the class of the division this year again... Bay St. Clair's Guy Rondre has won 3 titles in the last 6 years, so he knows how to win, too... vet Eddie Lasky (11-5 2.48), rave rookie Greg Moss (12-5 2.41) and closer Marv Thomas (2-1 1.61) with 15 saves are keeping the Bucs close on the Reds tail... however, Rondre needs help in the offensive department... his only real threat is 1B Jerry Todd (.324 BA/14 HR/45 RBI)... CF Bill Howell (.292 BA/0 HR/29 RBI/38 R) is an All-Star, but light-hitting... In Kenwood, Aaron Hankins has strong pitching with a 3.08 ERA (3rd), but the third-place Wildcats are not much at the plate with a .243 mark (25th)... All-Star and TU ERA leader Jody Gentry (11-3 1.59) and brilliant All-Star rookie Thomas Norman (13-2 2.15) have carried the club... slap-hitting 1B Pat Farris (.332 BA/1 HR/35 RBI) leads the team offensively, but doesn't have much pop... Farris and LF Ryan Mizell (.298 BA/8 HR/39 RBI) are just about all Hankins has for offense... the fourth-place Bayview Vikings hit well, but have trouble getting anybody out... Walter Johanssen's crew sports a .268 BA (5th) with 83 roundtrippers (5th) and is tied for 9th in scoring... the Viks team ERA has ballooned to 4.68 (31st), one of the poorest in the IPA... three All-Stars 2B Tommy Shore (.328 BA/8 HR/28 RBI/64 R), LF Norm Owens (.300 BA/16 HR/45 RBI/47 R), CF Davey Krueger (.309 BA/18 HR/59 RBI) and rookie RF Knut Valen (.282 BA/14 HR/44 RBI) sparked the attack with longball help from 1B J. R. Hawkins (.248 BA/12 HR/44 RBI)... veterans Harald Turi (9-5 3.19) and Don Griggs (11-3 3.81) are Bayview only reliable pitchers... La Clair (35-38) is fifth, 12 games off the pace, Arlon (33-40) is sixth and 14 games behind, Denton City (30-43) is seventh and 17 games out and in last place is Chicopee (29-44), trailing by 18.

TU West Outlook:
No contest... talented Rolling Hills should roll to an easy pennant and by a hefty sum... Bay St. Clair and Kenwood will battle it out for the runner-up spot... both clubs are similar with good pitching and weak hitting... usually teams with good pitching beat the good hitting teams... Bayview has the hitting, but not much on the hill... the Vikings will wind up fourth in the race... none of the other clubs seem to be capable of competing for the first division.